2008 Basketball Schedule Breakdown
by PJS on Sep 3, 2008 1:50 PM CDT
in Gopher Basketball
16 comments
If you're anything like me, you can't wait to see Ralph Sampson III and the new look Gophers in action when the basketball season starts in September. Well, we now officially know who the Gophers will play, when and where thanks to a release from the UofM communications staff this afternoon.
A couple quick notes.
The non-conference schedule is weak as it was last year. The Gophers do face Louisville on a neutral site, but other than that and an ACC/Big Ten Challenge game with Virginia at The Barn, the non-conference slate should be a cakewalk.
Because of that relatively soft slate, and assuming the Gophers don't beat Louisville, Tubby Smith's new team will likely need to win 10 or more games in the conference to justify an NCAA Tournament bid.
Because of the unbalanced Big Ten schedule, the Gophers only play Purdue and Iowa once. The Gophers get a good draw here, playing Purdue at home and Iowa on the road. Purdue is my early season favorite to win the conference, so this certainly bodes well for the Gophers.
Here's my quick breakdown of the schedule
Friday, November14
Concordia-St. Paul (NABC Classic) -- WIN
Saturday, November 15
Bowling Green (NABC Classic) -- WIN
Sunday, November16
Georgia State (NABC Classic) -- WIN
Saturday, November 22
At Colorado State --- WIN
Wednesday, November 26
Eastern Washington ---- WIN
Saturday, November 29
North Dakota State ---- WIN
Tuesday, December 2
Virginia -- ACC/Big Ten Challenge -- WIN
Saturday, December 6
Cornell ----- WIN
Wednesday, December 10
South Dakota State ----- WIN
Saturday, December 20
Louisville (Stadium Shootout at University of Phoenix Stadium) --- LOSS
Tuesday, December 23
Southeastern Louisiana --- WIN
Sunday, December 28
High Point ----- WIN
Wednesday, December 31
Michigan State ---- LOSS
Saturday, January 3
Ohio State ---- WIN
Thursday, January 8
At Iowa ----- WIN
Sunday, January 11
Penn State ---- WIN
Thursday, January 15
At Wisconsin ----- LOSS
Sunday, January 18
At Northwestern ---- WIN
Thursday January 22 ---- WIN
Purdue
Sunday, January 26
At Indiana ---- WIN
Wednesday, January 29
Illinois ----- WIN
Wednesday February 4
At Michigan State ---- LOSS
Saturday, February 7
At Ohio State ---- LOSS
Tuesday, February 10
Indiana ---- WIN
Saturday, February 14
At Penn State ---- WIN
Thursday, February 19
At Michigan ---- WIN
Sunday, February 22
Northwestern ---- WIN
Thursday, February 26
At Illinois ---- LOSS
Wednesday, March 4
Wisconsin ---- LOSS
Sat .or Sun. March 7 or 8
Michigan ----- WIN
WAY TOO EARLY PREDICATION: 23-7 (12-6)
What's your prediction?
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Like to see those numbers
I think I’d disagree with a game or two but overall I think 23-7 is about right. NCAA Tourney baby!
what you say here can, and will, be used against you
Watch out for the Golden Bears
Does the Concordia-St. Paul game even count? They’re DII?
Either way, hold off on the predictions. It’s Sept. 3. Who knows what these young men will do this season?
Talent
I know we’re going to hear a lot of pessimism about how this team is young and it could take a step back. Much the same was said last year about Purdue. Look what happened. In 2008-09, the Gophers will be much more athletic (Bostick/Joseph), Al Nolen will have experience at the point and our big men will also be more athletic (Sampson/Iverson/Johnson).
IMO, these days talent (if they can play cohesively) is trumping experience.
Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room.
by PJS on Sep 3, 2008 2:42 PM CDT up reply actions
talent + COACHING
= wins
and yes, Concordia St.Paul is D2. Guess they couldn’t find a better option.
what you say here can, and will, be used against you
Another 20 win season..
..and probably back to the NIT. I like this team, but it’s a very young team that is going to need some time to really get going. I’m really excited for what this team will be able to do in the future, but I don’t think we’re quite there yet. Lets not put too much pressure on Ralph Sampson III and Devoe Joesph quite yet.
Either way, I can’t wait for this season to start up. I also can’t wait for the Barnyard road trip to be announced, as last years to Michigan was an absolute blast.
And another thing
I hope the trip is to Iowa on January 8th. It would be fantastic to take over Carver-Hawkeye Arena for another Gopher win.
pressure
Realize that this prediction was done very quickly after simply running down the schedule. There was no analysis of opponents (other then thinking quietly to myself how much I’m gonig to enjoy Indiana struggling this year).
But I still maintain that the talent level on this team is improved from one year ago. Athleticism should be improved as well. Tubby will be able to play his pressure defense much more efficiently and push the tempo. And I can’t wait to see how Damian Johnson has progressed in the offseason.
Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room.
by PJS on Sep 3, 2008 5:15 PM CDT up reply actions
11-7 Big Ten
Probably a seed in the 10-11 range. The non-conference schedule is pathetic (although slightly less so than last year’s), so I’m not sure you can even count on getting in with 10 wins in conference unless you at least make the conference semis. But you had a decent team last year, and I think having had a year of experience with Tubby already will help. Still think at least one of the home games against Purdue, OSU, or Illinois (most likely Purdue, though Illinois has an absurd winning streak against you) goes in the loss column, but otherwise everything looks pretty reasonable.
11-1 OOC, 11-7 B10, 2-1 B10 tourney = 24-9 On Selection Sunday
That will earn the Gophers an NCAA bid in March 2008.
24-9 is Tubby’s career AVERAGE record (over 17 seasons).
I'd like to see it...
…but I wonder if these guys aren’t just too young. I think they’re going to miss the guys they lost a lot. 20 wins.
nah
The guys they lost all didn’t meet expectations last season. Spencer Tollackson, God love him, will not be missed on the floor. Dan Coleman was the team’s biggest disappointment last season. The progrssion of Damian Johnson could cancel out his loss. And Lawrence McKenzie was extremely streaky and often looked uncomfortable when he played out of position during his career. Lawrence Westbrook can easily fill his shoes (and add a penetrating dimension McKenzie didn’t have). Add in the athleticism of BOstick and scoring ability of Joseph, and the Gophers can overcome the loss of McKenzie.
Maybe I’m just way too optimistic. It happens. But I think the 2008-09 team has more talent then last years. And I don’t think “young” is an excuse.
Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room.
by PJS on Sep 4, 2008 7:49 AM CDT up reply actions
Tulsa 1993, Georgia 1997, Kentucky 2005
All very young teams. 23-8. 24-9. 28-6.
ITS TUBBY TIME
Smith is a great coach and he’s had a a year to get the players of his system, two of which have juco experience and the freshman are athletic. Our conference schedule as others have said is favorable with one game at iowa and a chance against purdue at the barn. I like the prediction of 23 wins but the team is capable of a lot. When tournament time comes around, this team will have gelled together and tubby will have the pressure defense prepared for better competition. All I can say is I can hardly wait to watch the gophers go at the spartans and badgers at the Barn this year.
YES
Finally someone seeing that this team has the talent level to be pretty good this year. Sure, there’s a chance that Colt Inverson and RSIII flop, but I’ll be surprised if they are worse than the combo of Tollackson and Coleman.
Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room.
by PJS on Sep 6, 2008 9:19 AM CDT up reply actions
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