Give Me the Down Low on Saint Mary's -- Must Win?

Does anyone believe that if we win out the remainder of the reg season, an at large NCAA bid is still a possibility? If that's the case, the Saint Mary's game is a must win. Plus, we need to take advantage of this opportunity to avenge the poor reffing / defense loss in Moraga.



If the game is not a must win for purposes of NCAA hopes, then that leaves us with needing to win the WCC Tourney to receive invitation. One can always hope.



If not the NCAA, are we headed to the NIT? And if so, does that make the Saint Mary's game a must win?



My answer to the above is I don't give much of a rip about whether it is a must win, I just do not want the Cougs to be swept by Saint Mary's this year.

I agree: I just don't want to lose to SMC again, but I think we're more of an underdog in this one than most would like to admit. I think our only prayer for the tourney is to win the WCC tournament. Otherwise, the NIT it is.

We need to win the tourney, or I imagine if we take second, losing to Gonzaga, we might slide in on the bubble. Rose needs to key into his "winning lineup" and give them time on the court together. I personally think it is tourney champ or NIT bound, and for that I think we need to develop our talent and get them some reps.



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Win out and a close loss to Zags in WCC title game still might be enough to punch a ticket to The Dance 8) 25-9 with a win in Spokane over #2 or #3 team in country? Just sayin'

I think an at large bid is pretty much nonexistent at this point. Going to have to win the WCC tourney.



But, if there is to be any hope for an at large bid, all games are must wins from here on out.



After Gonzaga, the WCC gets all muddy. I suspect the only way the WCC gets 2 bids is if someone other than Gonzaga wins the WCC tourney.



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Gunk wrote:
I think an at large bid is pretty much nonexistent at this point. Going to have to win the WCC tourney.



But, if there is to be any hope for an at large bid, all games are must wins from here on out.



After Gonzaga, the WCC gets all muddy. I suspect the only way the WCC gets 2 bids is if someone other than Gonzaga wins the WCC tourney.



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I agree that this is pretty much the case. Who would have thought that San Diego and Pepperdine would be the teams that kept BYU out of the NCAA discussion :~(

Yeah, I wish we had pulled off W in those games against SD, Pepperdine, not to mention non-conf games earlier int he year like SD State (that guy should have been called for a travel), and others. I also wish Austin were healthy and that Aytes could have been on board already.



Win out the rest of the season and who knows what happens for the postseason. I get that a win at Gonzaga this year would be a major upset, but it's fun to hope!

McY wrote:
Yeah, I wish we had pulled off W in those games against SD, Pepperdine, not to mention non-conf games earlier int he year like SD State (that guy should have been called for a travel), and others. I also wish Austin were healthy and that Aytes could have been on board already.



Win out the rest of the season and who knows what happens for the postseason. I get that a win at Gonzaga this year would be a major upset, but it's fun to hope!

That's the fun thing about basketball. It's not over till the last game. There's still hope.