How much does the national championship resonate these days?

[SWC75]

When we won the national title in 2003, all our dreams had finally come true. The rpevailing spirit on the board was that it didn't matter what happened after this- we'd have this forever. We'd never again have that sense of being thwarted, that somehow this world didn't belong to us- it belonged to others and they'd get the rewards all the time. We could handle whatever happened next so much easier.

Then came the ACC snub, which dominated what shoudl have been a pleasant spring and summer. Connecticut won their second title the next year, moving them back ahead of us. Then came two first round NCAA flame-outs and two NIT seaosns. We started to come back the next year and had the glory of thye 6OT game. We had one of our gretaest teams in 2010 but lost a key player and got beat in part thanks to a bad out of boudns call by a team that came withing a rim shot of winning the title. We all felt that that should have been our second title, (actiually it should have been our third). Then a 9th place UCONN team that we'd beaten in their own place and lost to in OT in New York wins the ugliest national championship game ever to get their third title- and we are stuck on one! This year we obviously have a major national title contender. But there's a feeling that we'd better win this one- we need to keep up!

When you think of the 2003 title now, what do you think of? All our dreams coming true? Or does it seem somehow embarressing that that's the only time we won it? Are we back to the same feelings we used to have, as if it never happened?

 

[HoustonCuse]

Of course we'd like to have more stars on the back of our platinum jerseys Wednesday night, but that Championship is still resonating. It brought a level of credibility to the program that no amount of 20 win seasons or BET titles could get us. Do I want another one? Absolutely. Am I bugged by the apparent cheapness of UConn's? Oh yes. I look at UConn last year sort of like us in 1996, except they got to face a mid-major who played one of their worst games of the year. We got to face a team widely regarded as the best in college basketball history coached by a guy who seemingly can beat Syracuse in his sleep. 2010 hurt for sure. This year will be historically painful if we don't advance past the Sweet 16.

 

[DoctorBombay]

Quick, what was the name of the first girl you kissed...or the first girl you had sex with???
Think of that first NC as you would your first sexual experience or the first girl you kissed: new, exciting, uncharted territory, exhilarating, & never-to-be-forgotten. Does that mean you didn't want other sexual experiences or girlfriends? No- but that first time will always hold a special place.
To paraphrase Bill Parcells; "For the rest of your lives, they can never say you couldn't do it..because you did"!
As a fan, I wanna win a championship EVERY year. Is that realistic...of course not. But that doesn't mean we can't dream.
Even more, when we have a team that's CAPABLE of winning it all like we do this year, then the intensity & expectations are magnified.
Either way, win or lose, we'll all be back in October looking forward to our "next" championship!

 

[arrow2arinzesknee]

2003 was absolutely incredible.

If Syracuse never wins another title at least I will be validated to seeing them win one in my lifetime.

I have had bad experiences being a fan of teams that just don't win

Mets
Jets
Knicks

so when Syracuse cut down the nets the euphoria was tremendous and the game itself was a classic, to win against what I saw as a superior play by outplaying them (especially that near perfect first half) was just so rewarding.

We will always have 2003, and it makes years like 2010 a little bit easier to swallow

although I contend that the 2010 team was the best college basketball team I have ever seen play.

 

[All4SU]

Quick, what was the name of the first girl you kissed...or the first girl you had sex with???
Think of that first NC as you would your first sexual experience or the first girl you kissed: new, exciting, uncharted territory, exhilarating, & never-to-be-forgotten. Does that mean you didn't want other sexual experiences or girlfriends? No- but that first time will always hold a special place.
To paraphrase Bill Parcells; "For the rest of your lives, they can never say you couldn't do it..because you did"!
As a fan, I wanna win a championship EVERY year. Is that realistic...of course not. But that doesn't mean we can't dream.
Even more, when we have a team that's CAPABLE of winning it all like we do this year, then the intensity & expectations are magnified.
Either way, win or lose, we'll all be back in October looking forward to our "next" championship!

I would say the good Doctor has nailed it. And yes, you never forget your first, no matter how old you get.

 

[garnermike]

I'll take perspective from Michigan State. Yeah, I know they have 2 NCs (1979 and 2000), but their last was further back than ours. And, yes, they have 9 FFs to our 4. But they haven't won it all in going on 12 years, and they still are a preeminent program nationally. Plus, I don't think anyone from that 200o team is a high profile NBA'er like Melo is today. SU's 2003 NC gets some play whenever Melo is the focus of attention-----like the past two weeks with the Lin explosion.

 

[thebigeast44]

One can never take away or diminish the one shining moment we had in 2003. While I'd love to have another, winning that championship fulfilled for many of us a dream we had long harbored and hoped for. The disappointments we have had since then have been tempered by that championship season. Imagine how much worse it might have felt when Arinze went down in 2010 had we still been without a championship.

A friend of mine from college I had not heard from in some time related to me he felt the same way when his Red Sox broke the curse in 2004. Of course, as a Yankees fan, I was not so happy with that year

Let's Go Orange!!!

 

[br801]

When you think of the 2003 title now, what do you think of? All our dreams coming true? Or does it seem somehow embarressing that that's the only time we won it? Are we back to the same feelings we used to have, as if it never happened?

Absolutely nothing that has happened since 2003 or will happen in the future could ever tarnish that championship season for me.

Embarrassed that we haven't won another title since then? No way, no how. Winning it all isn't easy and never will be, no matter how talented your team. What embarrasses me are fans that measure success solely by championships won and believe anything short of that is failure and underachievement.

 

[SWC75]

How important is it to win more than one championship? Is winning the national championship like getting into the Hall of Fame or winning an Oscar- it doesn’t matter if other Hall of Famers are better or if others have one multiple Oscars- you’re a member of the club! Or is there a ranking or pecking order within those groups, such that you still aspire to achieve more?

I’m not sure but I decided to look at the number of NCAA basketball tournament championships won by the various schools and compare them to their all-time tournament wins to see if there’s some that looks wrong about where we are on the list.

11 titles: UCLA (99)
7 titles: Kentucky (105)
5 Titles: Indiana (60), North Carolina (102)
4 Titles: Duke (94)
3 Titles: Connecticut (46) , Kansas (85)
2 Titles: Cincinnati (40), Florida (42) , Louisville (60), Michigan State (52), North Carolina State (32), Oklahoma State (38), San Francisco (21)
1 Titles: Arizona (43), Arkansas (40), California (19), CCNY (4), Georgetown (45) , Holy Cross (7), La Salle (11), Loyola-Chicago (9), Marquette (34), Maryland (38), Michigan (42), Ohio State (45) , Oregon (12), Stanford (21), Syracuse (52), UNLV (33), Utah (35), UTEP (14), Villanova (49) Wisconsin (21), Wyoming (9)

We are the last of the teams that have won the title once to have won it. We’ve won more NCAA tournament games than any of the others, (although Arizona, Arkansas, Georgetown, Marquette, Maryland, Michigan, Utah and Villanova also have distinguished records and only one title). We have more NCAA wins than all but two of the seven teams with two titles and also more wins than Connecticut, who has three wins. I think we should have more national titles than CCNY, Holy Cross, Loyola and UTEP.

Maybe we can move up this year- to where we belong.

 

[LennX6]

When we won the national title in 2003, all our dreams had finally come true. The rpevailing spirit on the board was that it didn't matter what happened after this- we'd have this forever. We'd never again have that sense of being thwarted, that somehow this world didn't belong to us- it belonged to others and they'd get the rewards all the time. We could handle whatever happened next so much easier.

Then came the ACC snub, which dominated what shoudl have been a pleasant spring and summer. Connecticut won their second title the next year, moving them back ahead of us. Then came two first round NCAA flame-outs and two NIT seaosns. We started to come back the next year and had the glory of thye 6OT game. We had one of our gretaest teams in 2010 but lost a key player and got beat in part thanks to a bad out of boudns call by a team that came withing a rim shot of winning the title. We all felt that that should have been our second title, (actiually it should have been our third). Then a 9th place UCONN team that we'd beaten in their own place and lost to in OT in New York wins the ugliest national championship game ever to get their third title- and we are stuck on one! This year we obviously have a major national title contender. But there's a feeling that we'd better win this one- we need to keep up!

When you think of the 2003 title now, what do you think of? All our dreams coming true? Or does it seem somehow embarressing that that's the only time we won it? Are we back to the same feelings we used to have, as if it never happened?

I felt and still feel that way you described in your first paragraph. That being said 27-1 , I will be devastated if we do not get to the final four. This is a once in a lifetime run, it needs to end in its rightly place.
PS 2003 should have been our 4th. I am convinced that the Moten TO game cost us the title. We playing soooooooo good then. If not then the 99-00 season.

 

[kirbivore]

I felt and still feel that way you described in your first paragraph. That being said 27-1 , I will be devastated if we do not get to the final four. This is a once in a lifetime run, it needs to end in its rightly place.
PS 2003 should have been our 4th. I am convinced that the Moten TO game cost us the title. We playing soooooooo good then. If not then the 99-00 season.

No way the 1995 team beats both UNC and UCLA in the Final four.

 

[bballbeadle]

There is confidence that we have a national championship under our belt and no one can ever accuse us of not getting it done. But - there is a hunger. This hunger might have been mitigated had we performed well in the tourney since then, but we haven't. National championship teams come along but rarely in our part of the world. 2010 could have done it. We have a hunger now. We need to get to the Final Four and we are afraid. Or, at least I am.

 

[LennX6]

No way the 1995 team beats both UNC and UCLA in the Final four.

I would have liked my chances, they were playing well at the end, even overcame a double digit deficit in OT in the Arkansas game. Remember wasn't that the year UCLA squeeked by Missouri on the Tyus Edney play? There may have been a talent differential between UNC and us, but we were playing good at the right time.

 

[LennX6]

There is confidence that we have a national championship under our belt and no one can ever accuse us of not getting it done. But - there is a hunger. This hunger might have been mitigated had we performed well in the tourney since then, but we haven't. National championship teams come along but rarely in our part of the world. 2010 could have done it. We have a hunger now. We need to get to the Final Four and we are afraid. Or, at least I am.

Here is my next hope: Become a "selector" school rather than an "acceptor", and become firmly embedded as an elite. There aren't that many. Kentucky, Kansas, UCLA, and Duke (though it could be argued Duke took UCLA's place during the '90's) . UNC may not quite make the list because of the comparable lack of hardware.

 

[kirbivore]

I would have liked my chances, they were playing well at the end, even overcame a double digit deficit in OT in the Arkansas game. Remember wasn't that the year UCLA squeeked by Missouri on the Tyus Edney play? There may have been a talent differential between UNC and us, but we were playing good at the right time.

That was the year UCLA needed the last second shot to beat Missouri. UCLA w/o Edney also destroyed Arkansas in the champ. game. Regarding the 1995 team, they beat Southern Ill. in a high scoring first round game (96-92) and should have beat Arkansas, but they came into that tourney in a free fall, going 3-7 from February through a first game BET loss to Providence. That team was struggling on defense and the Stackhouse/Wallace combo from UNC or the high scoring UCLA squad would have been too much for Syracuse, IMO.