This year's tournament is just another example of why it makes so little sense to complain about who makes and does not make this field as an at large (as well as why an 11 seed makes the Final 4 now virtually every sesaon).  NC State was not on anyone's long or short list to make the field.  They are only in because they won the ACC Tournament and here they are, playing in the Final 4.  UVA, who was this year's poster boy for making the field, had NC State dead to rights in the ACC tournament.  If an 87% free throw shooter doesn't miss the front end of a one and one, AND if NC state doesn't knock down a 25 foot bank shot to send their game to overtime, then horrible UVA would have defeated NC State for the second time in three meetings this season.

Lobbying to expand the field is a discussion far more worth having.  Not that I am advocate for doing this, but the concept of a larger field vs. the current 68 is a more interesting discussion than splitting hairs between two teams, unless one team is so egregiously omitted which is extremely rare.
 

It’s not really about Few -it’s about the poster-and in addition this coach has never won the big one even with all his great teams.You are being way too rational DC Native!!!

DC Native wrote:

I don't think people should denigrate Mark Few just because one poster on this site is overzealous about him. Before he arrived at Gonzaga, they had appeared in the NCAA Tourney one time, a 1995 loss to Maryland. Under Few, they have been to the NCAA Tourney 25 years in a row, and the Sweet 16 9 years in a row. They have been in 2 national championship games. Yes, they lost both games, but so has every other team from outside the P6 conferences since 1990's great UNLV team. I know because, being a fan of GW and thus the A10, I always root for these teams to beat the P6 competition, which has many purposefully designed advantages over everyone else. Last year it was SD State. For many years before that it was Gonzaga. Before that it was Butler and Memphis. All made it to the final game but unfortunately fell short. Many other teams from "mid major" conferences have made the Final Four, including UMass and St. Joes from the A10, and VCU and Mason before they joined. I know there is a lot of bad blood between some posters on this board, but that is no reason to denigrate a great coach. Maybe he isn't "America's Greatest Coach," but I don't know how anyone can argue that he is not a top 5 coach in men's college basketball today.

Am reasonably certain that nobody on this board has anything against Mark Few personally or isn't more than respectful over his career accomplishments.  It's just that when one poster trolls this board on a daily basis by constantly being in your face, overly praising those people and programs he is a fan of and denigrating those he is not a fan of, shouting from the rooftops when things go his way and ignoring matters when they do not, it's only human nature to want to push back.  

It's likely safe to say that Mark Few is both one of the sport's most successful coaches and that Mark Few is NOT America's Greatest Coach.  Reasonable people understand this.
 

Didn't Bing Crosby go to Gonzaga? Wonder what it was like when he went to school there? Or what GW was like? 

TJT85 wrote:

DC Native wrote:

Many other teams from "mid major" conferences have made the Final Four, including UMass and St. Joes from the A10, and VCU and Mason before they joined.

St Joe's never made the Final Four as an A-10 member.  Their lone final four was back in 1961 when the field only had 24 teams (GW was one of them that year along with several other teams that would later be A-10 members - St Bonaventure, URI, and Xavier).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961_NCAA_University_Division_basketball_tournament
 

You’re right. St Joes was a #1 seed in 2004, but they only made it to the Elite 8. So I guess UMass is the only team to do it while in the A10. I could’ve also mentioned Loyola Chicago as another future member to do it (2018).

Danny Hurley's UConn run straight though to  Back to Back National Titles in historically dominant style, all 12 games, complete and utter domination one of the great back to back runs in the history of the sport.  Took Rhode Island from the very bottom of the A10 to the very top, and now he's on the very top of the entire sport.

Danny Hurley, Is in The Empire Building Business. 

A bit about Dan Hurley:

He should be congratulated on an incredible season, along with consecutive championships.  UCONN wasn't just the best team in the country this season, they were the best by about as large a margin between them and the second best team as I could recall in quite some time.  They played the right way, could beat you any number of ways, had an offense that almost always seems to make the right decision, and a defense that knew how to clamp down when they needed to.  I was asked during the game why Purdue wasn't shooting more 3's since they had the 3rd highest 3 point fg % in the country and my response was that they literally couldn't based on how suffocating the Husky defense was along the perimeter.  Hurley would have opened himself up to great criticism had Edey dominated and the Boilers won yet he never thought that this was even a possibility.  The only thing more remarkable than Purdue making 1 three pointer all night was that they only attempted 7 throughout the game.  This was not because they didn't want to shoot from distance; those shots simply were unavailable.

And through all of this success, Hurley remains an a-hole.  Maybe I'd enjoy having a beer with him one-on-one but his public persona is shameful.  Last night, he pushed his own player (guess that's OK when you're winning), screamed across the court at Edey, and had his son emphatically spike the ball at the end of the game to punctuate the victory.  Personally, I prefer the coaches I admire to show some class in victory and respect for their opponents.  

Then there's this from Gregg Doyel: "is UConn coach Dan Hurley always like this with the officials?  Not just complaining, but pleading and gesturing and stomping and pouting and running onto the court and looking on the verge of tears at times."

Sums it up well.  There's no debating his coaching record but at some point, I have to think that many would look at this guy and conclude "great coach, first class jerk."  Just not sure why anyone would be so enamored with such an individual. 

He's still a jackass.
Literally one of the few people you can take an instant dislike to.  Sat near him at an A-10 tournament when he was in the stands and remember thinking what an ass Hurley was. Can't behave like a normal human while in the stands. This was after just a little bit of exposure.
   Hurley was a jerk when he was in the A-10 and given the way he conducts himself on the court, a jerk now as well. Back to back titles don't absolve you of behaving decently in a college sport. Wasn't Bobby Knight considered a great coach, too? Still not someone you'd want to emulate in the comportment area. 
I didn't watch all game and didn't see the shove, but in just looking it up, there's also a picture of a ref holding Hurley back as he steps on the court, looking like he's about to go after someone. Did he get a T for that, as another coach would, or just a ref gently restraining him? Winning apparently absolves a lot of sins.
    Things that are less than the false reports that got our coach fired and led to our decline that continues today, are venerated because this guy wins. 
   Yes, he's clearly a good coach. But now that the tournament is over, no need to honor that kind of conduct or person, especially here.

Well,people here might recall the troubled player the father stuck us with.

The Dude wrote:

Seton Hall NIT Champs, led by their iconic former star point guard head coach

A Seton Hall player and Jersey to the bone Danny Hurley brings back to back national titles to Connecticut as their Head Coach

Rutgers has the number two and number 3 players in the country inward bound freshmen. Quite a period of basketball for the tri-state area

Let's hope for a turnaround like that in the DMV. At least in the foggy bottom part of the DMV!

So when Chris Mullin, Patrick Ewing and Juwan Howard all disappoint at their alma maters as head coaches, we can't understand why schools continue down this dreadful path of hiring their former players since this "never" works out.  But when Seton Hall is successful, we have "their iconic former star point guard head coach" to thank for that.

Got it!