Miami about to fall to Clemson?

Champion UNC lost to UCSB in 2005 without a starter, Miami was without starter vs gulf coast.

Obviously Miami looked like crap last night, but you know what?  - This season it´s happenned at one point or another to every single one of the top teams and in the end the only thing that counts is if its a ¨W¨ or a ¨L¨.   The Hurricanes stats (3-pt shooting, FGP, turnovers, etc..) were far below their average stats - against a very mediocre Clemson Team.  Does that make the Tigers a better team? Well ask yourself this...  Does Kansas loosing to TCU make the Hornfrogs a better team?  Does Florida loosing to the Razorbacks make Arkansas a better team?  Does Michigan loosing to Wisconsin make the Badgers a better team?  Does Indiana loosing to Illinois make the Fighting Illini a better team?  - The answer to those questions is quite obviously a resounding NO.  Any team can have a bad night, and on a bad night even the best can look dismal.  When its all said and done, the Hurricanes playing as bad as they possibly still ended up getting the ¨away¨ victory and extending their win streack...  

Humble, agreed that any top team can play like crap a couple games, but Miami seems to be pushing it with Duke style barely wins over Clemson and the abysmal FSU 5 pt game this week AND losses on neutral courts to FL Gulf Coast by 12 & Indiana St. With a 20 pt beat down on a neutral court to Arizona. A senior team should have the experience and depth to look like they are experienced.

First of all, at this point in late February and in the midst of a 13-game win streak the losses to Indiana State and Arizona dont carry alot of weight (the FGC loss is in fact almost irrelevant now).  Miami looked very bad last night (dismal in fact), but in the end even looking like crap they still won - which is more than can be said of ANY of the top teams since the begining of 2013!

I guess considering the Miami/Indiana ST loss was 5 days before the New Yr and the Arizona beat down was the week before that, that statement would just fit into those parameters;) Barely...;) Lucky for Miami their losses don't count, though. Hope that if FL Gulf Coast is on the bubble that they get the benefit of the doubt, though:)

Does that mean Indiana gets to throw out that O.T. loss to Butler too?

Bricktop:  IRT  ¨Does that mean Indiana gets to throw out that O.T. loss to Butler too?¨


As you can see from the rankings, apparently the answer is YES.  

Cool!

Now all they have to worry about is winning out and they'll have a purdy good seed.

Miami was lucky to win last night, the played a terrible game and did not deserve to win - but in the end Lady Luck smiled on them and their 13-game winning streak continued...

It´s been an imperfect year and not a single team has been flawless, but here ere are some key points to remember:

- Terrible teams only win games when they play great...
- Good teams win games when they play at least average...
- Great teams find a way to win even when they play terrible...      

As far as the rankings go...  Barring a huge difference in the quality of their respective opponents, only a fool would believe that a 27-3 team which lost its first 3 games would be ranked the same at the end of the season as a 27-3 team that lost its last 3 games.  Many factors come into play but the single most important factor in the rankings is - What have you done lately?
     

I wasn't too surprised about how this game played out.  Brad Brownell and Jim Larranaga have faced each other before, and this game had the feel of a CAA Championship game.  Both teams shot poorly all night long, and seemed to tighten up as a result.  A few crazy plays down the stretch determined the outcome.  It may not have been pretty to watch, but it sure had the excitement of a college basketball game at its climax.  If anyone caught the Illinois State-Wichita State game after this one will know what I mean.  How WSU pulled out that win in Normal based on the way they played for the majority of 39 minutes was, well...shocking! 

I agree 100% that the rankings should be weighted towards the end of the season performances. You can't discount the earlier games but some teams come together later than others and that should be taken into account. Watching mostly B1G games this year because of where I live I can say that currently Illinois, Wisconsin, and even Iowa are starting to come around and play better while Minnesota, Ohio State, and even Michigan are in somewhat of a funk. Indiana and Michigan State are playing above the rest here towards the end and Tuesday nights' game should be a good one. Still a lot of ball left to play though reguardless of who wins that game.

Pretty much my thoughts exactly in regards to the BIG, Brick, which is why I could get past who I wanted to win and pick who zi thought would win the Wisky game, darn it! But at least I pocketed that $ and my buddies stuck with Homerism and empty pockets. I'm fine with my Buckeyes at an 8 or so seed, since it is exactly where we should be this year, and an 8 or 9 seed could easily beat say a 2 or 3 in this field...even a one if we are being honest. Good luck with Sparty!

Rune, doesn't bother you that Miami and your Gators played 2 mutual away games....top 5 Arizona who they BOTH lost to ( Miami on a neutral court by 20 pts, and FL who played at Zona and lost by a point) and mutual in state rival FSU ( who Miami beat by a meager 5 pts this week at FSU, and who FL beat by 35 pts at FSU)? I guess huge margins of victory don't matter even against the same teams...btw, I'm not jealous of Duke, being as the Buckeyes were in the final four this past tourney and Duke got Lehighed:-) Just sayin it's a bit biased.... The Gators really deserve better. I'm sure they could destroy FL Gulf Coast on a neutral court;....Ohiostman1

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No, I'm not bothered by that. We matched up well with FSU.  Arizona? we gave them that game. K-State and Arkansas both beat us easy on their courts.  I'm proud of the way the Gators have played this year.  Basically, we are very small inside with little depth.  Our strength is defense, three guards who really know how to handle the ball and a balanced scoring attack.  We struggle against teams who are big inside and also have a good ball handling skills.  Miami is that team and I hope we don't play them until very deep in the tournament.  Miami lost all their games early and that means nothing to me and your comparisons of the common teams, although interesting, do not convince me that Florida is better than Miami.    We shall soon see what the Gators have when they play both Missouri and Tennessee away.  If we are to get a NR1 seed, we have to win out.   I suspect you and I don't share the same confidence in the Gators ability to beat anybody on a neutral court.  It's going to be fun to watch.     

That said, The on-the-road Hurricanes definitely looked horrible vs unranked Clemson - much like (1) Indiana vs unranked Illinois, (2) Duke vs unranked Maryland, (3) Michigan vs unranked Wisconsin, (4) Syracuse vs unranked St Johns, (5) Florida vs unranked Arkansas, (6) Michigan State vs unranked Connecticut,  (7) Kansas vs unrankked TCU and (8) Arizona vs unranked Colorado.

As if all "unranked" teams were equal. 

The main difference between this game and the rest of those games (other than the Kansas vs. TCU game) is that Clemson is an inept ACC cellar dwellar who has no business being in a game with the #3 team in the country.

Illinois is a solid tournament team, Maryland is a bubble, Wisconsin is a damn good team who is currently ranked, St John's is a bubble, Arkansas is a bubble (who is good at home), UConn is a good team who is flying under the radar because of their postseason ban, and Colorado is a solid tournament team. 

Miami has been able to grind out road victories against the mediocre competition they've been playing in the ACC (everyone but Duke and Miami is mediocre, sorry North Carolina and NC State). You have to give them credit for that. But will they be able to beat the Indianas and Michigans and Floridas and Louisvilles and Michigan States in the tournament? We'll see. 


 

We struggle against teams who are big in the interior? Since when? 

Arizona is big on the interior, but that's not why we lost (we outrebounded them by a fairly comfortable margin). We lost that game because Wilbekin hadn't settled into the point guard position yet and Boynton isn't a ball handler.

Arkansas and Kansas State are far from big. Arkansas' best post player is a 6'6" PF, Marshawn Powell. Kansas State likes to use a four guard lineup.

We've done well against teams with bigger post players (Kentucky, Missouri, Ole Miss, Wisconsin, Marquette, Florida State).  

<dl style="margin: 0px;"><dd style="margin: 0px;">South Carolina</dd><dt style="display: none;"> </dt><dd style="margin: 0px;">64-55


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Just showing its a full circle ALL teams have close games or lose one (OFF) game.  Clemson beat South Carolina whom beat Arkansas whom beat Florida.
But do agree Miami has to start playing better on the road.  Amazing at home right now but Tourney is not played at the BUC.  

You could probably make a lot of circular arguments using Arkansas, considering how good they are at home and how dreadful they are on the road.

Florida gets to play Arkansas again in a little while, this time at UF. It should be a beatdown. 

I agree BUT that said Miami hadn't won in Clemson since 2005 and they will probably give them a beatdown when they visit Miami on the final regular season game. 
Miami is winning on road which is important (away from BUC they are 7-0 in ACC).  NC State and NC are 13-1 and 12-1 respectively at home.  Can you guess who beat them? 
Duke is 13-0 at home so thats the next big away test.

HOME court is a huge advantage.  Like you said wit Arkansas.

I think florida is one of the most talented teams in the firld and I bet vegas has them better odd to win than Miami.

We struggle against teams who are big in the interior? Since when?....jagalitheway

If you are going to quote me; please quote the entire thought. What I said was "we struggle against teams who are big inside AND ALSO HAVE GOOD BALL HANDLING SKILLS. Not many teams out there with quality big men and great ball handlers; Miami happens to be that team and Miami is the team we were discussing.     I also believe that Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, K-State, Syracuse and Louisville also fit that profile.   K-State handled us easily; the final score did not indicate just how well they were able to control that game.  Arkansas was a situation where they really played well.  We have them at home and I expect us to win that one.  Missouri and Tennessee away also could be a problem.  Don't you think we probably should wait until we get past next 2 weeks before we anoint the Gators as the "second coming"?