Tourney projections for the Cats

[Old Skool Cat]

Okay - ISU clinched the #4 seed last night with their win over SacState. With UM's loss to UNC, the #2 and #3 seeds are still up for grabs, but just to those two teams. The best the Cats can do now is a #5 seed, with a win over UNC on Sunday. If we lose that game, UNC gets the #5. If EWU loses to PSU on Saturday, we are in the tourney regardless of the outcome of our last two games. If EWU beats PSU, we must win at least one of our last two games (UNC or Weber).

So, we Cat fans are in a quandary. If PSU wins, they claim the #2 seed, MSU at worst is the #6 seed, and sets up a possible third Cat/Griz matchup. We are 0-2 against the griz and it would be at their house, so odds are not good for us. If PSU losses to EWU, they get the #3 seed and we would travel to Portland where we already lost, so the odds are not good for us. If we are able to win one more game, we claim the #5 seed and travel to Pocatello to play ISU, who we are 0-2 against and do not match up well with, so the odds are not good for us. At this point, all we know now is who we might play if we get in. We will be on the road for sure. I would say the best match-up for us would be to tangle with PSU again. We match up much better with them versus either the griz or the Bengals, and we already have one win over them so we knoe how to get it done. However, at this point, I think we need to root for PSU over EWU so we are guaranteed to get in. With the way we have been playing, I am not very confident that we can either of our last two games. I know this would possibly set-up another Cat/Griz game, but how sweet would it be to knock them out of the tourney on their home court?

I'd like to see this team get in the tourney, because you never know, we could get hot and make some noise. I also think it would be valuable experience to the 99% of the team that is returning next season.

[RationalGriz]

Old Skool Cat, UM is the #2 if MSU beats UNC or PSU loses, PSU is the #2 seed with a win and UNC win over the Cats.

[whitetrashgriz]

personally, after the griz beat us at home i was praying for another shot at them. they are good, and they are our rivals, and i can't think of anything better than getting out of the first round by beating them. not to mention, to this day i'm sick to my stomach thinking about our last meeting in the brick in the playoffs, and dan trammel just keeps flashing before my eyes. i could easily be wrong on this, but hadn't we beaten the griz twice that year before that disgusting night? maybe we split. either way, the cats will be the 6 and have to play someone....so why not the griz in a crazy environment?

[Old Skool Cat]

Old Skool Cat, UM is the #2 if MSU beats UNC or PSU loses, PSU is the #2 seed with a win and UNC win over the Cats.

You are correct; I forget the combination of the two. HA-HA! You griz fans gotta root for the Cats!!

[4everacatfan]

I personally would like to see us play the Griz I think a lot more Cat fans could make the game in Missoula versus going to Portland also I too would like a chance to redeem ourselves versus the Griz and it would be very sweet if we could pull off the upset in Missoula. For that to happen though we would have to lose to UNC (is that correct?) PSU has to beat EWU to have a tie with the Griz and then they go down from there and look at common opponents below them and if we are above UNC then the Griz by virtue of beating us twice would get the tie breaker over PSU. Is that right?

[bozbobcat]

personally, after the griz beat us at home i was praying for another shot at them. they are good, and they are our rivals, and i can't think of anything better than getting out of the first round by beating them. not to mention, to this day i'm sick to my stomach thinking about our last meeting in the brick in the playoffs, and dan trammel just keeps flashing before my eyes. i could easily be wrong on this, but hadn't we beaten the griz twice that year before that disgusting night? maybe we split. either way, the cats will be the 6 and have to play someone....so why not the griz in a crazy environment?

Damn it, I just got out of therapy over that one!!!!!

All kidding aside, that was the last Cat-Griz postseason meeting. We had beaten them twice that season by nearly identical scores (76-56 and 75-55) and had a big lead in that game. As for the Cats, I don't know what our best possibility for the matchup is...I don't really like any of the three options. But it would be fun to have another shot at the Griz, if it comes up.

[John K]

personally, after the griz beat us at home i was praying for another shot at them. they are good, and they are our rivals, and i can't think of anything better than getting out of the first round by beating them. not to mention, to this day i'm sick to my stomach thinking about our last meeting in the brick in the playoffs, and dan trammel just keeps flashing before my eyes. i could easily be wrong on this, but hadn't we beaten the griz twice that year before that disgusting night? maybe we split. either way, the cats will be the 6 and have to play someone....so why not the griz in a crazy environment?

Damn it, I just got out of therapy over that one!!!!!

All kidding aside, that was the last Cat-Griz postseason meeting. We had beaten them twice that season by nearly identical scores (76-56 and 75-55) and had a big lead in that game. As for the Cats, I don't know what our best possibility for the matchup is...I don't really like any of the three options. But it would be fun to have another shot at the Griz, if it comes up.

I recall that as well, and although I am usually quite good with sports trivia (some would say idiot savant-esque), Ican't recall what season that was...any help????

[bozbobcat]

It was the 2001-2002 season. It was still a great season with a 20-10 record (12-2 in conference), 8-6 road record, and the Bobcats' first postseason win in decades (NIT win at Utah State). Plus, the team swept NAU, the Griz, and Weber in the same season. If you beat all three of those teams on the road, there's no way you wouldn't have a good year. There will always be that dark cloud over the season with the semifinal game. If the Cats had won, I bet we would have been remembering our NCAA tournament season now.

[RMD]

It was the 2001-2002 season. It was still a great season with a 20-10 record (12-2 in conference), 8-6 road record, and the Bobcats' first postseason win in decades (NIT win at Utah State). Plus, the team swept NAU, the Griz, and Weber in the same season. If you beat all three of those teams on the road, there's no way you wouldn't have a good year. There will always be that dark cloud over the season with the semifinal game. If the Cats had won, I bet we would have been remembering our NCAA tournament season now.

Didn't the Cats beat Richmond as well in that NIT before losing to Minnesota?

[bozbobcat]

It was the 2001-2002 season. It was still a great season with a 20-10 record (12-2 in conference), 8-6 road record, and the Bobcats' first postseason win in decades (NIT win at Utah State). Plus, the team swept NAU, the Griz, and Weber in the same season. If you beat all three of those teams on the road, there's no way you wouldn't have a good year. There will always be that dark cloud over the season with the semifinal game. If the Cats had won, I bet we would have been remembering our NCAA tournament season now.

Didn't the Cats beat Richmond as well in that NIT before losing to Minnesota?

They lost at Richmond after beating Utah State. If I remember right, they would have played at Minnesota if they would have won.

[BigBruceBaker]

It was the 2001-2002 season. It was still a great season with a 20-10 record (12-2 in conference), 8-6 road record, and the Bobcats' first postseason win in decades (NIT win at Utah State). Plus, the team swept NAU, the Griz, and Weber in the same season. If you beat all three of those teams on the road, there's no way you wouldn't have a good year. There will always be that dark cloud over the season with the semifinal game. If the Cats had won, I bet we would have been remembering our NCAA tournament season now.

Didn't the Cats beat Richmond as well in that NIT before losing to Minnesota?

They lost at Richmond after beating Utah State. If I remember right, they would have played at Minnesota if they would have won.

I predict the cats to gel as a team and run the table.....Next year

I do hope for the sake of the guys and the development of the team they win at least 1 game in the tourney

[whitetrashgriz]

It was the 2001-2002 season. It was still a great season with a 20-10 record (12-2 in conference), 8-6 road record, and the Bobcats' first postseason win in decades (NIT win at Utah State). Plus, the team swept NAU, the Griz, and Weber in the same season. If you beat all three of those teams on the road, there's no way you wouldn't have a good year. There will always be that dark cloud over the season with the semifinal game. If the Cats had won, I bet we would have been remembering our NCAA tournament season now.

ya that was an interesting week. first the cat - griz game. we were crushing them. at one point we were up nearly 20. but in the second half durham played stall-ball and it was a horrible decision. i remember the players were so mad because they wanted to just continue playing, but mick wanted to literally go four corners for 20 seconds and then try to get a shot. we went the 20 or so seconds, unfortunately we then turned the ball over...or missed the shot. i honestly think that game was the beginning of the downfall of mick. and i love mick and think he is a very smart, capable coach. so you leave that game feeling like you were kicked in the balls. the next weekend we traveled to utah state and it was awesome. there were a ton of people at that game, and conway could not miss. he was hitting some of the deepest threes i'd ever seen him make outside the rat gym in the summer! that's when their fans got a little carried away, and of all things, started throwing batteries on the floor! ref gave them a t the first time, and when it happened a couple minutes later, actually called the game! then, cat fans and players all got a police escort back to the parking lot 'cause there was a lot of trash being talked by that time! that was a good feeling. not as good as the feeling i'll have if the cats meet the griz in the zoo and manage to knock them off.

[WSUWILDCAT]

It was the 2001-2002 season. It was still a great season with a 20-10 record (12-2 in conference), 8-6 road record, and the Bobcats' first postseason win in decades (NIT win at Utah State). Plus, the team swept NAU, the Griz, and Weber in the same season. If you beat all three of those teams on the road, there's no way you wouldn't have a good year. There will always be that dark cloud over the season with the semifinal game. If the Cats had won, I bet we would have been remembering our NCAA tournament season now.

ya that was an interesting week. first the cat - griz game. we were crushing them. at one point we were up nearly 20. but in the second half durham played stall-ball and it was a horrible decision. i remember the players were so mad because they wanted to just continue playing, but mick wanted to literally go four corners for 20 seconds and then try to get a shot. we went the 20 or so seconds, unfortunately we then turned the ball over...or missed the shot. i honestly think that game was the beginning of the downfall of mick. and i love mick and think he is a very smart, capable coach. so you leave that game feeling like you were kicked in the balls. the next weekend we traveled to utah state and it was awesome. there were a ton of people at that game, and conway could not miss. he was hitting some of the deepest threes i'd ever seen him make outside the rat gym in the summer! that's when their fans got a little carried away, and of all things, started throwing batteries on the floor! ref gave them a t the first time, and when it happened a couple minutes later, actually called the game! then, cat fans and players all got a police escort back to the parking lot 'cause there was a lot of trash being talked by that time! that was a good feeling. not as good as the feeling i'll have if the cats meet the griz in the zoo and manage to knock them off.

I know just how you feel about the USU Faggie fans, The same thing happened to me and my family when we went up to watch Weber play them, Weber was winning and a player dunked the ball I jumped out of my seat and cheered and for that I had a empty coke bottle thrown at me, my mother go spit on, and we had a faggie fan sitting a section away from us calling us every name in the book while his 5 year old son was sitting with him. Weber fans as a whole got booed out of the arena, and from that point on I vowed to always hate the Faggies.

They are the worst kind of people imaginable, I hate them, I hope they choke in their tourny and get ousted from the tournament for the umpteenth time in a row.

[bpcats]

Is Howard playing this weekend?

I hope we make the tournament but this team is very frustrating to watch as they miss shot after shot.

I don't know what the future looks like for this team. We have a lot of young guys that need to step up their game.
The Cats have potential stars in Rush Peipoli and Howard but they have a ways to go.

Hoping for the best

[whitetrashgriz]

It was the 2001-2002 season. It was still a great season with a 20-10 record (12-2 in conference), 8-6 road record, and the Bobcats' first postseason win in decades (NIT win at Utah State). Plus, the team swept NAU, the Griz, and Weber in the same season. If you beat all three of those teams on the road, there's no way you wouldn't have a good year. There will always be that dark cloud over the season with the semifinal game. If the Cats had won, I bet we would have been remembering our NCAA tournament season now.

ya that was an interesting week. first the cat - griz game. we were crushing them. at one point we were up nearly 20. but in the second half durham played stall-ball and it was a horrible decision. i remember the players were so mad because they wanted to just continue playing, but mick wanted to literally go four corners for 20 seconds and then try to get a shot. we went the 20 or so seconds, unfortunately we then turned the ball over...or missed the shot. i honestly think that game was the beginning of the downfall of mick. and i love mick and think he is a very smart, capable coach. so you leave that game feeling like you were kicked in the balls. the next weekend we traveled to utah state and it was awesome. there were a ton of people at that game, and conway could not miss. he was hitting some of the deepest threes i'd ever seen him make outside the rat gym in the summer! that's when their fans got a little carried away, and of all things, started throwing batteries on the floor! ref gave them a t the first time, and when it happened a couple minutes later, actually called the game! then, cat fans and players all got a police escort back to the parking lot 'cause there was a lot of trash being talked by that time! that was a good feeling. not as good as the feeling i'll have if the cats meet the griz in the zoo and manage to knock them off.

I know just how you feel about the USU Faggie fans, The same thing happened to me and my family when we went up to watch Weber play them, Weber was winning and a player dunked the ball I jumped out of my seat and cheered and for that I had a empty coke bottle thrown at me, my mother go spit on, and we had a faggie fan sitting a section away from us calling us every name in the book while his 5 year old son was sitting with him. Weber fans as a whole got booed out of the arena, and from that point on I vowed to always hate the Faggies.

They are the worst kind of people imaginable, I hate them, I hope they choke in their tourny and get ousted from the tournament for the umpteenth time in a row.

ya, being part of the cat griz rivalry i have seen scenarios play out like this quite a bit. funny thing is, we hate each other, and i'd put our rivalry up against any, yet we don't even treat each other like you get treated when you enter that stadium! i was younger, and just enjoying a weekend with some buds so the constant harassment didn't bother me. actually liked how passionate their fans were, even if it meant being complete asses! now that i have kids, i probably wouldn't take it so well! but there is no denying they have a great fan base, and their biggest issue is getting a little carried away. that is the first cat game i ever remember watching that never actually finished due to the game being called! also never been to a game where police were waving all cat fans who made the trip down to the floor with the team, so they could escort everyone out! pretty exciting.

[GOKATS]

Is Howard playing this weekend?

I hope we make the tournament but this team is very frustrating to watch as they miss shot after shot.

I don't know what the future looks like for this team. We have a lot of young guys that need to step up their game.
The Cats have potential stars in Rush Peipoli and Howard but they have a ways to go.

Hoping for the best

I don't remember where I read it, but some article in the last couple days said that Howard will play tomorrow.

[John K]

It was the 2001-2002 season. It was still a great season with a 20-10 record (12-2 in conference), 8-6 road record, and the Bobcats' first postseason win in decades (NIT win at Utah State). Plus, the team swept NAU, the Griz, and Weber in the same season. If you beat all three of those teams on the road, there's no way you wouldn't have a good year. There will always be that dark cloud over the season with the semifinal game. If the Cats had won, I bet we would have been remembering our NCAA tournament season now.

ya that was an interesting week. first the cat - griz game. we were crushing them. at one point we were up nearly 20. but in the second half durham played stall-ball and it was a horrible decision. i remember the players were so mad because they wanted to just continue playing, but mick wanted to literally go four corners for 20 seconds and then try to get a shot. we went the 20 or so seconds, unfortunately we then turned the ball over...or missed the shot. i honestly think that game was the beginning of the downfall of mick. and i love mick and think he is a very smart, capable coach. so you leave that game feeling like you were kicked in the balls. the next weekend we traveled to utah state and it was awesome. there were a ton of people at that game, and conway could not miss. he was hitting some of the deepest threes i'd ever seen him make outside the rat gym in the summer! that's when their fans got a little carried away, and of all things, started throwing batteries on the floor! ref gave them a t the first time, and when it happened a couple minutes later, actually called the game! then, cat fans and players all got a police escort back to the parking lot 'cause there was a lot of trash being talked by that time! that was a good feeling. not as good as the feeling i'll have if the cats meet the griz in the zoo and manage to knock them off.

I know just how you feel about the USU Faggie fans, The same thing happened to me and my family when we went up to watch Weber play them, Weber was winning and a player dunked the ball I jumped out of my seat and cheered and for that I had a empty coke bottle thrown at me, my mother go spit on, and we had a faggie fan sitting a section away from us calling us every name in the book while his 5 year old son was sitting with him. Weber fans as a whole got booed out of the arena, and from that point on I vowed to always hate the Faggies.

They are the worst kind of people imaginable, I hate them, I hope they choke in their tourny and get ousted from the tournament for the umpteenth time in a row.

ya, being part of the cat griz rivalry i have seen scenarios play out like this quite a bit. funny thing is, we hate each other, and i'd put our rivalry up against any, yet we don't even treat each other like you get treated when you enter that stadium! i was younger, and just enjoying a weekend with some buds so the constant harassment didn't bother me. actually liked how passionate their fans were, even if it meant being complete asses! now that i have kids, i probably wouldn't take it so well! but there is no denying they have a great fan base, and their biggest issue is getting a little carried away. that is the first cat game i ever remember watching that never actually finished due to the game being called! also never been to a game where police were waving all cat fans who made the trip down to the floor with the team, so they could escort everyone out! pretty exciting.

Wow, I don't know if I was vacationing on Pluto during this time or what, but I don't remember hearing about any of this stuff happening...not even the part about the game never actually being finished, due to the behavior of the Utah State fans. I followed the MSU basketball team pretty closely that season, and I even put a friendly wager on that game with my manager at that time, who was a Utah State alum. But I really don't remember the media even mentioning this in their coverage of the game. I mean calling a game before it is officially over is a pretty big deal, and you would think that such an incident would have generated quite a bit of attention. Did I just miss it somehow, or was it really not widely reported?

[whitetrashgriz]

It was the 2001-2002 season. It was still a great season with a 20-10 record (12-2 in conference), 8-6 road record, and the Bobcats' first postseason win in decades (NIT win at Utah State). Plus, the team swept NAU, the Griz, and Weber in the same season. If you beat all three of those teams on the road, there's no way you wouldn't have a good year. There will always be that dark cloud over the season with the semifinal game. If the Cats had won, I bet we would have been remembering our NCAA tournament season now.

ya that was an interesting week. first the cat - griz game. we were crushing them. at one point we were up nearly 20. but in the second half durham played stall-ball and it was a horrible decision. i remember the players were so mad because they wanted to just continue playing, but mick wanted to literally go four corners for 20 seconds and then try to get a shot. we went the 20 or so seconds, unfortunately we then turned the ball over...or missed the shot. i honestly think that game was the beginning of the downfall of mick. and i love mick and think he is a very smart, capable coach. so you leave that game feeling like you were kicked in the balls. the next weekend we traveled to utah state and it was awesome. there were a ton of people at that game, and conway could not miss. he was hitting some of the deepest threes i'd ever seen him make outside the rat gym in the summer! that's when their fans got a little carried away, and of all things, started throwing batteries on the floor! ref gave them a t the first time, and when it happened a couple minutes later, actually called the game! then, cat fans and players all got a police escort back to the parking lot 'cause there was a lot of trash being talked by that time! that was a good feeling. not as good as the feeling i'll have if the cats meet the griz in the zoo and manage to knock them off.

I know just how you feel about the USU Faggie fans, The same thing happened to me and my family when we went up to watch Weber play them, Weber was winning and a player dunked the ball I jumped out of my seat and cheered and for that I had a empty coke bottle thrown at me, my mother go spit on, and we had a faggie fan sitting a section away from us calling us every name in the book while his 5 year old son was sitting with him. Weber fans as a whole got booed out of the arena, and from that point on I vowed to always hate the Faggies.

They are the worst kind of people imaginable, I hate them, I hope they choke in their tourny and get ousted from the tournament for the umpteenth time in a row.

ya, being part of the cat griz rivalry i have seen scenarios play out like this quite a bit. funny thing is, we hate each other, and i'd put our rivalry up against any, yet we don't even treat each other like you get treated when you enter that stadium! i was younger, and just enjoying a weekend with some buds so the constant harassment didn't bother me. actually liked how passionate their fans were, even if it meant being complete asses! now that i have kids, i probably wouldn't take it so well! but there is no denying they have a great fan base, and their biggest issue is getting a little carried away. that is the first cat game i ever remember watching that never actually finished due to the game being called! also never been to a game where police were waving all cat fans who made the trip down to the floor with the team, so they could escort everyone out! pretty exciting.

Wow, I don't know if I was vacationing on Pluto during this time or what, but I don't remember hearing about any of this stuff happening...not even the part about the game never actually being finished, due to the behavior of the Utah State fans. I followed the MSU basketball team pretty closely that season, and I even put a friendly wager on that game with my manager at that time, who was a Utah State alum. But I really don't remember the media even mentioning this in their coverage of the game. I mean calling a game before it is officially over is a pretty big deal, and you would think that such an incident would have generated quite a bit of attention. Did I just miss it somehow, or was it really not widely reported?

don't remember how much was reported on it. as far as not hearing much about the game being called, after the technical free throws, on top of the lead we already had the game was out of reach. when more objects were thrown, there was less than a minute left in the game. maybe less than 30 seconds. the refs just said game over, and the players shook hands. this is where much of the serious talking and threatening between the fans began to happen! we were all down on the court with the team when carson told some of us it'd probably be smart to wait around there and all leave together to the parking lot! maybe the lack of coverage was because they didn't want to give the utah state fans much press on a game that was already decided. or maybe it was petes 5 or 6 threes from near half-court that over-shadowed it. don't know. just know it's the craziest game i've been a part of so far.

[kcatz]

ask any coach in the big sky conference and they will tell you it is very difficult to sweep teams, let alone win go 3 and 0 in one season. I say bring on the Griz!!

[grizzh8r]

ask any coach in the big sky conference and they will tell you it is very difficult to sweep teams, let alone go 3 and 0 in one season. I say bring on the Griz!!

Yeah. Mick Durham said that in 2002, and we promptly lost to the Griz. Nice term there WTG - kick in the balls was exactly the feeling I had after that game.