[81alum]

We are fortunate that after the emotional weekend in Oregon, we are coming home, and we have two relatively weak teams.  Of course all of that could inspire overconfidence and lead to another Western Illinois, but somehow I think our earlier adversity will be enough to keep us on track and focused on these two. 

Then C al comes to Maples.  Whoever wins the first game against C al will lose some of its edge for the second game.  It always seems to happen with this rotten schedule that has rivals playing each other twice within 4 days.  I would think we would be favored in that first game, and that leaves me even more worried about the second game at C.al.  The first game, however, could be Britt and Kaylee's last at Maples, and there is no knowing how those emotions might manifest.  But let's say we win that first game, then we go on the road to play C.al, that will have "scouted" us a few days earlier by playing us.  It will be at their place on their senior day, with Cowling and Davidson playing their last game in front of the home crowd.  They could play an inspired game.

Then the final week's road trip to Seattle and Pullman has me terrified, especially if we win our next four and beat C.al twice.  After getting through Oregon, then (possibly) sweeping through Utah and Colorado and C.al, and looking ahead to the two tournaments barely around the corner, it would be oh so easy to lose the emotional edge.  Washington and WSU especially would love to cap disappointing seasons by knocking off the Pac 12 leader.  WSU could redeem its whole season if they beat Stanford for the first time in their history on their senior day, and they do have many highly talented players.  In their first game against us, they settled down after a poor first half and they outscored us the rest of the way, including in the 3rd quarter when all our starters were in.  At home they could play like they did in the 3rd quarter for a whole game, and we would be in trouble.

In short, while I think we ought to be favored in each remaining game, the odds that we lose one more game are still considerable.  A lot will depend on whether this team can figure out how to sustain itself and be emotionally charged for every remaining quarter.

[81alum]

We are fortunate that after the emotional weekend in Oregon, we are coming home, and we have two relatively weak teams.  Of course all of that could inspire overconfidence and lead to another Western Illinois, but somehow I think our earlier adversity will be enough to keep us on track and focused on these two. 

Then C al comes to Maples.  Whoever wins the first game against C al will lose some of its edge for the second game.  It always seems to happen with this rotten schedule that has rivals playing each other twice within 4 days.  I would think we would be favored in that first game, and that leaves me even more worried about the second game at C.al.  The first game, however, could be Britt and Kaylee's last at Maples, and there is no knowing how those emotions might manifest.  But let's say we win that first game, then we go on the road to play C.al, that will have "scouted" us a few days earlier by playing us.  It will be at their place on their senior day, with Cowling and Davidson playing their last game in front of the home crowd.  They could play an inspired game.

Then the final week's road trip to Seattle and Pullman has me terrified, especially if we win our next four and beat C.al twice.  After getting through Oregon, then (possibly) sweeping through Utah and Colorado and C.al, and looking ahead to the two tournaments barely around the corner, it would be oh so easy to lose the emotional edge.  Washington and WSU especially would love to cap disappointing seasons by knocking off the Pac 12 leader.  WSU could redeem its whole season if they beat Stanford for the first time in their history on their senior day, and they do have many highly talented players.  In their first game against us, they settled down after a poor first half and they outscored us the rest of the way, including in the 3rd quarter when all our starters were in.  At home they could play like they did in the 3rd quarter for a whole game, and we would be in trouble.

In short, while I think we ought to be favored in each remaining game, the odds that we lose one more game are still considerable.  A lot will depend on whether this team can figure out how to sustain itself and be emotionally charged for every remaining quarter.