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I was really feeling down after the tourney losses but now seem to be reinvigorated with both of our teams participation in the NIT

Wow. We've really come a long way. We're actually bemoaning playing in NIT 4 years in a row now??

That's good, I was starting to get really worried about you

It sure is nice to be complaining about getting an NIT bid, we did not used to get any bids. The times they are a changing. Someone said this is our 6th year in a row with post season play, I’d say that is pretty good. Maybe we are a basketball school!

I'm sorry in advance to sound negative or ungrateful, but this sucks. Only four power conference teams in this field if you include SMU. I'm honestly surprised they (SMU) agreed to play in this field. Yes, I want to show respect to the other mid majors in this tournament, but several of them should be in The Big Dance, not fighting for a chance to go to... Hinkle Fieldhouse.The power programs who declined invites are bitches. Next year there will probably be no power teams. We would play the first two games at home at least. But the first notable matchup we could have is Round 3 at SMU or vs. Oklahoma State. Knowing our luck, we will probably: Lose to either Furman, St. Louis, or Arkansas State at home. Good programs, but irrelevant to the disengaged alumni around here we want to capture. Will not help attendance in a year we are averaging 700 less a game than the prior, and will piss off or heartbreak our fans even more. OR Actually win the first two games, but then Wichita State pulls off two victories therefore lessening the hype around our quarterfinal.

Why not. He was here before and allowed to back out supposedly due to an ill grandparent, if memory serves me correct. Then again, he is listed as 5'11" and could be a tad shorter. I won't pass up a scorer, but we should be after bigger guards.

Post season play is now expected around here.

I may be off a bit but Utah State lost their number 1, 3 and 5 leading scorers and more to the portal and lost their HC to Washington (leading scorer followed him there). They still went 26-7 and made the NCAA tourney with a new head coach.

I'll have to see how it goes in future years, but right now a first year tournament is in no way more prestigious than the NIT. Five years from now maybe I'll consider this Crown the better tourney, but right now it just seems like a cash grab and an attempt to kill the NCAA.

We can. We have to play loose and free. And scorers gotta score.

season - 6...with room for upward mobility with NIT success program growth - 8.5 Hodge has proven he can make two entirely different rosters into winners. we're going to our 4th straight NIT, which betters our last best streak of post-season appearances by...uhh...oh, ya...4. we have an identity as a program. there are things to clean up from season to season, but we're living in the best era of UNT basketball history hands down. enjoy it.

I’m bitter that we didn’t make the Dance yet again, but man … I’m DANG proud for our conference that we put a five seed in there. I’m hoping that bodes well for the future of the AAC. Probably not, but hey … I’ll try to stay positive.

I'd take him. His height might be what deters bigger programs but if he wants to come and be Perry 2.0, I'm here for it. I do like Brumaugh from Tulane but he'll likely be out of price range.

25-9 overall 11-7 in conference Two OOC losses were to Auburn (83-62) and Kansas (86-51) Tulane was a common opponent with Furman beating the Green Wave early in the year, (11/15), by eight, 75-67 at home. Split their conference games with the John Bugg's ETSU. They lost on the road when Buggs dropped 11 points on them. 13-3 at home. 9-5 on the road. 3-1 neutral site games. G PJay Smith Jr., 6'0", leads the Furminators in scoring at 18.0 ppg. Dropped 29 on Tulane. 6'11" F Cooper Bowser, 8.5 ppg/4.7 rpg, leads Furman in blocks with 57. Appear, based on minutes, to run a seven man rotation with two others getting around 8-9 minutes a game. Located in Greenville, SC. Play their home games in the Bon Secours Wellness Arena which is also home to the Greenville Swamp Rabbits. Finished 5th in the SoCon regular season but upset #4 Samford and #1 Chattanooga in the conference tournament to advance to the finals only to lose to the 6th place Wofford Terriers. Mascot is the Paladins, not the Furminators. Hall of Fame Members: *Billy Napier, HC of FL *Tommy Stevenson, owner of the famed Country Ham House restaurant. *Clint Dempsey, USM Soccer Team *Brad Faxon, PGA Golfer *Beth Daniel, LPGA Golfer *Betsy King, LPGA Golfer *Dottie Pepper, LPGA Golfer Famous Alumni (Non-Sports) *Amy Grant, Christian singer *Victoria Jackson, SNL Alum *Sam Wyche, NFL Coach *Bear Rinehart, lead singer of Need to Breathe.

I know it has a lot to do with giving power 5 teams not good enough to go to the NCAA tournament a chance to play each other post season, but it could also be a way for mid-majors to get exposure. With nil and the transfer portal, it is going to be harder and harder to get teams to be willing to play in the post season at all. Why would a player that can make millions next season risk getting hurt to play in the NIT. I know this team has a lot of seniors and they are very close. They will savor any opportunity to continue playing together, but UNT would have received much more exposure in the Crown. Clearly.

And what were those expectations on 11/1/24? ...after coming off of a 19-15 year and losing your top 6 players from that team to transfer/graduation? HONESTLY, what were your expectations?

100% the crown tournament. The brands that didn't cowardly opted out of post season play largely went to that tournament. And our guys could've won money. No brainer..

Yes, again, I am aware I am probably the youngest in this thread. Being a student during the Benford era was bad enough. I am super grateful for how Grant changed this program. With better results comes greater expectations.

YES!! The NIT does not always signify a bad year, and now that we have played postseason ball six years since the Grant era, I would rather play somewhere than not. I was happy we received an invite after our injury-riddled year last season in which we struggled to finish 18-14. It also used to be our only opportunity to play a power conference school. But now the field is only 4/32 P4 + Big East schools. In their first season, the CBC has 10/16 such schools PLUS three more that will be in the better basketball conference Pac 12. And all games on linear television. So yes, I was already disappointed in another NIT. More mad now that there may have been a better option on the table.

Whether the CBC lasts very long or not, I would have still preferred that. Vegas and bigger name matchups would have been a much better consolation prize instead of a fourth straight NIT.

As a player, The Crown is in Vegas and motivation for NIL money. As a fan, NIT has the brand recognition and home games.

Is it me or is that a really quick release. I like what I see.

Full details to be announced tomorrow.

I did not actually look into the field until after I made this thread. But here are some notes. 48 teams, meaning we may need six wins to capture the title. Only one power conference team (11-19 Rutgers). All games played on campus Bracket is typically split regionally pretty well. There are four other teams in Texas participating that I'd keep an eye out on hosting: Abilene Christian, Tarleton, Texas Southern, and UT Arlington. We've already played ACU and TSU this season. Other AAC teams competing are Tulsa and UAB. Championship game broadcast on CBSSN. Last year's "Fab 4" were Saint Louis, Vermont, Minnesota, and Troy. Saint Louis ended up beating Minnesota in the final.

Number 1 Seed in the Dayton Region is Dayton Number 1 Seed in the Irvine Region is UC Irvine Number 1 seed in the San Francisco Region is San Francisco Number 1 Seed in the Dallas Region is SMU One of these things is not like the others...

Not in the bracket but 16-17 Boston College made it.

Host Furman Wednesday night

I know that Parker brought some of his kids with him from Marshall High (or transfer from Marshall): Willis Hudson, Lorenzo Washington, Stacey Anderson. The star was Trency Clough but his went another route prior to signing day. Benny Valentine was the QB that I think we signed via transfer.

Well UT and UNC just made the last four in and neither was deserving. Xavier as well and they said UNC and Cavier were something like 2-20 against quad 1 teams? UT lost more than won more against quad 2. Yeah it’s all a joke… It won’t get better until real leaders step up and end it.

I miss CUSA and I'm kinda disappointed with AAC so far.

Was told by a wise guy whose football knowledge I respect that O would have been more valuable to us prior to NIL. That said, he worked hard for us and I do wish him and his family well. GMG

Bold Prediction: He'll be starting by conference play.

Not at all! Can UNT do better than 24-8? Sure! ...but that doesn't mean 24-8 shouldn't be "enjoyed". Can UNT do better than a 2nd place regular season finish in the AAC? Sure! ...but that doesn't mean 2nd place shouldn't be "enjoyed" (especially when we were picked in the preseason coaches poll to finish 7th). Can UNT do better than a 2-seed in the NIT? Sure! ...but that doesn't mean the postseason tournament shouldn't be "enjoyed". There are fair EXPECTATIONS for a basketball team (a standard to meet), and then there are HOPES of what more they can/might do to exceed the expectations. I think you're trying to pin HOPES on the team as EXPECTATIONS, and that's not fair.

I really think if we don't have scoring drought. In any Of the games we have a good chance to win it all. GO MEAN GREEN

Plays 12 seed Colorado State.

Good point about air connections. Tampa might draw fans who want out of cold March weather.

I seriously think we can win that tournament.

The AAC attracts good players, but then loses them all to the power conferences. I really liked our team this year, but no one wanted to play us in the non-con and by the time we made it to conference games, teams had already dropped to the 100-300 range in net rankings. If UNT was at the middle or bottom of a power conference, they would have racked up so many quad 1 wins. But we don't have the money those teams have and had only 3 opportunities with only Memphis in our conference. Penny, Hagerty, and Dainja say AAC teams are being disrespected and that there are good teams and players in our conference. I think they are right, but when you lose 90% of your shooting every year, if given a shot at a good non-conference schedule, how can you get your team ready to compete that quickly? Someone online said that the SEC should change their slogan to the title of this post. Do you think the portal, nil, and net rankings will make it impossible for UNT to get an at large bid in the AAC?

They cost Stan Van Gundy a lot of money.

I am just looking at the MWC with 4 teams in and I say BS. Throw SMU jerseys on this team playing the exact same schedule and all the sudden they would magically earn at large birth. This is why I don’t watch regular season G5 basketball. If you don’t win the regular season title or conference tournament it boils down to money and brand recognition of your program.

Oh ok there’s the WBIT and WNIT which is confusing

If we beat Furman, it sets up a likely matchup with Arkansas Sate. They beat Memphis and UAB, and lost to Alabama by just 9. They also lost to Rice and Hofstra and had 6 conference losses. So…winnable game?

Hodges replacement is either a coach at Tech or at Baylor. If Hodges leaves and we go outside the box. The Grand Canyon coach looks legit. I think Hodge is back in Mean Green in 2025. GMG

Seriously? How soon we forget what it was like before Grant and Ross. I still remember the Benford years...and do NOT want to go back there!

No they do not.