U of Pay Loses

[UtahPilot47]

With U of Pay’s loss tonight. The Utes are the last PAC 12 team ever still playing men’s basketball.

[Minnesota Ute]

Hate to say it, but Pele lost that game for them. His defense was so bad my wife was calling him out. On top of that he couldn’t throw a brick in the ocean.

[NarfUte]

Who had Utah being the last PAC-12 mbb team to be playing on their bingo card

[belli1976]

I get your point and want to think this is cool. Yet it feels like a participation trophy.

[Minnesota Ute]

Here is my only Devil’s advocate argument, the NIT is not the 67th best team in the land. You have to exclude many automatic qualifiers and instead compare Utah against many mid-tier teams that get in from ACC Big East, B10 etc, To me, the good news (if we can win one or two roadies to end the year), is an acknowledgement that we should have been there. Not complaining that we didn’t get picked, we did that to ourselves, but that had we played to our potential (according to what we are seeing, albeit at home…) we would have been there, and would have competed with most of the teams in the tourney. So it’s still fun to root for that validation, such as it is…

It’s just a shame that it’s in a year when so many opted out. 🙁

[TX_UTE]

I hear you, belli1976 but since my NCAAM bracket has been pretty much blown up and the Lady Utes are out it’s still nice to have a team to root for, even if its for the NIT championship…and would love to see the seniors go out on a high note, but we all know how poorly this team has played on the road.

Go UTES!

[belli1976]

I am watching and cheering for the Running Utes to win. And hope they win the NIT.

The question that will never be answered is if the were in the NCAA, would they still be playing. We will never know.

[MDUte]

I’ll answer that question because we do know the answer. If the Utes made the tourney, which they absolutely should have this year, they would not still be playing. The NIT teams aren’t even playing to be recognized as the #69th best team in the country. There were like 17 teams ahead of Utah that declined the invite to play in the NIT.

It’s great for the players to continue to enjoy post season play and making it to the final four of the NIT. But let’s not get confused with the level of competition between the NIT and NCAA…there is no comparison. Had we made the NCAA, Utah’s goal with this year’s team was to win in the round of 64 and have an opportunity to play on to the next weekend (Sweet Sixteen). But that’s as far as this team could have gotten and it’s unlikely at that. Round of 32 is where I believe this year’s team would have finished and that would’ve been a huge accomplishment.

[dwainegf]

Only a slight exaggeration. 7 teams declined invitations to the NIT. Pitt, St. Johns, Memphis, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, Indiana and Syracuse. Why some people feel the need to be a buzz kill when it comes to some things, is hard for me to understand. Blowing stuff out of proportion or making misleading exaggerations is BS.

[MDUte]

Really?? I said “like 17” meaning I didn’t recall the exact number. But 7 is still a lot of declined invites.So you’re going to try and convince everyone that the NIT, playing to be the 75th (68 + 7) best team in the country, is comparable to the NCAA tournament? And by simply being real about it means I’m a buzz kill? Ok whatever…guess I’m a buzz kill then.

[dwainegf]

Being criticized is fun, isn’t it?

[MDUte]

Fine by me, criticize all you like. But by your remark, I guess you think you really got me or something? Haha

[dwainegf]

We are free to express ourselves as we please. both of us. There are some who can’t seem to get out of the way of negativity and others who see things from the overly positive side. Many of us come from somewhere in the middle. My problem with your recent posts is that you are peeing on everyone else’s parade because you aren’t happy with the team. As I said above, you are free to do as you please. I am also free to say that we know that you aren’t happy and we/I are tired of hearing about it.

[The Miami Ute]

I’m not here to criticize but I do disagree with your take regarding the quality level of NIT teams. I’m sure that you know that every single conference tournament champion gets a direct bid to the dance. Well, there’s a few of those teams that had a mediocre regular season and just put things together in the tournament. I’m talking about teams like Saint Peter’s, Wagner, and Long Beach State to name a few. None of those teams are at the level of Utah or a team like Indiana State, who’s currently 31-6.

[MDUte]

Fair point. But how many of those teams are there really? Point being the NCAA Tourney is no comparison to the NIT in terms of competition. As stated before, it’s great for the players that they get to continue playing and have a post season experience. And it’s great for Utah MBB fans who get to enjoy watching the team play more basketball. But it’s silly for Utah fans to pound their chest about being the only team from Utah or the PAC 12 still playing in the post season as if it’s better Utah is in the NIT than making the NCAA Tournament. There is no comparison and it’s complete nonsense to think that NIT success makes up for the failure of not making the NCAA Tourney this year. Because it doesn’t.

[The Miami Ute]

I could add a couple of more in Michigan State and Texas A & M and that’s just off the top of my head
But you’re right in the sense that just making the Dance trumps making a deep run in the NIT.

[MDUte]

I didn’t realize I was being overly negative. I thought I was just keeping it real and thereby staying somewhere in the middle. But to each their own.
I’m still watching the team play and pulling for them to win regardless. I want any kid who puts on the Utah uniform and represents our University to succeed. Would love to see the kids win the NIT or even just get another win and play in the championship game. It’s all great for the kids and the fans…go Utes!

[chinngiskhaan]

Lets be real.

If the NIT hadn’t given us home court advantage, we would not have advanced past the first round. We would have been obliterated if we had somehow made the NCAA tournament. This team was dreadful on the road all year.

[utefansince79]

On a neutral court, Utah beat a good Wake Forest team and played well in losses to Houston and St. John’s. Also crushed Arizona State in Vegas before running into a red hot Colorado team.

[The Miami Ute]

Yeah, totally agree with that. On a neutral court the Utes have handled themselves adequately this season. It’s another thing when the game was away.

[Hahnenwk]

Utah beat five teams in the NCAA tournament and lost to one in double overtime. Their road play was abysmal. I went to all their home games and I was entertained.

The negativity against them is too much as far as I can see. They are a 45 to 65 level team as far as I can tell.