Only if

[Like it is]

Only if :
We beat Akron
We beat Auburn
We beat Stanford
We beat Wake Forest
We would have 20 wins and only 10 losses !!!!!
Hell !!!!!!!

[ADavisTheGOAT]

And Florida and LSU on the road. We would only have 8 losses.

[ShadowHawg]

Add Dayton, Mercer, LSU, Georgia

[Like it is]

Agree!!!

[BadHog]

So close. But no cigar.

[PonderinHog]

At this point, we just have to build on it going forward.  HAVE TO!   :razorback:

[rude1]

So close. But no cigar.

This is what the whole season has felt like to me. Extremely frustrating season to watch. Not bad enough to just write the season off and forget about it, but not good enough to finish all the close games and be playing for something meaningful at this time of the season.

[ShadowHawg]

This is what the whole season has felt like to me. Extremely frustrating season to watch. Not bad enough to just write the season off and forget about it, but not good enough to finish all the close games and be playing for something meaningful at this time of the season.

We lost our leaders from last year's team and our toughest player wasn't here until the semester. If Beard had been available early this team might have won some of those very close games. But they didn't.

Now that there are clear leaders in place on this team, they have become a tough out.

[Atlhogfan1]

Can't do this to yourself.  The team is what it is.  Good enough to be competitive against its schedule and the breaks are evening out.  Be happy with the close wins it has gotten.  The calls late vs A&M in BWA, the TT player not hitting a layup at the end of regulation and the close win tonight. 

[BadHog]

This is what the whole season has felt like to me. Extremely frustrating season to watch. Not bad enough to just write the season off and forget about it, but not good enough to finish all the close games and be playing for something meaningful at this time of the season.

But this team is playing like they are playing for something. No quit here! If only....

[rude1]

But this team is playing like they are playing for something. No quit here! If only....

I give them props for continuing the effort in the face of adversity, but the chance to play for something meaningful has been squandered already, NIT doesn't excite me much.

[Ccwaziya]

A Quote from the movie Major League"Let's go win the whole Freaking Thing (Sec Tourney)".....#AnythingIsPossible

[Jonteviosk]

I give them props for continuing the effort in the face of adversity, but the chance to play for something meaningful has been squandered already, NIT doesn't excite me much.

Yes but if we win at home and go on a run to win tourney then everyone moaning would be meaningless

[Rawker]

All the "almost" games are wins if Qualls is still here.  Like I said in another thread, when it was confusingly hypothesized that Obasahan might have won the game with a few more seconds....couldas and wouldas buy you a pile of ____.

[Rawker]

Add Dayton, Mercer, LSU, Georgia

Yup....as painful an "almost" year as there has ever been with any of my favorite teams in any sport.

[hogwood]

We're coming together now. SEC is not strong and if we play as tough as we are now we can realistically win the SECT. If we make the NCAAT we are 0-0 again.

[go hogues]

So close. But no cigar.

Should be the UA's motto.

[elksnort]

If if and buts were candy and nuts, we'd all have a Merry Christmas.

Cliche' but true.

[BigSexyHog]

I said the same thing on the football team.  Oy if we would have beat Toledo  what a special season we would have had.  I got banned for it.  Go figure

[Atlhogfan1]

I said the same thing on the football team.  Oy if we would have beat Toledo  what a special season we would have had.  I got banned for it.  Go figure

I don't believe you.  Many of us commented about Toledo much more harshly than that and received nothing.

[hogsanity]

That is what was so frustrating about this season. Loses to teams like Mercer, Akron, and Auburn were just were killers.  Losing one of those means you have to win 2 somewhere else to make up for it, and you just run out of games. 

[Boardon Hamsay]

If we had won the games we lost, there's a pretty good chance we'd be undefeated right now.

[MikePiazza]

Knock the Akron loss all you want, but the Zips are 23-7 and won the MAC outright already with a game left to go.

Barring them losing early in their conference tournament, they are in the dance. Not a bad loss at all.

Mike is 89-7 as the Hog coach with a halftime lead. Three of those seven losses came this year. Stanford in Brooklyn, at LSU and at Ole Miss. If they hold on to the 17-point lead, make more critical plays down the stretch in Baton Rouge and don't go cold in the second half in Oxford, they would be 19-11 and would be able to play their way in, in Nashville.

Assuming they beat S. Carolina on Saturday, it would probably have only taken winning their quarterfinal game to ensure an at-large. At 21-12, Hogs are probably a 10 seed.

[bighog2255]

At this point in the season, you are what your record says you are. If you play the "what if we had won" game with all our close losses, then you have to do the same with all our close wins.

[hogsanity]

Knock the Akron loss all you want, but the Zips are 23-7 and won the MAC outright already with a game left to go.

Barring them losing early in their conference tournament, they are in the dance. Not a bad loss at all.

Mike is 89-7 as the Hog coach with a halftime lead. Three of those seven losses came this year. Stanford in Brooklyn, at LSU and at Ole Miss. If they hold on to the 17-point lead, make more critical plays down the stretch in Baton Rouge and don't go cold in the second half in Oxford, they would be 19-11 and would be able to play their way in, in Nashville.

Assuming they beat S. Carolina on Saturday, it would probably have only taken winning their quarterfinal game to ensure an at-large. At 21-12, Hogs are probably a 10 seed.

The Akron loss would not have been bad had it not been at home. But it is not just the Akron game, it is Akron, Mercer & Auburn, three losses at home ( hey they choose to play a home game in LR ) and three games they should have won and had they won they would be looking at 20+ wins, might be a bubble team, and would definitely be in the NIT.

[HoopS]

But those games happened. Just like that win at Bama.

We didn't chose to lose those games though. Things happen. It is sports.

Akron was a very experienced team and we were not. It didn't surprise anyone.

Lot of things factored into our losses but most of it comes back to having so many new starters due to graduation and the NBA. The growth from those games to now is very evident, if you chose to watch them play.

No guarantees what happens tomorrow or next week but I can tell you this, I picked us to win from 17-22 games this year and was considered to be a homer. Others who were considered being "realistic" were picking 12, 13 wins and sub a 60 scoring average. Turns out the realist were wrong and the homer was being real.

Tune in for my homer picks next season and I will check out you and the others who are just keeping it real.

[wheelspigharvey]

But those games happened. Just like that win at Bama.

We didn't chose to lose those games though. Things happen. It is sports.

Akron was a very experienced team and we were not. It didn't surprise anyone.

Lot of things factored into our losses but most of it comes back to having so many new starters due to graduation and the NBA. The growth from those games to now is very evident, if you chose to watch them play.

No guarantees what happens tomorrow or next week but I can tell you this, I picked us to win from 17-22 games this year and was considered to be a homer. Others who were considered being "realistic" were picking 12, 13 wins and sub a 60 scoring average. Turns out the realist were wrong and the homer was being real.

Tune in for my homer picks next season and I will check out you and the others who are just keeping it real.

Same as last season

[hogsanity]

But those games happened. Just like that win at Bama.

We didn't chose to lose those games though. Things happen. It is sports.

Akron was a very experienced team and we were not. It didn't surprise anyone.

Lot of things factored into our losses but most of it comes back to having so many new starters due to graduation and the NBA. The growth from those games to now is very evident, if you chose to watch them play.

No guarantees what happens tomorrow or next week but I can tell you this, I picked us to win from 17-22 games this year and was considered to be a homer. Others who were considered being "realistic" were picking 12, 13 wins and sub a 60 scoring average. Turns out the realist were wrong and the homer was being real.

Tune in for my homer picks next season and I will check out you and the others who are just keeping it real.

go check the predictions thread, I said 16 wins if Beard did not play at all and 18 if he did, IRRC.

[HoopS]

go check the predictions thread, I said 16 wins if Beard did not play at all and 18 if he did, IRRC.

then you did well. And shouldn't be surprised by the results.

[hogsanity]

then you did well. And shouldn't be surprised by the results.

I am not surprised, but this is a thread titled " Only If", and the conversation the OP started was looking at how close they were to a lot of wins. I picked 3, all at home, because winning on the road or at neutral sites, especially early in the season is hard for any team, so the losses in NY and at Wake were not nearly as harmful as the three close home losses. As I said, to make up for those three, they had to win 6, and they just did not have enough games to do so.

[Dominicanhog]

That is what was so frustrating about this season. Loses to teams like Mercer, Akron, and Auburn were just were killers.  Losing one of those means you have to win 2 somewhere else to make up for it, and you just run out of games.

I agree, the same thing happened in FB... Toledo, TT and A&M,  just win a couple in each sport ad it could have been a special year... the good thing is both spots are trending up and the future looks bright for both...as for the ones that got away.. Stanford, Mercer, Georgia and Auburn..... WPS.. :razorback:

[hogsanity]

I agree, the same thing happened in FB... Toledo, TT and A&M,  just win a couple in each sport ad it could have been a special year... the good thing is both spots are trending up and the future looks bright for both...as for the ones that got away.. Stanford, Mercer, Georgia and Auburn..... WPS.. :razorback:

The only ting that saved that football season is how good the sec is perceived to be in football. When they went and beat TN, old misses and LSu on the road, that was seen as a much better accomplishment than the bball team winning at Mizzu, TN and Bama. I am NOT saying it should be seen that way, but that is the reality of it.

[Dominicanhog]

The only ting that saved that football season is how good the sec is perceived to be in football. When they went and beat TN, old misses and LSu on the road, that was seen as a much better accomplishment than the bball team winning at Mizzu, TN and Bama. I am NOT saying it should be seen that way, but that is the reality of it.

I don't think MOST fan's reality is to compare difficulty in opponents with the intent to degrade the other sport.... I think MOST fans see two pretty good teams that are well coached and if not for a few circumstances, (new coordinators, losses of key personnel.. etc..) and think both teams could easily have had special seasons with just a couple more wins... it's not an either/or... as for saving the football season.. winning late, finishing strong, making a good showing in post season and creating excitement about next year, that's what saved the football season... all those thing are still in front of this basketball team.....  :razorback:

[hogsanity]

I don't think MOST fan's reality is to compare difficulty in opponents with the intent to degrade the other sport.... I think MOST fans see two pretty good teams that are well coached and if not for a few circumstances, (new coordinators, losses of key personnel.. etc..) and think both teams could easily have had special seasons with just a couple more wins... it's not an either/or... as for saving the football season.. winning late, finishing strong, making a good showing in post season and creating excitement about next year, that's what saved the football season... all those thing are still in front of this basketball team.....  :razorback:

IF they make at least the NIT, maybe. 

[Dominicanhog]

IF they make at least the NIT, maybe.

I can tell your excited for them...

[HoopS]

I can tell your excited for them...

he was so stoked after we beat Bama he was speechless.

[ShadowHawg]

That is what was so frustrating about this season. Loses to teams like Mercer, Akron, and Auburn were just were killers.  Losing one of those means you have to win 2 somewhere else to make up for it, and you just run out of games.

When you lose 87% of your scoring, you lose some games you shouldn't, especially early. You will also have some bad games like Auburn where you just don't bring it. Even the NC team lost to lousy Miss St and Auburn teams.

This team had it's chances in a large number of games but just didn't get it done in the end.

[ShadowHawg]

IF they make at least the NIT, maybe.

For people who haven't banged on the coach since the first day he was hired, definitely.

[MikePiazza]

When you lose 87% of your scoring, you lose some games you shouldn't, especially early. You will also have some bad games like Auburn where you just don't bring it. Even the NC team lost to lousy Miss St and Auburn teams.

This team had it's chances in a large number of games but just didn't get it done in the end.

Mississippi State wasn't lousy. Auburn was but they did have Wesley Person and Aaron Swinson.

[ShadowHawg]

Mississippi State wasn't lousy. Auburn was but they did have Wesley Person and Aaron Swinson.

They lost to them in 93 when they didn't even have a winning season. Beat us again in 94 when they were only a NIT team. I would call that pretty lousy but we can agree to disagree.

[Thepigdoctor]

Can't do this to yourself.  The team is what it is.  Good enough to be competitive against its schedule and the breaks are evening out.  Be happy with the close wins it has gotten.  The calls late vs A&M in BWA, the TT player not hitting a layup at the end of regulation and the close win tonight.

Christ...to wake up and be you must suck.

[Thepigdoctor]

If we had won the games we lost, there's a pretty good chance we'd be undefeated right now.

If the queen had balls she'd be the king