Question to the board...

I've always said a really good team doesn't get crushed....they may lose, but they don't lose by 20 points etc.

Do you agree or disagree with this statement?

Another question: Did the final four or any of our elite 8 teams since 1992 lose by 20pts or more at any time? I was trying to remember if they had and I cannot recall. Everybody loses, but not sure a really good team loses by 20pts.

I was going to comment on this after the XU game but we have been on such a tear since then I figured we finally "got it" and so it was a moot point, or so I thought. Then last night happened and it got me wondering again...

discuss

You have a combination of a team that was hot, and fueled by a raucous home crowd, playing another who had only two double-figure scorers, and this will happen.

Our FF team got blown out by about 20 to Indiana, in the Shoe, that year.

I don't take much stock in that at all. The UConn team that won the title a few years ago lost multiple games by double digits and still went on a tear in March.

Frankly this UC team has been punching way above their weight for a few weeks now; there was bound to be a let-down eventually and SMU was the perfect storm.

UConn, Memphis, Duke, Cincinnati, Creighton, Villanova, UCLA, Virginia, Pitt, North Carolina, UMass, VCU, Kansas, Texas, Michigan, Wisconsin, and New Mexico is just part of the list of tournament teams with large margins in defeat. Most of the teams in this group are going to get very high seeds.

thx for the input gentlemen...looks like my theory is wrong ha

Glad we have some time off to rest and hopefully Lawrence has some killer practices during the week as well

I don't mind a loss late before the ncaa to "wake a team up" and get it out of their system...maybe this will help us down the stretch.

It's troubling only if it continues. If UC gets clobbered by Memphis, UofL, and at UConn like SMU did last night then it becomes a bigger issue.

If on avg a team is mostly in every game, then that is a measure of them being "good". The outlier where they beat down or get beat by 20 pts should not weigh heavily in that question, if again it is the rarity and not the norm. This is a really good team worthy of a top 10 ranking with a chance to be playing in the second weekend of the tournament at the least.

I'm actually in a pretty good mood after last night. This is just starting to get fun! We aight. (<that's how my son puts it haha)

Not uncommon for that to happen to even the best of teams. As others have mentioned, it was the perfect storm. A team that has been unbeatable at home that is getting better that has been at home for like 11 days against a team that has been playing shorthanded playing their 5th game in 13 days, playing on less than 48 hours between games and having to travel halfway across the country.

I was actually impressed that we battled back to cut it to 7, though that was all we had. We really need this week off and hope it will recharge the batteries. I'd expect us to slip a few spots, though I hope we stick in the top 10, but have a feeling we fall to 12-14 based on one loss to a team just outside the top 25, even though we beat another top 25 team.

We will get to play SMU in the AAC tournment and the payback will be he11 for them. The Cats will not forget the beatdown, SMU will not be in comfy Moody, their dweeby fans will not be wearing 80s bball jerseys and dressed like Super Mario (WTF?) and the officials will not be in their pockets.

Fear not my Bearcat brethren: Revenge is best served cold or with a side of Memphis BBQ.

I just saw that we are the only team in the league to already have played 12 league games. Most teams have played 9 (Including UConn) or 10 games (Including U of L and Memphis). SMU has played 11 games, but head to UConn and Memphis, while hosting Louisville (Hopefully Moody Madness carries them in that one as well).

The schedule should be interesting and we are definitely in the drivers seat. Win the games we should and then get at least 1-of-3 (Preferably 2-of-3 with one against Louisville) and the league should definitely be ours. We have a tough finishing stretch, but really on UConn is on the road. Louisville has a brutal stretch to end the season as well, with the bulk on the road. @UC, Temple, @Memphis(2 days later), @SMU and then UConn. Memphis probably has the easiest stretch, though they go to Louisville, @UC and then SMU (2 days later, but at least at home). SMU goes @UConn, UCF, U of L and @Memphis. I find it tough that any of the top 4 can get through their closing stretches unscathed.

Same thoughts on my mind. If we see them again in the conference tourney, you better damn will be sure our guys are gonna be p!ssed and ready for that one.

It definitely happens.

Sometimes when teams are highly ranked in February, they start to get a little bored with the season. They know they're in the field, the conference race is going on, but it's not in the final stretch, and it's just hard to get up for every game. At the same time, it's generally a showcase game for their opponents.

Louisville lost at Providence by 39 the year the made the Final Four a few years back.

I remember Florida got crushed at Vanderbilt before going on to win their second consecutive national title, and they were a great team.

Syracuse, who was in the Final Four last year and unbeaten this year, was demolished by Georgetown in their final regular season game last year.