@ Georgia

[Modsquad24]

I know we have 4 games in between, but I figure we should definetly be 11-2 and the UGA game in Athens is the one I can't quit thinking about. It is so critical to go get that one to take off in the SEC and avenge the game we had em beat there last yr! Wps! 

[RazorAg]

I know we have 4 games in between, but I figure we should definetly be 11-2 and the UGA game in Athens is the one I can't quit thinking about. It is so critical to go get that one to take off in the SEC and avenge the game we had em beat there last yr! Wps! 

We don't have to win that one.  We should not be favored.  We need to win the next two on the road - Tenn and Mizzou.

[-Blu]

We don't have to win that one.  We should not be favored.  We need to win the next two on the road - Tenn and Mizzou.

Is that not how we worked lately though?  Winning the road games we shouldn't (SMU/Kentucky) and losing the one's we should have (Alabama/Clemson/Cal).  I think we win 2 of our next 3 road games, just not sure which 2.  But, I read your other post about this not looking like a typical Mike Anderson team yesterday, and I agree, If we continue to play like we did yesterday and keep running the offense through Portis, I think we're going to be a much better team, especially on the road.

[HotlantaHog]

Georgia is a big game.  If Hogs lose all the same questions about the road performance come up again.

[Dominicanhog]

We don't have to win that one.  We should not be favored.  We need to win the next two on the road - Tenn and Mizzou.

I agree.. Georgia seems to have a good team.. they lost to good teams by respectable margins.. winning the 2 after that could get us to 7-1 in conference going into Florida...

[RazorAg]

Georgia is a big game.  If Hogs lose all the same questions about the road performance come up again.

They shouldn't, though.  We won't be favored.  That's a good team on home ground.  If we get blown out, I agree, questions need to be raised.  But, not just a loss.

[ErieHog]

I know we have 4 games in between, but I figure we should definetly be 11-2 and the UGA game in Athens is the one I can't quit thinking about. It is so critical to go get that one to take off in the SEC and avenge the game we had em beat there last yr! Wps! 

There are some decent teams between now and Georgia.   I'd not start out with the assumption that we 'should be' 11-2, before worrying about Georgia.

[RazorAg]

There are some decent teams between now and Georgia.   I'd not start out with the assumption that we 'should be' 11-2, before worrying about Georgia.

I'm usually that guy that's pointing out a dangerous mid or low major, but my opinion is that we should absolutely assume we will be 11-2.  I'm not discounting that it will take some nice performances by us, but we should win those games.  I don't think that should be debatable.

[forrest city joe]

Georgia is a big game.  If Hogs lose all the same questions about the road performance come up again.

Pure none sense.

[ErieHog]

I'm usually that guy that's pointing out a dangerous mid or low major, but my opinion is that we should absolutely assume we will be 11-2.  I'm not discounting that it will take some nice performances by us, but we should win those games.  I don't think that should be debatable.

These are the sort of games that we may well win by 15 points per game, and see our fans outraged that  'if we were any good, we'd beat these guys by 40, and that's after we quit playin' at half',  even though that hasn't been the way college basketball works in a decade.

The bottom and top are much, much, much closer today than ever before in college hoops.  Losing a game in this next stretch of 4 isn't unthinkable-- and neither would it be a season ender.

[forrest city joe]

These are the sort of games that we may well win by 15 points per game, and see our fans outraged that  'if we were any good, we'd beat these guys by 40, and that's after we quit playin' at half',  even though that hasn't been the way college basketball works in a decade.

The bottom and top are much, much, much closer today than ever before in college hoops.  Losing a game in this next stretch of 4 isn't unthinkable-- and neither would it be a season ender.

+1000. you get it man.

[Atlhogfan1]

SEMO - 229th in turnovers this season before 15 more in last night's 12 pt home loss to Mo St.  They are like Dayton in that they shoot less than 30% from 3.   

Milwaukee - Went to the Sweet 16 in 2005, won their conference tourney last season and then lost by 20 to Nova in the NCAAT and returned 3 starters.  More of a "challenge" than SEMO even at 4-6 right now. 

NW St - They did beat Lyon College by 11 and LSU Alexandria by 10.  We should drop basketball if we lose this one.  Or move the games to the HPER if we win by single digits. 

Utah Valley - Avg 57 ppg, on a 5 game losing streak and projected to finish behind Seattle and Grand Canyon in their conference.  They do bring back two starters from last year's NIT team.  I'm sure after this blowout win they'll be posts how we just rolled over an NIT team.   

Can't believe I even wasted the time to look at this road kill.  At least it is a better quality of kill than last season's ooc. 


UGa gets to the FT line at a good rate again this season.  I suspect they'll be tough defensively at home and rebound our misses.   

Last season's game:

UGa 28-39 FTs
Hogs 12-20

Rebounds:

UGa 56
Hogs 34

[lefty08]

Georgia is a big game.  If Hogs lose all the same questions about the road performance come up again.

Those questions will come up on here if we won 7 road games in a row then lost 1

[Breems]

They shouldn't, though.  We won't be favored.  That's a good team on home ground.  If we get blown out, I agree, questions need to be raised.  But, not just a loss.

That would assume more than 10-15 Jump Ball posters familiarize themselves with conference opponents before raging out after every loss and rejoining the "I've been apathetic since this loss I mean all year" club.

A loss anywhere raises all possible questions.

[Smithian]

That would assume more than 10-15 Jump Ball posters familiarize themselves with conference opponents before raging out after every loss and rejoining the "I've been apathetic since this loss I mean all year" club.

A loss anywhere raises all possible questions.

Well, traditionally losses do raise questions.

Every loss isn't end of the world, but the question should be what needs to happen to fix what caused the loss.

[ErieHog]

Well, traditionally losses do raise questions.

Every loss isn't end of the world, but the question should be what needs to happen to fix what caused the loss.

One of the nicer things about jump ball, is that you can see who watches college basketball, and who just follows Arkansas,  drinking from a commemorative cup from our 1990 Final Four appearance in Denver.

[Breems]

Well, traditionally losses do raise questions.

Every loss isn't end of the world, but the question should be what needs to happen to fix what caused the loss.

Agreed, but you're still in the "thinking logically" realm.

[GuvHog]

They shouldn't, though.  We won't be favored.  That's a good team on home ground.  If we get blown out, I agree, questions need to be raised.  But, not just a loss.

I respectfully disagree. The Hogs are picked to place no worse than 3rd in the SEC while Georgia is near the bottom of the middle pack. If the Hogs aren't favored, it'll be because they lost a couple of the next 4 games which isn't happening. They will be favored IMHO.

[RazorAg]

I respectfully disagree. The Hogs are picked to place no worse than 3rd in the SEC while Georgia is near the bottom of the middle pack. If the Hogs aren't favored, it'll be because they lost a couple of the next 4 games which isn't happening. They will be favored IMHO.

No, UGA was picked 5th both by the media and the coaches in the preseason.  And, if you followed the preseason talk closely, which respectfully, it doesn't seem like you did, most analysts said that there was little difference between Arkansas, LSU and Georgia; any of the three could contend for the 2nd or 3rd spots in the SEC.  This is a team that returned their stars and 6 of their top 8 players from a 12-6 SEC team last year.

[razorbackchamps94]

We don't have to win that one.  We should not be favored.  We need to win the next two on the road - Tenn and Mizzou.

We probably won't be favored in any SEC road games ...

[Danny J]

We don't have to win that one.  We should not be favored.  We need to win the next two on the road - Tenn and Mizzou.

I agree. I don't expect us to win at UGA. I do expect us to win at Mizzou for sure. We should also win at Tennessee but that will be more of a toss-up. I also expect us to win at USC, MSU and Auburn. So if we win the games we should win and win out at home we are 13-5 in conference. That isn't all that bad.

[HF#1]

I'm sorry guys but I don't accept the "We don't have to win at Georgia" mentality.  We need every road win we can get.  It's a very important game against a good Georgia team. 

This team has to start winning more than they are losing on the road.  It's a stigma that follows us everywhere and I would bet it's something that will have some bearing on our NCAA tournament hopes.   We need to win at Georgia, if nothing else, to start off conference play with some confidence that we can go into these other gyms and win games.

[PonderinHog]

I'm sorry guys but I don't accept the "We don't have to win at Georgia" mentality.  We need every road win we can get.  It's a very important game against a good Georgia team. 

This team has to start winning more than they are losing on the road.  It's a stigma that follows us everywhere and I would bet it's something that will have some bearing on our NCAA tournament hopes.   We need to win at Georgia, if nothing else, to start off conference play with some confidence that we can go into these other gyms and win games.

I would love to see us go into Georgia's house, win and set tone for conference play in game one.  Feed the Beast. His name is Portis.

[HF#1]

I would love to see us go into Georgia's house, win and set tone for conference play in game one.  Feed the Beast. His name is Portis.

Doesn't make sense to me why anyone would say that.  Kentucky and Florida are road games we "don't have to win".  Everybody else, is free game and beatable. 

Now don't get it twisted, I'm not saying we HAVE TO win EVERY road game or that we will but we need to win more than we lose imo.  Georgia would be a great start.

[PonderinHog]

Doesn't make sense to me why anyone would say that.  Kentucky and Florida are road games we "don't have to win".  Everybody else, is free game and beatable. 

Now don't get it twisted, I'm not saying we HAVE TO win EVERY road game or that we will but we need to win more than we lose imo.  Georgia would be a great start.

We had their asses last year.  No reason to go in there thinking we can't win.  Feed the Beast!

[TheRazorback500]

We had their asses last year.  No reason to go in there thinking we can't win.  Feed the Beast!

True this. It was kind of like the Clemson game-we gave things away late. IMO we're a better team this year; UGA's about the same. I expect us to hone things these next few games and be ready to go at Stegeman.

:razorback:

[Letsroll1200]

The bulldogs will be a tough team to beat because we haven't played well at Georgia. We had the bulldogs beat last season but let that game get away from us.

[SWarkansasman]

Not enough of what is needed to beat a quality team on the road, just not going to happen this season.

[TomBigBeeHog]

Not enough of what is needed to beat a quality team on the road, just not going to happen this season.

I feel you man. Been so long waiting and hoping for a good team that it is hard to believe again. It's kinda like that feeling of hesitation that Charlie Brown has when Lucy tries to get him to kick that football (our teams road frustrations).

Charlie knows that every time he has tried before, Lucy snatches the ball away at the last second. This time, Lucy promises it won't be like the last. Charlie wants to believe . He wants to kick the crap out of that ball but he knows all of the past failures and frustrations. Still, Charlie cannot resist. He tries to kick that ball and Lucy (the Hogs on the road) just can't help being Lucy, she moves that ball and Charlie (the frustrated fan) goes flying and lands on his butt.

Just keep believing Charlie Brown. This year we are going to kick that ball, Lucy be darned.

[-Blu]

Not enough of what is needed to beat a quality team on the road, just not going to happen this season.

Larry Brown says Hi.

[razorsharp94]

Larry Brown says Hi.

Because we lost to Clemson the NCAA took the SMU game away.  Did you not hear this?

[Karma]

Pure none sense.

You're a treasure.

[PonderinHog]

I feel you man. Been so long waiting and hoping for a good team that it is hard to believe again. It's kinda like that feeling of hesitation that Charlie Brown has when Lucy tries to get him to kick that football (our teams road frustrations).

Charlie knows that every time he has tried before, Lucy snatches the ball away at the last second. This time, Lucy promises it won't be like the last. Charlie wants to believe . He wants to kick the crap out of that ball but he knows all of the past failures and frustrations. Still, Charlie cannot resist. He tries to kick that ball and Lucy (the Hogs on the road) just can't help being Lucy, she moves that ball and Charlie (the frustrated fan) goes flying and lands on his butt.

Just keep believing Charlie Brown. This year we are going to kick that ball, Lucy be darned.

Charlie needs to learn how to make the proper substitutions... 

[bigdaddyhawg]

They shouldn't, though.  We won't be favored.  That's a good team on home ground.  If we get blown out, I agree, questions need to be raised.  But, not just a loss.

When you say they're a good team, are you saying they are a tourney capable team?  Or are you saying they are not a bunch of dogs?

I haven't seen them play this year, so I'm sincerely curious about this.

[TomBigBeeHog]

Charlie needs to learn how to make the proper substitutions... 

Lol. You are too good man. I couldn't do nothing but laugh out loud for real. Too funny.

[RazorAg]

I respectfully disagree. The Hogs are picked to place no worse than 3rd in the SEC while Georgia is near the bottom of the middle pack. If the Hogs aren't favored, it'll be because they lost a couple of the next 4 games which isn't happening. They will be favored IMHO.

FYI, line opened at UGA -2 and is now at -3 1/2.

[mhuff]

They shouldn't, though.  We won't be favored.  That's a good team on home ground.  If we get blown out, I agree, questions need to be raised.  But, not just a loss.

[Danny J]

FYI, line opened at UGA -2 and is now at -3 1/2.

Hard to argue with that. I hope we can pull it out but UGA is a legit team very capable of making the NCAAt.

[jjdlc]

FYI, line opened at UGA -2 and is now at -3 1/2.

About what I expected, a tossup.  If we can put everything together, it is winnable, but it is going to be a tough out.

[razorbackchamps94]

About what I expected, a tossup.  If we can put everything together, it is winnable, but it is going to be a tough out.

Looks like money going on Georgia ... Which is expected ...

[phadedhawg]

betting on Georgia with that spread is probably a safe bet. 

This is the year for us to show improvement on the road but until we do it we won't be favored to win away from Bud Walton.

[HF#1]

We don't have to win that one.  We should not be favored.  We need to win the next two on the road - Tenn and Mizzou.

This logic is flawed if you ask me.

[Hawg Red]

This Georgia game is an important one. One of the handful of teams in the league that will give us a resume-building win, but it's on the road only. It's really hard for me to tell myself it'll be okay if we lose this game because I don't know if that is true. We'd have to make up for somewhere on the road since LSU is the only probable tournament team coming to BWA. I guess there's an outside chance South Carolina will be on the bubble, but we probably need to win there, too.

[RazorAg]

This Georgia game is an important one. One of the handful of teams in the league that will give us a resume-building win, but it's on the road only. It's really hard for me to tell myself it'll be okay if we lose this game because I don't know if that is true. We'd have to make up for somewhere on the road since LSU is the only probable tournament team coming to BWA. I guess there's an outside chance South Carolina will be on the bubble, but we probably need to win there, too.

We are not that in that bad of shape RPI-wise, both the team and the conference, like in years past.  The SEC is one of four conferences with four top 50 RPI teams and one of three conferences with ten top 100 RPI teams.  It likely won't stay that way, but the change should not be drastic throughout the rest of the season.

A good number of road games are against teams that we have the best chance of beating - Mizzou, Tennessee, Auburn and Miss State.  At this point in the season, those are the four lowest RPI teams in the league.  We won three games on the road last year, you may remember.  My opinion is that we have to take at least 3 out of those four.  Then, if we lose to UGA, UF, Ole Miss, UK and USCe all on the road, that gives you 6 losses.  Hold serve at home against teams you should beat at home - again, no UK, UF, as well as UGA - and we're probably safely in the NCAAT at 23-8 (12-6).

[Hawg Red]

We are not that in that bad of shape RPI-wise, both the team and the conference, like in years past.  The SEC is one of four conferences with four top 50 RPI teams and one of three conferences with ten top 100 RPI teams.  It likely won't stay that way, but the change should not be drastic throughout the rest of the season.

A good number of road games are against teams that we have the best chance of beating - Mizzou, Tennessee, Auburn and Miss State.  At this point in the season, those are the four lowest RPI teams in the league.  We won three games on the road last year, you may remember.  My opinion is that we have to take at least 3 out of those four.  Then, if we lose to UGA, UF, Ole Miss, UK and USCe all on the road, that gives you 6 losses.  Hold serve at home against teams you should beat at home - again, no UK, UF, as well as UGA - and we're probably safely in the NCAAT at 23-8 (12-6).

Oh, don't worry, I remember our road wins last year. (?)

I just don't see where we get any good RPI wins only beating bad teams on the road and LSU at home. Just doesn't feel too comfortable to me. I'd feel a lot better if we beat Georgia. Even having improved on the road last year, we still lost to bad teams and we've already lost to Clemson this year on the road. You just can't safely assume we'll handle business against all or most of the bad teams. I'll take an NCAA birth however we can get it, I'd just prefer it not be squeaking in. Right now, our best wins are Dayton and SMU. Dayton is likely to slip in league play after losing two key players to suspension. Still don't really know how good SMU is but they should do well enough in AAC play. I'm just not comfortable with saying it's okay to lose to all the good teams on the road.

[RazorAg]

Oh, don't worry, I remember our road wins last year. (?)

I just don't see where we get any good RPI wins only beating bad teams on the road and LSU at home. Just doesn't feel too comfortable to me. I'd feel a lot better if we beat Georgia. Even having improved on the road last year, we still lost to bad teams and we've already lost to Clemson this year on the road. You just can't safely assume we'll handle business against all or most of the bad teams. I'll take an NCAA birth however we can get it, I'd just prefer it not be squeaking in. Right now, our best wins are Dayton and SMU. Dayton is likely to slip in league play after losing two key players to suspension. Still don't really know how good SMU is but they should do well enough in AAC play. I'm just not comfortable with saying it's okay to lose to all the good teams on the road.

Did you think I was being snarky by saying "you may remember".  If so, I wasn't...

Let me ask you this.  With the scenario I laid out and it leading to a RPI 35-40, would you then feel comfortable?  I'm basing this off of looking at several RPI projections in which there are predictors for each game.

In no way am I very confident that we'll go out do what I'm laying out.  In other discussions on other sites, I've stated that our record is what I thought it would be at this point; however, quality of play is down from where I thought it would be.

I'm simply factoring where teams are RPI-wise right now, looking conservatively at how those rankings could change, and laying out a scenario that should put us in safely.

[bigdaddyhawg]

This Georgia game is an important one. One of the handful of teams in the league that will give us a resume-building win, but it's on the road only. It's really hard for me to tell myself it'll be okay if we lose this game because I don't know if that is true. We'd have to make up for somewhere on the road since LSU is the only probable tournament team coming to BWA. I guess there's an outside chance South Carolina will be on the bubble, but we probably need to win there, too.

This.

[poloprince]

I'm amped up

[Hawg Red]

Did you think I was being snarky by saying "you may remember".  If so, I wasn't...

Let me ask you this.  With the scenario I laid out and it leading to a RPI 35-40, would you then feel comfortable?  I'm basing this off of looking at several RPI projections in which there are predictors for each game.

In no way am I very confident that we'll go out do what I'm laying out.  In other discussions on other sites, I've stated that our record is what I thought it would be at this point; however, quality of play is down from where I thought it would be.

I'm simply factoring where teams are RPI-wise right now, looking conservatively at how those rankings could change, and laying out a scenario that should put us in safely.

I'm assuming the Dayton and SMU wins will lose some luster, and that we'll be unpredictable on the road again. I do think we'll win 3-4 SEC road games. I'm also assuming that we'll pull out all home games but I'm starting to re-think that. The toughest home game is LSU and it's the last of the season. They have a lot of talent and have really come together going into conference play. They could beat us at home. South Carolina is another team that scares me with how they're playing right now, but that could change. I would just feel a whole lot better if we went ahead and got this Georgia win now. You lose to a bad team on the road and you pretty much have to make it up somewhere and that'll be tough to do at home. Won't be the end of the world if we lose tonight, but I'm not comfortable being okay with it. I'm kind of somewhere in between must-win and "not a huge deal if we lose."

[popcornhog]

Is that not how we worked lately though?  Winning the road games we shouldn't (SMU/Kentucky) and losing the one's we should have (Alabama/Clemson/Cal).

Forget about ISU?