Updated Bubble Watch

[TBird41]

Here's ESPN's bubble watch. It's current (it was updated after tonight's games).

sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?page=2005bubblewatch

[david]

fingers crossed. we can still make it.

[Gold Hoya]

Georgetown [16-10 (8-7), RPI: 69, SOS: 70] Was blasted at UConn for fourth straight loss and now is in real trouble. Profile weakening rapidly. Must beat Providence at home in finale to have any chance.

[TBird41]

Grant Wahl from SI got an interview w/ the head of the selection committee. The head of the committee says that the RPI will be used as much as it has been in past years. I'm pretty sure no one outside of the committee knows how much that is (hopefully not very much).

sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/writers/grant_wahl/03/02/mailbag/index.html

[FOTP]

They say the same thing every year. When they compare Buffalo and Vermont to Georgetown I guarantee you they won't say....well this RPI thing says Vermont is better...must be.

Plus, don't underestimate the "story" of Georgetown coming back and our style of play helping us out in a tie situation. The Committee LOVES to put stories together in the first round and they also love to put contrasting styles of basketball together. Wait for a Louisville vs. Hoyas first round game. 5 vs. 12 seed. New BE team that loves to run vs. old school Hoyas back playing the PrinceTOWN offense.

Believe people...we've had a tough stretch, but other than the St. John's debacle did anyone really think things would have ended up differently?

[TBird41]

FOTP said:

They say the same thing every year. When they compare Buffalo and Vermont to Georgetown I guarantee you they won't say....well this RPI thing says Vermont is better...must be.

Plus, don't underestimate the "story" of Georgetown coming back and our style of play helping us out in a tie situation. The Committee LOVES to put stories together in the first round and they also love to put contrasting styles of basketball together. Wait for a Louisville vs. Hoyas first round game. 5 vs. 12 seed. New BE team that loves to run vs. old school Hoyas back playing the PrinceTOWN offense.

Believe people...we've had a tough stretch, but other than the St. John's debacle did anyone really think things would have ended up differently?

The story actually seems like it'll help. The reason that people always want mid-majors is that no one wants to see random middle of the pack major conference teams like Minnesota or Iowa St. outside of their fans (yeah, like me and the Gophers). Georgetown, however, is a major story--Old power falls from glory only to return under the son of the man who led them there. Honestly, dwould one of many Cinderella teams make a better story than that? I doubt it.

[FOTP]

Exactly TBird...the story is very good for us.

We need to get the momentum back with two straight wins and we'll be ok.

I'm pretty confident that if it comes down to Buffalo or Kent St. or Georgetown playing LVille in the first round they go with the HOyas.

We need to give them a reason to put us in though.

Our overall resume is still fine with a win on Sat....the sky is not falling.

[EasyEd]

After our last four games, who would want to put us in the NCAAs?

[HoyaAlbany]

Exactly, Easyed - the "story" right now is that we had a brief psurt in the first part of January, with 3 nice wins - and then the bubble burst (no pun intended) and we have been sliding downhill ever since. Without 2 wins in the BET, there is no story to entice the committee.

[CAHoya07]

Warren Nolan has us as one of the last 4 teams out in his bracket projection.

www.warrennolan.com/basketball/2005/projection/5

By the way, didn't Buffalo used to be one of the worst teams in D-I a year or two ago? Damn.

[FOTP]

My god! 3 out of our past 4 have been on the road and 3 of those games were REALLY tough. ND is very tough at home (see win against BC and Cuse) and UCONN goes without saying. NOVA is arguably one of the hotest teams in the country when we played them!

Yes, the St. John's game was terrible, but that's our only bad loss of the year. If you look at our competition for an at-large bid they have some awful looking losses and they don't have wins at NOVA and Pitt.

Sometimes you just need to beat the teams you're supposed to beat and it gets the job done.

If someone gave me a chance to go 9-7 in the BE this year...at home in the last game...I'd have fallen over and passed out in giddy joy.

No, we haven't played great at this point of the season, but the sky is not falling.

The NCAA would love to have us. Hmmm...Buffalo or Georgetown...Arkansas Little Rock or Georgetown...Ohio or Georgetown?

C'mon guys. Let's get a little more positive here and see the glass as half full.

[KHoyaNYC]

It's all about momentum. Let's string together 3 wins and get in this thing. 19-11 just might do it.

[AustinHoya03]

Yahoo! Sports has us in if we beat Providence:

sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/news;_ylc=X3oDMTBpN3NjcG9mBF9TAzk1ODYyMjM4BHNlYwN0bQ--?slug=js-bubblewatch_full&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

[IceHoya]

FOTP said:

My god! 3 out of our past 4 have been on the road and 3 of those games were REALLY tough. ND is very tough at home (see win against BC and Cuse) and UCONN goes without saying. NOVA is arguably one of the hotest teams in the country when we played them!

Yes, the St. John's game was terrible, but that's our only bad loss of the year. If you look at our competition for an at-large bid they have some awful looking losses and they don't have wins at NOVA and Pitt.

Sometimes you just need to beat the teams you're supposed to beat and it gets the job done.

If someone gave me a chance to go 9-7 in the BE this year...at home in the last game...I'd have fallen over and passed out in giddy joy.

No, we haven't played great at this point of the season, but the sky is not falling.

The NCAA would love to have us. Hmmm...Buffalo or Georgetown...Arkansas Little Rock or Georgetown...Ohio or Georgetown?

C'mon guys. Let's get a little more positive here and see the glass as half full.

FOTP, I think you have been right on with both your posts in this thread. The sky hasn't fallen... yet. We've come too far to give up hope now. We can still beat Providence... now lets go out and do it!

[HoyaDestroya]

PAC-10 is getting very interesting... after Wazzu's win last night, I think UCLA might be headed to the tourney over Stanford. Thoughts? Can they really only take two teams?

[DanMcQ]

Mark Blaudschun's (Boston Globe) view

www.boston.com/sports/colleges/mens_basketball/articles/2005/03/04/getting_a_jump_on_filling_out_dance_card/

Big East (7) -- Boston College, Syracuse, and UConn are locks. BC could still get a No. 1 seed. Villanova is also a lock, with its surge, including victories over Kansas and BC. Notre Dame, with victories over BC and UConn, should still hang on, and Pittsburgh, which beat up BC Monday, also should be OK. The surging team appears to be West Virginia, which could pass Georgetown for the seventh bid.