And crept back in to Gary Parrish’s Top 25 and 1
Bilas has the Hogs at #30. I think we’re a tad bit better than that, but #30 ain’t bad
What do the Hogs need to four games to be ranked?
@ LSU
@ Ole Miss
Vanderbilt
Kentucky
Win 3 out of 4.
That should do it. I’m thinking 2 of the next four is more probable; three of those four as losses is likely.
Again I’m not really worried about rankings. All that does is get our highlights on SportsCenter. Doesn’t mean squat to the committee in March. But if we keep winning ranking and NET will take care of themselves (NET is up to 24 this morning by the way).
In part, I see this as ranking on the come; because our body of work is so nominal. Winning in BR would be huge this week…perhaps, greatly impacting the AP.
Winning two in a row In Baton Rouge will be marvelous. I remember after winning in BR last year, I thought we were on way to the dance. Didn’t quite work out.
Gonna be hard to win in BR this year. If we do, we’ll crack the top 25 unless we turn around & lose to OM. It’ll be hard to win 3 of those 4, but I like having UK in BWA.
Agree with Swine, though. Top 25 ranking doesn’t mean that much in basketball, especially in early January. Still, it’s nice to be on the radar. Not bad for the projected #11 team in the SEC.
There’s no way to tell what the Seed would be for the dance. There’s a lot of BB to play! I hope we are higher than the 7 line when the dust settles.
“It’s just like getting a box of chocolates–You never know what’s in each one until you eat it!”
I’m just enjoying what I’ve seen so far and hoping that we win the next one.
Anytime you make it to the NCAA you hope for better than a 7 seed, but let’s not forget this team didn’t even make the tournament last year & was picked 11th in the SEC this year. If we get in at all, it will be a huge plus for the program. A lot can happen between now & March, but I feel very good about where we are right now. I think if I were told our record would get into the tourney as a 7 seed or I could take my chances on a better or worse finish, I’d take the 7.
I am surprised at the record so far but I’m disappointed the way they collapsed at WKY!
Making the dance this season would be a bonus. After watching every team in the SEC play in my opinion it’s wide open. Anybody can win the regular season and the SEC tournament.
Our hogs are capable of beating anyone or getting beat by anyone they play.
The effort on defense and their rebounding has surprised me! At times we have some careless turnovers that are mind blowing.
This team was the 4th youngest in the nation last year, was on the bubble with three games to go. We have significantly upgraded coaching and there are no freshmen on this team. They are in a new system, so before the season, it would have been right to say that having to adjust would be a big negative. But players have shown they have adjusted beyond expectations.
I will be much disappointed if they don’t make the tourney.
I’ll be disappointed if we don’t make it, too. However, my point was that coming from where we were, it’s pushing things to be disappointed in a 7 seed.
Exactly. At this point we’re in really good shape, but we know from painful experience that a season can go south in a big hurry. Doesn’t just happen to us; remember that Texass fired Abe Lemons after his last team cratered from 14-0 to 16-11 after Mike Wacker blew out his knee in 1982.
Don’t disagree with the above at all. I was focused on your last sentence that “if we get in at all, it should be a huge plus to the program”.
It will be a huge plus for our program to get in at all. Only 64 plus the “play in” teams make it. Out of 350 schools, getting in is big. Winning a game is bigger. Winning two would be really big. I’d like to think within 2 years we’ll be realistically hoping for a final four appearance.
Unless you’re a top 16 seed (A regional 1-4 seed), winning two games is really tough, because you’re guaranteed to play a top team in game #2, after they played a likely non-persperation game in game #1 against a lowly ranked (unskilled) team – and you likely had a tough (sweaty) game #1.
No doubt about that. We haven’t been to the Sweet 16 since, what, 1996? In fact, we’ve only won 3 NCAA games since 1999. I don’t expect to win two this year, but I badly want to win the first one. Next year, however, I think it’s realistic to think we can win 2–at least to the extent anyone can expect anything one & a half seasons from now.