Comments on: ATB: An RTC Kind of Weekend…

By: jstevrtc

jstevrtc — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 21:00:50 +0000

In reply to Andrew.

Andrew: Yeah, thanks for that info. We were aware of this, and we are glad in this instance that cooler heads prevailed. We’ll be commenting on this topic a little further very soon. Good of you to pass along the info, though.

John Stevens
RTC

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 20:56:30 +0000

FWIW here, UCLA upset Washington last night at Pauley on a dramatic buzzer beater by a former walk-on. As expected, when the shot went in, the UCLA bench rushed the court, and over by the student section, there were some younger excitable Bruin fans who wanted to rush the court too… In the end, cooler heads prevailed, and the court was not rushed. Much like UCLA doesn’t hang up Final Four banners or Pac-10 title banners, they don’t rush the court simply because they beat an average team in an improbable way.

By: rtmsf

rtmsf — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 20:58:49 +0000

In reply to Brian. That's cool, Brian. We'll just agree to disagree, and debate exactly like this is the reason we're in this business in the first place. Appreciate your comments, as always, and feel free to let us have it when deserved.

By: Brian

Brian — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 05:53:37 +0000

Basically my point is that I’m living in the present. I don’t care about the past. The past has nothing to do with Michigan being 9-7 entering the game, UConn being #15, or Northwestern having a nice year. If this was last year’s Michigan team it would be dumb to storm the court. This Michigan team is not going to the NCAA Tournament unless they have a total 180 degree turnaround.

I’m done with this, much ado about nothing. You guys have a great blog and there are much more important things going on in college basketball worth discussing.

By: Brian

Brian — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 05:46:03 +0000

Yes if Kentucky is 18-12 one year and they beat a #1 team they should storm. Kentucky fans of course will disagree because most of them are so cocky and think they have a right to be on top all the time.

Well we apparently have a fundamental disagreement. I have no idea how you use past results to justify or negate anything that happens in any one individual season. Makes zero sense to me.

Again this is not a big deal at all. Let the Michigan students have some fun. Their team was struggling and they beat a ranked opponent in an exciting game. John Beilein was very appreciative of the fans in the video posted here and it seems he was glad they stormed. Sorry to disagree, but a 9-7 major conference team is bad, especially one with the preseason expectations that Michigan had.

I don’t know why you keep bringing up Northwestern. I’ve already said they had every right to storm and I was glad they did.

By: rtmsf

rtmsf — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 05:22:06 +0000

In reply to Brian.

Brian, by your logic, Kentucky should rush the court if they’re having an 18-12 year and beat #1 Florida. I disagree with that premise COMPLETELY and TOTALLY, and I guarantee that every Kentucky fan will agree.

As I said before, it goes beyond the particular year and it also involves relative strength of programs and the expectations of fan bases. Michigan was a R32 team last year and they brought that same team back this year. Northwestern lost its best player to injury and still managed to beat a top ten team — and the general consensus is that Purdue >> UConn this year. I do not agree that the Michigan fanbase thinks that they’re a “bad” team either, but that’s a different argument.

The threshold for Northwestern to rush in ANY year is much lower than it is for a program like Michigan. And Michigan’s threshold is lower than Indiana’s and IU’s is lower than Kentucky’s. I’m not sure where the argument that this year is all that matters comes from, b/c it’s not true in the least.

By: Brian

Brian — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 01:54:26 +0000

I don’t agree with your argument about program strength at all. This is about this year, not the past. Michigan’s national title was 21 years ago and if not for the worst call in NCAA history they wouldn’t have that title. Why is this a big deal anyway? I said both NW and Michigan were justified in storming.

UConn was the 15th ranked team in the country. That’s the ranking they were given, it doesn’t matter that they are NOW FALLING since they lost to Michigan (there’s no shame in losing to Gtown and Pitt). By the way, you can use the same argument for Purdue. Aren’t they clearly falling now too?

When a BAD team like Michigan beats a decent, ranked team they should storm the court.

Northwestern’s RPI is 61. Michigan’s is 123 and was much worse before they beat UConn. Again, both fan bases should have stormed. To make a case against Michigan’s fans is absolutely ridiculous.

By: rtmsf

rtmsf — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 01:09:29 +0000

In reply to Brian.

Northwestern is Northwestern. Michigan is Michigan. That’s all that really needs to be said, but I’ll say more anyway.

It’s not just about relative strength in a particular year, it’s also about relative strength of the programs involved. Everyone knows NW hasn’t been to an NCAA Tournament, much less beaten many top ten teams in its history. I’d venture to guess that you could count the # on two hands.

Michigan has a national title and two other F4s in the 90s with the Fab Five. They were in the NCAA Tournament just last season, and they damn near made the Sweet Sixteen. They have uber-resources and regularly get good players to go to school there. To defeat a clearly falling Connecticut team just doesn’t hold the same cache at Michigan. Their program is better than Northwestern’s, and as such, they should only rush the court when they truly beat a big-name team in a big-time game. UConn last year when they were ranked in the top 5 all season? Maybe. As the #1 team? Definitely. But this year’s UConn team? That’s a joke.

By: Brian

Brian — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 20:30:02 +0000

I disagree Zach. You think Michigan fans care about UConn possibly being unranked after losing that game? Turns out they’re still ranked in one poll anyway. It’s UConn. Big time program.

Michigan was 9-7. That’s not a good record. It was an upset no matter what the line said (they were still an underdog anyway).

By: zhayes9

zhayes9 — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 19:51:54 +0000

Storming the court against an 11-6 team that’s about to be unranked when you’re a 1-point dog is absolutely pathetic.

Purdue is 14-3 and was ranked in the top 10 at the time. Big diff.

By: Brian

Brian — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 19:00:25 +0000

What’s wrong with Michigan storming the court? UConn was ranked 15th and Michigan entered the game with a very mediocre 9-7 record. It was a huge win for them.

Northwestern is in the same boat (even has a better record AND beat Michigan) . Why is theirs good but Michigan’s bad? I don’t get it.

I do think both NW and Michigan were justified though. Indiana on the other hand………….