Reality

[Chris]

1st Team All MVC players or 1st Team All Frosh players seem always hard to find on BU Team rosters .... .

Don't we have one of both of these right now though? Childs was 1st team this preseason and Mast could conceivably make the all freshman team.

This season was a huge disappointment obviously. If we had won those Xavier and Missouri games, who knows how the season plays out with our confidence levels.

The NCAA tournament appearances are what builds a program, not regular season titles.

[Da Coach]

Don't we have one of both of these right now though? Childs was 1st team this preseason and Mast could conceivably make the all freshman team.

This season was a huge disappointment obviously. If we had won those Xavier and Missouri games, who knows how the season plays out with our confidence levels.

The NCAA tournament appearances are what builds a program, not regular season titles.

Elijah Childs ranks 6th in scoring (14.2) and 2nd in rebounding (8.3 rpg), and realistically should be on the All-MVC 1st team. However, Cameron Krutwig, Gaige Prim, Tyreke Key, and Isiaih Mosley are locks for 1st team, so it leaves only 1 other slot and it might be hard for Childs to get the votes for 1st team, now that the suspension is fresh in the minds of the voters. Other possible candidates for the 5th and final slot on the 1st team are- ShanQuan Hemphill, Roman Penn, and D.J. Horne. I think Eli is one of the top 5 players in the league, but we'll have to wait and see what kind of support he gets.

And Rienk Mast is clearly one of the top freshmen in the MVC statistically. With a couple games remaining, Mast is averaging 7.5 ppg for the season, but he's averaged close to 12 ppg over the last 8 games. He ranks 5th in scoring by freshmen behind Bowen Born of UNI (11.0), Joseph Yesufu of Drake (9.0), Sheldon Edwards (7.9), and Nate Heise of UNI (7.6).
And Rienk is the #1 rebounder among freshmen in the MVC averaging 5.6 rpg. Those numbers should get him named All-Freshman, but it would help if he puts up great numbers for the last couple games if he has a chance at Freshman of the Year.

[AZ BU Fan]

So the verdict is in.... Screw the regular season. Why bother going to games at Carver. Save your money and just go to St Louis hoping for a Tourney miracle. Then, sit back at home and watch BU's one and done in the NCAA's with left overs and a beer. Give me a team anytime that can play at a championship level during the season. I'll take my chances with a Championship anytime in the MVC Conference Tourney and any post season after that. An 8-8, or worse, team that wins the Conference Tourney and gets a one and done NCAA Tourney game is still an 8-8, or worse, team. DON'T SETTLE BU FANS.

Best Valley Conference record in past 20 years: 11-7
# Seasons in past 20 years with > 0.500 Valley Conference Regular Season record: 5

[LittleBrave]

So the verdict is in.... Screw the regular season. Why bother going to games at Carver. Save your money and just go to St Louis hoping for a Tourney miracle. Then, sit back at home and watch BU's one and done in the NCAA's with left overs and a beer. Give me a team anytime that can play at a championship level during the season. I'll take my chances with a Championship anytime in the MVC Conference Tourney and any post season after that. An 8-8, or worse, team that wins the Conference Tourney and gets a one and done NCAA Tourney game is still an 8-8, or worse, team. DON'T SETTLE BU FANS.

Best Valley Conference record in past 20 years: 11-7
# Seasons in past 20 years with > 0.500 Valley Conference Regular Season record: 5

I totally feel ya, AzBUFan!
At start of this season, as a fan I was like - OK!
We’ve proven we are better than the other league teams.
Time to put it all together and win a Valley title!

I’m not sure I’d trade those b2b titles for anything, but I don’t think it’s even close to as great an accomplishment as winning the reg. season title just ONE TIME!

it’s been 25 stinking years! And maybe only 1 season since we’ve contended for the title up to the final week of the season!
That’s kind of shameful as great a program as we claim to have and basketball history as rich as we have!

[Tommy]

So the verdict is in.... Screw the regular season. Why bother going to games at Carver. Save your money and just go to St Louis hoping for a Tourney miracle.

I feel your pain, AZ. Dub and I have had many conversations about wanting to see an MVC regular season championship, and our hope with BW is that we become the dominant team of the the MVC for years to come, much in the same way that Creighton and WSU had in the past. This year was a real disappointment as I think many of us were expecting just one more step in improvement which would have meant about 23-25 wins and maybe even a shot at being ranked. Obviously that didn't happen and this team looks more like BW's first team instead of his last. We could make plenty of excuses for this failed season, but the fact remains that we expect them to overcome whatever obstacles are put in their way and to succeed nonetheless.

As far as 'screw the regular season', I don't think ANYONE on this forum feels that way. You can be an extremely competitive team without winning the MVC, but in the end, the only sure shot at the NCAA tournament is to win the MVC conference tourney first. I think that's all anyone is saying here. None of us want to finish in last place and then win the tournament, but I think what we've accomplished the last 2 years would be perfectly acceptable, though slightly less fulfilling than if we had won the conference straight out. I'm sure if you asked Loyola and UNI fans if they would have traded a couple regular season wins for an MVC tournament championship and an NCAA berth, most, if not all of them would say absolutely.

Now to your point, I think you're saying just be so good that we get ranked nationally and it doesn't matter if we win the tourney. We'd all love to see that happen, but we have to be honest about the way the NCAA does rankings and understand that they have made it increasingly difficult for mid-majors to be ranked (see Drake taking their first loss of the year in game 19 of the season, only to see it push them out of the rankings. How many power conference teams that are 18-1 aren't ranked?).

We all empathize with your feelings and everyone is disappointed with what we've seen happen this year.

[BUfan14]

That brings up an interesting question. When was the last time BU was ranked during the season? I think BU ended up ranked after the Sweet 16, but don’t remember any other time, especially during the season.

That is the difficult part is watching other programs ranked multiple times and we can never get there. I remember Drake being ranked twice now. I think Crouch hit a winning shot on their court last time they were ranked if I remember right. UNI has been ranked, Loyola, formerly Wichita and Creighton. SIU had that nice run in the 2000s when they were ranked quite a bit. I can’t recall if MSU ever got there, but it seems like they’ve been upper half of Valley more often than not. Drake certainly hasn’t been consistent, but even they’re been ranked a couple of times. Seems like we should be able to then too.

[BUfan14]

I found my answer: https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb...ley/polls.html

Twice in the 80s during the Hawkins years. Even if the Sweet 16 didn’t get us in the final AP poll or they don’t do one after regular season like coaches poll I guess. Before the 80s it was the 60s. Those of us born after the Hawkins years have never seen a ranked team. Over 30 years. That puts it in perspective.

[PhiAlphaBoy]

So how does Wardle right the ship next season? Barring an influx of impact ready players this team may be even worse next season. Since Wardle has shied away from transfer talent (this was the first year he brought in "outsiders" and he got burned) it's unlikely that he'll bring in a transfer that's capable of replacing Childs' production.

[LittleBrave]

So how does Wardle right the ship next season? Barring an influx of impact ready players this team may be even worse next season. Since Wardle has shied away from transfer talent (this was the first year he brought in "outsiders" and he got burned) it's unlikely that he'll bring in a transfer that's capable of replacing Childs' production.

I don’t think we’ll be worse. We still have some good talent all around and the guys will get more time to gel together.
Not a great position they were thrown into the last 3 games.

Let’s face it - Ville is struggling big time from outside and I don’t expect the to go into next 2 years.
Mast, East, and Hannah (Ala POB his soph season) could blossom next year, and that incoming Freshman Hickman looks good.

[BUfan17]

So how does Wardle right the ship next season? Barring an influx of impact ready players this team may be even worse next season. Since Wardle has shied away from transfer talent (this was the first year he brought in "outsiders" and he got burned) it's unlikely that he'll bring in a transfer that's capable of replacing Childs' production.

I think we still have a lot of talent on this team. Henry, Ville, Mast, and East should all be major contributors. I could also see Hannah/Kent being key players assuming they will develop further as they are both still fairly raw talent. Boya could be a huge help but I don't know if he can stay healthy. At this point the three still suspended are likely off the team so I am assuming they are gone. What we need is another big man and a guard(s) that can defend and isn't afraid of contact. Someone like DLO, great defense and could get to the line just about anytime he touched the ball. I agree that wardle has gotten burned on a lot of our transfers, Lundy was really the only one that ended up being an major impact but was found out very late.

I think we will be a middle of the pack team next year, sort of a mini-rebuild. It just sucks as this was supposed to be the year we competed for the top. This team was clearly lost, and lacked any strong player leadership. Someone needs to step up next year and be a leader.

[egib52]

I don’t think we’ll be worse. We still have some good talent all around and the guys will get more time to gel together.
Not a great position they were thrown into the last 3 games.

Let’s face it - Ville is struggling big time from outside and I don’t expect the to go into next 2 years.
Mast, East, and Hannah (Ala POB his soph season) could blossom next year, and that incoming Freshman Hickman looks good.

This is a very optimistic post. Playing devil's advocate, even if they all improve offensively, I don't see Mast and Ville ever being shut down defenders. Hickman will be coming in as a Freshman guard which is tough, and is coming off an injury. Assuming Childs isn't back you are losing our best player, and I agree with DC I believe there will be at least one more transfer. Next year, is likely going to be a down year unless we get one or two transfers in the mold of Prim and Mosley (tough scoring post and big time scoring wing). Henry should be good and a focal point, but he is a bit of a tweener. Once we lost the four (now three) we looked like the worst team in the Valley.

[LongTimeFan]

We probably have more than one scholarship available for next year. However, it won't be known for awhile.

[Chris]

We probably have more than one scholarship available for next year. However, it won't be known for awhile.

I have it on pretty good, albeit hearsay, authority that Childs is not planning on coming back. This was his intention before whatever happened at the hotel and I doubt the incident makes it more likely he stays. He wants to start making some money. So, if that decision still holds, we have more than one. The hotel incident could raise that number further, unfortunately.

[Stryker]

My $0.02

i didn’t really have the expectations many fans did for this year at the start of the season. We lost Brown, Kennel, and others that made up the majority of the offense and Ville was the only guy left on the roster besides Child’s we knew had the capability to score. This is what made the cancellation of last years NCAAs so brutal for me. Last year was BUs year to make a post season run and we were robbed.

It is just very hard to come back from that type of roster turnover especially when it was 2/3 of the most reliable scorers. And we saw early this season that scoring was going to be a big issue. Of course then the injuries and suspensions just nailed the coffin shit on the season.

I too have had a hard time seeing BU under perform during the regular season. I just want one season without double digits losses. Is that too hard to ask? Maybe 13-14 MVC wins? Regular season performance is the best indicator of the health of the program. Three magic weekends in the past 20 years isn’t.

Even in 07’ with a loaded post S16 team BU went on a 5 MVC game skid. It just seems like no matter what talent or coach BU can never fully put it together.

The excuses keep coming too. “Can’t compare ourselves to Wichita State or Crieghton” etc. we should be able to, we competed against them well until the Ford years against WSU. Head to head BU Creighton was 40-46, and 68-71 vs WSU.

Hell I was one of the guys that laughed at adding Loyola-Chicago to the MVC. In six years they have two MVC championships, 3 20 win seasons, a final four appearance, and this year they have another 20+ win season and are ranked. And I wanted to laugh them out of the conference 6 yrs ago thinking they would never compete at this level.

Then we have other teams like Drake or Indiana State that were known for being the bottom dwellers of the MVC for decades have great regular seasons in the past 10 years. We should expect a 25 win BU team from time to time, and that shouldn’t be unreasonable.

[Bravesfanchicago]

Men's College Basketball Rankings -
2005-06
Final Rankings

Coaches Poll

1	Florida(31)	31-6	775	9
2	UCLA	31-6	739	6
3	LSU	27-8	666	15
4	UConn	30-4	658	2
5	Villanova	28-5	620	1
6	Memphis	33-4	607	3
7	Duke	32-4	585	6
8	George Mason	27-7	564	18
9	Texas	30-7	542	-
10	Gonzaga	29-4	503	5
11	Boston College	28-8	463	4
12	Washington	26-7	403	5
13	Ohio State	26-6	354	7
14	North Carolina	23-8	312	2
15	West Virginia	22-11	300	8
16	Georgetown	23-10	296	8
17	Illinois	26-7	261	3
18	Pittsburgh	25-8	247	2
19	George Washington	27-3	221	8
20	Tennessee	22-8	198	1
21	Wichita State	26-9	169	5
22	Kansas	25-8	155	9
23	Iowa	25-9	109	8
24	Bradley	22-11	106	2
25	Bucknell	27-5	51	1

Others receiving votes: NC State 23, Nevada 18, Syracuse 16, UAB 16, Indiana 14, Alabama 13, Oklahoma 13, Arizona 12, Michigan State 10, Kentucky 10, California 6, Texas A&M 5, South Carolina 4, Pacific 3, Northwestern State 2, UNC Wilmington 2, Milwaukee 2, San Diego State 2

Dropped from rankings: Oklahoma 20, Nevada 21, Syracuse 22, UAB 25