BYU is now firmly in the 7 seed range. I don’t think that they will vary much from here unless we have a really bad loss, something that BYU has avoided this season and always tripped up in the past 10 years or so. You can blame that on all the seniors this year.
Looking ahead, The teams I am focusing on now are the bubble teams because a 7 plays a 10, If BYU could land in a #6 seed, we would deff. play a bubble team. Fun times.
Before the season, I thought BYU would be ranked at some point (that was before the Childs suspension and injury). I still stand by that. BYU will break the top 25 before the season is over.
Well, we will need someone to step into Toolson’s shoes for a couple of weeks and hit 3’s consistently. If it’s just Childs and Haws that may give hope to SF and PEPP. Others too. I hope he can play against Gonzaga. What do you think about his ankle injury?
It is interesting that after the SMC win, BYU jumped on ESPN’s Bracketology from a 10 to a #7 seed.
It is also interesting to me that Baxter’s name keeps popping up as wanting to come back this season and burn this year, opting to play the final 10 games or so. My personal observations are that Baxter is like Child’s lil’ brother, wants to play with him in Childs last season. Bax. also sees BYU having a very good chance of making it to the second round of the Big Dance. If he is healthy. Bax. could really move BYU especially when we play teams with height and athletes.
http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/bracketology
clearly, the Big 10 is the best league by far with 11 teams In right now. ACC is way down with only 3 teams In. WCC with 3 teams in.
No slipups Cougs.
I don’t really think it’s a big deal if Baxter burns this year. That still gives him two years to play and if he has any thoughts of playing professional ball it is to his advantage, given his age, to move the process along and if he is in any kind of playing shape it could really help out the front line for BYU
You guys would know more if you watched BYU Sports Nation every day. Baxter’s plans are to graduate in 3 years. That’s next year. And then to move on. Either to the pros or another collegiate team. So, let him play tonight if he’s ready and won’t get hurt again. He’s been cleared to play. Pope doesn’t think he’s ready physically yet.
He probably isn’t ready today but his conditioning will increase rapidly at this point so in two weeks it’s possible that he would be able to contribute-so play him. The reality is, though, plans change, so in my clairvoyant crystal ball, I see him playing two more years at BYU
I hope he plays two more years as well…
Joe Lunardi has Gonzaga, Kansas and San Diego State all on the No. 1 seed line. What do those teams have in common? They all beat BYU when Yoeli Childs, the team’s leader in adjusted win shares per 40 minutes, was out due to injury or suspension. Those losses are not surprising, but some might wonder how BYU lost four more games. Like Cincinnati, BYU is third in the nation with five games decided by one point or in overtime. Unlike Cincinnati, BYU is 1-4 in those games, with all five coming on the road. BYU has lost to a potential No. 1 seed without its best player or lost on the road when down by one or fewer at the end of regulation. That sort of bad luck is not usually predictive, and luckily for the Cougars, Childs appears to be back to health. The West Coast Conference looks to have more depth than just Gonzaga this season, and BYU is a team much better than its record. The BPI Bracket Predictor gives BYU a 72% chance to make the tournament and a projected seed of 8.3.
Having watched BYU climb in predictive rankings all season to a high of
#15, Pomeroy
#17, TRank
#21 BPI, ESPN
I was wondering when BYU would get some love in the coaches poll or any national poll for that matter. Joe Lunardi in Bracketology finally bumped BYU from 10 to a 7 seed. I would think that BYU should be ranked or close to it if BYU beats SF by 10 or more points on Sat.
Polls don’t matter much in basketball.
In the AP they came in at 33rd this week with 14 whole points. They need to win out to Gonzaga to move up closer to the top 25. Keeping the 30+ point victories wouldn’t hurt. But the only real chance to be ranked is to win out and beat Gonzaga.
And at that point of the season, who really cares? one game left at Pepperdine and then two or three potential tournament games before the invites are out.
BYU has to win all the non-Gonzaga games beginning with SF. Gonzaga is hurting with injuries. They are beatable. Gonzaga will be fighting to not lose.
BYU actually had 2 points in the latest Coaches Poll, but St. Mary’s had 8. Of course, Randy Bennett is one of the voting coaches.
Ya…kind of like Sanders, Warren and others voting to impeaching Trump. A bit slanted.
now up to 17 votes in the coaches poll..43 in the AP. I am going to start posting Seeding articles
Michigan State (No 4), Arizona (No 11), Purdue (No 12), Ohio State (No 13), and BYU (No 19) are all top 25 teams according to ESPN.com/bpi but aren’t even ranked in the latest AP Poll.
Last night:
#4 Louisville lost to GT, only 58 points
#3 Kansas won @ WVU, only 58 points
#23 Creighton won #10 SHall
#18 Marquette lost to # 15 Villanova. Bailey from Am Fork plays for Marq
OSU beat Rutgers-OSU should be ranked
All ranked ahead of BYU and I wouldn’t mind playing any of this guys
Bubbles
N Iowa won, 22-3 record
Stephen P Austin won, 22-3 (the guys that took down @Duke)
Florida, Ok, Nevada all won
SF beat SClara at SClara
Utah goes down to Oregon State
ASU beat Stanford at Stanford (Stick a fork in Stanford) ASU is now a true bubble.
We really need Nixon to be healthy. If we don’t see him on the court today, then you can bet that the leg is a bigger injury then has been let on.
Go Cougs
8 ranked teams lost today. BYU should be ranked on Monday.
Houston, Ill., Texas Tech, LSU…all ranked barely ahead of BYU lost.
Some teams, Like Butler lost on their own home court, very bad
Auburn, Seton Hall, and Louisville all lost to not that good of teams, they will lose seedings over those losses.
Mich State was ranked all year, have lost 4 of their last 5. Still a top 10 team but…….they will fall like a rock, they lost at home to Maryland.
Purdue, another top 20 dance team lost 2 more this week and will either be out which allows a surging USU team in the bubble or who knows.
Iowa, another top 30 team has fallen apart. Will the committee put all these teams with tremendous resumes in or will they ding them for all the unexplainable losses and leave them home…I say they are in even if they have losing records in league play. they really should have a rule that you have to at least be above 50/50 in your league.
So to say BYU is anywhere near the bubble at this point is a joke, if anything BYU finally getting national attention and climbing seeding charts very fast.
Now if we could only stay healthy. Going to be a very exciting 2 weeks