March Sadness

USF is a good team. Probably could have been seeded higher.

They went away with the Mid90’s winning that Joby & Herb brought to Oxford

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Lol. How’s he on the BOT? WTF?

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Toledo ladies make it March Sadness for Iowa State. Second 12-5 upset of the day on the WBB side. That doesn’t happen as MBB.

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The lack of upsets is because the top 16 teams get to host 4 team pods and thus play their first 2 game at home. What upsets there are usually happen when two of the teams in the pod get matched up with another team in the pod other than the home team. That is what happened with #12 seed Toledo playing #5 seed Iowa State. Great win for the Rockets.

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It’s way past time for the Women’s Tournament to move away from home sites. It delegitimizes the tourney.

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Especially now that they’ve earned equal status.

Can’t tell you how happy I’d be if USF beat USC today.

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Earned it on what basis? Attendance? TV viewers? Dollars generated? Ability to self-support itself within an athletic department. I’ve had women’s basketball shoved down my throat my entire adult life, and it’s still a niche, money-losing sport. So go ahead and treat it just like the men’s tournament. Just be prepared for an opening weekend of games where all the stands look like an Ohio State hockey game.

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Argue with the NCAA and TV. They’ve recently accorded the sport an equal footing as the men’s tournament. You get what you negotiate, not necessarily what you deserve. In that regard, they earned it.

And the sport is growing in popularity and in some places it actually does outdraw the men’s program - Stanford, South Carolina and Washington to name a few.

South Carolina’s women’s team draws more than all but 14 men’s teams.

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Iowa’s women sold out every home game this year.

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Did Toledo’s women average more than our men? Too lazy to check.

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Women’s basketball has been “…shoved down my throat.” Guess your TV didn’t come with a remote.

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I dont think Miami basketball fans should make fun of other preferences since it is a niche soort too

But I will give an example of how womens basketball is shoved down our throats- the espn app scoreboard. You have to read the fine print during the regular season to see if the score is mens or womens. If anyone has a suggestion on how I can avoid the womens scores please let me know

Go to “scores “ at the bottom of the ESPN home page and pick what you want from the tabs at the top. You only have to look at scores you want to.

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Very few college sports justify a national tournament played exclusively at neutral sites. Even hockey has the infamous “host” rule that shipped us out East for some de facto away games. The current situation isn’t as ridiculous as it’d be if the Big Ten played its men’s basketball tourney all at home arenas, though the women’s sport is probably big enough that they justify an all-neutral arrangement.

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The BoT are (on average because I’m sure not everyone is, but the ones I’ve met are) a collection of people who took a position for social status and to increase the visibility of their businesses. Politicians trying to get votes. Consultants looking for new clients. People who want another line on their resume.

MBB since Sayler was hired:

  • fire Cooper
  • hire Owens
  • locker room improvements
  • lighting improvements
  • fundraising for practice facility
  • fundraising for court reno
  • fire Owens
  • hire Steele

Sayler’s biggest mistake was hiring Owens, a coach who gave us our first winning record since '09. A coach who led us to our first post-season appearance in ages and a win against an ACC program. A coach who pulled in Sibande, Adaway, Brown, and Grant, our best pro prospects in a long time. It was a C- hire. What would you have done differently? Fire Cooper sooner? BoT is who approves buyouts. Build the practice facility before the funds have been raised? BoT is who set the rules around how much money needs to be raised before breaking ground. Renovate Millett without the full funds? Again, BoT.

Policy issues that are decided by the BoT.

Because the BoT haven’t seen athletics as a value add to the university. They have the final say on coaches, buildings, budget, etc. @CalOHawk, I replied after I said I wouldn’t because I want to make sure I clarify that I really like the idea of finding the people responsible for letting athletics slip. However, those people response are, in my opinion, the board of trustees. And I’d rather not give the BoT more authority over anything related to athletics. With their track record, the end result might not be something we want. Like @Love_and_Honor mentioned, I was there during the, “who is Jack Owens” comment. I doubt any UC board members ask, “who’s Wes Miller?”

@Mid90sGlory - re: your bleacher question, Steele has already talked about it. Said the current layout of Millett is one of the friendliest he’s seen and there will be changes before next season.

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Wonderful - thanks for the update JiveHawk - glad to hear we are addressing the bleacher/court set-up. Millett isn’t amazing, but some adjustments around the court can hopefully make for a more imposing environment.

The first minute of this video clip shows what the bleacher section used to be - nothing too earth-shattering - but it got a bunch of students close to the court. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmkgCqxSQgs

This may show it better - go to 1:06 in this video to watch the Miami highlights. Millett was amazing on this night! [1998 Cincinnati at Rhode Island/Tennessee at Miami OH November 19 - YouTube]

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After upsetting Iowa State, Toledo - dominating on the MAC women’s side this season - lost to Tennessee 94-47 tonight. There aren’t any - or many - mid-majors left. Not much parity in the women’s game yet.