22-7, 13-4 with wins over 3 top 5 teams......

#1
O

OffTackleVol

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#1
and a 17 point smackdown of #18 (at that time) North Carolina is shaping up as special season. And, the 15 point win at Colorado is looking better as well. This team has maturity, great leadership, and excellent guard play. Anyone want to predict how far we'll go in the NCAA tourney? Sweet 16 would be nice, but I'm starting to feel/think even better than that...........
 
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#7
#7
OffTackleVol said:
and a 17 point smackdown of #18 (at that time) North Carolina is shaping up as special season. And, the 15 point win at Colorado is looking better as well. This team has maturity, great leadership, and excellent guard play. Anyone want to predict how far we'll go in the NCAA tourney? Sweet 16 would be nice, but I'm starting to feel/think even better than that...........
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I would not predict for the same reason, all teams will be motivated, but whoever wants it most will go deep. UT has the players to go all the way, but they have to play their best game.........every game.
 
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#8
#8
I hope this is the season we make a deep tournament run. It is nice to be a Top 25 program, but we really have not accomplished anything yet. My biggest gripe about our basketball team is consistency. We have not lost to a team outside of Quad 1, but sometimes we play so bad that anybody could beat us. We have continued to find ways to win which is important, however, if we have a bad night in March it means the end of the season.
 
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#9
#9
Orange&White said:
I hope this is the season we make a deep tournament run. It is nice to be a Top 25 program, but we really have not accomplished anything yet. My biggest gripe about our basketball team is consistency. We have not lost to a team outside of Quad 1, but sometimes we play so bad that anybody could beat us. We have continued to find ways to win which is important, however, if we have a bad night in March it means the end of the season.
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Is making the Elite 8 an accomplishment? It’s losing a regional final.

Living in the top 25 is where I want to be. You can’t really skip that step when building a high level program. Sneaking into a Final Four is often about some lucky bounces and whistles in a single elimination setup.
 
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#10
#10
Thunder Good-Oil said:
Is making the Elite 8 an accomplishment? It’s losing a regional final.

Living in the top 25 is where I want to be. You can’t really skip that step when building a high level program. Sneaking into a Final Four is often about some lucky bounces and whistles in a single elimination setup.
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Outside of the fact Pearl made an E8 and Barnes hasn’t I truly wonder if the E8 means anything? You don’t “hang banners” for that, so how much more significant is it really in the grand scheme? National championship runner up, or Final Four, sure I get that, but not sure I see the huge difference in E8 vs. S16?

Would you rather go 23-7 being a Top 10-15 and make a S16 or a 19-11 team that spends the entire year in and out of the Top 25, makes a run and makes the E8? I’m not necessarily answering it just posing the question, I’m not sure that’s really that much better, idk.
 
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#11
#11
bleedingTNorange said:
Outside of the fact Pearl made an E8 and Barnes hasn’t I truly wonder if the E8 means anything? You don’t “hang banners” for that, so how much more significant is it really in the grand scheme? National championship runner up, or Final Four, sure I get that, but not sure I see the huge difference in E8 vs. S16?

Would you rather go 23-7 being a Top 10-15 and make a S16 or a 19-11 team that spends the entire year in and out of the Top 25, makes a run and makes the E8? I’m not necessarily answering it just posing the question, I’m not sure that’s really that much better, idk.
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That Elite 8 Banner with just one year (2010) sewn onto it is really pretty sad looking up in the TBA rafters.
 
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#12
#12
Living in the top 25 gets exposure all year long on Sports Center and the other national highlights shows. Better exposure leads to signing better recruits. Signing better recruits leads to winning more games. Winning lots of games leads to NCAAT invitations and better seeds. It’s a process. USC has a Final Four but doesn’t have a basketball program of note.
 
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#13
#13
Its been a fun season, definitely more enjoyable that last year for me.

As far as the tourneys go, we will go as far as our shooting percentages allow. We can count on hustle and good defense but if the shots aren't falling we could lose to any that makes the NCAAT.
 
#14
#14
It's really impossible to make predictions, but this team feels like it has as good a chance as any to go deep in the tournament. I'd love to get the "no Final Fours" monkey off of our back just so people would quit talking about it. Feels like some kind of imaginary barrier.
 
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#18
#18
OffTackleVol said:
and a 17 point smackdown of #18 (at that time) North Carolina is shaping up as special season. And, the 15 point win at Colorado is looking better as well. This team has maturity, great leadership, and excellent guard play. Anyone want to predict how far we'll go in the NCAA tourney? Sweet 16 would be nice, but I'm starting to feel/think even better than that...........
Click to expand...

CE0FC52B-4DFC-4F1E-9E4B-D1A71DE793D6.png
 
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#20
#20
Thunder Good-Oil said:
Is making the Elite 8 an accomplishment? It’s losing a regional final.

Living in the top 25 is where I want to be. You can’t really skip that step when building a high level program. Sneaking into a Final Four is often about some lucky bounces and whistles in a single elimination setup.
Click to expand...
The past is prologue. What you do in the regular season matters. The foundation for tournament season. We may have an average history in the NCAA tournament compared to other schools, but it is by no means the sole measure of the quality of a program. Georgia has been to a final four, but you cannot make a credible argument that they have a superior program, all time, to Tennessee. Likewise, Florida has 2 national championships, but a credible argument can be made that Tennessee has a better overall program throughout history based on all-time records, conference championships and head-to-head games.
 
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#21
#21
esarmstrong said:
The past is prologue. What you do in the regular season matters. The foundation for tournament season. We may have an average history in the NCAA tournament compared to other schools, but it is by no means the sole measure of the quality of a program. Georgia has been to a final four, but you cannot make a credible argument that they have a superior program, all time, to Tennessee. Likewise, Florida has 2 national championships, but a credible argument can be made that Tennessee has a better overall program throughout history based on all-time records, conference championships and head-to-head games.
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TN is actually above average by many NCAAT measures. Only about 40 teams have more appearances and TN would be much higher on the list if more than one team per conference were invited before 1975. KY, Missouri, and Arkansas are the only SEC teams that have been invited more times and Missouri & Arkansas got many of their invitations while members of the SWC, B8, and B12.

Head-to-head is a great indicator. Bama has the upper hand versus TN (and also lacks a Final 4). TN has the upper hand versus most of the rest… especially versus the 8 other original SEC members.
 
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#23
#23
This team has a Fulky Four run in it, and at that point... ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE ! (in my best Kevin Garnett)
 
#25
#25
FlyFishnVol said:
I would not predict for the same reason, all teams will be motivated, but whoever wants it most will go deep. UT has the players to go all the way, but they have to play their best game.........every game.
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With the defense this team plays we don’t need to be perfect. If we can get timely offense from one or two players when the team goes cold we can survive several games.
 
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