Question for Creighton Fans

[Cio]

This lack of success in March is definitely a sore spot for Creighton fans, as you can tell from some of the responses. We don't like to talk about to other fan bases, especially ones that have had success, cause we are envious. We've had teams that can do it, but its just never managed to come together for that one weekend. I remember in 2013 when we lost to Duke in the R32, it felt like it was the worst game we played all season. Same in 2014 to Baylor.

We absolutely have something to prove, cause till we have that success, people will always point to that as a reason to write us off.

And I think the people who think the rest of the Big East is antagonistic towards us about this is low, just the guys who drowned themselves in the cool-aid

[Randy]

Honest question for Creighton fans... With the fantastic start to your season do you still feel you have a lot to prove in this NBE? The past 10-15 years CU has had some great basketball teams but none of that has equated to much success in March. In fact, when compared to almost every other BE school it's not even really close from a historical perspective (i.e. only one Sweet 16 since 1974). So is this being considered by most in Omaha as the year the Blue Jays must finally make some noise in March? It seems like you have the pieces.

There is a lot packed into this and the answer is complicated.

To start, you have to remember that any Creighton fan above the age of 30 came to love Creighton at a time when merely getting a chance to play a ranked opponent was a big deal. It didn't happen that often. Then around the late 1990s we had a group of players (Ryan Sears, Ben Walker, etc.) that began our upward trend. We started consistently winning the conference tournament, and getting to the dance became the goal every year. At this point, a Sweet Sixteen was a pipe dream.

Then Kyle Korver came along. He, at least in my opinion, is really the guy responsible for getting Creighton in the national conversation. With his teams, getting to the dance was an expectation, and a Sweet Sixteen or beyond was a goal. That goal was never attained. Altman (former coach still loved around here) plateaued at that point and moved on. Then came Doug, who you guys are familiar with. He put Creighton squarely in that national conversation for 2 or 3 straight years. It cannot be over stated what he did for the program, without him we would not be in the Big East. Simple as that.

I guess this is a long way of saying this whole "being in a big time conference and legitimately having a chance to recruit 4 and 5 star players to compete on a national stage" thing is VERY, VERY new for this program and fan base. A big portion of the fan base still has the "mid major mentality" of constantly having to prove their worth to the big boys. To top it off, we have had probably 3 or 4 teams in the last 15 years that I can objectively say were good enough to reach a Sweet Sixteen. Doug's senior year we were obviously good enough to go further. For what ever reason it has not happened, and it is a huge sore subject for the fan base.

Those two things combined (mid major mind set and failure to reach SS despite being good enough to do so) cause this fan base to feel deeply that we need to prove ourselves in March, fast.

[CPJays]

Sweet 16 is the goal of a plucky mid major that hopes they can win a 12-5 game and get hot.

I want a BE Title and Elite 8 or further.

[fellahmuskie]

Sweet 16 is the goal of a plucky mid major that hopes they can win a 12-5 game and get hot.

I want a BE Title and Elite 8 or further.

That's the kind of reply I was expecting to hear. It's a total fluke you guys haven't made a Sweet 16. There are dozens of schools that have made Sweet 16's that don't come close to Creighton as a program.

Keep up the good work. I'd love to see Creighton and Xavier in the Final Four this year. It's a matter of when, not if.

[cu blujs]

IMO, there is tremendous pressure to get to the SS this year. Sooner or later the program down I-80 which has still never won a game in the Dance is going to get back into a tournament and get to the SS - if only by some ridiculous stroke of basketball disaster for the teams they play. If CU does not beat them to the second weekend, they will forever have that to hold over Creighton's head. There have been several times in the last 20 years that we should have at least got through the first weekend, but their was the debacle against Central Michigan, and a couple of other last second losses in the first round when we had a relatively favorable matchup awaiting in the second game. CU absolutely has to beat UNL to the SS, and this is the year. With each year they come up short, it gets that much more into the psyche of each subsequent team. Clearly, this is the most complete Creighton team since the late 70s - and I think this one is better. So, there's a lot of pressure on this team to break through that ceiling. Failure is not an option.

[XtoDC]

Creighton just needs to be able to hit shots and run their offense well in the second round game. If the offense is clicking they will be playing in the Sweet Sixteen for the chance at more. I don't think there defense will be good enough against a really good team to carry them if they are having an off night though.

You can have a good offense 90% of the time, but if that 10% coincides with the tourney you are in for a short stay, shit happens. You just need opportunities and is why I think getting into the tournament consistently is really important. Sometimes you get lucky like the Xavier team a few years ago when they played Lehigh in the second round, other times you have a huge matchup advantage or disadvantage that negates whatever seed difference there was.

[hortle]

doug's three tourney teams were all good but relied way too heavily on 3pt shooting. Shots aren't falling, offense outside of Doug touches comes to a screeching halt. We now have a multifaceted offensive plan, and we have athletes to better defend the athletes on other P5 teams

[HoopDreams]

I think the seating in the NCAA will also be huge for CU. If you can get a 2 or 3 seat this year its an easier path to the SS. Also, having some luck always helps. Xaiver facing a 14 seed Georgia St. in 2015 got them to the SS.

[Doge McDermott]

There have been several times in the last 20 years that we should have at least got through the first weekend, but their was the debacle against Central Michigan, and a couple of other last second losses in the first round when we had a relatively favorable matchup awaiting in the second game.

To be fair, we would have faced Duke had we won that game. Seemed like we always hit Duke or UNC second round and get blasted with our Mid-Major roster against the One-and-Dones.

Yes, it's a monkey on our back. Yes, there is pressure. No, I don't think it has anything to do with UNL. More like a, "Seriously, why the hell hasn't this happened yet?" It was pretty painful watching Wichita State go on a FF run while we sat at home.

We'll get there, this year, we have a fantastic shot. Now that we're in a major conference, it should be the expectation, though.

Thanks for the Providence love, btw. For some reason, you've had our number in multiple sports, but I feel like Creighton and Providence could sit on a couch and have lots of beers together, talking sports.

[cu blujs]

Yes but Duke of 2003 had some warts (including that they didn't shoot the ball particularly well), were pretty young and were beatable that year. They did beat Central Michigan, but ran into KU the next game and were done. Not saying we would have won, but we had the size and strength to match up against them that year with Korver, Grimes, House, Bowden, Brody, Dabbert et all - and of course we had our stealth bomber, Mike Lindeman.