The assumption here is that the sustained media outrage by some is the result of our resume not being tournament worthy. There were those who felt that way originally, but my gut says that for those where this was their only beef, it subsided by the end of the Gonzaga game and truly disappeared or became a "joking matter" after the UVa game - some examples of this group might be Greenburg, Kornheiser, Wilbon, etc. - they might be faking it as well, since JB is hot right now in terms of interviews - but my gut says no. For whatever criteria they use they truly felt our resume wasn't worthy and the selection committee disagreed with that point of view - resoundingly so as it turns out.
But those that continue to sustain their outrage now even after our making the Final Four, I truly believe it was never about the worthiness of our resume. It was the perceived "dirtiness" of our program and having us rise from the ashes so quickly after the sanctions came down upon us is only fueling their anger and stubbornness. This is likely how they think of sanctions after doing so well in the tourney:
NCAA vacates 101 victories by JB - no problem, he'll make up most of that before he "retires" at the end of the 2017-18 season. (Yes, I know we suspect he will truly retire after next season, but the haters aren't suspecting this.).
Scholarship reduction - no problem , he only plays 6-7.5 anyway.
Publicly shamed - no problem now, he's made the Elite 8 in 3 of the last 5 and now the Final Four in 2 of the last 5 and they fear that is all future recruits will remember.
Suspended for 9 games - no problem, the committee must have used that as part of their consideration in getting us in the tourney (even though the committee chair said that was not the case)
University has to pay back $$$ to the NCAA fund - no problem, the university has a very good endowment
For some of the haters nothing will ever satisfied them except for either a death penalty for our programs or at the very least JB's head on a spike.
Cheers,
Neil
