(01-08-2018 06:06 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  

(01-08-2018 05:42 PM)BearcatJerry Wrote:  

(01-08-2018 05:27 PM)EffinBJ Wrote:  

(01-08-2018 01:06 PM)geef Wrote:  Paucity of name basketball programs? I can't tell if you're joking. The problems with UConn and Memphis have absolutely nothing to do with a relative rise from Tulsa, UCF or Tulane. In most years, Wichita State, UC, UConn, Memphis, SMU, and Temple are in the conversation for bids. That's a full one-half of our conference with teams that more often than not make it to the tourney. Add Houston's history and potential, and there's only a few schools who don't have national names.

It's icing on the cake (and a boost to resumes) to have UCF, Tulsa, and Tulane simply relevant.

I'd agree that the Uconn/Memphis problems are not due to parity. But he's right in saying that their success is more important than that of an upstart.

The closest thing to blue blood teams that the conference has would be Uconn, Cincy, and Memphis - probably in that order. And Memphis is falling fast - they have absolutely not made the tourney more often than not since Cal left. Did they even make one under Pastner? Already I'd bet that if we asked the average P5 fan who is in the AAC, they might be able to name UC and UConn, and then they'd go uhhhhh. Maybe they'd remember UCF if they follow football. If you told them the Shockers were, they'd probably say "really? are you sure?"

Wichita is on a nice run and is certainly gaining respect, but they're not yet a true program. VCU was becoming a force year in and year out - until Shaka left. The same thing might happen to the Shockers if they lose their coach.

SMU was on a similar trajectory to Wichita under Brown, now it's time to find out if they can keep it going, as Butler or Gonzaga did after losing their coaches. I tend to think they can. But like UC, SMU has had a hard time getting out of the first weekend (their seeding respect is worse than ours, and that hasn't helped). Their lack of tourney success represents a lot of missed opportunities to cement them as a top program in peoples minds.

The point remains, perception of the AAC is dependent upon how good UC, Uconn, Memphis, SMU, and WSU are. The occasional at large for Temple, UCF, or a Tulane isn't going to do anything for that perception. Uconn winning a title out of the AAC didn't even do much for it. Having a handful of "name" teams doing well would work wonders - look at the new Big East for evidence of that.

The bolded was pretty much what I was thinking. And, in non UC/AAC forums, the perception of Memphis as a "brand" is pretty well...well...forgotten. People who remember Derrick Rose view that as an aberration and the success of that period as a result of Memphis cheating. Very, very few (in my experience) connect the "Memphis" of today with the classic "Memphis State" teams of CUSA, the Metro, and Great Midwest.

SMU simply isn't a "Basketball Brand" right now. That's not to say that they're not good, but SMU is simply not followed by "Basketball School" in people's thinking. Maybe if Larry Brown had stayed around and won some championships, that perception would change. But right now, it still isn't a "brand."

I'd add one name to the list, though... Wichita State. Especially for younger people, they now equate "Wichita State" with "Basketball Power." Again, adding WSU was an epic move for this conference and brought an instant boost to image and morale.

I have to admit you guys have me confused. Why do we not want our lower tier teams to get better? I don't believe we have the luxury to hope or wait for the UConns' or the Memphis' to regain "blueblood" or "name recognition" status. All I know is we take a tremendous hit on our national perception more for our bottom feeders than we do for the fact that UConn and Memphis are struggling right now. SMU may not be known as a "basketball school" but they've been one of the few AAC teams to consistently make the tourney of late. We need our conference to be stronger collectively and ramp up success period, any way we can get it, IMO.

I didn't say that I don't want our lower tier teams to get better. And actually the best way for that to happen is OOC. But when you get to conference play, one team wins which means the other team loses. A Tulane which is on the rise in the Conference is at the expense of someone who is on the decline...IN CONFERENCE PLAY. The tough thing about the American is if UConn is off and Tulane is on the rise (just playing the "name" program off against a non-"name" program) people don't immediately say, "Wow...Look at that Tulane!" They more commonly say, "Wow...Look at UConn suck." (Which may or may not be true, FWIW.) It's just a reality that the Conference schedule is a closed, finite system.

And, for the record, it's a relatively minor beef. I'm actually surprised that this my third post on this one issue because it's really something more of an "observation." It's a fact-of-life; one year a team is "up," the next it struggles. And actually, I'll go far enough to say that I'm pleasantly surprised that Tulane and Tulsa both made good use of the OOC and racked up some nice wins going into conference play. Ditto with UC and Wichita, though you kind of expect it there and both the Cats and the Shockers left at least one big win apiece get away from them OOC.

(01-08-2018 05:08 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  

(01-08-2018 01:35 PM)levydl Wrote:  I love reading through these threads after a big runaway win. Hilarious.

The atmosphere at the game was not good. Whether it was the arena, that it was Sunday night, the weather, or what, it was so quiet. With about 4 minutes left in the game it seemed like 3/4 of the fans left, trying to beat the traffic. Pretty funny. UC played so well on defense, maybe they took even the home fans out of it a little bit.

Hopefully Cumberland turned the corner a little bit. Although he still missed a bunch of shots, even a layup, had a few bad turnovers, and got another charge (amusingly, he almost got a charge on a last-second, half-court heave before the half, which I don't think I've ever seen before), he started to show a bit more confidence on offense, and he played really tough on-ball defense.

Really? I thought it was a pretty good atmosphere. Fans cheered hard at the great defensive effort. I loved the huge ovation fans gave Evans when Cronin rested him for the first time (in the second half). It was Sunday night and fans did leave near the last tv timeout, but UC was up 20+ and the game was well in hand. Obviously it wasn't the kind of atmosphere we've had for some of the biggest games, but I felt like it was solid throughout.

Was there in person. Atmosphere was good considering the beat down. Was surprised how easily the Bearcats dispatched with SMU. Game plan was good as SMU was never able to get into what they wanted to do with the defensive pressure.

People did head to he exits with 4 mins left but considering the score and nightmare getting out of the garages and work on Monday can't blame them.

We had a much better parking experience parking in an out lot. We were to the highway in 20 minutes and stayed to the end of the game. Had to walk further but I'll take the brisk walk over a 1/2 an hour wait to get out of a garage and another 1/2 hour to get to the highway.

(01-08-2018 08:39 PM)mptnstr@44 Wrote:  

(01-08-2018 05:08 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  

(01-08-2018 01:35 PM)levydl Wrote:  I love reading through these threads after a big runaway win. Hilarious.

The atmosphere at the game was not good. Whether it was the arena, that it was Sunday night, the weather, or what, it was so quiet. With about 4 minutes left in the game it seemed like 3/4 of the fans left, trying to beat the traffic. Pretty funny. UC played so well on defense, maybe they took even the home fans out of it a little bit.

Hopefully Cumberland turned the corner a little bit. Although he still missed a bunch of shots, even a layup, had a few bad turnovers, and got another charge (amusingly, he almost got a charge on a last-second, half-court heave before the half, which I don't think I've ever seen before), he started to show a bit more confidence on offense, and he played really tough on-ball defense.

Really? I thought it was a pretty good atmosphere. Fans cheered hard at the great defensive effort. I loved the huge ovation fans gave Evans when Cronin rested him for the first time (in the second half). It was Sunday night and fans did leave near the last tv timeout, but UC was up 20+ and the game was well in hand. Obviously it wasn't the kind of atmosphere we've had for some of the biggest games, but I felt like it was solid throughout.

Was there in person. Atmosphere was good considering the beat down. Was surprised how easily the Bearcats dispatched with SMU. Game plan was good as SMU was never able to get into what they wanted to do with the defensive pressure.

People did head to he exits with 4 mins left but considering the score and nightmare getting out of the garages and work on Monday can't blame them.

We had a much better parking experience parking in an out lot. We were to the highway in 20 minutes and stayed to the end of the game. Had to walk further but I'll take the brisk walk over a 1/2 an hour wait to get out of a garage and another 1/2 hour to get to the highway.

I was there. Perhaps it's just my seats up in the bleeds, but it was dead in there the entire game.

I don't really blame people for leaving early either--I have no idea where I'm going when I try drive out of that place--was just pointing out how quiet and empty the place was during the biggest home game of the year so far. Can't wait to get back to campus next season.

(01-09-2018 10:03 AM)levydl Wrote:  

(01-08-2018 08:39 PM)mptnstr@44 Wrote:  

(01-08-2018 05:08 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  

(01-08-2018 01:35 PM)levydl Wrote:  I love reading through these threads after a big runaway win. Hilarious.

The atmosphere at the game was not good. Whether it was the arena, that it was Sunday night, the weather, or what, it was so quiet. With about 4 minutes left in the game it seemed like 3/4 of the fans left, trying to beat the traffic. Pretty funny. UC played so well on defense, maybe they took even the home fans out of it a little bit.

Hopefully Cumberland turned the corner a little bit. Although he still missed a bunch of shots, even a layup, had a few bad turnovers, and got another charge (amusingly, he almost got a charge on a last-second, half-court heave before the half, which I don't think I've ever seen before), he started to show a bit more confidence on offense, and he played really tough on-ball defense.

Really? I thought it was a pretty good atmosphere. Fans cheered hard at the great defensive effort. I loved the huge ovation fans gave Evans when Cronin rested him for the first time (in the second half). It was Sunday night and fans did leave near the last tv timeout, but UC was up 20+ and the game was well in hand. Obviously it wasn't the kind of atmosphere we've had for some of the biggest games, but I felt like it was solid throughout.

Was there in person. Atmosphere was good considering the beat down. Was surprised how easily the Bearcats dispatched with SMU. Game plan was good as SMU was never able to get into what they wanted to do with the defensive pressure.

People did head to he exits with 4 mins left but considering the score and nightmare getting out of the garages and work on Monday can't blame them.

We had a much better parking experience parking in an out lot. We were to the highway in 20 minutes and stayed to the end of the game. Had to walk further but I'll take the brisk walk over a 1/2 an hour wait to get out of a garage and another 1/2 hour to get to the highway.

I was there. Perhaps it's just my seats up in the bleeds, but it was dead in there the entire game.

I don't really blame people for leaving early either--I have no idea where I'm going when I try drive out of that place--was just pointing out how quiet and empty the place was during the biggest home game of the year so far. Can't wait to get back to campus next season.

Completely disagree with this post. There was over 9,000 fans in attendance. The most there's been this season.

In my opinion it was the loudest the fans have been all season. The fans were into the game. Both cheering for the team and booing the refs on several occasions.

The arena wasn't empty at all as you say until under 4 minutes when Cincinnati had the game in hand up 20 points with only minutes to play.