This assertion feels an awful lot like wishful thinking to me.

Part of why VCU and Wichita State were able to turn that corner is that they played in leagues that allowed for multiple bids. There are literally dozens of programs that had nice runs that involved multiple NCAA tournament wins. But very few (if any?!) examples of teams from single bid leagues that became VCU/Wichita State.

Kent State, Bucknell, Vermont, Florida Gulf Coast, George Mason, Weber State, Harvard, Stephen F. Austin, Northern Iowa, Valpo, and Davidson all say hi.

No matter how much we want it to be true, this is basically impossible to pull off in our league.

In no place is it defined that CMU would be anything other than the MAC tourney champs. "Best" is nowhere in the definition. It might be in yours, but that doesn't make it right. We'll agree to disagree.

VCU and Wichita State don't have football teams. I think that is the biggest factor as to why their basketball programs have been consistently better than MAC programs.

I'd agree that I don't think Ohio can turn into Wichita State.

But I think it's reasonable to think that Ohio could, in fact, become like Northern Iowa or Bucknell. A team that goes to the NCAA tourney every 2 or 3 years. Six, ten, 12 year droughts between bids is the norm for this program. They've never ascended past that. Buffalo is there now. Akron has been that for a decade-plus. Kent was that for a long while. Even Miami had a decade of dominance.

Ohio had a four-year splash. And then splat.

Not in any way trying to make excuses for Saul but when so much of your roster is decimated by injury ANY program at ANY D1 program would probably be suffering a similar fate as ours.

Not downplaying Groce’s Sweet16 run but some things that stuck out to me:
- We won the MACC by the razor-thin call as whether Akron (Zeke) tipped in a free-throw or not
- The NCAA match-up was critical. Groce may still be coaching in Athens IF the 1st round match-up had been Mich.State and not Michigan.
- North Carolina’s starting PG was out with injury. Based on comments from some on this board Roy Williams must be a crappy recruiter too since he didn’t have another PG at the ready when his starter went down. Even though North Carolina had a roster of future NBAer’s they got spanked in the Elite 8 game by Kansas. I met North Carolina’s Director of BBall operations last year and he was completely complimentary of OHIO but stated they had NO chance against Kansas without their starting PG.

Go back to our NCAA run of 2010. For those who are critical of Saul’s freshman not being MAC first teamers, Groce’s freshman bigs Reggie and Ivo had 2 or 3 minutes of court time in the Georgetown or Tennessee game. Makes Carter’s performance to me last year all the more impressive when Tone went down. Also go back to Tone’s freshman year-he wasn’t an instant success. Nor was DeVaughn or KVK.

Kirk shows himself to be a scorer. The lack of assists is concerning. May he have been better served being an apprentice under Simmons?

I think the tenor of this board would be entirely different had Simmons came back and the rest of the roster been healthy.

You appear not to understand what logic is. I’m also sorry.

I'd agree that I don't think Ohio can turn into Wichita State.

But I think it's reasonable to think that Ohio could, in fact, become like Northern Iowa or Bucknell. A team that goes to the NCAA tourney every 2 or 3 years. Six, ten, 12 year droughts between bids is the norm for this program. They've never ascended past that. Buffalo is there now. Akron has been that for a decade-plus. Kent was that for a long while. Even Miami had a decade of dominance.

100%. I think it's pretty obvious that the path to big(ger) time basketball involves FCS football for mid-majors. I know it's unpopular around here, but I would vastly prefer that we drop a level in football.

So given the impact it could have on basketball, it seems like a no-brainer to me.

I don't know who he is or which one's his office. Can you just relay what he said here?

I don't know who he is or which one's his office. Can you just relay what he said here?

I actually think the run may have continued had JC stayed. He had a really good recruiting class coming in that next year, all or most of who de-committed after he left. One of them was Tariq Owens who, after starting off at Tenn before transferring, is now averaging 8ppg, 6rpg, and 3.5bpg for St. Johns. I think if JC had stuck around, we may have stayed near that same level for a few more years.

You know, the guy who hired Greg Marshall at Wichita, the perennial mid major powerhouse in men's hoops, has a degree from a perennial Big Tenleven hoops powerhouse, his dad coached at a major NCAA hoops program AND the Los Angeles Lakers, and he is also on the NCAA Tourney Selection committee. AND, he left Wichita because he wanted to be the Athletic Director at an institution that had an FBS football program.

I wonder why he thought it was so important to a guy who has made a career in intercollegiate athletics that he work at an FBS school? For those of you who want to drop to FCS, you should stop by his office in the Convocation Center the next time you are there (or perhaps attend a Caravan event) and ask him why he thinks OHIO should remain in FBS football, because he is smarter than you about these things. I have had that conversation with him, and his rationale makes a lot of sense.

I remember Shaus saying he left Wichita State so he could be closer to his father, who was ailing in W. Va.