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Men's Basketball Picked to Finish 11th

Hey now... CUSA isn't the worst league out there, we were ranked 9th out of 10 last year... (Thanks to the MAC for being an absolute dumpster fire)

It's true that CUSA exists because of football and the associated TV revenue. Sam's falacy is that CUSA is any good at football (it's not) and/or that all of the schools in the league care about football (they don't).

The ACC also exists because of football (remember they realigned for TV markets/dollars as well)... Would anyone in their right mind argue that ACC football is better than ACC basketball? Of course not... CUSA was created by football, but it's better at basketball. Just watch the games.

I don’t know about yore ACC take.
Currently both football and basketball national championships reside with the ACC. ;):D
 
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Silly Sam - Football can only dream of an upward trend in attendance over the last 5 seasons! I'll leave it to you to come up with the actual #'s, but here are the NCAA stats for the last 5 seasons at the butterfly:
2014-15 5107 17games
2015-16 5473
2016-17 5815
2017-18 5485 (?) that number doesn't seem right, but that is what it says...
2018-19 6065 19 games
2019-20 ???

so, last season MU fans filled the Cam to an average .673 of capacity. Looking at the seasonal increase, that means with 19 home games, a total of 11,400 more through the door. So 600 more fans each game, buying tickets, concessions & merchandise - how much income does that create?

For football, .673 would mean avg attendance in the Joan would have to avg 25,776. Maybe we are averaging that, didn't look it up. Maybe avg b-ball attendance will drop this season, but I wouldn't bet on it. How has football attendance been over the last 5 seasons? Even you with your rigidity of thought might agree that packing the house in basketball doesn't happen over night.


So what do you think the low live gate will be for this 11th place basketball team?

My first guess would be December 11th, against the mighty Big Blues of Bluefield State College, but school is still in session and the team might be as good at 2-5 or even 3-4 at that time. So, probably a weeknight game in the predicted third pod of this silly pod system.

When you say the team - are you referring to MU or BSC? Holiday attendance would tend to be lower, of course. What I am looking at is the average attendance for the upcoming season... The Pod portion of the season doesn't start until middle of February - lots of ball to come!! You impress me as the kind of "fan" of the Herd who, having flipped the channel on your Titanium cable package over to the waning moments of a game, with Marshall up 1 on the road and the other team launches a 3 pt attempt at the buzzer, would be hoping the shot goes in so we lose and then you can come on here and gloat...am I right? You don't have to answer that one - we all know what the Wizard of the Interweb would do!!
 
I don’t understand the “mediocrity” in basketball argument. Three straight 20+ win seasons, two CUSA tourney championship game appearances, one a CUSA championship, one NCAA tourney appearance and win(round of 32), CIT championship(in my book the equivalent of MU Bowl wins in football). If that is mediocre, one has to admit the program was even less than mediocre before DD.
 
80+ football teams out 130 get into a bowl 64 out of well over 300 get NCAA bids

Your point is?
MU has to win CUSA to make the meaningful NCAA tournament.
MU football doesn't have to in order to play post-season.
It was asked who gets more. Football does. Doesn't matter how or what allows it so, it does.
 
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It's true that CUSA exists because of football and the associated TV revenue.

Of course.

Sam's falacy is that CUSA is any good at football (it's not)

And that is the core belief that is necessary to be in the anti-Doc crew.

and/or that all of the schools in the league care about football (they don't).

Every team in CUSA is in CUSA to play football. That simple. If they did not care about football, they would drop a level or drop the sport and find refuge in a far more geographically logical home.

The ACC also exists because of football

Nope. The only P5 league that exists for football is the Big 12, or better put the Big 2, Little 8, created to provide 8 homecomings/year for Texas and Oklahoma, and, yet, even it has very good basketball. The G5 leagues, however, all exist just for football. If the schools were not interested in being at the I-A level in FOOTBALL, they would do something about it. Basketball, and everything else, is along for the ride.

CUSA was created by football, but it's better at basketball.

Watching garbage and being actually convinced that is something other than it is, is delusion worthy of a Spamite. Please. CUSA basketball is a one-bid league of mostly obscure teams. We should dominate it.
 
I don’t understand the “mediocrity” in basketball argument. Three straight 20+ win seasons, two CUSA tourney championship game appearances, one a CUSA championship, one NCAA tourney appearance and win(round of 32), CIT championship(in my book the equivalent of MU Bowl wins in football). If that is mediocre, one has to admit the program was even less than mediocre before DD.

Apparently its the same across the board, or should be.
3 straight 10+ win seasons. 6-0 bowl record. 1 conference title in 2 appearances. Post-season top 25 ranking. Several individual player records broken.
Compare that to basketball and its about as even as can realistically be.
Except one is mediocre because nobody likes the head coach and the other is from a head coach everyone likes and thus is "on the rise."
 
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Of course.



And that is the core belief that is necessary to be in the anti-Doc crew.



Every team in CUSA is in CUSA to play football. That simple. If they did not care about football, they would drop a level or drop the sport and find refuge in a far more geographically logical home.



Nope. The only P5 league that exists for football is the Big 12, or better put the Big 2, Little 8, created to provide 8 homecomings/year for Texas and Oklahoma, and, yet, even it has very good basketball. The G5 leagues, however, all exist just for football. If the schools were not interested in being at the I-A level in FOOTBALL, they would do something about it. Basketball, and everything else, is along for the ride.



Watching garbage and being actually convinced that is something other than it is, is delusion worthy of a Spamite. Please. CUSA basketball is a one-bid league of mostly obscure teams. We should dominate it.

UConn is what may become for several programs who want to maintain an identity.
Basketball is the absolute driving force for that school and they realized, real quickly, that football isn't covering it for them financially...thus they dropped out.
There was talk of Villanova possibly moving up their football status. Doesn't seem to be happening now for one, finances are a drain, two, they seem content with basketball status and focusing primarily on that.
CUSA brought in teams for several reasons, however, the schools' motivation for joining is for football. Only a select few schools would join a conference for anything else and CUSA isn't composed of any.
 
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Of course.



And that is the core belief that is necessary to be in the anti-Doc crew.



Every team in CUSA is in CUSA to play football. That simple. If they did not care about football, they would drop a level or drop the sport and find refuge in a far more geographically logical home.



Nope. The only P5 league that exists for football is the Big 12, or better put the Big 2, Little 8, created to provide 8 homecomings/year for Texas and Oklahoma, and, yet, even it has very good basketball. The G5 leagues, however, all exist just for football. If the schools were not interested in being at the I-A level in FOOTBALL, they would do something about it. Basketball, and everything else, is along for the ride.



Watching garbage and being actually convinced that is something other than it is, is delusion worthy of a Spamite. Please. CUSA basketball is a one-bid league of mostly obscure teams. We should dominate it.

Hell, football broke up the Big East...Boeheim was ticked about leaving and felt basketball was being overlooked in terms of its value.
 
I don’t understand the “mediocrity” in basketball argument. Three straight 20+ win seasons, two CUSA tourney championship game appearances, one a CUSA championship, one NCAA tourney appearance and win(round of 32), CIT championship(in my book the equivalent of MU Bowl wins in football). If that is mediocre, one has to admit the program was even less than mediocre before DD.

The program did suck pretty badly before DD got here.
If anything the talent was massively underutilized.
 
Compare that to basketball and its about as even as can realistically be.
Except one is mediocre because nobody likes the head coach and the other is from a head coach everyone likes and thus is "on the rise."

Yes. The anti-Doc crew would be a lot more helpful to MU over-all if they would just say, or admit to themselves, that they really just don’t like Doc. Be it his WVU ties, his non-people pleasing personality, that they want BP back at 80, or whatever; and that they love Danny and want to believe this whole “local hero” meme is true, like his Amway salesman optimism, and his people pleasing ways.

It would be a lot more helpful that having to twist their perceptions into believing that MU should win every football game, because it should, because MU is supposed to win, but that is no accomplishment; but that the steaming pile that is CUSA basketball is so awesome that 11th is acceptable.
 
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It would be a lot more helpful that having to twist their perceptions into believing that MU should win every football game, because it should, because MU is supposed to win, but that is no accomplishment; but that the steaming pile that is CUSA basketball is so awesome that 11th is acceptable.

Care to provide a quote from anyone on this board saying that 11th is acceptable?
 
Care to provide a quote from anyone on this board saying that 11th is acceptable?

Random seriously don’t even try to figure Sam out, it will just give you heart burn. I love the fact that everybody in sams eyes are anti doc yet the guy has coached here 10 years.

For the millionth time Sam and I guarantee you will ignore this again like you always do. The reason Dan gets more of a pass is because MU basketball has been mediocre to bad for 30 years. Basketball doesn’t get a quarter of the budget football gets. But with that Dan has won a CUSA tournament and a game in the NCAA tournament which no coach in our history has done. That’s why.

When Stan Parish was here he got a parade because he went 6-5. He was loved. You know why because we sucked in football for decades. Yes the crash had some to do with it but we sucked well before the crash. There were nobody to compare him to. So the fact he won 6 games was a huge accomplishment.

if the last 30 years Marshall basketball had been like MU football. Conference championships, putting kids in the NBA winning NCAA tournament games, having Naismith award winner finalists, etc etc etc. then Danny would be getting a heck of a lot more crap for only winning one CUSA tournament championship and having some of the blow out losses we have had. I guarantee it.

From 1987 to 2004 Marshall football won championships, put several kids in the NFL, beat the number 6 team in the country built a great stadium, weight room, IPF etc. Doc makes way more money than any HC we have ever had including a head coach who is in the college football hall of fame. So of course given that the expectations for Doc are ten times higher than the basketball coach.

Any coach that came in and did what Dan has done in basketball would be getting the same treatment.
 
Obi - who would you like to see us play instead? We have some pretty tough game on the pre-conference slate already...

I don't have an issue with the schedule. I think there are always some good non conference games. I just don't see the need to play a WVC team. That accomplishes nothing but bad PR. It's kind of.... embarrassing
 
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I don't have an issue with the schedule. I think there are always some good non conference games. I just don't see the need to play a WVC team. That accomplishes nothing but bad PR. It's kind of.... embarrassing

You can only play someone who agrees to play you. From my understanding, they held out for a D-1 home opponent as long as absolutely possible before settling for the MEC school.

There really is only so much you can do.
 
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What “consensus” ? Most guides and other polls say about the same. A meaningless, losing season.

But you are accepting of “better than that”, meaning “better than eleventh”. The definition of accepting mediocrity.



There is no doubt that the mediocrity accepting fan base accepted the bad performance of coach after coach, including Greg White, the meme around him we are now seeing repeated.

But “improved”? “Upward trajectory”? Really? One special week and a half, and the rest pure mediocrity. But “upward”? Finish 4th, win tournament, followed by lost season ending in ridiculous pay-to-play deal; 11th. That is, umm, downward.



See that is the deal that the Doc hate crew has to buy into. It is just not true.

First, CUSA exists for football. The ONLY theme holding the deal together is a desire of the member schools to play football at the same level. Nothing else. Each has a different relationship to basketball, ranging from the better ones you mention to a third of the league that makes no effort at all at basketball. The idea that CUSA is anything but a one-bid lower mid-major fourth tier league in basketball, with at least 4 teams not really trying, is just wrong. This league is easy to dominate, which is what we should be doing.

Second, yes, thanks to our wonderful AD, we have great facilities. Including in basketball. When you cannot sell 9.5K, what do you need with more? The arena is just fine. Travel has improved (thanks MH and Jimmy J). Basketball has everything it needs. What, exactly, save a dedicated practice facility which is coming, do we need?

Third, yes, we have great fans. MU, among the smallest public colleges in I-A, is in I-A because of the best fan base in the country. Fans that would be there for basketball, if there was anything to see. There just isn’t.

Eleventh.
its a rebuilding year. Kind of exciting.
 
You can only play someone who agrees to play you. From my understanding, they held out for a D-1 home opponent as long as absolutely possible before settling for the MEC school.

There really is only so much you can do.
You are absolutely 100% correct. I spoke with Mark Cline many times over the spring and summer about scheduling. He named numerous schools he tried and failed to get to play us at home. Danny has gone on record many times of saying how he didn't want to play a D2 but you don't leave an open date just to avoid that.
 
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You are absolutely 100% correct. I spoke with Mark Cline many times over the spring and summer about scheduling. He named numerous schools he tried and failed to get to play us at home. Danny has gone on record many times of saying how he didn't want to play a D2 but you don't leave an open date just to avoid that.

Then why does it continue to happen every year? Also, I would rather play a good team on the road than a WVC team any time. It's a lose lose situation
 
As far as Bluefield State (which is not in the MEC, BTW) goes, who really cares? As the 11th place team in a one-bid league, what does it matter? RPI, or whatever they call it now, certainly won’t matter. The goal, if there is one, would be to find 15 to 18 wins, enough to pay to play.
 
Then why does it continue to happen every year? Also, I would rather play a good team on the road than a WVC team any time. It's a lose lose situation

I agree with your premise, but scheduling extra road games to get a D1 opponent isn't all gravy... First, road games cost money. Second, depending on the quality of opponent you may take a loss and never get a return game (any P5/Big East team). Third if you schedule a one-off road game with a team of "lesser caliber" just because they are D1, you lose future negotiating power.

Also, the game in question (Bluefield College this year, previously Pikeville, etc.) is to the best of my recollection always played on the open date during finals week. It's a gimme win to keep the guys sharp. Would it be better to play an OVC team or a So Con team during that date? – Sure. But only if they are coming to Huntington, thus the conundrum.
 
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Then why does it continue to happen every year? Also, I would rather play a good team on the road than a WVC team any time. It's a lose lose situation
Then maybe you should relieve Mark Cline and Jeff O'Malley in scheduling. They try and try to get games. How many money games on the road do you want? I think 2 is adequate. Other than that who would you play that we haven't already tried to get? We got the CofC series and the first game is here. That was a good get. I can name scores of schools that we tried to get that had no interest in playing us in Huntington. Do you want a one and done on the road at ETSU for no money?
 
Scheduling, generally, should consist of money games (I would call them step up games, but that implies we would have a chance to win, which we do not), even games, and what should be walk overs. This year’s is fine. Bluefield State is regrettable, if you have to go DII, then at least get WVU Tech or WV State for the name, or just play Harvey High, which can bring 100 fans or so. Given the huge CUSA footprint, there is no reason to travel long distance non-conference, so the assorted MACers and OVCers are fine. Duquesne is fine, etc. Northern Iowa seems like a lot of trip. Never understood why we never get in one of those holiday deals in some beach place or Las Vegas. Although as a certain drag on everyone’s RPI, we cannot be choosers.
 
I agree with your premise, but scheduling extra road games to get a D1 opponent isn't all gravy... First, road games cost money. Second, depending on the quality of opponent you may take a loss and never get a return game (any P5/Big East team). Third if you schedule a one-off road game with a team of "lesser caliber" just because they are D1, you lose future negotiating power.

Also, the game in question (Bluefield College this year, previously Pikeville, etc.) is to the best of my recollection always played on the open date during finals week. It's a gimme win to keep the guys sharp. Would it be better to play an OVC team or a So Con team during that date? – Sure. But only if they are coming to Huntington, thus the conundrum.

1- it doesn't cost THAT much to go play basketball somewhere semi-local.
2- Basketball is not football, do we really need to complain about the reciprocity of playing?
3- RPI and the like use road games against quality of opponents in the same context of winning home games against crappy teams. They actually DO pay attention to that, ESPECIALLY if you can upset the team. I would rather have the chance to do it.

The committee looks at quality wins as huge factors. Yes I know it is a one bid league, but there are definitely times they have considered 2. For instance, perhaps a season of 21-6 with a road win against an Illinois and a Virginia Tech... thats a resume that would be looked at. So I 100% don't agree with the money argument and 100% don't agree with the reciprocity argument. I understand the 1 for 1 or 2 for 1 argument with football... but not in basketball.
 
[QUOTE=" I can name scores of schools that we tried to get that had no interest in playing us in Huntington. Do you want a one and done on the road at ETSU for no money?[/QUOTE]

Absolutely.. my goal is the NCAA tourney, not to be able to feel elated about a big name coming to Huntington
 
Iran Bennet will be key to the season. If he can perform at a consistently high level every game, MU will win the conference. The inside game will be much more relied upon than in previous years. Marco will be rookie of year in CUSA. Harris will continue to gain playing time. Just some idle thoughts from a first time poster.
 
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[QUOTE=" I can name scores of schools that we tried to get that had no interest in playing us in Huntington. Do you want a one and done on the road at ETSU for no money?

Absolutely.. my goal is the NCAA tourney, not to be able to feel elated about a big name coming to Huntington[/QUOTE]
Unfortunately, we need money and a home gave vs Bluefield State will bring in more than what ETSU could pay. PLUS, many fans just enjoy being able to go to home games vs listening to away games.
 
Absolutely.. my goal is the NCAA tourney, not to be able to feel elated about a big name coming to Huntington
Unfortunately, we need money and a home gave vs Bluefield State will bring in more than what ETSU could pay. PLUS, many fans just enjoy being able to go to home games vs listening to away games.[/QUOTE]

I understand and we can agree to disagree on this one... I would rather better our chances for the dance than be able to attend another soft home game.
 
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