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Message: [QUOTE="champs99and04, post: 2776306, member: 488"] I think people forget how bad the league was post Louisville and pre Wichita State. Tulsa finished second in the conference at 14-4 in 2015 and didn't come close to the tournament. Temple won the league outright at 14-4 in 2016 and barely got in. Houston is a combined 38-16 over the past three years with one tournament appearance to show for it. Memphis has ranked 85th, 75th, 101st, and 161st on KenPom over the past four years yet nearly bulldozed their way to an automatic bid one of those times. UConn has an average KenPom rank of 93.5 over that span yet is somehow 8-3 in the conference tournament with three appearances in the semi-finals and two in the finals. Tulsa is a good litmus test for the league. When they're 8th or 9th, and Temple, UConn, and Memphis are near the top, the league is probably in decent health. When they're second or third with Frank Haith and a bunch of JuCo guys, your league probably sucks. It looks unlikely that the league will be as good at the top as it was last year, but I see eight teams that should qualify for the NIT or better. From a numbers standpoint, that might be preferable to some of the top-heavy models we've seen in the past. From a ticket sales perspective, maybe not, but we played a solid home slate last year and nobody gave a damn because we sucked. With Hurley on board, the people will show up so long as they win. [/QUOTE]