New OOC game - Maryland Eastern Shore at Pitt on 1/2/16

[Jeff_Hauser]

Not great, but not nearly as bad as Central Arkansas. The Hawks finished third in the MEAC last year with an overall 18-15 record and an RPI around 191. Perhaps they'll contend to make the NCAA out of their conference, not really sure.

But certainly mark your calendars for this one ..

 

[R-M-U-h-o-o-p-s-f-a-n]

They could at least be a decent team for Pitt to play, RPI wise....

 

[bwh05]

Well that'll be a tough ticket to get

 

[Bradlib Zannamaker]

Stubhub is already abuzz

 

[DC_Area_Panther]

Too many spoiled baby Pitt fans who believe they are ENTITLED to an OOC schedule nearly as strong as the ACC schedule. Do they really prefer watching more losses instead of a few blowouts? It truly boggles my mind.

What incredible unreasonable expectations!

 

[KiwiJeff]

Too many spoiled baby Pitt fans who believe they are ENTITLED to an OOC schedule nearly as strong as the ACC schedule. Do they really prefer watching more losses instead of a few blowouts? It truly boggles my mind.

What incredible unreasonable expectations!

No, the stale jokes/comments made after every OOC game gets announced never gets old. Oh wait, yes, they do get old.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Has anyone ever on this board argued that we should be playing an OOC anywhere near as difficult as an ACC conference schedule is? Surely everyone can understand the difference between say, scheduling one or two home and homes with good OOC opponents versus playing 10 or 12 OOC games against teams in the top 100 of college basketball, can't they?

But hey, it is a lot easier to knock down those strawmen rather than address the actual complaints.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Not great, but not nearly as bad as Central Arkansas. The Hawks finished third in the MEAC last year with an overall 18-15 record and an RPI around 191. Perhaps they'll contend to make the NCAA out of their conference, not really sure.

But certainly mark your calendars for this one ..

The MEAC is a putrid conference, RPI wise. I've said many times that Pitt should avoid MEAC teams altogether. It goes to show you how bad that league is when UMES went 18-15 and still had an RPI of 191, that's about the best you can hope for. The worst is an RPI in the 300's.

Again, Pitt is better off scheduling D2 schools than some of these minor D1 schools. Heck, maybe we should play a PSAC schedule in Nov/Dec. It wont hurt our RPI.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Do they really prefer watching more losses instead of a few blowouts?

Yes. I'd rather Pitt went 2-1 or 1-2 against Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Butler than 3-0 against UMES, Central Arkansas, and Monmouth. Now, if we lost all 3 against OU, Miss, and Butler, then that's a problem........but it also means we probably weren't very good anyway. Not to mention those 3 games I used as an example would all be on national TV. The cupcakes are internet-only.

I dont mind the occassional cupcake where you can relax, sit back and just enjoy a victory but there's just too many of them. I'd like to walk into the Pete in Nov/Dec without having the result of the game pre-determined. In many ways, Pitt (and other schools) Nov/Dec games are like those old WWF matches where the main star is wrestling the Brooklyn Brawler. You already know the end result. That part of it is already decided so its not as entertaining.

 

[levance2]

Last year, Notre Dame had the #347 of 351 NCSOS, and they went on to win the ACC tournament and finished 32-6. Too bad they didn't play a better OOC schedule or they surely would've won the title...

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Of course Notre Dame also got a three seed in the tournament when a team that they beat twice in the season got a one seed in part due to Notre Dame's putrid non conference schedule too.

I wonder if they would have liked to have been a one seed instead? Nah, probably not.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Of course Notre Dame also got a three seed in the tournament when a team that they beat twice in the season got a one seed in part due to Notre Dame's putrid non conference schedule too.

I wonder if they would have liked to have been a one seed instead? Nah, probably not.

Yea, ND was a #1 seed-worthy last year. That's the kind of team they had. But, their poor SOS dropped them a seed line or 2 and got them UK in the Elite 8. History will forget that ND team pretty quickly, but man were they good. Same thing with Miami when they won the ACC a couple years ago.

 

[UPitt129]

Yea, ND was a #1 seed-worthy last year. That's the kind of team they had. But, their poor SOS dropped them a seed line or 2 and got them UK in the Elite 8. History will forget that ND team pretty quickly, but man were they good. Same thing with Miami when they won the ACC a couple years ago.

So wait..nd was 32-6 and a 3 seed...say they played 4 tough ooc games and split them. Now when they are 30-8 and still 13-5 in the acc that gets them a 1?

They finished third in the acc..a one wasn't happening.

 

[levance2]

Of course Notre Dame also got a three seed in the tournament when a team that they beat twice in the season got a one seed in part due to Notre Dame's putrid non conference schedule too.

My point was only that people cherry pick good teams and highlight their OOC schedules and never the other way. Louisville (#234), Iowa St (#221), OSU (#328), WVU (#255), and Maryland (#250) weren't all that different from Pitt (#268), but were safely in the field.

Having a weak OOC did not prevent Pitt from dancing. Losing to Hawaii, VT, and WF prevented Pitt from dancing.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

So wait..nd was 32-6 and a 3 seed...say they played 4 tough ooc games and split them. Now when they are 30-8 and still 13-5 in the acc that gets them a 1?

They finished third in the acc..a one wasn't happening.

Well yeah, if you assume that they lose two of those four games then sure, they aren't getting a one seed. But on the other hand, since they were better than just about all the teams last year what if they win all four of those games? And what if the committee is sitting there looking at a Notre Dame team with two wins against Duke on their resume and with some actual good wins in their OOC schedule? Might make a different decision, no?

Although that is a good point on them finishing third in the conference so there is no way they could get a number one seed. After all, we have some first hand knowledge that that never, ever happens, right?

Levance, agree 100% that it wasn't the OOC that kept Pitt out of the tournament. But let's not pretend that bad schedules aren't a reason why some teams get left out or get lower seeds than they deserve literally every year. It's cost us seed lines on more than one occasion. And it really isn't a difficult "problem" to fix. Avoid the really bad teams. Schedule a couple of decent home and homes. Leave everything else the same. "Problem" solved.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

So wait..nd was 32-6 and a 3 seed...say they played 4 tough ooc games and split them. Now when they are 30-8 and still 13-5 in the acc that gets them a 1?

They finished third in the acc..a one wasn't happening.

ND was one of the best teams in the country last season. If they played and beat (for example) WVU and Georgetown last season instead of 2 of the scrubs, they're a #1 or definately a #2.

 

[levance2]

ND was one of the best teams in the country last season. If they played and beat (for example) WVU and Georgetown last season instead of 2 of the scrubs, they're a #1 or definately a #2.

I actually looked at this yesterday. Based on the teams that were seeded ahead of them, I think the only team they realistically could've knocked out was #2 Kansas. Every other #1 or #2 was going to be ahead of ND no matter what. Unless you make up a hypothetical ND win over Villanova or something.

 

[levance2]

Levance, agree 100% that it wasn't the OOC that kept Pitt out of the tournament. But let's not pretend that bad schedules aren't a reason why some teams get left out or get lower seeds than they deserve literally every year. It's cost us seed lines on more than one occasion.

On other occasions, yes, it has hurt us somewhat. But last year, when the team was truly a bubble team with some losses in the OOC, a harder schedule would not have helped us at all. If we had faced BYU or Purdue in Maui, we would've lost. If we had faced WVU at home, we probably would've lost. Pitt had their sh!t together for only a brief time early in the year, before collapsing again at the end.

Although I'm optimistic this team will finish better than last year, I still don't think a super OOC is what this team needs. Chances are we are going to get pounded by Gonzaga, and we'll need to be at 110% to beat Purdue at home. Replacing UMES with a low level A-10 team, sure. Replacing UMES with UConn, not helpful.

 

[UPitt129]

So we are saying that the same nd team that lost to pitt would have scheduled 4 non conference games against good opponents and won them all?