[washingtonismoney]

Hey, 76lsjumb, ask washingtonismoney where kenpom.com had us ranked this time last year. As I recall, it was just about this same spot. And we had something like an 80 percent chance of making the NCAA tournament. And then conference play started...

I believe we were in the thirties or forties at this time last year. Because kenpom.com has gone to a freemium model, I can't verify (well, I could go digging through my old posts but I won't.) At any rate, a comparison of our early schedule reveals some difference between the two teams: this year, through nine games, Stanford's beaten two Big Six conference teams and lost to a top-5 opponent on basically their home court; last year, through nine games, the team was 6-3, had beaten one Big Six conference team while losing to Murray State, Tulsa, and Butler. In the tenth game we played Oklahoma State and lost by eleven; this year we beat them by fifteen, a twenty-six point swing (granted, part of this has to do with moving from OK State's home floor to a neutral site.)

Anyway, I do think it's a bit early to declare "Mission Accomplished." There are certainly many signs for optimism, but the team won't prove it until conference play. And even then--Stanford could wildly exceed expectations in conference play and still get shut out of the tournament due to the Pac-12 Implosion Quest.

[washingtonismoney]

Hey, 76lsjumb, ask washingtonismoney where kenpom.com had us ranked this time last year. As I recall, it was just about this same spot. And we had something like an 80 percent chance of making the NCAA tournament. And then conference play started...

I believe we were in the thirties or forties at this time last year. Because kenpom.com has gone to a freemium model, I can't verify (well, I could go digging through my old posts but I won't.) At any rate, a comparison of our early schedule reveals some difference between the two teams: this year, through nine games, Stanford's beaten two Big Six conference teams and lost to a top-5 opponent on basically their home court; last year, through nine games, the team was 6-3, had beaten one Big Six conference team while losing to Murray State, Tulsa, and Butler. In the tenth game we played Oklahoma State and lost by eleven; this year we beat them by fifteen, a twenty-six point swing (granted, part of this has to do with moving from OK State's home floor to a neutral site.)

Anyway, I do think it's a bit early to declare "Mission Accomplished." There are certainly many signs for optimism, but the team won't prove it until conference play. And even then--Stanford could wildly exceed expectations in conference play and still get shut out of the tournament due to the Pac-12 Implosion Quest.