What Will It Take to Dance?

[IndyHorn]

I will admit up front that I am, due to a lack of access to Longhorn Network on either my home U-verse or in Indianapolis area sports bars, more in the dark on Texas basketball than ever before in my adult life. But I am aware of most results. The games I have watched have made me a fan of our young frosh and JCovan Brown. And those few games made me wonder why anyone would ever guard Myck Kabongo on the perimeter. I'd stand no less than 15 feet off that kid and force him to pass or shoot. But I know we have a few decent home wins like Temple, Rhode Island, and got buried at UNC. My question is, plain and simple, what do we need to do to continue our streak of making the NCAA tournament in every season under Rick Barnes? I just saw some bracketology that listed Texas as a 12 seed to face Marquette in the 1st round, so I take it our streak could be in jeopardy. How do we look for making the NCAA tournament? Thoughts? Making the tournament is the only goal I have for Texas in this rebuilding year for certain.

 

[Horns11]

I think we'd need 19 regular season wins and then 1 in the conference tournament for sure. That means going at least .500 in conference. We'd probably also need two wins out of 6 games against a major power (KU, MU, Baylor) in the conference slate to get off the bubble.

 

[IndyHorn]

Addendum, although I know that UCLA is down this year, that road win is likely more significant in eyes of selection committee than home wins against the afore-mentioned. The NC State loss was brutal due to Brown's getting run, but that one hurts a tad..... being even -handed.

 

[Horns11]

I'm really worried about the forwards and whether we get an injury problem. I don't think Wangmene and Chapman combined will be enough to stem the tide against our conference foes. And even if Brown is playing better, we're still screwed if someone like Kabongo or McClellan gets hit with an injury bug.

I think we just enjoy the ride, and maybe if we get stuck in the NIT, make a deep run like Baylor did a few years ago and get this thing back on track.

 

[Walking Boss]

I am one of the fortunate few that have LHN and have seen most of the games. (Love LHN, but if it is not picked up soon by the majors it will end up doing more harm to the visibility of the athletics programs than the money does good).

Anyway, it will be monumental for this team to go .500 in conference and make the tournament. The freshman are talented, but are, well, freshman, and they play defense like it. The team has no size and will be killed by KU and Baylor just like UNC did (maybe not to that extent, but I doubt we beat either of those teams or even play them that close). Mizzou I am not sure about because they are perimeter oriented so we match up better. We will lose to KSU because that is just what we do. They are good but we probably match up against them better than teams with size. We have as much if not more talent than most everyone else, but I am ot certain how well this team will play in conference games on the road and that may be the key. Scoring droughts lead to very poor defense for this team.

On the bright side, the team can score in bunches and for once most everyone on the floor can shoot FT's reasonably well.

The team will be good next year and have some size, but we just have to struggle through this year.

 

[EasternHorn]

I actually think tonight's game at Iowa State is important, if we win. This is a chance for a road conference win which is very important to having a winning record in the league. We need a couple of road wins and tonight is a good chance for one. I'm thinking 7-2 at home and 3-6 on the road is good for 10-8....I know, I know, 6-3 at home is more likely, which is why we need to win tonight at ISU.

 

[Horns11]

I really think 9-9 is the absolute best we can do in conference before the conference tournament in KC. There's maybe a 3 percent chance that we beat everyone we're "supposed to beat." I don't remember going through a Barnes season winning every game that we were supposed to. It's not like football.

KU: Nope
BU: Nope
MU: Nope
KSU: Hopeful for a split, but probably nope
A&M: Hopeful for a sweep, but probably a split
OK State: Hopeful for a split
ISU: Hopeful for a split
Tech: Sweep
OU: Sweep

7-11 seems just as likely as anything right now with this team. That would be good enough for the NIT. We would need to win at least two games against the top teams in the conference to have a chance for the Big Dance.

Now, if the Wangmene/Chapman machine gets it in gear and starts pulling down double-digit boards in addition to timely offensive play and blocks, then 10-8 looks more feasible.

 

[Bigtex112]

The Longhorn Network's lack of availability is killing basketball season for me personally. I don't begrudge the University for making the decision to create it, but I sure wish DISH or Direct would pick it up. I do agree that the lack of visibility is eventually going to hurt Basketball probably the most since Football will still be on Tier 1 or 2 about 9 times a year. All of these LHN games were on Fox Sports SW last year.

 

[Horns11]

Actually they were all on the ESPN+ Regional channels, which are outsourced to local bidders. I know in DFW it was KTXA-21 (owned and operated by CBS-11). Some smaller markets can't afford to put in a bid for an ESPN+ (Big 12 Network) channel, so the game goes dark in those places, but I agree that it would be frustrating to not be able to watch half the games. And only get to see the games where we got pummeled by UNC.

Now that the conference slate is in full gear, we only have two games left on LHN.

 

[Bigtex112]

I moved to DirecTV about 2 weeks before the Verizon Fios deal was announced.

I use Fios for my Internet and could have saved a ton of money and gotten the LHN if I had just waited 2 more weeks.

 

[Walking Boss]

The next four games will tell us a lot about the rest of the season. Aggy at home is a must win and then a brutal stretch of Ksu, Mizzou and Kansas with the first two on the road. If Texas goes 1-3 in those games and is not competative in the latter 3, the wheels could come off for the rest of the season. I am concerned with this teams ability to handle physical play inside and our on the ball defense from the guards and wings is horrible and that combination against the upcoming competition is not encouraging to say the least. We better shoot lights out.

 

[IndyHorn]

Walking Boss- I fully concur. Now that we have held serve against also-rans at home, and lost at Iowa State, these next 3 games make or break us. If we win one, we can make the NCAA tournament. Lose all three forces us to pin our hopes on later meaningful wins, or a road win against a 9-7 UCLA squad. The NIT is looking the likeliest scenario at present. But that can change in the next 10 days. A healthy JCovan Brown would help, and winning last night largely without him should buoy the confidence of others. Let's all hope Barnes and co. can find a way to keep the Big Dance streak alive. Come on young Horns, beat someone worth a darn!!

 

[FWHORN]

Objectively Texas needs at least 7 more wins to get to 9-9 and then a win in the conference tourny. 10-8 would lock in a bid without needing a win in the tourny. I think the Big XII gets six teams. Baylor KU KSU and Mizzou are locks. Iowa State is making early play for one of other two slots and Texas is in mix for one too. Aggy is freefalling which helps Texas' case for the 5/6 slot depening on where we finish relative to Iowa State and of course on at least a .500 conference record.

Would be nice to get two wins somewhere out of the 8 with the BU/KU/KSU/Mizzou group.