Jay Bilas: 3 CUSA teams in top 68

[RhinoD]

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...dex-volume-3-best-68-teams-college-basketball

CUSA getting some mens basketball love from ESPNs hoops guru... MTSU, Western Kentucky and Old Dominion all in the top 68.

 

[bbneutralfan]

All three have solid teams with size, physicality, and experience. Hope some make it - good for CUSA.

 

[islandherdfan]

On XM espn radio today they said Middle Tennessee was the mid major nobody wanted to face in the tourney.

 

[oldeherd]

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...dex-volume-3-best-68-teams-college-basketball

CUSA getting some mens basketball love from ESPNs hoops guru... MTSU, Western Kentucky and Old Dominion all in the top 68.

Ummmm, wonder if last Saturday's result at the CAM influenced Jay's selection of one of those 3??

 

[All4TheHerd]

Ummmm, wonder if last Saturday's result at the CAM influenced Jay's selection of one of those 3??

Wouldn't surprise me...they absolutely pulverized us.

 

[The Real SamC]

Considering the automatic bids that must be taken from lower leagues, the rankings predict CUSA as a one-bid league, with at least two teams in the NIT.

 

[RhinoD]

Considering the automatic bids that must be taken from lower leagues, the rankings predict CUSA as a one-bid league, with at least two teams in the NIT.

That is a very real possibility... I still think Middle could get an at-large bid if they were to lose in the CUSA title game. If they finish with 25 or more wins, a top 50 RPI and three wins over "major" conference teams they would at least have a shot, especially given their tournament performance the last two years.

 

[sistersville]

Wku has been very good but not last year or the year before. They have played ky and louisville well over the years. After back to back bad seasons they landed 2 5 star players. One of them didnt come but they have some very good new comers. That guard "Lee" cant think of his last name starts for the knicks. Seems some compare them to morehead and eastern ky. Morehead and eastern are decent. Morehead has had many teams better than marshall. Farried kid is an nba star. He plays for the nuggets

 

[sistersville]

MTSU has the best coach in our conference.

 

[Chris McLaughlin]

MTSU has the best coach in our conference.

Yep. And unfortunately because of some bad decisions Kermit made at Texas A&M almost 30 years ago, he will probably never leave MTSU.

 

[sistersville]

Fill me in chris. what hapoened?

 

[Chris McLaughlin]

Fill me in chris. what hapoened?

Committed recruiting violations that landed A&M on probation. Believe he was given a two-year show-cause as well.

Davis was a big-time up and comer on the coaching scene before that. Led Idaho to back-to-back NCAA tourney appearances while going 50-12.

 

[sistersville]

Well that was along time ago. I would hire him but then again I voted in a big blue nation poll to hire calipari but that turned out to be a great move instead of a horrible one. Pitino woukd have got ky into trouble. Cal has the best record of any coach since he came to Ky.

 

[Chris McLaughlin]

Well that was along time ago. I would hire him

I agree but it appears to still be a factor.

Davis "only" makes $600Kish/year, which is excellent for a mid-major but a drop in the bucket for a power conference school.

What else could be keeping him at MTSU? He went 129-54 from 2011-2016; played in five straight postseason tournaments and took out Sparty and Minnesota the past two years in the big dance.

 

[ohio herd]

Looks like maybe C-USA isn't as bad as some on here let on

 

[RhinoD]

Looks like maybe C-USA isn't as bad as some on here let on

Its not... At least not at the top... The top 5-6 teams are all solid. The bad thing is that the bottom 7-8 teams are pretty awful.

Very good – MTSU, WKU
Good – Marshall, ODU, UAB
Average – FIU
Bad – So. Miss, UTSA, North Texas
Awful – Charlotte, FAU, Rice, La. Tech, UTEP

 

[The Real SamC]

Its not... At least not at the top... The top 5-6 teams are all solid. The bad thing is that the bottom 7-8 teams are pretty awful.

Very good – MTSU, WKU
Good – Marshall, ODU, UAB
Average – FIU
Bad – So. Miss, UTSA, North Texas
Awful – Charlotte, FAU, Rice, La. Tech, UTEP

You are grading on a curve right there.

 

[All4TheHerd]

Its not... At least not at the top... The top 5-6 teams are all solid. The bad thing is that the bottom 7-8 teams are pretty awful.

Very good – MTSU, WKU
Good – Marshall, ODU, UAB
Average – FIU
Bad – So. Miss, UTSA, North Texas
Awful – Charlotte, FAU, Rice, La. Tech, UTEP

Good that Charlotte is at the bottom. Sweeney said that the fans were not happy "going down" a notch to CUSA in basketball when they were joining. Turns out they just really suck.

 

[oldeherd]

Its not... At least not at the top... The top 5-6 teams are all solid. The bad thing is that the bottom 7-8 teams are pretty awful.

Very good – MTSU, WKU
Good – Marshall, ODU, UAB
Average – FIU
Bad – So. Miss, UTSA, North Texas
Awful – Charlotte, FAU, Rice, La. Tech, UTEP

By season's end LA Tech will end up even or a little better than the 3 "bad" teams on your list. Maybe another team or two will rise to "average", also.

 

[houston herd guy]

calls himself the bilistrator, damn dude you are such a pud. go watch american pie again and see what an idiot the stifmister was (similar self named nickname). at least he did seem to push for a 16 team playoff.

 

[Sash19]

calls himself the bilistrator, damn dude you are such a pud. go watch american pie again and see what an idiot the stifmister was (similar self named nickname). at least he did seem to push for a 16 team playoff.

Do you watch basketball? Dude might be a douchebag but he knows the game and played it at the highest level. Add in he is an attorney and an author and in doubt he qualifies as the stifmeister.....far from however a douchebag for sure

 

[SpaceRaider]

...

What else could be keeping him at MTSU? ...

Read this article and you'll understand.

 

[Herd Fever]

Good that Charlotte is at the bottom. Sweeney said that the fans were not happy "going down" a notch to CUSA in basketball when they were joining. Turns out they just really suck.

I just hope we can smart and boot them from the conference one day. They have been a horrible addition.

 

[RhinoD]

I just hope we can smart and boot them from the conference one day. They have been a horrible addition.

This will never happen... For many reasons, but primarily because they are good at the Olympic sports and they are a rapidly growing university (unlike us). Also they do have some pretty decent tradition in basketball, they just happen to be in a down cycle (think of MU football during Snyder). There are too many good high school basketball players in the Charlotte metro area for them to be "down" for too long. They need to make a good coaching hire after the season is over and reboot with some local NC/SC talent.