Saint Peters

[Ilikecats]

South Dakota hammered Baylor. BAYLOR. There is no way SD has a recruiting advantage over MSU?????

Agree 100%!

Yep. South Dakota State WBB got to the sweet 16 in 2019. South Dakota WBB making it there this year. No reason for MSU to not be there at some point. BSC is definitely a lesser conference than the Summit so that may play a part. That can't be an excuse though.

And as we speak SDSU won their second round game in the WNIT…having beat both Ohio and Minnesota now. So both South Dakota schools are in the 3rd rounds of their tourneys. SDSU has 2 other 1st round wins in the NCAA and has been into the semi-finals in the WNIT.

The rosters at both South Dakota schools have 4 SD kids and primarily Minnesota kids (with assorted others). We recruit Minnesota well..no reason we can’t compete with SD schools of the world. I just don’t buy it that we have to accept only competing for a Big Sky championship but if we think that way we surely will only compete for a Big Sky conference title…which I love…but I know Tricia wants more and I know Danny wants more. The 2019-2020 senior laden womens team motto was “Built for More”…and their goal was to win a game in the NCAA……

And I bet Waded and Leon are asking what help do you need to get to the next level?

Excellent post! It’s ok to be good, but the program has the potential to be great!

[BobcatDel]

I think the problem is we were just happy to get to the tournament and not confident that we belonged. Our women’s team was intimidated even before they stepped on the court. We didn't have an alpha on that team that was ready to take on the world! No Norgaard, Braxton, Ferris or Freije. No one willing to stand up and compete. I’m proud of the team making the NCAA’s but I don’t buy the crap that we need to find a lesser tournament. We can compete if we continue to recruit better talent. I for one believe we can. Binford didn’t have the team ready for this type of competition, it wasn’t because she didn’t try. It’s because this team is missing that key ingredient. I wasn’t upset with the fact we were shut out for a whole quarter, I was upset that we played scared. No head fakes, no hard fouls, it was almost like a coronation. We will get better……. Remember against Washington in the NCAA’s we led after the first quarter. MSU has everything it needs to compete at a higher level. I watched Jackson State against LSU yesterday and if Jackson State can compete at a high level why not MSU? I look at St. Peter’s in the Men’s tournament. They play hard……… no highly recruited players, no McDonald’s All Americans, but they beat KENTUCKY! Let’s quit making excuses and start to figure out how to get to the next level! We have a top notch President and a kick ass AD. We also have an amazing fan base. I think when Leon sits down with Binford next week, he needs to congratulate for a good season, but immediately ask her what she needs to compete and win at a higher level. That’s the kind of leadership we have at MSU.

Agree with this!! I have said elsewhere that we were missing that leadership on the court. I agree the womens team had “eyes as big as saucers” that first quarter….in fairness though I cut them a little slack just because of the youth but no excuses, that is where toughness and leadership sets in….Fallyn would not have let that happen. If there is fire in the belly, those ladies are POd and vowing to get back and not let that happen again.

Besides just Leon asking, we should be asking how can we help? Obviously Fast Break Club/6th Man Club/Bobcat Club helps if we can afford it.

[BelgradeBobcat]

I think the problem is we were just happy to get to the tournament and not confident that we belonged. Our women’s team was intimidated even before they stepped on the court. We didn't have an alpha on that team that was ready to take on the world! No Norgaard, Braxton, Ferris or Freije. No one willing to stand up and compete. I’m proud of the team making the NCAA’s but I don’t buy the crap that we need to find a lesser tournament. We can compete if we continue to recruit better talent. I for one believe we can. Binford didn’t have the team ready for this type of competition, it wasn’t because she didn’t try. It’s because this team is missing that key ingredient. I wasn’t upset with the fact we were shut out for a whole quarter, I was upset that we played scared. No head fakes, no hard fouls, it was almost like a coronation. We will get better……. Remember against Washington in the NCAA’s we led after the first quarter. MSU has everything it needs to compete at a higher level. I watched Jackson State against LSU yesterday and if Jackson State can compete at a high level why not MSU? I look at St. Peter’s in the Men’s tournament. They play hard……… no highly recruited players, no McDonald’s All Americans, but they beat KENTUCKY! Let’s quit making excuses and start to figure out how to get to the next level! We have a top notch President and a kick ass AD. We also have an amazing fan base. I think when Leon sits down with Binford next week, he needs to congratulate for a good season, but immediately ask her what she needs to compete and win at a higher level. That’s the kind of leadership we have at MSU.

Agree with this!! I have said elsewhere that we were missing that leadership on the court. I agree the womens team had “eyes as big as saucers” that first quarter….in fairness though I cut them a little slack just because of the youth but no excuses, that is where toughness and leadership sets in….Fallyn would not have let that happen. If there is fire in the belly, those ladies are POd and vowing to get back and not let that happen again.

Besides just Leon asking, we should be asking how can we help? Obviously Fast Break Club/6th Man Club/Bobcat Club helps if we can afford it.

What a great story it would be if both teams get back to the dance next year...and do a whole lot better. Hey it really could happen.

[BobcatDel]

I think the problem is we were just happy to get to the tournament and not confident that we belonged. Our women’s team was intimidated even before they stepped on the court. We didn't have an alpha on that team that was ready to take on the world! No Norgaard, Braxton, Ferris or Freije. No one willing to stand up and compete. I’m proud of the team making the NCAA’s but I don’t buy the crap that we need to find a lesser tournament. We can compete if we continue to recruit better talent. I for one believe we can. Binford didn’t have the team ready for this type of competition, it wasn’t because she didn’t try. It’s because this team is missing that key ingredient. I wasn’t upset with the fact we were shut out for a whole quarter, I was upset that we played scared. No head fakes, no hard fouls, it was almost like a coronation. We will get better……. Remember against Washington in the NCAA’s we led after the first quarter. MSU has everything it needs to compete at a higher level. I watched Jackson State against LSU yesterday and if Jackson State can compete at a high level why not MSU? I look at St. Peter’s in the Men’s tournament. They play hard……… no highly recruited players, no McDonald’s All Americans, but they beat KENTUCKY! Let’s quit making excuses and start to figure out how to get to the next level! We have a top notch President and a kick ass AD. We also have an amazing fan base. I think when Leon sits down with Binford next week, he needs to congratulate for a good season, but immediately ask her what she needs to compete and win at a higher level. That’s the kind of leadership we have at MSU.

Agree with this!! I have said elsewhere that we were missing that leadership on the court. I agree the womens team had “eyes as big as saucers” that first quarter….in fairness though I cut them a little slack just because of the youth but no excuses, that is where toughness and leadership sets in….Fallyn would not have let that happen. If there is fire in the belly, those ladies are POd and vowing to get back and not let that happen again.

Besides just Leon asking, we should be asking how can we help? Obviously Fast Break Club/6th Man Club/Bobcat Club helps if we can afford it.

What a great story it would be if both teams get back to the dance next year...and do a whole lot better. Hey it really could happen.

[Catfanatic84]

I think the problem is we were just happy to get to the tournament and not confident that we belonged. Our women’s team was intimidated even before they stepped on the court. We didn't have an alpha on that team that was ready to take on the world! No Norgaard, Braxton, Ferris or Freije. No one willing to stand up and compete. I’m proud of the team making the NCAA’s but I don’t buy the crap that we need to find a lesser tournament. We can compete if we continue to recruit better talent. I for one believe we can. Binford didn’t have the team ready for this type of competition, it wasn’t because she didn’t try. It’s because this team is missing that key ingredient. I wasn’t upset with the fact we were shut out for a whole quarter, I was upset that we played scared. No head fakes, no hard fouls, it was almost like a coronation. We will get better……. Remember against Washington in the NCAA’s we led after the first quarter. MSU has everything it needs to compete at a higher level. I watched Jackson State against LSU yesterday and if Jackson State can compete at a high level why not MSU? I look at St. Peter’s in the Men’s tournament. They play hard……… no highly recruited players, no McDonald’s All Americans, but they beat KENTUCKY! Let’s quit making excuses and start to figure out how to get to the next level! We have a top notch President and a kick ass AD. We also have an amazing fan base. I think when Leon sits down with Binford next week, he needs to congratulate for a good season, but immediately ask her what she needs to compete and win at a higher level. That’s the kind of leadership we have at MSU.

Agree with this!! I have said elsewhere that we were missing that leadership on the court. I agree the womens team had “eyes as big as saucers” that first quarter….in fairness though I cut them a little slack just because of the youth but no excuses, that is where toughness and leadership sets in….Fallyn would not have let that happen. If there is fire in the belly, those ladies are POd and vowing to get back and not let that happen again.

Besides just Leon asking, we should be asking how can we help? Obviously Fast Break Club/6th Man Club/Bobcat Club helps if we can afford it.

Two things we can do as fans....go to games and give, give, give!! Made an extra donation to 6th man club...I invite everyone do the same...whatever you can afford.

[MSU01]

What a great story it would be if both teams get back to the dance next year...and do a whole lot better. Hey it really could happen.

If you want to win games in the NCAA Tournament, the first step is to make getting there a regular occurrence and not something that happens once every 26 years. St. Peter's is the anomaly, as most mid-major teams that pull off these runs to the Sweet 16 have rosters full of players who have already been there once or twice before. Coach Binford is getting there with two NCAA appearances since 2017 that very well could've been three had 2020 not been wiped out. The key for the men's team is going to be whether they can establish the same continuity in the leadership of the program that the women have, even if that isn't necessarily with Coach Sprinkle on staff for nearly two decades as Coach Binford has been.

Even with all of this I think it's unfair to set an expectation of MSU winning NCAA Tournament games, as a team coming out of the Big Sky will always be at a talent deficit to whoever they're matched up with and will lose much more often than they win.

[WalkOn79]

I think there are a couple things going on.

First, I think the Big Sky is just not that good on a national level.

Second, I think the Bobcats had really tough draws. On the women's side, there's not quite the parity that there is on the men's side. UCONN and Tennessee have won about half of the national championships in the last 40 years, and Stanford is one of the blue bloods (they've won 3). The gap between teams like MSU and the top teams is just so big. I think WBB is getting more parity, but that's not coming real fast.

As for the other schools doing well, Saint Peters is right outside of NYC. They're just going to get athletes MSU doesn't get. When you get those athletes, you might have a so-so regular season, but athletically you can hang with some better teams and shock some people. (Memphis actually got beat by Gonzaga, not St Pete's--they beat Murray St in the second round which isn't exactly a blue blood). Florida Gulf Coast made a run in the men's tournament a few years ago, but it's the same deal as Saint Peter's...just a different population to draw from. High school basketball in Montana is just not good. It's crazy because we love hoops in this state, but we're pretty irrelevant on the national level. We can import kids, which we obviously do, but that's a pretty tough recruiting job. You've gotta convince a kid from NYC or Florida or California to come to Montana and play in a cavernous arena in front of 3,000 fans on a pretty good day (hopefully that keeps improving). If those kids are going to take a chance on a school because they're getting overlooked by the blue bloods, they're more likely to head to FGCU or stay close to home at Saint Peter's.

I think the goal always needs to be to qualify for the NCAA tournament because it's the best sporting event in the country, but MSU really needs to be playing in the smaller tournaments where they have a chance to win some games. If MSU can keep on the trajectory it's on, I think there's a chance they start getting better seeds and maybe sneaking a win every once in a while.

Wow, smaller tournaments? Sneaking a win? Most competitive teams aren’t full of high school players from their state. Schools recruit all over the world! Geez!

I said the NCAA tournament is the goal and always should be, but MSU is really far from being able to make a run. At this stage, MSU is better suited for making a run in a smaller tournament, but I'd still take an NCAA bid any day.

Yes other schools are full of players from all over, but there aren't a lot of players looking at Montana as a destination that's going to improve their chances at making the next level. And we've always said in football you have to have a core of MT players, which I think would help in basketball too if we were producing D-I players in this state regularly. MSU has done so well recruiting internationally and that needs to continue. That got Gonzaga on the map and now they're getting a run at the best players in the US.

I look at our roster and we have players from all over the country and Australia. It’s not a proven fact that in hoops it’s better to have your core players from MT. Gonzaga Women's team only has one kid from Washington. Stanford had one starter from California, UCONN has 0 kids from Connecticut. Stanford has 3 and soon to be 4 kids from Colorado! The young lady that dunked is from Colorado! The National Woman’s HS player of the year is heading to Stanford next year! She’s from Colorado! Bozeman is growing, I don’t think it’s difficult to attract talent to Bozeman. I’m not sure that there’s a large number of College WBB players pushing for the WNBA, but I do know they’re interested in MSU. We just have to get on the road and find them. I think our problem is attitude. For some reason we feel that we’re at a significant disadvantage because our university is located in Montana. It’s almost like the movie field of Dreams! “BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME!”

No you don't have to have your core players from in-state, but I think it helps make it more interesting for fans, which makes it a better basketball environment. Another reason that's helpful is because those in-state student athletes aren't taking a chance on MSU, which is still building something. Nobody's taking a chance to go to UCONN, Stanford, or even Gonzaga. I didn't mean for it to sound like MSU will never get to that point. I think we're getting closer every year, I'm just trying to explain why, in my opinion, MSU isn't there YET and couldn't compete in two really tough matchups in the NCAA tournament.

There "might" be one, ONE D1 basketball talent in Montana every year. Most year's even that one is a role player on a good D1 team. Not many Tres Tinkles produced in this state.

[WalkOn79]

And I'm talking the men's side specifically. Might be a few more in Girls HS hoops.

[Catfanatic84]

Wondering what the MBB and WBB need to do in terms of scheduling. It's tough to get elite programs to Bozeman, but it seems we need to see a Non-Conference schedule with Top 25 programs. Coach Bin had Gonzaga and BYU on the schedule this year...the Men will probably have to go on the road to compete against top 25 programs.

If MSU could nab a win in non-conference play against a top 25 program, the Bobcats would improve seeding in the tournament by a notch or two.

[kennethnoisewater]

I think there are a couple things going on.

First, I think the Big Sky is just not that good on a national level.

Second, I think the Bobcats had really tough draws. On the women's side, there's not quite the parity that there is on the men's side. UCONN and Tennessee have won about half of the national championships in the last 40 years, and Stanford is one of the blue bloods (they've won 3). The gap between teams like MSU and the top teams is just so big. I think WBB is getting more parity, but that's not coming real fast.

As for the other schools doing well, Saint Peters is right outside of NYC. They're just going to get athletes MSU doesn't get. When you get those athletes, you might have a so-so regular season, but athletically you can hang with some better teams and shock some people. (Memphis actually got beat by Gonzaga, not St Pete's--they beat Murray St in the second round which isn't exactly a blue blood). Florida Gulf Coast made a run in the men's tournament a few years ago, but it's the same deal as Saint Peter's...just a different population to draw from. High school basketball in Montana is just not good. It's crazy because we love hoops in this state, but we're pretty irrelevant on the national level. We can import kids, which we obviously do, but that's a pretty tough recruiting job. You've gotta convince a kid from NYC or Florida or California to come to Montana and play in a cavernous arena in front of 3,000 fans on a pretty good day (hopefully that keeps improving). If those kids are going to take a chance on a school because they're getting overlooked by the blue bloods, they're more likely to head to FGCU or stay close to home at Saint Peter's.

I think the goal always needs to be to qualify for the NCAA tournament because it's the best sporting event in the country, but MSU really needs to be playing in the smaller tournaments where they have a chance to win some games. If MSU can keep on the trajectory it's on, I think there's a chance they start getting better seeds and maybe sneaking a win every once in a while.

Wow, smaller tournaments? Sneaking a win? Most competitive teams aren’t full of high school players from their state. Schools recruit all over the world! Geez!

I said the NCAA tournament is the goal and always should be, but MSU is really far from being able to make a run. At this stage, MSU is better suited for making a run in a smaller tournament, but I'd still take an NCAA bid any day.

Yes other schools are full of players from all over, but there aren't a lot of players looking at Montana as a destination that's going to improve their chances at making the next level. And we've always said in football you have to have a core of MT players, which I think would help in basketball too if we were producing D-I players in this state regularly. MSU has done so well recruiting internationally and that needs to continue. That got Gonzaga on the map and now they're getting a run at the best players in the US.

I look at our roster and we have players from all over the country and Australia. It’s not a proven fact that in hoops it’s better to have your core players from MT. Gonzaga Women's team only has one kid from Washington. Stanford had one starter from California, UCONN has 0 kids from Connecticut. Stanford has 3 and soon to be 4 kids from Colorado! The young lady that dunked is from Colorado! The National Woman’s HS player of the year is heading to Stanford next year! She’s from Colorado! Bozeman is growing, I don’t think it’s difficult to attract talent to Bozeman. I’m not sure that there’s a large number of College WBB players pushing for the WNBA, but I do know they’re interested in MSU. We just have to get on the road and find them. I think our problem is attitude. For some reason we feel that we’re at a significant disadvantage because our university is located in Montana. It’s almost like the movie field of Dreams! “BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME!”

No you don't have to have your core players from in-state, but I think it helps make it more interesting for fans, which makes it a better basketball environment. Another reason that's helpful is because those in-state student athletes aren't taking a chance on MSU, which is still building something. Nobody's taking a chance to go to UCONN, Stanford, or even Gonzaga. I didn't mean for it to sound like MSU will never get to that point. I think we're getting closer every year, I'm just trying to explain why, in my opinion, MSU isn't there YET and couldn't compete in two really tough matchups in the NCAA tournament.

There "might" be one, ONE D1 basketball talent in Montana every year. Most year's even that one is a role player on a good D1 team. Not many Tres Tinkles produced in this state.

Right, and that's what I'm saying is PART of the reason MSU just isn't able to compete at the highest level currently. We wouldn't expect our football team to compete against one of the very best in the country and don't even have any expectations that someday they will. Our basketball teams each just played arguably top-5 teams. I know it happens in basketball occasionally, but I'd argue those favored teams are getting caught off guard almost every time. Texas Tech and Stanford clearly didn't get caught off guard.

[Catbasketball20]

I believe it’s more than just giving to the booster clubs and those things. It’s business owners finding ways to take advantage of the NIL deals. Kids want to make the money that’s available now. It’s up to boosters, businesses, and whatever is allowed to help these kids make some money on the side. If want bigger more explosive athletes, we have to give something up as well. So many people at schools have cars, apartments, commercials. We have to do that too. If businesses commit to that, watch where the programs go from there.

[kennethnoisewater]

Wondering what the MBB and WBB need to do in terms of scheduling. It's tough to get elite programs to Bozeman, but it seems we need to see a Non-Conference schedule with Top 25 programs. Coach Bin had Gonzaga and BYU on the schedule this year...the Men will probably have to go on the road to compete against top 25 programs.

If MSU could nab a win in non-conference play against a top 25 program, the Bobcats would improve seeding in the tournament by a notch or two.

That's a good point, and I don't even think it has to be a top-25 program necessarily. Get some solid mid-majors on the schedule and that helps. I think the other part, too, is that a Big Sky team is going to have to pretty much run the table in league play to expect much better than a 14 seed. When you watch the bracketology type shows, they talk about good wins and bad losses for the at large teams. For the men, the record is pretty clean, but the women's record is full of a bunch of bad losses on a national scale. Lots of losses to non tournament teams. The men only had one loss to a tournament team (SDSU) and it was by 17. Other losses prior to the tournament were fairly close (Colorado, New Mexico, Weber, Montana, UNCU, and EWU), but by elite College Basketball standards were not great losses. If you look at it like a team looking for an at-large bid, you just can't have more than a couple of losses like those and expect to make the tournament at all.

MSU is moving in the right direction and doing so at an impressive pace. I think a BSC team is going to have to get really good and get some tournament wins, then the rest of the conference will have to catch up somewhat. Look what happened in the WCC with Gonzaga being good every year. Suddenly they have a few teams that are solid, potential at-large candidates every year. Eventually that's going to help Gonzaga too. They don't have blowout wins against bad teams every night and that's going to start helping them in March.

[CelticCat]

South Dakota hammered Baylor. BAYLOR. There is no way SD has a recruiting advantage over MSU?????

USD is about 5 hours from Minneapolis, 4 hours from Des Moines (475k), 2 hours from Omaha (475k). Not exactly areas you think of when you think of big time cities but I think us Montanans really don't understand how isolated Bozeman really is from any major city. I mean what is the closet city above 400k, Boise which is almost 8 hours away? SLC is about 6.5 I suppose.

[grizzh8r]

South Dakota hammered Baylor. BAYLOR. There is no way SD has a recruiting advantage over MSU?????

USD is about 5 hours from Minneapolis, 4 hours from Des Moines (475k), 2 hours from Omaha (475k). Not exactly areas you think of when you think of big time cities but I think us Montanans really don't understand how isolated Bozeman really is from any major city. I mean what is the closet city above 400k, Boise which is almost 8 hours away? SLC is about 6.5 I suppose.

Aaaand just how many recruits have we pulled from the greater SLC metro area in recent years? I'm struggling think of any, especially with U of U there, and traditionally strong mid majors in BYU, USU, WSU all within spitting distance. UVU, SUU and DSU are also in the mix now, not to mention Snow JC. MSU has had a fair bit of success with international talent, I think that's absolutely the key moving forward. As mentioned, it's the same model that successful WCC teams have been using for some time now.

[Ilikecats]

South Dakota hammered Baylor. BAYLOR. There is no way SD has a recruiting advantage over MSU?????

USD is about 5 hours from Minneapolis, 4 hours from Des Moines (475k), 2 hours from Omaha (475k). Not exactly areas you think of when you think of big time cities but I think us Montanans really don't understand how isolated Bozeman really is from any major city. I mean what is the closet city above 400k, Boise which is almost 8 hours away? SLC is about 6.5 I suppose.

We seem to have a lot of excuses…… there’s planes now and you can jump on Southwest Airlines and be in Bozeman in 1-3 hours. The problem is we’re good, but not good enough. We have to quit being satisfied with just making the tourney and have to build a program that winning the conference every year is just a way to get to the NCAAs. But the goal is making noise in the tourney, not losing by 40! It’s basketball, not football that requires 50 awesome athletes and zillions of dollars to compete. Build a good program and with 7-9 good basketball players you can make some serious noise in the tourney.

[iaafan]

South Dakota hammered Baylor. BAYLOR. There is no way SD has a recruiting advantage over MSU?????

USD is about 5 hours from Minneapolis, 4 hours from Des Moines (475k), 2 hours from Omaha (475k). Not exactly areas you think of when you think of big time cities but I think us Montanans really don't understand how isolated Bozeman really is from any major city. I mean what is the closet city above 400k, Boise which is almost 8 hours away? SLC is about 6.5 I suppose.

We seem to have a lot of excuses…… there’s planes now and you can jump on Southwest Airlines and be in Bozeman in 1-3 hours. The problem is we’re good, but not good enough. We have to quit being satisfied with just making the tourney and have to build a program that winning the conference every year is just a way to get to the NCAAs. But the goal is making noise in the tourney, not losing by 40! It’s basketball, not football that requires 50 awesome athletes and zillions of dollars to compete. Build a good program and with 7-9 good basketball players you can make some serious noise in the tourney.

If only it were that easy. You could take the Big Sky all star team and still not do much better. The teams that pull off upsets do it because they just happen to be hot that day and their opponent just happens to be cold.

[CelticCat]

South Dakota hammered Baylor. BAYLOR. There is no way SD has a recruiting advantage over MSU?????

USD is about 5 hours from Minneapolis, 4 hours from Des Moines (475k), 2 hours from Omaha (475k). Not exactly areas you think of when you think of big time cities but I think us Montanans really don't understand how isolated Bozeman really is from any major city. I mean what is the closet city above 400k, Boise which is almost 8 hours away? SLC is about 6.5 I suppose.

We seem to have a lot of excuses…… there’s planes now and you can jump on Southwest Airlines and be in Bozeman in 1-3 hours. The problem is we’re good, but not good enough. We have to quit being satisfied with just making the tourney and have to build a program that winning the conference every year is just a way to get to the NCAAs. But the goal is making noise in the tourney, not losing by 40! It’s basketball, not football that requires 50 awesome athletes and zillions of dollars to compete. Build a good program and with 7-9 good basketball players you can make some serious noise in the tourney.

Look I'm not saying it's impossible and I agree we shouldn't be satisfied just making the tournament ever year, but it isn't just as easy as getting 7-9 guys who play basketball good and want to learn to do other things good too. Saint Peter's caught lighting in a bottle, good for them, but do you think they will be back? Do you think that program has the resources to parlay this into a common occurrence? MSU ran into a buzzsaw and it sucked, and yes there is no reason MSU can't catching lighting too but it's very, very hard to be a mid-major with repetitive, sustained success.

[wapiti]

Wondering what the MBB and WBB need to do in terms of scheduling. It's tough to get elite programs to Bozeman, but it seems we need to see a Non-Conference schedule with Top 25 programs. Coach Bin had Gonzaga and BYU on the schedule this year...the Men will probably have to go on the road to compete against top 25 programs.

If MSU could nab a win in non-conference play against a top 25 program, the Bobcats would improve seeding in the tournament by a notch or two.

Gonzaga is relatively close and there is a chance we could get them to visit Bozeman.
The elite programs have to have some road games. Why not get one of them to Bozeman once in a while. They might see it as an easy road win.

I see it as an opportunity to sellout tickets for an OOC game in Bozeman. Who wouldn't want to go see Duke or North Carolina or Kentucky or Gonzaga play in the fieldhouse?

[technoCat]

Wondering what the MBB and WBB need to do in terms of scheduling. It's tough to get elite programs to Bozeman, but it seems we need to see a Non-Conference schedule with Top 25 programs. Coach Bin had Gonzaga and BYU on the schedule this year...the Men will probably have to go on the road to compete against top 25 programs.

If MSU could nab a win in non-conference play against a top 25 program, the Bobcats would improve seeding in the tournament by a notch or two.

Gonzaga is relatively close and there is a chance we could get them to visit Bozeman.
The elite programs have to have some road games. Why not get one of them to Bozeman once in a while. They might see it as an easy road win.

I see it as an opportunity to sellout tickets for an OOC game in Bozeman. Who wouldn't want to go see Duke or North Carolina or Kentucky or Gonzaga play in the fieldhouse?

We got Portland to come, why not San Fransisco, Santa Clara, or Saint Mary's? BYU and Gonzaga are probably a pipe dream because they can always find lots of teams that want to play them for exposure but the other WCC teams are getting more and more limelight.

[ilovethecats]

South Dakota hammered Baylor. BAYLOR. There is no way SD has a recruiting advantage over MSU?????

USD is about 5 hours from Minneapolis, 4 hours from Des Moines (475k), 2 hours from Omaha (475k). Not exactly areas you think of when you think of big time cities but I think us Montanans really don't understand how isolated Bozeman really is from any major city. I mean what is the closet city above 400k, Boise which is almost 8 hours away? SLC is about 6.5 I suppose.

We seem to have a lot of excuses…… there’s planes now and you can jump on Southwest Airlines and be in Bozeman in 1-3 hours. The problem is we’re good, but not good enough. We have to quit being satisfied with just making the tourney and have to build a program that winning the conference every year is just a way to get to the NCAAs. But the goal is making noise in the tourney, not losing by 40! It’s basketball, not football that requires 50 awesome athletes and zillions of dollars to compete. Build a good program and with 7-9 good basketball players you can make some serious noise in the tourney.

Who do you suppose is satisfied? Certainly not the players. Definitely not the coaches. Not our AD or our president. I know most fans aren't satisfied. Curious where this idea comes from?