No cupcakes here: 46-4

[Section 116]

While I would have liked to seen a win, or two, or more from the opponents who have beaten the Zags to date it is worth noting the combined records of those teams is sitting at 46-4:

San Diego State: 10-0
Kansas State: 9-1
WSU: 7-1
Illinois: 9-1
Notre Dame: 9-1

The current records of the the "name" teams on the schedule through Jan 2, 2011:

Baylor: 6-0
Xavier: 6-2
Oklahoma St: 9-1
Wake Forest: 5-3

Add those numbers to the above 46-4 won/loss opponent record and you get an astounding 72-10. I doubt there is another team in America with an opponents record even approaching those numbers!

[gamagin]

+1

While I would have liked to seen a win, or two, or more from the opponents who have beaten the Zags to date it is worth noting the combined records of those teams is sitting at 46-4:

San Diego State: 10-0
Kansas State: 9-1
WSU: 7-1
Illinois: 9-1
Notre Dame: 9-1

The current records of the the "name" teams on the schedule through Jan 2, 2011:

Baylor: 6-0
Xavier: 6-2
Oklahoma St: 9-1
Wake Forest: 5-3

Add those numbers to the above 46-4 won/loss opponent record and you get an astounding 72-10. I doubt there is another team in America with an opponents record even approaching those numbers!

thanks for the perspective. But keep in mind the plane has already departed for Jonestown in many cases, having shifted from final four talk to doom . . . .

[CDC84]

As disappointing as this season has been so far, I don't feel it's outrageous to propose the idea that many of the so-called great Gonzaga teams of the past would have had just as many losses as this year's group if they had been exposed to this kind of schedule. The 1999 elite 8 team by December 12 had three losses (Detroit and two blowout losses to Kansas and Purdue) against a sked that just wasn't as nasty as this year's sked has been.

[VinnyZag]

While I would have liked to seen a win, or two, or more from the opponents who have beaten the Zags to date it is worth noting the combined records of those teams is sitting at 46-4:

That record was fattened up by playing Gonzaga, which is clearly a program that's jumped the shark and has the worst team in D-I and probably couldn't beat Gonzaga Prep right now. If you subtract the games against GU, they're only a pedestrian 41-4.

[HOOTER]

As disappointing as this season has been so far, I don't feel it's outrageous to propose the idea that many of the so-called great Gonzaga teams of the past would have had just as many losses as this year's group if they had been exposed to this kind of schedule. The 1999 elite 8 team by December 12 had three losses (Detroit and two blowout losses to Kansas and Purdue) against a sked that just wasn't as nasty as this year's sked has been.

Which begs the question; Would it be wise to play this difficult of a schedule ever again? Was stacking the schedule with one great team after another a wise decision? (Of course, that somewhat depends on if anyone actually thought the schedule would be this difficult before the season began) Is this an issue of scheduling or personnel?

[cbbfanatic]

losing to good teams is nice, i suppose, but to ignore the numbers of the teams GU has beaten is disingenuous.

southern : 1-8 (not sure the "1" is even a D1 team either)
iupui : 5-6 (2 of those 5 not D1)
marquette : 7-3 (aint nothin wrong with that)
ewu : 2-5 (looks like both the wins arent against D1)

so it looks like the wins here are sporting a 15-22 record, but only 10-22 if you only are considering D1 opponents, which falls in line with RPI calculations.

just saying, there are 2 sides to this coin

[ZagLawGrad]

Alright, I guess losing is okay. Perfect excuses.

[HOOTER]

Alright, I guess losing is okay.

I'm surprised you didn't know that.

The truth is, anyone can lose to good teams. SOS is practically meaningless without some quality wins. The fact that Gonzaga's opponents are 46-4 is very little consolation.

[ZagLawGrad]

I'm surprised you didn't know that.

I'm beginning to come around with my continuing adjusted expectations.

[gamagin]

if you insist on a bad analogy, here's mine

Gonzaga, which is clearly a program that's jumped the shark and has the worst team in D-I

We're growing the beard.

[kclubfounder]

WSU's only loss was to Kansas State, so the best case scenario would be 46-1. Also, I watched IUPUI take #2 Ohio State to the finish line at Ohio State. The final was 75-64, but with about 3 minutes left Ohio State fans would have been thrilled with a 1 point win.

Just sayin...

[cbbfanatic]

WSU's only loss was to Kansas State, so the best case scenario would be 46-1. Also, I watched IUPUI take #2 Ohio State to the finish line at Ohio State. The final was 75-64, but with about 3 minutes left Ohio State fans would have been thrilled with a 1 point win.

Just sayin...

Sorry, go ahead and add one to the w/l figures from before, to account for IUPUI's moral victory against ohio state

[kclubfounder]

The original post made a legitimate point about the teams we have lost to. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, had tried to claim that our victories are anything to dance about.

Nevertheless a commenter takes the time to point out that the teams we have played are not impressive. I think that if one is to note that IUPUI has "2 of 5 wins against non-D1 competition" it is worth noting that one of the losses was pretty dang impressive.

[cbbfanatic]

The original post made a legitimate point about the teams we have lost to. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, had tried to claim that our victories are anything to dance about.

Nevertheless a commenter takes the time to point out that the teams we have played are not impressive. I think that if one is to note that IUPUI has "2 of 5 wins against non-D1 competition" it is worth noting that one of the losses was pretty dang impressive.

Sorry, "impressive losses" just don't so it for me. Maybe if a team ends up something like 25-4 with 5+ top 50 wins, a couple top 25s, and all 4 losses to top 25 teams, I would be impressed by that.

But absent those conditions, who really cares? Like someone said earlier, anyone can lose to good teams, but to only speak about the teams you've lost to (as a positive) with no mention of any teams beaten just strikes me as loser talk

[HOOTER]

Sorry, "impressive losses" just don't so it for me. Maybe if a team ends up something like 25-4 with 5+ top 50 wins, a couple top 25s, and all 4 losses to top 25 teams, I would be impressed by that.

But absent those conditions, who really cares? Like someone said earlier, anyone can lose to good teams, but to only speak about the teams you've lost to (as a positive) with no mention of any teams beaten just strikes me as loser talk

Absolutely. Who here thinks the selection committee is gonna give a damn about the fact that Gonzaga lost to a bunch of good teams? This whole conversation is silly. It's sad that we're even in the position to try to find the positive in losing. There really is nothing good about losing. Sorry.

Now there's still time to get a few good non-conference wins. If that happens, along with a solid performance in conference, then we can talk positives. As of right now there is very little to be excited about.