The unofficial online home for fans of the Kent State University Golden Flashes. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

I subscribe to CollegeRPI.com--Jerry Palm--who is generally acknowedged to the be the most accurate RPI listing in the business. He is dead on come tourney selection time. He updates his ratings every morning for subscribers.
Nice win last night because Miami's good RPI based on a great SOS.
We moved up to #29. (However, his projected RPI for us is #31 and that would presume we win out! SOS retreats from here on out.)
Also has us as a 10 seed in his brackets.

ESPN Insider has Kent listed as a #8 seed with Cincinnati, Oregon and Wyoming. RPI of 30. All as of February 4.

GO Flashes!!

I doubt we can do better than 8, even if we win out. No difference between 8-9 anyway and you get the 1 seed if you win. We had a better draw last year, actually. Getting to 7 would make a lot of difference, but I can't foresee the circumstances that would get us there.

What do you think it will take to be in a position for an at-large if we don't win again at Gund? I'm thinking 24 or 25 wins, plus definitely getting to the MAC Championship game.

A 6-2 finish in the MAC ... (hoping to win out at home and split on the road)

A win against Hawaii ...

And 2 wins in the conference tourney ...

Adds up to 25 wins. Obviously, I'd rather get it done the old fashion way, but we're closer to the pack this year than last, and knowing what has historically happened in the MAC tournament, it's a war.

Plus, an "L"or two would guarantee that we don't get an 8/9 seed. :rolleyes:

I think we are walking a tightrope. The conference is ranked #11, which means, basically, we'll get no respect for 15-3 or 14-4. I think we have to keep our RPI in the low thirties and win two in the MAC tourney to have a shot at an at-large. A big plus is that we are on the radar and if we can avoid falling off the radar, like with back-to-back losses, we have a good chance. The selection committee looks very closely at the last 10 games, especially road games. We are looking good now, but we could sure use a win tonight and next Wed. @ Ball. Then we are down to 2 road games--Marshall and OU. We are in our last 10 now--9 plus first tourney game. It all starts tonight--we are 0-0 and have put ourselves in a position to get the job done, something no other MAC team can do now.

True axeme, especially the rpi. How can we forget '99-'00? But, the killer then was losing in the quarters to OU at Gund. Anyhow, the remainder of the road schedule scares the heck out of me. Probably the two toughest places to win on the road in Anderson and the Convo, plus a jaunt to Muncie and Huntington is never easy.

Just looking at it from the resume that the selection committee would have on the table come March 16, I would think that we'd be on the bubble, yet be positioned well. A team with a 25-5 record, regular season MAC champion, Elite 8 last year, and some decent, yet not great, OOC wins. What more can you realistically ask? If you're saying we have to win 26 or 27 ... I'm extremely pesimistic.

But, we do have a 'decent' road record in the MAC recently don't we?

Road wins are awfully tough, though I hope this team continues to show it can play anywhere. Very strong road/neutral record which I think carries over from last year. You need a fearless road team to have post-season success anyway. And we have that.
I don't know if the number of wins is as important; I think timing of any losses is critical. Losing those back-to-back games to OU to end 2000 killed us right there. As long as a loss is just a loss and doesn't look like a pattern, I think we will be OK.
Really, really want to win tonight! Got to get the payback!

Good news:
This morning our RPI went up (down?) to 27 thanks to some losses by teams nearby.
We are just ahead of Auburn, Indiana, and Ariz. St.

Quote:We are just ahead of Auburn, Indiana, and Ariz. St.

Who is Indiana? Never heard of 'em.

What a shooting display they put on us last year. What could have been. :(



<!--EDIT|Goozer|Feb 6 2003, 01:27 PM-->

I know. A once in a lifetime shooting performance and what a time to have it. We STILL almost had 'em, too!

I can't complain about an elite 8 appearance, but i have a problem with the game plan of double/triple teaming Jeffries and letting Indiana shoot all those wide open threes. History has proven that IU boys can always shoot. I would have much rather have had the low post game beat us?

Don't know the affect on our RPI... but tonight felt good!!! Nice to avange the loss to BG. This team is getting rattle proof on the orad. Nice pattern for March.

Go FLASHES

RPI as of this a.m. is still #27.
Hard to improve even if we win now, as we play NIU #155.
Ball is #135, and eveyone else on the sched, besides Akron #185 and Hawaii #72, is above #200! (OU twice, Marshall, Buffalo)
Tough RPI row to hoe! :(
Just have to keep winning!

Checked ESPN Insider again.

Projected seed at #8 with RPI of 30. SOS at 126.

Better SOS than #8 seeds Creighton (238!) and Wyoming (162). Interestingly, MAC has a conference RPI of 11 - better than MVC with Creighton and Southern Illinois at 14.

GO Flashes!

I don't know which RPI Lunardi uses, but he only updates that stuff once a week.
CollegeRPI.com updates daily and is a very reliable predictor of the formula the NCAA uses. The ESPN/Bracketology RPI is a game or two behind by this time of the week. No matter what we do tomorrow, if Xavier beats UD, they will probably go by us.