REAL Standings: Lincoln Celebrates President’s Day Edition
MIDWEEK RECAP
Once again, for anyone who still doesn’t understand the difference between a Home game and a Road game, and you know who you are, Kerkhoff, the premise of the REAL Standings was validated Wednesday night as Nebraska took out k-state in Lincoln. This, in spite of the fact that k-state had earlier toyed with the Huskers in Manhattan as if they were a junior high team, and despite the fact that, although this game had been listed as a Losable game for k-state for weeks, it was re-characterized as a Projected W just four days ago because of NU’s demotion to Tier Three status. That was apparently a bit hasty, because either NU is a Tier Two team or k-state is. Or both.
Further evidence of the significance of the Home court came in Austin, as UT dismantled the same A&M team that had taken them apart in College Station.
The bottom line, however, is that UT’s Home victory was a non-event in the REAL Standings, as are all Home victories by Tier One Teams.
k-state’s loss, on the other hand, cost it a full game in the RSP. Should they lose their Losable game in Waco this weekend, the k-staters might find themselves in a fight for a first round bye in the conference tourney. And, even worse, they will be at risk of losing their status as a Tier One Team in the REAL Standings.
In other news, Tech picked up ½ game with its Road victory at Colorado vs. a team that is beginning to make the Ricardo Patton era look like the Golden Age of Buffalo Basketball.
And OU’s Projected Home W over Baylor, while a non-event for purposes of the REAL Standings, was easily the most exciting game of the week, even though requiring direct aid from the Bears, who have done more choking in the last week than Boris Karloff in the Body Snatcher.
REAL STANDINGS: 2/21/08
Note: The current breakdown of teams into tiers, which is the only subjective aspect of the REAL Standings is:
Tier One: KU, k-state, UT
Tier Two: Baylor, Mizzou, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Okie St, Texas A&M, Texas Tech
Tier Three: CU, ISU
1. 13-3
KU (9-2) Projected L’s: None
Losable games: at OSU, at A&M
2. 12.5-3.5
UT (9-2) Projected L’s: at ksu
Losable games: at TT
3. 11.5-4.5
k-state (8-3) Projected L’s: at KU
Losable games: at BU
4. 8.5-7.5
A&M (6-5) Projected L’s: at OU, at BU
Losable games: KU
5. 8-8
Baylor (5-6) Projected L’s: at TT
Losable games: k-state, at CU
OU (6-5) Projected L’s: at UT, at NU, at OSU
Losable games: None
7. 7.5-8.5
Tech (5-6) Projected L’s: at A&M, at KU
Losable games: UT
8. 7-9
MU (4-7) Projected L’s: at BU, at OU
Losable games: None
9. 6.5-9.5
OSU (4-7) Projected L’s: at MU, at UT
Losable games: KU
10. 6-10
NU (4-7) Projected L’s: at A&M, at OSU, at UT
Losable games: None
11. 4-12
ISU (4-7) Projected L’s: at TT, KU, at CU, at MU, ksu
Losable games: None
12. 3.5-12.5
CU (2-9) Projected L’s: at MU, at ksu, at NU
Losable games: BU
FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE
Big XII Weekend Games, with IQ (Interest Quotient) on a 1-4 star scale:
SATURDAY
1. Iowa St at Tech (12:30p.m.)*1/2
What can you say? It’s on the schedule. It has to be played.
Projected W: Tech
2. OU at UT (2:30p.m.)***1/2
Let’s listen in on a conversation between Rick Barnes and that guy from Duke (remind me to call Dickie V for his name) who coaches OU, as to which team should be named LTOY:
Barnes: We’re the luckiest team in the conference. We got to play you guys in Norman when Longar was hurt.
TGFD: No. We are the luckiest team in the country. We hit a fluke 30 footer in the final two seconds to win in Lubbock.
Barnes: But we are the luckiest team in the world. Baylor was 1 for 17 from three point land for the entire first half when we played them in Waco.
TGFD: Disagree. We are the luckiest team in this solar system. Aaron Bruce fouled our shooter as he was making a three point shot with eight seconds left in the game. Went from down 3 to 1 up just like that.
Barnes: Child’s play. We are the luckiest team in the Milky Way Galaxy. Bruce called a time out against us that he didn’t have.
TGFD: I can top that, because we are the luckiest team in the universe. Baylor’s best player, Curtis Jerrells, missed two free throws with one second left in the game.
Barnes: Give me a break. We are the luckiest team in this dimension. We get to play you with Longar back in the lineup at HOME!
TGFD: You win.
Projected W: UT
3. KU at Okie St (3:00p.m.)****
A Losable game for the Hawks. Even more Losable than previously anticipated with Okie St gathering momentum from recent victories over Baylor at Home and A&M on the Road. A W here gives KU a full game lead over UT in the REAL Standings, a matter of utmost importance, taking into account that UT has the tie-breaker vs. the Jayhawks for the No. 1 seed in the conference tourney by virtue of their victory when the teams played in Austin.
Projected W: None
4. NU at A&M (3:00p.m.)*
Don’t you have a lawn to mow or something?
Projected W: A&M
5. CU at Mizzou (7:00p.m.)*
Or a house to paint?
Projected W: Mizzou
6. k-state at Baylor (7:00p.m.)****
Monster game for k-state. Lose this, and they are history. The Bears, meanwhile, are just as desperate. They have lost six of their last seven and need this game to avoid bubble status. Unfortunately, they are the chokiest chokers that ever choked. What new way will they invent to avoid winning on this occasion? Whatever way they choose, they need to patent it so no one else can use it without written authorization.
Projected W: None
–Mark
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8 Responses to “REAL Standings: Lincoln Celebrates President’s Day Edition”
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February 23rd, 2008 at 6:14 pm
Turnovers, three point shooting, defending the three, dumb fouls, and terrible execution down the stretch.
Goodbye 1 seed and Big XII Title
February 23rd, 2008 at 7:09 pm
Losing the No. 1 seed is a good thing. This team cannot handle the pressure of being the hunted. I have been looking all year for a sign that this team has heart, and I have yet to see it. It simply will not respond to a challenge. Could change if they ever get so embarrassed they decide to make a commitment to playing fundamentally sound basketball 40 minutes a game. If not, it will be a short March.
February 23rd, 2008 at 8:19 pm
test
February 23rd, 2008 at 8:20 pm
test 2
February 23rd, 2008 at 8:30 pm
Are we sure KU is still a Tier One team? They sure haven’t looked like it since the KSU game. Winning by 10 over Baylor at home wasn’t that impressive. Winning by 13 over Colorado in Boulder doesn’t look so hot, when Texas Tech which had no B12 road wins until winning by 18 last week in Boulder. A very mediocre Tulsa team beat Colorado by 13 in Boulder.
The team is really playing foolish for the amount of experience and talent they have. They don’t treat possesions like a valuable commodity, but an opportunity to get a highlight on Sportscenter.
This team can’t seem to handle the pressure of much of anything outside of AFH. They seem to be imploding and repeating the collapse of 2005.
February 23rd, 2008 at 8:43 pm
No, I am not sure KU is a Tier One Team at this point. If not, UT is in Tier One by its lonesome, and the Big 12 race is all over but the shouting.
February 23rd, 2008 at 9:44 pm
I have always been a fan of your REAL Standings, and perhaps you have addressed this in the past, but how do you switch a team from one tier to another? How many games do you need to account for a real change? I didn’t see it in 2005, but KU went from tier one to tier two with that loss at home to ISU, even though they ended up being co-champs for the regular season.
Kansas has real chance at going winless on the road in the South which is really dissappointing for a team with this much talent and experience. Considering they won the league with less experience the last two years, although the league is much stronger this year.
February 23rd, 2008 at 9:49 pm
It is subjective, but, as a general rule, I place teams that appear to be good enough to win all their Home games and half their Road games in conference in Tier One–even if they don’t actually do it. At this point, KU is looking less and less like a team that can meet that standard.