Florida State Loss was to a good team

[juckerrules]

Now that Fla St has beaten Cal, and UC took care of UNLV, that loss stings just a little bit less - Fla St is a pretty good team, and the Cats played a terrible 1st time on the road, 1st time against decent competition game. I'm willing to bet that if we played them in feb. the outcome would be different.

[London 'Cat]

FSU had a player named Xavier Gibson on its roster. Was that the player that UC was recruiting? Maybe I am confusing him with the nephew of a former Bearcat whose name escapes me now.

[SLMadiCat]

FSU had a player named Xavier Gibson on its roster. Was that the player that UC was recruiting? Maybe I am confusing him with the nephew of a former Bearcat whose name escapes me now.

Yep, that was him. TRat's Nephew. I also thought he was Mick's Godson, but I may be wrong on that.

They were also recruiting Singleton pretty heavily.

[Bearcat Fan Since 1958]

FSU had a player named Xavier Gibson on its roster. Was that the player that UC was recruiting? Maybe I am confusing him with the nephew of a former Bearcat whose name escapes me now.

One and the same. X Gibson is T-Rat's nephew.

[CroninCrazy]

For some reason Florida State always seem to have a good recruiting class or at least one five star player each year...

Per Rivals:

2007:

1 *****
3 ***

2008:

1 *****
4 **** (Xavier Gibson was one)
1 ***

2009:
1 *****
1 ***

[bearcattg]

Cal was 17-16 last year. They made the NIT, but were not a bubble team. So why is that such an impressive win for FSU? Cal is a mediocre team. FSU is the same this year as they always have been. The ACC is top heavy so FSU will be able to get just enough conference wins, none against elite teams, to make them a bubble team, but ultimately they will be in the NIT.

FSU, Cal, and UNLV are average basketball teams. UNLV is not as good as they were the last two years. They will have a pretty good shot at making the tournament because they play in a Mountain West conference that is pretty balanced across the board. None of these teams would be impressive wins or bad losses on UC's schedule. They are all middle of the road teams.

The impressive thing about UC's win last night was that they won the second game of a back to back schedule. They did it in a true road game with a tough crowd. That's a tough situation to win in, but that doesn't make UNLV a Final Four team.

UC still has a long, long way to go. If they play with that many turnovers and poor shot selection they are going to win few Big East games. If they can get performances, on a nightly basis, like the ones they got last night from Gates and Dixon, then UC can win their fair share of games.

The one thing I did notice was UC's away schedule in the Big East gives them favorable match ups. They play @ Marquette, Villanova, and Syracuse - all are teams with guard heavy lineups that UC will be able to match up with. @ DePaul, St.John's, Providence, and USF are all winnable games. The only two tough match ups that UC will have on the road will be @ Georgetown and @ Pitt. I expect this UC team will be a much better home than away team. If they can improve in certain areas - shot selection, rebounding, and ball control - and they can get continued good performances from some of their frosh, then they might be able to hold their own.

[juckerrules]

Cal was 17-16 last year. They made the NIT, but were not a bubble team. So why is that such an impressive win for FSU? Cal is a mediocre team. FSU is the same this year as they always have been. The ACC is top heavy so FSU will be able to get just enough conference wins, none against elite teams, to make them a bubble team, but ultimately they will be in the NIT.

FSU, Cal, and UNLV are average basketball teams. UNLV is not as good as they were the last two years. They will have a pretty good shot at making the tournament because they play in a Mountain West conference that is pretty balanced across the board. None of these teams would be impressive wins or bad losses on UC's schedule. They are all middle of the road teams.

The impressive thing about UC's win last night was that they won the second game of a back to back schedule. They did it in a true road game with a tough crowd. That's a tough situation to win in, but that doesn't make UNLV a Final Four team.

UC still has a long, long way to go. If they play with that many turnovers and poor shot selection they are going to win few Big East games. If they can get performances, on a nightly basis, like the ones they got last night from Gates and Dixon, then UC can win their fair share of games.

The one thing I did notice was UC's away schedule in the Big East gives them favorable match ups. They play @ Marquette, Villanova, and Syracuse - all are teams with guard heavy lineups that UC will be able to match up with. @ DePaul, St.John's, Providence, and USF are all winnable games. The only two tough match ups that UC will have on the road will be @ Georgetown and @ Pitt. I expect this UC team will be a much better home than away team. If they can improve in certain areas - shot selection, rebounding, and ball control - and they can get continued good performances from some of their frosh, then they might be able to hold their own.

That, and either Marquette is overrated or UC should be glad they don't play Dayton this year - the Flyers stuck it to Marquette pretty good

[Thegreatone]

Marquette isnt very good at all. Neither is Dayton. We can beat either team.

[juckerrules]

Marquette isnt very good at all. Neither is Dayton. We can beat either team.

West Virginia's 43 points in a loss to Ky didn't look too impressive either

[bearcated]

Marquette isnt very good at all. Neither is Dayton. We can beat either team.

So as long as UC can only schedule bad teams, everything will be great? How about if they actually beat a good team?

[SLMadiCat]

So as long as UC can only schedule bad teams, everything will be great? How about if they actually beat a good team?

They just beat UNLV. You must have missed it.

[Mick's Da Man]

Cal was 17-16 last year. They made the NIT, but were not a bubble team. So why is that such an impressive win for FSU? Cal is a mediocre team. FSU is the same this year as they always have been. The ACC is top heavy so FSU will be able to get just enough conference wins, none against elite teams, to make them a bubble team, but ultimately they will be in the NIT.

FSU, Cal, and UNLV are average basketball teams. UNLV is not as good as they were the last two years. They will have a pretty good shot at making the tournament because they play in a Mountain West conference that is pretty balanced across the board. None of these teams would be impressive wins or bad losses on UC's schedule. They are all middle of the road teams.

The impressive thing about UC's win last night was that they won the second game of a back to back schedule. They did it in a true road game with a tough crowd. That's a tough situation to win in, but that doesn't make UNLV a Final Four team.

UC still has a long, long way to go. If they play with that many turnovers and poor shot selection they are going to win few Big East games. If they can get performances, on a nightly basis, like the ones they got last night from Gates and Dixon, then UC can win their fair share of games.

The one thing I did notice was UC's away schedule in the Big East gives them favorable match ups. They play @ Marquette, Villanova, and Syracuse - all are teams with guard heavy lineups that UC will be able to match up with. @ DePaul, St.John's, Providence, and USF are all winnable games. The only two tough match ups that UC will have on the road will be @ Georgetown and @ Pitt. I expect this UC team will be a much better home than away team. If they can improve in certain areas - shot selection, rebounding, and ball control - and they can get continued good performances from some of their frosh, then they might be able to hold their own.

Cal is the perfect example of what UC can be next year, when returning nearly everyone and tons of experience.

Cal starts 6'-8" (jr.) Jamal Boykin who averaged 8 ppg, 4 rpg last year.
6'-5" (jr.) Patrick Christopher who averaged 5 ppg in '06-'07, and 15 ppg last year.
5'-10" (jr.) Jerome Randle, who averaged 12 ppg, 4 apg last year.
6'-6" (jr.) Theo Robertson, who averaged 9 ppg, 4 rpg last year.
7'-0" (jr.) Jordan Wilkes, who played sparingly last year but is averaging 5 ppg, 5 rpg in about 20 mpg this season.

Plenty of experience to go around. They have come into their own and will be one of the better PAC-10 teams this year. For Florida State to beat them is a very good win.

You are mistaken about Cal.

[bearcattg]

Only time will tell with Cal, FSU, and UNLV. I hope at the end of the year we can be championing our win over UNLV as a reason why UC should go to the NCAA tourney and our loss to FSU will be to one of the better teams in the country.

[Bp4thebest]

Cal is the perfect example of what UC can be next year, when returning nearly everyone and tons of experience.

Cal starts 6'-8" (jr.) Jamal Boykin who averaged 8 ppg, 4 rpg last year.
6'-5" (jr.) Patrick Christopher who averaged 5 ppg in '06-'07, and 15 ppg last year.
5'-10" (jr.) Jerome Randle, who averaged 12 ppg, 4 apg last year.
6'-6" (jr.) Theo Robertson, who averaged 9 ppg, 4 rpg last year.
7'-0" (jr.) Jordan Wilkes, who played sparingly last year but is averaging 5 ppg, 5 rpg in about 20 mpg this season.

Plenty of experience to go around. They have come into their own and will be one of the better PAC-10 teams this year. For Florida State to beat them is a very good win.

You are mistaken about Cal.

They lost their best player in Anderson to the draft and were an average team last year. They will not be one of the best teams in the pac-10!

[Bp4thebest]

Only time will tell with Cal, FSU, and UNLV. I hope at the end of the year we can be championing our win over UNLV as a reason why UC should go to the NCAA tourney and our loss to FSU will be to one of the better teams in the country.

UNLV will make the tourney cuz of their schedule but FSU will just be a bubble team, not one of the best in the nation. UAB beat Arizona and played two other good teams tough.. if we beat them and play well against x I will say UC has an ncaa tourney shot!

[Mick's Da Man]

They lost their best player in Anderson to the draft and were an average team last year. They will not be one of the best teams in the pac-10!


Pretty comical considering the following:

1. UCLA lost to a very average Michigan team.
2. Arizona is considered very down from past standards this year.
3. Arizona State was mentioned by the experts on Rivals today as being a turkey and not much better than the same bubble team they were last year.
4. USC is already proven to be overrated by losing to Missouri and Seton Hall, two middle of the pack in their conference, type teams.
5. Washington State is 5-1 and in their only quality game, they got thumped by Pitt.
6. Stanford is 4-0 and hasn't played anyone.
7. Oregon, Washington and Oregon State are already .500 or worse.


The PAC-10 is very down this year, and it won't take much for a good Cal team to do some damage.

In other words, you are wrong.

Have a nice day.

[Scheids21]

UNLV will make the tourney cuz of their schedule but FSU will just be a bubble team, not one of the best in the nation. UAB beat Arizona and played two other good teams tough.. if we beat them and play well against x I will say UC has an ncaa tourney shot!

I really think we should beat X. This team is NOT the one from last year, they barely snuck by the first 2 rounds down in Puerto Rico, then beat an overrated Memphis team. And IMO that is what Xavier is...overrated. Id be disappointed with a loss this year of any kind. X is very beataable

[Bearcat Jeff]

I really think we should beat X. This team is NOT the one from last year, they barely snuck by the first 2 rounds down in Puerto Rico, then beat an overrated Memphis team. And IMO that is what Xavier is...overrated. Id be disappointed with a loss this year of any kind. X is very beataable
I think the one thing forgotten when we look at teams is this. Teams that return experienced players typically start out strong and appear better than most other teams in the early part of the season. They have already established cohesiveness, know the offense and defense, and most importantly, they have been in the war zone before and know how to react. Young teams typically do not hit their stride till sometime in January and improve as the season progresses. Teams are not overrated at this point, just returning established teams. Rankings are a snapshot in time not timeless.

[Billy Don]

Cal was 17-16 last year. They made the NIT, but were not a bubble team. So why is that such an impressive win for FSU? Cal is a mediocre team. FSU is the same this year as they always have been. The ACC is top heavy so FSU will be able to get just enough conference wins, none against elite teams, to make them a bubble team, but ultimately they will be in the NIT.

FSU, Cal, and UNLV are average basketball teams. UNLV is not as good as they were the last two years. They will have a pretty good shot at making the tournament because they play in a Mountain West conference that is pretty balanced across the board. None of these teams would be impressive wins or bad losses on UC's schedule. They are all middle of the road teams.

The impressive thing about UC's win last night was that they won the second game of a back to back schedule. They did it in a true road game with a tough crowd. That's a tough situation to win in, but that doesn't make UNLV a Final Four team.

UC still has a long, long way to go. If they play with that many turnovers and poor shot selection they are going to win few Big East games. If they can get performances, on a nightly basis, like the ones they got last night from Gates and Dixon, then UC can win their fair share of games.

The one thing I did notice was UC's away schedule in the Big East gives them favorable match ups. They play @ Marquette, Villanova, and Syracuse - all are teams with guard heavy lineups that UC will be able to match up with. @ DePaul, St.John's, Providence, and USF are all winnable games. The only two tough match ups that UC will have on the road will be @ Georgetown and @ Pitt. I expect this UC team will be a much better home than away team. If they can improve in certain areas - shot selection, rebounding, and ball control - and they can get continued good performances from some of their frosh, then they might be able to hold their own.

Good post! I hate these early games when trying to figure out what they will look like in March. A team will look great one game and terrible the next. You can watch a team that got beat and see they have the talent to improve a lot but the question is how much. The Big East took some licks with UL, Marquette,WV,UC and Georgetown losing games. I don't know about Marquette but the rest of these teams have a good coach and will improve. The question is how much. Syracuse looked good so there is another team in the mix. Another month ought to sort out some of the have and have nots. The top 25 should make a big adjustment thats for sure.

[Billy Don]

They just beat UNLV. You must have missed it.

Beating UNLV who just got beat by 18 to Cal. the night before isn't much to brag on. It does prove UC can beat a middle of the pack team. Hard to tell on the radio but sounded like UC handled the press okay which I thought might be a problem. UNLV didn't have much size which helps UC a lot at this point in the season. All in all it was a good weekend for UC players and coach because it showed the things UC has to improve on.

[jeffto]

Good post! I hate these early games when trying to figure out what they will look like in March. A team will look great one game and terrible the next. You can watch a team that got beat and see they have the talent to improve a lot but the question is how much. The Big East took some licks with UL, Marquette,WV,UC and Georgetown losing games. I don't know about Marquette but the rest of these teams have a good coach and will improve. The question is how much. Syracuse looked good so there is another team in the mix. Another month ought to sort out some of the have and have nots. The top 25 should make a big adjustment thats for sure.I agree, but I love the instant analysis of the posters who decide a team's season based on a loss, eg. "Marquette (Louisville, WVU, Geo., XU) isn't any good." We'll see how good they are when we have to play them.