[81alum]

I find the CardBoard fun reading.  There are so many interesting threads, full of insights, facts and opinions.  Let me humbly attempt to add my own.  I’m going way out on a limb and predict the WBB team will enter the NCAA Tournament with 4 losses.

That is a reasonable prediction, and all the potential losses are the ones I would worry about as well.  We are a very young but highly talented team and we have already seen some inconsistency.  That usually leads to losing some winnable games.  And the Oregon/Oregon State juggernaut is a very tall challenge.

From 2000-2014 we were 1st in the Pac 12 every year, and the Pac 12 was lopsidedly Stanford.  Even in those years we often lost a Pac 12 game somewhere along the way.  Only 4 times in those 15 years were we undefeated in Pac 12 play--and it was a heck of a lot easier to run the table then than it will be today.  In those years our biggest problem was that the Pac 12 didn't give us a good enough RPI for a high level seeding in the NCAAs.  Now, 3 of the top 5 teams are in the Pac 12.  

There are so many variables.  What will the injury situation be?  Can our youngsters develop fast enough to measure up to Oregon's experience?  Will we be ahead or behind the development of that other very youthful team--Oregon State?  If we get healthy and develop fast I could see us having a miracle year and dropping only a game or two.  But it would also be possible for Oregon alone to give us 3 losses, splitting with OSU and Arizona, dropping another somewhere else (UCLA?), etc.  We could drop a game in December to Tennessee or Ohio State.  My gut tells me will do better than that, but my brain says "not so fast."  Anywhere from 1-7 losses seems plausible to me and your prediction is right in the middle of that range.

[81alum]

I find the CardBoard fun reading.  There are so many interesting threads, full of insights, facts and opinions.  Let me humbly attempt to add my own.  I’m going way out on a limb and predict the WBB team will enter the NCAA Tournament with 4 losses.

That is a reasonable prediction, and all the potential losses are the ones I would worry about as well.  We are a very young but highly talented team and we have already seen some inconsistency.  That usually leads to losing some winnable games.  And the Oregon/Oregon State juggernaut is a very tall challenge.

From 2000-2014 we were 1st in the Pac 12 every year, and the Pac 12 was lopsidedly Stanford.  Even in those years we often lost a Pac 12 game somewhere along the way.  Only 4 times in those 15 years were we undefeated in Pac 12 play--and it was a heck of a lot easier to run the table then than it will be today.  In those years our biggest problem was that the Pac 12 didn't give us a good enough RPI for a high level seeding in the NCAAs.  Now, 3 of the top 5 teams are in the Pac 12.  

There are so many variables.  What will the injury situation be?  Can our youngsters develop fast enough to measure up to Oregon's experience?  Will we be ahead or behind the development of that other very youthful team--Oregon State?  If we get healthy and develop fast I could see us having a miracle year and dropping only a game or two.  But it would also be possible for Oregon alone to give us 3 losses, splitting with OSU and Arizona, dropping another somewhere else (UCLA?), etc.  We could drop a game in December to Tennessee or Ohio State.  My gut tells me will do better than that, but my brain says "not so fast."  Anywhere from 1-7 losses seems plausible to me and your prediction is right in the middle of that range.