I view Ole Miss as a Must win

[D Isaiah T Billings-Clyde7]

The way I see it, coming off the Georgia loss this team was going to plummet or come together and get refocused for the second half of the sec schedule. The bounce back vs Baylor was very encouraging then we played what might be the 2 best teams in the country..

To me, Wednesday night we see if this team turned a corner mentally or if they just flat out do not get it. It’s not a must win for our postseason chances, but a poor performance and another L in this spot will tell us this team just doesn’t have it between the ears. I think if we take an L Wednesday this team is going to go in the tank and miss the tournament.

I really hope we pull out the W, no matter how we get it. If we can do that then all we need to do the rest of the year for a 6-7 seed is win at home. Any road win would be an added bonus

6-2 is extremely doable based on the schedule but it’s really difficult to trust this team right now. RTR


PS I love where the program is headed under oats

 

[frazor]

That win at Florida feels like it was 3 months ago. I'll have to see this present day team win a road game before I believe it. I'd love to see them flip the switch but I fear at this point they are what they are. Make the tournament, win one/lose one, then let all of those that want to be elsewhere get gone. I'll still be cheering them on until the end.

 

[StablerCountry]

When they don't beat Georgia on the road, I don't feel good about any of them. I set my expectations too high for this team before season start. They have been disappointing over all even with two big wins over Gonzaga and Baylor.
if they could only shoot, they would be awesome.

 

[D Isaiah T Billings-Clyde7]

When they don't beat Georgia on the road, I don't feel good about any of them. I set my expectations too high for this team before season start. They have been disappointing over all even with two big wins over Gonzaga and Baylor.
if they could only shoot, they would be awesome.

Shooting is far from the main issue imo. Shooting cost them 1 game and it was the Kentucky game. The overall offensive efficiency is better then last year despite being a bad 3 point shooting team. This team is bad on defense and doesn’t have the intangibles on a nightly basis that lead to winning. They haven’t shown that they understand what it takes to win consistently.

 

[pfaud001]

Winning any game on the road is hard. Auburn barely beat GA and probably should have lost. I still think this team turns the corner.

 

[OatsMeal]

I am in no way trying to to fluff the Georgia loss but I think it has to be noted that they aren’t near as bad as we like to portray them. They Should have beaten Auburn. But I agree with all of your post @D Isaiah T Billings-Clyde7 - must win Weds.

 

[BamaNavyCPO]

IMO, the rest of the games are "must wins," regardless of opponent or venue. Why? Because we never know what Bama team will show up from game-to-game; therefore, we need all the wins we can get if we still expect to make the tourney. I agree with another poster that the NIT would be a disappointment.

 

[D Isaiah T Billings-Clyde7]

IMO, the rest of the games are "must wins," regardless of opponent or venue. Why? Because we never know what Bama team will show up from game-to-game; therefore, we need all the wins we can get if we still expect to make the tourney. I agree with another poster that the NIT would be a disappointment.

Oh it would be a monster disappointment. I mean we are sitting here in early February, coming off what is close to a 2 month slump. There have been some good wins in that time but we haven’t been able to get it turned around more than seemingly a half here or there, much less back to back games. And even with that, we would have to completely implode down this final 8 game stretch to miss the tournament. So yes the NIT would leave me pulling my hair out

 

[pwestbro61]

I am in no way trying to to fluff the Georgia loss but I think it has to be noted that they aren’t near as bad as we like to portray them. They Should have beaten Auburn. But I agree with all of your post @D Isaiah T Billings-Clyde7 - must win Weds.

Arkansas beat UGA in Athens by 26 last week. Let me know when they win a 2nd conference game. They are a bad basketball team.

 

[rsaxoniii]

All should wins are must wins. Mainly because the team needs to compete at it's best self.

 

[pfaud001]

Arkansas beat UGA in Athens by 26 last week. Let me know when they win a 2nd conference game. They are a bad basketball team.

They beat the crap out of Memphis, too. Oh they are a bad team, but they have athletes. This isn't the SEC of a few years ago where several games were cupcakes.

 

[D Isaiah T Billings-Clyde7]

Arkansas beat UGA in Athens by 26 last week. Let me know when they win a 2nd conference game. They are a bad basketball team.

They are bad. But the tricky the about basketball is shitty teams have good nights. That’s one of the reasons the tournament is a gold mine for upsets and Cinderellas

But your point is factual… Georgia sucks ass and that loss to them sucked ass

 

[BeastofBourbon]

They are bad. But the tricky the about basketball is shitty teams have good nights. That’s one of the reasons the tournament is a gold mine for upsets and Cinderellas

But your point is factual… Georgia sucks ass and that loss to them sucked ass

We've lost to Mizzou (damn near twice) and UGA, so IMO there is no such thing as an easy win on our schedule. Wouldn't go so far as to say this is a "must win", because I think we only need 3, maybe 4, more wins to get us in the tourney.

 

[BamaNavyCPO]

They are bad. But the tricky the about basketball is shitty teams have good nights. That’s one of the reasons the tournament is a gold mine for upsets and Cinderellas

But your point is factual… Georgia sucks ass and that loss to them sucked ass

Problem is that same Jawjah team that is/was a bottom feeder, beat us and took the #1 team in the nation down to the last nano second before the game was decided. To be honest, the barn won on what should have been a charging foul, but as we know, the refs will swallow the whistle for the barn.

 

[Sweetlou2.0]

The UGA loss was brutal… but they’ve proven they can be dangerous. No easy nights for anyone in the sec these days

 

[OatsMeal]

Arkansas beat UGA in Athens by 26 last week. Let me know when they win a 2nd conference game. They are a bad basketball team.

yeah I agree they are a bad basketball team. But some people make them out like an FCS opponent. They have athletes and they haven’t given up on Crean, the play hard. At least they did in the Bama and AU games I watched. Terrible loss for sure, no way around it. Just a sliver of added context.

 

[budog]

Arkansas beat UGA in Athens by 26 last week. Let me know when they win a 2nd conference game. They are a bad basketball team.

You are correct when you say that they are a bad team, but as was the case Saturday when they lost to the undisputed #1 team in the country at home 74-72 it shows any team can get hot. Obviously the bottom line however is wins and losses. At 4-6 in conference play right now we need to find a way to go 5-3 from here out and win a couple games in the tourney to stay out of the 8-9 slot.

ROLL TIDE!!!!

 

[BeastofBourbon]

You are correct when you say that they are a bad team, but as was the case Saturday when they lost to the undisputed #1 team in the country at home 74-72 it shows any team can get hot. Obviously the bottom line however is wins and losses. At 4-6 in conference play right now we need to find a way to go 5-3 from here out and win a couple games in the tourney to stay out of the 8-9 slot.

ROLL TIDE!!!!

Maybe the 8-9 slot is what this team needs. If we're lucky to get out of the 1st round, we'd be playing a 1 seed. Those caliber teams are who we've had success against this year.

 

[pwestbro61]

Alabama better beat Ole Miss cause Arkansas comes to town Saturday with a nine game winning streak. Current Tide not beating that team.

 

[mtmax]

I like catching Arkansas after they beat Auburn. Teams often play poorly after a big win that is celebrated for too long.

 

[TideFever]

If we want to avoid bubble talk then this Miss game is a must win. Yes we have some good wins but we need more true road wins. Our road record is abominable. 1-5... one win out of 6 road games... That's a Gottfried Charmin soft road record terrible.

We maybe don't HAVE TO win it but if we lose then we have to find wins elsewhere like Rupp... pretty much not happening.

 

[BeastofBourbon]

If we want to avoid bubble talk then this Miss game is a must win. Yes we have some good wins but we need more true road wins. Our road record is abominable. 1-5... one win out of 6 road games... That's a Gottfried Charmin soft road record terrible.

We maybe don't HAVE TO win it but if we lose then we have to find wins elsewhere like Rupp... pretty much not happening.

Our resume is far from bubble at this point. We are the only team in D1 (358 teams) to not play a Quad 4 opponent. By comparison Gonzaga has played 11, Houston 7, UK 8, and the barn 4. We can lose to Ole Miss and to UK and still make it to the tourney. 3 more wins probably gets us in and with 4 we're a lock. So go 3-5 or 4-4 the rest of the way and we should be good. 4 of those games are at home so very doable.

 

[BamaLegacy]

Bama has played a very hard schedule but also has a solidly losing record since Houston and we apparently still have guys that can’t seem to follow team rules. We’ve dissected it to death, but it’s unquestionably a disappointment.

Hoping for the best and a turnaround to better basketball and finishing the season on a roll. RTR

 

[jd82tide]

I just don't look at any game left and say... yep that's a win. We can win them all, we can lose them all. This team is talented enough to beat Gonzaga at home and selfish and lazy enough to lose to Georgia. Every game will be a battle and I agree tonight's seems like a must win. I liked the D effort and Bediako last game, if we can just get medium temp from three point range we should be good. Miles needs to get his stuff together because we need 9 guys who can play. At times he has that Shannon Hale look like I don't give a F... but he can play and shoot. Let's get a streak started tonight... RTR!!!

 

[jtr4dad]

We need to somehow find a way to split our next 4 games and stop the bleeding. I don’t see us winning at Rupp or beating Arkansas. That leaves Ole Miss and Mississippi State as must wins. We’ve been awful away from home and have already lost to State. We’ve got our work cut out for us.

 

[OatsMeal]

We need to somehow find a way to split our next 4 games and stop the bleeding. I don’t see us winning at Rupp or beating Arkansas. That leaves Ole Miss and Mississippi State as must wins. We’ve been awful away from home and have already lost to State. We’ve got our work cut out for us.

Alabama will be a favorite at home against Arkansas. Going to be tough and based on what we have seen, I agree with you, it’s hard to see. But they will be a 2-4 point favorite.

 

[BeastofBourbon]

We need to somehow find a way to split our next 4 games and stop the bleeding. I don’t see us winning at Rupp or beating Arkansas. That leaves Ole Miss and Mississippi State as must wins. We’ve been awful away from home and have already lost to State. We’ve got our work cut out for us.

Win 3 of our next 8 and we're in, and if we can't accomplish that we don't deserve to get in. We'll probably be favored in 6 of the 8 games. Miss St, aTm, South Carolina are probably our best chances seeing as they're all at home. And I like our chances tonight and at Vandy as well. Arky is playing as well as anyone right now and that will be a dogfight, but I'd call it a toss-up seeing as we're at home. Wins at UK and LSU would be upsets IMO.

My guess is even if we don't improve at all, we go 3-5. Play to our full potential 6-2. I'm going to say we end up 4-4 and a 6 or 7 seed in the tournament.

 

[BamaNavyCPO]

Alabama will be a favorite at home against Arkansas. Going to be tough and based on what we have seen, I agree with you, it’s hard to see. But they will be a 2-4 point favorite.

Right now I'll take a win against anybody, starting with Ole Miss tonight.

 

[frazor]

Maybe the 8-9 slot is what this team needs. If we're lucky to get out of the 1st round, we'd be playing a 1 seed. Those caliber teams are who we've had success against this year.

I agree. Of the 67 other teams that will make the tournament I couldn't imagine Alabama, regardless of seed, being a favorite over more than maybe 10 of them. I'd pick them as an 8 seed to beat #1 Arizona before I would pick them as a 6 seed to beat 11 seed Creighton.

 

[frazor]

we apparently still have guys that can’t seem to follow team rules.

Whatchoo talkin bout Willis??

 

[jtr4dad]

Right now I'll take a win against anybody, starting with Ole Miss tonight.

It’s the most winnable road game left on our schedule. The other 3 are against teams that are ahead of us in the conference standings. We may not win another road game if we don’t get this one tonight.

 

[RollTide15]

OK. Big Picture. This team is not going to the final four. Just accept that no matter how many games this team wins (or loses) the rest of the season. But this team does not define Coach Oats. This is a process (where have we heard that before?).

Oats is a great coach. He will win - either here or somewhere else if we don't support him.

 

[BamaLegacy]

Whatchoo talkin bout Willis??

Lol 😂 good quote!

Just that we started the year with JQ, Gary, and Tchikou all being suspended for various reasons, and Miles was just suspended for the Kentucky game…and having one of our top 3 outside shooters might have been very helpful on a night the squad went 3 for 30.