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Post by HoyaSinceBirth on Mar 2, 2006 22:18:44 GMT -5
amen edge!
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HealyHoya
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Victory!!!
Posts: 1,059
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Post by HealyHoya on Mar 2, 2006 23:07:06 GMT -5
Oh my God it's the NATIONAL tournament! We could get NATIONAL exposure! Our most fertile recruiting ground is on the eastern seaboard. If success in the NCAA tournament was all recruits cared about, Jeff Green would be at UMD. (Of course, to be fair, we weren't beating anyone in the BET when Jeff signed on either.) We will hopefully play UConn and Villanova at MCI next season -- what does a win over a Pac-10 team do to fill the building for those games? Does it do more than creating bad blood by beating one of those teams in the finals of the BET? What did getting to the Sweet 16 in '01 do for this program in '01-'02? What did it do for the program and the fan base in '01? Allow some dude in Boise to wear his Hoya tie to work and taunt his Arkansas-grad co-worker? Did the entire nation get up and collectively scream "Oh my God the Hoyas are great, we'd better run out and buy merchandise and next year's season tickets!" No, because that kind of stuff only happens in the Final Four, maybe the Elite Eight. Why was beating Syracuse better than beating Duke (per JTIII)? The latter gave us more national exposure. Programs are built upon conference titles (and yes, Giga, I'd rather have the regular season title, too). Programs are not built on NCAA tournament appearances, or even making the Sweet 16, as we saw in 2001. I could give a F about national exposure. All that means is the idiots at ESPN are hyping us because we won a few games, and some schmucks in Portland, Boca Raton, El Paso, etc., etc. are believing them. Meanwhile, the 'Cuse fans sit around and talk about how overrated we are, how ESPN is giving us unwarranted dap, and how they're going to kill us next season. Kind of like we did with West Virginia (I'm looking at you, Giga) this season. I'd rather punch the neighborhood bully in the face than some national/international/intercontinental/intergalactic bully. It's what you do in your own community that builds pride and a rep. |
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SirSaxa
Silver Hoya (over 500 posts)
Posts: 747
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Post by SirSaxa on Mar 2, 2006 23:20:24 GMT -5
Giga and Big Dog,
as I say to my friends,
you're entitled to your opinions,
no matter how wrong you are!
LOL!
Looked at another way,
Cuse and Nova both made the NCAAs and neither had anything to show for it as they were both knocked out before the Final Four. Who will remember what round?
Syracuse, on the other hand, won their fourth BET Title and first in quite some time. That will certainly be mentioned during the BET coverage. If and when we face UCONN, they will talk about the two BE programs with the most BET Titles... 6 for GU and 6 for UCONN.
As for the BET vs. the Conference season best record, well... it is great to have the best record for the season, but it is pretty disappointing to have the season best mark and lose in the BET. Besides, how a team is playing at the end of the season -- and in the BET -- is a lot more important than how they started.
We play in the Big East and if we care about it, we should want to win it.
Going to NYC, to MSG and having our conference final as a featured national TV game means a lot more than just being another team in the NCAAs... one of 64. There will be 48 NCAA games broadcast that first weekend... none of them will get a lot of attention....no where near what the BET final will get.
But lastly..... I have to add one more thing.
Since Gigafan made it possible for me to attend the 'Cuse game in DC last Saturday and I am eternally grateful for that..... whatever he says goes!
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GIGAFAN99
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 4,487
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Post by GIGAFAN99 on Mar 2, 2006 23:26:11 GMT -5
SirSaxa, it's my pleasure.
But for the record, like Brinkley, everyone is entitled to my opinion.
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Big Dog
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 3,912
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Post by Big Dog on Mar 3, 2006 1:08:26 GMT -5
thank goodness the voters have come to their senses.
the main problem is that the pain of not winning the BET title is far more tolerable than the pain that being a top 3 or 4 seed and not surviving the first weekend would be. you can't just factor that out of the question.
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Madgesdiq
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,434
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Post by Madgesdiq on Mar 3, 2006 2:21:42 GMT -5
thank goodness the voters have come to their senses. the main problem is that the pain of not winning the BET title is far more tolerable than the pain that being a top 3 or 4 seed and not surviving the first weekend would be. you can't just factor that out of the question. The pain of blowing that Big East final game to UConn still has not gone away. For me, that hurt way more than the loss to UMass in the tourney that year. The only more painful game for me is the 1989 Regional Final loss to Puke. For sheer atmosphere and fan excitement, no NCAA game prior to the regional finals matches up with a BE championship game at the Garden. I got over the second round loss to Xavier as a #2 seed around 2 seconds after Tillman's potential game tying 3 bounced out. I think some here don't care about winning the BE tourney, becasue GU has been in such a drought, that you forget what it is like to win one. 8 Big East teams have won the BET since Georgetown's last win. |
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SirSaxa
Silver Hoya (over 500 posts)
Posts: 747
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Post by SirSaxa on Mar 3, 2006 9:58:44 GMT -5
I think some here don't care about winning the BE tourney, becasue GU has been in such a drought, that you forget what it is like to win one. Exactly! We won 6 of the first 10. But it has been 17 years since we won the last one. A BET Title has lasting value. We WANT to win our own conference, the best in America!! |
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Post by FrazierFanatic on Mar 3, 2006 11:34:29 GMT -5
Boy, the boredom of this long stretch between games is going to have us at each other's throats! Let's win the Big East, get a surprise (to everyone but us) spot in the Final Four, and live happily ever after.
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Boz
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
123 Fireballs!
Posts: 10,355
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Post by Boz on Mar 3, 2006 11:45:54 GMT -5
The question is moot.
The chances of the Big East tournament champion losing in the first round of the NCAA tournament are beyond slim.
If you assume (as history has shown) that the BET champ will come from the top 4 seeds, then the BET champ also will be absolutely no lower than a 4 seed in the NCAAS, most likely higher.
Not that it never happens, of course, but top 4 seeds don't lose all that often in the first round.
So, give me the BET title every day of the week and twice on Sunday (or Saturday night, to be precise) because it means we stand a pretty damn good chance of being Sweet 16 or better.
Yes, yes, I know it was a hypothetical, but I refuse to accept the premise. Kind of like how I feel about global warming & The Day After Tomorrow. ;D
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Post by FromTheBeginning on Mar 3, 2006 13:34:32 GMT -5
Now you're talking!!
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SirSaxa
Silver Hoya (over 500 posts)
Posts: 747
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Post by SirSaxa on Mar 3, 2006 15:18:30 GMT -5
Big Dog and GIGAFAN.
I have another way of looking at this.
Next Saturday night when we meet up at Cafe 31, I am going to ask you guys this question.
"Before we head across the street and into the Garden for tonight's BET FINAL against 'Nova with a chance for our first BET crown in 17 years, would you rather win tonight? or would you trade it (a la Damn Yankees) to get to the Sweet Sixteen?"
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GUMBA
Silver Hoya (over 500 posts)
Posts: 737
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Post by GUMBA on Mar 3, 2006 18:03:28 GMT -5
Everytime you see a news story about a team in March it includes a quote like "the last time they made it to the..." Sweet 16, Elite Eight, Final Four, you name it. Or something like "they lost in the first round in..." You hardly ever see stories that reference BET performance because the only people that care are the conference foes that lost. We should want to win on the national stage. Do well on the Big East stage but not at the sacrifice of the Big Dance.
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jackdog74
Bulldog (over 250 posts)
Posts: 343
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Post by jackdog74 on Mar 3, 2006 18:29:05 GMT -5
It's been 10 years since the '96 disaster against UConn. I still can not talk about it rationally.
Big East Tournament Championship. By far.
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Highsmith
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,490
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Post by Highsmith on Mar 3, 2006 18:40:26 GMT -5
I didn't vote because-
"If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice."
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Big Dog
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 3,912
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Post by Big Dog on Mar 3, 2006 19:09:32 GMT -5
The question is moot. The chances of the Big East tournament champion losing in the first round of the NCAA tournament are beyond slim. If you assume (as history has shown) that the BET champ will come from the top 4 seeds, then the BET champ also will be absolutely no lower than a 4 seed in the NCAAS, most likely higher. Not that it never happens, of course, but top 4 seeds don't lose all that often in the first round. So, give me the BET title every day of the week and twice on Sunday (or Saturday night, to be precise) because it means we stand a pretty damn good chance of being Sweet 16 or better. Yes, yes, I know it was a hypothetical, but I refuse to accept the premise. Kind of like how I feel about global warming & The Day After Tomorrow. ;D Boz, shame on you. IT HAPPENED LAST YEAR. BET champ and no. 4 seed Syracuse went down to Vermont. |
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Big Dog
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 3,912
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Post by Big Dog on Mar 3, 2006 19:11:16 GMT -5
On Syracuse-Vermont again, think about it from their perspective.
If you were a Nova fan, and you were sitting next to your Syracuse fan buddy watching them lose to Vermont, you wouldn't be relishing rubbing it in to his face? Do you think his comeback "Well we won the Big East tournament" would calm you down? And wouldn't it seem absurd when you were playing on the second weekend of the NCAAs when your friend is still talking about the BET a week after his team's season ended?
I just think its silly.
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hoopsmccan
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,433
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Post by hoopsmccan on Mar 3, 2006 22:27:38 GMT -5
I still have such residual bitterness about 1996, its hard to answer this question. But I'm starting to sway Big Dog's way. G-town winning the BET would be unbelievable sweet, but I would obviously start trash talking at work and have the real belief that, after winning the Big East and beating Duke earlier, that there isn't a team that we can't beat. My hopes would be up. We would a be 3, maybe even a 2 seed. Then to lose. To a crap team that has multiple directional indicators in its name, like North East Idaho State A&M. To be the lead on SportsCenter, watching them jump all over each other celebrating. I'm making myself sick just thinking about it.
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Post by Frank Black on Mar 3, 2006 22:58:50 GMT -5
I can't believe anyone would actually say that winning the Big East tournament and losing in the first or second round of the NCAAs is preferable to going to the Sweet 16. The NCAA Tournament is the World Series of college hoops, it is the premier event. Your season is judged completely on how you fare in the Big Dance.
Do you really think Villanova wouldn't trade its 1995 BE Tourney victory for two wins in the NCAAs? That season for them is defined by their loss to ODU. There is no debate, you ALWAYS want to go further in the NCAAs than the Big East tournament, which is just a warm-up. Ridiculous.
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