Thought itd be closer. Didn't expect an upset but I thought Western wouldn't be so shell shocked coming out of the gate. A lot of turnovers...

Thanks to Dayton for beating that school in Columbus

I agree. I thought Western would play more relaxed, but I guess you never know. Syracuse is a very tough match-up, but Western is much better than they've shown in the first half. I hope they settle down and make a game of it.

(03-20-2014 02:41 PM)Rocket_Fanatic Wrote:  Thought itd be closer. Didn't expect an upset but I thought Western wouldn't be so she'll shocked coming out of the gate. A lot of turnovers...

Thanks to Dayton for beating that school in Columbus

Western came out extremely tight. Lots of unforced turnovers.

The length of the 5 players that Syracuse rotates through that zone is pretty intimidating when you see them in a one and done format.

The Broncos exceeded expectations this year and the emergence of Whittington/Brown was exciting to watch. When you have a 1/12 chance of getting into the Big Dance in any given year, it's a special feeling when you do.

That said, the MAC in general was a bit down this year. Pulling off a 16-4 MAC record (including MAC tourney) wouldn't have happened against many teams of the recent past, namely the Ohios, Akrons and Kents of the conference. We feasted on teams that were clearly struggling or rebuilding.

There's still a half left, and I'm hoping for a closer, more respectable score (or a Miracle in Buffalo). But either way, blowout or not, it's been a great season for this Bronco fan and it took a lot of sting out of the football debacle.

(03-20-2014 03:12 PM)Motown Bronco Wrote:  That said, the MAC in general was a bit down this year.

I guess we didn't have a truly elite team that was unscathed by injury, but it's simply not true that the MAC was down this year. The conference RPI went from 17 last year to 12 this year. There were virtually no easy conference games. Western and Toledo had to earn those top seeds the hard way.

Great year for the Broncos. Too bad they got a terrible draw then played so tight today.

(03-20-2014 02:53 PM)Redwingtom Wrote:  The length of the 5 players that Syracuse rotates through that zone is pretty intimidating when you see them in a one and done format.

It's so effective too. Having that strong zone shuts down everything in the paint, and getting open looks outside gets to be very difficult with how big everyone is.

Definitely an orange crowd today in Buffalo, but it looks like there's a respectable showing by Bronco fans today. Maybe it's cause they have the pep band and cheerleaders mic'd up when 'Cuse has the ball.

(03-20-2014 03:25 PM)Copy Cat Wrote:  The conference RPI went from 17 last year to 12 this year.

Ah, I stand corrected.

SU was #1 and 25-0 just a month ago. Their little slide at the end of the season was probably bad news for us. That, and as EMU fans know, Hawk takes a year to figure out how to play against a zone (let alone a premier team's zone).

Final goal: A final score less shameful than Colorado's against Pitt.

A little mini-run accomplished that at the end, although I'm guessing it's sub/garbage points time (I'm still at work and only caught bits n' pieces online).

Was great to see WMU in the big dance again, but lets be honest, Syracuse is clearly one of the best teams in college basketball and they showed why. At least we didn't pul a Colorado...

(03-20-2014 03:27 PM)Motown Bronco Wrote:  

(03-20-2014 03:25 PM)Copy Cat Wrote:  The conference RPI went from 17 last year to 12 this year.

Ah, I stand corrected.

The MAC was indeed weak this year. Few ratings are more worthless than conference RPI. It went up because we didn't have as many truly awful teams. If you are only measuring by the bottom half of the conference was improved, but the top half was pretty bad. The only good wins came in conference. What does that say? We saw out of conference that our teams could not beat good teams. The post-season just puts an exclamation point on it. None of the top 4 teams survived a single game, including the one with the conference's only legitimate NBA prospect who didn't even want to continue their disappointing season.

I'm baffled that anyone thinks the MAC is on a upward trajectory. Down is up. Bad is good.

Congrats on an awesome season Broncos!

(03-20-2014 04:05 PM)broncos1123 Wrote:  Was great to see WMU in the big dance again, but lets be honest, Syracuse is clearly one of the best teams in college basketball and they showed why. At least we didn't pul a Colorado...

Yep.

SU was on a mission to 'prove' that they were 25-0 and ranked #1 for a reason, and that the past couple weeks were an anomoly. Add the ol' zone which we can't seem to handle well, and voila... just a bad draw.

(03-20-2014 04:07 PM)Redwingtom Wrote:  Congrats on an awesome season Broncos!

The kids and staff did a great job all year.

Clearly tight from the outset.

Somebody has to play Syracuse but it was a tough draw. No excuses. 11 first half turnovers in essence is 11 times down without getting a shot off, though there may have been an O board or two in there.

(03-20-2014 04:07 PM)axeme Wrote:  

(03-20-2014 03:27 PM)Motown Bronco Wrote:  

(03-20-2014 03:25 PM)Copy Cat Wrote:  The conference RPI went from 17 last year to 12 this year.

Ah, I stand corrected.

The MAC was indeed weak this year. Few ratings are more worthless than conference RPI. It went up because we didn't have as many truly awful teams. If you are only measuring by the bottom half of the conference was improved, but the top half was pretty bad. The only good wins came in conference. What does that say? We saw out of conference that our teams could not beat good teams. The post-season just puts an exclamation point on it. None of the top 4 teams survived a single game, including the one with the conference's only legitimate NBA prospect who didn't even want to continue their disappointing season.

I'm baffled that anyone thinks the MAC is on a upward trajectory. Down is up. Bad is good.

Yep. MAC is still not a very good hoops league.

There are no miracles in Buffalo, trust me.

Posted from my mobile device using the CSNbbs App

It was basically a home game for Syracuse. Was hoping that WMU would keep it tight but oh well... nice season and congrats for getting there.

(03-20-2014 04:07 PM)axeme Wrote:  

(03-20-2014 03:27 PM)Motown Bronco Wrote:  

(03-20-2014 03:25 PM)Copy Cat Wrote:  The conference RPI went from 17 last year to 12 this year.

Ah, I stand corrected.

The MAC was indeed weak this year. Few ratings are more worthless than conference RPI. It went up because we didn't have as many truly awful teams. If you are only measuring by the bottom half of the conference was improved, but the top half was pretty bad. The only good wins came in conference. What does that say? We saw out of conference that our teams could not beat good teams. The post-season just puts an exclamation point on it. None of the top 4 teams survived a single game, including the one with the conference's only legitimate NBA prospect who didn't even want to continue their disappointing season.

I'm baffled that anyone thinks the MAC is on a upward trajectory. Down is up. Bad is good.

After watching most if not all of the MAC teams in tournament games, it is clear that MAC teams are not recruiting enough D1 players. IPFW made Akron, one of our stronger teams, look pretty weak. Who the heck is IPFW anyway? How is it that they can out recruit MAC schools? All of the teams must get better. I think it also has something to do with the attendance problems. People are not fooled. They want to pay to see teams and players. Come on coaches, get off the duff and bring us some players.