A must win tonight?

**Dormeezy** · 11-17-2009, 01:03 PM

Originally Posted by cstrunk

Yes, this is a must win. It may or may not break our season depending on how the rest of the season goes... but we need all the wins we can get with a difficult schedule.

Astute analysis right there.

**Drive4cy** · 11-17-2009, 01:04 PM

This is our first test of the season. Absolutely must win. I'm not in the mood for a meltdown.

**ISUonthemove** · 11-17-2009, 01:04 PM

Originally Posted by jtdoyle1

Well I'm glad them team didn't pack it in after losing to Drake in the 2000 season, but I think the good guys win tonight anyway.

I'd don't know for sure, but I think the 2000 squad probably had more conference wins. That would be the difference. I'm not saying we need to win tonight because it's Drake, I'm saying Duke and Notre Dame are going to be tough games and we really need to come out with 13-14 non conference wins.

**cyclone13** · 11-17-2009, 01:08 PM

Yes. It will set the tone. Drake is a good team unlike the 2 teams we beat so far.

**BryceC** · 11-17-2009, 01:09 PM

If we want to go to the dance this year we need to win this game.

**Stewo** · 11-17-2009, 01:10 PM

Originally Posted by kg-cyclone

Part of that was done on purpose...pick out the worst shooter and let him take all the shots he wants.

I also see an argument against doing that.

Still, I hated it. They're still a D1 player shooting the ball.

**bawbie** · 11-17-2009, 01:11 PM

A must win? Are you kidding me?

the only thing this game is a "must win" for is a perfect season.

If we happened to lose this game, there would be many more opportunities to make the NCAAs, so it's not a must win.

that said, we certainly should win and it is a very important game for all the reasons listed in this thread.

**ruxCYtable** · 11-17-2009, 01:15 PM

As someone else pointed out, the best team in ISU history opened the season with a horrible loss at Drake. In that respect you'd have to say it's not a must-win. BUT...in the interest of putting our program AND theirs back where they belong...YES...it is a must-win.

**ISUonthemove** · 11-17-2009, 01:23 PM

Like I said before though, we're looking at 8-9 conference wins. That means we probably need 13-14 non-conference wins. Duke, Cal and Notre Dame are going to be very difficult games. We do not want to have to win 10 games in conference. It would be nice, but very difficult.

20 wins does not get you into the Dance. If you don't think Drake is a must win, show me how we get to 22-23 wins by losing to them. It won't be easy.

**cycloneworld** · 11-17-2009, 01:24 PM

We should roll in this game...Drake is almost completely freshmen and sophomores except for Young who isn't 100%. We are more athletic by a mile, we should dominate in the paint and on the boards, etc.

But we should have beat Drake, Hawaii, and SDSU last year too...but we didn't.

I still think ISU by 10+ tonight.

**bawbie** · 11-17-2009, 01:46 PM

Originally Posted by ISUonthemove

Like I said before though, we're looking at 8-9 conference wins. That means we probably need 13-14 non-conference wins. Duke, Cal and Notre Dame are going to be very difficult games. We do not want to have to win 10 games in conference. It would be nice, but very difficult.

20 wins does not get you into the Dance. If you don't think Drake is a must win, show me how we get to 22-23 wins by losing to them. It won't be easy.

Just because it wouldn't be easy doesn't make it impossible.

We could be Duke, Can or ND. We could win 10 or 11 Big 12 games. We could get into the tourney with 20 wins, given our tough schedule.

The point being, this isn't a must win to get into the tourney. There are many paths to the tourney that still exist if we lose this game. But it would be harder.

It seems to me like people are just setting up for a meltdown if we happen to lose tonight by overstating the importance of the third game of the season as a "must win".

**justgetcy** · 11-17-2009, 04:08 PM

In order for us to contend for an NCAA tourney birth we need to win all the games that we are supposed to won. So with that in mind I would say yes

**The_Architect** · 11-17-2009, 04:17 PM

I have 2 friends that were at the Drake game on Saturday (Drake fans). One of them bets a lot and when I told him about this line he freaked out and is putting up a LOT of money on ISU. Both of them said that Drake's frontline is HORRIBLE and got completely dominated against UIPUI or whatever that school is.

We better win, so tired of losing to Drake.

**gocubs2118** · 11-17-2009, 04:18 PM

Originally Posted by ISUonthemove

Like I said before though, we're looking at 8-9 conference wins. That means we probably need 13-14 non-conference wins. Duke, Cal and Notre Dame are going to be very difficult games. We do not want to have to win 10 games in conference. It would be nice, but very difficult.

20 wins does not get you into the Dance. If you don't think Drake is a must win, show me how we get to 22-23 wins by losing to them. It won't be easy.

You realize you can get in the dance if you have won less than 20 games don't you? Our nonconference RPI and SOS should be high enough where we don't have to win 10 or 11 games in the Big XII to make it. There isn't a magic number of wins a team has to get in order to make it into the tournement.