58 in a row: incredible or embarrassing??

[RGV Pony]

so this league is worse than the Big West or the PCAA before that with UNLV. Man, we suck.

[bagice]

Beating the teams in C-USA that many times is not really incredible for a team like Memphis, but I wouldn't necessarily call it embarrassing.

I think winning 58 straight is pretty incredible even for a team as talented as Memphis. You would think one night they would have an off game and their opponent would play over their head. It's not like they are playing 12 guys off the street every night.

That is true, guess it is incredible that they didn't have at least one misstep.

Also, isn't the tournament in two years going to be in El Paso?

[LA_Mustang]

Great! That means we will be pretty good too.

yeah, the only difference is they finished in 2nd place at 12-4 in C-USA this year.....but I'm sure their fans use the same excuse as we do - hey, we're young.

[mrydel]

Great! That means we will be pretty good too.

yeah, the only difference is they finished in 2nd place at 12-4 in C-USA this year.....but I'm sure their fans use the same excuse as we do - hey, we're young.

I would much rather have a handful of one and dones than a handful of seniors.

[EastStang]

I don't know, the handful of seniors strategy worked for George Mason when they played a team full of one and dones from U Conn.

[George S. Patton]

Great! That means we will be pretty good too.

yeah, the only difference is they finished in 2nd place at 12-4 in C-USA this year.....but I'm sure their fans use the same excuse as we do - hey, we're young.

I would much rather have a handful of one and dones than a handful of seniors.

You could get away with that at a BCS/Top 50 school. But you can't a mid-tier BCS school (Colorado, Tech, Washington State) or a mid-major program like So. Illinois, No. Iowa, Tulsa. The only way those programs and ours -- should it ever get become anything -- can be competitive is recruiting and keeping its better players for 4 years.

But that's why programs like So. Illinois, Creighton, St. Mary's and Davidson are always good. Their kids stay and play together.

[mrydel]

Memphis, member of CUSA, seems to do ok plugging in a freshman guard each year who will leave early.

[George S. Patton]

Memphis, member of CUSA, seems to do ok plugging in a freshman guard each year who will leave early.

The Tigers are not your typical mid-major program. You can't compare No. Iowa with Memphis.

Memphis' BB history goes back for some time and their reputation overcomes the mid-major stuff. I think you can say Gonzaga also fits that mold because the Zags have been able to sustain their track record of success for more than a decade.

[MustangStealth]

Even the Zags get challenged and beaten several times a year in WCC.

That's because they aren't nearly as good as Memphis. Gonzaga is very good, Memphis is elite. Did you see them play this year? It was a blowout and I would say the score was deceptively close. Keep in mind that while everyone stays high on Saint Mary's, they have a lower RPI than UAB and a joke of a SOS, yet they also lost 4 games in conference play. Why is it forgiveable for them but not UAB?

I bet Calipari is doing everything he can to get them in a real b-ball conference.

I wouldn't if I were him. He's got a sure-thing NCAA bid every year as it stands, the conference has not prevented him from earning a #1 seed or making it to the final four, he can get favors such as hosting the conference tourney 4 years in a row, etc. Of the 5 teams that left CUSA for the Big East, 2 are now bottom feeders and 1 has gone from a borderline power to a bubble team at best. The 2 that went to the A10 are both in the bottom half of that league. Why not just be happy here as long as he can keep bringing in the top recruits and setting records?

[RGV Pony]

I bet Calipari is doing everything he can to get them in a real b-ball conference.

I wouldn't if I were him. He's got a sure-thing NCAA bid every year as it stands, the conference has not prevented him from earning a #1 seed or making it to the final four, he can get favors such as hosting the conference tourney 4 years in a row, etc.

I think you're right. Look what happened to Notre Dame once conference play started.

[Charleston Pony]

Cast my vote for embarrasing, but we should be thankful for that because the rest of us have a lofty target to shoot at.

Things will change...as it did in the ACC after everyone chased FSU football for years. There were plenty of folks in this part of the country who never thought FSU could be dethroned.

[EastStang]

I think Memphis would rather see CUSA improve than to go to the BE as much as their fans want it. If they got a combined football/basketball invite they would leave though for the BCS $$$. I don't see the BE inviting them for a number of reasons. They are already too strong a conference in basketball. When teams like Georgetown, DePaul, Cincy, end up going to the NIT when they could coast from another conference makes them a bit crazy. There has been talk which is overblown that the BE will split with the football schools going one way and inviting a team or two and the basketball only teams going another way. If that happens, Memphis might be a target of the football schools since 9 is a better number and their basketball team would help keep that brand quality up. Football schools are UConn, Cincy, Syracuse, Rutgers, WVU, Pitt, Louisville and SFU. However, Georgetown, St. Johns Seton Hall, , Villanova and Providence have long ties with UConn and Syracuse. And the BE basketball package would be interesting to see what would happen to it. With Villanova, Georgetown, DePaul, Marquette, ND, St. John's Seton Hall and Providence vs. the schools mentioned above plus Memphis. I think the basketball package would probably still be weighted toward the old east coast schools due to markets. You're talking ND, Chicago, DC, 1/2 NY, Philly, Providence and Milwaukee.

[mrydel]

Memphis, member of CUSA, seems to do ok plugging in a freshman guard each year who will leave early.

The Tigers are not your typical mid-major program. You can't compare No. Iowa with Memphis.

Memphis' BB history goes back for some time and their reputation overcomes the mid-major stuff. I think you can say Gonzaga also fits that mold because the Zags have been able to sustain their track record of success for more than a decade.

I can compare SMU to Memphis because we are in the same conference. We should try to compete with our conference teams. I will not concede that we can never establish a team to compete with Memphis. If we do that, we will never make it to the NCAAs.

[CA Mustang]

...yet they also lost 4 games in conference play. Why is it forgiveable for them but not UAB?

Much of that happened while their best player was out due to injury.

.. favors such as hosting the conference tourney 4 years in a row...

Are you SURE that was a favor? Or rather the fact Memphis placed the best bid? Some radio folks in Houston complain about that as well, but I haven't heard Rice and/or UH (or SMU) ever talk about placing a bid for the tournament.

[RednBlue11]

I know Memphis is good, really good, but this is ridiculous. Other than pumping up their confidence, which I don’t think they were lacking anyway, what good does it do them to completely dominate every team, every year in C-USA? They have no true C-USA rival that can compete at their level......they don’t get the advantage of playing tough, close conference games like top teams in the other conferences. Even the Zags get challenged and beaten several times a year in WCC. I bet Calipari is doing everything he can to get them in a real b-ball conference. Btw, they are one more conference win away from the all-time NCAA record for consecutive conference wins.

this is what happens when you get a great coach who can develop talent and recruit his [deleted] off...I'm not surprised at all, good for them. I think its what every program aspires to accomplish.