Why football and men's basketball success matters

[gtowndawg]

I've seen people say nobody cares about basketball anymore. If you want prestige for our beloved university than it's simple, we have to be successful in football (good shape overall) and men's basketball (it's a joke).

I know we love baseball, and that's fine, but here's the hard reality of things. Most sports fans could care less about college baseball and just slightly more care about women's basketball (on average). Football and men's basketball are king in the sports world and nothing else comes remotely close. If we want "State" to mean anything to the average sports fan around the country then you do what it takes to be highly competitive in those sports. Period. Anything else beyond that is just for yucks and giggles.

Most Recent TV Viewers/Ratings:

College football Championship Game: 25.5 million viewers
Men's College Basketball Championship Game: 16 million (13 million on average for final four games)
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Women's Basketball Championship Game: 2.8 million
College World Series Championship Series: 1.94 million

[Cooterpoot]

College basketball in the SEC is secondary. It's not very important.

[confucius say]

It's hard to put my finger on it precisely, but I think a lot of the reason people don't care about M basketball is the body language of a few. As a whole, I think we play with effort (although not always with purpose-there is a difference). I just get tired of watching the same bad, careless decisions over and over, which result in lots of turnovers, and the pouting/blaming of a few.

It's not everybody. Watching Molinar and DJ and adu is not that way. Woodard too and Tyson. But reggies body language sucks. And nicks is not much better (though his is usually aimed at himself instead of at his teammates like Reggie's).

Maybe I'm way off. I just know It is a frustrating product to watch.

[Pipedream]

College basketball in the SEC is secondary. It's not very important.

It may be secondary, but to call it "not very important" is a falsehood. A successful college basketball team (one that makes the NCAAT) can bring in 10X as much revenue as the most opulent college baseball program can. That's just the hard economic facts of the situation. State fans love college baseball. I get that, but in terms of monetary importance, it's at best 3rd. People don't realize that like 5, maybe 10 colleges actually make any profit off of college baseball. For most, it's a loss.

[Ari Gold]

College basketball in the SEC is secondary. It's not very important.

How stupid and incorrect...

[gtowndawg]

College basketball in the SEC is secondary. It's not very important.

I don't know what to say to this. It just baffles me.

[msstate7]

It's hard to put my finger on it precisely, but I think a lot of the reason people don't care about M basketball is the body language of a few. As a whole, I think we play with effort (although not always with purpose-there is a difference). I just get tired of watching the same bad, careless decisions over and over, which result in lots of turnovers, and the pouting/blaming of a few.

It's not everybody. Watching Molinar and DJ and adu is not that way. Woodard too and Tyson. But reggies body language sucks. And nicks is not much better (though his is usually aimed at himself instead of at his teammates like Reggie's).

Maybe I'm way off. I just know It is a frustrating product to watch.

I just think it's hard to be fully invested in 3 sports. Baseball will always be big for us. When football is a good/decent product, basketball will suffer. Again, I think

[gtowndawg]

It's hard to put my finger on it precisely, but I think a lot of the reason people don't care about M basketball is the body language of a few. As a whole, I think we play with effort (although not always with purpose-there is a difference). I just get tired of watching the same bad, careless decisions over and over, which result in lots of turnovers, and the pouting/blaming of a few.

It's not everybody. Watching Molinar and DJ and adu is not that way. Woodard too and Tyson. But reggies body language sucks. And nicks is not much better (though his is usually aimed at himself instead of at his teammates like Reggie's).

Maybe I'm way off. I just know It is a frustrating product to watch.

I totally agree with this. It's hard to watch, very disheartening most of the time. And because of that I think we have a lot of fans that just force themselves not to care. Out of sight out of mind. But that simply can't be our attitude if we really want "State" to be a national brand.

[BB30]

I wouldn't say our basketball program has been a complete joke the last two to three years. I would consider the product Rick Ray put on the floor a "complete joke". Yes, this years team has been dissappointing but we are about middle of the pack.

You say our football program is well respected and on good footing but then claim that our basketball program isn't when in both sports we have finished in the middle of the pack.

I just don't understand some of yall's perspective on the history of our MBB program. We have been middle of the pack for a long time excluding a few years here and there. And we have never done much in the NCAAT except for one season. Most of our teams that have made the Tourney have been bounced in the first or second round. Even some of our better teams have historically underperformed in the Tourney.

[msstate7]

I wouldn't say our basketball program has been a complete joke the last two to three years. I would consider the product Rick Ray put on the floor a "complete joke". Yes, this years team has been dissappointing but we are about middle of the pack.

You say our football program is well respected and on good footing but then claim that our basketball program isn't when in both sports we have finished in the middle of the pack.

I just don't understand some of yall's perspective on the history of our MBB program. We have been middle of the pack for a long time excluding a few years here and there. And we have never done much in the NCAAT except for one season. Most of our teams that have made the Tourney have been bounced in the first or second round. Even some of our better teams have historically underperformed in the Tourney.

The last 3 years, we're #6 in the sec in sec wins in basketball. And some wanna fire our coach. Just complete ignorance

[confucius say]

The last 3 years, we're #6 in the sec in sec wins in basketball. And some wanna fire our coach. Just complete ignorance

To be clear, I'm not saying fire howland. I just want more on court accountability.

[R2Dawg]

It's hard to put my finger on it precisely, but I think a lot of the reason people don't care about M basketball is the body language of a few. As a whole, I think we play with effort (although not always with purpose-there is a difference). I just get tired of watching the same bad, careless decisions over and over, which result in lots of turnovers, and the pouting/blaming of a few.

It's not everybody. Watching Molinar and DJ and adu is not that way. Woodard too and Tyson. But reggies body language sucks. And nicks is not much better (though his is usually aimed at himself instead of at his teammates like Reggie's).

Maybe I'm way off. I just know It is a frustrating product to watch.

Basketball is a funny game. We judge players a lot tougher than some sports because we see them so much easier being closer to the action. The same attitudes will not be seen in football due to headgear and distance. Distance in baseball. Officiating is also the same way to some degree.

The poor basketball fundamentals and lazy passes, decisions really grate on me. I think the players generally want to win. I am not sure about some player's body language. Reggie may be trying to be a leader at times getting on other players but I would like to see more do as I do than do as I say. I just don't think we are coached up enough. It seems like we are still doing the same mistakes from game one in game 27?

I agree DJ and Molinar play very sound fundamental basketball. I think Spoon is still struggling at point. May have been better to let Carter stay at point and Spoon at 2 as strange as that seems. Seemed to mess up our chemistry in 2 spots.

[msstate7]

To be clear, I'm not saying fire howland. I just want more on court accountability.

I won't no part of firing howland, but I would have no problem replacing assistants. In my dreams, we hire an assistant that has a strong zone defense background, and howland incorporates that zone in some.

[Commercecomet24]

It's hard to put my finger on it precisely, but I think a lot of the reason people don't care about M basketball is the body language of a few. As a whole, I think we play with effort (although not always with purpose-there is a difference). I just get tired of watching the same bad, careless decisions over and over, which result in lots of turnovers, and the pouting/blaming of a few.

It's not everybody. Watching Molinar and DJ and adu is not that way. Woodard too and Tyson. But reggies body language sucks. And nicks is not much better (though his is usually aimed at himself instead of at his teammates like Reggie's).

Maybe I'm way off. I just know It is a frustrating product to watch.

Very well said. This is where I'm at as well.

[Cooterpoot]

Yeah, you guys are right. AL is really suffering because their basketball isn't great. Same for UGA. Most arenas are half full on good days. KY cares. But that doesn't help their other programs out.
I'd love to see a great basketball program, but our final 4 season didn't change a damn thing for us either except for the shitty logo we use now.
And several of you think our program is already ok. You guys think Howland is moving us forward. He's not. So you're wrong about that too.

[msstate7]

Yeah, you guys are right. AL is really suffering because their basketball isn't great. Same for UGA. Most arenas are half full on good days. KY cares. But that doesn't help their other programs out.
I'd love to see a great basketball program, but our final 4 season didn't change a damn thing for us either except for the shitty logo we use now.
And several of you think our program is already ok. You guys think Howland is moving us forward. He's not. So you're wrong about that too.

2010-11: 17-13, no postseason
2012: 21-12, nit 1st round
2013: 10-22, no postseason
2014: 13-19, no postseason
2015: 14-17, no postseason
2016: 16-16, no postseason
2017: 25-12, nit semifinals
2018: 23-11, ncaa round of 64
2019: 17-10, TBD

No improvement at all.

[THE Bruce Dickinson]

I just think it's hard to be fully invested in 3 sports. Baseball will always be big for us. When football is a good/decent product, basketball will suffer. Again, I think

We were good in all 3 in 2018 even despite the fans basically giving the basketball team the finger.

[msstate7]

We were good in all 3 in 2018 even despite the fans basically giving the basketball team the finger.

I mean in fan support, not on-field

[THE Bruce Dickinson]

I've seen people say no body cares about basketball anymore. If you want prestige for our beloved university than it's simple, we have to be successful in football (good shape overall) and men's basketball (it's a joke).

I know we love baseball, and that's fine, but here's the hard reality of things. Most sports fans could care less about college baseball and just slightly more care about women's basketball (on average). Football and men's basketball are king in the sports world and nothing else comes remotely close. If we want "State" to mean anything to the average sports fan around the country then you do what it takes to be highly competitive in those sports. Period. Anything else beyond that is just for yucks and giggles.

Most Recent TV Viewers/Ratings:

College football Championship Game: 25.5 million viewers
Men's College Basketball Championship Game: 16 million (13 million on average for final four games)
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Women's Basketball Championship Game: 2.8 million
College World Series Championship Series: 1.94 million

Men's basketball isn't a joke.

[gtowndawg]

Yeah, you guys are right. AL is really suffering because their basketball isn't great. Same for UGA. Most arenas are half full on good days. KY cares. But that doesn't help their other programs out.
I'd love to see a great basketball program, but our final 4 season didn't change a damn thing for us either except for the shitty logo we use now.
And several of you think our program is already ok. You guys think Howland is moving us forward. He's not. So you're wrong about that too.

Alabama is a national brand because of football, same with Georgia. Kentucky is a national brand because of basketball, same for UNC and Duke. Nobody is a national brand because of baseball. Only two sports can get you in the upper echelon of people's minds and it's only football or basketball. I do agree Howland is not moving us forward. I've been pretty open on my stance about Howland.