Nova wins BE claims 32 year drought broken

[Fishy]

You arrogant son of a bitch...

Emmanuel Owootoah is averaging well over a point a game this season at Fresno and while his shooting percentage is a tad low at 25%, the maple syrup his mom sent as a Christmas present for his teammates more than makes up for it.

 

[alexd]

Isn't Canadian maple syrup on the NCAA's list of banned substances????

 

[aceboon]

Yea I'm convinced he's on the payroll of these Canadian AAU clubs the way he promotes these guys, he had posters on here begging KO to recruit Owootoah and reporting that KO was going to be watching him play when that wasn't even the case.

 

[ecasadoSBU]

It's also gonna hit home when MSG is half-empty.

Its definitely going to be interesting. I can't imagine that they'll sell out the garden like the old days but then I read this article and it seems like prices are still "up there" so I wonder if its due to demand, or whether the Big East just wants to milk it...

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jessela...-remain-most-expensive-conference-tournament/

 

[Husky25]

Its definitely going to be interesting. I can't imagine that they'll sell out the garden like the old days but then I read this article and it seems like prices are still "up there" so I wonder if its due to demand, or whether the Big East just wants to milk it...

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jessela...-remain-most-expensive-conference-tournament/

Ticket costs don't necessarily indicate the Big East milking it over the cost to rent the venue. Do you think the A-10 is worthy of being the 3rd highest average ticket for their tournament? I don't. I think the Barclays has more to do with that ranking.

 

[seanmc94]

Do you guys really disagree that the bottom of the AAC is horrible?

 

[champs99and04]

Reading between the lines, Niether Bilas, nor Raftery were very complimentary of the Big East.

Raftery:


Read: There are only 2 or 3 teams going to the NCAA Tournament this year, including the winner. Drama resulting from the games is replacing the actual high quality games of years past.

Bilas:


The Bold is self-explanatory. Wow, just wow. He said on a much larger forum what we have been saying since July 1. Reading between the lines on the first part of the quote, I hear, "A conjured up conference with mediocre talent and a substandard media partner who is learning as they go..." Say what You will about the American, but at least ESPN has been in the college basketball media business for 30+ years. They know exposure.

Bilas again:


The Big East prior to 2014 was special. 4 of the 6 events/players he mentioned played for teams no longer associated with the Big East (and 3 were UConn!! Bilas be the MAN!!!)

Bilas is dead on with these comments. It amuses me when I see coaches from other conferences diminishing the value of conference tournaments, and in some cases, pushing to get rid of them. The Big East tournament trumped every other conference tournament by such a considerable degree that it wasn't even worth talking about the other ones. Part of it may be the UConn fan in me, but even in the year 2014, I can vividly recall moments from 5, 10, 15 years go. There's no denying the fact that Madison Square Garden made the tournament special - even fans of other conferences admitted it. Does anybody ever reminisce over something that happened in the ACC or SEC Tournament? Not unless something extraordinary happened. The Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights of the Big East Tournament were three of the true jewels on the sports calender every year.

 

[ecasadoSBU]

Ticket costs don't necessarily indicate the Big East milking it over the cost to rent the venue. Do you think the A-10 is worthy of being the 3rd highest average ticket for their tournament? I don't. I think the Barclays has more to do with that ranking.

ahh yeah! Totally forgot about that. Garden must be extremely expensive to rent especially after the world-class renovations...

 

[ecasadoSBU]

Alot of unsold seats when you go to that link. Thats insane.

 

[zls44]

Do you guys really disagree that the bottom of the AAC is horrible?

Nope, its horrendous. But nobody here is pretending its something its not. The Big East has been trumpeting the accomplishments of everyone else who isn't in it all year.

 

[Pudge]

Sean Sean ...

We are used to seeing major reclamation projects in our years in the Big East. I don't think, structurally & fundamentally, that Seton Hall or Providence EVER will have the juice to do what SMU did this year. And would I bet UCF couldn't do the same? See ... a top level coach will NEVER go to a few of the Big East programs. UCF & USF suck (and USF should have nudged themselves to a different level after a decade); Houston ... (have you seen their athletes?) - I am not sure whether it is Dickey or just youth ... could be good; and then Temple should have been far better. (Let's not talk about Rutgers)(*and then ECU, Tulane or Tulsa)

My point? The UConn Dream Season may have been Larry Brown'd. You can count on a Program rising when the University can mass the wealth & comboTalent of the region. Plus a transcendent Coach. That might happen at a handful of AAC programs. I don't think you'll ever see Providence do that. Larry Brown has put together a Program. Why is that different? Many here are saying he is soon gone ... and I think he has layered the Eric Snow's and George Lynch's with solid college recruiters and his Associate HC. SMU is a serious case study.

 

[Payday]

Wow! Didn't think that would rustle a hornets nets. The only point was, Cincy would have been a player at least as much as Louisville if not for Huggins being canned. And Wade only pulled the conference title from Cincy one year. 10 of the prior 11 Cincy won the conference. With UL, Marquette, and Memphis in it. UL never took the title away. Even with Pitino. Even now, Cronin has played UL even up in the BE. While rebuilding.

UConn has had a great run with some great teams. But make no mistake, even accounting for their recent disappointments, Cincy can well compete with UConn's historical success. Only a full throated homer wouldn't acknowledge that.

Cincy was somewhat snake bit in CUSA. They had one of the most dominant teams in the last 20 years and then KMart broke his leg the last game before the Tourney. They were AP #5 and a 1 seed two years later and lost in double OT to a highly under seeded UCLA with a roster of NBA draft picks. Luck and match ups play a big part in the Tourney.

Even during UConns last title run, Cincy's only losses that season were to BE teams. Including the NCAAs. They sure didn't hurt the conference RPI. Their first one? Cincy was the only other team to beat Duke.

Get used to the fact, that as long as we're in the same conference, Cincy will be your biggest challenge year to year.

 

[Inyatkin]

UConn has had a great run with some great teams. But make no mistake, even accounting for their recent disappointments, Cincy can well compete with UConn's historical success. Only a full throated homer wouldn't acknowledge that.

I think I'm changing my user name to "Full-throated homer."
And you're wrong.

 

[Fishy]

UConn has had a great run with some great teams. But make no mistake, even accounting for their recent disappointments, Cincy can well compete with UConn's historical success. Only a full throated homer wouldn't acknowledge that.

Sorry, no - winning two titles in the early 60's is nice, but please, that was 50 years ago and there were 25 teams in the tournament back in those days.

Since then, one final four in 50 years. They haven't been to the final eight in almost 20 years.

And you're overrating Huggins - Cincy was a pure circus before he left.

 

[Payday]

50 years ago? Every Cincy game the best college hoops player ever sits court side. Ask the Big O if 5 straight Final Fours, 3 straight Finals, and back to back titles beating AP # 1 in the Finals is significant.

At a time when the only way to get in the Tourney was to actually win your conference.

 

[Payday]

And remember. It took UConn much longer than 50 years to make their first FF. Even as they were generally making the Tourney themselves back then.

 

[Payday]

I find it amusing how so many fans want to skew the facts to fit their narrative.

 

[Inyatkin]

50 years ago? Every Cincy game the best college hoops player ever sits court side. Ask the Big O if 5 straight Final Fours, 3 straight Finals, and back to back titles beating AP # 1 in the Finals is significant.

At a time when the only way to get in the Tourney was to actually win your conference.

Yep, cite a guy born in 1938 as a way to counter the notion your success was a long time ago.

 

[upstater]

Do you guys really disagree that the bottom of the AAC is horrible?

What do you mean by the bottom?

UCF, Rutgers, USF and Temple?

UCF has a great player in Sykes and not much else, so they are likely as bad as your bad teams.

USF had a hurt player in Collinsbut the rest of the team was back, same team that beat Georgetown and UConn last year.

Rutgers still has Mack, Jack and Seagears. Last year those same players beat Pitt, St. John's, Seton Hall 2x, and DePaul. Granted, that's not very good, but it still means they were a bottom of the BE team who took a few scalps--not total pushovers.

Temple had a bad year but still played some teams tough.

These teams were pushed around in the American, but let's not pretend that DePaul, Butler, and Seton Hall are any better. They are not. You guys have 3 bottom dwellers whereas the American has 4.

 

[8893]

I find it amusing how so many fans want to skew the facts to fit their narrative.

 

[Payday]

Success is success whenever it is. And outside of a few historical periods...Cincy's had plenty of it. Not all success is measured in titles. I think ESPiN is advertising the Duke/UNC game with the 30 some odd they've both been to. I don't think they've all been the past 15 years. They have what? Two or three more titles combined than Cincy and UConn?

 

[Payday]

So it doesn't matter when they did it. It's if they did it.

 

[8893]

Success is success whenever it is. And outside of a few historical periods my lifetime...Cincy's had plenty of it.

Fixed it for you.