Would S16 feel….

#51
#51
GBO18 said:
Elite 8. If the ultimate goal is to win a National Championship I like the choice that gets us closer.

Is your thinking that we will never come close to winning a NC so therefore having better success in the regular season is more important to you?
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No that's not my thinking. I happen to believe the success over the course of a marathon regular season will only increase chances of postseason success. The problem is, the NCAA is a one and done. It would be much more legitimate if from the sweet 16 through the finals, all matchups were best two of three
 
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#52
#52
Unconditional Surrender said:
I know I am in the minority, but I don't think deciding whether the whole season is a success based on the first weekend of the tournament is a good way to look at it. It will always be disappointing to me that we got swept by Ky this year and as far as the Sweet 16 thing, well we've been there and done that. It's fine, but it doesn't give me a great sense of achievement. Hopefully, we still have a signature win or two left in the arsenal, otherwise this year will feel very meh to me.
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Postseason success trumps everything else - I think most would agree. When I think of last season I think about beating Auburn in the SECT, bouncing UK out of the tournament in dominating fashion, and appearing in the Elite Eight, even though we were never really in that game vs. the national runner-up. I haven't once thought about any regular season games from last year except for being able to enjoy Mashack's buzzer-beater in person with my daughter in my first trip to TBA in over 20 years.

A Sweet 16 is nothing to sneeze at. If you're playing the second weekend you have a legitimate shot at the Final Four if the breaks go your way. All we can ask for is a chance. I'm excited about what's possible in March.
 
#54
#54
cncchris33 said:
I, too, find it hard to judge the entire season on a single postseason tournament. Usually, we are talking about a great regular season undermined by a NCAAT flame out. Rarely have we had the disappointing regular season highlighted by an unexpected NCAAT run. Cuonzo's last team is probably the only one I can think of off the top of my head. That's a tough way to judge a season. If this team makes an E8, it will be tough to be disappointed, even if it's also tough to wash away the disappointing losses.
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Pearl's E8 run I think sorta was like that. I looked back and we did go into the NCAAT winning 5 of the last 6 (2 of them SECT games) but we went into it after an absolute axx kicking by UK, and we did upset Kansas that season but the season felt kinda off from what I remember. The season before was more disappointing and was both regular season and postseason (though did make the SECT Championship). I just remember the E8 run was rather unexpected and after Georgetown was upset it really changed the vibe of how far we could go.

So I dont' know if that regular season was "disppointing" but I remember it wasn't the most awesome either.
 
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#55
#55
BernardKingGOAT said:
No that's not my thinking. I happen to believe the success over the course of a marathon regular season will only increase chances of postseason success. The problem is, the NCAA is a one and done. It would be much more legitimate if from the sweet 16 through the finals, all matchups were best two of three
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Might be more legitimate in the sense that the better team would generally win two games more often, but it would kill the tournament. The 'cinderella' aspect and the upsets are one of the primary selling points of the event, and best of three would pretty much eliminate those miracle runs to the Elite 8 and Final 4.
 
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#56
#56
sami said:
Might be more legitimate in the sense that the better team would generally win two games more often, but it would kill the tournament. The 'cinderella' aspect and the upsets are one of the primary selling points of the event, and best of three would pretty much eliminate those miracle runs to the Elite 8 and Final 4.
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Yes, that's a solid point about the mid majors. Nothing quite like a Sister Jean sitting in the stands at a FF.
 
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#60
#60
I think the variance for this team is high. They could get on a hot streak scoring wise . . . And get favorable matchups and make a sweet 16 or even an elite 8.

Having said that, I think they will be fortunate to make a sweet 16. I think they win one and get bounced.
 
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#63
#63
BernardKingGOAT said:
Nice. Somewhat of a litmus test
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That’s not to dismiss your overall point either.

I would take a Final Four over an SEC title.

The importance of the NCAA tournament is real. I would argue that Florida is the 2nd best basketball program in the history of the SEC and they didnt make the tournament until 1987. But, the final four appearances and ncaa titles are hard to ignore. So, yeah. It matters
 
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#64
#64
99gator said:
That’s not to dismiss your overall point either.

I would take a Final Four over an SEC title.

The importance of the NCAA tournament is real. I would argue that Florida is the 2nd best basketball program in the history of the SEC and they didnt make the tournament until 1987. But, the final four appearances and ncaa titles are hard to ignore. So, yeah. It matters
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Florida was horrible in the SEC and the Southern Conference for about 75 years, so I don’t know about 2nd best in the “history” of the SEC. If history only begins with Norm Sloan’s second tenure (1989-1989) and maybe a couple of Tommy Bartley’s team (a former Tennessee Player) right after Sloan’s first term or a couple of Lon Kruger’s years, then probably so. Their success is mostly confined to the 21st century.

BTW, UF hired John Mauer (98-102) a couple of years after he left Tennessee. Mauer is still one of the most successful coaches that was ever at UT (127-41). Mauer was also 40-14 at Kentucky. CJM’s 3 years at KY were immediately before Rupp’s 40+ years there.
 
#65
#65
On par for this team and, while it wouldn't be exciting after B2B E8's, it would maintain the standard for this program which has been set by CRB and acceptable to us as fans imo esp given the new world of crazy roster turnover.
 
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#66
#66
99gator said:
That’s not to dismiss your overall point either.

I would take a Final Four over an SEC title.

The importance of the NCAA tournament is real. I would argue that Florida is the 2nd best basketball program in the history of the SEC and they didnt make the tournament until 1987. But, the final four appearances and ncaa titles are hard to ignore. So, yeah. It matters
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No, I knew you weren't dismissing my point. I would take a SEC regular season championship over an EE all day long if those were my only 2 choices, and I would take a FF over the SEC regular championship. Another point I have often tried to make is that winning the regular season championship substantially increases the chances of a deep advance into the tournament and that's why I always want a regular season championship first
 
#67
#67
cncchris33 said:
I, too, find it hard to judge the entire season on a single postseason tournament. Usually, we are talking about a great regular season undermined by a NCAAT flame out. Rarely have we had the disappointing regular season highlighted by an unexpected NCAAT run. Cuonzo's last team is probably the only one I can think of off the top of my head. That's a tough way to judge a season. If this team makes an E8, it will be tough to be disappointed, even if it's also tough to wash away the disappointing losses.
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A trifecta of E8's would be quite an accomplishment and huge success for this team imo given the roster even though we all really, really want that F4.
 
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#69
#69
VolsSportsFan said:
Pearl's E8 run I think sorta was like that. I looked back and we did go into the NCAAT winning 5 of the last 6 (2 of them SECT games) but we went into it after an absolute axx kicking by UK, and we did upset Kansas that season but the season felt kinda off from what I remember. The season before was more disappointing and was both regular season and postseason (though did make the SECT Championship). I just remember the E8 run was rather unexpected and after Georgetown was upset it really changed the vibe of how far we could go.

So I dont' know if that regular season was "disppointing" but I remember it wasn't the most awesome either.
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It was also the year Kansas who was the #1 seed in our region and was knocked off in the second round by Northern Iowa. That opened up the entire bracket.

Outside of losing a Sweet 16 game to Louisville in 2012 as a #1 seed and the first round upset as a #2 at the hands of MTSU in 2016, I can't think of any other time in 30 years Michigan State has underperformed in the tournament. Izzo always does his best coaching in March.
 
#70
#70
99gator said:
Win the sec regular season.

I always take the options that give you trophies or hang banners. You don’t get anything for the Elite 8.
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Couldn't disagree more. Most schools have a banner to commemorate Elite Eights. Winning a regular season conference title and flaming out early in the NCAAT does nothing but leave a bad taste in your mouth over what could have been. No thank you.
 
#71
#71
Ament is banged up. If he doesn't sit out a game or two and get healed up
we won't make it out of 1st weekend.
 
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