On The Horizon

Jim Squire

The Morning Dish – Saturday, January 9, 2016--Hoopville
Pac-12 Bracketology: Non-Conference Season--Rush The Court

Oregon – IN

KenPom Non-Conference Strength of Schedule: #153
Quality Wins: Baylor, Valparaiso
Bad Losses: None

The Ducks have one additional quality win than most of their conference counterparts and that is what pushes the Ducks into the at-large field. Their best wins came at home against very good Baylor and Valparaiso teams, but their losses to UNLV and Boise State are teetering on the brink of becoming bad losses. The fact that they were both true road games will mitigate some of the sting there. In reality, how the team plays going forward may determine how the committee views their non-conference performance. The Ducks were finally healthy — something they never were during the non-conference slate — before it was announced that Dylan Ennis would be out for the season with a foot injury. Even with his minimal production this season it is a big loss given what could have been expected of him.

Oregon State – IN

KenPom Non-Conference Strength of Schedule: #141
Quality Wins: Tulsa
Bad Losses: None

The Beavers would love another crack at Valparaiso in their building now that they are humming offensively, but Oregon State is a particularly interesting case even without that win. Both Cal and Colorado have better non-conference wins than the Beavers, but Oregon State played a much tougher schedule. It would be going a little too far to say the Beavers played a murderer’s row, but their overall body of work looks solid and many teams would love to be able to say, “we played Kansas tough for the first 30 minutes.”
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Washington – OUT

KenPom Non-Conference Strength of Schedule: #272
Quality Wins: Texas
Bad Losses: UC Santa Barbara

The Huskies have played a mostly terrible non-conference schedule and beating Texas in China to open the season cannot mask that fact. Losing to the Gauchos at home is not a good look either, and the loss to Oakland could start to look worse if the Grizzlies don’t run away with the Horizon League. Huskies’ fans should take heart, however, as their team wasn’t even supposed to win that many non-conference games and have won their first two conference games since. Things are looking up in Seattle.

Wright St. opens strong in 2nd half, beats N. Kentucky 60-46--CBS Sports
Milwaukee survives scare in 65-62 win over Cleveland St--CBS Sports
Youngstown State beats Green Bay 103-93 behind Morse--CBS Sports
Metro & state: UDM women win, Oakland women lose in HL--The Detroit Free Press

Gameday update: Wichita State at Southern Illinois--Wichita Eagle

Combine Morris’ history with Anton Grady’s effort (17 points) against Evansville on Wednesday and SIU should prioritize WSU’s big men. As Evansville did, it will surely make Evan Wessel and Zach Brown prove they can make shots. If those two are shooting well and if Morris and Grady can read the doubles and pass, the Shockers are off to a good start.