I get a lot of what you're saying. In fact I agree with much of what you said in your most recent post. I'm good but not great at a lot of things but bad at at lot too. One thing I think I am pretty good at is analyzing data, identifying trends and do the research to back it up in a logical, non-emotional manner.
What CUSA basketball is, is really pretty simple to understand. It is just another one bid league whose champion will be the sole NCAA representative and will be seeded somewhere between 11 and 14 in a region.
Agree completely with this. As with anything there may be exceptions to the rule with a possible higher seed or at-large bid in the future, but the days of being a 4 - 6 bid league are largely behind CUSA.
Yes, some teams have an ancient history that is grand, in one case amazing. Those days are long past. Nothing about that matters today.
While WKU has an impressive history, they haven't made the NCAA since joining CUSA. They did make the NIT Final Four in 2018 after we beat them in the conference title game.
When a reference was made here that the MAC was possibly a stronger basketball conference there were a lot on emotionally charged comments bringing up the not so recent history of WKU, ODU, UTEP, etc.
Well the MAC has the some number of NCAA Tournament wins over the last 10 years with a higher winning % than CUSA. During this same time MU is 7-13 against the MAC for a 35% winning percentage. And oh by the way, that standard bearer for CUSA UTEP has a sub .500 winning record over the last 5 years. So yes, I'd say arguably the MAC has recently been a stronger basketball conference than CUSA.
So in essence I agree with your point.
The only other salient point is that, unlike most other conferences, CUSA has basketball teams at all sorts of different levels, including many that should be automatic wins, every time, every year, forever.
Not so sure I agree with this however. Basketball fortunes can change rather rapidly just with the addition or loss of one or two talented players. Look at what Larry Bird did for Indiana State or more recentlywhat Hassan Whiteside did for the Herd.
Every conference will have a bottom third, a middle third and a lower third and CUSA is no exception.. Over the last five years nine separate schools have been included in the bottom 5 of the conference with no school being there for all five years. FAU and USM have been there for four of the five years with FAU having a 17-15 season last year and USM going 20-13 in 2018-2019. Prior to our NCAA appearance MTSU was the team to beat in CUSA. For the last two seasons they have been a cellar dweller. Fortunes can and do rise and fall quickly in college basketball. So no I don't there are automatic wins against specific opponents year in and year out.
That, and the fact that celebrating one win, once, makes us look backward and small time.
I'm Paul Brown old school - don't act surprised when you've scored and appear that you fully expect to score again. While I enjoy history, I am by nature a forward looking person. However I will defend DD and the basketball team when I feel they are being unfairly maligned.
It was and is no easy feat to win the conference tournament. The Herd had to beat a really good WKU team to do it (and yes in true DD fashion. almost let a big lead get away late...). WKU played well in the NIT making the Final Four. They were a good team.
We beat a really good Wichita State team in the NCAA and had the misfortune of playing WVU who was playing very well. They gave Villanova their biggest challenge as they dominated the tournament.
And yes I think if Penava came back we were a legitimate Top 25 team the next season. I am encouraged by how the current team is playing and look forward to next year as well. I've had fun watching DD's teams and hope to be able to for a while longer.
This said we probably agree more than we disagree.