College Basketball Season 2024-2025

[X-band '01]

Cue 2011 when #1 A-10 Xavier took on #11 Big East Marquette in the NCAA Tournament (albeit a team that included Jimmy Butler). That was one of the watershed moments that convinced Xavier to get the F out of the A-10 post haste.

[Xville]

Kadary Richmond has been disappointing so far this year. Assists up slightly but everything else down

[Xville]

You don’t see it often, but a pitino team just got outcoached and outworked even if they pull this out. X is better than them

[Xville]

Kadary finally making his mark

[Xville]

lol St. John’s. Baylor deserved that one.

[xudash]

St. John’s. You have to be kidding me.

[xubrew]

HATE THE DRAKE!

J. Seinfeld

The Drake is looking good!!!

[Xville]

The Drake is looking good!!!

Tandy hasn't even taken a shot...very weird

[Xavgrad08]

Drake’s HC won 4 national titles as HC in division 2. If he wins at drake he will have opportunities. That is back to back good HC hires by Drake.

[xubrew]

My thought about the Drake v FAU game was that it would have been a great game either last year or the year before. Well, it turns out it ain't a bad game now!! FAU is good too!! Both teams were so gutted that basically nothing is the same as last year other than the address on the mail and the name on the uniform, but they both look pretty good so far this season.

[Xville]

early in the game and very early in the season but Drake looks really legit. Don't seem to have missed a beat since last year even with the coaching change and turnover.

[Xville]

Drake’s HC won 4 national titles as HC in division 2. If he wins at drake he will have opportunities. That is back to back good HC hires by Drake.

I know I'm going to get roasted for this, but possible BE partner down the line if we were to ever grow? Small, private...seems to give a shit about bb. Nice arena.

They are in the pioneer league for football if that were to ever happen at X too

[xubrew]

No one mentioned this, but last night Rick Pitino said it was unethical for Scott Drew to ask for a video replay for a potential flagrant foul at the end of the second overtime because the delay iced his shooter.

I just love how Rick Pitino is now giving lectures on ethics!!!

[Xville]

help me understand...for a number of these guys on Drake..it says they are juniors and/or seniors yet when i look up their career stats, it just has this year. Were these guys all division 2 guys before this? If so, thats insanely impressive.

[xubrew]

help me understand...for a number of these guys on Drake..it says they are juniors and/or seniors yet when i look up their career stats, it just has this year. Were these guys all division 2 guys before this? If so, thats insanely impressive.

I know that no starters or key players returned from a year ago. I didn't do a real deep dive as to who they did get because I just didn't expect them to be any good. It is a legit surprise. Granted, the sport never fails!! There are always legit surprises!! And...this is one of them!

[GoMuskies]

Four transfers from NW Missouri State. Presumably that's where the coach came from. One transfer each from Plattsburg, St. Joseph (not our Hawk friends), NW Florida State College and Lemont.

Actually, Plattsburg, Lemont and St. Joe are all high schools. So just the five non-DI transfers.

[Xville]

Four transfers from NW Missouri State. Presumably that's where the coach came from. One transfer each from Plattsburg, St. Joseph (not our Hawk friends), NW Florida State College and Lemont.

Wow, that's insane. Impressive as hell. Definitely one to keep an eye on if they can keep it going. Missouri Valley is always a good conference, i'll be tracking them.

[muskiefan82]

Wow, that's insane. Impressive as hell. Definitely one to keep an eye on if they can keep it going. Missouri Valley is always a good conference, i'll be tracking them.

IN related news, does the ACC maybe just suck?

[Xville]

IN related news, does the ACC maybe just suck?

I’m pretty sure they do like they have in recent years. It’s Duke, unc and everyone else like almost always. Louisville and pitt will be bubble teams. The rest? Meh

[Xavgrad08]

help me understand...for a number of these guys on Drake..it says they are juniors and/or seniors yet when i look up their career stats, it just has this year. Were these guys all division 2 guys before this? If so, thats insanely impressive.

This is a tweet from Jeff Goodman after the game " Ben McCollum brought 4 of his top 5 players with him from D-2 Northwest Missouri State, they are his 4 best players at Drake and they are now 5-0 in D-1".

So far the strategy is working. Off the top of my head I know John Beilein & Bruce Pearl were D2 coaches before D1. Former Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan started as a D3 coach. Seems like you don't see a lot of D3 and D2 coaches make the jump succesfully. Will be interesting to watch, but 4 Div 2 National titles is impressive as heck for McCollum.

[noteggs]

Two great things today

- off from work
- college basketball on tv all day

The 3rd will be when I crack open a cold one. But first I’ll have to get off the couch. Decisions decisions

[X-band '01]

It would have been fun to watch the Longwood-UAB game in the Paradise Jam earlier today - the video feed briefly dropped off for a Windows update. Still a step up from the Tyson-Paul "match" from last week.

[Xville]

Well hall blows again

[xubrew]

It would have been fun to watch the Longwood-UAB game in the Paradise Jam earlier today - the video feed briefly dropped off for a Windows update. Still a step up from the Tyson-Paul "match" from last week.

These tournaments all have a certain kind of charm to them. It’s unique matchups in even more unique (to say the least) venues. It’s teams that normally don’t play playing in strange places with strange things happening. We really do need the Junkanoo Jam back! That one took the cake!!

But this year so far we’ve had a game delayed because a chandelier fell onto the court, and now a video was interrupted due to a print drive being updated!! This is great stuff!!

[xubrew]

Miami was one of my big sleeper teams this year. And I pretty much nailed it!! Miami has been asleep the whole season so far!

[Xavgrad08]

Creighton gets beat by Nebraska at home. Creighton did not look good in this one, but I was impressed with Nebraska. Ashworth for Creighton left the game with an injury. I hope for them it is not serious as they don’t appear to have depth.

[Xville]

IMO that’s a bad loss by creighton. Kalkbrenner took one shot? One? That’s horrible.

Nebraska just lost to st Mary’s. Who is supposed to just be ok.

Not a great day for the big East

[GoMuskies]

The American sucks. So year of the Shocker? 25 point win over St. Louis on a neutral court.

[xubrew]

The American sucks. So year of the Shocker? 25 point win over St. Louis on a neutral court.

Wichita hasn't sucked. FAU hasn't either, but I also wouldn't go so far to say that they've been good.

It's Memphis and Wichita. That's really it out of the AAC. At least from what I've seen.

[Xville]

After thinking about it some more, I’m regretting my creighton position in the big East rankings. They are very small in the back court, and I think they are going to miss Trey Alexander more than I or anyone really thought. They may be the fifth best big East team.

[Xville]

Marquette with another solid easy win. They are looking tough!!

[Xuperman]

Dixon scores 22 in the 1st half vs the Terps. If this type production continues....he may keep Villanova from finishing TENTH in the Big East.
��

[X-band '01]

He's going to keep them from tenth by finishing last, right?

[Xuperman]

He's going to keep them from tenth by finishing last, right?

Exactly. X- band '01 officially picks Nova last in conference. You could get a real trend going by others here on that pick.

[Xville]

Maui starts today and there are some really interesting matchups:

UConn-Memphis
Colorado- Michigan state
Auburn- Iowa state
Dayton-unc


On top of that, x is going to smack around the gamecocks tonight. Great start to the holiday week!

[JTG]

Maui starts today and there are some really interesting matchups:

UConn-Memphis
Colorado- Michigan state
Auburn- Iowa state
Dayton-unc


On top of that, x is going to smack around the gamecocks tonight. Great start to the holiday week!
Not si sure about that last part. It's X first game away from Cintas. I think they win but it won’t be a cakewalk.

[Xville]

Not si sure about that last part. It's X first game away from Cintas. I think they win but it won’t be a cakewalk.

You’re probably right, but the good thing this year is that we have a lot of guys that have played a whole lot of basketball. Looking forward to it!

[Xville]

UCONN has three starters with 2 fouls each, with 12 minutes left in the first half...geesh

[GoMuskies]

I'm FAIRLY certain Duquesne's coach only got hired because Duquesne thought that would make them shoo-ins to land Bronny James. Obviously, James spurned them for whatever it is the Lakers are doing with him, and Duquesne is now 0-6 with losses to Hampton, Lipscomb, Princeton, DePaul, Milwaukee and South Dakota State.

Always fun when a plan comes together!

[xubrew]

Boise State holds on to beat South Dakota State. That was a really good game, and South Dakota State is one of the many teams that appears to be a lot better than I thought they'd be.

[muskiefan82]

This UCONN Memphis game is fun

[Xville]

How many technical fouls have been called on UConn this game? 15?

[X-band '01]

I seem to remember Mt. Hurley erupting at Cintas 2 years ago at a bad time for the Huskies. He cost UConn this game with his T in the closing seconds in OT.

I guess UConn is back to a mid-level team from the American (for 1 day, at least)..

[GoMuskies]

Ha ha. If UConn has to lose to Memphis, I'm glad that it's because that whiny bitch Hurley blew it.

[Xville]

He can be a whiny bitch for sure, but in his defense, that game was some of the worst officiating I’ve seen in a really long time, usually refs are just bad, that was something else.

[GoMuskies]

The refs must REALLY be screwing old Danny boy today! No way his UConn team could be trailing Colorado in the second half if the refs were calling it fair and square.

[noteggs]

Guess playing easiest non con outside of Maui is not paying off for UConn? Could be a humbling experience. Who am I kidding, fan base will still be obnoxious as hell.

[X-band '01]

Is Danny Hurley dealing with another unfamiliar referee? Damn shame.

[MHettel]

I would say that the BE has somewhat fallen short of expectations so far. UConn and Creighton with 2 losses each. St. Johns has a couple too, right? I think Marquette and XU hace led the way so far. Hope we can keep it up.

Without looking, it appears that most of the rest of the conference has been "meh." And then you have Nova, who seems to really suck.

Lets just keep winning....and make the rest of the conference moot.

[MHettel]

I would say that the BE has somewhat fallen short of expectations so far. UConn and Creighton with 2 losses each. St. Johns has a couple too, right? I think Marquette and XU hace led the way so far. Hope we can keep it up.

Without looking, it appears that most of the rest of the conference has been "meh." And then you have Nova, who seems to really suck.

Lets just keep winning....and make the rest of the conference moot.

WAIT.....DePaul is 6-0???? And Providence is 5-0? Gtown and Butler are 4-1 each.

A total of 1 "big 5" win among the 19 wins those teams have. but I'll take it. most years these teams are dropping bad losses to bad teams.

[XUGRAD80]

UConn is definitely not what we thought they were. Hurley is.

[ArizonaXUGrad]

To be fair to Hurley in that Memphis game, I thought McNeely's OTB call was a play on. There was contact, but it was a great play with 40 seconds left. Refs are human and I didn't much of the early part of the game to put that call in context. Guy win's a couple of titles and suddenly thinks he can change officials just by yelling. It's not a good look, but around here we know the other Hurley all too well.

[Xville]

Un like the last few years. UConn’s guards are very average, I think that’s the difference.

[GoMuskies]

If UConn loses to Dayton, they've got REAL issues.

[xubrew]

WAIT.....DePaul is 6-0???? And Providence is 5-0? Gtown and Butler are 4-1 each.

A total of 1 "big 5" win among the 19 wins those teams have. but I'll take it. most years these teams are dropping bad losses to bad teams.

Providence has a big game today against Oklahoma. Neither team has played anything other than home buy games, so it’s the first real test.

I think DePaul’s next win against a team that’s likely to finish in the top 300 will be their first, but it’s DePaul!! Good for them on the 6-0 start!

[GoMuskies]

Fighting Kelseys taking it to Indiana at Atlantis.

[muskiefan82]

Fighting Kelseys taking it to Indiana at Atlantis.

That is an understatement. Sheesh. Dude has breathed new life into Louisville for sure.

[X-band '01]

Gonzaga may have partied a little too hard last night. Lost in OT to West Virginia in their Atlantis opener.

[xubrew]

Stop me if you've heard this before in the past...oh...20 years or so, but Indiana may be overrated.

[ArizonaXUGrad]

Dump rolled UConn, rolled. Wow, I still think they are really good but this was a bad trip for them.

[Xville]

Stop me if you've heard this before in the past...oh...20 years or so, but Indiana may be overrated.

Mike Woodson is a complete prick so I’d like to see him get fired mid season. Have a feeling iu fans feel the same.

[Xville]

Simply amazing to me every day that Greg Christopher has a choice between Kelsey and Steele and chose Steele. For that simple decision he should have been canned. I mean literally wtf was he thinking.

[xuwillie]

Simply amazing to me every day that Greg Christopher has a choice between Kelsey and Steele and chose Steele. For that simple decision he should have been canned. I mean literally wtf was he thinking.

I love Sean but wonder where this team would be if we hired Kelsey instead of Steele. Seems like we have had band-aid type teams for 3 years now.

[Xville]

I love Sean but wonder where this team would be if we hired Kelsey instead of Steele. Seems like we have had band-aid type teams for 3 years now.

Agreed. Steele set this program back a decade at least. We were getting close to final fours and then Steele put it in the fucking toilet.

I have no doubt Kelsey would have gotten us to a final four within Steele’s time frame.


Like you said, I love Sean but our roster has been patchworked for the last few years on top of way too many key injuries

[ArizonaXUGrad]

I love Sean but wonder where this team would be if we hired Kelsey instead of Steele. Seems like we have had band-aid type teams for 3 years now.
Can’t agree more, it’s kind of the way of the world now. If a player can get time at another team he is gone. You have to keep guys a core group and fill in the gaps with the portal.

[GoMuskies]

I'm going to be back home in Louisville Saturday, and i can't wait to hear what a legend Kelsey must already be there. Mack had that status, too......for a VERY, VERY brief time.

[Xville]

I'm going to be back home in Louisville Saturday, and i can't wait to hear what a legend Kelsey must already be there. Mack had that status, too......for a VERY, VERY brief time.

Difference is that people immediately hated Mack’s personality, because he’s a prick. They have fallen in love with Kelsey, as it’s easy to do. He works the media, fans, students and team all really well. Better than any coach I have ever seen.

[American X]

Difference is that people immediately hated Mack’s personality, because he’s a prick.

That is completely inaccurate. Mack is a douchebag.

[bleedXblue]

Agreed. Steele set this program back a decade at least. We were getting close to final fours and then Steele put it in the fucking toilet.

I have no doubt Kelsey would have gotten us to a final four within Steele’s time frame.


Like you said, I love Sean but our roster has been patchworked for the last few years on top of way too many key injuries

I sent this to some X buddies yesterday.... essentially exactly what I was saying. 4-5 new players every year playing pivotal roles is not a recipe for success. AND we will be right back there next year with Free, Maddox, Hugely, Hunter, McKnight and likely Swain all gone. 3 starters and all guys playing significant minutes. Now, some of that is caused by the current NIL situation (losing Claude)......

[bleedXblue]

can’t agree more, it’s kind of the way of the world now. If a player can get time at another team he is gone. You have to keep guys a core group and fill in the gaps with the portal.

yes, yes, yes, yes

[Xville]

I sent this to some X buddies yesterday.... essentially exactly what I was saying. 4-5 new players every year playing pivotal roles is not a recipe for success. AND we will be right back there next year with Free, Maddox, Hugely, Hunter, McKnight and likely Swain all gone. 3 starters and all guys playing significant minutes. Now, some of that is caused by the current NIL situation (losing Claude)......

Not that I’m excited about it at this point but hugley has a year left, and Maddox isn’t a loss at all. I’m guessing green is gone. He’s not a be player. Seems like a great guy, but he’s just way too one dimensional.

Regardless, we need to get back to having legit post players. Give a kid a couple million, I don’t care. There are a million guards, and I really don’t think we need to be spending much on them. We need legit guys in the post. I know traore was the plan but we need even better than him if X is to get where we want them to go.

If we can’t afford it, whatever. That’s fine. Someone just tell me so I don’t have expectations of ever getting to a final four.

I still can’t believe people are shelling out a significant amount of money to college players just to make the tournament. What’s crazy world

[bjf123]

If we can’t afford it, whatever. That’s fine. Someone just tell me so I don’t have expectations of ever getting to a final four.

I still can’t believe people are shelling out a significant amount of money to college players just to make the tournament. What’s crazy world

Just need everyone to contribute to The Final 2 Percent!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Xville]

Just need everyone to contribute to The Final 2 Percent!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Speaking of, Xavier has already fallen way behind on this venture. I have been to several college stadiums where there is a tip like function for nil for anything you purchase. I haven’t seen that at X. Schools are already talking about adding the service charge for tickets. I’ve seen nothing from
X about this. Unless there is something I don’t know, our collective is already falling behind.

Frankly, I don’t care. I think paying college kids directly is silly, but if it’s the price
Of admission or an added service charge for concession/merchandise I’ll do it, because I’m going to go to the games and buy stuff anyways. I think a lot of nil is a complete waste of
Money. How much we paying our bench outside of hunter? Might as well have lit the money on fire

[drudy23]

Regardless, we need to get back to having legit post players.

Said this in another thread - this x a million

Guards are a dime a dozen - let's prioritize this for once, or twice, or 3 times.

[MHettel]

Not that I’m excited about it at this point but hugley has a year left, and Maddox isn’t a loss at all. I’m guessing green is gone. He’s not a be player. Seems like a great guy, but he’s just way too one dimensional.

Regardless, we need to get back to having legit post players. Give a kid a couple million, I don’t care. There are a million guards, and I really don’t think we need to be spending much on them. We need legit guys in the post. I know traore was the plan but we need even better than him if X is to get where we want them to go.

If we can’t afford it, whatever. That’s fine. Someone just tell me so I don’t have expectations of ever getting to a final four.

I still can’t believe people are shelling out a significant amount of money to college players just to make the tournament. What’s crazy world

I said before they left that I wouldnt mind keeping either Abou, Nzeh or Ciani in the backup big man role. not ALL of them. But one of them would have been great. I kind of prefer Abou in a limited role where he can just go in and chop wood for 16 minutes a game. Ciani is having a good season at UIC, which is probably a better "level" for him, but I did think he could grow into a bench contributor. Nzeh is raw but has that athleticism needed in the BE.

Anyway, Hugley has certainly disappointed. Hes had an up-and-down career thus far, but his commitment to transform his body does bode well in the sense that he is obviously doing everything the staff has asked of him. But hes not been effective...even against the lower level teams. Maybe he needs to be 280 and play a really limited role (in terms of minutes at our pace).

The Bench has been a disaster, frankly.

Our stating lineup is small. Free at the 5 is small. Swain is a small 4. Foster a small 3. Conwell is just about average as a 2, and same for McKnight as a PG. I wonder if we need to shake up the lineup, and squeeze the rotation. As much as I liked the deep roster, some of these guys just have played their way out of the rotation.

I'd consider STARTING Hugley and moving Free to the 4. Hear me out. Sometimes these guys play 3-4 minute spurts and can never get going. They are eager to contribute and that leads to forced shots or trying to "do too much". lets let Hugley start and relax a little out there. Let the game come to him. i know its counter intuitive based on how hes played, but the whole idea is to change the situation so he improves his play. i dont want more minutes of what hes been doing. I want the guy that posted big numbers at Pitt as a soph.

Now, swing Swain to the 3. Foster to the bench. Again, hear me out. Foster is playing 24 minutes a game as a starter. I can still find 24 minutes for him coming off the bench. he becomes the backup 2/3 spelling both Conwell and Swain. Conwell might play a little PG when McKnight comes out.

Right now, Green is getting 12 min, Hunter 19, Maddux 15. Sorry, but I'm cutting that back to 30 minutes TOTAL for those guys and if it results in one of them getting zero, then I guess thats how it goes. Frankly each of those guys have played their way out of the rotation. I would think Hunter might be the guy that stays in the rotation, just due to the size he brings. green feels like the odd man out. So these changes free up 16 minutes that can be redistributed to others.

Like I said I'd try to get Hugley up to about 22 a game (from his current 12.6). That leaves 7 additional minutes that can go to Swain and Foster (26 & 24 currently). These changes definitely give us alot more size. Instead of being small in 3 of the 5 positions, were actually either average or a little above average (at the 3 with Swain).

i really don't see what we have to lose by tinkering with the lineup. Several BE teams will look alot more like Michigan does, with size an athleticism through the roster. if we played Michigan 10 times, they would beat us 8 times.

We need to see if we can get bigger. If Hugley cant help and doesnt make a difference after a few games, then pivot to some other answer.

Despite the record, the Michigan game was a real eye opener and dampens my outlook considerably on what this team can accomplish.

[drudy23]

The problem with Hugley playing more is his inability to guard which puts him in immediate foul trouble.

I think the rotations need to shrink, or at least the minutes. At the under 16 timeout, we typically go mostly 2nd team - are these guys really tired after 4 minutes of play? Keep the starters in longer together, and use your subs when they're tired, not just for some set rotation.

I have no doubt Conwell and McKnight can both play 35+ minutes. Probably Free too, assuming he's not in foul trouble.

We typically have a noticeable change in efficiency and comfort when that second rotation comes in.

[Xville]

Would I like hugley to play the 5 to help put swain and free in the correct positions? Yes. I have said as much and said that is probably what Sean envisions as well. The problem is that right now hugley is complete garbage, and he may be the whole year. Maybe next year he gets back to what he was three years ago, but right now he’s not even useful as a sub. I hope things change drastically and the light turns on by Jan 1, but that’s hard to see right now. It would be the best thing for the team and there wouldn’t be the glaring weakness x has right now.

[paulxu]

When we think about these various rotation/minutes schemes, I'm struck by remembering that Miller has probably tried them all in practice.
Which doesn't really bode well for the remainder of the year...unless natural growth takes over in the player himself.

[MHettel]

When we think about these various rotation/minutes schemes, I'm struck by remembering that Miller has probably tried them all in practice.
Which doesn't really bode well for the remainder of the year...unless natural growth takes over in the player himself.

Yeah. But practice against who? 5 on 5 game situations? I get that those reps can be useful, but we do t have enough bigs to even DO a 5 on 5.

I don’t know if it’s an answer or not. But doing nothing is for sure not gonna make us better.

I know it’s just one loss. But it revealed some huge holes.

Can we make the dance? Yeah, maybe. Probably.

Can we make a run? Not if our opponents have access to that game tape.

[Xville]

Yeah. But practice against who? 5 on 5 game situations? I get that those reps can be useful, but we do t have enough bigs to even DO a 5 on 5.

I don’t know if it’s an answer or not. But doing nothing is for sure not gonna make us better.

I know it’s just one loss. But it revealed some huge holes.

Can we make the dance? Yeah, maybe. Probably.

Can we make a run? Not if our opponents have access to that game tape.

One thing you mentioned reminded me of something miller said either in a podcast or press conference. Paraphrasing here, but with traore going down it not only obviously effed lassina, but it effed hugley’s development. He said during summer/early fall hugley was motivated as hell because he was having to battle traore every single day and that motivated the hell out of him. I think with traore going down, it stunted his growth. I mean I love free and hunter for what they have done, but they aren’t going to make hugley better at what he does.

You hate to say this because you never want to wish for anyone to get injured but traore was literally the worst one to get hurt in terms of success and where this team could go this year. You could say Dayvion and or free but I still think traore was more important

[XUGRAD80]

……… But it revealed some huge holes.

Can we make the dance? Yeah, maybe. Probably.

Can we make a run? Not if our opponents have access to that game tape.

Michigan is one of the top 10 tallest teams in the country. How many schools that X will face can put two good 7-footers out on the floor at the same time, and still have 6-10 backups? Not many, if any. We all knew that X was going to probably struggle against teams with lots of size, especially after losing their best interior big. Michigan was a bad matchup and they used their size advantage well. X still has a high ceiling this year. Nothing has changed with just one loss.

[bleedXblue]

Xavier beat the snot out of Dayton about a month ago. Yes, it was a scrimmage, regardless it happened. Let's all take a deep breath and know that this team still has a lot of upside. We ran into a buzz saw and that happens sometimes. We have a great coach and Im confident we still have yet to see this team play its best bball.

[drudy23]

Steele PTSD comes back hard after a loss these days.

I can certainly understand it. I think people will be on edge, and rightfully so, until they feel X is "back" - we're not there yet.

[Xville]

Steele PTSD comes back hard after a loss these days.

I can certainly understand it. I think people will be on edge, and rightfully so, until they feel X is "back" - we're not there yet.

Yep agreed it’s very hard. He literally almost destroyed this program. This isn’t a big ass state school where we can suck for four years and then suddenly everything is fine. We don’t have unlimited resources and/or an unlimited alumni base.

This imo is going to take at least five or six ncaa appearences to “feel normal” again.

[xubrew]

If Seton Hall does not beat Monmouth today then they should just shut down their program.

[xubrew]

LA Tech losing at home to Southern. That basically negates their 7-0 start.

[MHettel]

If Seton Hall does not beat Monmouth today then they should just shut down their program.

Brah. Shaping up early to be a 3-4 bid league. Finishing in the top 4 is going to be essential this year. Unfortunately, I see 5-6 teams that might be fighting for those spots. Can afford the same result as last year where half the league is bunched up with 9 to 11 wins. Need 4 teams to clearly separate themselves from the pack.

[X-band '01]

Did I miss Kalkbrenner getting injured for Creighton? He's out of today's lineup for Creighton.

At least they have Steven Ashworth back.

[xubrew]

The second poll probably shouldn't come out until sometime in December, honestly, because there's just not enough data to make them meaningful. You get the preseason poll, which is nice because it's interesting and tells everyone that college basketball season is starting. And then you have about 10 games total in the whole country prior to Thanksgiving that are truly meaningful and tell you anything, and then you have about 50 "exempt" events over Thanksgiving with teams actually playing good opponents mostly on neutral floors.

So on December 1st someone could actually fill out a meaningful, somewhat educated AP top 25 ballot. Until then....not really.


We are now into December. Nearly every team has played more than half a football season (6 games or more) and most have played real games. The polls and the metrics will now start to make some level of sense and not be entirely scattershot. And I don't think anyone will remember or care who was ranked where prior to now. For instance, Oregon will likely be ranked VERY high later today, and no one will remember that they weren't ranked at all throughout November.

The NET also officially comes out today. It won't necessarily be completely precise, but it will at least be somewhat precise.

The SOR is still totally scattershot. That's the metric I value the most because it's entirely merit based, but it's hardly an accurate indicator of of how good the teams actually are right now.

The more the season goes on, the more similar all the metrics and polls will become.

[xubrew]

I do think college basketball could benefit from a few small tweaks, one of which would be to move most of these in-season tournaments to winter break instead of Thanksgiving. The regular season for football is over, people's appetite for basketball in December isn't quite what it will be in February and March, but it's still a little bit higher than what it is in November. And, for some of these teams, these really are big games, and just doing something to make the stage a little bit bigger would be good. Instead, December is mostly a dead zone. The busiest weeks of the year are in November when people generally care the least about basketball. That just seems a bit off and in need of a tweak to me.

[Xville]

I think college basketball finally did something right in terms of scheduling by making 12/14 a big day. Not really competing with college fb except the army-navy game and there are some marquee matchups.

A&M-Purdue
Butler-Wisconsin
UCLA-Arizona
Louisville-Kentucky
Tennessee-Illinois
Gonzaga-Uconn
Creighton-Alabama

And of course, Crosstown Shootout

[xubrew]

I think college basketball finally did something right in terms of scheduling by making 12/14 a big day. Not really competing with college fb except the army-navy game and there are some marquee matchups.

A&M-Purdue
Butler-Wisconsin
UCLA-Arizona
Louisville-Kentucky
Tennessee-Illinois
Gonzaga-Uconn
Creighton-Alabama

And of course, Crosstown Shootout

Agreed. That's a great day! And hopefully we'll get some crazy atmospheres at those games since most of the students should still be around.

[Xville]

I guess we see if uc is actually worth a shit this year. If they can’t go in and beat a bad nova team tonight, then it’s typical uc.

[bleedXblue]

I guess we see if uc is actually worth a shit this year. If they can’t go in and beat a bad nova team tonight, then it’s typical uc.

Id say without Skillings, this should be a tight game. We will see if Wes Miller can actually coach.

[xubrew]

Id say without Skillings, this should be a tight game. We will see if Wes Miller can actually coach.

Oh he can! As a bench coach I thought he was really good at UNCG and that he was also good at developing talent to fit his system. I think his issue in the modern day is that we are now in to a plug-and-play era where talent is just acquired in the portal and then plugged into a system rather than developed into a system. He's really good at the latter. I'm not sure yet if he can do the former. I know everyone is big on UC right now, but all they've done is beat bad teams. Like others have said, let's see what they do tonight.

[bleedXblue]

Oh he can! As a bench coach I thought he was really good at UNCG and that he was also good at developing talent to fit his system. I think his issue in the modern day is that we are now in to a plug-and-play era where talent is just acquired in the portal and then plugged into a system rather than developed into a system. He's really good at the latter. I'm not sure yet if he can do the former. I know everyone is big on UC right now, but all they've done is beat bad teams. Like others have said, let's see what they do tonight.

There is little evidence that he can coach in his 3 years at UC? No NCAA appearances.......of course he took over a bad situation- but so do A LOT of coaches.

[xubrew]

There is little evidence that he can coach in his 3 years at UC? No NCAA appearances.......of course he took over a bad situation- but so do A LOT of coaches.

I actually think he's done decently well. Not great, but certainly not bad. Last season they had their share of impressive moments. They won at BYU who had just one other home loss despite playing in the Big 12, really battled at Baylor and at Kansas which are places almost no one can win, and had some other decent wins. I realize I'm praising a lot of games that they actually lost, and I know they had their nights where they really sharted the bed as well, but I still looked at what they did a year ago and thought they were showing signs of progress.

[bleedXblue]

I actually think he's done decently well. Not great, but certainly not bad. Last season they had their share of impressive moments. They won at BYU who had just one other home loss despite playing in the Big 12, really battled at Baylor and at Kansas which are places almost no one can win, and had some other decent wins. I realize I'm praising a lot of games that they actually lost, and I know they had their nights where they really sharted the bed as well, but I still looked at what they did a year ago and thought they were showing signs of progress.

I'm just saying that he has the talent this year to get into the tourney and nothing less should be expected. They should finish well over .500 in league as well. Lets see if he can get them there.....

[xubrew]

I'm just saying that he has the talent this year to get into the tourney and nothing less should be expected. They should finish well over .500 in league as well. Lets see if he can get them there.....

Fair enough. It is an interesting question.

I put Wes Miller in the category of "builders and developers." This used to be what I looked for and valued most in a coach. But, in the days of the portal and the NIL, the builders and developers are becoming obsolete and the "stock pilers" who acquire talent out of the portal that's already been built and developed and plug it into a more simple system, seem to be ruling the day.

Can Wes Miller win this year and continue to win at UC?? Maybe not. Maybe the game has evolved to where what he's good at just doesn't work anymore.

[ArizonaXUGrad]

I'm just saying that he has the talent this year to get into the tourney and nothing less should be expected. They should finish well over .500 in league as well. Lets see if he can get them there.....

The Big12 is a buzzsaw. It could be the toughest league in the country this season. They could look very good and still finish 6-9.

[xubrew]

The Big12 is a buzzsaw. It could be the toughest league in the country this season. They could look very good and still finish 6-9.

My guess (and I'm not always the best guesser) is that they'll be a home court hero. They'll beat a couple of highly ranked teams at home, but then lose road games to people in the bottom 3rd of the league. If they can't win at Villanova tonight, it's probably a sign that they'll win almost no road games in conference.

[bleedXblue]

The Big12 is a buzzsaw. It could be the toughest league in the country this season. They could look very good and still finish 6-9.

I dont know how you're very good and finish under .500 in your league. Yes, a tough league no doubt but with agood coach and roster you should be able to win 11 or 12 games

Over half the league finished .500 or better last year

[xubrew]

I dont know how you're very good and finish under .500 in your league. Yes, a tough league no doubt but with agood coach and roster you should be able to win 11 or 12 games

Over half the league finished .500 or better last year

I suppose it's all relative. If DePaul were to go 8-12 in the Big East, I would call that "very good" for Chris Holtmann. If Xavier does that, we'll all say it was terrible, and rightfully so.

Considering the shape UC was in when Miller got there, and considering how strong the Big 12 was last year, I at least think they did okay. They definitely showed signs of progress.

[MHettel]

I dont know how you're very good and finish under .500 in your league. Yes, a tough league no doubt but with agood coach and roster you should be able to win 11 or 12 games

Over half the league finished .500 or better last year

8 (73%) of 11 Big East teams finished above .500 overall last year, and 7 (64%) finished at .500 or better in Conference. 3 bids.

Our Challenge games against the B12 this year will be HUGE. We need to win more than half.

[Xville]

Looking at the matchups, i think we are going to do well to win 4. Hope I'm wrong.

[xubrew]

Looking at the matchups, i think we are going to do well to win 4. Hope I'm wrong.

Looking at the match-ups, the Big East may fail to win even that many. I think there is a better chance of the Big East winning zero than there is of them winning half. I hope I'm wrong too. I'm wrong a lot, but rarely am I wrong when I want to be.

[Xville]

Looking at the match-ups, the Big East may fail to win even that many. I think there is a better chance of the Big East winning zero than there is of them winning half. I hope I'm wrong too. I'm wrong a lot, but rarely am I wrong when I want to be.

Yeah, I agree....there are 11 games so they won't win half :) . In all seriousness though, I think there is about 1% chance they will win more than 5.

[MHettel]

Big East- Big 12 Battle matchups

Dec 3
UC @ Nove
BYU @ Providence

Dec 4
Baylor@ UConn
Kansas @ Creighton
DePaul @ TxTech
Marquette @ Iowa St

Dec 6
GT @ WVU
XU @ TCU

Dec 7
KSt @ SJU
Butler @ Houston

Dec 8
OK St @ SHU

On December 8th, I may bet the soberest I've been in 35 years.

[Xville]

Big East- Big 12 Battle matchups

Dec 3
UC @ Nove
BYU @ Providence

Dec 4
Baylor@ UConn
Kansas @ Creighton
DePaul @ TxTech
Marquette @ Iowa St

Dec 6
GT @ WVU
XU @ TCU

Dec 7
KSt @ SJU
Butler @ Houston

Dec 8
OK St @ SHU

On December 8th, I may bet the soberest I've been in 35 years.

I can see a path to 6 but it's tough. Go 1-1 tonight.

UCONN, Marquette, X, SJU and Seton Hall.

[Xville]

I feel good saying that uc is way overrated at this point.

[KabeX]

I think college basketball finally did something right in terms of scheduling by making 12/14 a big day. Not really competing with college fb except the army-navy game and there are some marquee matchups.

A&M-Purdue
Butler-Wisconsin
UCLA-Arizona
Louisville-Kentucky
Tennessee-Illinois
Gonzaga-Uconn
Creighton-Alabama

And of course, Crosstown Shootout

Indeed. The only thing I can figure is THEY KNEW IT WAS MY BIRTHDAY. And now you do too. Cards with cash are accepted as are general gifts of BEER and BOURBON. But you all know what I want and it's the same thing you want...

[xubrew]

Id say without Skillings, this should be a tight game. We will see if Wes Miller can actually coach.


Oh he can! As a bench coach I thought he was really good at UNCG and that he was also good at developing talent to fit his system. I think his issue in the modern day is that we are now in to a plug-and-play era where talent is just acquired in the portal and then plugged into a system rather than developed into a system. He's really good at the latter. I'm not sure yet if he can do the former. I know everyone is big on UC right now, but all they've done is beat bad teams. Like others have said, let's see what they do tonight.

This has been an utterly sucktacular performance. On the second thought, maybe he can’t coach. This may be their most winnable remaining road game. This is not a good sign for UC.

[ArizonaXUGrad]

I am a bit shocked here. Skillings is good but he isn't that good. He came off the bench last year on a team that returned near everyone. They have another game to figure out how to scheme without Skillings, but we do play them at 5/3rd.

Edit: Sean knows what Wes does. We won last year at home but with a team that ended being terrible. I think this team is better, but whether they play better is another issue.

[Xville]

It’s 8:28 and uc still sucks ass.

[ArizonaXUGrad]

Annoying Coach K said once, about 5 games a year a team will play out of their mind and another 5 way below their level. The rest will be right on their level. Hopefully we just burned two way below and smoke these guys.

[bleedXblue]

This has been an utterly sucktacular performance. On the second thought, maybe he can’t coach. This may be their most winnable remaining road game. This is not a good sign for UC.

Wes Miller has yet to show me he can coach, develop and run "his" system effectively. Not saying he can't, just have not seen any evidence of that

[bleedXblue]

I am a bit shocked here. Skillings is good but he isn't that good. He came off the bench last year on a team that returned near everyone. They have another game to figure out how to scheme without Skillings, but we do play them at 5/3rd.

Edit: Sean knows what Wes does. We won last year at home but with a team that ended being terrible. I think this team is better, but whether they play better is another issue.

I would expect Skillings to be back (maybe not 100%) by the time we play.

[Xville]

Providence a different team with Hopkins back. Look good so far tonight

[noteggs]

Can say I feel a lot better playing SucKS since the last 12 hours.

[paulxu]

Wisky isn't having much trouble so far with Michigan's 7 footers.

[xubrew]

Wes Miller has yet to show me he can coach, develop and run "his" system effectively. Not saying he can't, just have not seen any evidence of that

He sure as hell didn’t do it tonight. I mean, I don’t want to get too carried away, Nova was their first real game and they had a month to get ready for it. And Nova really isn’t that good (or at least hasn’t shown it yet). It’s not a good sign considering it may have been their least challenging remaining road game.

[GoMuskies]

2-0 for the Big East! Let's hope we contribute to the cause.

Kind of funny that Marquette is actually a bigger dog tomorrow at Iowa State than Creighton is against Kansas. Let's just have the Big East go 3-0 tomorrow night and essentially wrap this thing up.

Oh, didn't see the DePaul/TX Tech tilt. OK, go 3-1.

[GoMuskies]

The SEC murdering the ACC IN BASKETBALL is crazy.

[xudash]

The SEC murdering the ACC IN BASKETBALL is crazy.

Clemson says “hold my beer” - we will put a stop to that. And then they storm the court

[X-band '01]

They could have just chanted S-E-C instead.

[paulxu]

Michigan came back.

[Xville]

Some good stuff for the big East last night. Let’s have another good showing tonight and get back on the tracks.

Michigan is damn good. They may win the big 10.

[Xville]

Wisky isn't having much trouble so far with Michigan's 7 footers.

Well Wisconsin has their own 7 footer and 6’11 guy so why would they? Goldin and wolf still lit them up

[paulxu]

Well Wisconsin has their own 7 footer and 6’11 guy so why would they? Goldin and wolf still lit them up

Didn't realize that. Hell, maybe we could borrow one of them.

[Xville]

Didn't realize that. Hell, maybe we could borrow one of them.

Could we make a trade for a future considerations :) ?

In all seriousness, a big opportunity for the Big East tonight

UCONN- Baylor
Creighton-Kansas
Marquette-Iowa State
Depaul first time facing real competition against Texas Tech (15 point dogs)

2-2 or 3-1 would be a great night. Only UCONN is favored.

[Smails]

Could we make a trade for a future considerations :) ?

In all seriousness, a big opportunity for the Big East tonight

UCONN- Baylor
Creighton-Kansas
Marquette-Iowa State
Depaul first time facing real competition against Texas Tech (15 point dogs)

2-2 or 3-1 would be a great night. Only UCONN is favored.

Surprised UCONN is favored with Karaban out. I also read that Karaban is a red-shirt Jr.?? How is that possible....he'll be another in the line of people who felt like they have been playing CBB for 8 years when it's all said and done

[bleedXblue]

Could we make a trade for a future considerations :) ?

In all seriousness, a big opportunity for the Big East tonight

UCONN- Baylor
Creighton-Kansas
Marquette-Iowa State
Depaul first time facing real competition against Texas Tech (15 point dogs)

2-2 or 3-1 would be a great night. Only UCONN is favored.

UCONN without Karaban....?
Creighton- is a loss
Marquette- will be a dog fight and maybe our best chance for a W
DePaul- would be great to see them keep it close-but highly likely a L

Expecting 1-3 unfortunately

[Xville]

UCONN without Karaban....?
Creighton- is a loss
Marquette- will be a dog fight and maybe our best chance for a W
DePaul- would be great to see them keep it close-but highly likely a L

Expecting 1-3 unfortunately

Yeah that's kind of what I expect. I think UCONN gets up off the mat and gets a win at home. They still have a lot of talent obviously, and as you said Marquette is our best chance. Anything can happen, but I wouldn't be surprised to lose them all or go 3-1 lol.

[GoMuskies]

I wouldn't be at all shocked if Creight shoots about 70% on a million 3s and takes down KU at home.

[Xville]

I wouldn't be at all shocked if Creight shoots about 70% on a million 3s and takes down KU at home.

Fair point. One thing Creighton has that not everyone does, is the ability to shut Dickinson down. So, everything else being equal, I can see them pulling it out

[bleedXblue]

I wouldn't be at all shocked if Creight shoots about 70% on a million 3s and takes down KU at home.

We can HOPE....someone once said "hope isnt a great strategy"

[bleedXblue]

Nova played great "D" last night. I thought it was the difference. They were all over the court, jumping into passing lanes etc. Blocked shots, made UC take tough shots. I wish we played D like that.

[drudy23]

Creighton can certainly win. Omaha (whatever they call their arena) is a tough place to play too.

A ton of intriguing games on tonight.

[XU 23]

Mo Egger thinks we aren’t as bad as most people are saying, for what it’s worth.

[drudy23]

Mo Egger thinks we aren’t as bad as most people are saying, for what it’s worth.

That's why we have to prove it against solid/good teams. Haven't really done that yet.

We played what looks to be a really good team (UM) and laid an egg.

[ArizonaXUGrad]

That's why we have to prove it against solid/good teams. Haven't really done that yet.

We played what looks to be a really good team (UM) and laid an egg.

UM just clipped UW in Madison last night. UW is a good team also.

[xubrew]

I'm just now realizing that Marquette v Iowa State, which are the 5th and 6th ranked teams, is only available on ESPN Plus.

GOOD JOB ESPN!!!

[GoMuskies]

Mo Egger thinks we aren’t as bad as most people are saying, for what it’s worth.

I'm trying to not overreact to the SC State game. You expect the team to have some amount of hangover coming back from the holiday and holiday tournament. You do NOT, however, expect the three hundred something-ith team in the country to have the ball with a chance to win with 20 seconds to play.

[bleedXblue]

I'm trying to not overreact to the SC State game. You expect the team to have some amount of hangover coming back from the holiday and holiday tournament. You do NOT, however, expect the three hundred something-ith team in the country to have the ball with a chance to win with 20 seconds to play.

Playing lackluster basketball. Something not typically said about Sean Miller led teams.

[drudy23]

I'm trying to not overreact to the SC State game. You expect the team to have some amount of hangover coming back from the holiday and holiday tournament. You do NOT, however, expect the three hundred something-ith team in the country to have the ball with a chance to win with 20 seconds to play.

I know we have this new scheduling philosophy where we're not going to see alot of marquee games in the non-conference. But a Sunday 4:30pm tip does nothing for the fans. I'd bet it was the least attended game in several seasons.

There are some weird start times this year, which doesn't really help the atmosphere in those games everyone expects us to win by 30. I'd imagine the players weren't too excited about that game either. Non-conference home schedule is kind of a bore this year.

[xubrew]

I know we have this new scheduling philosophy where we're not going to see alot of marquee games in the non-conference. But a Sunday 4:30pm tip does nothing for the fans. I'd bet it was the least attended game in several seasons.

There are some weird start times this year, which doesn't really help the atmosphere in those games everyone expects us to win by 30. I'd imagine the players weren't too excited about that game either. Non-conference home schedule is kind of a bore this year.

If the NCAA Tournament expands, which it probably will, you'll see a lot more games and schedules like this, which is one of the many reasons I really don't want to see it happen.

To be clear, I'm not talking about Xavier specifically, but just everyone in general.

[XU 23]

Rick B had an interesting point on the radio today; Xavier doesn’t have a guard who can beat their man off the dribble so we are going to struggle against teams that play pressure defense. I.E. Michigan, SC State, TCU.

[xudash]

I'm trying to not overreact to the SC State game. You expect the team to have some amount of hangover coming back from the holiday and holiday tournament. You do NOT, however, expect the three hundred something-ith team in the country to have the ball with a chance to win with 20 seconds to play.

I think you're spot on with this. There is no reason or justification for it going down to the wire to determine the outcome.

Having noted that, it was very apparent that SC State came to play. They played with passion and focus and for 40 minutes. A lesson in what a team can accomplish, or almost pull off in this case, regardless of talent level, when they play together with confidence and without being intimidated by a place or the name on the jersey.

Beating TCU at TCU would be a nice step in the right direction for the development of this team. We can only hope that Hugley finds his groove, or a groove, and that Maddox realizes he has an important role to fill for this team without having to be "the guy" like he was in Toledo.

[bleedXblue]

Rick B had an interesting point on the radio today; Xavier doesn’t have a guard who can beat their man off the dribble so we are going to struggle against teams that play pressure defense. I.E. Michigan, SC State, TCU.

Honestly, there are all sorts of ways to create space other than blowing by someone. We're failing there as well. Screens are brutal, guys aren't back-cutting, head fakes are almost non existent.

And when your offense is sputtering, pick up your defense and create some easy baskets. Intensity has not been there either.

Hope these guys wake up soon and start playing like they're capable of.

[X-band '01]

Maryland is sodomizing Ohio State on the B1G Network right now.

[Xville]

No offense but Rick b doesn’t know shit about basketball. He really doesn’t. If Paul or Adam said that, I’d take it a lot more into consideration.

With pressure d, there are a million different ways to handle that. Hard screens, cuts, backdoor, motion offense. You don’t need guards to do blow buys and he’s also a fucking idiot if he believes x doesn’t have that on the roster. He should stick to nku sports

[Xville]

Big East 3-0. I’ll take it!

[paulxu]

The SEC is winning a lot of games against the ACC.

[X-band '01]

Kentucky is the only SEC team not to win in the historic SEC-ACC Challenge.

[GoMuskies]

Hope some of the rest of you grabbed some of that Creighton ML action. Don't get them plus money at home very often.

[Xville]

Hope some of the rest of you grabbed some of that Creighton ML action. Don't get them plus money at home very often.

Yes thank you for the tip! Also won with UConn and DePaul of all teams.

Decent showing for the be last night. Up in the series 4-2. Time for x to do their part tonight.!

[SM#24]

The SEC is winning a lot of games against the ACC.

14-2 final tally

[X-band '01]

Yes thank you for the tip! Also won with UConn and DePaul of all teams.

Decent showing for the be last night. Up in the series 4-2. Time for x to do their part tonight.!

Xavier would be the first team to win on a road court with a victory tonight.

[paulxu]

Xavier would be the first team to win on a road court with a victory tonight.

You have seriously jinxed this game..

[Xville]

Xavier would be the first team to win on a road court with a victory tonight.

Fair Point. I had not realized that. We are dogs, which I can't say im surprised with the play lately. TCU is not good. If X loses, its not the end of the world, but it'd not be a good loss.

[GoMuskies]

I thought the Athletic was a serious publication, but I guess they just don't understand college basketball? Kind of disappointing. Here is how they described Creighton's win over KU last night: "Unranked Creighton steamrolled No. 1 Kansas 76-63, about as big of a surprise as regular-season hoops can offer."

What?!? It was an upset, sure, but Creighton was a 3.5 point underdog. I'm guessing there were 4 or 5 bigger upsets in college basketball last night alone.

[Xville]

I thought the Athletic was a serious publication, but I guess they just don't understand college basketball? Kind of disappointing. Here is how they described Creighton's win over KU last night: "Unranked Creighton steamrolled No. 1 Kansas 76-63, about as big of a surprise as regular-season hoops can offer."

What?!? It was an upset, sure, but Creighton was a 3.5 point underdog. I'm guessing there were 4 or 5 bigger upsets in college basketball last night alone.

Just lazy as hell, and whoever wrote it just saw the #1 by Kansas’ name. Typical baloney.

I mean just Tuesday night you had two bigger upsets by spread in the big East alone. Providence beat byu by almost twenty and they were 6 point dogs and nova smacked uc around like a little bitch and they were 4 point dogs.

[waggy]

Kalkbrenner is a far better player than Dickinson, but he's not 100%. He's moving like he's got a hernia.

[xubrew]

I thought the Athletic was a serious publication, but I guess they just don't understand college basketball? Kind of disappointing. Here is how they described Creighton's win over KU last night: "Unranked Creighton steamrolled No. 1 Kansas 76-63, about as big of a surprise as regular-season hoops can offer."

What?!? It was an upset, sure, but Creighton was a 3.5 point underdog. I'm guessing there were 4 or 5 bigger upsets in college basketball last night alone.

Winning a true road game in college basketball is hard. It's much harder than what most people realize. It's statistically much less likely to happen than it is in football, and I'd bet for most other sports as well. NIT teams will beat top 25 teams at home more than half the time. Perhaps the margin of Creighton's win was a little surprising, especially given on how limp they had looked in their previous games, but the fact that they won wasn't surprising. Perhaps it wasn't PROJECTED, but it was hardly a SURPRISE. A surprise is when it's 38 degrees on Memorial Day. It's something that no one sees happening.

[X-band '01]

Fair Point. I had not realized that. We are dogs, which I can't say im surprised with the play lately. TCU is not good. If X loses, its not the end of the world, but it'd not be a good loss.

Yeah, I guess neutral court losses to both Santa Clara and Colorado State would not qualify as "good."

[noteggs]

Pop Isaacs out for rest of the year. Tough break for Creighton.

[Xville]

Pop Isaacs out for rest of the year. Tough break for Creighton.

Wow they are fucked

[xuwillie]

Wow they are fucked

Tough break for the big east but still might be better than us.

[JTG]

Just lazy as hell, and whoever wrote it just saw the #1 by Kansas’ name. Typical baloney.

I mean just Tuesday night you had two bigger upsets by spread in the big East alone. Providence beat byu by almost twenty and they were 6 point dogs and nova smacked uc around like a little bitch and they were 4 point dogs.

C'mon Ville, UC and BYU don't move the needle nearly as much as perennial #1 Kansas getting beat. just about anytime Kansas or Duke lose it's a big deal. The spead is a big deal for gamblers, but the casual fan just sees the name and knows it's an upset if Kansas loses.

[X-band '01]

Wow they are fucked

Somewhere out in Bluejay Land, their equivalent of Drudy is saying "no excuses"

[GoMuskies]

C'mon Ville, UC and BYU don't move the needle nearly as much as perennial #1 Kansas getting beat. just about anytime Kansas or Duke lose it's a big deal. The spead is a big deal for gamblers, but the casual fan just sees the name and knows it's an upset if Kansas loses.

Casual being the key word.

[Xville]

C'mon Ville, UC and BYU don't move the needle nearly as much as perennial #1 Kansas getting beat. just about anytime Kansas or Duke lose it's a big deal. The spead is a big deal for gamblers, but the casual fan just sees the name and knows it's an upset if Kansas loses.

While I agree to the casual fan, a writer for the athletic should know better.

[Xville]

Well, unless butler pulls off one hell of an upset, big East is going to lose the series, but 5 wins is better than I thought we’d do. So, I’ll take it

[Xville]

Still early, but fuck ku!

[Xville]

Dickinson is such an overrated piece of shit.

[Xville]

I figured out who cooper Flagg is. He’s Keith van horn lite. Good college player, good nba player. Have no idea what makes people think that Flagg is some amazing transformational player. I’ve watched him play 5 times now, he’s fine. Don’t get the hype.

[GoMuskies]

UConn has bounced back nicely after embarrassing themselves in Maui.

[Xville]

UConn has bounced back nicely after embarrassing themselves in Maui.

Good for the league for sure. Them and Marquette are going to have to be the torchbearers this year because the rest of the league doesn’t look great, and losing Isaccs sucks for creighton.

In other news, it will be interesting to see what happens to the mtes including Maui. I hope Maui never goes away but it’s trending that way unless something changes. Teams aren’t all that interested in spending 400k to play a tourney anymore. I haven’t looked but I’ve heard the field next year is pretty weak compared to previous years.

I looked…it’s fine. Not spectacular, but good programs. Talking heads were acting like a lot of the other tourneys are on life support especially the 8 team ones outside of the players era tourney. That may be the next big thing.

[JTG]

Good for the league for sure. Them and Marquette are going to have to be the torchbearers this year because the rest of the league doesn’t look great, and losing Isaccs sucks for creighton.

In other news, it will be interesting to see what happens to the mtes including Maui. I hope Maui never goes away but it’s trending that way unless something changes. Teams aren’t all that interested in spending 400k to play a tourney anymore. I haven’t looked but I’ve heard the field next year is pretty weak compared to previous years.

I looked…it’s fine. Not spectacular, but good programs. Talking heads were acting like a lot of the other tourneys are on life support especially the 8 team ones outside of the players era tourney. That may be the next big thing.

We always look like shit in these events so it wouldn't bother me a bit.

[MHettel]

I figured out who cooper Flagg is. He’s Keith van horn lite. Good college player, good nba player. Have no idea what makes people think that Flagg is some amazing transformational player. I’ve watched him play 5 times now, he’s fine. Don’t get the hype.

You keep providing ammunition.

Everyone that has seen him play says he’s an all time great kinda player. At age 17. Who hung with the dream team this summer.

[Xville]

You keep providing ammunition.

Everyone that has seen him play says he’s an all time great kinda player. At age 17. Who hung with the dream team this summer.

That’s nice. Have you watched him play this year?

And who is EVERYONE btw? Because I’ve seen plenty that agree with me as well.

All time great? Let me remind you of who you are placing him with. Lebron, Jordan, Kobe, etc. really think about that for a second and use your brain.


Oooo he looked good in an open gym with nba players. Who gives a shit? So did laettner

[Xville]

Btw there’s nothing wrong with being Keith van horn. He almost single handily got Utah a freaking title and had a fine nba career. He’s just not a generational player.

Media loves hyping guys up, especially white guys that play at Duke.

[MHettel]

That’s nice. Have you watched him play this year?

And who is EVERYONE btw? Because I’ve seen plenty that agree with me as well.

All time great? Let me remind you of who you are placing him with. Lebron, Jordan, Kobe, etc. really think about that for a second and use your brain.


Oooo he looked good in an open gym with nba players. Who gives a shit? So did laettner

Report from the “open gym”. I’m sure none of the team USA players saw these scrimmages as chance to earn a spot at in the starting lineup. And I’m sure the guys on the player select squad all just want went at 50%, not really giving full effort. And I’m sure all the guys involved thought risking injury just for a little game of horse in the open gym made sense. I’m sure this wasn’t competitive at all.

I mean, why would team USA bring in young NBA players to give them some “game action” before the Olympics. Just a pick up game. They probably just played halfcourt, to avoid all that pesky running. Think they called their own fouls too?

[X-band '01]

Good for the league for sure. Them and Marquette are going to have to be the torchbearers this year because the rest of the league doesn’t look great, and losing Isaccs sucks for creighton.

In other news, it will be interesting to see what happens to the mtes including Maui. I hope Maui never goes away but it’s trending that way unless something changes. Teams aren’t all that interested in spending 400k to play a tourney anymore. I haven’t looked but I’ve heard the field next year is pretty weak compared to previous years.

I looked…it’s fine. Not spectacular, but good programs. Talking heads were acting like a lot of the other tourneys are on life support especially the 8 team ones outside of the players era tourney. That may be the next big thing.


We always look like shit in these events so it wouldn't bother me a bit.

I know Xavier has said they're not doing any more 8-team tournaments for the foreseeable future, although you can at least say they're not saying that out of sour grapes after an 0-3 performance at a tournament like this. I know the Preseason NIT and the ESPN Events Invitational (formerly the Old Spice Invitational) reduced their fields to 4 teams this year. The Rady Children's Invitational is more of an offshoot of the Wooden Tournament that used to be an 8-tean field in Southern California.

I haven't even heard if Xavier is even doing a 4-team field for 2025, but I'm sure they would find something that would draw a few notable nonconference opponents. I would imagine Maui would hook up with someone who can provide a similar setup to what the Players Era Invitational had in Las Vegas; I can't imagine that event going away. I could easily see events like Myrtle Beach and Charleston either going the way of the dodo (i.e. the Great Alaska Shootout) or becoming fields for conferences like the Missouri Valley, MAC, etc.

[xubrew]

I know Xavier has said they're not doing any more 8-team tournaments for the foreseeable future, although you can at least say they're not saying that out of sour grapes after an 0-3 performance at a tournament like this. I know the Preseason NIT and the ESPN Events Invitational (formerly the Old Spice Invitational) reduced their fields to 4 teams this year. The Rady Children's Invitational is more of an offshoot of the Wooden Tournament that used to be an 8-tean field in Southern California.

I haven't even heard if Xavier is even doing a 4-team field for 2025, but I'm sure they would find something that would draw a few notable nonconference opponents. I would imagine Maui would hook up with someone who can provide a similar setup to what the Players Era Invitational had in Las Vegas; I can't imagine that event going away. I could easily see events like Myrtle Beach and Charleston either going the way of the dodo (i.e. the Great Alaska Shootout) or becoming fields for conferences like the Missouri Valley, MAC, etc.

Good points all around!

For an event like Maui, while it cost a fortune, it USED to be worth it. Think back 20 years ago. It was an exempt event, so the three games only counted as one game against the number of games the NCAA permitted a school to schedule and you could make a lot of that money back by simply scheduling two more home games. It was also on national TV when all most people had was basic cable, so it was worth the exposure. And, it was a recruiting hook! We're going to play in Maui!

Now...none of that stuff matters as much. It's kind of amazing that the Maui is still able to put together the types of fields that it typically does, but like you I don't see that going on forever in its current format. I do think that eventually a corporate sponsor will come in and provide payouts to the schools that participate.

[Xville]

Report from the “open gym”. I’m sure none of the team USA players saw these scrimmages as chance to earn a spot at in the starting lineup. And I’m sure the guys on the player select squad all just want went at 50%, not really giving full effort. And I’m sure all the guys involved thought risking injury just for a little game of horse in the open gym made sense. I’m sure this wasn’t competitive at all.

I mean, why would team USA bring in young NBA players to give them some “game action” before the Olympics. Just a pick up game. They probably just played halfcourt, to avoid all that pesky running. Think they called their own fouls too?

Have you watched him play? Not saying the guy is a scrub, far from it. The hype about being a generational talent is the issue that I have. I don’t see it.

Again, think about what you are saying when you say that. Theres a very long list of players that were the next thing that turned into complete crap (Ben Simmons comes to mind) or just turned into good or rotational nba players.

[Xville]

Probably a better thread somewhere to put this, but just wanted to give a shout out to our boy, Quincy who scored his first points in an NBA game last night, and of course it was a 3 :) . Congrats on living your dream, Quincy.

[xubrew]

I figured out who cooper Flagg is. He’s Keith van horn lite. Good college player, good nba player. Have no idea what makes people think that Flagg is some amazing transformational player. I’ve watched him play 5 times now, he’s fine. Don’t get the hype.

Let me try to explain. And...in saying that...I feel what I'm about to say is nothing more than a theory. I don't believe it strongly enough to declare it to be a law...

This seems to happen quite a bit. It's this compulsive need amongst the media and fans to want so badly to find the next generational player. They'll just latch on to someone. Different sport, but Tim Tebow was a generational player (at least according to some). Johnny Manziel was a generational player. Reggie Bush was being declared by some to be the best player ever. Back to hoops, I actually remember when people were declaring Demarcus Cousins to be one of the greatest college players ever (until he actually started playing). Remember Sabastion Telfair?? Whatever happened to him anyway??

So...that's what this is. SOMETIMES they do actually hit the bullseye. I have no knowledge at all of the women's game, but Caitlin Clark might actually be an all time generational player. But most of the time, the "generational players" are simply the generational players for this particular year. In a year or two it will be someone else. He's from Maine. He's 17. He plays for Duke. I get the appeal. I get why people would gravitate toward that. And, as we've all observed, he is DAMN good too!! There's also that.

[Xville]

Let me try to explain. And...in saying that...I feel what I'm about to say is nothing more than a theory. I don't believe it strongly enough to declare it to be a law...

This seems to happen quite a bit. It's this compulsive need amongst the media and fans to want so badly to find the next generational player. They'll just latch on to someone. Different sport, but Tim Tebow was a generational player (at least according to some). Johnny Manziel was a generational player. Reggie Bush was being declared by some to be the best player ever. Back to hoops, I actually remember when people were declaring Demarcus Cousins to be one of the greatest college players ever (until he actually started playing). Remember Sabastion Telfair?? Whatever happened to him anyway??

So...that's what this is. SOMETIMES they do actually hit the bullseye. I have no knowledge at all of the women's game, but Caitlin Clark might actually be an all time generational player. But most of the time, the "generational players" are simply the generational players for this particular year. In a year or two it will be someone else. He's from Maine. He's 17. He plays for Duke. I get the appeal. I get why people would gravitate toward that. And, as we've all observed, he is DAMN good too!! There's also that.

he is good, no doubt about it. Hes got a great motor, but so does most nba players. He isn't a great shooter, he's not good off the ball. He's a good defender but there is nothing in his game where I'm like WOW! For someone to be a generational player, i better be thinking wow a lot.

[xubrew]

Wow! What an exciting slate of games tonight!! Must be finals week. I still don't understand what the hell academics has to do with basketball!! Can't we just not have exams?? It makes it so there are no good games!!

[X-band '01]

It feels strange for Xavier to be playing a buy game during finals week. Did the players actually start finals after the TCU game was played?

I know the rest of campus has finals until Thursday, but there are probably some classes where students just turn in a final term paper in lieu of an exam.

[GoMuskies]

Wow! What an exciting slate of games tonight!! Must be finals week. I still don't understand what the hell academics has to do with basketball!! Can't we just not have exams?? It makes it so there are no good games!!

You're not pumped for Columbia/Sarah Lawrence?

Actually a tough stretch for Sarah Lawrence. They have to turn back around Wednesday night and play the Coast Guard.

[xubrew]

You're not pumped for Columbia/Sarah Lawrence?

Actually a tough stretch for Sarah Lawrence. They have to turn back around Wednesday night and play the Coast Guard.

Not even I give a crap about that crap. And, that's really saying something!!

[X-band '01]

Sarah Lawrence sounds like a women's college from Animal House. Guessing the Mississippi University for Women was already booked.

[Xville]

Be play opens tonight with DePaul-Providence and depaul is favored!

[ArizonaXUGrad]

NDSU just clipped Butler at Hinkle.

[bjf123]

Be play opens tonight with DePaul-Providence and depaul is favored!

When was the last time DePaul was favored in a BE game?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Xville]

When was the last time DePaul was favored in a BE game?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ha I do wonder how many seasons it’s been.


Butler loss last night was absolutely horrible. That was akin to one of x’s buy game losses last year, probably worse

[xubrew]

NDSU just clipped Butler at Hinkle.


Ha I do wonder how many seasons it’s been.


Butler loss last night was absolutely horrible. That was akin to one of x’s buy game losses last year, probably worse

Butler was down 21 at the half and almost came back and won. And, that's Butler's season so far. That's their whole range from how bad they can play and how good they can play all wrapped up into one game.

[Xville]

Butler was down 21 at the half and almost came back and won. And, that's Butler's season so far. That's their whole range from how bad they can play and how good they can play all wrapped up into one game.

I thought they’d be decent with a three headed monster. They will play spoiler in conference in a few games I’m sure

[xubrew]

I thought they’d be decent with a three headed monster. They will play spoiler in conference in a few games I’m sure

I agree! They have a high ceiling and a very low basement. And sometimes you see both of those in the same game.

[murray87]

Kelsey being Kelsey:
https://www.outkick.com/sports/pat-kelsey-wife-hot-louisville-utep-postgame-video

[paulxu]

Not a good day for the Big East.

[xubrew]

Not a good day for the Big East.

A lot of days haven't been good for the Big East. There are two good teams, and that's really it. Nobody really flat out stinks, and some teams like DePaul and Georgetown are actually noticeably better, but other than Marquette and UConn nobody is particularly good either.

[hoopster68]

Dayton takes down Marquette.

[MHettel]

A lot of days haven't been good for the Big East. There are two good teams, and that's really it. Nobody really flat out stinks, and some teams like DePaul and Georgetown are actually noticeably better, but other than Marquette and UConn nobody is particularly good either.

That Creighton win against Kansas?

[Xville]

That Creighton win against Kansas?

Problem is after that, they lost pop for the year. You think we have depth issues, look at that squad. Still have kalk and ashworth but man after that it’s pretty bare. The freshman 3/4 guy I think will be good but like all freshmen who aren’t lottery picks will be up and down all season

[xubrew]

That Creighton win against Kansas?

That's definitely a good win, and they actually played well in Tuscaloosa over the weekend despite the loss. My concern is can they avoid losing too many games to non-tournament teams away from home to keep themselves inside the bubble. Maybe they can. They better win at Georgetown on Wednesday.

[Xville]

It’s astonishing that Dayton beat both UConn and Marquette. They are less talented than both, they play 6 and a half guys with one of the bench guys being posh Alexander who we all know is mediocre. X embarrassed them.

Beating Marquette kind of makes sense in that they matchup well with them and they were at home, but they absolutely obliterated UConn. I just don’t get why they seem to be good this year. There is nothing about them that screams man what a talented team.

[Xville]

Really need to go 1-1 this week but its going to be tough. Per Kenpom X is going to be about somewhere between a 10-12 point dog at uconn and probably around 8 against Marquette.

[bleedXblue]

It’s astonishing that Dayton beat both UConn and Marquette. They are less talented than both, they play 6 and a half guys with one of the bench guys being posh Alexander who we all know is mediocre. X embarrassed them.

Beating Marquette kind of makes sense in that they matchup well with them and they were at home, but they absolutely obliterated UConn. I just don’t get why they seem to be good this year. There is nothing about them that screams man what a talented team.

Then chalk it up to good coaching and executing their game plan and style of play well. We all know how tough it is to play in Dayton. I think Marq is good, but can be beaten if you do what you do well. I have a feeling that game will be close with under 4 min to go and we will see if our guys dont crap down their legs again. Both late TO's against UC were simply unacceptable. Feld like TCU all over again.

[Xville]

Then chalk it up to good coaching and executing their game plan and style of play well. We all know how tough it is to play in Dayton. I think Marq is good, but can be beaten if you do what you do well. I have a feeling that game will be close with under 4 min to go and we will see if our guys dont crap down their legs again. Both late TO's against UC were simply unacceptable. Feld like TCU all over again.

Their pieces sure seem to fit, and execution is very strong. For all the wringing of hands about big men we don’t have, they don’t really have much, and they have gotten by just fine this year. Key is a bit undersized, but they do have a 7 footer from France that is a freshman that seems to be coming along albeit not playing too many minutes. This is all just very frustrating all the way around

[xubrew]

It’s astonishing that Dayton beat both UConn and Marquette. They are less talented than both, they play 6 and a half guys with one of the bench guys being posh Alexander who we all know is mediocre. X embarrassed them.

Beating Marquette kind of makes sense in that they matchup well with them and they were at home, but they absolutely obliterated UConn. I just don’t get why they seem to be good this year. There is nothing about them that screams man what a talented team.

I just think they're good at giving themselves extra possessions. In a typical game, even against a highly ranked team, they tend to get more offensive rebounds and create more turnovers than their opponents. It's not flashy or highlight reel type of stuff. It's just simple stuff.

It's pretty clear to me that they did not care about the exhibition game against Xavier. I would describe their defense in that game as a (sort of) match-up where none of the players actually matched up. They didn't even try to do most of the things they're usually good at doing. You'd think they would have taken it seriously given the history of the rivalry and what not, but it was almost as if they made a decision to not play to their strengths in that game. Maybe they knew it was on TV and they didn't want to show anything to opponents who may be scouting them?? It was actually kind of disappointing. If they aren't even going to try and play, then what's the point?? For what is supposed to be a practice, X would have been much better off playing against a team that did take it seriously and tried to play.

[xubrew]

Arkansas State won at Memphis last week. They followed that up by falling behind by UAB to 25 yesterday, and trailed by as much as 28 in the second half, but then came back to win in overtime.

Arkansas State is now 8-3 with wins at Memphis and at UAB. One of their losses was at Alabama, and they were actually competitive in that game. This may be a dangerous team come March.

[GoMuskies]

Memphis winning at Clemson was pretty good validation for Arkansas State, too.

[Xville]

How many wins in conference do we think its going to take to get to the tourney? I'm thinking 12, is that fair? That's 20 wins regardless of what happens in the tournament. Just no losses to depaul, hall, gtown and I'd think 12 would do it.

[GoMuskies]

12 would do it. That's going to be very, very difficult, but that's the position we've put ourselves in.

If Xavier is favored at Georgetown or DePaul, those are going to be very, very short spreads. Both of those are essentially toss-ups on the road.

[xubrew]

How many wins in conference do we think its going to take to get to the tourney? I'm thinking 12, is that fair? That's 20 wins regardless of what happens in the tournament. Just no losses to depaul, hall, gtown and I'd think 12 would do it.

Teams that do not win an out of conference game away from home against a team that's inside the bubble (or at least on the bubble) almost always need to finish at least four games above .500 to get in. Xavier has no such win, so I'm think it's AT LEAST 12, and maybe a conference tournament win as well since those count as conference games on the teamsheets.

And scheduling the way UC did was stupid. They didn't give themselves any real chances at decent wins, and as a result put way more pressure on themselves to perform in a conference that's difficult to perform in. I don't think they make the NCAA's.

[Xville]

12 would do it. That's going to be very, very difficult, but that's the position we've put ourselves in.

If Xavier is favored at Georgetown or DePaul, those are going to be very, very short spreads. Both of those are essentially toss-ups on the road.

Yeah after thinking about it more, we probably lose one of them. 12 is going to be difficult. Probably can’t afford to lose more than 1 at home, just not enough to win on the road.

Win the rest at home, beat DePaul and hall away and pick up another road win somewhere, maybe just one of those nights where everything goes right whether it’s nova, Providence, gtown whoever.

Not counting on 9 wins at home but I think for this team to get to 12, they would have to

[Xavgrad08]

It would be nice to at least split with Marquette & UConn to make the resume pop a little bit. That seems like a tough ask at this point. Can’t lose to Seton Hall. Wish Butler & Providence had been more consistent in the non conference.

[JTG]

See the Freemantle thread. His injury makes this entire thread irrelevant for the foreseeable future.

[Xville]

See the Freemantle thread. His injury makes this entire thread irrelevant for the foreseeable future.

yeah might as well just delete this thread. fuck!

[Xville]

A bit of good news, they really tried to give it away in regulation, and ot, but South Carolina beat a good Clemson team tonight. Maybe it will turn into a good win? A man can dream!

[GoMuskies]

No one is pretending that K-State is a good team, but Drake went into Manhattan and beat them Tuesday to get to 10-0. Quite an impressive start for Drake.

And Wichita State lost at home to a terrible UM-Kansas City team, so not a good night for the "other" D-I schools in Kansas.

[xubrew]

No one is pretending that K-State is a good team, but Drake went into Manhattan and beat them Tuesday to get to 10-0. Quite an impressive start for Drake.

And Wichita State lost at home to a terrible UM-Kansas City team, so not a good night for the "other" D-I schools in Kansas.

I think the game was in Kansas City, but I'm too lazy to go back and look it up right now.

Drake's story is incredible. Almost none of those guys were playing D1 or coaching D1 basketball a year ago and did not receive many D1 offers. I hope they go undefeated and win it all.

Grand Canyon and McNeese were two teams that I thought would be in the rankings and be inside the bubble come March. They will not be. Drake is a team that I thought might be good enough to avoid a last place finish in the MVC. UC San Diego and UC Irvine are also both very very good.

This is why I never bet on sports.

[GoMuskies]

You're right. The K-State/Drake game was in KC, so not QUITE as hostile an environment for Drake. Still impressive!

[xubrew]

Green Bay hiring Doug Gottlieb may not have been a good idea.

[X-band '01]

It's a bad idea for Green Bay, but a fantastic idea for everyone else in the Horizon League and in general.

[paulxu]

In Charleston area for Xmas. Local paper had article on CofC and Chris Mack
Noted he had gone to NCAA’s 8 times in 9 seasons at X.
Not a bad record.

[GoMuskies]

We were spoiled.

[X-band '01]

I'm starting to think that Chris Mack doesn't like playing games in Hawaii.

[paulxu]

I hate not being in the conversation for a NCAA bid. Crap.

[Xville]

Jim Larranaga blames his exiting on nil and the portal, not losing 8 of 9 to such basketball powerhouses like charleston southern and mount st Mary’s.

I’m kind of kidding but can some of these coaches stop whining about nil and the portal when in fact they did both to have success like larranaga in his last final four? You’re also getting paid millions of dollars a year to do a job.

I agree there needs to be some guardrails with the portal, but good grief.

[xubrew]

Jim Larranaga blames his exiting on nil and the portal, not losing 8 of 9 to such basketball powerhouses like charleston southern and mount st Mary’s.

I’m kind of kidding but can some of these coaches stop whining about nil and the portal when in fact they did both to have success like larranaga in his last final four? You’re also getting paid millions of dollars a year to do a job.

I agree there needs to be some guardrails with the portal, but good grief.

I didn’t take it as him whining. I think he just realized that it’s becoming more and more transactional and less and less about relationships and decided it’s not for him anymore. He’s 75 and he’s rich. He doesn’t have to do it anymore if it doesn’t want to, and he doesn’t want to.

Larranaga was a pretty big advocate for players rights from what I understand. Had the NCAA listened to him and made some concessions they may not have lost complete control like they have.

[Xville]

I didn’t take it as him whining. I think he just realized that it’s becoming more and more transactional and less and less about relationships and decided it’s not for him anymore. He’s 75 and he’s rich. He doesn’t have to do it anymore if it doesn’t want to, and he doesn’t want to.

Larranaga was a pretty big advocate for players rights from what I understand. Had the NCAA listened to him and made some concessions they may not have lost complete control like they have.

Ok fair points. I took it differently. I’m tired of coaches just making excuses and I’m sure if he had a good season going on, he wouldn’t have done this. He certainly didn’t complain when he was doing nil and the portal two years ago to make a final four. Unless I missed it, he didn’t say anything about it when boeheim retired, while he was busy making a final four. Boeheim mentioned then how Miami was just buying their team.

[MHettel]

Ok fair points. I took it differently. I’m tired of coaches just making excuses and I’m sure if he had a good season going on, he wouldn’t have done this. He certainly didn’t complain when he was doing nil and the portal two years ago to make a final four. Unless I missed it, he didn’t say anything about it when boeheim retired, while he was busy making a final four. Boeheim mentioned then how Miami was just buying their team.

Early adopter of NIL and Portal strategies. Same with SDSU 2 years ago. It was an advantage during that little window of time. Now that all schools are “playing the game” it’s just gonna devolve to a situation where the team with the biggest NIL budgets will buy the best rosters.

Pretty much according to plan….

[paulxu]

I'm starting to think that Chris Mack doesn't like playing games in Hawaii.

2 out of 3, and 10-2 on the season. Not so bad.

[Xville]

2 out of 3, and 10-2 on the season. Not so bad.

Mack needs to do us a solid and tell brzovic to come here next year. I don’t think he’d be putting up 19 and 8 in the big East like he is now, but he could certainly contribute and be a part of the rotation at least.

I wonder what the fans think of Mack? They went from one of the biggest rah rah charismatic coaches in the game to Mack. It doesn’t matter as long as they win I guess though

[XUGRAD80]

There comes a point where you’ve got enough money, it’s no longer enjoyable, and say to yourself, “why don’t I just quit?” It took him until he was 75 to reach that point. For most people it comes much sooner. I expect it to start hitting the college coaching profession even harder unless some things change.

For 99% of the coaches in all the college sports it was never about how much money you made, because it was never very much for all the hours you put in. It was about the relationships you formed with the players over the years. If players are going to move every year you’re never going to build those relationships. It will stop being fun very soon and become just another “job”. How many people will continue to work at a job that they don’t enjoy if they don’t need the money? IMO most will either move to where they think it can be fun, or try a different job, or just retire if they can and find something else to do besides work.

[Xville]

There comes a point where you’ve got enough money, it’s no longer enjoyable, and say to yourself, “why don’t I just quit?” It took him until he was 75 to reach that point. For most people it comes much sooner. I expect it to start hitting the college coaching profession even harder unless some things change.

For 99% of the coaches in all the college sports it was never about how much money you made, because it was never very much for all the hours you put in. It was about the relationships you formed with the players over the years. If players are going to move every year you’re never going to build those relationships. It will stop being fun very soon and become just another “job”. How many people will continue to work at a job that they don’t enjoy if they don’t need the money? IMO most will either move to where they think it can be fun, or try a different job, or just retire if they can and find something else to do besides work.

I understand what you are saying, and agree to a point but it’s always about money to a degree. If it wasn’t, guys wouldn’t move up ever. Larranaga moved up, just like most coaches do when they have the chance due to more money and more prestige along with their ego. It’s certainly not 99% of coaches that are in it just for relationships. It’s not a coincidence that most of these coaches who have retired aren’t doing well in their jobs when they leave. Wright is about the only one who has left, that went out mostly in a good standing with his team.

[JTG]

I think I would be pretty disgusted with the sport if I went to a final four and 7 of my players opted for the portal to go make money somewhere else. So at that point even winning doesn't matter.

[94GRAD]

I think I would be pretty disgusted with the sport if I went to a final four and 7 of my players opted for the portal to go make money somewhere else. So at that point even winning doesn't matter.

Were you or his players disgusted when Larranaga went to the Final Four with George Mason and then opted to go to Miami for more money?

[GoMuskies]

Were you or his players disgusted when Larranaga went to the Final Four with George Mason and then opted to go to Miami for more money?

He stuck around George Mason for like five more years after that.

[94GRAD]

He stuck around George Mason for like five more years after that.

I'm guessing he got a sizable raise so he wouldn't leave immediately?

[GoMuskies]

I'm guessing he got a sizable raise so he wouldn't leave immediately?

I'm sure he got a nice raise. I'm equally sure someone was willing to pay him more than George Mason was after that run.

[xubrew]

He was a head coach for 37 seasons and was only at 3 schools.

I get why people are rubbed the wrong way by what he said about the portal. I do. But I also don’t think he’s coming from the selfish place a lot of people think he’s coming from. He really did value relationships and really saw value in developing talent and teams over time. He also wanted players to get more than what they were getting. It’s hard to have and value those types of relationships with players and not want that for him.

He’s simply saying it’s not about relationships anymore. And, he’s right. It’s not. The players loved Miami, loved him, and loved what they accomplished, but they still left. So…he decided to leave too. Simple as that. I for one don’t find that to be hypocritical. He really was awesome. He’s one of the guys I think the game will really miss.

[paulxu]

It's hard to begrudge someone retiring at 75.

Edit: it's possible he was the oldest division 1 coach

[xubrew]

Remember when several people were fixated on the top 25 during the second and third week of the season?? Now absolutely no one cares or even remembers. The polls have a very short shelf life, especially in November. That’s part of the fun.

[MHettel]

Remember when several people were fixated on the top 25 during the second and third week of the season?? Now absolutely no one cares or even remembers. The polls have a very short shelf life, especially in November. That’s part of the fun.

I’m not having much fun. In fact, it’s been pretty bleak for about 7 years, save for one season.

[Xville]

Remember when several people were fixated on the top 25 during the second and third week of the season?? Now absolutely no one cares or even remembers. The polls have a very short shelf life, especially in November. That’s part of the fun.

The only reason I was fixated on it was because x was on the bubble or in it. I care…. I care that x isn’t even a consideration for it at this point. It matters imo