The disappointment is pretty strong right now.

Not just because we lost a chance to play a Sweet 16 in our home state, but for some other reasons.

First, given the way the landscape of collegiate athletics continues to shift toward the negative and we now know that our 30 wins wasn't going to get us an at large who knows how long it will even be before we get into the tournament and in this position again.

Second, as a follow up to #1, if we couldn't make the Sweet 16 with this team we likely never will. Not being pessimistic. It's just the sobering reality of this sport. This is the best team we've ever had and may stand as the best team we'll ever have for many generations to come.

So very proud of what we have accomplished but also disappointing to realize this may be as good as it gets.

Great season and fun team to watch. You will have a hard time holding on to Kermit. There will be some $$ thrown at him...

Kermit is guaranteed $4 million over the next seven years.

I would have no doubt that he will stay if we were to up that to say $7 million over next seven. But I wonder if it is in our best interest to chase a dollar figure.

That said, I don't think he'll leave. There are reasons why I think he stays, but I would be reluctant to keep adding years onto the contract.

(03-18-2017 09:24 PM)ThreeifbyLightning Wrote:  The disappointment is pretty strong right now.

Not just because we lost a chance to play a Sweet 16 in our home state, but for some other reasons.

First, given the way the landscape of collegiate athletics continues to shift toward the negative and we now know that our 30 wins wasn't going to get us an at large who knows how long it will even be before we get into the tournament and in this position again.

Second, as a follow up to #1, if we couldn't make the Sweet 16 with this team we likely never will. Not being pessimistic. It's just the sobering reality of this sport. This is the best team we've ever had and may stand as the best team we'll ever have for many generations to come.

So very proud of what we have accomplished but also disappointing to realize this may be as good as it gets.

I got called Debbie Downer on one of our home boards because I expressed similar about our chances under Stansbury. Mainly because of the things you mentioned but it's been coming for awhile with them leaving out teams that deserve to be in. We're all pretty much one bid conferences anymore. I don't think you can lose more than 3 or 4 games at the most in an entire season in our conference and get in.

I'm about done with college hoops because of it. I'll still go to games next year to see what this kind of talent looks like in Diddle. But unless we win the conference tourney we'll never go under Stansbury because his regular seasons aren't superior. And he doesn't appear to be much of a tourney guy going on his track record either so we're ******.

For the very reasons you have in the OP he will leave.

(03-18-2017 09:24 PM)ThreeifbyLightning Wrote:  The disappointment is pretty strong right now.

Not just because we lost a chance to play a Sweet 16 in our home state, but for some other reasons.

First, given the way the landscape of collegiate athletics continues to shift toward the negative and we now know that our 30 wins wasn't going to get us an at large who knows how long it will even be before we get into the tournament and in this position again.

Second, as a follow up to #1, if we couldn't make the Sweet 16 with this team we likely never will. Not being pessimistic. It's just the sobering reality of this sport. This is the best team we've ever had and may stand as the best team we'll ever have for many generations to come.

So very proud of what we have accomplished but also disappointing to realize this may be as good as it gets.

Idk how much better you want it to be. We root for schools that have zero chance of winning national titles in all major sports. It's literally the same 10 schools competing for titles every year in football and basketball. Sure every once in a while a school like Butler, Utah, or Memphis crashes the party, but they never win. We waste so much time hoping this will be our year but the way things are setup it will literally never be our year.

You can go undefeated in football and still not sniff the title game and you can win 30 games in basketball and have to win your conference title game to get into the P5 invitational, and they will set it up so that you play the other non P5 schools to knock each other out. VCU vs St Mary's, Wichita vs Dayton, Rhode Island vs Creighton, and I know it was the second round but MTSU vs Butler. All 8 of those schools are good enough to be sweet 16 teams.

I'm about done. I'm wore down. There is nothing we can do. I'm going to keep rooting for my Herd but what is the point. It's Duke, UNC, Kansas, UK, UConn, Florida, Michigan, Louisville, and Syracuse every year. And football it's Alabama, Ohio St, Florida St, USC, Oklahoma, LSU, Oregon, and ND can go 9-3 and play whatever bowl they want minus the playoff.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome. We are all insane if we keep wasting our lives one this stuff.

I am sad to admit that MU42 is probably right.The bad part is that it didn't have to be this way.Greed and power have corrupted what was once at least partially pure.Most rules of fairness have long since been cast away.

In the big scheme of life sports are not important.I still hate to see them get away with it though.

It is now Sunday morning so I will leave this quote from King Solomon who tried every pleasure.

"Let us here the conclusion of the whole matter.Fear GOD and keep his commandments;for this is the whole duty of man."

(03-18-2017 10:03 PM)MU42 Wrote:  

(03-18-2017 09:24 PM)ThreeifbyLightning Wrote:  The disappointment is pretty strong right now.

Not just because we lost a chance to play a Sweet 16 in our home state, but for some other reasons.

First, given the way the landscape of collegiate athletics continues to shift toward the negative and we now know that our 30 wins wasn't going to get us an at large who knows how long it will even be before we get into the tournament and in this position again.

Second, as a follow up to #1, if we couldn't make the Sweet 16 with this team we likely never will. Not being pessimistic. It's just the sobering reality of this sport. This is the best team we've ever had and may stand as the best team we'll ever have for many generations to come.

So very proud of what we have accomplished but also disappointing to realize this may be as good as it gets.

Idk how much better you want it to be. We root for schools that have zero chance of winning national titles in all major sports. It's literally the same 10 schools competing for titles every year in football and basketball. Sure every once in a while a school like Butler, Utah, or Memphis crashes the party, but they never win. We waste so much time hoping this will be our year but the way things are setup it will literally never be our year.

You can go undefeated in football and still not sniff the title game and you can win 30 games in basketball and have to win your conference title game to get into the P5 invitational, and they will set it up so that you play the other non P5 schools to knock each other out. VCU vs St Mary's, Wichita vs Dayton, Rhode Island vs Creighton, and I know it was the second round but MTSU vs Butler. All 8 of those schools are good enough to be sweet 16 teams.

I'm about done. I'm wore down. There is nothing we can do. I'm going to keep rooting for my Herd but what is the point. It's Duke, UNC, Kansas, UK, UConn, Florida, Michigan, Louisville, and Syracuse every year. And football it's Alabama, Ohio St, Florida St, USC, Oklahoma, LSU, Oregon, and ND can go 9-3 and play whatever bowl they want minus the playoff.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome. We are all insane if we keep wasting our lives one this stuff.

The operative word there is "expect". Doing the same thing over and over and "expecting" a different result is rather insane. But I don't think anyone really expects MTSU or any other G5 to actually win a national title in basketball or football. It happens on occasion in baseball, and G5 schools have come in 2nd in softball. Smaller schools do sometimes win national titles in hockey also, UConn has won several times in women's basketball, and Marquette, UTEP, and a couple others won long ago in men's basketball. But it likely won't happen again anytime soon in men's basketball, and almost certainly not in football.

And we can demonize the greed and such all we want, but it's also true that the NCAA Tournament and the collegiate football bowl season wouldn't be as big as it is today without that greed. And part of the reason some of us care as much as we do is because of how big it has become. If it weren't all over TV and radio and such, and attendance numbers were small, we likely wouldn't care as much about it in the first place. And don't think for a minute that those brackets we hear so much about every year weren't created to generate even more interest, and make it even bigger.

So we can either get sucked into it all, let it live rent-free in our heads, and then get bent out of shape over the same few programs always winning, or just support our teams and take the rest with a grain of salt. Eventually, at some point, if the ratings and profits start going down, the NCAA will try to make changes. In the meantime, there are frankly other things that are more important for us to worry about.

The cards are definitely stacked against our smaller programs though, in all sports. My younger brother is a graduate of Texas A&M, and during the regular season, their football program enjoyed 7 home games this season, 1 game at a neutral site (in Dallas against Arkansas), and had only 4 away games. It's more of the same in softball, as their softball team is 24-2 right now, and 18 of their 26 were at home, 5 were at neutral sites, and only 3 were away so far. It's the same story for their 14-6 baseball team, as 16 of their first 20 games were in College Station, ONE was away, and the other three were at a neutral site. So it's not just the money, the national exposure, and everything that comes with that, but because of their conference affiliations, facilities, and money, they also get the benefit of playing most of their games at home. It just doesn't get any more stacked than that, but it's not gonna stop me from supporting and enjoying watching my own school play.

The only really good news is that if we can get 3-4 teams in conference to have a MTSU type year and only lose to each other, and the rest of the conference schedule OOC to stay above 200 RPI, then we start creeping into that top 10 conference area. It still won't get us a national championship as the seeding won't change a whole lot, but we may get more teams in and that gives us a better chance of raking their dollars. We don't need their titles. We do need their money. So let's take it.

(03-18-2017 10:03 PM)MU42 Wrote:  

(03-18-2017 09:24 PM)ThreeifbyLightning Wrote:  The disappointment is pretty strong right now.

Not just because we lost a chance to play a Sweet 16 in our home state, but for some other reasons.

First, given the way the landscape of collegiate athletics continues to shift toward the negative and we now know that our 30 wins wasn't going to get us an at large who knows how long it will even be before we get into the tournament and in this position again.

Second, as a follow up to #1, if we couldn't make the Sweet 16 with this team we likely never will. Not being pessimistic. It's just the sobering reality of this sport. This is the best team we've ever had and may stand as the best team we'll ever have for many generations to come.

So very proud of what we have accomplished but also disappointing to realize this may be as good as it gets.

Idk how much better you want it to be. We root for schools that have zero chance of winning national titles in all major sports. It's literally the same 10 schools competing for titles every year in football and basketball. Sure every once in a while a school like Butler, Utah, or Memphis crashes the party, but they never win. We waste so much time hoping this will be our year but the way things are setup it will literally never be our year.

You can go undefeated in football and still not sniff the title game and you can win 30 games in basketball and have to win your conference title game to get into the P5 invitational, and they will set it up so that you play the other non P5 schools to knock each other out. VCU vs St Mary's, Wichita vs Dayton, Rhode Island vs Creighton, and I know it was the second round but MTSU vs Butler. All 8 of those schools are good enough to be sweet 16 teams.

I'm about done. I'm wore down. There is nothing we can do. I'm going to keep rooting for my Herd but what is the point. It's Duke, UNC, Kansas, UK, UConn, Florida, Michigan, Louisville, and Syracuse every year. And football it's Alabama, Ohio St, Florida St, USC, Oklahoma, LSU, Oregon, and ND can go 9-3 and play whatever bowl they want minus the playoff.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome. We are all insane if we keep wasting our lives one this stuff.

Geez, you don't have to win a championship to have a great and satisfying year. MTSU had a great year. Sure being in the sweet 16 would have been great, but this was just not the year. If I based my fandom on only national championships I would be walking around constantly disappointed.

Sent from my XT1080 using CSNbbs mobile app

(03-19-2017 07:56 AM)Old Blue Wrote:  Geez, you don't have to win a championship to have a great and satisfying year. MTSU had a great year. Sure being in the sweet 16 would have been great, but this was just not the year. If I based my fandom on only national championships I would be walking around constantly disappointed.

this

(03-18-2017 10:03 PM)MU42 Wrote:  

(03-18-2017 09:24 PM)ThreeifbyLightning Wrote:  The disappointment is pretty strong right now.

Not just because we lost a chance to play a Sweet 16 in our home state, but for some other reasons.

First, given the way the landscape of collegiate athletics continues to shift toward the negative and we now know that our 30 wins wasn't going to get us an at large who knows how long it will even be before we get into the tournament and in this position again.

Second, as a follow up to #1, if we couldn't make the Sweet 16 with this team we likely never will. Not being pessimistic. It's just the sobering reality of this sport. This is the best team we've ever had and may stand as the best team we'll ever have for many generations to come.

So very proud of what we have accomplished but also disappointing to realize this may be as good as it gets.

Idk how much better you want it to be. We root for schools that have zero chance of winning national titles in all major sports. It's literally the same 10 schools competing for titles every year in football and basketball. Sure every once in a while a school like Butler, Utah, or Memphis crashes the party, but they never win. We waste so much time hoping this will be our year but the way things are setup it will literally never be our year.

You can go undefeated in football and still not sniff the title game and you can win 30 games in basketball and have to win your conference title game to get into the P5 invitational, and they will set it up so that you play the other non P5 schools to knock each other out. VCU vs St Mary's, Wichita vs Dayton, Rhode Island vs Creighton, and I know it was the second round but MTSU vs Butler. All 8 of those schools are good enough to be sweet 16 teams.

I'm about done. I'm wore down. There is nothing we can do. I'm going to keep rooting for my Herd but what is the point. It's Duke, UNC, Kansas, UK, UConn, Florida, Michigan, Louisville, and Syracuse every year. And football it's Alabama, Ohio St, Florida St, USC, Oklahoma, LSU, Oregon, and ND can go 9-3 and play whatever bowl they want minus the playoff.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome. We are all insane if we keep wasting our lives one this stuff.

You are insane for expecting the team to win the ncaa tourney. Whats wrong for rooting for a team and hoping they reach their level of excellence (getting to tourney, winning a game or 2?)

If I was a MTSU fan, the last 2 years would be very satisfying. Tbey dont have to win a title to be happy

And Davis could get 2 million per year from LSU. You really think he would pass that up?

(03-18-2017 10:03 PM)MU42 Wrote:  

(03-18-2017 09:24 PM)ThreeifbyLightning Wrote:  The disappointment is pretty strong right now.

Not just because we lost a chance to play a Sweet 16 in our home state, but for some other reasons.

First, given the way the landscape of collegiate athletics continues to shift toward the negative and we now know that our 30 wins wasn't going to get us an at large who knows how long it will even be before we get into the tournament and in this position again.

Second, as a follow up to #1, if we couldn't make the Sweet 16 with this team we likely never will. Not being pessimistic. It's just the sobering reality of this sport. This is the best team we've ever had and may stand as the best team we'll ever have for many generations to come.

So very proud of what we have accomplished but also disappointing to realize this may be as good as it gets.

Idk how much better you want it to be. We root for schools that have zero chance of winning national titles in all major sports. It's literally the same 10 schools competing for titles every year in football and basketball. Sure every once in a while a school like Butler, Utah, or Memphis crashes the party, but they never win. We waste so much time hoping this will be our year but the way things are setup it will literally never be our year.

You can go undefeated in football and still not sniff the title game and you can win 30 games in basketball and have to win your conference title game to get into the P5 invitational, and they will set it up so that you play the other non P5 schools to knock each other out. VCU vs St Mary's, Wichita vs Dayton, Rhode Island vs Creighton, and I know it was the second round but MTSU vs Butler. All 8 of those schools are good enough to be sweet 16 teams.

I'm about done. I'm wore down. There is nothing we can do. I'm going to keep rooting for my Herd but what is the point. It's Duke, UNC, Kansas, UK, UConn, Florida, Michigan, Louisville, and Syracuse every year. And football it's Alabama, Ohio St, Florida St, USC, Oklahoma, LSU, Oregon, and ND can go 9-3 and play whatever bowl they want minus the playoff.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome. We are all insane if we keep wasting our lives one this stuff.

.
I don't consider Villanova a power 5 school, I know the Big East is a strong conference but most of the programs are what used to be considered "mid-majors" whether it Creighton, Butler, Xavier etc. It can be done in basketball but the deck is sure stacked. Heck Butler was a Gordon Hayward 3 point desperation bank shot away not too long ago.
Now FBS football is a different story, basketball is 13 players while football is 85, I believe. Then currently only 4 teams get picked so to speak.
MTSU had a heck of a run, the exposure is there too. Pundits and fringe basketball fans were talking about MTSU for a week or more that would never say anything about a CUSA school.

This is true. Mid majors have a small chance in basketball; non in football

(03-19-2017 09:01 AM)Franko Wrote:  

(03-18-2017 10:03 PM)MU42 Wrote:  

(03-18-2017 09:24 PM)ThreeifbyLightning Wrote:  The disappointment is pretty strong right now.

Not just because we lost a chance to play a Sweet 16 in our home state, but for some other reasons.

First, given the way the landscape of collegiate athletics continues to shift toward the negative and we now know that our 30 wins wasn't going to get us an at large who knows how long it will even be before we get into the tournament and in this position again.

Second, as a follow up to #1, if we couldn't make the Sweet 16 with this team we likely never will. Not being pessimistic. It's just the sobering reality of this sport. This is the best team we've ever had and may stand as the best team we'll ever have for many generations to come.

So very proud of what we have accomplished but also disappointing to realize this may be as good as it gets.

Idk how much better you want it to be. We root for schools that have zero chance of winning national titles in all major sports. It's literally the same 10 schools competing for titles every year in football and basketball. Sure every once in a while a school like Butler, Utah, or Memphis crashes the party, but they never win. We waste so much time hoping this will be our year but the way things are setup it will literally never be our year.

You can go undefeated in football and still not sniff the title game and you can win 30 games in basketball and have to win your conference title game to get into the P5 invitational, and they will set it up so that you play the other non P5 schools to knock each other out. VCU vs St Mary's, Wichita vs Dayton, Rhode Island vs Creighton, and I know it was the second round but MTSU vs Butler. All 8 of those schools are good enough to be sweet 16 teams.

I'm about done. I'm wore down. There is nothing we can do. I'm going to keep rooting for my Herd but what is the point. It's Duke, UNC, Kansas, UK, UConn, Florida, Michigan, Louisville, and Syracuse every year. And football it's Alabama, Ohio St, Florida St, USC, Oklahoma, LSU, Oregon, and ND can go 9-3 and play whatever bowl they want minus the playoff.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome. We are all insane if we keep wasting our lives one this stuff.

.
I don't consider Villanova a power 5 school, I know the Big East is a strong conference but most of the programs are what used to be considered "mid-majors" whether it Creighton, Butler,Xaiver etc. It can be done in basketball but the deck is sure stacked. Heck Butler was a Gordon Hayward 3 point desperation bank shot away not too long ago.
Now FBS football is a different story, basketball is 13 players while football is 85, I believe. Then currently only 4 teams get picked so to speak.
MTSU had a heck of a run, the exposure is there too. Pundits and fringe basketball fans were talking about MTSU for a week or more that would never say anything about a CUSA school.

c'mon man....hoops is all about media control in the NE creating the 'correct' pairings...mid majors doesn't apply in that quadrant...

I'm with you on the gridiron...that's another animal...

the bottom line is you have to win the game....and MT just didn't have it yesterday....it cost me two benjamins....

Add me to the small chorus of those who think you disappointed posters ought to reset your expectations.

I'm proud to share a conference with a program that has achieved back-to-back victories in the NCAA first round, and also showed itself well in the round of 32. It is my sincere hope that some of the composure and resilience that Coach Davis has taught to your players will be learned by the Monarchs in future seasons.

Yeah, the advantages enjoyed by the P5 cabal, not just in the tournament but throughout the season, are total b.s. -- and ultimately make for a less attractive product for he NCAA. But that's a reality that doesn't matter, at least when measuring your season. If anything, it instead means that your continued success is that much more notable.

Congratulations, Empty Sue, on a terrific year. I hope that others of us are able to get up to your level in the coming year.

(03-19-2017 09:22 AM)AdoptedMonarch Wrote:  Add me to the small chorus of those who think you disappointed posters ought to reset your expectations.

I'm proud to share a conference with a program that has achieved back-to-back victories in the NCAA first round, and also showed itself well in the round of 32. It is my sincere hope that some of the composure and resilience that Coach Davis has taught to your players will be learned by the Monarchs in future seasons.

Yeah, the advantages enjoyed by the P5 cabal, not just in the tournament but throughout the season, are total b.s. -- and ultimately make for a less attractive product for he NCAA. But that's a reality that doesn't matter, at least when measuring your season. If anything, it instead means that your continued success is that much more notable.

Congratulations, Empty Sue, on a terrific year. I hope that others of us are able to get up to your level in the coming year.

XACLY! it's what makes us low-lifes smile when it happens....

MT fans should be pounding their chests today in totality....

it was enjoyable watching them all year....

Good post ever. The part about odu rings true. I empathize with the down folks. Capitalize on your success and this will fade as a stepping stone. Or in 6 years you're telling Butler tip what could have been stories. Enjoy what your team accomplished.

Hell of a 2 seasons!

Posted from mobile device. Hopefully it's coherent.

Even Power 5 athletic departments with more money than God struggle to be consistently good in both football and basketball. Most of us in the non-major DI conferences will have to liquidate our football programs to be competitive in basketball. Make your list of the top B-ball programs outside the power 5 and almost all of them spend little or nothing on football. Heck Villanova is the only Big East member that plays scholarship football and they are in the FCS. Very similar story in the Atlantic 10.

As for Middle, they won the tournament of the #23 RPI conference and got a reasonable path to the Sweet 16 for a double-digit seed. Not like the system was stacked against them in any way. Meanwhile, in the #13 RPI conference the tournament champs get rewarded by having to play the hottest team in the country and the regular-season champs (who are every bit as good as Middle) go on to the NIT. It could be worse.

Life is too short to worry about the future. Enjoy the incredible run MT has had. Who knows what will happen next year, but don't let the worry of it rob you of the joy of watching your program do some awesome things over the past couple of years!