By the Statistics

[Cytaki]

By everyone's posts recently you would think we were the worst rebounding team in the conference. But I was checking the Big 12 site to really look at where we were as a team statistically and in several categories, I was pleasantly surprised.

In rebounding, we are fifth in the conference, behind Texas, Baylor, Kansas and Kansas State.

In rebounding defense, we are seventh in the conference. Wish we were a little bit better but we are still averaging plus 2.9 rebounds over our opponents, good for fifth in the conference.

Also some other good areas
-Blocked shots (4th)
-Assists (4th)
-Assist to Turnover Ratio (4th)
-Defensive Rebounds (5th)
-Three-Point Field Goals Made (5th)
-Three-Point FG Percentage (2nd)
-Field Goal Percentage (5th)

Areas of improvement
-Scoring Offense (9th) - 76.9
-Scoring Defense (8th) - 65.7
-Scoring Margin (8th) - +11.3
-Free Throw Percentage (12th) - .633
-FG Percentage Defense (7th) - .400
-3 Point FG Percentage Defense (10th) - .333
-Rebounding Defense (7th) - 35.0
-Steals (12th) - 5.80
-Turnover Margin (11th)
-Offensive Rebounds (8th)

Out of the improvement category, only four places I see where we need dire improvement (Turnover Margin, Three Point Defense, FT Percentage and Steals)

Number of Categories ranked 12th
Colorado (Seven)
Nebraska (One)
Oklahoma (Three)
Iowa State (Two)
Texas A&M (One)
Oklahoma State (Two)
Missouri (Two)
Baylor (One)
Texas Tech (Two)
Kansas State (None)
Kansas (None)
Texas (None)

Number of Categories ranked 9th or below (21 categories)
Colorado (13)
Nebraska (11)
Oklahoma (13)
Iowa State (5)
Texas A&M (6)
Oklahoma State (9)
Missouri (5)
Baylor (2)
Texas Tech (12)
Kansas State (5)
Kansas (0)
Texas (3)

[Cytaki]

IF I had to do a ranking for the Big 12 right now it would be like this

Here are my four tiers of the Big 12 based on my perceived performance by them against the schedule they have played

Tier One
Texas
Kansas
Kansas State

Tier Two
Texas A&M
Missouri
Texas Tech

Tier Three
Oklahoma State
Iowa State
Baylor

Tier Four
Oklahoma
Nebraska
Colorado

Looking at schedule after doing this, I see us beating Colorado twice, Nebraska at least once, Oklahoma once, Baylor once, Missouri once. I give us a chance to beat Huskers twice. The key games will be against Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Texas A&M. I could see us possibly getting one or two of those. I would love for us to beat K State once. So say best case scenario happens (21-12).

Now say we don't beat K State and we only beat one of Okie State, Texas Tech and Texas A&M (19-14).

I see worse case at (17-16)

[CloneIce]

IF I had to do a ranking for the Big 12 right now it would be like this

Here are my four tiers of the Big 12 based on my perceived performance by them against the schedule they have played

Tier One
Texas
Kansas
Kansas State

Tier Two
Texas A&M
Missouri
Texas Tech

Tier Three
Oklahoma State
Iowa State
Baylor

Tier Four
Oklahoma
Nebraska
Colorado

Looking at schedule after doing this, I see us beating Colorado twice, Nebraska at least once, Oklahoma once, Baylor once, Missouri once. I give us a chance to beat Huskers twice. The key games will be against Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Texas A&M. I could see us possibly getting one or two of those. I would love for us to beat K State once. So say best case scenario happens (21-12).

Now say we don't beat K State and we only beat one of Okie State, Texas Tech and Texas A&M (19-14).

I see worse case at (17-16)

Just a heads up, Tier 3 Ok State beat Tier 2 Texas Tech by 30 tonight.

Cant believe Baylor killed Oklahoma by that much. First time they beat OK since the 70s.

[cyclonenum1]

By everyone's posts recently you would think we were the worst rebounding team in the conference. But I was checking the Big 12 site to really look at where we were as a team statistically and in several categories, I was pleasantly surprised.

In rebounding, we are fifth in the conference, behind Texas, Baylor, Kansas and Kansas State.

In rebounding defense, we are seventh in the conference. Wish we were a little bit better but we are still averaging plus 2.9 rebounds over our opponents, good for fifth in the conference.

Also some other good areas
-Blocked shots (4th)
-Assists (4th)
-Assist to Turnover Ratio (4th)
-Defensive Rebounds (5th)
-Three-Point Field Goals Made (5th)
-Three-Point FG Percentage (2nd)
-Field Goal Percentage (5th)

Areas of improvement
-Scoring Offense (9th) - 76.9
-Scoring Defense (8th) - 65.7
-Scoring Margin (8th) - +11.3
-Free Throw Percentage (12th) - .633
-FG Percentage Defense (7th) - .400
-3 Point FG Percentage Defense (10th) - .333
-Rebounding Defense (7th) - 35.0
-Steals (12th) - 5.80
-Turnover Margin (11th)
-Offensive Rebounds (8th)

Out of the improvement category, only four places I see where we need dire improvement (Turnover Margin, Three Point Defense, FT Percentage and Steals)

Number of Categories ranked 12th
Colorado (Seven)
Nebraska (One)
Oklahoma (Three)
Iowa State (Two)
Texas A&M (One)
Oklahoma State (Two)
Missouri (Two)
Baylor (One)
Texas Tech (Two)
Kansas State (None)
Kansas (None)
Texas (None)

Number of Categories ranked 9th or below (21 categories)
Colorado (13)
Nebraska (11)
Oklahoma (13)
Iowa State (5)
Texas A&M (6)
Oklahoma State (9)
Missouri (5)
Baylor (2)
Texas Tech (12)
Kansas State (5)
Kansas (0)
Texas (3)

Where does our non-conference SOS compare relative to the other Big 12 teams' non-conference SOSs?

[CycloneFan4Life]

IF I had to do a ranking for the Big 12 right now it would be like this

Here are my four tiers of the Big 12 based on my perceived performance by them against the schedule they have played

Tier One
Texas
Kansas
Kansas State

Tier Two
Texas A&M
Missouri
Texas Tech

Tier Three
Oklahoma State
Iowa State
Baylor

Tier Four
Oklahoma
Nebraska
Colorado

Looking at schedule after doing this, I see us beating Colorado twice, Nebraska at least once, Oklahoma once, Baylor once, Missouri once. I give us a chance to beat Huskers twice. The key games will be against Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Texas A&M. I could see us possibly getting one or two of those. I would love for us to beat K State once. So say best case scenario happens (21-12).

Now say we don't beat K State and we only beat one of Okie State, Texas Tech and Texas A&M (19-14).

I see worse case at (17-16)

Baylor has only lost 1 game and they just smoked OU. You can't put them in the same tier as ISU right now.

[Rick]

Quit putting logic into our complaining. These guys play soft every minute of every game and we should quit watching them.

[uro cy]

Quit putting logic into our complaining. These guys play soft every minute of every game and we should quit watching them.

I'm not sure why we haven't disbanded the MBB program altogether at this point.

[BryceC]

Where does our non-conference SOS compare relative to the other Big 12 teams' non-conference SOSs?

According to Pomeroy only Baylor and NU have played a softer schedule.

2010 Pomeroy Ratings

As of right now, only CU and NU have played a softer schedule according to the RPI.

RealTimeRPI.com Big 12 Men's College Basketball Rating Percentage Index (RPI) Ratings - A leading sports ratings and resources community on the Internet

[kkise]

Once we get into conference play, that'll be a better gauge of where we stand. I like the OPs optimism at 21-12. However, the team will have to play better and play together for that to happen. I think 17-16 is more realistic at this point.

[cygrads]

Stats mean little in the non-conf schedule - too much diff in SOS. I would be surprised if we won 6 conf games. I hope I'm wrong but I don't see this team getting that much better.

[twojman]

Stats mean little in the non-conf schedule - too much diff in SOS. I would be surprised if we won 6 conf games. I hope I'm wrong but I don't see this team getting that much better.

My thoughts exactly. ISU may start 1-9 in conference play. If you take off the Cyclone glasses, which of these games are truly winnable at this point? Remember how well ISU has done on the road under GMac in conference play. Here are the first 10 games of conference season:

Wed, Jan 13(2) Texas8:00 pm---- Sat, Jan 16at Nebraska8:00 pm---- Wed, Jan 20at (22) Texas Tech7:30 pm---- Sat, Jan 23(1) Kansas2:00 pm---- Wed, Jan 27at Oklahoma9:00 pm---- Sat, Jan 30Colorado9:00 pm---- Wed, Feb 3at Baylor7:30 pm---- Sat, Feb 6(11) Kansas St.2:00 pm---- Wed, Feb 10at Missouri7:30 pm---- Sat, Feb 13at (1) Kansas

[BryceC]

We only have three games left on the remaining schedule against teams outside of the top 100 RPI.

Rebounding margin against top 100 teams: -8.75
Rebounding margin against 100+ RPI teams: +7.09
Rebounding margin last 3 games: -5.66

Basically, we cannot rebound well against teams that are in the same range as teams we will be playing the rest of the year and we have struggled the last 3 games. Be careful when looking at stats, especially when it comes to rebounding in the non-conference.

[Ace000087]

-Free Throw Percentage (12th) - .633

This has always ****** me off.

[Cytaki]

I understand Okie State beat Texas Tech by 30 and it was hard for me to put Okie State below them but I still can't decide if Texas Tech's early season was a fluke or if they are for real. Obviously the beating by Okie State makes me lean towards fluke!!

[Cytaki]

I agree with you guys on the stats in non-conference play. My goal was to at least just put the statistics up and let them show what they will. Everyone has their beliefs and I just wanted to show what the statistics show at this point.

As for the Baylor comment, they have played an incredibly weak schedule and beat a pretty bad Oklahoma team. This isn't the Oklahoma team with the Griffin brothers. Look who they have lost to and by how many.

My goal was to give an optimistic prediction of where we could end up. Now, do I necessarily think that will happen? I really have no clue at this point what to expect from this team. I just want to let the season play out and see where we are at the end.