Greendylan

Not exactly--yes, there was a wrestling tournament, but it was the staffing issue that resulted from from it that was the direct factor. Look, I'm frustrated too, but we can't pretend that this doesn't happen to a couple athletic departments every single NIT season.

Oklahoma State couldn't make it work due to a scheduling conflict/staffing issue in the 2023 NIT when they had to travel to Youngstown State, despite being the top overall seed. Historically speaking, I realize that NT's track record of prioritizing athletics is . . . not the best. But, also--sometimes shit just happens.

I have to admit that this sketch is honestly the first thing that comes to mind whenever I see references to Furman. That's more a reflection on my Chappelle's Show obsession than a dig at Furman . . . which I assume is not affiliated with Mark Fuhrman.

Yeah, I remember LSU having plenty of empty seats last year. At least on TV it did not look like one of their better crowds.

It's funny because this feels like something George would have come up with for the Yankees.

Also, if a low seed ends up winning your tournament, they would have to have won so many games in a row that they probably (by that point) would have a respectable record going into the NCAA tournament.

All three ranked teams that were in action tonight lost, and all three were on the road. It helps us in some small ways that two of the three winners were teams NT has beaten. But, I think the bigger lesson here is just how damn hard it is to win on the road.

I assume it's the "efficiency" factor in the NET equation that benefited from last night. That or the results of other games impacted this. Not totally sure, but it's a good question.

For the life of me, I couldn't tell you. The t-shirts had the flying worm, I guess, but I wasn't one of the lucky few who snagged one. Oh well, fun game to watch...

On the bright side, as a fan in attendance, this is excellent emotional preparation for the beatdown coming on Friday.

Sissoko with the double-double. He's rebounded really well the past couple games. Hopefully that carries over into conference play against stronger post players.

When Brock Vice came in I was eager to see what he could do in the paint, and . . . he proceeded to jack up two 3-pointers that missed. Oh well, overall I was impressed with how (relatively) polished the bench players looked in garbage time.

Great game right now between Memphis and Clemson. I'm also interested to see how Wichita State does at DePaul.

Really good points! The NIL era doesn't have to mean the end of competitive Mean Green football. There are available strategic moves that we can make, and careful roster management is one of them. Transparent crowd funding is another. If you look across the board, G5 conference teams aren't any less competitive than they were pre-NIL. NT, however, seems to be a couple years behind the learning curve, and as a result, we're one of the hardest hit by the portal each year. But, this is a fixable problem.

It's not going to be easy, and it will take innovation, persuasion, and a lot of strategic thinking--but I don't think it's fair to say "never." Also, UNT does have some advantages, such as being a massive school in a prosperous part of the country. I'm not suggesting that we should be competing with A&M in NIL dollars by next season. But, I think moving up from bottom 3 to the middle of the AAC is an attainable goal, if the fundraising efforts are done effectively and aggressively. We are not helpless in all this.