Could UNI Play Their Way Back on the Bubble?

by **BirdmanBB** » February 4th, 2012, 9:39 pm

Could they do it with a strong finish in valley play and a bracketbuster win?

Some of the losses look bad, but otherwise the resume is pretty solid with wins over Iowa St., Colorado St. and now Creighton. A win @WSU and and @VCU should get them back in the discussion right? I'm thinking it would take at least 4 more wins in the valley and at least 1 win in St. Louis. That would make them something like 22-11 on the year with a top 50 RPI and SOS with potentially 5-6 quality wins.

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by **valleychamp** » February 4th, 2012, 9:44 pm

I think the answer is yes, they technically could, but it more than very likely is not going to happen.

I think UNI could do it, if they managed 1 or fewer losses the rest of the regular season, and won a game or maybe even two in STL. Very doubtful.

Its really too bad we have some of the horrible losses that we do, because we have some really quality wins.

by **getreal4** » February 4th, 2012, 9:54 pm

Only if no losses until MVC tourney final. Unlikely, but a remote possibility, yes.

by **pafan** » February 4th, 2012, 10:06 pm

If I was looking for a third Valley team to put on the bubble, it would be UNI and not MSU - better non-con and likely a better Valley performance. But knowing what we know now, I'd be surprised if the Valley got 3 teams -- we still don't have a favorite for third place.

by **Jet915** » February 4th, 2012, 10:06 pm

Winning @WSU and @VCU would put them back in the bubble talk assuming they only lose 1 or 2 more games total. It's a huge uphill climb.

by **MVCfans** » February 4th, 2012, 10:15 pm

If Iowa State was considered a good bet for an at large, hopoefully some of those same people reevaluate Northern Iowa's resume.

by **PantherSigEp** » February 4th, 2012, 10:25 pm

It is a possibility but the likeliness is very low considering what we've seen from these guys so far this season. I would absolutely love a nice run to the MVC final from this point

by **BirdmanBB** » February 4th, 2012, 10:43 pm

pafan wrote:If I was looking for a third Valley team to put on the bubble, it would be UNI and not MSU - better non-con and likely a better Valley performance. But knowing what we know now, I'd be surprised if the Valley got 3 teams -- we still don't have a favorite for third place.

Right now it's the redbirds place to lose as we hold the tiebreaker over MSU. We also got a home game on Wed against Drake where it is looking like Simons will be out.

by **GOREDBIRDS4** » February 4th, 2012, 11:34 pm

0% chance.

by **squirrel** » February 5th, 2012, 12:11 am

Normally, I'd like to think they could. I mean they still have the reasonably solid RPI.

They'd pretty much have to win out, especially @ Wichita.

But I can also think of 1 very solid reason to keep them out: Bradley.

Throw in a loss at SIU and you have 2 losses against the lowest rated RPI teams in the league. That most assuredly will not gain you an invite.

Of course on February 8 in 2006, Bradley suffered its 2nd consecutive loss and was sitting at 13-9 and 7-7, and we didn't have a premier BB matchup (Tenn Tech).

On the other hand, when we were a better end-to-end team in 2007 with an NCAA resume AND premier BB win in hand (@ VCU on ESPN2) we didn't get it.

So who knows?