Congratulations to Men's Basketball for a winning D1 season

[MelRock]

I wonder why they don't want to?

Because they are _______.

[CajunEXPRESS]

Why would coach Hardin lie to me when he says neither uno or slu will do home and home with us? He is in charge of scheduling and I do not envy him in that regard.

I just think we give up too easy. I never said the coaches lied, just think that those nos can be overcome. SLU?Nichols, UNO all have problems getting division one visitors.

Like I commented maybe they too like us prefer non division one wins.

[MelRock]

Like I commented maybe they too like us prefer non division one wins.

I am sorry but this has to be one of the stupidest comments I have seen, that our coaches prefer non D1 wins. Most of you would be yelling, along with me, if those 3 games were on the road and we were getting our asses handed to us.

[cajun4life]

Why are you using 15-15 as a record for your argument?

Because crazycajun used 15-15 and a run to the big dance as an example. He seemed to be satisfied with with stinking it up in the regular season, make a run in the Belt tourny and getting to the dance.

[CrazyCajun]

Because crazycajun used 15-15 and a run to the big dance as an example. He seemed to be satisfied with with stinking it up in the regular season, make a run in the Belt tourny and getting to the dance.

I didn't say that, I responded to someone who spit out 3 different records and said all that mattered was the tourney, I disagree.

[zephyr]

Really, its simple. Would the typical fan prefer us to go .500 every year, not win a conference title but go to the NCAA tourney every year (I know, its unlikely but for argument sake) OR would the typical fan prefer us to strengthen our program by winning better teams every season OOC and becoming a major player in whatever conference we are in but having the NCAA tourney elude us from time to time? In other words, I can't see how someone could judge a program's success on how many times it makes the dance but discards every other aspect of its season.

[zephyr]

Don't think he's condescending, I think he's pretty spot on. I think we need to get past the "If we just would've won those few games, we'd be in a much better position."

The problem is, being in the SBC or CUSA, no matter if you go 25-5, 20-10, or 15-15, it's all about winning the conference tournament. It's been this way for the past however many years now and it's not going to change. Lower RPI leagues are only going to get 1-bid for the foreseeable future. There's nothing we can change about that. All we can do is position ourselves to do well in the conf tourney. And whether we end up in the NCAA or NIT or CIT, as long as we make it to a postseason tourney, we are good. Ask Northern Iowa how that model is working out for them right now.

We wouldn't be in a better position necessarily but at least it would show some consistency. A program's success should be gauged on other things other than just 20 win seasons. While its certainly a nice feat, its hard to get too giddy when we are losing to McNeese and NWST with no real program building wins to counter them.

[zephyr]

Don't think he's condescending, I think he's pretty spot on. I think we need to get past the "If we just would've won those few games, we'd be in a much better position."

The problem is, being in the SBC or CUSA, no matter if you go 25-5, 20-10, or 15-15, it's all about winning the conference tournament. It's been this way for the past however many years now and it's not going to change. Lower RPI leagues are only going to get 1-bid for the foreseeable future. There's nothing we can change about that. All we can do is position ourselves to do well in the conf tourney. And whether we end up in the NCAA or NIT or CIT, as long as we make it to a postseason tourney, we are good. Ask Northern Iowa how that model is working out for them right now.

Northern Iowa is also winning their conference and is a 30 win team. They are beating the likes of Northwestern, Southern Illinois, Wichita State, Iowa, VT and Richmond. They are beating solid teams and beating teams they should beat. I can't really say the same about us. The schedule is the schedule. We can't do much about what we are given nor can we do much about the conference for which we play in. All we can do is beat the teams we are supposed to and steal some against the teams that are considered better or equal to us. Our problem is we rarely have any program building wins per se and we lose way too often to D-2 or FCS teams.

[Cajunsmike]

Northern Iowa is also winning their conference and is a 30 win team. They are beating the likes of Northwestern, Southern Illinois, Wichita State, Iowa, VT and Richmond. They are beating solid teams and beating teams they should beat. I can't really say the same about us. The schedule is the schedule. We can't do much about what we are given nor can we do much about the conference for which we play in. All we can do is beat the teams we are supposed to and steal some against the teams that are considered better or equal to us. Our problem is we rarely have any program building wins per se and we lose way too often to D-2 or FCS teams.

We have only lost to one non D1 program since Coach Marlin has been here. That loss was to a good Texas College team in his first year. Raymone Andrews did not play in that game as Coach was trying to teach him a lesson. That was the reason we did not win that one. We have blown out every other non D1 opponent since then. Yes, that is the way it should be and is not a great accomplishment. That having been said, I agree we lose too often in basketball to schools that are FCS in football. I truly believe the reason for that this year is that it took awhile for the lineup we have now to come together. All the newcomers and Register had not been seasoned enough early in the year. Shawn Long was also injured early in the season.

[cajunfan337]

Northern Iowa is also winning their conference and is a 30 win team. They are beating the likes of Northwestern, Southern Illinois, Wichita State, Iowa, VT and Richmond. They are beating solid teams and beating teams they should beat. I can't really say the same about us. The schedule is the schedule. We can't do much about what we are given nor can we do much about the conference for which we play in. All we can do is beat the teams we are supposed to and steal some against the teams that are considered better or equal to us. Our problem is we rarely have any program building wins per se and we lose way too often to D-2 or FCS teams.

I'm saying follow their recent model, not follow exactly what they're doing this year. Do some research and see how they have rose to the position they're at now.

[Cajunsmike]

One more comment on the schedule. Playing UNO and beating them would probably be a negative impact to our RPI due to their very poor RPI. If you round out your schedule with too many low RPI teams, the RPI is worse than it would be by playing non D1 schools. Reason is the non D1games do not count towards the RPI calculation. That being said, I would still look to decrease the non D1 games on the schedule simply due to the fact the team does not gain much by participating in a non competitive contest. As far as Northern Iowa is concerned, they do nto play FBS football, so the analogy to us is not comparable. Same goes for Wichita State. That does not mean we should not try to emulate their success. Of course we should.

[cajunfan337]

I didn't say that, I responded to someone who spit out 3 different records and said all that mattered was the tourney, I disagree.

And I understand your and others' points. A flashy record is a big turn on for recruits in any sport, BUT they ultimately want to see postseason aspirations.

And let me clarify what I said earlier. I'm not saying if we go 15-15 and make it to the dance that the season is a success. I'd almost hate us going if we're just going to get embarrassed on TV. But we make it to a postseason tournament which is a huge plus in the long run.

What I am saying is winning the conf tourney, regardless of your record, is the key to getting into the dance for the SBC or CUSA*.

*See LaTech 2012-2014 & MTSU 2011-2013