We have too Many Distractions

*cough*

MIAMI

You know, that little Elite Eight team.
Apologies, here I was thinking UConn won it this year. My mistake.

Regardless, about 3 or 4 posters have proven I was off course in what I said.
You’re right about Miami also.
 
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Suppose about the only schools from major metropolitan areas to have won it all, Villanova, Georgetown, UCLA? Would Louisville be a major metro? Syracuse?
Nova is in the equivalent of Eden Prarie, definitely would not consider it part of Philadelphia (at least not in the way Georgetown is in DC - - I'm not familiar with LA).
 

Nova is in the equivalent of Eden Prarie, definitely would not consider it part of Philadelphia (at least not in the way Georgetown is in DC - - I'm not familiar with LA).
Ok. I assumed being part of the Big Five had them in Philly.
 

Ok. I assumed being part of the Big Five had them in Philly.

Yes, Villanova is the one Big Five school that's located in the suburbs.

Speaking of the old Big Five, though, there's another old winner from a city school that I forgot: La Salle won a championship in the mid-fifties with Tom Gola. They reached the title game two years in a row but lost to San Francisco in the second appearance.
 


I think looking over the history of national champions should also give us more hope for Minnesota. It is easy to feel like the short to medium term is permanent, and you look at the group of schools that have contended over the last few decades and assume that will always be the group of teams contending into perpetuity. But you go back 40, 50, 60, 70 years, the list looks very different. Mayne the list several decades on the future looks just as different, and maybe we are in the mix. You don't have to go far back in history to find a point where you would have been laughed out of the room for saying "I think Gonzaga is going to become one of the most successful teams in terms of consistently making deep tourney runs, and texas will be in the SEC and USC will be in the Big Ten." Things change.
 



I think looking over the history of national champions should also give us more hope for Minnesota. It is easy to feel like the short to medium term is permanent, and you look at the group of schools that have contended over the last few decades and assume that will always be the group of teams contending into perpetuity. But you go back 40, 50, 60, 70 years, the list looks very different. Mayne the list several decades on the future looks just as different, and maybe we are in the mix. You don't have to go far back in history to find a point where you would have been laughed out of the room for saying "I think Gonzaga is going to become one of the most successful teams in terms of consistently making deep tourney runs, and texas will be in the SEC and USC will be in the Big Ten." Things change.
I've been meaning to post this sentiment at some point, and this is probably the right conversation to register it in.

The 21st century has been lean for Gopher men's basketball. It's easy to get in the mindset that that's how it's always been or that's the only way it can be--especially if you're younger and weren't around in better days. The truth is that, at least once during each decade of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, the Gophers were a legitimate national title contender. That doesn't support the narrative that you can't win in Minneapolis. It's not the supposed historical wasteland of losing that some people point to as proof that we'll never be any good.

I understand where some people are coming from when they talk about disadvantages, but every place has their own disadvantages. Like some have noted, even the idylic paradise of Westwood (UCLA) is in the middle of a troubled city. Does anyone think that West Lafayette is any kind of great place? I don't.
 




Yes, Villanova is the one Big Five school that's located in the suburbs.

Speaking of the old Big Five, though, there's another old winner from a city school that I forgot: La Salle won a championship in the mid-fifties with Tom Gola. They reached the title game two years in a row but lost to San Francisco in the second appearance.
North Carolina, NC State, and Duke are all from same mid size metro. I guess UNC is really like the burbs.
 

It’s not Ben’s fault. No one can succeed here.
The list of coaches wanting to take the men's bb job is getting shorter. Pitino was way down the list and cbj had to be low too although Coyle wouldn't admit it. Agree it wasn't Ben's fault he was hired by Coyle. However, that can't be a reason to keep him.
 

Probably has nothing to do with great coaching hires in their history. I'm sure it's just the 'distractions'.

1936–45[7]Don White994–59.614
1945–46[7]Blair Gullion214–7.667
1946–63[7]Hugh Greer17287–113.718
1963[7]George Wigton (interim)111–4.733
1963–67[7]Fred Shabel472–29.713
1967–69[7]Burr Carlson216–32.333
1969–77[7]Donald "Dee" Rowe8120–88.577
1977–86[7]Dominic "Dom" Perno9139–114.549
1986–2012[7]Jim Calhoun26625–243.720
2012–2018Kevin Ollie6127–79.617
2018–presentDan Hurley585–47.644
 






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