Westbrook#36 wrote:That narrative isn't going to change until we put at least 3 teams into the S16 in the same tourney. One or two teams teams isn't going to do it. It's too much to ask of Nova by themselves this year, it was too much to ask of Xavier by themselves last year, we need multiple teams at the top pulling most of the weight. Look at this year, the ACC with 6, B1G and Big-12 with 3 each in the S16 they're the big boy conferences. Everyone else basketball wise is considered a tier or 2 below, that just the way it is.
SJHooper wrote:So many mixed feelings.
On one hand, I want to say the NCAA's are a total crap shoot where you need plenty of luck and some favorable matchups. After all, George Mason made the Final Four not long ago. There were also plenty of mid majors upsetting major programs this year. But at the same time, the huge football schools always seem to make the Final Four and eventually win with few exceptions. As much as I'd like to say that the football schools don't have an advantage in the SEC/PAC12/B1G/ACC/Big 12, they certainly seem to. Though they may squeak by opponents, they just seem to be able to do what they need to win. It worries me that the last non-football school to win the tourney was Nova in 1985, 4 years before I was even born (I'm 26). To me, that shows there is some clear advantage being a big football school. Whether it's the money, the resources, the training, the facilities, etc. they are clearly at an advantage. I honestly thought we could hold our own in the tourney when the new Big East began 3 years ago, but after 3 straight years of flat out bad performances, it has me worried.
This was supposed to be the year we got 2 if not 3 teams in the Sweet 16 and hopefully 1 to the Elite 8 or Final Four. Instead, we get 1 team in the Sweet 16 in Nova and even if they make the Final Four or win it all, many pundits will still claim that the Big East is garbage except for Nova. They will see us as the WCC with Nova being our Gonzaga. This scares me. I know we keep saying eventually we will break the curse, but eventually it actually has to happen and that's just being honest. I realize the PAC12 sucked this year. I realize the SEC sucked this year. But they have nothing to prove because they play major football and ESPN will always treat them as above us. We have a ton to prove, they don't. To be totally honest, I am worried about this conference and think the only way we could get back to being a national power (that makes frequent deep runs and top 25 appearances) is if we got UConn back and made it a national conference with Gonzaga and the like. I still have hope so don't get me wrong, but seeing 3 straight awful performances in the tourney is aggravating, especially because we ARE so talented, but it doesn't show in the results. Yes we were great in the regular season and held our own in the OOC, and yes it's unfair to judge a conference's strength based on tourney results alone, but that's life in college basketball. If you don't show up come tourney time, even if it's a loss at a buzzer, unfortunately you will be dismissed by many as overrated. I don't agree with it at all, but that's the game and culture right now.
The potential is there for something great in this conference, but I'd be lying if I wasn't worried about the future of this conference. It has gotten so bad IMO that even if Nova wins, we will still look bad overall as a conference and be seen as a one trick pony (the way UConn is in the AAC). This is not me being dramatic or trying to start anything. This is just me being honest. There has been a clear separation between the Football 5 and us. Not in the regular season, but in the tourney it's clear as day. It can't all just be boiled down to luck when a non-football school hasn't won since 85. And it kills me saying that. I hope I eat my words and get proven dead wrong, but this 3rd straight bad tourney was very sobering.
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