[d4cohn]

In albeit extremely early projections, we are among the next four teams out of the NCAA tournament. Given how incredibly strong the Pac-12 is this year, even by its lofty standards (Pac occupies #1, #3, #6, #9, #14, and #17 spots in Top 25), a .500 record or a barely winning record might be enough to get this team in the NCAA tournament. As such, winning as many games in the non-conference is critically important in order to reduce the number of conference wins needed to reach .500 (a team must finish at or above .500 in order to be considered for an at-large berth). So as to not anger the woofing gods, as a hypothetical math exercise only (I am not predicting nor projecting this), if we were to win all of our remaining non-conference games (4 more this weekend, followed by mid-week home games against Fresno State, St. Mary's, Pacific and Santa Clara during conference play), we would need only 5 wins in conference play to reach a winning record. Given that we have already lost an extremely close extra inning contest to Fresno at Kajikawa, if we were to lose one of our remaining 8 non-conference games, we would need 6 wins in conference play to reach a winning record etc.

Best chances for wins in conference will be at Utah to start Pac-12 play, and home series against Oregon State and Cal. We should learn a lot about whether this team is capable of reaching 5-6 wins (as Cred predicted last season :) ) right off the bat in conference play, as Utah has really struggled in non-conference play, and is at the bottom of the standings.

[d4cohn]

In albeit extremely early projections, we are among the next four teams out of the NCAA tournament. Given how incredibly strong the Pac-12 is this year, even by its lofty standards (Pac occupies #1, #3, #6, #9, #14, and #17 spots in Top 25), a .500 record or a barely winning record might be enough to get this team in the NCAA tournament. As such, winning as many games in the non-conference is critically important in order to reduce the number of conference wins needed to reach .500 (a team must finish at or above .500 in order to be considered for an at-large berth). So as to not anger the woofing gods, as a hypothetical math exercise only (I am not predicting nor projecting this), if we were to win all of our remaining non-conference games (4 more this weekend, followed by mid-week home games against Fresno State, St. Mary's, Pacific and Santa Clara during conference play), we would need only 5 wins in conference play to reach a winning record. Given that we have already lost an extremely close extra inning contest to Fresno at Kajikawa, if we were to lose one of our remaining 8 non-conference games, we would need 6 wins in conference play to reach a winning record etc.

Best chances for wins in conference will be at Utah to start Pac-12 play, and home series against Oregon State and Cal. We should learn a lot about whether this team is capable of reaching 5-6 wins (as Cred predicted last season :) ) right off the bat in conference play, as Utah has really struggled in non-conference play, and is at the bottom of the standings.