5 Programs Not What They Used To Be
- Thread starter paultzman
- Start date
beast of the east
Active member
It's my understanding that stipends went away once we built dorms.
I would add Indiana to the list. They are not year-in, year-out formidable any more
Not what they used to be. The list is long: Indiana! has been a shadow of what it one was, for a while now. Michigan, UNLV, Louisville is still good but once were a major force, Ohio St., Pitt, BC, USF (going back pretty far), Memphis, Marquette, Oklahoma, Missouri, LSU, USC, New Mexico / St., ...and Yukon.
Paul, I'll go back even further than you. NYU and CCNY! :lol:
You know what, every year only 8 teams reach the Elite 8. That doesn't mean the rest are failures. A lot of what you're talking about speaks to the parity of college hoops. No one is going Wooden on the sport anymore. I don't see any of the teams on your list bar Louisville as guys who were major powers, and Louisville still is. Few if any of the others ever reached the year on year heights of STJ in the late 70's/early 80's for an extended period, and even fewer reached the depths of St Johns the last 16 years. What USC, USF and NM St are even doing on this list is befuddling. The article is pretty spot on, though I wouldn't put GTown on the list. They may not be as good as their peak but they still dance about 80% of the time.
I could write that the sky is blue and you'd disagree with me or at least point out that it is an optical illusion... Didn't say "major powers" the subject is: "not what they used to be" And for that matter, back in the day Indiana was a major power and pretty much near the top of everyone's list of great programs whether you thought Bobby was an a-hole or not. UNLV had a great few years... USF at one time had some great teams including some all time great players like Bill Russell and 3 national championships - they are not what they used to be. USC, NM St, Memphis etc all had some great runs but they are not what they used to be... That is why they are on this particular list.
My bad on Indiana, you are absolutely correct. And I guess Tark did have a great run, though no one believes it was done legitimately so I think we think less of it because of that.
The other point is that while I don't think you're that much older than me you seem to go back further when thinking about such things. I look at this type of reporting as it relates to the modern game of college basketball which started somewhere in the late 70-'s-very early 80's. Whatever happened before that is irrelevant with 98% of even the biggest fans, besides the Wooden era stuff and some isolated players and games. Probably because there's not much good video.
Well then I guess we have different opinions of nice runs (being competitive year in year out isn't a nice run, it's what should be expected) and the failures (consistent losing conference records and failure to make the dance) that define "not what they used to be".
