🏀 KuBuckets Archive

Saw that Shaka and UT lost to SMU 71-68.

I'll post more that are relevant to the conference or top teams if I see them. Others feel free to join in.

Correction: UT Arlington 99 Oklahoma 84

OU gonna win the conference though right? lol

Bama 75 Baylor 67

Yep Big 12 will be WAY down this year. We should win by three or four games and lose only once or twice.

@BShark and thats why you don't talk big before the season starts.

HawkChamp said:

Yep Big 12 will be WAY down this year. We should win by three or four games and lose only once or twice.

Seems like many KU fans know this but so many others are in denial.

Still think West Virginia and tcu will be decent.

@Crimsonorblue22 wvu will be but they lost a ton. Ahmad and Carter are still there but thats about it. ISU lost a ton also. Ive seen people predict four losses in conference but I would be very surprised if that happens. The league is weak.

WVU is good, will be the clear 2nd best team. After that is where I worry. Logjam of mediocre teams from 3-9.

@BShark I think OU has a chance to be decent but not good enough to challenge us or anything. TCU will finish second or third, IMO. I thought Baylor would be better but I guess not. Is Lecomte still there?

@HawkChamp He is. Not sure how many other really good players they have though. Bama is pretty talented.

@BShark Acuil is still there and maybe WainWright too. No Motley though which will be much easier for us. I think we sweep Failor again.

correction - Wainwright is gone. Lecomte, Acuil, McClure, Omot and Lindsey are still there.

HawkChamp said:

@BShark Acuil is still there and maybe WainWright too. No Motley though which will be much easier for us. I think we sweep Failor again.

Yeah Acuil is a serviceable big.

HawkChamp said:

correction - Wainwright is gone. Lecomte, Acuil, McClure, Omot and Lindsey are still there.

Yeaaaah it's going to be a struggle for Drew this year. McClure, Omot and Lindsey were all 5ppg or less last year. With Lindsey doing that with 22 mpg.

I know it is hard to tell how good the teams will be this early but Ken Pomeroy on his first ranking of the season thinks the confernce will be strong. 2 teams in the top 10, 5 in the top 21, 9 in the top 39 and OSU is the lowest ranked at #50.

I know some will say that the lack of NCAA success means the conference is not strong but keep in mind that OU has been to the Final Four more recently than KU. It might not have more than a couple of title contenders but the rest of the teams are well above average; top to bottom the Big 12 is still the strongest conference.

BShark said:

Correction: UT Arlington 99 Oklahoma 84

OU gonna win the conference though right? lol
WOW - - - -seriously? - -mercy but it's the 1st one - -was this an exhibition? - - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY

@jayballer54 Yes it was a scrimmage. Does not count. Word is Kruger experimented a lot with line-ups but still...

@BShark yeah I mean, its UT Arlington. U. T. Arlington. And they lose by double digits. Thats not a good sign for them, IMO.

I'm having deja lose.

https://texassports.com/schedule.aspx?schedule=354 ↗

Wisconsin beats Missouri, 74–66, in closed scrimmage. Happ 17p (5-6 FTs), 8r Davison 14p (5-5 FTs) Iverson 12p, 6r Trice 11p (2-4 3FGs)

The #Badgers shot 25-53 (47%), including 8-20 (40%) from 3FGs and 18-24 (75%) on FTs Mizzou shot 17-57 (30%) overall and 4-22 (18%) 3FGs.

Michael: 24 pts (5-16 FGs) Johntay: 11 pts (3-10 FGs)

@BShark tillmon? They shoot to many 3's

@Crimsonorblue22 Did not see a box score sadly. All stats were from a Wisconsin twitter account.

@HawkChamp I think KU, OU, Texas, TCU, T Tech, and WVU all get bids to the tourney. No doubt the conference is on a downward spiral, even with 6 bids to the tourney. The overall talent in the conference is the lowest its been in a long time. The Pac 12 dirty money is flowing like a river, two ACC teams are accused of making bids for recruits, and the grand FBI investigation that was going to straighten all this out is looking more and more like a planned hit on Adidas to benefit Nike. I'm certainly not saying that Pitino didn't deserve to walk the plank, but I wonder if we really knew the truth if it wouldn't reveal a whole bunch of big name Nike school coaches have done the same things as Pitino, if not worse.

@KUSTEVE

Ken Pomeroy seems to be bullish on the Big 12 (see my post above).

KUSTEVE said:

@HawkChamp I think KU, OU, Texas, TCU, T Tech, and WVU all get bids to the tourney. No doubt the conference is on a downward spiral, even with 6 bids to the tourney. The overall talent in the conference is the lowest its been in a long time. The Pac 12 dirty money is flowing like a river, two ACC teams are accused of making bids for recruits, and the grand FBI investigation that was going to straighten all this out is looking more and more like a planned hit on Adidas to benefit Nike. I'm certainly not saying that Pitino didn't deserve to walk the plank, but I wonder if we really knew the truth if it wouldn't reveal a whole bunch of big name Nike school coaches have done the same things as Pitino, if not worse.

I love how some national donk said on Oct 6th that more HUGE FBI NEWS was coming within 2 weeks. OOPS.

Agree the league is way down in talent.

I think ISU makes the tournament too though. Bet they finish in the top 6 of the league. Prohm is a good coach and they have talent.

JayHawkFanToo said:

@KUSTEVE

Ken Pomeroy seems to be bullish on the Big 12 (see my post above).

Even Ken admits his preseason stuff is pretty rubbish.

@BShark LMAO! Oh yah OU is gonna win the big 12.

@JayHawkFanToo I have no doubt the conference gets a slew of bids. 6...maybe 7 bids. How many of those teams make it past the first weekend could be as low as 1. In the 2nd game of the tournament, there might only be 2 B12 teams with a higher seed than their opponents... KU and WVU. Great to see TCU and Texas Tech both taking big steps forward this year, and I really feel OU is going to be a tournament team. I'll give Texas the benefit of the doubt, and put them in as well. Iowa St takes a step down, imo. Baylor is a question mark to me, but I could see them slipping in, too. That said, this certainly isn't 1988 in the conference.

@BShark

But at least he uses a rational approach that is better than a WAG, right?

@KUSTEVE

I see the conference as having 4 tiers.
- Top tier: KU, WVU
- Upper middle tier: TCU, OU, ISU
- Lower middle tier: UT, Baylor, TTU
- Bottom tier: KSU, OSU

6-8 teams to the NCAA.

JayHawkFanToo said:

@BShark

But at least he uses a rational approach that is better than a WAG, right?

Might be interesting to compare kenpom to various polls and see which is more of an indicator after the regular season is finished. I think perhaps the biggest issue is how hard it is for his model to account for massive infusions of talent like what happened with Missouri. Missouri I feel will be better than the 81st team in the country even with Cuonzo's "coaching".

Also I think WVU is a step behind KU but also clearly above the rest of the conference. Otherwise I actually agree with your tiers pretty well.

Nebraska 92 ISU 84

Gonna try not to overreact to this one.

@BShark

ISU has a bunch of new players including several transfers and they are probably just learning to play together and trying different lineups; they will get better.

Nebraska is not a good team so that should put into perspective where ISU is right now. Its Wigginton and a bunch of role players

The Big 12 sounds awesome.

I think the other B12 teams are just laying low to try to sandbag us in conf play. Tbe strategy of being good in nonconf didn't work for them....

@HighEliteMajor Thanks to all for permitting me to win the Border War argument. The rivalry is back on. Just be patient.

I wish we could get you a Jamari Traylor autograph for nailing that prediction.

@HighEliteMajor Yep. Mizzou, too.

@KUSTEVE Definitely couldn't have been possible without posters such as yourself. I appreciate it.

Even though those are just scrimmages, it demonstrates where we thought the league would be. Ish lost a bunch and it shows. No excuse for losing at Hilton or Gallagher this year. If we do, it will be more about us being bad than them being good.

Not good for us if our league is down this year. Will hurt our SOS and rankings. It will also hurt us in preparing for March.

It is too early to tell. Let's hope things turn around for the rest of our league.

Maybe instead of getting battle tested and beat up in conference KU can enter the postseason well rested?

@dylans i think there could be something to that.

dylans said:

Maybe instead of getting battle tested and beat up in conference KU can enter the postseason well rested?

Some years I would be opposed to that but this roster cannot afford a single injury. 8 players until December, 9 after that. We need all 9 bodies to make the season

@HighEliteMajor Well, i'm sure glad they played that game - I know how much you had fretted about it. Too bad it's only a one time deal. Maybe they feel it is more important for us as a national power, and national brand, to play another national power, and national brand like 'Tucky, instead of playing a regional game in the B12/SEC Challenge. Anyway, I wanted to congratulate you for Bill finally listening to you. i mean, he is your brother.

@HawkChamp Hope so, cause it’s what we’ve got!

@KUSTEVE Thanks, I'm your brother too. Your humility in accepting the flaws in your border war argument has been impressive. It takes a big person to admit they are wrong. I think everyone could learn from your example.

Purdue beats West Virginia 89-77 in scrimmage.

Not really surprising actually. Isn't WVU down a couple players? I know Ahmad is out right now but isn't there someone else?

HawkChamp said:

Not really surprising actually. Isn't WVU down a couple players? I know Ahmad is out right now but isn't there someone else?

Not sure. I know Ahmad is academically ineligible.

@BShark somebody had knee surgery, might have been scoped

Crimsonorblue22 said:

@BShark somebody had knee surgery, might have been scoped

Non-rotation guard it looks like. #211 ranked in the last class.

West Virginia without Ahmad is an average team. You have 2 senior guards and what? A bunch of young bigs that have some promise (West & Konate). They have a very young team and its going to be a tough season I think for them

Iowa State beat Emporia State in an exhibition last night, 77-68.

I might need to backpedal on ISU. They had a couple kids not play but still.

Meanwhile UNC lost an exhibition by 8!~

BeddieKU23 said:

Meanwhile UNC lost an exhibition by 8!~

I was just about to post this. LOL!

BeddieKU23 said:

Meanwhile UNC lost an exhibition by 8!~

You mean defending national champion UNC? I'd trade places with them in a minute.

approxinfinity said:

I'm having deja lose.

https://texassports.com/schedule.aspx?schedule=354 ↗

PHOF!

KUSTEVE said:

@HawkChamp I think KU, OU, Texas, TCU, T Tech, and WVU all get bids to the tourney. No doubt the conference is on a downward spiral, even with 6 bids to the tourney. The overall talent in the conference is the lowest its been in a long time. The Pac 12 dirty money is flowing like a river, two ACC teams are accused of making bids for recruits, and the grand FBI investigation that was going to straighten all this out is looking more and more like a planned hit on Adidas to benefit Nike. I'm certainly not saying that Pitino didn't deserve to walk the plank, but I wonder if we really knew the truth if it wouldn't reveal a whole bunch of big name Nike school coaches have done the same things as Pitino, if not worse.
—————-
PHOF!

wissox said:

BeddieKU23 said:

Meanwhile UNC lost an exhibition by 8!~

You mean defending national champion UNC? I'd trade places with them in a minute.

This year I wouldn't.

Does anyone else find it strange that KenPom has any opinion at all without any regular season data from the current season to model. He has to be modeling last season’s data, or aggregated prior seasons. Kenny Baby, stick to same season data. You’re good at it.

Oh, what was I thinking? It’s the Karl Rove age of making reality by simply saying something is so. Go ahead, Ken, everyone else is.

BeddieKU23 said:

Meanwhile UNC lost an exhibition by 8!~

Who did they play?

HawkChamp said:

BeddieKU23 said:

Meanwhile UNC lost an exhibition by 8!~

Who did they play?

National powerhouse UNC Greensboro.

@BShark wow! We're they without berry?

HawkChamp said:

@BShark wow! We're they without berry?

I would think so. He is out for awhile right?

They had to replace a lot of guys after last year.

@BShark oh that's right - he broke his hand. Forgot about that

@BeddieKU23

Wasn't UNC playing a Jamboree against 3 teams with each game being 13 or 14 minutes long? Which team did it lose to?

BShark said:

BeddieKU23 said:

Meanwhile UNC lost an exhibition by 8!~

I was just about to post this. LOL!

True they lost BUT like was pointed out UNCG - -is not the same Caliber of Washburn - -Pitt State - -Emporia St, and of top of that not having Berry right now. - -not making much out of that. - --ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY

Obviously, but just like Illinois losing to an OVC team it's still hilarious.

Those jamborees are weird. It's not really a full game - they reset the score at each break, but the rotations may be weird (starters may play most of the first 13 or 14 minutes, then backups play against the next group). As a result, UNC's backups may have faced UNC-G's starters for the majority of that matchup. If you isolate a 13 or 14 minute stretch against a lot of teams, KU probably "lost" some games against teams they ultimately beat by 8-10 points.

Either we are hearing about exhibition games more then any year I can remember or there really is a lot of P5 teams who are not very good right now. I would go with the latter as I do believe CBB is down and its going to take a while before we see a good 10-15 teams look like contenders for March.

BeddieKU23 said:

Either we are hearing about exhibition games more then any year I can remember or there really is a lot of P5 teams who are not very good right now. I would go with the latter as I do believe CBB is down and its going to take a while before we see a good 10-15 teams look like contenders for March.

The product is not great right now, I'd say.

@BShark

Yeah I'm certainly not criticizing the CBB landscape its just looking more apparent that most of the country is in rebuild mode. There are a few exceptions of course and I fully expect once CBB gets in the spot light after the Super Bowl that we'll have a much clearer view of who's good.

Right now I'd put teams in Tier's

Tier 1-

KU, Nova, Wichita St (at full strength), Michigan St, Zona (at Full Strength), USC

Tier 2-

Duke, Kentucky, Florida, UCLA, Xavier, Louisville, UNC, Cincinatti

Tier 3-

TCU, WVU, Miami, Notre Dame, Northwestern, Oregon, Seton Hall.

After that complete crapshoot and really the T3 teams could be any range of 10-20 others

@BShark

Actually, to be defending champs, I would trade places. I don't want all of their mess, but sure. There's no pressure on them for a few years since they've now won TWO titles since we won our last.