The one that comes to mind for me is the senior year of John Kopriva. Dr. John was a complete non-factor his first three years at GW, but became a solid contributor and fan favorite his senior year, which I did not see coming...

This year's tournament was great if you like to see Blue Bloods and Goliaths duke it out, but if you're like me and want to see some Davids mixed in, it was pretty disappointing. Based on the viewership numbers, however, which were apparently up across the board, then I am in a distinct minority...

As for San Antonio, I haven't been there in many years, but I remember it as being a great town.

GWRising wrote:

As I mentioned before, if the players want to make everything transactional then I guess as fans we should make everything transactional. Zero reaction to Jun and Jacoi and any others transferring out. Simple bottom line for me being transactional. If we want to play in the real post season, we need better players than the ones leaving. The minute they decided to enter the portal is the minute I turn my attention to who is next. They did what is best for them so I am doing what is best for me and GW. Like I have heard said recently "it's all business now". Next.

I agree that this is how we all SHOULD feel, but I can't help that I will miss Jacoi and especially Jun. Although I recognize that Jun had flaws in his game, I think he had tremendous potential and could have reached that potential at GW, with the right guidance. Oh well, on to next year.

Alum '04 wrote:

Why are we arguing about Mark Few?

Because this thread is about March Madness, and GW hasn't been in the NCAA Tourney in almost a decade, lol. Also, I like debating these kinds of things, so I appreciate all of you who responded to my posts, even though none of you seemed to agree with me...

My rooting interests in the NCAA Tourney are first GW (but its been a while), then the A10 (only one game this year), then local teams (except Georgetown, just Maryland and I guess American this year), then any team that is not from a power conference. For the latter, I usually focus on the team with the best chance to win it all, which for about a decade now has been Gonzaga, thus my appreciation for Mark Few. Before Gonzaga, though, there was Butler (2010-2011). Other teams with shorter shelf lives or unexpected runs includes San Diego State (2023), Loyola-Chicao (2018), Wichita State (2013), VCU (2011), Memphis (2008), George Mason (2006), and UMass (1996). Lots of other mid majors have made it to the Elite 8 (St. Joes in 2004 comes to mind). And of course the last team from a non power conference to win it all, UNLV (1990-91). The power conferences are doing everything they can to prevent such teams from making the Final Four, however, so I don't guess I'll have much interest in future years. There are no teams from such conferences in the Sweet 16 this year, the first time I can remember that happening in a long time. According to the article below, only 4 conferences are represented in the Sweet 16 this year. Every previous year had at least 7!

https://www.nbcnews.com/sports/ncaa/march-madness-lack-of-upsets-rcna197838

GWRising wrote:

“America’s Grestest Coach” strikes out again!  Think it’s beyond apparent that calling Mark Few America’s  Greatest Coach might be one of the most ridiculous things ever posted here.

Actually, I think belittling a coach who has taken a team from a mid major conference to 2 national title games, 6 Elite Eights, and 14 Sweet Sixteens is the most ridiculous thing ever posted here, but I guess that’s just me.

The Dude wrote:

New Mexico upsets Marquette

Another round 1 loss to a double digit seed for Shaka Smart 

Danny Hurley's 2 time defending Champs win again, Hurley now has the 2nd highest win % in history behind John Wooden 

You can call them just another double digit seed if you want, but the fact that the regular season champs of a conference that got the same number of bids as the ACC got a 10 seed is a joke.

Dayton and Mason are both killing it right now!

Caputo was on the Junkies this morning and stated that he thinks the new NIL rules, which will allow schools to pay players directly and will put more restrictions on private NIL contributors starting next year, will benefit the A10 and Big East because we don't have football. He stated that the new rules will hurt conferences like the Mountain West, who do not have as many resources as the power conferences but will have to put the bulk of their NIL money into their football programs. We shall see. I hope he is right.

creeksandzeeks wrote:

Worth noting that in the Mountain West, there are 5 teams that are top 75 (which means playing them on the road is a Q1 game), and the A10 had three. Saint Joe's was #76. 

Also worth noting that Air Force had the fewest Q1 games in the Mountain West with 5. Utah State had 6. The rest had 7 or more.

Dayton played 6 Q1 games (going 3-3, incredibly). Mason, Davidson, and La Salle each played 5 (winning just one game between them), and the rest played 4 or fewer. GW, Rhody and Duquesne all went 0-1 in Q1 games.

SCHEDULE. SCHEDULE. SCHEDULE.

I quickly compared the OOC SOS for A10 vs. MWC teams on KenPom and it was very eye opening. The A10 average OOC SOS ranking was 271 compared to 156 for the MWC. Here is a breakdown:

OOC SOS Ranking Range  - # A10 Teams - # MWC Teams
001-100 - 1 A10 - 3 MWC
100-200 - 1 A10 - 4 MWC
200-300 - 8 A10 - 4 MWC
300-364 - 5 A10 - 0 MWC

There has been a lot of discussion on here about how A10 schools can't schedule quality teams in the OOC, but the Mountain West teams seem to be able to do it.

creeksandzeeks wrote:

Over the last 15 years, the Atlantic 10 has been incredibly stable, with an average ranking (2011-2020 RPI, 2021-25 NET) of 8.3125. We've been ranked 7th-9th 10 times, 6th twice, and 10-12th 4 times.

I think we've been pretty incredibly stable as a conference despite a lot of membership changes. VCU was a dynamite addition. Mason has been inconsistent, but has the pieces to thrive. Davidson is probably a toss-up in the post-McKillop the Elder era. Losing UMass sucks from a historical perspective, but they aren't what they used to be anyway. These have been very, very choppy waters, but the conference has stayed upright throughout.

Whether McGlade has negotiated the TV deals the conference needs I can't say, but I'm not sure what more we'd be asking from a commissioner. Would you rather be like the WCC and have Gonzaga and Saint Mary's go to a million tournaments while the rest of the conference languishes? No thanks. 

Other Average Rankings:
BIG EAST: 3.1875
American: 7.833
Mountain West: 8.5
Missouri Valley 10.625
 

The Mountain West seems to be the only non power conference to figure out how to get multiple teams in the NCAA Tournament. They got 6 teams in last year and 4 teams in this year, including 3 of the 4 at large bids that went to non power conferences. Does anyone on here know what they have done that the A10 and other mid majors haven’t?