Pessimism yet Optimism

[jegbomb52]

Here is what I am thinking. Lets all face it, we are not going to win a game the rest of the regular season. What are the scenarios that have to happen to get us the six seed in St. Louis. I love that tournament and that weekend. I know that with a week of rest and practice we could still run the table and make the dance. But, we must get the six seed!

Closest teams to knocking us off of the six seed.

Evansville:7th

The Aces would have to finish two and one, one and two will not do it for them as we would tie for sixth and hold a two to nothing advantage over them. They play Bradley at home tomorrow night and will lose, if we can beat E'Ville at their place then certainly an average team like Bradley can. They then travel to Drake and Southern Illinois. They will finish 1-2 with a win at Drake. Any team with any sense of pride can win at Drake.

Indiana State: 8th

The tree's would have to finish two and one to even tie with us, I don't know how the tie-breaker will work but we shouldn't have to worry about it. They play Illinois State tomorrow night giving them one win however then will have to play number fifteen Southern Illinois at home and then finish with a road trip to Bradley, a strong finishing team. They will also finish 1-2 keeping them in the 8th slot.

Drake: 9th

The Bulldogs will have to win out to tie with us for 6th place. If they should do that we would obviously be playing on Thursday as they hold an embarrassing 2-0 lead on us for the year. Lets look at who they have left. They have Wichita State at home tomorrow night and then play host to Evansville next week, their only game after that is a road trip to Missouri State. The dogs will finish 0-3 locking them in for a 10 place finish in the league. Thats right, we got swept by the last place team in the league.

Illinois State:

The Redbirds would have to finish three and zero to tie with us for 6th. Thats just not happening. With a trip to Terre Haute to play the tree's on the horizon and a home game against Creighton the best the Redbirds will finish is one and two putting them in 9th place surpassing Drake. Their one win you ask? February 24th in Cedar Falls.

The good news Panther fans? We will not have to play in the play in round. See you in St. Louis

[Panthers#1]

I hope we won't have to play on Thurs. I might not go to STL if we play on Thurs. Not that I don't want to but that I have other commitments.

[Panther_Fan]

[QUOTE=jegbomb52;73743]Here is what I am thinking. Lets all face it, we are not going to win a game the rest of the regular season. What are the scenarios that have to happen to get us the six seed in St. Louis. I love that tournament and that weekend. I know that with a week of rest and practice we could still run the table and make the dance. But, we must get the six seed!

Illinois State:

The Redbirds would have to finish three and zero to tie with us for 6th. Thats just not happening. With a trip to Terre Haute to play the tree's on the horizon and a home game against Creighton the best the Redbirds will finish is one and two putting them in 9th place surpassing Drake. Their one win you ask? February 24th in Cedar Falls.


Wow! I dont even know what to say!! This is one of the more negative comments I've seen on this board for awhile...don't get me wrong you are 100% entitled to your opinion, but come on! How can you say that Illinois State is going to beat us at our place? I would be the first to admit that the final four games of our scheduled is very daunting, but there is always a chance to knock of any of the next three teams we play on the road. I know it wouldn't completely salvage our season, but how sweet would it be to get a W at the Qwest Center! Nevada is one heck of a matchup for us, but if you look at our record against non-conference opponents the past few yrs and throw in the fact that we have never played Nevada...I think we might creep up on them. I am not saying that I expect to win, I just think I saw something on Sat night against the Bears that gave me some renewed optimism to finish the season strong!!

[jegbomb52]

Sorry for the negativity, I guess as some people have said before "its time to stop being polite and start being real" (thats from the real world) I understand that it is very negative but until I see this team win another game I am going to assume they lose every one. Thats just the way they are playing. After Saturday, again just being real, they will have lost 10 of 13! I would love nothing more than to come on here tomorrow and talk about a big victory at Creighton or to come here on Saturday night and talk about a big upset over a ranked oponnent. BUT ITS NOT HAPPENING!

[panther2317]

I'm not feelin' ya dog.

[jegbomb52]

Thats ok 2317, you would be you if you would "feel" a comment like that. Just as I don't like people getting on my case for being "real" or "negative" I will not get on your case for being an optimist or a "rah rah" guy. On a "rah rah" note, I do still think we can make a serious run in the loo'!

[Panther_Fan]

Sorry for the negativity, I guess as some people have said before "its time to stop being polite and start being real" (thats from the real world) I understand that it is very negative but until I see this team win another game I am going to assume they lose every one. Thats just the way they are playing. After Saturday, again just being real, they will have lost 10 of 13! I would love nothing more than to come on here tomorrow and talk about a big victory at Creighton or to come here on Saturday night and talk about a big upset over a ranked oponnent. BUT ITS NOT HAPPENING!

Again, I will start by saying you are entitled to your opinion, but I don't fell as if this statement is at all necessary. From what you are saying, we should just tell Coach Jake and Brooks and Grant (seniors) and the other players that we have no shot to win and it's probaly not even worth showing up for either game. Granted it was at home, but do you think West Virginia assumed they would lose to UCLA last weekend?? Granted it was on a neutral floor, but do you think Missouri St assumed they would lose to Wisconsin earlier this year? Absolutely not...both of them went into their respective games knowing they were the underdog, but played their tails off to pull of the upset. My point is this, we are already behind the eight ball the way it is, but without the support of our fans and the community we are going nowhere fast. Please do not take this personal, it is just very discouraging to read these types of posts.

[Panther Cat]

I hope we won't have to play on Thurs. I might not go to STL if we play on Thurs. Not that I don't want to but that I have other commitments.

I'm heading down Thursday regardless, so I wouldn't mind seeing an extra game. That being said, we better not be playing on Thursday.

Anyone know how to go about getting tickets to the Thursday games if UNI isn't playing?

[UNIAlum95]

I'm heading down Thursday regardless, so I wouldn't mind seeing an extra game. That being said, we better not be playing on Thursday.

Anyone know how to go about getting tickets to the Thursday games if UNI isn't playing?

Buy from someone outside the Savis Center or buy walk up tickets. There will be plenty of tickets to the Thursday games.

[UnderParPanther]

i think last year walkup on the street was around $20 a session for those early games and fridays games. one of our friends had to buy tickets like that last year for several of them.

[JCPanthers]

Evansville:7th

The Aces would have to finish two and one, one and two will not do it for them as we would tie for sixth and hold a two to nothing advantage over them. They play Bradley at home tomorrow night and will lose, if we can beat E'Ville at their place then certainly an average team like Bradley can.

Not so fast....E'ville in a close one with Bradley. Down one with 26 seconds to go WITH the ball.

[JCPanthers]

Bradley goes up by 3 and then E'ville hits a big 3 with 5 seconds left to tie the game only to foul Bradley with 1.8 seconds left as they attempt to shoot for the win.

Franklin hits one of two and with .6 seconds left E'ville throws up a prayer and misses....Bradley wins 72-71. Whew!!

[jegbomb52]

With Drake beating Wichita we need to have Evansville go into Drake and win next week. If Drake would beat Evansville now that would mean that all they would have to do is go to Missouri State and beat them. A game that would worry me if Mo State already had the third spot locked up. Who do you think they would rather play as a six seed, Drake or UNI? I smell a flop coming by the bears if Drake beats E'ville!

Now with the upset of WSU by Drake this could put us in a situation to win one game against IL State and have them dump their final two. It could be possible as they play Mo State at home and then travel to Omaha. They could easily finish 0-3! Putting us in as the five seed with just ONE WIN!

[DancerHall Cat]

With Drake beating Wichita we need to have Evansville go into Drake and win next week. If Drake would beat Evansville now that would mean that all they would have to do is go to Missouri State and beat them. A game that would worry me if Mo State already had the third spot locked up. Who do you think they would rather play as a six seed, Drake or UNI? I smell a flop coming by the bears if Drake beats E'ville!

Now with the upset of WSU by Drake this could put us in a situation to win one game against IL State and have them dump their final two. It could be possible as they play Mo State at home and then travel to Omaha. They could easily finish 0-3! Putting us in as the five seed with just ONE WIN!

There is ZERO chance that MSU will flop. With the loss to SIU at home the other night, MSU is a flop and a 1st round MVC loss from being out of the dance.

[BCPanther]

If we can figure out a way to win our last two Valley games we have a shot at the 4 or at least the 5.

I want to be on that side of the Bracket because we match up so much better with SIU. I would just as soon save Creighton for Sunday. How sweet would it be to beat them for our ticket to the dance...