Beavers Men's Basketball Have a Tough Road Ahead

Getting swept at home was not exactly what Beaver fans, players, and coaches had in mind. After dominating at home last season we had come to expect a whole lot more out of our team. OSU is now 10-10 overall and 3-6 in the Pac-10. Certainly the Beavers season isn’t over, but it’s getting dangerously close and the margin for error is ever so thin.

So can the Beavers do it? Can they complete the ultimate comeback and pull out a winning season?

Here are their remaining games before the Pac-10 tournament:

Cal
Stanford
@ ASU
@ Arizona
WSU
UW
@ UCLA
@ USC
Oregon


So what can they win?

The best candidates are the teams at the bottom of the conference. ASU at 1-8 and WSU at 2-7 are must wins. ASU is a road game, but is winnable with revenge on the brain. Next, they have to beat the Ducks in their rivalry game at home the last game of the year.

That puts the Beavers at 13 wins. They need at least 2 more to finish the regular season above .500. Their best shot is Cal or Stanford this coming weekend. Win both and we are in good shape (not an easy task). After that it has to be USC. They are beatable, but we play them on the road. The longshot is a win against UW. They have been more vulnerable this year than in the past and might be a W for the Beavs if they get confidence by beating WSU.

The task is not impossible, but the Beavs absolutely must win at least one game this weekend against the Bay Area schools.

Of course, if the Beavers go 15-14 in the regular season then they need to win at least one game in the Pac-10 tournament to guarantee a winning season and get a shot at an NIT berth. With the RPI of the Pac-10 this year a team 1 game above .500 probably won’t make it into the NIT, but at least you give them something to think about and a winning record is a big deal around here given the recent history of losing.


Go Beavs!