WCC Tourney Scenarios

I am more intrigued by how this tourney could play out now that SMC has shown theyre not world beaters anymore. Have the Zags found their stride and now will march through? Is SMC vulnerable? Will LMU or USF get on a tear and march through? Will the should be WCC player of the year, Noah H recover and contribute? Does this different bracket arrangement and week earlier than other conf tourneys allow for us to get some rest or rust before the Big Dance-assuming we still get in?

How do y'all see this panning out?

I look forward to being there. Hate to miss the champ game on Monday, if we make it. But Vegas golf and hoops, especially sans Rebel yelling, should be a great treat. Show up Cougar faithful and cheer on your team.



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I think LMU makes it to the Finals and takes SMC for a ride.



USF will choke away from home. GU actually isn't playing that great of ball. BYU shot horribly last night but was still very much in the game. Had we had Noah or even shot close to our average we would have had a 10 point lead. GU is turnover prone and plays sloppy ball, much like we do.



We make it to the finals and LMU wins, good chance GU finds itself outside the tourney.



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Isn't LMU the likely 4 seed? If so, they would play SMC in the semis. One reason why I like our seed as a two or three.



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Zags aren't better than us on a neutral floor.

dmcougar wrote:
Isn't LMU the likely 4 seed? If so, they would play SMC in the semis. One reason why I like our seed as a two or three.



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As long as we don't lose to Portland we're the three seed. LMU has five conference losses, we only have four now.

SpiffCoug wrote:

Isn't LMU the likely 4 seed? If so, they would play SMC in the semis. One reason why I like our seed as a two or three.



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As long as we don't lose to Portland we're the three seed. LMU has five conference losses, we only have four now.

Assuming all things stay the same, as the 3 seed our first game would be Friday, March 2 at 8 pm against either the 6th (San Diego) or 7th (Pepperdine) seed. I like those matchups. Assuming we win, we'd then play GU on Saturday, March 3 at 8 pm (full 24 hrs rest).



In Vegas with a healthier Noah, BYU has a very solid shot at beating GU. Assuming we beat GU and don't win the finals, 2 wins over GU in the season will hopefully make the selection committee think twice about leaving BYU out of the dance.

We need Noah healthy, plain and simple.

You would think we could beat Portland even without Noah Hartsock, but seeing our limitations without him on offense last night - nothing is a given. I still like our chances.



At one point last night, due to injuries, fouls, or Rose sending a message to players, we had Hartsock, Carlino, Davies, Rodgers, and Collinsworth all sitting on the bench at the same time.



Makes one realize how thin the roster is right now and how much better this team would be if everyone was healthy and Carlino had a little more experience.



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I think it took us a half to figure out how to play without Noah. We seemed to do better however it is still not good enough. I expect us to do better on Saturday and I don't expect Noah to play. There might be a chance for him in our tourney and a pretty good chance at the NCAAs for him.



Rogers is starting to come back. I expect him to get more time on Saturday and the tourney.

I just wanted to finish ahead of LMU in the 2 or 3 spot. I'm not sure the double bye really helps the higher seed. In our case it would give an extra day for Noah and Rogers (which would be valuable) and the rest from nicks and bumps (which doesn't really matter).



I am glad we got the 3 because that put SF and LMU on the same side as SMC so they will have to deal with one of them (they,SF and LMU, have been playing real well lately).



I actually wanted to beat GU mostly because I wanted BYU to be the main reason they don't win the regular season championship. We still are a pretty good part of the reason but it would have been nice to be that final nail in the coffin.



At least we get a shot at them again hopefully with a rested and recuperated Noah.

As I look back on our play last night without Noah, it reminds me a lot of our game last year against NM when we were without Davies. We were outscored 42 to 26 in the first half of that game and just looked lost.

I'm hoping Hartsock doesn't see the floor for a week. REST young man. We need that man or we're sunk.

After seeing the quote form Hartsock about it "hurting too much," Im not optimistic at all. Its one thing if its sore--suck it up. BUt I think theres more going on with it. We will be fine vs Portland and out last home game. BUt I am doubtful that even a week is enough for Noah. The actual view of the injury, his grimacing above and beyond a mild injury, and now not being able to play, 3 ugly data points. Supposedly the MRI showed no injury, but I don't think this plays out well for us even by next week. knees are harder to heal than ankles--IMO, at least with mild to moderate sprains.

I wonder if they'll do another MRI once the swelling goes down to make sure there was no hidden damage



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Last night Noah didn't have the benefit of adrenline coursing through his veins like he did when he first injured it.



We actually could have won last night without Noah if we just took care of things a bit better. We got stops. We held GU. What we weren't doing is scoring. That's a good sign as it's only one problem to fix. At least it wasn't GU scoring at will against us and we not scoring at all.