(12-26-2012 11:36 PM)ScreamShatter Wrote: I think Cinci and Temple would have to be on that list. But then again, I'm biased on that matter. :)
I tried to put Temple on the list and I couldn't find a way to do it. I really like their record, so I'm open to suggestion. Who do you think they should replace?
Let's look at them since 1986 compared to my #25:
Temple - 20 tournaments, 5 Sweet 16's, 5 Elite 8's, 0 FF, 0 NC
LSU ----- 13 tournaments, 4 Sweet 16's, 3 Elite 8's, 2 FF, 0 NC
Temple has a big edge on tournament bids, which says more good regular seasons. But with all of those additional opportunities, they made only one more Sweet 16 and 2 more Elite 8's, always failing to go to the Final Four.
Temple was one & done 8 times, which seemed to me to take a lot of the luster off their advantage of 7 more tournament appearances. Did they just get into the tournament because they played in a weaker league than LSU was in? With 13 appearances, it's not like LSU had only a few isolated big years in the tournament when they got hot and were second rate the rest of the time. They obviously had a lot of good years.
So, ultimately the question for me came down to Temple's edge in Sweet 16's and Elite 8's vs LSU's edge in Final Fours. While the tournament championship is the ultimate prize, everyone dreams of getting to the Final Four. I think that most schools would trade off a couple of Elite 8's for a couple of Final Fours. So, I went with LSU.
This was my toughest call in compiling the list. I really wanted to go with Temple. I love their tradition and I'm an eastern basketball guy, but I felt that LSU had the better highs, the bigger accomplishments.
If you want to replace LSU with Temple, you won't really get an argument from me. There's very little difference between what the 2 of them have done over the past 25 years or so. And Temple did have a great season in 1988 when they ended the regular season ranked #1 in the country and had both the national coach of the year and the national player of the year.