Huse contract extension? Good idea?

[RMD]

[The point about it not making sense to play those teams in BB is ridiculous. The Big Sky PLAYS at that level in basketball. They're not "play-up" games in basketball. They'll just games against other teams at your level. IMO, basketball is the ONLY time to play teams from major conferences.

I don't know if you're talking about domination in FB or BB, but here's a list of states in which one team traditionally dominates another FBS team in either FB, BB or both: Ohio State, Washington, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Illinois, Arizona. Man, I could go on a long time.

I like Dr. Cruzado as well. We agree on that.[/quote]

Please go on, there are a couple of states you have mentioned that have doen pretty drand well in football an basketball in recent years!!!

[mttiger]

RMD, here we are talking football on the hoops forum. Oh well. But RMD, with all due respect, I'm afraid you do not know what you are talking about. Add up the wins vs. losses for MSU vs. UM over the last 30 years. Then show me another state that involves two major universities in the same conference that is anywhere close to the woeful record MSU achieved during that period.

The states that you listed do not make any sense at all. For example, there is only one major state institution in Tennessee. Vandy is a private school.
Ohio State? Again, there is not another Big Ten school in Ohio.
Alabama? What are you talking about here? Since 1980 Auburn (the state's land grant school-- ala MSU) has the majority of wins against the state university (Alabama, which is the version of UM). Isn't Auburn currently #1 with a Heisman? And you are saying UA dominates in that state???

Again, I see things balancing out, not only in Montana, but in the Big Sky as well, so I'm more interested in looking ahead than looking back. But you need to get your facts straight. Even the Governor (an MSU grad)last year made light of the horrendous one-sided record of the MSU-UM rivalry in football over the last several decades.

[mttiger]

As for hoops, I just meant that I didn't think we have a team from the Big Sky that could go to, say, the Sweet 16, in the NCAA like a Gonzaga or Butler, etc. I certainly agree that we can play with many conferences--at least the middle of the pack. Look at what UM did to UCLA this year, though we were not able to achieve the same success.

I can recall several years ago watching Montana State defeat a very good Mississippi State squad in our Holiday tournament.

[SonomaCat]

However, in basketball, really, what is the advantage to playing teams from big conferences? I mean, does anyone really think a Big Sky champion is going to run deep in the NCAA? Not unless we figure out how to become the next Gonzaga or Butler.

I guess it's only important to play quality programs if one has any hope of being a quality program. Otherwise ... well, one should move down to D-II.

It's also really good for attendance, recruiting, etc., when one plays quality opponents.

[BozCatFan]

I don't think PF really cares that much about MBB, except to see players graduate and be good student-athletes. As far as that goes, Huse delivers.If you look at MBB attendance the past fifteen years or so it has slowly gone down.

I'm not sure of the 2009-10 numbers, but the team didn't even average 3,000 in 2008-09. IMO that is embarassing and pathetic.

It is frustrating to see the team play a lousy non-conference schedule and not be that successful in BSC play. But, that is how things are at MSU and have been for quite a long time. I don't see it changing anytime soon, which is really a bummer because an aggressively marketed MBB program combined with exceptional game entertainment and attractive opponents would have a dramatic affect on attendance, win or lose. Unfortunately we have none of the above and the proof is in the end product.

Hopefully Dr. Cruzado can set her sights on MBB and encourage improvement on all fronts. There isn't much competition during winter and no reason why it can't be an exciting event again, and one that brings in more money to the department's bottom line.

[ilovethecats]

just like in football.....the name of the game is winning. the more the cats win, the more fans will come. there will be a buzz. and more fans. just keep winning. win the conference ever! i think it is pathetic that we haven't been able to make even ONE appearance to the dance in 15 years! again, i'm speaking in general terms. my family and i attend just about every home game. my kids love the games and love champ. my wife loves that she doesn't have to worry about freezing! but in general, fans aren't going to flock to the brick on cold winter nights to watch a hoops team that never has much success.

the good news is we don't have to look any farther than our football squad to see how vital winning is. it was only a couple years ago when we were upset that the stands weren't full, the stadium wasn't expanding, and even this board was very quiet. fast-forward to this season....packed games, lots of wins, stadium expansion, and we have many new users on this board. people love watching winning teams. if the cats can figure out how to do that, the fans will come. the excitement will be there. right now, people will catch a few games here and there...and expect the cats season to end the first week in march like it has every year since '96.....

[GrizinWashington]

College basketball attendance has been dropping countrywide over the last 5 years or so. As ILTC said, winning certainly helps, but there are a lot of places struggling with attendance. The Griz played in front of these crowds on the road:

Idaho: 922

Fullerton: 722

And the Cats played at Irvine in front of 379.

Things could be worse. MUCH worse. I mean, I'm talkin' 379-bad!

[ilovethecats]

College basketball attendance has been dropping countrywide over the last 5 years or so. As ILTC said, winning certainly helps, but there are a lot of places struggling with attendance. The Griz played in front of these crowds on the road:

Idaho: 922

Fullerton: 722

And the Cats played at Irvine in front of 379.

Things could be worse. MUCH worse. I mean, I'm talkin' 379-bad!

those numbers are baffling. especially in this climate when people don't have a ton of expendable money, it seems as sports are about as cheap as entertainment comes. honestly though, and i think someone mentioned this already here or on egriz, i think technology has a big part of this. rewind even ten years ago. hd was barely a thought sports packages were nil. internet feeds of games were practically non-existent. not that way anymore. in fact, i can hood my computer up to a huge flat-screen in the living room and watch nearly any game in the comfort of my home. combine this idea with the fact that for the last 15 years the cats have been pretty average, and i could see why people choose to stay home and be warm! but it doesn't take much. win some games. win the conference tourney a time or two. the fans will come.

honestly, in the last 15 years you'd think we'd have made the dance by luck alone! i can't believe it's been so long that i had to have my mom buy me tickets for the last game we won to make the dance! i'm talking freshman year of high school here! fast-forward and i'm a married father of three! luckily i'm used to this type of pain as i'm also a vikings fan...

[MSU01]

honestly, in the last 15 years you'd think we'd have made the dance by luck alone! i can't believe it's been so long that i had to have my mom buy me tickets for the last game we won to make the dance! i'm talking freshman year of high school here! fast-forward and i'm a married father of three! luckily i'm used to this type of pain as i'm also a vikings fan...

A somewhat cringe-worthy statistic is that the MSU mens and womens basketball teams have combined to go 0-8 in Big Sky championship games (men 0-2, women 0-6) since their last NCAA appearances in '93 for the women and '96 for the men. That shows some bad luck to a certain extent, although most of those games have been played on the opponent's home floor. I remember sitting in the Dee Events Center at the 2003 women's tourney thinking that MSU had it in the bag with a 10-point second half lead over Weber, but Weber started to make every shot they took while MSU went cold and Weber came back to win. The men, to put it bluntly, have just flat out sucked in the Big Sky tournament with the exception of 2009, which saw their first tourney win, let alone championship game appearance, since 1998 when they played NAU in the title game.

I think the basketball crowds certainly have been effected by the massive increase in other entertainment options in the last 10 years, and won't get back to what they were in the '80s and '90s even if MSU wins a championship or two. Football games are a major event on campus because there are so few of them in a year and will still draw big crowds if MSU continues to win - basketball games, not so much.

[ImagineSanta]

College basketball attendance has been dropping countrywide over the last 5 years or so. As ILTC said, winning certainly helps, but there are a lot of places struggling with attendance. The Griz played in front of these crowds on the road:

Idaho: 922

Fullerton: 722

And the Cats played at Irvine in front of 379.

Things could be worse. MUCH worse. I mean, I'm talkin' 379-bad!

For what its worth, Gonzaga's Women's team drew 2,500 fans last night against Southern Utah. It's not bad everywhere....

[ilovethecats]

For what its worth, Gonzaga's Women's team drew 2,500 fans last night against Southern Utah. It's not bad everywhere....

there are always exceptions to every rule. but as a whole, throughout the country, hoops attendance is going down every year. and all you zags guys are a weird bunch anyway so i'm not surprised by your stat...

[ImagineSanta]

For what its worth, Gonzaga's Women's team drew 2,500 fans last night against Southern Utah. It's not bad everywhere....

there are always exceptions to every rule. but as a whole, throughout the country, hoops attendance is going down every year. and all you zags guys are a weird bunch anyway so i'm not surprised by your stat...

I know people who pay $2,000 for season tickets here, so, yeah, we are a weird bunch.
I found this link about 2010 attendance for NCAA men's basketball, the Big Sky was 19th out of 31.
Also, MSU slightly averaged more than UM.
http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/875 ... 967b4a3893" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[GrizinWashington]

College basketball attendance has been dropping countrywide over the last 5 years or so. As ILTC said, winning certainly helps, but there are a lot of places struggling with attendance. The Griz played in front of these crowds on the road:

Idaho: 922

Fullerton: 722

And the Cats played at Irvine in front of 379.

Things could be worse. MUCH worse. I mean, I'm talkin' 379-bad!

For what its worth, Gonzaga's Women's team drew 2,500 fans last night against Southern Utah. It's not bad everywhere....

Yes, and UM averages 2500 for women's games, and seems to be settling in about 4,500 for men's games. But as ILTC said, there are exceptions (particularly in programs without football or where BB still rules -- think Duke, Zags, Butler, etc) but in general, hoops attendance is dropping nearly everywhere.

[ImagineSanta]

College basketball attendance has been dropping countrywide over the last 5 years or so. As ILTC said, winning certainly helps, but there are a lot of places struggling with attendance. The Griz played in front of these crowds on the road:

Idaho: 922

Fullerton: 722

And the Cats played at Irvine in front of 379.

Things could be worse. MUCH worse. I mean, I'm talkin' 379-bad!

For what its worth, Gonzaga's Women's team drew 2,500 fans last night against Southern Utah. It's not bad everywhere....

Yes, and UM averages 2500 for women's games, and seems to be settling in about 4,500 for men's games. But as ILTC said, there are exceptions (particularly in programs without football or where BB still rules -- think Duke, Zags, Butler, etc) but in general, hoops attendance is dropping nearly everywhere.

Granted GU is a different beast but the NCAA says that attendance only dropped 147 people per game on average throughout all Div. I from last year. That's a drop, but not a huge one. Is it really in the dire straights or has it just plateaued? 147 seems like a negligible drop unless you are Nicholls State and only average 328 a game. Also, in Divs. I II and II it only dropped 91 people per game. Doesn't sound like a fire sell to me just yet.
BTW, UM is averaging 3342 for men's games so far but it could climb with the recent increase in attendance.

[Weltercat]

I just find it funny that 3 years ago everyone was anointing Huse THE guy and laughing at the Griz hiring of Wayne, and now they would give their left nut to trade head coaches.

God what a stupid comment.

[longhorn_22]

I would not give up any body part for Tinkle. I kinda do have to take a piss, though...

[wbtfg]

Nice article by Will Holden today on the relationship between Huse and Tinkle. Both guys seem to be class acts.

Also an interesting note about how the Brandon Miller thing really affected recruiting that year.

http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/sp ... 002e0.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[TIrwin24]

Huse need to be on the outro, stat.

There's no excitement anymore for Bobcat basketball, which is incredibly sad. And to further the point, Huse's teams are consistently medicore at best.

It's time to bring some new blood into the basketball program and revive it.

[catamaran]

There's no excitement anymore for Bobcat basketball, which is incredibly sad. And to further the point, Huse's teams are consistently medicore at best.

It's time to bring some new blood into the basketball program and revive it.

......was what was said when we hired huse.

[ilovethecats]

exactly. when people wanted durham gone everyone was saying the same thing. and to be honest, when i think back to exciting basketball...most of my memories go all the way back to the durham days unfortunately. most of you remember i was a big durham fan and i always thought that our issues went way beyond coaching unfortunately. i think i was right. what is so much better now than when durham was here? and just to clarify, i really like huse too. he's a great guy and i think he's a smart coach. but we need to figure something out fast in regards to recruiting. we have guys on this team that i'm sorry, but they have no business playing at this level. and i have seen this pattern over the years. it's just frustrating because i don't care how good of a coach you are come gametime...if you can't get the right players here it doesn't make a difference.

but to be fair, i can't blame huse for losing the excitement of cat basketball. let's be honest....it hasn't been exciting for a long time, and that includes some of durhams last years. i still think we'd be better off right now if we'd have kept durham. he's every bit the x's and o's guy huse is....but he was a better recruiter too.

all that said, i'll still support huse and if i was the AD i'd give him one more year. but i'd make it very clear that the talent needs to get better and fast.