Week of 1/1/24 Other Games

[KingAG]

Other than the final 4 run in the year they barely made the tournament, Alford had similar results. Mick is also crapping the bed on the media relations /accountability side of having a season like this.

2 sweet 16s as well. He’s been good at UCLA. He’s always been a media nightmare . They knew that when they hired him

 

[Tenspro2002]

I said at the time that Gonzaga win was not going to be worth very much come Selection Sunday and, well...

We have basically one signature win that still looks impressive (UNC), but the rest you're kind of squinting to convince yourself that they matter. Texas and Gonzaga are down in the 40's in NET (i.e. barely Quad 1 as neutral site wins). Indiana is below 100.

Xavier and Butler are Quad 1 road wins, but in the 50-60 range, so not really impressing anyone.

The Marquette and Creighton games are going to matter. A #1 seed probably requires winning 3 out of the 4-5 expected matchups against them, especially with both of them falling off lately.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Tonight, Fairfield tries to make it nine wins in a row visiting Niagara.

Interim head coach Chris Casey is my pick for MAAC Coach of the Year. The program was sputtering after Jay Young and an offseason incident led to Young’s resignation. Ended up the best for the program.

I love your enthusiasm for college basketball. I don't know how you have the time to know this much stuff but I dig it.

 

[gsmooth]

Tonight, Fairfield tries to make it nine wins in a row visiting Niagara.

Interim head coach Chris Casey is my pick for MAAC Coach of the Year. The program was sputtering after Jay Young and an offseason incident led to Young’s resignation. Ended up the best for the program.

I hope Fairfield can make the NCAAT. I like seeing other Connecticut teams in the NCAAT. Remember this guy, Brycen Goodine? He dropped 40 points in one game and is their leading scorer. He was a transfer from Providence. I could never imagine him being the top dog on a team and scoring 40 points in a game. I don't think he scored 40 points in his entire career at Providence.

Fairfield Stags Scores, Stats and Highlights - ESPN

Visit ESPN for Fairfield Stags live scores, video highlights, and latest news. Find standings and the full 2025-26 season schedule.

www.espn.com

 

[WhereistheDove?]

2 sweet 16s as well. He’s been good at UCLA. He’s always been a media nightmare . They knew that when they hired him.

Still just as weird of a fit now as when they hired him. Very curious to see how he rebounds from this, especially with their move to the BIG. I foresee a lot of mediocrity in his future.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

I hope Fairfield can make the NCAAT. I like seeing other Connecticut teams in the NCAAT. Remember this guy, Brycen Goodine? He dropped 40 points in one game and is their leading scorer. He was a transfer from Providence. I could never imagine him being the top dog on a team and scoring 40 points in a game. I don't think he scored 40 points in his entire career at Providence.

Fairfield Stags Scores, Stats and Highlights - ESPN

Visit ESPN for Fairfield Stags live scores, video highlights, and latest news. Find standings and the full 2025-26 season schedule.

www.espn.com

Goodine was also at Syracuse before Providence.

In his fifth season of college basketball, he's finally healthy. He's never played more than 23 games in a season. Happy for him.

Another fun fact about Fairfield:



I've always thought of the MAAC as a guard-based league and Fairfield has four guards playing starter's minutes, which of which start.

I highly recommend catching a Fairfield game. Their new arena is beautiful and it has a big arena feel despite a small capacity. This season, I've had the pleasure and privilege covering two games there.

 

[BGesus4]

2 sweet 16s as well. He’s been good at UCLA. He’s always been a media nightmare . They knew that when they hired him

Alford had 3 sweet 16s, 1 missed tournament and was fired mid year after a bad start. But yeah, they didn’t even want mick. That coaching search was a disaster.

 

[tzznandrew]

Mock Cronin is not long for UCLA. Should've stayed at Cincy.

They were a 2 Seed and in the Sweet 16 last year and probably an injury away from playing us in the E8. They were a 4 seed in the Sweet 16 the year before that. And they were in the Final Four the year before that.

It's possible the UCLA boosters and press are sick of Cronin's curmudgeonly behavior, or that he'll leave because of their lack of NIL, but the man has been successful there multiple years in a row. If his team sucks next year, well, then we'll see.

 

[Inyatkin]

They were a 2 Seed and in the Sweet 16 last year and probably an injury away from playing us in the E8. They were a 4 seed in the Sweet 16 the year before that. And they were in the Final Four the year before that.

It's possible the UCLA boosters and press are sick of Cronin's curmudgeonly behavior, or that he'll leave because of their lack of NIL, but the man has been successful there multiple years in a row. If his team sucks next year, well, then we'll see.

Ben Howland made Final Fours all the time at UCLA and got shown the door. They want Wooden or nothing

 

[tzznandrew]

Ben Howland made Final Fours all the time at UCLA and got shown the door. They want Wooden or nothing

He got fired five years after his last Final Four or Sweet 16 and there were issues he was having off court that (unless there's more going on with Cronin) were fairly problematic.

 

[aceboon]

Cronin got Juzang as a transfer but his UCLA success was also mainly built off of Alford's recruits(the BY picks and chooses which coaches they will hang that over their head), his first year without them and we see how that's going. Let's see if he pivots from his current recruiting strategy that has him 6-10 and getting his doors blown off.

 

[connVA]

I hope Fairfield can make the NCAAT. I like seeing other Connecticut teams in the NCAAT. Remember this guy, Brycen Goodine? He dropped 40 points in one game and is their leading scorer. He was a transfer from Providence. I could never imagine him being the top dog on a team and scoring 40 points in a game. I don't think he scored 40 points in his entire career at Providence.

Fairfield Stags Scores, Stats and Highlights - ESPN

Visit ESPN for Fairfield Stags live scores, video highlights, and latest news. Find standings and the full 2025-26 season schedule.

www.espn.com

I remember 1997 when an 11-19 Stags team made a run to the MAAC title and then came within 8 points of a colossal upset of the top-seeded Dean Smiths in the 1-16 game. I imagine those four guards would be a big headache for Zach Eady & co.

 

[gsmooth]

They were a 2 Seed and in the Sweet 16 last year and probably an injury away from playing us in the E8. They were a 4 seed in the Sweet 16 the year before that. And they were in the Final Four the year before that.

It's possible the UCLA boosters and press are sick of Cronin's curmudgeonly behavior, or that he'll leave because of their lack of NIL, but the man has been successful there multiple years in a row. If his team sucks next year, well, then we'll see.

UCLA lacks NIL? I am not saying you are wrong, because I don't know their NIL situation nor have I researched it.
@tzzandrew or anyone else please answer this question:
Why would UCLA lack NIL? They would seem to have an abundance of resources.

 

[Huskyforlife]

Can someone tell me why Providence fans are commenting “thank you” on everything?
@FriarJ do you know?

 

[Tenspro2002]

It's possible the UCLA boosters and press are sick of Cronin's curmudgeonly behavior

Part of Cronin's problem is that his demeanor just screams "small time" (and no, I don't mean his leprechaun-like stature).

A program like UCLA who is desperately clinging to blue blood status despite not winning a championship in 30 years, and only once in the last 50, may be especially sensitive to having a coach only looks comfortable in the plucky underdog role.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

UCLA lacks NIL? I am not saying you are wrong, because I don't know their NIL situation nor have I researched it.
@tzzandrew or anyone else please answer this question:
Why would UCLA lack NIL? They would seem to have an abundance of resources.

UCLA definitely lags behind other P5 schools in their commitment to NIL, and Cronin himself has not been particularly committed on that score. There's also just a more generally fraught relationship with boosters than there is at comparable schools. They're not all in on athletics like the school across town. It's why I can't imagine there's much appetite for paying Cronin a $20M buyout. There are a lot of people who are more than happy to just be known as a world class university with reasonably competitive major sports.

 

[Waquoit]

Anyone see the Sparty-Illinois game last night? I barely watch anything besides UConn but I caught a lot of this one. If these teams had Secret Service code names; they would be Suck and Blow. More bricks than the Aetna building.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Gonzaga screwed that one up pretty good. I don't particularly like then so I'm good with it.

I'm hoping that Gonzaga coming back to earth puts an end to the idea that the Big East should add them.

 

[HuskyHawk]

UCLA definitely lags behind other P5 schools in their commitment to NIL, and Cronin himself has not been particularly committed on that score. There's also just a more generally fraught relationship with boosters than there is at comparable schools. They're not all in on athletics like the school across town. It's why I can't imagine there's much appetite for paying Cronin a $20M buyout. There are a lot of people who are more than happy to just be known as a world class university with reasonably competitive major sports.

Is it fair to say UCLA is more like Berkeley than it is like Southern Cal? Not super passionate about sports. Always seemed that way to me.

 

[kobe]

UCLA definitely lags behind other P5 schools in their commitment to NIL, and Cronin himself has not been particularly committed on that score. There's also just a more generally fraught relationship with boosters than there is at comparable schools. They're not all in on athletics like the school across town. It's why I can't imagine there's much appetite for paying Cronin a $20M buyout. There are a lot of people who are more than happy to just be known as a world class university with reasonably competitive major sports.

micks, uh, not exactly the guy you want if you need to schmooze boosters for more money. never been something he's interested or good at doing.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Is it fair to say UCLA is more like Berkeley than it is like Southern Cal? Not super passionate about sports. Always seemed that way to me.

These are obviously huge schools so they contain multitudes - my professional mentor is a Cal alum and booster who travels with the football team in the fall - but by and large, I'd say that's pretty fair. There is more passion for sports in Westwood than at Berkeley but SC seems more in line with SEC schools as compared to those other two. SC's alumni network is also - in my experience - much more Southern California-focused (and frankly a bit unbearable) while UCLA alums tend to be more widely dispersed.