MBB season. In football it's championship or bust. Making the NCAA tournament is the ultimate goal of every NCAA team. Of course advancing when you get there is huge, but getting your ticket punched gets a banner.
Wrong. By “championship” do you mean conference, or national? Either way, of the 130 I-A teams, probably 100, maybe 110, have zero shot at the national championship. Certainly many don’t even have a shot at their conference. You think UK or Vandy is EVER going to win the SEC? WVU or Oklahoma St. the Big 12? Purdue or Indiana or Rutgers the Big 10? Any of three fourths of the ACC? Nah.
Because the goal in football is, for most schools, to go to a bowl and win that bowl.
MU, one of the smallest public schools in I-A, is already awesome just by being I-A. Lots of schools bigger and with better situations cower in I-AA or below. And we consistently go to bowl, win most of the time, and are in the upper half of I-A all the time. Just existing at this level is over-achieving.
Now on to basketball. Wrong. Making the tournament is not the “ultimate goal”. UK happy with that? Duke? Louisville? But even below that, you think Dayton would be happy to get a participation trophy AKA banner? WVU? Ohio State? Wichita? San Diego St? Gonzaga? No, the goal is to win for the blue bloods, but even at the mid-major level, the goal should be to win at least a game, and sometimes more. That is why people watch the games. If just making it was the “ultimate goal” then they wouldn’t even play the games.
But more importantly there are 350 Div I basketball programs. Plenty of schools far smaller than MU, far less resources, far worse situations. Of course, MU is Div I in basketball. It is supposed to be? We should be in the Mountain East with Concord and Fairmont?
I am not, nor is anyone else saying we have a great shot at winning the national championship in basketball. What I’m saying is if you get into the NCAA tournament you at least have a chance. I don’t care if it’s a .00000000000001% chance it’s still a chance. 2 seasons ago we were down to the final 32 teams playing for the NC in basketball. It was amazing. None of us thought we would win the championship but we were there and we had a chance.
Football will never have that chance at Marshall. The Access Bowl is the only thing that would come close from a national perspective. That isn’t a slam on football nor is it a slam of Doc. It’s just reality for G5’s.
You are absolutely right. There are only 20 to 30 teams that have even a shot at the national championship. If that is all you think about, then MU sports are just not for you. If you are Catholic, become a Notre Dame fan. If not, pick one. Clemson, Alabama, Auburn, or go for a long shot like Texas A&M or Florida. MU football is just not for you. Having a good record and going to a bowl is not for you. Move on.
But in basketball you are happy, every 30 years, to wear the dark jerseys for one game, or one time actually 2, in some basketball tournament where everybody has a “chance” but the same 10 teams always actually win. That satisfies you.
So, being an average to a little larger than average sized school in a group of 350 plus schools and once in a generation playing in the just under 20% of those that “have a chance” is fine. Being one of the smallest public schools in a group of 130 and, every year, being in the top 45 or so % of those, and most years, being in the upper half of those is not interesting to you. Got it.
This isn’t for you . Move on.