Game Thread: CU @ AZ

[CatsTopPac]

Let's not have any bullshit shots at the buzzer like last year. We need to come out hot so that we don't have to battle back from 19 down to win in OT. Come out fast, keep our foot down, and put the game away as soon as possible. I really thought this was going to be a top 10-15 matchup, but Dinwiddie really is the leader of the ream. Such a shame. The wheels are about to fall off in Boulder this year. Well, we need to take it to them. We have a whole week to prep for them in McKale. NJ needs to take it easy if he can. Can't risk losing him because he's trying to do too much when he doesn't have to.

Bear Down

 

[GumbySquad]

Pac-12 attendance avg:

1. Arizona- 14,373
2. Colorado- 9,599
3. Utah- 9,528
4. UCLA- 7,543
5. California- 7,399
6. Oregon- 6,650
7. Washington- 6,239
8. Arizona St.- 5,800
9. Stanford- 4,715
10. USC- 4,140
11. Oregon St.- 3,623
12. Washington St.- 2,746

 

[CatsTopPac]

Pac-12 attendance avg:

1. Arizona- 14,373
2. Colorado- 9,599
3. Utah- 9,528
4. UCLA- 7,543
5. California- 7,399
6. Oregon- 6,650
7. Washington- 6,239
8. Arizona St.- 5,800
9. Stanford- 4,715
10. USC- 4,140
11. Oregon St.- 3,623
12. Washington St.- 2,746

Someone posted that on PGU. ASU is filling at 40% capacity, which is tied for 3rd lowest in the Pac (I think). I think they are tied with USC at % capacity, and ahead of WSU and OSU. Sad when there are 5 million people in the metropolis, and it has the highest student population in the country.

 

[rmilia1]

Pac-12 attendance avg:

1. Arizona- 14,373
2. Colorado- 9,599
3. Utah- 9,528
4. UCLA- 7,543
5. California- 7,399
6. Oregon- 6,650
7. Washington- 6,239
8. Arizona St.- 5,800
9. Stanford- 4,715
10. USC- 4,140
11. Oregon St.- 3,623
12. Washington St.- 2,746

Jesus are those numbers for real??? Other than the Cats thats pretty fucking pathetic all around. The LEAST Iowa has average EVER was a few years ago at like 10,500 a game and that was considered abysmal. UCLA at 7500??? Jesus. Good on you Zona, representing. The rest of the league??? Pitiful.

 

[nogicat]

Pac-12 attendance avg:

1. Arizona- 14,373
2. Colorado- 9,599
3. Utah- 9,528
4. UCLA- 7,543
5. California- 7,399
6. Oregon- 6,650
7. Washington- 6,239
8. Arizona St.- 5,800
9. Stanford- 4,715
10. USC- 4,140
11. Oregon St.- 3,623
12. Washington St.- 2,746

Utah sneaking back up on this list
Utah will be back and rockin in a few years

proud tradition

 

[FORKWDEVIL]

Yea !!
Come Thurs that number goes to 5801

 

[GumbySquad]

Well... Michigan (without McGary) just beat #3 Wisconsin in Madison. Michigan is now 5-0 in conference, which is great for Arizona's RPI.

...it's also great to see Wicsonsin lose to a team at home that the UofA beat on the road, because we won't have to hear from any Badger fans again about how superior their team is.

 

[GumbySquad]

Utah sneaking back up on this list
Utah will be back and rockin in a few years

proud tradition

Yeah, that is where I saw this originally, in an article this morning from the SLC Tribune about attendance picking back up at Utah. They have the only building in the Pac12 with a larger capacity than McKale. I remember going to a few games there in the 90s when it was full. They have great fans, good to see them coming back.

 

[CatsTopPac]

Well... Michigan (without McGary) just beat #3 Wisconsin in Madison. Michigan is now 5-0 in conference, which is great for Arizona's RPI.

...it's also great to see Wicsonsin lose to a team at home that the UofA beat on the road, because we won't have to hear from any Badger fans again about how superior their team is.

Yep, and SDSU just won again, beating UNLV. So, with ISU, Ok St, and Wisky losing twice, SDSU should improve to at least 8th, and probably even 7th. Michigan could be ranked again. Duke should move up, since both teams in front of them lost, although UCLA will drop out with the loss to Utah. But we should have wins against #7, 21, and maybe 24-25. Looking good for both SOS and RPI.

 

[CatsTopPac]

I really think that Utah will do some more damage this year and might even sneak into the dance. All of their losses are by one possession, and their only loss at home is to Oregon in OT. Beating UCLA is a signature win that makes up for losing to WSU, and if they can beat like a Cal, Stanford, or CU, and still get 22+ wins, they should get in. They host Cal and Stanford next, and I expect a split, and I don't think a sweep is completely out of the question. I think that if they can beat at least one or 2 of those three teams above and finish 8-5 or even 9-4, they could get in!!!!

I think that the UCLA win will help a great deal in bringing the fans out, which should really boost their homecourt advantage. Utah is my darkhorse to getting in the tourney.

 

[GumbySquad]

Jesus are those numbers for real??? Other than the Cats thats pretty fucking pathetic all around. The LEAST Iowa has average EVER was a few years ago at like 10,500 a game and that was considered abysmal. UCLA at 7500??? Jesus. Good on you Zona, representing. The rest of the league??? Pitiful.

Yeah, you never have to worry about Arizona fans showing up. The program has led the West Coast in attendance for 30 consecutive years. They have not averaged less than 13,000 in McKale since the early 80s.

 

[520GGATO]

This is gonna be a tuff 2 weeks. Colorado and Utah, then @Stanford and @California. Hopefully espn or fox can pick up that Cal game. Perfect time for a weeks worth of rest. Bear down!

 

[Arizona_Sting]

A week in-between home games? Damn

 

[CatsTopPac]

A week in-between home games? Damn

Yep, this is always the worst part of the season; waiting until the next game.

But it does give NJ a chance to get that ankle strong again. And it gives the guys a chance to reset before another tough stretch. I think that both next week's games, and the Norcal trip will be tougher than we all though going into the season. Utah is playing well, and the Norcal schools are showing that they can play good basketball, especially at home. And CU is still going to play tough, even without Dinwiddie. So these guys are going to need to get as much rest as possible.

Still looking for Mayes and Korchek to elevate their games.

 

[nogicat]

I really think that Utah will do some more damage this year and might even sneak into the dance. All of their losses are by one possession, and their only loss at home is to Oregon in OT. Beating UCLA is a signature win that makes up for losing to WSU, and if they can beat like a Cal, Stanford, or CU, and still get 22+ wins, they should get in. They host Cal and Stanford next, and I expect a split, and I don't think a sweep is completely out of the question. I think that if they can beat at least one or 2 of those three teams above and finish 8-5 or even 9-4, they could get in!!!!

I think that the UCLA win will help a great deal in bringing the fans out, which should really boost their homecourt advantage. Utah is my darkhorse to getting in the tourney.

I have been doing my own bracketology closer to tourney time for a few years now and I can tell you Utah probably wont be making the tournament even with some of the wins you mention.
They are going to need a record of about 21-8, some damage in the P12 tourney, and a win over AZ to even have an outside shot to make it simply due to their #350/351 non conference schedule. In addition to that, two of their current wins are over D2 teams. Utah is much improved but they are going to need to play really well from here on out and get some help to make it.

 

[CatsTopPac]

If Nogi Brackets says they're out.... they're out!!!!

Hahaha, maybe, I think it'll be close. I do agree that it depends on who they beat, and how those teams finish. But Cal and CU are both top 50 RPI teams, and they already beat another in UCLA. So if they only lose to AZ twice, @ CU, @ UCLA, and like @ Stanford, then they really will only have @WSU as their only bad loss (while getting some good wins for their resumé). Like I said, it will be close. If they can beat some of those top 50 teams in the second half, then there is a chance that the lack of scheduling in the non-con will be minimized enough to get them in. Although if they don't get in, I won't be surprised, and it will be because of the weak non-con schedule, like you said. Their current RPI is pretty weak (because of their SOS), but their BPI is pretty solid at #44. If the teams that Utah beats can separate themselves from the Pac a bit more, then those wins look better. I hope they don't beat AZ (obviously), even if it will really help them.

We'll see. I think if they can win a tough game on the road, it will do a lot for them, also. I don't know though, it will be close. The committee has been firm in their belief that a weak non-con schedule will count against a team, and we all say what happened to ASU and some others in the past, where they got 22 wins, but their scheduling was weak. My only argument against that would be that if Utah could get some of those top 50 wins under their belt, then that separates them from the other teams with +20 wins who only have like a win or two against top 50 opponents. I agree though, it still might not be enough.

I guess I'm just wondering how it will all shake out, in terms of who makes it, besides AZ and UCLA. I see Cal in there, and hopefully both Oregon and CU, but it remains to be seen how CU will do without Dinwiddie, and I just have no idea with Oregon. Let's say that one or both get in there. That's 4-5. I think that if Utah can beat CU (and they make it), and Cal (who is in), then with their win against UCLA, they can at least show that they can beat tourney teams. Maybe only 4-5 make it. Maybe it comes down to CU, Oregon, and Utah for the last 1-2 spots. Oregon doesn't have any bad losses, but it depends how they right their ship on defense.

 

[CatsTopPac]

Great article that was posted on PGU:

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/ua/...has-returned-tucson-arizonas-sean-miller.html

Hear that ASU, better get on board!!!!

I have to argue that the University of Arizona Basketball program is the best sports team in the State of Arizona. I guess my criteria starts with current success, and from there goes to potential success (recruiting, facilities), production (revenue, NBA draft picks), fan base, tradition and past success, and national notoriety. Some of the other sports teams in the state are equal on some of the factors, but none of them have the consistently high ratings across the board that this sports team has. Face it, AZ basketball is Arizona's team!!!!

 

[CatsTopPac]

You can add Stanford to that fringe group. Stanford, CU, Oregon, and Utah, all for the 4th, and maybe 5th (or 6th?) ticket. I agree that Utah probably has the weakest resumé right now, but I don't think that they are the weakest team. I think that's where my biggest point of emphasis is. I'm just not sure if they will be able to get passed their resumé in the eyes of the committee. Maybe if they put together a strong run in Vegas.

Again, all of this is without beating AZ.

 

[nogicat]

Heres my 10 criteria for evaluating teams for the tourney.
Record (vs D1 opponents only)
Conf Record
RPI
SOS
NCSOS
Last 12
Good Wins (Top 50 RPI or higher)
Bad Losses (Less than 100 RPI)
Combined Road and Neutral Record
Opponent SOS
The past 5 years I have been doing my own bracketology I have had 2 perfect brackets and 2 years with all but 1 team correct. One bad year (The VCU and UAB year).

 

[nogicat]

Stanford and Utah's resumes are very similar if you look at them
Some good wins
good overall record and 1 bad loss.
However, Stanford is a fringe team while Utah is on the outer tier just because of the NCSOS, and that seems to be a big deal to the selection committee.