Now that we have seen the,whst's the record?

[stoopified]

Looking at the slate I thinkOU goes 11-2 in noncon and 12-4 in conference for a 23-6 record going into the Big 12 tourney.

In noncon play Ou has 4 marquee games Arkansas,Arizona at home and Utah,Gonzaga on the road.I'm thinking 2-2 split,more than likely winning at home andlosing on the road.
In conference play,I think we lose at UT,KU,OSU.I also see us dropping a road game at either Baylor,TT, or aTm.

As always my picks are based on best case scenario,not sufferring key injuries etc.The last two years I have been pretty close and I could live with being within a game or two this year as well.

[IronHorseSooner]

As for non-con:

Arky is in disarray.
Arizona is not a vintage Arizona team.
Utah isn't as good as they were last year.
The Zags rarely play big name, athletic opponents well at home (see Memphis last year). Also, this Zags team isn't as good as ones in the past.

They should be favored in all of those games, and the most difficult of all of them (Zags), are the last one, which is a break. I will go out on a limb, and say that they make it through the non-con unscathed. (14-0)

As for conference play, the schedule breaks well. The North teams that we get at home are ones that gave us a hard time last year (KSTATE, Mizzou, and ISU). I would much rather have those teams at home, especially this year. The road games set up well with two weak teams- Nebraska and Colorado. You probably lose to KU no matter where you play them, so I view it better to lose to them up there than drop one at home. For the South, they should sweep Tech and Baylor. They SHOULD sweep OSU and A&M, and a split with UTerus would be nice. The fact that they don't play at UTerus and at KU until the last quarter of the Big XII season is a break, as this will give the guys time to gel, and would get them ready for NCAA play. Therefore, I see somewhere between 12-4 to 14-2 in conference. In that range, they would likely still finish third. I will split the difference and say 13-3.

That would make it 27-3 going into the Big XII tourney. Get to the finals there, and you are looking at either a 1 or 2 seed.

[ndpruitt03]

We have a real tough schedule and a real young team. I think we lose about 7 to 10 range.

[stoopified]

Wow,and I thought I was optimistic.I hope you are right but sometimes that round ball does bounce funny. For that reason I always try to be cautious in my preseason predictions.

[IronHorseSooner]

I don't know if you would call the schedule difficult as much as we play a lot of teams who have basketball traditions. As I stated earlier, these are teams who NORMALLY would have good teams, but this year they aren't as good. Arky is coming off of a year where they were last in the SEC. Now, Pelphrey is on the hot seat, and he has guys suspended. Arizona has one decent player, and a bunch of no name guys. They don't have Budinger and Hill, and they have a brand-new coach. Utah lost a bunch from the team that lost to Arizona in the tourney last year. The Zags lost Daye, Pargo, Heyvelt, and Downs, and they replace them with guys who are decent, but nothing to write home about. They play VCU, but this is VCU minus Gaynor. If we played this schedule last year, I would agree that it is really difficult. This year, not so much. Also, none of these teams play very good defense, especially the Zags.

They don't play UTerus until near the middle part of the conference schedule, and they don't play UTerus and KU on the road until the end of the regular season.

Their record will be as much about the schedule as anything. Getting KSTATE, Mizzou, and ISU at home this year in the rotation is absolutely critical.

[Salt City Sooner]

The road games set up well with two weak teams- Nebraska and Colorado.

You might want to be careful about who you call weak. CU's beaten us 4 of the last 5 in Boulder, with only the '02 Final Four team bothering to win there.

[ndpruitt03]

You might want to be careful about who you call weak. CU's beaten us 4 of the last 5 in Boulder, with only the '02 Final Four team bothering to win there.

We've lost our last 2 in Lincoln also.

[NormanPride]

This team will drive us nuts. We may beat Kansas in Lawrence and lose at home to Iowa State (if we play them here?)

As long as we make the tourney I'll be happy.

[badger]

You know what I like about college basketball? No BCS. You can play big-name non-conference opponents at home or away to test yourself early in the season without too much recourse come tourney time.

We have a very challenging conference this year, so best to get the big game jitters outta the way during the non-conference so we can hit every shot come KU, UT and Poke State time.

[soonervegas]

This team will drive us nuts. We may beat Kansas in Lawrence and lose at home to Iowa State (if we play them here?)

As long as we make the tourney I'll be happy.

Ding! Ding! It will all payoff in the tourney though as this young team goes further than their seed indiciates. (i.e. Sweet 16 or Elite 8)

[Sooner04]

I will go out on a limb, and say that they make it through the non-con unscathed.
(14-0)

Ack!

If this team goes 14-0 in the non-conference slate then we've got the best head coach of the last 25 years manning our ship. These guys are green and they had numerous breakdowns against a patsy at home on Saturday. Regardless of whether a team is up or down, it will be VERY tough to win in Spokane and Salt Lake City. Hell, it's going to be very tough to win in Richmond on Saturday.

I admire your optimism but..........damn!

[badger]

we've got the best head coach of the last 25 years manning our ship.

Since you've mentioned it, is there a possibility that it's true? I know his first year snapped our postseason streak, but he is very good at recruiting and had the school's first Naismith recipient.

[NormanPride]

Ack!

If this team goes 14-0 in the non-conference slate then we've got the best head coach of the last 25 years manning our ship. These guys are green and they had numerous breakdowns against a patsy at home on Saturday. Regardless of whether a team is up or down, it will be VERY tough to win in Spokane and Salt Lake City. Hell, it's going to be very tough to win in Richmond on Saturday.

I admire your optimism but..........damn!

To be fair, they weren't a TOTAL patsy... They did make the tourney last year.

EDIT: Upon checking the facts, I notice that was TWO years ago. My bad. Patsy.

[stoopified]

Hey guys where are your season picks?IHS and I put our necks out there,how about some other brave souls?

BTW I need to amend my prediction slightly.After IHS predicted a 14-0 noncon,I double-checked and he is right there are 14 noncon games,not 13.Again my cautious nature prevailed and I will pick 11-3,12-4 for a record of 23-7 going into the Big 12 tourney.

I would add that there IS a reason that the tradition rich teams on our slate are tradition rich,they earned it.I think to go 23-7 vs. this list of foes would be a huge feather in Capel's cap.The cautionary note sounded by several is why I think I am optimistic at 23-7.I think I can live with that record, given our unproven cast.

[CobraKai]

Ack!

If this team goes 14-0 in the non-conference slate then we've got the best head coach of the last 25 years manning our ship. These guys are green and they had numerous breakdowns against a patsy at home on Saturday. Regardless of whether a team is up or down, it will be VERY tough to win in Spokane and Salt Lake City. Hell, it's going to be very tough to win in Richmond on Saturday.

I admire your optimism but..........damn!

I agree. I can see us winning almost every game if I look at it through crimson glasses, but realistically we will be relying on several freshman, and there are going to be some games where they just play like freshman. Not trying to downplay how impressive they've looked, but some of them will make some freshman mistakes at critical times, and some of them will hit the "freshman wall" and disappear for some portion of the season.

The plus side is that I love having a guard-centric team come tournament time. As good as we were last year I really did not think we were a final four type team, even going into the tournament, based on our guard play.

[soonervegas]

Put me down for 11-3 non-conference and 11-5 in conference which lands us a 4 seed in the Big 12 Tourney. We tap out against Kansas in the semis and land a 23-9 and land a 6th seed in the tourney. The the fun begins....team gets hot and beats a 11, 3, and 2 seed before bowing out to a #1 seed in the regional finals. (again)

[NormanPride]

Put me down for 11-3 non-conference and 11-5 in conference which lands us a 4 seed in the Big 12 Tourney. We tap out against Kansas in the semis and land a 23-9 and land a 6th seed in the tourney. The the fun begins....team gets hot and beats a 11, 3, and 2 seed before bowing out to a #1 seed in the regional finals. (again)

That would be a kick *** season. I would be ecstatic!

[the_ouskull]

I don't know if you would call the schedule difficult as much as we play a lot of teams who have basketball traditions. As I stated earlier, these are teams who NORMALLY would have good teams, but this year they aren't as good.

Those teams fans are looking over their schedules right now and saying the exact same thing about US. Why are those guaranteed wins for us?

I understand the optimistic viewpoint of "the fan in the stands," so to speak, but to be so ridiculously myopic as to suggest that we'll finish the conference undefeated...?

Even if Blake were still here, I'd see that as a bad money pick... (And we're going to miss his passing more than his scoring/rebounding...)

the_ouskull

[Little Al]

If Gonzaga had made the pressure shots against MSU the other night, that game may have had a different result. They will make a higher percentage of those shots as the season progresses - if I know coach Few.

[badger]

Question - are we almost completely out of the KS era, or are we already out?

How many players are left at OU that were here when KS was?