Am I wrong

[Shocker_Power]

in my thinking that we would have been better off had Cincy ran the table in the conference but for the two games against us? Wouldn't this and an AAC tourney championship assured us a better seeding for the big dance?

[asiseeit]

tell you Sunday at 5:15

[jdshock]

Having a share of the conference championship would almost certainly more than make up for the drop in seeding that we'd get from Cincy dropping a single other conference game to a quality opponent.

It would be a monumental task to take down Cincy twice. If we don't do it, we made it more likely we'll finish third, so it could be that it is actually worse for us in the long run. As of last night, though, that was the best case scenario.

[Slykryck]

I would think that Houston beating Cincy helped keep our Houston win/loss in the quandrant it should be in.

[Cdizzle]

Houston win/loss both now look better, while the Cincy win/losses will look basically as good.

But more than that: We ain't playing for 2nd place. If we somehow manage to get this thing tied up, we'll also get the 1 seed, which would put Cincy and Houston on the same side of the tourney bracket.

[pie n eye]

I disagree. The numbers guys can spell it out clearly but I doubt Cincinnati’s loss at Houston hurt their RPI rank much, if at all. Thankfully we aren’t in the Valley anymore so we don’t have to think in those terms. I want that reg season championship and the only way we even had a chance was for them to trip at Houston. Of course there’s still the small task of beating Cinci twice which is asking a whole lot but at least we have the chance now.

[forevershockerfan]

Houston still has tough road games awaiting them of Temple, Memphis, and SMU.

[Jhook89]

AAC conference champion got a 6 seed last year. I feel overall strength of wins and losses is more important to the committee.

[Cdizzle]

AAC conference champion got a 6 seed last year. I feel overall strength of wins and losses is more important to the committee.

I don't care about the championship because seeding, I care about the championship because championship.

Also, I fail to see how Houston (now 21 in RPI) winning is a bad thing from a strength of wins/losses perspective. They just came close to being locked in as a Q1 win for WSU. Cincy will still be regardless.

[eeshocker]

Forget about seeding and all that, imagine the final game of the season in Koch Arena vs Cinci for all the marbles. Biggest game in Koch ever??? Of course, it won't mean as much if they don't take care of Sunday.

[ShockTalk]

Some people are forgetting that this "situation" we are in was due to us losing 3 games in the easier part of our schedule while Cincy was going undefeated and sweeping 2 of the teams we lost a game to.

If you want to be champions, you have to play like champions. We didn't, they did earlier. With their loss to Houston, we now have a second opportunity to be champions, not also-rans. That is, unless, you're OK with being an also-ran. NOT SATISFIED. I'm hoping our team and coaches are not satisfied as well. What do you think they would rather have? Settle for possibly 2nd place or go for the championship.

[Jamar Howard 4 President]

I disagree. The numbers guys can spell it out clearly but I doubt Cincinnati’s loss at Houston hurt their RPI rank much, if at all. Thankfully we aren’t in the Valley anymore so we don’t have to think in those terms.

This is incorrect thinking. The RPI ranking does not care which games you win and lose, just how many of each, total. At the end of the year, turning any loss to a win would have exactly the same positive impact on RPI, regardless of the loss-to-win conversion was Savannah St or Houston.

To say "it won't hurt them much" is to get caught up in the fact that their up-to-the-minute ranking won't drop much from 2/15 to 2/16. What you are forgetting is how much it would have improved had they won.

[Jamar Howard 4 President]

And I say all of that as someone glad Houston won. Yes, Cincy's final RPI will be worse because of it, but I'd rather see Cincy as a weaker Q1 if it gets Houston into Q1 too.

[Jhook89]

I don't care about the championship because seeding, I care about the championship because championship.

Also, I fail to see how Houston (now 21 in RPI) winning is a bad thing from a strength of wins/losses perspective. They just came close to being locked in as a Q1 win for WSU. Cincy will still be regardless.

Lol I agree. You are arguing for no reason. Was replying to others on this thread who were saying the committee cared about who the conference champion is. The UofH win was better for our resume IMO

[Topshock]

A long way from happening, but if we beat Cincy twice, don't loose to anyone else and get the one seed in the conference tournament, then we likely wouldn't play Houston in the 2nd round and Cincy would. That would be a good thing but so far down the road it's not even worth talking about.

[WSUwatcher]

Unless something fairly remarkable happens the last five games, Cincy will finish either #1 or #2 for conference tourney purposes, WSU could go anywhere from #1 to #3, Houston will finish either #2 or #3, and Tulsa and UCF have the upper hand for #4 and #5. That makes finishing as the top seed definitely something worth hoping for, because #3 figures to be a much tougher semifinal matchup than #4 or #5 will be.