Interesting Weekend Ahead

[filbert]

I said when St. Thomas got its SL invite that we were creating a monster.

All is proceeding as I have forseen.

[LetsGoRabbits]

I said when St. Thomas got its SL invite that we were creating a monster.

All is proceeding as I have forseen.

I actually expected St Thomas to handle last place USD a lot more easily at home and now they have about as tough a road trip as you can have to Fargo and Brookings

[bigticket1]

I said when St. Thomas got its SL invite that we were creating a monster.

All is proceeding as I have forseen.

If Rohde hadn't portaled to Virginia, I think we all would be playing for second place. That being said, they graduate 3 starters who are the leadership of the team. Next year will be a big test for them.

[LetsGoRabbits]

If Rohde hadn't portaled to Virginia, I think we all would be playing for second place. That being said, they graduate 3 starters who are the leadership of the team. Next year will be a big test for them.

Rohde was definitely a huge loss!! of course Baylor, Abmas, G Nelson could still be playing in this league too

of course, next year they are NCAA eligible, wonder if that had any weight in Rohde decision? they were able to get Anthony to transfer in this year. it should be easier for them to get transfers going forward, being NCAA eligible

[LetsGoRabbits]

RANDOM THOUGHTS on what should be a very interesting final 2 or 3 games depending on what team. (for those of us here with our blue and yellow glasses and t shirts, whether those games are also entertaining or only interesting depends on the Jacks building off the last two games or not! - at least for me it depends on that!!)

when this thread was started last week ORU was 5-6 and still had a reasonable chance to compete for a top 2 seed. they have since lost BOTH games to ND schools playing AT HOME and last night drop a one point game to UNO. they now have a reasonable shot to finish in last, being just one game up on USD

How would you like to be the One seed and see ORU win the 8 vs 9 play in game. obviously if they stay on the current trajectory, they might not look like a team to be feared, but i feel like McBride, Thompson, and Weaver have an awful lot of good memories in Sioux Falls and they definitely know how to win at SLT time

if we end up a 1 or 2 seed, I am definitely cheering for another game with USD or Denver as opposed to a third game with ORU. obviously there are plenty of games left and their could still be surprises about what teams are in the top and bottom positions in the standings

NDSU got a big win over St Thomas. Tommies were in 3rd place alone one game ahead of the bison and KC, going into yesterday. KC gets their 3rd win in a row (although fairly close against last place USD) and NDSU beating Tommies puts those 3 schools in a 3 way tie for 3rd

so two games on Saturday have a 1st vs 3rd matchup
UND got a nice perk from the league getting extra rest before playing a road game against their in state rival!!
St Thomas comes off a 14 point loss in Fargo to play the Jacks who played one of their best games of the season against Denver

the other 3rd place team KC gets a home game against UNO. UNO are the current sole team at 7-7 one game out of the 3rd place logjam. wondering how unusual is it in league scheduling to have one game on the road and the other one at home for the week. KC was at vermillion yesterday and host UNO tomorrow. at 7-7 UNO are 3 games behind the first place teams who both have 3 games to go. UNO has a tough ending schedule with road games at KC and St Thomas, but both those teams are currently ahead of them, so they have a chance to move themselves up in the standings

there are still WAY TOO MANY possibilities to make any confident predictions. so it is ANOTHER interesting weekend

IF the Jacks show some consistency and play another strong game, I like their chances at home. at the same time UNLESS St Thomas wants to start their own ORU like slide out of contention, one week after ORU did it, they are going to come into Frost with a VERY determined mindset. they also probably feel like the Jacks stole a game from them in St Paul. i do not make predictions for Jacks games. I am hoping they found something with the big finish in Omaha and much better defense last night!!

if the Jacks and UND win tomorrow the conversation about league champ and 2 seed includes those two schools and if KC wins at home vs UNO they would be the only team with a shot to catch the co leaders. they would be two behind with two to go, but they would have no shot for first place. they could tie for second (i dont know what tie breakers would be. KC already has a season tie with both schools), but they cannot get first, since it is impossible for both UND and the Jacks to lose both games the final weekend. they play each other on Thursday

ANYWAY winning tomorrow means the Jacks finish no worse than 3rd. it is crazy how much change is still possible!! KC gets UNO at home. i would predict a very close game but gotta give KC a small edge being hot lately and being at home. then they finish on the road at Denver and ORU (on a current 5 game losing streak and 2 game home losing streak) KC looks like a solid bet to win out and finish 10-6 (now watch them lose all 3. that is how nuts this season has been!!)

UND has a tough two game stretch! NDSU on the road then SDSU at home. they get current last place USD at home to finish
NDSU two games out gets both teams in front of them and last place USD sandwiched between

I cannot make league predictions since i cannot make Jacks predictions. ANYONE feeling confident you know what is gonna happen in the final 2 or 3 games for everyone??

final schedules: (listed as the league currently lists them. i have no idea if that is random or current tie breakers have already been applied)
UND- NDSU, SDSU, USD (my odds say over under 1.5 wins)

SDSU- St Thomas, @UND, NDSU (no predictions)

St Thomas- @SDSU, UNO, Denver (over under 2.5 wins)

NDSU- UND, @USD, SDSU (over under 1.5 wins)

KC- UNO, @Denver, @ORU (over under 2.5 wins)

UNO- @KC, @St Thomas (over under .5 wins)

Denver- KC, @Denver (over under .5 wins)

ORU- @USD, KC (over under 1 win)

USD- ORU, NDSU, @UND (over under 1 win)

(I only tried to make the over under number interesting, in case anyone is feeling like predictions. i did not try to do it vegas style to encourage equal actions on both sides even if it could end up that way)
and i am not a gambler personally. i did this just for curiosity. i do find it interesting

[OldHare]

Denver and ORU could flip positions if ORU can beat KC in Tulsa or beat USD in Vermillion. They have the head to head wins with Denver for the first tiebreaker step. That would send Denver to the play-in game unless Denver gets a win at home over KC or road win in St Paul. That is a bigger shift for either of those teams who would play #1 seed or #2 seed and add another game day. At this point the 3-6 seeds are a multiple choice for the first game where you draw the names out of a hat.

[bigticket1]

The biggest advantage of winning the regular season is getting the NCAA bid if St. Thomas wins the tournament. In terms of seeding, it's a crap shoot with which of the bottom 4 or 5 teams you would prefer to play in the first round. They have all shown the capability of beating anyone on a given night if they get hot. And if one of them gets hot and wins a quarterfinal, they could very well go stone cold and get blown out in the semi's. The disadvantage of drawing the winner of the play-in game is that team should have the tournament jitters out the way and can play loose with nothing to lose.

[LetsGoRabbits]

Bison make an impressive but unsurprising comeback to get the big win at home today
ORU loses the 6th in a row to fall in a tie in the L column for last place!!

not one single place in the final standings is wrapped up with one game left tonight and next week the final week of the regular season. If KC loses tonight the Jacks will be guaranteed a top 2 seed

[mitchellrabbit]

Bison make an impressive but unsurprising comeback to get the big win at home today
ORU loses the 6th in a row to fall in a tie in the L column for last place!!

not one single place in the final standings is wrapped up with one game left tonight and next week the final week of the regular season. If KC loses tonight the Jacks will be guaranteed a top 2 seed

if we lose our last 2 and finish 10-6. NDSU wins last 2 and finish 10-6. They would beat us twice. UND wins last 2 and ends up 11-5. How would we end up 3rd. Correct?

[tbcruiser]

if we lose our last 2 and finish 10-6. NDSU wins last 2 and finish 10-6. They would beat us twice. UND wins last 2 and ends up 11-5. How would we end up 3rd. Correct?

]
I belive you are correct. If Jack's lose out and ND schools win out, Jack's get 3rd

[bigticket1]

if we lose our last 2 and finish 10-6. NDSU wins last 2 and finish 10-6. They would beat us twice. UND wins last 2 and ends up 11-5. How would we end up 3rd. Correct?

It's unfortunate that UND didn't hold on to the lead in Fargo. A Bison loss would have guaranteed a top 2 finish for the Jacks.

[LetsGoRabbits]

if we lose our last 2 and finish 10-6. NDSU wins last 2 and finish 10-6. They would beat us twice. UND wins last 2 and ends up 11-5. How would we end up 3rd. Correct?

yes that is correct.

i had relatives here from out of town this weekend. I was trying to think about more than one thing at a time. gets me in trouble every time!!