Yes, they lost in the Elite Eight as a #1 and as a #4 in the Sweet Sixteen in the two years following a national title game appearance.
Yes, they lost in the Elite Eight as a #1 and as a #4 in the Sweet Sixteen in the two years following a national title game appearance.
I recall reading they really need those ooc games this year because their conference is actually supposed to be worse than normal....I think Saint Mary's is expected to have a down year. In the end, to hold the trophy in college basketball, a team has to win on the court. With 68 team getting into the dance, it is very unlikely most years that a team outside the field could survive in the tournament to win a championship. All of that wipes out almost all of the Gonzaga criticism.Originally Posted by Boston Red
That said, I do think there may be a slight advantage of not having to defeat high level teams during the dog days of conference play. In many of the games, they have such little chance to lose, they can actually work on things/schemes that may benefit them later. Most teams do not have that ability in the P6 as the majority of their opponents in conference can beat them if they are not focused on winning the game on the court.
My final thoughts considering both sides of the argument is Gaonzaga has earned their reputation as one of the elite college basketball programs....and it literally blows my mind they have climbed so far given their conference, location, size, history, etc.
“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.”― Marcus Aurelius
College basketball has morphed exponentially but it is funny how history repeats itself. San Francisco and UNLV were national powers playing in mickey mouse conferences.
Kenpom starts off the season with the B12 holding 5 or the Top 10 spots!
1. Baylor
5. Kansas
6. Texas Tech
8. WVU
10. Texas
Then you have to go all the way down to #31 Oklahoma and #33 Oklahoma State to find the next B12 teams. While the Big12 may be the best conference at the top, they probably come up short in the argument as the best conference from top to bottom with TCU, Iowa State and Kansas State all projected to have very down seasons.
“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.”― Marcus Aurelius
Can someone give me a brief explanation as to why Baylor is considered the best team in the country? What did I miss?
What would you say.....ya do here?
They were the #1 team in the country for more weeks than any other team last year, and everyone returns. Their top 3 players in MPG and PPG are back. They were projected to be a #1 Seed. Jared Butler is very good, and his sidekicks MaCio Teague and Davion Mitchell would be the best players on many teams. They should be really good, but I an not overly concerned with them....WVU beat them by a dozen in the last game of the season last year, and we also bring everyone back and I think add better players.
“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.”― Marcus Aurelius
Looks like Greggg Marshall is going to be leaving Wichita State over this abuse scandal.
https://www.cbssports.com/college-ba...bTYgx5B6R1xaUc
They return almost everyone, and they had a very, very good team last season.
I'm not sure if that makes them number one, but they're certainly in my top two or three teams.
It will be interesting to see if Wichita State continues to be a top 25-ish program.
They have community support, a rather large chest/ budget from the university, and a relative paucity of sports options around them.
If I'm a young coach, that's a spot I'm really interested in.
Assembly Hall (11-12-2020),Chip R (11-12-2020)
You have to wonder if the new coach can come in and recruit like Marshall did. There's a lot of support there at games but you wonder if that will last if they don't have the same success they have. I'm sure they relied a great deal on in-game attendance and they have probably budgeted for that. Now with lack of fans due to Covid, I'm sure that is going to hurt them financially somewhat. But they are probably better prepared to handle it than a lot of other schools. They have a semi-new arena, they probably have their own plane. I'm sure the facilities are top notch and they are in a good conference. They will probably weather this storm all right but being at the same level is going to be a daunting task.
Wichita State has very good fan support even when they are not particularly good. They certainly get a good amount of financial support from in-game attendance, but that is significantly bolstered by financial support from a number of high ranking individuals at Koch Industries (note that they play their games in Charles Koch Arena). That support won't go away with empty arenas due to Covid. However, if they have to pay out a significant piece of Marshall's contract, that well could certainly dry up a bit. The most ardent financial supporters are NOT the folks with unlimited financial resources.
A job, an assistant of big time program would love.
You're absolutely right, though, about how much it'll take to make Marshall go away. That said, if I'm an assistant or a young coach, I might be persuaded to take a little less to start because of all the great things that are already in place. The culture has produced a nice arena and facilities, big-time interest in the community, and a history you can sell to recruits. It's also an underrated hot spot for talented high school hoops. Easy travel. Most of the heavy lifting's already been done.
It's probably unfortunate for both Wichita State and Steve Forbes that this didn't happen a year sooner. Forbes was an assistant under Marshall in the good times, and he'd have a lot better chance to win in Wichita than he will in Winston-Salem.
Chris Jans would be the other obvious choice, but they probably can't afford to hire a guy with his history after what they're going through with Marshall. His sordid history is a blessing to New Mexico State. Jans is 82-17 in three years there.
Last edited by Boston Red; 11-12-2020 at 12:08 PM.
For all he accomplished at Wichita State, by the way, that is absolutely the SECOND best coaching stint of Gregg Marshall's career. His run at Winthrop was epic.
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