Staying above .500

[LittleBrave]

If BU wraps up the pre-Valley part of the schedule at 8-4, after which game (or around that time) do you think we'll hit .500?...or do we???

[Da Coach]

I predicted we'd be 8-4 when we played Drake Dec. 29. However, the MVC schedule is going to be far tougher than our pre-conference schedule. I think in March we'll look back and be amazed at how high some of the RPIs will be for many of the teams we played pre-conference. We would have to go 7-11 in conference and win our BracketBuster game to finish at or above 0.500. I think it's expecting a little too much, but possible.

[BUBalum05]

If BU wraps up the pre-Valley part of the schedule at 8-4, after which game (or around that time) do you think we'll hit .500?...or do we???

Optimistically, I think we play about .500 conference ball until a tough stretch from 1/26-2/2: @WSU, ISUred, @Cre. Starting at 8-4 then into that stretch, I bet we're 11-9, but 11-11 after playing at Creighton.

[LittleBrave]

The first 4 games in the league are critical to staying above .500

3 of the 4 are winnable - 2 out of 4 would be nice, and 1 out of 4 is probably expected. Having SIU and MSU back-to-back home games in mid-Jan. is a good thing, and we should take both games.
IF we find ourselves at 4-3 after Missouri St., call me crazy, but we have a good shot at staying above .500 for the whole season.

One thing I've noticed is that the bottom 4 in the league is not much better than we are - if at all. In fact, is Evansville that much better than us? I feel we should expect wins at home vs. the bottom 4 (other than us) in the Valley...hopefully our outside game doesn't cost us games if we are zoned to death.

[LittleBrave]

I predicted we'd be 8-4 when we played Drake Dec. 29.

You certainly did DC! Tornado talked me out of it, and I thought we'd be 7-5, losing to either IUPUI or CMU.
One of the few times that T has swayed me one way or another...

Of course, we haven't actually won 7 yet! Hopefully around this time next week, we will get to 8, surpassing the win total from last season!

[LittleBrave]

Optimistically, I think we play about .500 conference ball until a tough stretch from 1/26-2/2: @WSU, ISUred, @Cre. Starting at 8-4 then into that stretch, I bet we're 11-9, but 11-11 after playing at Creighton.

Which would mean we lose at home to the Redbirds, which as much as I'd hate to see, it will be a tough year to break the streak they have on us.

[Bravesfan]

If BU wraps up the pre-Valley part of the schedule at 8-4, after which game (or around that time) do you think we'll hit .500?...or do we???

Well first I think 9-3 is possible, because most likely we will be playing Portland and not Colorado St. in the consolation game. So that can make a huge difference towards whether we finish around .500 or not. Then 6-12 in the Valley and a BB win could get us into EIEIO tournament contention. That would sound pretty darn good considering where we have been the last couple of years!

[BUBalum05]

Which would mean we lose at home to the Redbirds, which as much as I'd hate to see, it will be a tough year to break the streak they have on us.

No, I'm planing on losing to Wichita and Creighton out of those.

I also voted wrong in the pole, misread which Creighton game you listed.

[real fan]

I have us 9-3 after the Vegas tour; before the season started I thought we would be 8-4 so we have gained a game , I still believe we are better then a lot of you posters believe do to our great defense and our offense is better then expected, Michigan came in and won but donT expect to lose over 2 more at home unles we have key injuries, 7 home wins in the conference would get us 16 wins as long as we take care of business in the Vegas Tour.
I know some or should I say most thought I was nuts when I projected 8-4 a long time ago but these players want to win and they are really putting forth the effort to do just that.

[thefish7]

I'm probably drinking the kool-aid but I think we could have 16-17 wins by the end of the regular season, so I voted over .500 for the season.

[Bravesfan]

Glad a lot of people are voting we will finish around .500, but I don't think most thought that would happen going into the season. That's why I still will predict 13 or 14 wins for the team. Hopefully they prove me wrong though. I want to see how we handle the consistent step up in competition night in and night out once the Valley season starts. There probably won't be as many cupcakes in the schedule despite the softish bottom of the Valley this year. Still most teams are better quality opponent than we have seen so far (sorry IUPUI and GW).

[Tulsa Brave]

If we're not at least 9-3 going into MVC play, then I don't seen any way we finish close to .500, because that would mean we would have lost to a team as bad or worse than Missouri State in the non-con.

[Tulsa Brave]

Glad a lot of people are voting we will finish around .500, but I don't think most thought that would happen going into the season. That's why I still will predict 13 or 14 wins for the team. Hopefully they prove me wrong though. I want to see how we handle the consistent step up in competition night in and night out once the Valley season starts. There probably won't be as many cupcakes in the schedule despite the softish bottom of the Valley this year. Still most teams are better quality opponent than we have seen so far (sorry IUPUI and GW).

GW isn't bad at all...would be somewhere in the 4-7 range in the MVC. They had chances to win at the end against both Kansas State (an upper-tier Big 12 team), and Rutgers (at least on par with South Florida).

[SFP]

I'm going to stay positive and say we finish at around .500

The tough thing is that the Valley teams will know our personnel fairly well the good thing we know theirs. If we can limit out TOs, play inspired D for 40 minutes and hit the shots we should there is not one team in The Valley that we cannot compete with. Yes that goes for CU and WSU as well. .500 ball is doable and if someone steps up their 3 point shooting and Walt starts seeing the beauty of an assist then it could become a season where we can be chanting "we believe." There are too many areas I believe that we are lacking in the skills department but hard work, team chemistry, good coaching and a little luck have taken teams further along then what anyone has predicted. We'll find out by mid-January what this team is capable of. I hope they make us proud! The one thing that I'm pleased with is how our 3 bigs are playing so far. If that continues we should be playing .500 during Valley play.

GO BRAVES!

[AZ BU Fan]

Key to 0.500 or better for BU this season:

• Team bigs stay reasonably healthy
• GF ability to get this team to go all out for 40 minutes every game
• Consistent Team Leadership from someone from the starting 5 (something sorely lacking in previous seasons)
• Continued improvement from at least one underclassmen

Given these, which I think are within the realm of possibility, I vote BU stays above 0.500.....