I think there’s a lot of emotional posting after a disappointing loss happening here.
In looking at preseason expectations VS what actually happened… so far, I’m at least at an 8 with this over-achieving team.
We lost so much from last season’s team, brought in a bunch of new faces, gel’d quickly, & finished 2nd in conference behind 21-ranked Memphis.
We still have the NIT to play (no way we get left out of that), possibly with a home game or 2.
How is that not an incredible success… so far?
It’s also important to baseline what grades are.
What is a 10?
A national championship? The 20-21 Tourney win team? The 22-23 NIT champs?
What’s a 0?
The 16-17, CUSA 14th place, Benford-led team? Worse?
Fair. I'd have given a 7 for winning the regular season AAC title and/or making today's game. Two things I think were necessary to be a strong at-large candidate. Contention for an NIT home game is below what I think we're capable of at this point. With all that McCasland and Hodge accomplished here, I think it's fair to draw the line at NCAA at-large bids when evaluating how successful the season was. We haven't been an at-large yet but getting such a bid would be a clear indication of national respect.
Almost every team in the top 25 has transfers in their starting 5. Rubin Jones started and played 29 minutes for Michigan yesterday. He'll likely start today in the BIG 10 finals. The other 4 starters for Michigan are first year transfer Goldin, first year transfer Wolf, first year transfer Donaldson, and 2nd year transfer Burnett. In other words, all transfers and 4 in their first season with Michigan and a new head coach.
St Johns won the Big East yesterday with two first year transfers starting, one of which is Aaron Scott, and two second year transfers also starting. Two of their bench rotational guys are first year transfers and their 3rd rotational guy transferred in two seasons ago.
I'm not going to excuse poor early season performance because transfers and chemistry and stuff. These highmajor schools make it work. Figure it out.
What kills me is the amount of teams winning with mid-major transfers when those same players couldn't make the big dance as an at-large at their mid-major schools. Why does a player gain more respect the second he puts on a Big East, Big 10, Big 12, or SEC patch? If Florida and Michigan win today, the AAC will have lost transfers who started for the Big 10, Big East, and SEC champions. Maybe the committee should start respecting where those players come from, not just where they've gone to.
I gave us a 7, which would be the same score I'd give if we lost today to Memphis. Winning the autobid...an 8. Any win in the Dance makes it a 9. Two wins or more...an unqualified 10.
If we were to win to make the NIT semis or final...probably an 8. Winning the NIT, the season is probably a 9.
Down 6-0 in the bottom of the 4th inning.
Skylar gives up 5 earned runs in 2 innings pitched. Relieved by Anderson.
We're not gonna win 30% of our conference games....if Skylar is our #1 pitcher.
We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. Please review our full Privacy Policy before using our site.