BYU vs Creighton

[nuk13]

Thanks again Byufan. Seljaas is very good but if we depend on 3's in the next game and they don't fall we could be out. Emery hit 25% and Fischer only hit 20%.

I am a lot happier with 3 games in the NIT than the one and done games we've been having in the NCAA. I hope next year we don't have the deer in the headlight reaction when we get in the NCAA. Hopefully this good run and the great talent coming in next year will cut our 10 losses in half.

If we can win our next game and Gonzaga can win theirs, the WCC should get a more fair shake next year. The committee will have a harder time giving us the straight arm.

[Schmoe]

It's too much fun watching Nate Austin's fire as he knows this is his last season of basketball. Dude gets fired up and plays with heart, even if he's not the most coordinated/talented.

[BlueK]

If we can win our next game and Gonzaga can win theirs, the WCC should get a more fair shake next year. The committee will have a harder time giving us the straight arm.

I've followed the selection committee and their process extremely closely for the last several years, and I really don't think it matters next year what BYU or Gonzaga do in the NCAA or NIT this year. Gonzaga was an elite 8 team last year but barely got in this time by virtue of winning the autobid. They very easily could have been in the NIT otherwise. They didn't get a bump because of their tournament last year. Their 11 seed was reflective of this season. They did have a good schedule but they lost all those games. If close losses to Arizona and S. Methodist are wins then they're looking at more like a 7 seed. The win over SMC in the final was enough to bump them up to an 11. Otherwise they're most likely on the wrong side of the bubble, or one of the last two or so teams in.

Every year the committee has proven what it cares about, and it's only about beating good teams (as defined by the rpi) and your schedule (as defined by the rpi, with a special emphasis on the part of the schedule a team controls -- non-conference games). It's the reason BYU made the tournament last year and the year before. They can even be very forgiving about bad losses. We had killer non-conference schedules and had just enough decent wins to sneak in. But we wouldn't have without killing ourselves in the non-conference.

This year we didn't have that kind of schedule and didn't have the key wins. It really doesn't matter to the committee how inherently good a team appears to be on paper. It's all about who you beat and who you played. That's even more the case with the bubble teams. St. Mary's is a very good team. But they didn't challenge themselves much outside of the league What fans who don't follow this as closely have a hard time understanding is that they don't think in the same terms. They watch a team play and they formulate an opinion bout them based largely on "eye test" stuff. That's why even hard core BYU fans were surprised when we got into the tournament in 2015 and 2014. But for the committee it's more about inviting the teams that "deserve" it based on their on the court results and schedule and not which teams "look" like they have the best roster.

Mark Few was right on target with his comments. The problem is that the rest of the WCC are not really THAT bad. It's just that they mostly don't challenge themselves in their non-conference schedules and don't perform better before the conference games start, making Gonzaga's wins against them appear less impressive than they probably should, and any losses look worse than they should.

Basically, WCC teams outside of the top 3 don't give a crap about what the selection committee is going to think of their rpi or schedule. They figure their only shot is winning the tournament. They have a minor conference mentality that even the lower rung MWC teams didn't. Even Big West teams for crying out loud are better about this than most WCC teams are.

[frdbtr]

I know the NIT is a consolation prize but BYU has benefitted much more being in the NIT than they would have if they had been a 13 or so seed in the NCAA tourney. I have been watching these NIT games and BYU's young guys are really coming along. The more practice and playing time they get is nothing but good.

[hawkwing]

I'm not so sure, if BYU had been a double digit seed in the NCAA and played a PAC team we'd still probably be in the tournament.

BAM!

[BlueK]

I know the NIT is a consolation prize but BYU has benefitted much more being in the NIT than they would have if they had been a 13 or so seed in the NCAA tourney. I have been watching these NIT games and BYU's young guys are really coming along. The more practice and playing time they get is nothing but good.

We would have been an 11 or 12 had we won the WCC tournament, because believe it or not, even this team had a better resume than the 13s.

[Qman]

My goal for the NIT is for Jamal Aytes to smile once. Since he has fallen out of the rotation I haven't seen a single smile.

[Gunk]

My goal for the NIT is for Jamal Aytes to smile once. Since he has fallen out of the rotation I haven't seen a single smile.

Seriously, what happened to that guy. So much hype. Didn't have an injury setback early in the season again?

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[BYULV]

My goal for the NIT is for Jamal Aytes to smile once. Since he has fallen out of the rotation I haven't seen a single smile.

Seriously, what happened to that guy. So much hype. Didn't have an injury setback early in the season again?

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

if I recall, he did have another injury setback early on, ankle, I believe. But when he did start getting playing time, he made a lot of mistakes and has never gotten to his expected form.

[imuakahuku]

My goal for the NIT is for Jamal Aytes to smile once. Since he has fallen out of the rotation I haven't seen a single smile.

Seriously, what happened to that guy. So much hype. Didn't have an injury setback early in the season again?

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

if I recall, he did have another injury setback early on, ankle, I believe. But when he did start getting playing time, he made a lot of mistakes and has never gotten to his expected form.

To me it seems he likes the ball up top or way on the wing and wants to drive in. I think Rose wants him to post up instead. We have better ball handlers that can drive in so we need him inside. kind of the like the problem with Nielson. He want to float around the 3pt line but Rose wanted him underneath banging bodies. I think that is the only reason Worthington even saw the floor.

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