No need to panic

by CSon on Feb 12, 2008 1:43 AM PST

Yes the Washington loss was bad. But the Bruins are still 21-3. Lets not forget, on the same day last year (February 10, 2007) the Bruins lost to an unranked team in West Virginia to go to 21-3. As I recall, the Bruins still made it to the Final Four. The year before that, the Bruins finished the season at 27-6. And still made the Final Four.

We have a redemption game coming this Sunday against SUC and then Stanford at home. Combine that with a strong showing in the Pac 10 tournament and a #1 seed is UCLA's to lose. Memphis and Tennessee will battle for one, Duke and North Carolina for one and Kansas will probably get the final #1 seed. But honestly, none of those teams seem like a real threat. They ain't Florida, that's for sure.

Memphis has played a relatively soft schedule, isn't even in the top 100 in free throw pct and always falter down the stretch in the tournament. Tennessee plays in a football conference and in their only true test (Texas) got blown out. Duke is a 3-pt shooting team (Can't stand watching teams that only shoot 3 pointers! But guess it's kind of necessary to even the playing field for mid major conference schools. Almost like spread offenses do for college football)...but regardless that can only get you so far in the tournament. North Carolina has absolutely no defense. Both Duke and North Carolina play in a watered down ACC (at least this year). And Kansas is a bit overrated IMO. They've played 3 ranked teams (one of them being #24 SUC at the time) and have lost 2 of them, while barely beating SUC. And they're annual chokers in the tournament.

Don't want to be too optimistic here, but I would love to see banner #12 this year. Not saying it's going to happen, but I'd say with a healthy lineup, UCLA's chances are good.

BTW, classy move by our Bruins to not retaliate during the game on Sunday. I know if that was me, I would have decked that classless POS.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

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Agreed

We are sitting pretty despite our losses. Unless we have a complete meltdown like the ones we had under Lavin, we are primed for a long run in the tournament.

Whether we get a #1 or a #2 seed won't matter as long as we are seeded in the West Bracket. I checked Lunardi's bracketology this morning and he has Tennessee as a #1 seed in the west currently with UCLA as the #2. Bruce Pearl is a good coach and he has the Vols playing good fundamental ball, but any game against the vols would be a home game for us. The only other names to navigate are Gonzaga and Arizona in the West.

Then there is the probable Final Four teams, UNC, Duke, Memphis, Texas, Kansas, or Georgetown. None of those schools is as deep or plays in as tough a conference as we do.

This could very well be our year.

A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment. John Wooden

by MexiBruin on Feb 12, 2008 8:11 AM PST reply actions

From your mouth...

...to God's ears. I'm just hoping in my gut that the utter, all around catastrophe that was Washington, from our lousy defense to Aboya getting deliberately whacked in the face, will be the push we need to make it our championship year. If the last two years are any indication, we bounced back pretty well from ugly losses and the momentum carried us as deep as we could go before running into Florida. Damn, I hope it happens this year.

by bruininthelbc on Feb 12, 2008 8:11 PM PST up reply actions