After all the warning signs and terrible play we saw early season, my take was "OK, we'll know by early February if Red can can right this ship as it's so bad that we should be able to see progress."
Well, I think we know and it's not quite February...
The 1st 9 minutes of the game yesterday when we were staring at a 25-2 scoreline and what didn't happen on the sideline while this unbelievable horror show developed answered the question unequivocally.
Each minute was a nail in the coffin.
Period.
I'm not debating that the plan is still to bring Red back even tho he can't coach.
But maybe let's contemplate what that means?
If that is still the plan, then this program is an also-ran shell of itself with no hope of sniffing the NCAA tournament.
Our expectations will need be re-calibrated. Eeking out a winning season each year should be the goal going forward and an occasional NIT in a really good year.
It's time to accept our new station as a completely irrelevant program.
Accepting that, I hope the school is ready for the 5K or less consistent home attendances that comes with that approach.
When the product is this bad, the experience is no longer fun, and if the school is ready to double-down on it, people can and will find other things to do (and probably should.)