5 of the next 7 are on the road....

Jan 29, 2020, 11:45 AM

We are entering a part of the schedule that will be challenging as far as mental preparation.
Obviously we are healthier and playing better than earlier in the year, which bodes well...but this team wants to make the NIT (realistically)...they are going to have to win a few road games.
None of the road games are ‘gimmes’ and I consider us an underdog on the road each time out....the good thing is that there are some opportunities, but it will be difficult.

@Wake- Wake has a home win over BC and a nice road win at Pitt in conference...they took UVA to OT the other day, and we know they gave us all we could handle in Littlejohn. This is probably the most likely road win remaining.

@UVA- UVA, although obviously not what they were last year, is still very tough. They just beat a top 5 FSU team at home last night. They get a full week to prepare for us. I think this is the least likely road win remaining on the schedule.

Notre Dame- A home game that we will be favored in, but not by much. ND has had some close ones recently...losing by a basket to Syracuse and then losing by one at FSU.....they dropped close ones to Louisville & NCSU as well. Better than their record indicates....but we are too.

@Pitt- A midweek trip up north...certainly winnable, but Pitt is much improved. They have been good at home in conference play. I wouldn’t be surprised either way with this one.

Louisville- Tall order here...they are very good. Should be a good Saturday crowd there. Will see if we can slay another giant.

@BC- BC has nice home wins against VT and UVA. Prior to the VT game, they had a 3 game road trip that I’m sure they didn’t enjoy. We have a week off before this game, which should help.

@GT- GT is sneaky...they have owned NCSU, for whatever reason, and have played teams close, including on the road at Louisville. I think we’ll take them in Littlejohn, but again, I’m not assuming a win here.

After that stretch, we close with FSU, @VT and then at home with GT.

If I had to pick the record, I would say:

This has 6-4 or 5-5 written all over it....I consider @UVA a loss, as well as one of the Louisville/FSU games. Then I think we drop two of the other road games and maybe one of the other home games (perhaps the other of Louisville/FSU).

We could end up either 17-13 (11-9) or 16-14 (10-10). NIT material, I think. Throw in a tourney win for good measure to secure it.

Anything less and we sit out the post-season.

I suppose we could go crazy and win 8 out of 10, but the reality is that we have not played well on the road (with one amazing exception of the ending in Chapel Hill).....and we have 2 incredibly difficult home games left.

I do think we are becoming a tough out. I was at the Miami game (which is our worst conference loss, by far) and we have come a long way since then. Go Tigers.

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5 of the next 7 are on the road....

Nice analysis

Re: 5 of the next 7 are on the road....

Which also shows how hard it will be to win on the road

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