Any win in the tourney is a good win. After all, the goal is to beat your opponent six straight games. There are no style points.
But i take issue with the notion that making the sweet 16 should be a satisfying occurrence. Aside from Georgetown and a recently hobbled UCONN, we have nothing in common with those other programs, and frankly, they shouldnt be mentioned in the same sentence (grouping).
SU fans want to tell the world we are so elite. Well, we goddamn should be - amazing, strong-traveling fan base; unbelievable practice facility; massive game arena; hall-of-fame coach; brand name; battle-tested conference; selector school for recruiting. Then don't make piddle-y excuses when the team doesnt play well, or equivocal statements about making the Sweet Sixteen.
The Sweet Sixteen is a nice bench mark. I'm glad SU is back for the fourth time in five years. But the players are better than Sweet Sixteen, the program is beyond Sweet Sixteen status, and I'm not going to get to jazzed up about beating a pair of teams that wouldnt have been top half of our conference.
I'm not going to kill the kids either. I am sure they know this wasnt an "A" performance. Let's see how they respond in the next round.
I'm as big as SU fan as anyone, but its my opinion that is SU is on the elite bubble. We are the first tier of schools outside elite. Why? Take a look at that SU Nike Promo, the caption being, "its time for a 10 year reunion". Elite teams make a final four more than once a decade.
1987
1996 (9 years)
2003 (7 years)
Maybe 2013??? (10 years??)
Elite:
UK
1975, 1978, 1984, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2011, 2012
Mich State
1979, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2009, 2010
Duke
1978, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2010
UNC
1972, 1977, 1981, 1982, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2005, 2008, 2009
KU
1974, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1993, 2002, 2003, 2008, 2012
I love JB and SU, but honestly without the orange glasses on, we are on the bubble of being a blue blood