The Last Three Games...

[MaccloNe]

I heard we get help even if we lose.

[EYEoftheSTORM]

I think we win at least 1 of these last 3. Not sure which one, but we'll come out stroking it from 3-pt land and we'll be very tough to beat

Huuuhhhh He said stoking it...

[ajk4st8]

ksu will likely win out. easy schedule. beating them will be huge.

[EYEoftheSTORM]

Really wishing I could find a way to make it down to Manhattan on Saturday for the game. Havent been to a road game this year, and I think it will be nutty at Bramlage after the 2 big road wins and new found life in the program.

Should be a great game overall.

[atlantacyclone]

As long as ISU makes the tournament, it doesn't matter to me... but an 8 or 9 seed does seem to be worse in most of the bracktology guesses...

[LindenCy]

As long as ISU makes the tournament, it doesn't matter to me... but an 8 or 9 seed does seem to be worse in most of the bracktology guesses...

I just hate the 8/9 because it is hard to look ahead and think you have a chance. I think we could compete with the 1 seeds, but winning is a tall order even if we play well.

[xboxfever]

Somebody needs to hold Vitale to his word. The home game against Baylor should show him what ISU basketball is all about.

They might even let him eat at Johnnies?

Duke vs North Carolina is the same day. Not going to happen.

[cyclones500]

@ KSU
@ Mizzou
vs. Baylor

It's probly the toughest stretch of games we will have had all year. Which one's the most winnable? Which one gives us a better resume heading into the NCAA Tournament. What needs to be done to be successful?

Your thoughts...

Most winnable: Baylor. I think. Mainly from the standpoint of home-court advantage, but honestly ISU hasn't performed all that much better at Hilton vs. on the road. And Baylor, despite historic inability to win in Ames, has done about as well in Big 12 road games as it has at home this season.

Best resume win: @Missouri. Although, at this point, if we see just one win among those three, I don't think it will make a major difference which game it is. Tournament lock, barring auto-bid/at-large insanity during Championship Week.

Win all three, and seeding-boost would be noticeable.

[Wesley]

Huuuhhhh He said stoking it...

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPp-tneEHRE]Strokin' - YouTube[/ame]

[gogagig]

Most winnable: Baylor. I think. Mainly from the standpoint of home-court advantage, but honestly ISU hasn't performed all that much better at Hilton vs. on the road. And Baylor, despite historic inability to win in Ames, has done about as well in Big 12 road games as it has at home this season.

Best resume win: @Missouri. Although, at this point, if we see just one win among those three, I don't think it will make a major difference which game it is. Tournament lock, barring auto-bid/at-large insanity during Championship Week.

Win all three, and seeding-boost would be noticeable.

I think we have lost 2 out of 19 games in the Hilton. And we've lost 6 out of 9 games on the road. The difference is substantial.

[justcynn]

I have been a CF follower for years, but rarely post, be nice.

YES, I 100% believe we could win these next three games. However, would we be better off losing all three? Right now we are in the dreaded 30-40 range which puts us as a 8/9 seed.

We need to either win out or lose out, otherwise we are a 8/9 seed.

I love the idea of us being a 10-12 seed! We are a match up nightmare with Royce and our 3 point shooting come tournament time. Realistically, we are a 5-7 seed. No one takes into account that we were a new team and everyone was figuring out their role during the non-conference(much more so than any other team). Drake & UNI would be wins with this team now, putting us easily in the 25-30 range.

We get out of this 8/9 seed we can make a run in the tournament. If we don't we will match up against either Kentucky or Syracuse. I don't like those match ups.

What do you think?

Good take, I think you are right in assuming the Cyclones are in the tourney, but stranger things have happened and based on our resume with likely 2 wins against tourney teams - I don't like the thought of losing out and having to sweat it out to be a 10-12 seed. Sweet 16 has happened two times in modern Cyclone history so if we were to be in the 8/9 game and play a 1 in the second game, I like the opportunity of playing one of the best teams. You win and really make a name for yourself and program and become the darling of the tournament. The opportunity is greater than the risk IMO. Playing as a lower or higher seed looks good on paper, but also not likely historically speaking of winning that second game anyway so I say bring on the best and see what happens.

[jbindm]

I think we have an excellent shot at beating Mizzou. That game was there for the taking last time, and the difference ended up being that big stiff from Mizzou somehow stumbling his way into ten points and nine boards (five offensive). I checked out his season stats, and I'm pretty confident he doesn't have another game like that in him.

[longtimeclone]

@KSU: They have been playing well lately with wins against Baylor and MU. They will probably be looking for a little revenge since our last meeting, but they could be due for a let down. I think we have a 50/50 chance of winning this game.

@Missouri: I think this is the least likely game that we could win. It will be senior night and I bet there is a big crowd for this game. The only thing that may help is they play at Phog the game before. This game could have a lot of Big 12 championship implications depending on how the KU game goes so MU might have something to prove in this game.

Baylor: I think this is the most winnable game of the bunch. It will be senior night and our last home game so I think everybody will be up for this game. I am expecting a big crowd so I think Hilton will be rocking which will only fuel the players more. We played with them when they were shooting well. I don't think they shoot that well with our crowd.

[nallen34]

-Never count us out anywhere on weekends. If we were playing @ kansas state on a weekday I would say we are gonna lose by 10 or more. They are extremely hot right now. Also we were down by 14 to them at home(granted that was a weekday game) but i think we will lose by 5-10 pts even though our only two losses on a saturday this year are against 2 ranked teams @ Michigan and @Kansas. But really Kansas State is a ranked team after winning @Baylor and @Missouri. I wouldn't be shocked if we snuck a win though...

-@ Missouri i think we will lose by 15 or more. This game will be similar to the Baylor game. On weekdays in conference we are 0-3 on the road losing @ texas @okla st and @baylor. This game could get ugly.


- Baylor at home I think it's a coin flip. Hilton will be hoppin but Baylor is a nightmare of a matchup for us. We have to play big to win and we have to make 3s...bottom line.

[wonkadog]

I'm a little disturbed at the number of people calling the Baylor game a 50/50 toss up. Senior day, home crowd, start time at 6pm (gives people a chance to "pregame")....call me crazy but it's hard for me to imagine us losing that one.