Wichita State vs Cincinnati Pre-Game Discussion

[WuShock Reaper]

Cincinnati at Wichita State (Thursday, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN)

Joe Lunardi has Cincinnati in the Next Four Out category in his latest Bracketology, while the BPI Bracket Predictor gives the Bearcats a 59% chance to make the tournament. A victory on the road against a projected tournament team such as Wichita State would boost Cincinnati's tournament chances to 71%. A loss, meanwhile, would drop the Bearcats to 53%.

While Wichita State is currently in the tournament field, BPI projects the Shockers to finish 6.1-5.9 in their final 12 regular-season games, which would put them in danger of slipping to the bubble. Wichita has 11 leverage points riding on this game -- a win doesn't help the Shockers much here, but a loss certainly hurts. per ESPN

Chance to Make NCAA 02-06-20.jpg

[another shocker]

We just need to win our games and stop messing around. But boy i really enjoy watching the games. Unlike the Valley where we knew we were going to win. This just gives me an excuse to drink more so that i can say it calms my nerves. LOL.

not true. what a hackneyed take.

and.. final four and sweet sixteen while in the mvc. zipadeedoodah ncaa wins while in the aac.

[WuShock Reaper]

Pre-game Radio Show is up...

https://www.radio.com/keyn/listen

[Veritas]

Seeing how Cincinnati’s Swift Air chapter was about 24 hours late arriving in Wichita, I expect the Shox to win by 15 and put their boots on their neck.

[WuShock Reaper]

Viverridae = 71

Caryopsis = 81

Go Shockers!!!

[ShockerFever]

Chance to Make NCAA 02-06-20.jpg

I get a kick out of graphics like these. I don’t even know what they mean. As if ESPN knows what the selection committee is gonna do anyways.

[BOBB]

8-2 would be pure ecstasy...

Shakira doe

[Kung Wu]

Viverridae = 71

Caryopsis = 81

Bless you.

[WuShock Reaper]

Bracketology Bubble Watch: Cincinnati faces Wichita State in battle of teams near the NCAA Tournament cut line - CBS Sports

By Jerry Palm
Posted:02/06/20, 12:42pm cst

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/bracketology-bubble-watch-cincinnati-faces-wichita-state-in-battle-of-teams-near-the-ncaa-tournament-cut-line/

"Jerry Palm breaks down the implications for the eight bubble teams in action on Thursday.,,,We have half a dozen bubble games tonight, led by a double-bubble game in the American Athletic Conference. Bubble teams in action Thursday

Cincinnati
at Wichita State | 7 p.m. | ESPN: The Bearcats are on the fringe of the bubble right now. They have home wins over Q2 opponents Houston, Tulsa and Tennessee, but noting of note away from home. Cincinnati is also dealing with bad losses to Colgate, Bowling Green and Tulane. A win at Wichita would be its best of the year.

Wichita State
vs. Cincinnati | 7 p.m. | ESPN: Wichita State is also lacking quality wins away from home, but does have home wins over fellow bubble teams VCU, Memphis and Oklahoma. The Shockers cannot help fill the hole in their resume against Cincinnati, but they can avoid adding to their troubles.

Tulsa
vs. UConn | 7 p.m. | ESPN2: "First place Tulsa" is something pretty much nobody expected to say at any point this season, but that is exactly where the Golden Hurricane are. They are not at at-large quality team yet despite home wins over Houston, Memphis and Wichita State. Tulsa still has a couple of bad losses holding them back, including a Q4 loss at home to Arkansas State.

Houston
vs. Tulane | 9 p.m. | ESPNU: Houston has the best win of any of the AAC teams with its victory at Wichita State. If not for a home loss to Oklahoma State, we might not be referring to the Cougars as a bubble team. A loss to last place Tulane would make getting off the bubble difficult for some time.

[WuShock Reaper]

College Basketball Best Bets:... - Sports Illustrated

BY: THREE MAN WEAVE AND MAX MEYER
Posted: 02/06/20, 10:00 am cst

"College basketball experts Three Man Weave are back with their two best bets for Thursday's slate. They're rolling with two home teams, including one coming off a brutal buzzer-beater defeat. We're using the current odds from William Hill (as of 10:32 a.m. EST) for these plays. SI Gambling Producer Max Meyer will be submitting his best bet later on in an update.

Cincinnati at Wichita State
3MW Pick: Wichita State -5

The easy way out here would be to make a “Shocking” joke about Wichita State losing at Tulsa on Saturday, but I have higher expectations for myself. I was astounded—nay, flabbergasted—to see a Gregg Marshall-coached team lay an egg down the stretch against a Frank Haith-coached team, and Mr. Haith continues to be my college basketball arch-nemesis (but that’s an entirely different issue). The Shockers, meanwhile, desperately need a bounce-back performance.

It won’t be easy against a surging Cincinnati squad, but from a handicapping angle, this sets up quite well as a “buy low, sell high” spot for Wichita State. The Shockers just shot 6-for-31 (19.4%) from downtown—many of which were open jumpers—against Tulsa and couldn’t even get a game-winning shot attempt off in the last 10 seconds. Marshall lamented the awful shooting performance against a Tulsa defense that invites jumpers.

“You have to make shots,” Marshall said. “You have to make wide-open shots. We had a hard time doing that [Saturday]. Obviously we could have had more movement of the ball. We could have gotten the ball into the middle a little more. But the shots we were missing early in the first half, I’m thinking off the top of my head, four, five, six shots just wide open, no one near them. We’ve just got to knock them in.”

The Wichita guards and wings are too good to continue converting at such a dire rate from downtown, and losing on a buzzer beater should have the Shockers laser-focused on getting a win to stay within striking distance of the top of the American standings.

Cincinnati, meanwhile, has won four straight games (and six of seven), and the Bearcats are coming off an incredible comeback against Houston on Saturday night, erasing a 15-point deficit in the second half. It was an emotionally taxing half that required a home-run effort, and it’s easy to imagine a hangover/letdown coming in a hostile environment at the Roundhouse.

Another factor that’s absolutely worth noting: Cincinnati has had some serious travel issues in trying to get to Wichita, and the Bearcats will not arrive until Thursday afternoon, not long before the 6 p.m. central tip-off. That can really throw off a team— especially one that left it all on the court to edge out Houston on Saturday—and Cincinnati struggled in a similar situation when traveling to Tulane. The Bearcats had to take a smaller plane and stop multiple times on the way to New Orleans, and they ended up losing outright as 7.5-point favorites.

This is a similar spot to four weeks ago when I rolled with Wichita to cover against Memphis, and the Shockers jumped out to a double-digit lead in that one en route to a relatively comfortable cover. I’m expecting a similar performance in this one, despite a physical, in-form opponent. Alright, I’ll say it: I’ll be Shocked if they don’t get it done."