I AM NOT GIVING UP ON THIS SEASON.. and you shouldn’t either…

[Minnesota Ute]

So Cal is 7-3 and we are 6-4, so what.  Cal will finish 12-6 at best, with losses to @AZ, home vs Oregon, and @Utah and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them lose to Colorado on Saturday making them 11-7.

USC is 6-4 like us, but they will finish 11-7 at best, with losses coming to Oregon, UCLA, Arizona.

We will finish at 13-5, with just one more loss and that is Oregon. With that, we are 4th or tied for 4th, not sure who owns tie breaker between us and Cal, but it is a fact that it took double overtime and some magic for them to take us down on their home floor, and we will route them in the Hunty, book it.  We were also competitive with Az, OU, & UCLA, but came up short.

We will be the 4th PAC team, and the PAC will get at least 4 in.  I just don’t see them taking USC or Cal over us if we beat USC head to head, and split with Cal, and finished with a better record in conference than both.  Wins in the tourney will help.

Talk of NIT is premature.  BTW, last night was a tough night for me, as this also happened to me (well, my son’s team) last night before I came home to a double OT loss, so…

https://mobile.twitter.com/RyanJamesMN/status/827349119136055296

It was too bad too, because they were up well over 20 before things went sideways.  They were victim to some tough calls, but also had ample opportunities to win that game, but took bad shots, turned ball over, etc.  At the end of the day, it’s hard to win on the road, always has been, always will be.  You have to play near perfect on the road against decent competition.

[utefansince79]

I’ll call it right now, Colorado (who is regaining their form) beats Cal on Saturday.  Now we have to get over a loss which drained us physically, emotionally, and mentally and get ready for a Stanford team we should be able to beat.

 

[Minnesota Ute]

Agree, Colorade may just well pick up our table scraps again.  But I am of the opinion that we absolutely crush Stanford.  I do not think they are drained, I think they are p**sed and are going to take it out on those stinky trees.

[sweetgrass]

basketball is starting to mirror football.

most of us had modest pre-season expectations and expected an NCAA Tourney bid was a long shot. After the first few weeks of conference play expectations quickly rise, just like football in October and the NCAA Tourney seems reachable.

We are now entering Utah basketball’s equivalent of the November Utah football schedule.

[Minnesota Ute]

Politely disagree.  This team is playing to their potential.  Yes, they lost a heart breaker double overtime game on the road at a team that had the same record as us.  Could we have won, yes.  Should we have won, maybe but most of us did not expect it.  This is hardly a WFT collapse like we’ve seen in football.  This was a tough road game and we came up just short.  If they lose at Stanford, then I will reassess.  But until they lose another one like SF, I am still bullish.

Now that said, if we find out that Collette is back in Concussion Protocol because of that spill, or if Kuzma has a leg injury as a result of that clear push in the back on that rebound that wasn’t called and he landed awkwardly, then I’m worried.  But assuming everyone is healthy, and we go out and trounce Stanford, then your comparison is not valid.

[loyter]

Larry’s teams tend to play exactly to their potential. Rarely a win over a favored team, rarely a loss to an inferior team.

[sweetgrass]

I don’t think I explained myself very well previously. I actually agree with you and gave your post a thumbs up.

While the loss last night was disappointing, Utah still sits in striking distance of an NCAA bid, and the rest of the season looms large. Utah is entering it’s November football schedule and still has opportunities. I’m excited for the future of Utah basketball and what Larry has accomplished.

If the Utes:

make the NCAA’s – awesome

if they make the NIT’s – great just make a little bit of a run

[Minnesota Ute]

Gotcha, I thought you were thinking of this Cal game as the November collapse, but yes, I agree that we are just entering proverbial November, so we just need to take care of business to avoid the parallel.

[deleted]

C’mon all, this is called being in a tough conference! Parity between best and worst and all of them are going to lose games fans felt like we should have won. I 

[Milton Vanderslice]

 This is a good observation.