UH worked out at Fertitta Center on Thursday and will do so again on Friday. ESPN began setting up for College Gameday at 7 a.m. Friday, but won’t need to set up on the court until after 3 p.m. That way, both teams get to work out at Fertitta today (assuming Iowa State does not have travel issues). It’s 3° in Ames but sunny.
Both teams will do a shoot-around on Saturday morning at the Guy V. Lewis Development Center.
Kelvin Sampson and the basketball staff won’t delve into Ramon Walker’s recovery from surgery. In December, Ramon injured a tendon on his right hand. He got sick in January, which slowed his recovery, but he’s been doing shooting drills for over a month. Walker shoots after practices, always with a big smile on his face, and warms up with the team before games but has not suited out. Sampson said Thursday that he had not asked trainer John Houston about Ramon and did not have an update, which seemed evasive.
Fun with numbers
Here are the standings among the top four Big 12 teams against the Big 12 and former conferences:
Big 12:
UH 14-1
UA 12-3
ISU 11-4
TTU 11-4
Pac 12:
UH 4-0
ISU 5-1
TTU 3-1
Arizona 2-1
Big 8:
UH 5-0
TTU 3-1
ISU 4-2
SWC:
ISU 3-0
UA 4-2
UH 2-1
TTU 3-2
AAC:
ISU 3-0
UA 2-0
UH 1-0
TTU 2-1
Bottoms up
Against teams in the bottom half of the Big 12 standings (WVU, Utah, Kansas State, Cincinnati, Oklahoma State, UCF, Arizona State, and Colorado:
UH 9-0
UA 7-1
ISU 7-2
TTU 6-1
The problem is that UH only has one game left against teams in the bottom half (Cincinnati at home) and four against top-half teams, including the two teams tied for third. Arizona has two games against the bottom half (Utah and Arizona State at home), Iowa State goes to Oklahoma State and Kansas State, and Tech ends the season with Colorado and at Arizona State.
Tracking Quad 1 wins
As of today, UH #3 in the NET and 6-4 in quad one games (vs. top-30 at home, top-50 neutral, top-75 on the road). UH beat #29 Baylor and #30 BYU at home, but each could fall out.
The real issue for UH is the teams around 75 – teams UH has beaten on the road. Arizona State is #65 and would need to crater to drop out. Kansas State is #76, and UCF is at 80. Both are near Q1, but they are just short of it now.
Of the opponents going forward, Iowa State and Tech are Q1 games, Cincinnati will likely stay a Q2, and Baylor on the road will stay a Q1. Kansas is at #22 and in freefall, but surely they’ll survive, right? Right?
