Arizona and March Madness

[Wildcat4life]

Nice take Johnny. Maybe I need to enjoy the ride and worry less about the outcome less.

[jumpinjohnny]

Rinse and repeat first round exits and not being invited to the NCAA at all is not a great outcome. A top tier program doesn't Perron to the level the the Cats have over the past 6 years. All the Miller homers need to open their eyes and see the truth. I'll be the first to admit that I'm wrong about Miller and the state of the program, when the direction changes.

. . . and we've deserve better because?

Count your blessings, we could be Illini fans, or Marquette Warrior enthusiasts, or even North Carolina fans who regularly experience feast and famine. You, me, none of us have earned shit. We've been spoiled, fans in the right place at the right juncture. All good things come to an end. We've got it better than most, you may come to realize that someday. As a soon-to-be-70-year-old man, who grew up in the Midwest and followed the Chicago Cubs through decades of failures, I already have.

[jumpinjohnny]

Nice take Johnny. Maybe I need to enjoy the ride and worry less about the outcome less.

It sure as hell can't hurt.

[ichi]

We have zero chance for a 4 seed, because we have zero chance at losing only 2-3 more games. We probably have a ceiling of 12-6 and a floor of 10-8 in conference.

you could be right about the 12-6 record, but to say there's zero chance, well that's just your opinion man

I made the prediction pre-conference that we could easily be 3-3, waiting until we go to McKale North to find out, then we can wait to see how your guesses do

our upside is closer to 4 losses IMHO, but I do agree with you that we could end10-8 (OU, OSU, CU, ASU, Stanford, OU, USC or UCLA, and a trap game)

[KansasCityCats]

You do realize that the PAC is a weak Basketball conference over the last 10 years. One final four team over the last 17 years. The same people that make a big deal about PAC championships are the same people that discredit Kansas for the same reasons. As for Johnny's statement about my Basketball accomplishments what does that have to do with anything?

. . . and you do realize that most of the D-1 conferences are even weaker than the Pac, and only a few are stronger. Yet they all play out the season in the hope of winning a conference title and collecting that championship ring. The fact that they don't win the Big One doesn't and won't diminish that accomplishment.

Accomplishments--and failures--have everything to do with the point I'm trying to make. For the players, it's the journey they'll remember . . . for the fans, it's the bottom line, and for many fans, that's a huge disappointment.
If you played the game and earned the memories that came with winning and losing, I think you're in a better position to be objective.

Johnny is right on.  The Big-12 has NO cupcakes this year.  Kansas should get a ridiculous amount of credit for winning 15 straight conference titles, considering the fact that their conference is so consistent.  Nobody else is a National Championship contender, but there are no easy matchups from January through March.

Same goes for the Pac-12.  Last year was an exception because everybody was down, but Wazzu and Cal were the only terrible teams.  Unlike the Big-10, SEC & ACC, our conference provides around 16 competitive games per year.

[TucsonTruckStop]

PAC titles? You make me laugh, thanks I need a good laugh!

Interesting take. You do realize that there's life away from the Dance, don't you.

This is where we run into differences as a fan base. Conference championships and conference tourney titles does not compare to having success in 'The Dance'. Not for a top 5...wait...top 10...no wait...a top 20 program in Arizona. No coach or players is ever content with conference titles. There a forever judged by what they accomplished against the best of the best in March Madness.

[TucsonTruckStop]

The title of this thread kinda saddens me. Arizona's showing in March has been dismal the last four seasons, and each year I hope again the Cats can do something postseason. One sweet sixteen, two humiliating first round exits to Wichita St and Buffalo, plus a no show. That is not progressing. Lute had us in the ncaa's for 23 postseasons in a row. Now we have to cross our fingers that three potential draft first rounders and a coach who's been here over a decade can get us a 7-9 seed. When they've yet to show they can win a road game or beat a ranked team.

"Just get there and with some luck, who knows what they can do!" - you say?  When has our luck been on the right side of the bounce? If we fail postseason again, we lose 6 or so guys and start with a whole new batch again next year who struggle to learn the packline. But we look good in our OOC vs the creampuffs and so us fans get all excited til we fail to win vs any team with a pulse. And we'll wait for the next big game wishing we can beat someone good so it will verify our dreams of making it to the new low bar of a sweet 16. Cuz God forbid any Zona fan should expect more.

Rinse and repeat.

Given all that you've presented, and for the sake of your mental health, now might be a good time to cut ties. Because rinsing and repeating a mostly successful outcome, one that may not be going away anytime soon, is not such a bad option. Sometimes, just being grateful for what you have, instead of coveting what others have, is in your best interest.

Another issue is a fan base content, rather than reaching goals that are achievable; especially for a program like Arizona who recruits at a top 5 level year after year.

[TucsonTruckStop]

You do realize that the PAC is a weak Basketball conference over the last 10 years. One final four team over the last 17 years. The same people that make a big deal about PAC championships are the same people that discredit Kansas for the same reasons. As for Johnny's statement about my Basketball accomplishments what does that have to do with anything?

. . . and you do realize that most of the D-1 conferences are even weaker than the Pac, and only a few are stronger. Yet they all play out the season in the hope of winning a conference title and collecting that championship ring. The fact that they don't win the Big One doesn't and won't diminish that accomplishment.

There are 32 conferences and 6 or 7 fill roughly 80% of the bracket, so it's disingenuous to point to all of D1. The PAC 12 is historically at the bottom 1/3 of those top conferences. Our representation in the Sweet 16, Elite 8, Final 4 and Championship game over the last however many years is proof.

[TucsonTruckStop]

Rinse and repeat first round exits and not being invited to the NCAA at all is not a great outcome. A top tier program doesn't Perron to the level the the Cats have over the past 6 years. All the Miller homers need to open their eyes and see the truth. I'll be the first to admit that I'm wrong about Miller and the state of the program, when the direction changes.

. . . and we've deserve better because?

Count your blessings, we could be Illini fans, or Marquette Warrior enthusiasts, or even North Carolina fans who regularly experience feast and famine. You, me, none of us have earned shit. We've been spoiled, fans in the right place at the right juncture. All good things come to an end. We've got it better than most, you may come to realize that someday. As a soon-to-be-70-year-old man, who grew up in the Midwest and followed the Chicago Cubs through decades of failures, I already have.

Unbelievably naive take. How many Tourney appearances, Sweet 16s, E8s, Final 4 and NC's has Arizona bee to? We also consistently recruit top classes. Deserve's have nothing to do with it. The program is established; we are no longer a blip on the radar; we have done it before. You would never hear other top programs say something like this? This is something an ASU fan would say and even they would be wrong.

[KansasCityCats]

San Francisco, Oklahoma State and Cincinnati have more National titles than we do.

You can't expect to be a blue blood if your only championship game during a season where we finished 5th in the conference.

I value consistency and effort because I don't want to be a one and done like the other U of A (Arkansas).