23 days till tip off

[msstate7]

We have a tourney basketball team, so we need to make a concerted effort to support these guys. I know I'm gonna get to more games than usual this season. Let's give this team a home court advantage

[THE Bruce Dickinson]

Agree. We should have a solid team with good depth in the front and back courts. This team could be a lot of fun to watch. Playing at home probably means more in basketball than any other sport. We need to make the Hump a place where opposing teams dread coming. It hasn't been this way in many many years.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

Agree. We should have a solid team with good depth in the front and back courts. This team could be a lot of fun to watch. Playing at home probably means more in basketball than any other sport. We need to make the Hump a place where opposing teams dread coming. It hasn't been this way in many many years.

Which makes our record the last 4 years at home even more amazing. Last 4 years we're 54-12 at home with 6 of those losses coming last year with basically no crowd. Home court absolutely makes a difference in basketball & we've been winning despite not having an intimidating venue to play in. Come out & support these kids.

[THE Bruce Dickinson]

Which makes our record the last 4 years at home even more amazing. Last 4 years we're 54-12 at home with 6 of those losses coming last year with basically no crowd. Home court absolutely makes a difference in basketball & we've been winning despite not having an intimidating venue to play in. Come out & support these kids.

One of those losses was to a top 15 ranked LSU team in 2018 in front of 3,000 people that we ended up losing in OT. A win in that one possibly changes our seed or region in the NCAAT that year. Every game counts.

[William Tecumsah Sherman]

Winning with the women?s team not having momentum should equal better attendance. People don?t realize how much the popularity of the women?s team during Vics run effected the support of the mens team

[THE Bruce Dickinson]

Winning with the women?s team not having momentum should equal better attendance. People don?t realize how much the popularity of the women?s team during Vics run effected the support of the mens team

What exactly does the popularity of the Women's team have to do with low attendance for Men's games ? Can people not attend both ?

[William Tecumsah Sherman]

They can, but many didn?t. I know several that live within 30 mins that began to go to women?s games instead of men?s when the ladies made their run.

[confucius say]

We have a tourney basketball team, so we need to make a concerted effort to support these guys. I know I'm gonna get to more games than usual this season. Let's give this team a home court advantage

Agreed. Get to the games. Will be better than football I hope, bc our fan support has been embarrassing this year.

[THE Bruce Dickinson]

They can, but many didn?t. I know several that live within 30 mins that began to go to women?s games instead of men?s when the ladies made their run.

Correct. People not going to the men's games and attending women's games that live within say 45 minutes didn't have everything to do with the women's success. It had way more to do with personal choice.

The problem with the fans of men's basketball is that they don't want to go unless we are winning, but the catch 22 is that attending the games can directly affect the result. It's a double edged sword.

[msugolf]

And we still don't have an updated roster on hailstate website. Attention to details isn't this athletic department's best attribute.

[Interpolation_Dawg_EX]

Just met Coach Ziegler on a flight out of Jackson. Extremely nice guy. He was headed out to the Midwest to look at a big man. I mentioned everyone is excited and he said they're ready to get started but need to get healthy.

[KOdawg1]

What exactly does the popularity of the Women's team have to do with low attendance for Men's games ? Can people not attend both ?
If you're like me and live an hour away, no you can't attend both most games. If the men play on Wednesday and Saturday and the women play on Thursday and Sunday, then that's 4 trips to Starkville in a 5 day span.

Of course, the schedule's don't line up that way all the time, but the point still stands. The last 5 years, if you had to choose, I chose the women. I still made a lot of mens games but not as many. It'll probably be reversed this year. The men deserve support.

[sleepy dawg]

How good are guys expecting us to be? Bubble team? Lock for the tourney? Top 6 seed?

[msstate7]

How good are guys expecting us to be? Bubble team? Lock for the tourney? Top 6 seed?

I think top 6 seed

[sleepy dawg]

I think top 6 seed

well shit, that is good. consider me on board. I'm sure I'm not alone, but there was a time when mens basketball became my favorite sport. That has plummeted over the last several years. last year was the first year since the 90s where I don't think I watched a single game.

[Captain Falcon]

The women being so good absolutely affected the attendance for the men, particular for the casual fans. We were essentially a Top 20 team in 2019 and had our best NCAA tourney seed since 2004, but that team was viewed as "just OK" because of what the women were doing by comparison. I know for a fact that interest in the women's program has dropped considerably in the last year, so hopefully those fans shift their focus to the men instead.

I do feel like we haven't done ourselves many favors with some of the games we've lost. Just about the time we start to build momentum after a few wins, we seem to blow a lead and lose a big home game or have an inexplicable loss to a bad Ole Miss or Vandy team. That has pretty much been the case since Howland's second year. Wash, rinse, repeat. It would help fan support tremendously if we got back to dominating Ole Miss like we did under Stans and then occasionally win the big home game against Kentucky, Tennessee, etc.

Howland has done some good things for our program but he has also given skeptics the ammunition to say, "see, I told you so"

[OLJWales]

Losing home games to Vandy Ole miss and liberty aint gonna put butts in stands. Learning how to finish in OT wouldn't hurt either. 8-10 in a conference that is not nationally strong does not excite. They just GOTTA do better this year. Got to. Can't blame fans who packed the Hump back in the day. A western crown would work wonders.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

Losing home games to Vandy Ole miss and liberty aint gonna put butts in stands. Learning how to finish in OT wouldn't hurt either. 8-10 in a conference that is not nationally strong does not excite. They just GOTTA do better this year. Got to. Can't blame fans who packed the Hump back in the day. A western crown would work wonders.

Those Western crowns were so much fools gold.

'03-04 We won the West. No other West team had a winning record. Only 1 other West team made the tourney a 17-12 Bama team.
'06-07 We won the West. With a .500 record (8-8). Didn't even make the NCAA Tourney
'07-08 We won the West. Arkansas the only other team to make the NCAA Tourney or have a winning SEC record.
'09-10 We won the West. Didn't make the NCAA Tourney

So for those keeping score. Stans has 4 Western Division banners. 2 of those years we didn't even make the NCAA Tourney.

'03-04 SEC had 6 Tourney teams 2 from the West
'06-07 SEC had 6 Tourney teams 2 from the West
'07-08 SEC had 6 Tourney teams 2 from the West
'09-10 SEC had 5 Tourney teams 1 from the West

Stans feasted on a terrible West & our fans ate it up. If the SEC do away with divisions in 2000 boy the love affair some of y'all have with Stans would've ended in '04.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

Losing home games to Vandy Ole miss and liberty aint gonna put butts in stands. Learning how to finish in OT wouldn't hurt either. 8-10 in a conference that is not nationally strong does not excite. They just GOTTA do better this year. Got to. Can't blame fans who packed the Hump back in the day. A western crown would work wonders.

Just to keep it going. Not counting last year due to Covid & no real home court advantage I'll tell you the losses we've had at home the previous 3 years

2019-20

Louisiana Tech (74-67) - Team was 22-8 & headed to the tourney
Auburn (80-68) - Team was 25-6 & was going to be a Top 3 seed

2018-19

Ole Miss (81-77) - Team was 20-13. Made the NCAA Tourney
LSU (92-88 OT) - Team was 28-7. Made the NCAA Tourney
Kentucky (71-67) - Team was 30-7. Made the NCAA Tourney

2017-18

Auburn (76-68) - Team was 26-8. Made the NCAA Tourney

So in the last 3 Non-Covid seasons we've had 0 home losses to a team that made or was going to make the tourney. Who knows more fan support a couple of those close losses become wins. Everybody loves the talk about how if we won more games. Well at home we have. Come out & support.

[OLJWales]

Those Western crowns were so much fools gold.

'03-04 We won the West. No other West team had a winning record. Only 1 other West team made the tourney a 17-12 Bama team.
'06-07 We won the West. With a .500 record (8-8). Didn't even make the NCAA Tourney
'07-08 We won the West. Arkansas the only other team to make the NCAA Tourney or have a winning SEC record.
'09-10 We won the West. Didn't make the NCAA Tourney

So for those keeping score. Stans has 4 Western Division banners. 2 of those years we didn't even make the NCAA Tourney.

'03-04 SEC had 6 Tourney teams 2 from the West
'06-07 SEC had 6 Tourney teams 2 from the West
'07-08 SEC had 6 Tourney teams 2 from the West
'09-10 SEC had 5 Tourney teams 1 from the West

Stans feasted on a terrible West & our fans ate it up. If the SEC do away with divisions in 2000 boy the love affair some of y'all have with Stans would've ended in '04.

Thanks IYOK. and I get it. But has the west improved that much since the "glory years"? And if so, would it be impossible for STATE to keep up?

[Ifyouonlyknew]

Thanks IYOK. and I get it. But has the west improved that much since the "glory years"? And if so, would it be impossible for STATE to keep up?

Alabama, Auburn, Arkansas, & LSU have all made at least the Sweet 16 in the last 3 years with 2 making at least the Elite 8. So yes the West is leaps & bounds better than back then. State can still be competitive no doubt but the competition has increased tenfold.

[OLJWales]

Alabama, Auburn, Arkansas, & LSU have all made at least the Sweet 16 in the last 3 years with 2 making at least the Elite 8. So yes the West is leaps & bounds better than back then. State can still be competitive no doubt but the competition has increased tenfold.

Yea now my memory is starting to work a little. Dat shit wudn't goin on during stans. But if we don't start doing similar things others are doing in the west, don't hold your breath waiting on a hard sellout. What's howland's crootin rankings of late? Have we been getting more or less out of them?

[THE Bruce Dickinson]

Just to keep it going. Not counting last year due to Covid & no real home court advantage I'll tell you the losses we've had at home the previous 3 years

2019-20

Louisiana Tech (74-67) - Team was 22-8 & headed to the tourney
Auburn (80-68) - Team was 25-6 & was going to be a Top 3 seed

2018-19

Ole Miss (81-77) - Team was 20-13. Made the NCAA Tourney
LSU (92-88 OT) - Team was 28-7. Made the NCAA Tourney
Kentucky (71-67) - Team was 30-7. Made the NCAA Tourney

2017-18

Auburn (76-68) - Team was 26-8. Made the NCAA Tourney

So in the last 3 Non-Covid seasons we've had 0 home losses to a team that made or was going to make the tourney. Who knows more fan support a couple of those close losses become wins. Everybody loves the talk about how if we won more games. Well at home we have. Come out & support.

We absolutely win that LSU game in 18-19 if we had a better home crowd. There were maybe 2500 people at that game.

Also, our fans totally quit on that team after we lost that home game to Ole Miss. AND OM only won that game because the ref had a no call on literally the most egregious double dribble/ travel I have ever seen in a game.

PSA to our fans: If we lose one game that we should have won, don't give up on the team.

Garrison Brooks has SEC POY type potential. Very excited about this season

[confucius say]

Just to keep it going. Not counting last year due to Covid & no real home court advantage I'll tell you the losses we've had at home the previous 3 years

2019-20

Louisiana Tech (74-67) - Team was 22-8 & headed to the tourney
Auburn (80-68) - Team was 25-6 & was going to be a Top 3 seed

2018-19

Ole Miss (81-77) - Team was 20-13. Made the NCAA Tourney
LSU (92-88 OT) - Team was 28-7. Made the NCAA Tourney
Kentucky (71-67) - Team was 30-7. Made the NCAA Tourney

2017-18

Auburn (76-68) - Team was 26-8. Made the NCAA Tourney

So in the last 3 Non-Covid seasons we've had 0 home losses to a team that made or was going to make the tourney. Who knows more fan support a couple of those close losses become wins. Everybody loves the talk about how if we won more games. Well at home we have. Come out & support.

Agreed. We have to support more than just baseball. We kind of support football, not really. Barely support basketball at all anymore.