40 days and 40 nights

[CitizenKane]

I took the time to look at the Buffs schedule this morning. It has become clear that the only team CU has faced so far that is good is Wyoming. We thought some of the others would be good...but they haven't been. The same can't be said during the upcoming stretch. Starting December 7th and lasting 40 days and 40 nights through January 15th the Buffs play a schedule with only one team where a win can be seen as a given (OK maybe USC counts as two). Within this time frame we will all have figured out what type of team the Buffs have this year. Here is the schedule:

@ Georgia
Colorado State Aggies
Northern Colorado
Depaul (Neutral site)
TBD (Neutral site)
TBD (Neutral site)
UCLA
USC
@ Utah
@ Arizona

If CU finishes this stretch 3-7 or worse, then we know they are the same team that went to Wyoming.
If CU finishes this stretch 4-6 to 6-4 then we know they are the same team as last year after Spencer went down.
If CU finishes this stretch 7-3 to 8-2 then they have a chance to make some noise in the tournament.
If CU finishes 9-1 or better....ok yes, I am dreaming, but just imagine....

 

[Goose]

I actually can't argue most of this. Drexel & Auburn have been disappointments. Air Force & Lipscomb we knew would be bad. I think SF will be a solid team this year, but yeah, hardly barnburners. I'm not going to freak out over the Wyoming loss (same reason I didn't get giddy over the Auburn blowout), but we've pretty much done what everyone expected of us. About the only thing I will say is that I would include 6-4 might be in the same grouping as 7-3/8-2 - depending on the losses. Arizona is a potential final four team. We saw how good Utah was last night (without their second best player). The Georgia game & CSU game both scream "TRAP!". I'm not going to get alarmed over 6-4 in this stretch.

FYI - KenPom has us with 3 losses in that time frame (not counting two of the Diamond Head Classic games because, well, it's impossible to tell right now) - Georgia, Utah and Arizona. I can't argue that either.

 

[BuffTE41]

I took the time to look at the Buffs schedule this morning. It has become clear that the only team CU has faced so far that is good is Wyoming. We thought some of the others would be good...but they haven't been. The same can't be said during the upcoming stretch. Starting December 7th and lasting 40 days and 40 nights through January 15th the Buffs play a schedule with only one team where a win can be seen as a given (OK maybe USC counts as two). Within this time frame we will all have figured out what type of team the Buffs have this year. Here is the schedule:

@ Georgia
Colorado State Aggies
Northern Colorado
Depaul (Neutral site)
TBD (Neutral site)
TBD (Neutral site)
UCLA
USC
@ Utah
@ Arizona

If CU finishes this stretch 3-7 or worse, then we know they are the same team that went to Wyoming.
If CU finishes this stretch 4-6 to 6-4 then we know they are the same team as last year after Spencer went down.
If CU finishes this stretch 7-3 to 8-2 then they have a chance to make some noise in the tournament.
If CU finishes 9-1 or better....ok yes, I am dreaming, but just imagine....

USF is a good team actually. They were picked by many preseason outlets to be a challenger to Gonzaga in the WCC and finish in the top-3 of that conference. That will prove to be a valuable win for our RPI.

 

[Buffnik]

USF is a good team actually. They were picked by many preseason outlets to be a challenger to Gonzaga in the WCC and finish in the top-3 of that conference. That will prove to be a valuable win for our RPI.

I agree. I didn't think we'd cover with a double-digit win, especially without XJ. To win by 17 is pretty damn good.

 

[CVilleBuff]

USF is better than we think, as others have said.

When I look at that stretch, I see 6-4 as most likely. Hope I'm wrong and just unnecessarily pessimistic about CU away from Boulder due to the Laramie incident.

 

[Buffnik]

[tweet]540588274142965760[/tweet]

 

[patebuff]

[tweet]540588274142965760[/tweet]

Yes!

 

[Goose]

BTW, one thing that was discussed at the Dark Horse last night - DePaul may not be the "easy-ish" win that they appeared to be in the pre-season. They beat Stanford pretty convincingly - which can be written of as Dawkins gonna Dawk - and only have one loss on the season (a bad loss to Lehigh at home). I am curious to watch how they play against George Washington on 12/11 because that's our most likely opponent in the second round of the Diamond Head Classic.

 

[CVilleBuff]

BTW, one thing that was discussed at the Dark Horse last night - DePaul may not be the "easy-ish" win that they appeared to be in the pre-season. They beat Stanford pretty convincingly - which can be written of as Dawkins gonna Dawk - and only have one loss on the season (a bad loss to Lehigh at home). I am curious to watch how they play against George Washington on 12/11 because that's our most likely opponent in the second round of the Diamond Head Classic.

Yeah, I just don't know about DePaul. I'm not ready to become scared because Stanford went and pulled a "Dawkins" on the road. Any team that falls to Lehigh by 12 and beats UIC by 1 can't be good. It may not be the 25 point win we want, but it's really hard for me to see us losing to DePaul on a neutral court. Hell, DePaul potentially being a bit better than expected is a good thing for RPI. I noticed the GW/DePaul game as well. Glad we get to see both.