goes and beats North Carolina on their own home court, it makes me feel as though we're not making progress with our program. We've had the same coaching staff (with some assistant changes) for nearly eleven seasons, and here we are again, off to a miserable start against decent competition.
Sure, if we had played SAU or Ft. Smith in the first games, we'd probably be 2-0 instead of 0-2. Would Chris have been as lenient with our baseball and women's basketball coaches as he has with our main revenue sport? Obviously not. He has changed both in the last few years. But what do we have to do to get the men's program up to a winning level?

In all fairness, it's early, and we'll win some games. But I truly feel this is the season for Chris to demand that our level of performance makes a quantum leap during conference play. He is where the buck stops. I'm not talking about finishing third or fourth again, but a post season appearance in either the NIT or the NCAA. If we can't achieve that after all these years, I will expect major changes to be made. I feel like I'm investing in a corporation that isn't providing me with adequate profits, and if things don't improve, there need to be changes in management. That's only a fair expectation, IMO. Am I right?

i cant understand why one ncaa tournament in the last 25 years raises expectations for this program so much. we're not elite. we're an average sun belt school with one ncaa year as an outlier. nothing more. don't know why you think we should be in ncaas five times a decade.

Belmont is in the OVC

(11-18-2013 09:47 AM)UaLrRuLeS Wrote:  i cant understand why one ncaa tournament in the last 25 years raises expectations for this program so much. we're not elite. we're an average sun belt school with one ncaa year as an outlier. nothing more. don't know why you think we should be in ncaas five times a decade.

Well put. We are what we are.

We are not the same program we were 25 years ago. We have a state of the art arena, more on campus students and a campus with many more amenities. We are in the State Capitol of Arkansas, a vibrant city. The current coaching staff has had over ten years to show progress. Nobody said anything about being in the NCAA five times in a decade. But being in the post season five times would be a reasonable expectation for a program with great physical improvement in facilities and student experiences with a coach who has had ten years to make steady progress. How many times has our program been in the post season the past ten years? Once. How many times has our women's program been in the post season in the same period of time. And it was at rock bottom when Coach Foley took over, whereas our men's program was a 17 or 18 game winner when this regime took over. I just believe someone should be held accountable, and like it or not, it has to be the AD and coach. The AD hires the coach and the coach finds the players and coaches them. I'm not sure how many AD's would have stayed with the same coach for this long with the results we've achieved. I'm a great believer in continuity in a program, but there has to be improvement. We might still have a great season. I'm not ready to throw in the towel, But if we don't excel in the conference this year, then I believe Chris must take a long hard look at the future and determine if this is the path on which we want to continue. Sorry I didn't realize Belmont was in the OVC. Weren't they in the Atlantic Sun before?
Anyway, my point was not which conference they were in, but how they have achieved excellence.
Sometimes you do need change. Things get stale. New blood can create new interest in a program. This should be a crossroad season for us. Either move up or step down.

(11-18-2013 12:54 PM)mjs Wrote:  

(11-18-2013 09:47 AM)UaLrRuLeS Wrote:  i cant understand why one ncaa tournament in the last 25 years raises expectations for this program so much. we're not elite. we're an average sun belt school with one ncaa year as an outlier. nothing more. don't know why you think we should be in ncaas five times a decade.

Well put. We are what we are.

Micky, i think the poster is being facetious.

We should expect to win some, if not shut the program down.

I did not feel i made enough at my old job and i got out and double my income. There are guys still sitting there working more hours than me for a lot less. That is the price of settling.

I refuse to settle. I promise no one ever achieved anything with that plain.

While this is preached as the new american way, i say f that.

I expect success and i am willing to work to get it.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

wasn't being facetious, inside. when we have 2-3 years in a row of sustained success, then we can be mad when we're not in the tournament often. for now, ncaa tournament cannot be the team's expectation. shields should probably be gone after this year, and i have nothing against the guy. i want to win. bad. just don't think ncaas are realistic. i'm a pessimist, though, so what do i know

(11-19-2013 12:08 AM)UaLrRuLeS Wrote:  wasn't being facetious, inside. when we have 2-3 years in a row of sustained success, then we can be mad when we're not in the tournament often. for now, ncaa tournament cannot be the team's expectation. shields should probably be gone after this year, and i have nothing against the guy. i want to win. bad. just don't think ncaas are realistic. i'm a pessimist, though, so what do i know

I took your post at face value. Being realistic is not something we see very often on this board, so some thought you were trying to be funny.

(11-19-2013 12:10 AM)mjs Wrote:  

(11-19-2013 12:08 AM)UaLrRuLeS Wrote:  wasn't being facetious, inside. when we have 2-3 years in a row of sustained success, then we can be mad when we're not in the tournament often. for now, ncaa tournament cannot be the team's expectation. shields should probably be gone after this year, and i have nothing against the guy. i want to win. bad. just don't think ncaas are realistic. i'm a pessimist, though, so what do i know

I took your post at face value. Being realistic is not something we see very often on this board, so some thought you were trying to be funny.

We have in the past, right?

We had a few times we won a divisional title, followed by a couple of losing seasons.

So, with 4 post season tournaments a year there are ~150 teams in post season each year but we can expect to be in that group?


We can't expect to be a top 150 program?

sure top 150 is more reasonable than top 68 but would you really be satisfied with a 6 seed in the cbi tournament? way i see it there are maybe 30-35 schools in the country whose fans can reasonably expect ncaa berths every year. all but maybe gonzaga/xavier are in major conferences. we are nowhere near that level. we shouldn't even expect nit bid every year. and that would be top 100 teams.

(11-19-2013 11:12 AM)UaLrRuLeS Wrote:  sure top 150 is more reasonable than top 68 but would you really be satisfied with a 6 seed in the cbi tournament? way i see it there are maybe 30-35 schools in the country whose fans can reasonably expect ncaa berths every year. all but maybe gonzaga/xavier are in major conferences. we are nowhere near that level. we shouldn't even expect nit bid every year. and that would be top 100 teams.

Interestingly, the few midmajors that have made the big time (except Wichita State) are all private schools- Gonzaga, Butler, Creighton, etc. Not sure why, other than they obviously have the financial resources to get there.

An interesting point. The solution to our problem is simple. Become a private school. How about Stephens, Walton, Hunt or Dillard University. In retrospect, I think there is already a Dillard University. Clinton University would get national attention.