[Tothehoopyall1]

Credit where credit is due: We hit FT's down the stretch!
The movement on Offense and the hustle of our “bigs” was really impressive. Love this team! Athletic, long and heady guards.
Lock in for a fun season of LU Hoops!

I am liking this team as well. Kudos to HCRM for going out and findig some great pieces. Ihnen is also playing very well for us. I am cautiously optimistic about the season (we were in basically this same spot last year). This team does seem different though and better built for the long run. The team makeup seems to also be helping both Porter and Metheny on the court. I have been impressed. With more made free throws against FAU we would be 7-0.

[R i]

West Cost Conference has jumped the American in avg Net ranking. CUSA remains 10th.

UTEP and FIU being outside the top 200 is really hurting the average ranking. Need UTEP to beat 300+ ranked Long Beach State today.

Overall CUSA has improved a ton. We have a month of non conference games to improve those rankings even more.

[Ill flame]

CUSA might not be the best conference top to bottom but it's nice to have enough quality teams across the conference to give us an outside shot at an at large bid. If we were in the asun any losses would be a huge detriment to our resume and none of the wins would really help us.

[R i]

This is the closest CUSA has been to jumping up to that 9th spot of average Net Rankings. Kennesaw keeps winning. LA Tech is dominating. UTEP is underrated. Going to be a dog fight this year in conference. Hoping we can get some good national rankings before we beat up each other.

[Dr. Sheh]

Do you have the link to those stats, RI? I've been looking online but for some reason having trouble finding it.

It's amazing to be in such a strong league for basketball, and fun to watch the results around the league on a nightly basis. Never thought we'd be in a conference ranked ahead of the MVC. I still remember the days of Larry Blair jumping on top of the scorers table after upsetting Winthrop, shouting to the few in the "crowd", during a particularly dismal season - and had me dreaming if we'd ever make it to a good conference or be a respectable program.

We've come so far

[R i]

Its on the paid subscription to kenpom

[R i]

Been a bad week for CUSA. LU is now the only top 100 team. We now have two teams outside top 200.

We have an entire month of non con left to gain ranking and conference respect. Games of the week to watch are UTEP vs 125 Seatle and today Middle plays 123 UAB. Win these two, and LA Tech and Sam keep it close with Memphis and Indiana, and we are right back in the mix for 9th best conference.

It’s been really fun keeping up with a good league. ASUN is 22nd average NET for reference.

[R i]

Big time opportunity for CUSA basketball this weekend.

UTEP has 116 Seattle

New Mexico State has 64 New Mexico

Middle Tennessee has 142 Belmont (Brody is averaging 11 points a game shooting 26% from 3)

[Dr. Sheh]

Pretty good showing for the CUSA yesterday. NMSU with a huge win over the Lobos, UTEP beats Seattle soundly and MTSU falls in a close one vs Belmont - the only loss of the weekend, w/ 6 CUSA teams in action

[R i]

Pretty good showing for the CUSA yesterday. NMSU with a huge win over the Lobos, UTEP beats Seattle soundly and MTSU falls in a close one vs Belmont - the only loss of the weekend, w/ 6 CUSA teams in action

Brody had 11 minutes in the Belmont win over Middle.

Also we now have all but 1 team ranked in top 200. Nice Saturday for the league. So close to moving into 9th best conference in country by average net rankings.

[R i]

Gentlemen it happened. CUSA is now the 9th ranked conference in the country by average net ranking. Jumping the American!

MASSIVE! Let’s keep it going!

[olldflame]

Gentlemen it happened. CUSA is now the 9th ranked conference in the country by average net ranking. Jumping the American!

MASSIVE! Let’s keep it going!

Funny how the rankings of conferences we join seem to magically improve.

[West Coaster]

UTEP was very close yesterday to downing Louisville for another CUSA Power 4 win. Lost by 3 down the stretch but had control of the game at many points.

[R i]

Some winnable opportunities coming up for CUSA. None is bigger than Louisiana Tech vs 93 Grand Canyon on Monday night.

[R i]

Conference went 4-0 yesterday including a nice top 100 win for WKU over Murray State.

CUSA now has 6 teams in the top 150.

[jmclaughlin]

Great night for CUSA hoops!

[R i]

Middle got a nice win over Lipscomb last night.

UT Arlington is 152 and climbing really fast. They are 4-2 since the return of their super star Kentucky transfer. Very tough game and opportunity for the Flames this Saturday.

CUSA is still ranked ahead of the American by most measures, and has 6 teams in the top 150. CUSA now has 2 teams in the top 100. The league is good!

[R i]

CUSA is projected to go 4-4 today.

Middle plays the number one team in the country Tennessee on Monday.

Last chance to make a non conference push!

[R i]

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Conference hoops season!

CUSA enters conference play as the 10th ranked conference in most measures. (ASUN is 24th) Liberty is CUSA’s lone top 100 team, while the league has 6 teams ranked in the top 150.

15-3 and a loss in the championship, and id predict we miss the big dance. It will all come down to playing our best basketball for 3 days in Huntsville.

[Sly Fox]

The odds are indeed stacked against us to be an at large. We can lower or raise our seeding based on how we manage conference play. But an auto bid is likely our only path. That's just how the committee operates.

[Ill flame]

It's certainly a narrow path to an at large bid. We probably can't have more than 2 losses including one in the conference tourney but regardless it is nice to be here in January with a path toward an at large bid.

[ECC29]

vs WKU: this is poor coaching. LU gave up a 16 point lead. LU did not adjust. McKay kept the two small guards at the end of the game that was clearly a mismatch against opposing guards that cost the game. We thought we learned from last year concerning the small guards. Terrible coaching in my opinion. Also poor free throw. Cleveland is a liability in the end of the game always because of his poor FT.

[aredd33]

Pathetic second half performance. Blew an opportunity for a 1-0 conference start.

[Kricket]

Yeah, I would have liked to see Peter in a bit more. He had a hot hand and offers a bit more size than the Porter/Metheny combo. A loss is a loss. Shake it off and move forward. Won’t hurt much in the grand scheme of things if we bounce back.

[olldflame]

Pathetic second half performance. Blew an opportunity for a 1-0 conference start.

Hopefully Ritchie will realize that it is not practical to go with a 6 man rotation. Despite having extended rest coming in, we just got fatigued. WKU got 77 minutes off the bench to our 25 (22 from Peter). Now we go again in 2 days.

For the record, half of the teams in the conference will "blow" an opportunity for a 1-0 start.

Ritchie made it official in the post game that Ihnen is out for the year.