2016-2017 Season

[indydoug]

Doug, I believe we won either the conference regular season or conference tournament title in every season of those years. You don't think we got national recognition for that? Those kind of accomplishments help give you the benefit of the doubt and make you a fixture in the Top 25 polls. Always having a number by your name also helps visibility for recruits. To pretend we didn't have those things going for us then much more so than now is re-writing history.

If we are ranked from season start to season end this year, no matter what happens in the NCAA Tournament, I guarantee we get more national recognition than what we got last year when we weren't receiving votes most of the year. String together a few seasons like that, and it'll make a world of difference.

Ok, if you say so. So getting similar NCAA tournament results (albeit the last decade of Huggs) with better recruits, being in the top 25, and more national recognition is acceptable to you and defines a better program?

 

[indydoug]

So, when Jordan selected us to wear his uniforms, when national TV started creating made-for-tv games including us and televising many of our games on a weekly basis, when ESPN sent Dick Vitale out to televise our Midnight Madness across the nation, when we ascended to number 1 in the polls and became a fixture in the Top 10 annually, and McDonalds All-Americans and Juco players of the years were flocking here, what were they all recognizing us for? Those NCAA busts didn't seem to matter much did they? Seems to me like the regular seasons might have had an impact after all.

Did that any more banners on the wall in the last decade?

 

[L-T]

Doug, I believe we won either the conference regular season or conference tournament title in every season of those years. You don't think we got national recognition for that? Those kind of accomplishments help give you the benefit of the doubt and make you a fixture in the Top 25 polls. Always having a number by your name also helps visibility for recruits. To pretend we didn't have those things going for us then much more so than now is re-writing history.

If we are ranked from season start to season end this year, no matter what happens in the NCAA Tournament, I guarantee we get more national recognition than what we got last year when we weren't receiving votes most of the year. String together a few seasons like that, and it'll make a world of difference.

To be exact, we won 8 regular season titles and 4 tournament titles in those 10 years. We did have two seasons where we finished 3rd and didn't win the tournament either. But in those two seasons, we were still ranked in the Top 20 in one and the Top 25 in the other. In the other 8 seasons, we had one top 20, 3 top 10s, 2 Top 5s, and two seasons where we were ranked #1. We had MacDonald's all-americans, consensus national player of the year, 1st team all-americans, 10 consecutive NCAA appearances, numerous NBA draft picks, an elite 8 and a sweet 16 and only "1" first round loss in the NCAA. We were televised regularly on national "Network" TV, not ESPN3 and those other obscure cable channels usually reserved for Appalachian State and Northwest Idaho St. I know....this all sounds oddly similar to the last 6 Cronin years...lol. Hell, we've had 3 first round losses out of the last 4....including Harvard knocking us out when we got a rare 5 seed.

 

[L-T]

Did that any more banners on the wall in the last decade?

Actually, there were 4 or 5 more banners hung during that last decade.

 

[indydoug]

There's no comparison in Huggs last 10 and Mick's last 6 in so many different ways. That statement is just laughable.

Nearly every publication who has ever ranked college basketball programs has us anywhere from about #9 to about #19 all-time, so I'm sad that your own personal ranking has us over 30. Your bar is pretty low. We already have our place in the top 20 established. Our coach is paid a Top 20 salary. Our facilities are top 20...so your so-called actual facts are flawed....but please continue to drop in and post anyway.

If you say so, from a poster who takes every chance to bash the current program looking through rose-colored glasses of past years. You're actually one of the reasons I rarely post. Carry on.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

Ok, if you say so. So getting similar NCAA tournament results (albeit the last decade of Huggs) with better recruits, being in the top 25, and more national recognition is acceptable to you and defines a better program?

If we're also winning conference championships (regular season or tournament) dann near every year, then yes.

Tell a Kansas fan that their Big 12 streak doesn't mean anything for their program.

 

[L-T]

First of all, I wasn't putting down our past. Re-read my post. As to consistent top 5 seeds, what did those do for UC the last 9-10 years? Ever heard of Uconn? They've won a couple of NCAA titles in the last decade where they were not conference champs and actually finished as the #9 seed in the Big East Conference Tourney one year. You think anyone cares about their regular season? Top 10 in-season rankings are fine but are really meaningless if you never beat a team with a better seed in the tournament. Huggs had a very good run here but only made in out of the first weekend once in his last 9-10 years. That's a fact; doesn't mean he wasn't a successful coach here during those years.

Lol....that is not a fact. He had an elite 8 and a sweet 16 in his last 10 years.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

If you say so, from a poster who takes every chance to bash the current program looking through rose-colored glasses of past years. You're actually one of the reasons I rarely post. Carry on.

You can add people to your Ignore List if you find you don't like reading what they have to say. It might enhance your experience.

 

[L-T]

If you say so, from a poster who takes every chance to bash the current program looking through rose-colored glasses of past years. You're actually one of the reasons I rarely post. Carry on.

Lol....when all else fails, lets drop back to the personal attacks.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

When I think of the sucess of our program I think of the Jucker years. National titles, coached arguably the greatest college player of all time and if I'm not mistaken one of the greatest lefthanded pitchers of all time. When I think of the years between Jucker and Huggins I get ill. Certainly Mick hasn't accomplished what Bob did on the court to this point. But what he has given us hasn't been chopped liver either. Of course Mick's behavior off the court hasn't been to the Huggins level either thank goodness. While we Blame Mick for his lack of wins let's not forget why we are in this predicament. Have no idea if he can improve on his success to this point but my fear is we will end up shooting ourselves in the foot as we did many times between Jucker and Huggins. I'm a bit different then most that post,I enjoy our program. I would like to win a bit more but I want our program to represent more then winning. If people have a different expectation I'm fine with that. Everyone posting except for the ocassionally troll is a diehard fan. Let's try and remember that. If you like Mick or not he is the coach and probably will be for sometime. If it makes you feel good to vent your frustrations have at it. Me putting my basketball hat on tells me 2016 should be a good year by my standards. Again by my STANDARDS. There is no right or wrong answer to what each persons level of satisfaction is. If everyone would remember that the site would be boring. LMAO!!!!

 

[indydoug]

Actually, there were 4 or 5 more banners hung during that last decade.

Oh yes. You are correct. Those wonderful Conference championship banners. I bet UConn longs to put those up for the years they won the NCAA.

 

[UCBearcats]

First of all, I wasn't putting down our past. Re-read my post. As to consistent top 5 seeds, what did those do for UC the last 9-10 years? Ever heard of Uconn? They've won a couple of NCAA titles in the last decade where they were not conference champs and actually finished as the #9 seed in the Big East Conference Tourney one year. You think anyone cares about their regular season? Top 10 in-season rankings are fine but are really meaningless if you never beat a team with a better seed in the tournament. Huggs had a very good run here but only made in out of the first weekend once in his last 9-10 years. That's a fact; doesn't mean he wasn't a successful coach here during those years.

I don't care what anyone else thinks about it, I care about how exciting it was as a fan to root for those teams that were ranked top 5 in the country. Just because it may be meaningless to you doesn't mean it is to everyone. As someone who attends the games it was much more fun then than it is now.

And yes, people do care about regular season results. We packed the house in our crappy little arena all the time under Huggs and UC hoops had a lot more recognition nationally when Huggs was here. Our games were in prime national slots on ESPN all the time in an era where there wasn't as much TV availability as there is now. I couldn't name all the years and seasons off the top of my head and say who we beat or lost to in the first or second round of the NCAA's. I don't remember exactly who we beat to get to the Final 4, I remember losing to Miss State in the Elite 8 but I don't remember who we beat to get there. What I do remember is almost every single detail of Kenyon's senior season. That team got eliminated in the second round of the NCAA's but that was by far the most exciting season of UC basketball I've ever experienced. I guess that 4 month long season doesn't matter though because we lost 1 game at the end of it.

 

[indydoug]

Lol....when all else fails, lets drop back to the personal attacks.

You think that was personal. You called my post laughable so whatever. Carry on

 

[L-T]

Oh yes. You are correct. Those wonderful Conference championship banners. I bet UConn longs to put those up for the years they won the NCAA.

I'm sure they hung them just like we did and just like every other program does.

 

[indydoug]

I'm sure they hung them just like we did and just like every other program does.

You missed the point but ok.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

When I think of the sucess of our program I think of the Jucker years. National titles, coached arguably the greatest college player of all time and if I'm not mistaken one of the greatest lefthanded pitchers of all time. When I think of the years between Jucker and Huggins I get ill. Certainly Mick hasn't accomplished what Bob did on the court to this point. But what he has given us hasn't been chopped liver either. Of course Mick's behavior off the court hasn't been to the Huggins level either thank goodness. While we Blame Mick for his lack of wins let's not forget why we are in this predicament. Have no idea if he can improve on his success to this point but my fear is we will end up shooting ourselves in the foot as we did many times between Jucker and Huggins. I'm a bit different then most that post,I enjoy our program. I would like to win a bit more but I want our program to represent more then winning. If people have a different expectation I'm fine with that. Everyone posting except for the ocassionally troll is a diehard fan. Let's try and remember that. If you like Mick or not he is the coach and probably will be for sometime. If it makes you feel good to vent your frustrations have at it. Me putting my basketball hat on tells me 2016 should be a good year by my standards. Again by my STANDARDS. There is no right or wrong answer to what each persons level of satisfaction is. If everyone would remember that the site would be boring. LMAO!!!!

Haha great post Waite.

 

[L-T]

You think that was personal. You called my post laughable so whatever. Carry on

Well, when you compare Cronin's last 6 seasons to Hugg's last 10, what do you expect? That's a pretty extreme statement and one that not many fans of this program would agree with. And then you finish it up with saying that you only drop in occasionally to post facts, like we're all posting crap, again, what do you expect?

 

[UCalum08]

Channel Update: Iowa State's Dec. 1 game against Cincinnati will now be shown on ESPN. Was originally announced as ESPN2.

 

[justinhub2003]

You couldn't be more wrong. I was a huge fan of Huggs when he was here. He brought the program back from the post-Catlett bad years. The problem is most people only remember the very good. His last 9-10 years were very much like the last 6 (not to say that wasn't good--it was and is. But his last 10 yrs. are more indicative of what this program is, whether you want to accept that or not.) I just try to add some perspective to all the unrealistic expectations on here about the program's place among the elite hoops programs. It is a top 30 or so program, which is about where it's likely to stay, the periodic ascensions and falls notwithstanding. Did UC have a great 8-10 year run in Hugg's beginning? Absolutely, but the 2nd half was just like the last 6, in terms of NCAA success and what UC can expect going forward regardless of coach, facilities or conference, IMO. So carry on with your normal posts but I will periodically point out the actual facts to you. Regular season is not what programs are recognized for.

Thats what I hate about the fans still stuck on the Huggs era. in His last 9 years I think he had 1 sweet 16 appearance and a lot of early round exits. In fact, you compare Hugs and Cronin last 5 years at UC , they both have 1 sweet 16 and the records are not that far off and Cronin never had a team in that span win only 17 games, Huggs did.

ALSO: Huggs best years at UC were behind him in his last 5 years, where we had 4 years straight of early tournament exits. Cronin's last 5 years here are his best and one could say he is on an upward trend where Huggs was on the down part of his.


Sure Bob Huggins brought our program back to life and his first 7 years were great for the program but lets not pretend Bob Huggins was a coach Cal or a coach K or any elite coach. Generally he does well in regular season and disappoints in the post season.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

Thats what I hate about the fans still stuck on the Huggs era. in His last 9 years I think he had 1 sweet 16 appearance and a lot of early round exits. In fact, you compare Hugs and Cronin last 5 years at UC , they both have 1 sweet 16 and the records are not that far off and Cronin never had a team in that span win only 17 games, Huggs did.

ALSO: Huggs best years at UC were behind him in his last 5 years, where we had 4 years straight of early tournament exits. Cronin's last 5 years here are his best and one could say he is on an upward trend where Huggs was on the down part of his.


Sure Bob Huggins brought our program back to life and his first 7 years were great for the program but lets not pretend Bob Huggins was a coach Cal or a coach K or any elite coach. Generally he does well in regular season and disappoints in the post season.

I'm not stuck in the past with Huggins. I can just clearly see that's it's night and day when comparing him to Cronin. Cronin is fine, but Huggins is on a way different level. You can pretend that isn't the case, but it just is. No purpose in even having this argument honestly. It's that lopsided. Again, if you can't see it, not sure what to tell you.

You also said "One could say [Cronin] is on an upward trend". How do you figure? Since we got into the Sweet 16, he's 0-4 in the NCAA Tournament. And we've only won 1 game in the history of the AAC Tournament. You knock Huggins for lacking postseason success, but you call that an upward trend?