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Reality

That brings up an interesting question. When was the last time BU was ranked during the season? I think BU ended up ranked after the Sweet 16, but don’t remember any other time, especially during the season.

That is the difficult part is watching other programs ranked multiple times and we can never get there. I remember Drake being ranked twice now. I think Crouch hit a winning shot on their court last time they were ranked if I remember right. UNI has been ranked, Loyola, formerly Wichita and Creighton. SIU had that nice run in the 2000s when they were ranked quite a bit. I can’t recall if MSU ever got there, but it seems like they’ve been upper half of Valley more often than not. Drake certainly hasn’t been consistent, but even they’re been ranked a couple of times. Seems like we should be able to then too.
 
I found my answer: https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb...ley/polls.html

Twice in the 80s during the Hawkins years. Even if the Sweet 16 didn’t get us in the final AP poll or they don’t do one after regular season like coaches poll I guess. Before the 80s it was the 60s. Those of us born after the Hawkins years have never seen a ranked team. Over 30 years. That puts it in perspective.
 
So how does Wardle right the ship next season? Barring an influx of impact ready players this team may be even worse next season. Since Wardle has shied away from transfer talent (this was the first year he brought in "outsiders" and he got burned) it's unlikely that he'll bring in a transfer that's capable of replacing Childs' production.
 
PhiAlphaBoy said:
So how does Wardle right the ship next season? Barring an influx of impact ready players this team may be even worse next season. Since Wardle has shied away from transfer talent (this was the first year he brought in "outsiders" and he got burned) it's unlikely that he'll bring in a transfer that's capable of replacing Childs' production.
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I don’t think we’ll be worse. We still have some good talent all around and the guys will get more time to gel together.
Not a great position they were thrown into the last 3 games.

Let’s face it - Ville is struggling big time from outside and I don’t expect the to go into next 2 years.
Mast, East, and Hannah (Ala POB his soph season) could blossom next year, and that incoming Freshman Hickman looks good.
 
PhiAlphaBoy said:
So how does Wardle right the ship next season? Barring an influx of impact ready players this team may be even worse next season. Since Wardle has shied away from transfer talent (this was the first year he brought in "outsiders" and he got burned) it's unlikely that he'll bring in a transfer that's capable of replacing Childs' production.
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I think we still have a lot of talent on this team. Henry, Ville, Mast, and East should all be major contributors. I could also see Hannah/Kent being key players assuming they will develop further as they are both still fairly raw talent. Boya could be a huge help but I don't know if he can stay healthy. At this point the three still suspended are likely off the team so I am assuming they are gone. What we need is another big man and a guard(s) that can defend and isn't afraid of contact. Someone like DLO, great defense and could get to the line just about anytime he touched the ball. I agree that wardle has gotten burned on a lot of our transfers, Lundy was really the only one that ended up being an major impact but was found out very late.

I think we will be a middle of the pack team next year, sort of a mini-rebuild. It just sucks as this was supposed to be the year we competed for the top. This team was clearly lost, and lacked any strong player leadership. Someone needs to step up next year and be a leader.
 
LittleBrave said:
I don’t think we’ll be worse. We still have some good talent all around and the guys will get more time to gel together.
Not a great position they were thrown into the last 3 games.

Let’s face it - Ville is struggling big time from outside and I don’t expect the to go into next 2 years.
Mast, East, and Hannah (Ala POB his soph season) could blossom next year, and that incoming Freshman Hickman looks good.
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This is a very optimistic post. Playing devil's advocate, even if they all improve offensively, I don't see Mast and Ville ever being shut down defenders. Hickman will be coming in as a Freshman guard which is tough, and is coming off an injury. Assuming Childs isn't back you are losing our best player, and I agree with DC I believe there will be at least one more transfer. Next year, is likely going to be a down year unless we get one or two transfers in the mold of Prim and Mosley (tough scoring post and big time scoring wing). Henry should be good and a focal point, but he is a bit of a tweener. Once we lost the four (now three) we looked like the worst team in the Valley.
 
LongTimeFan said:
We probably have more than one scholarship available for next year. However, it won't be known for awhile.
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I have it on pretty good, albeit hearsay, authority that Childs is not planning on coming back. This was his intention before whatever happened at the hotel and I doubt the incident makes it more likely he stays. He wants to start making some money. So, if that decision still holds, we have more than one. The hotel incident could raise that number further, unfortunately.
 
My $0.02

i didn’t really have the expectations many fans did for this year at the start of the season. We lost Brown, Kennel, and others that made up the majority of the offense and Ville was the only guy left on the roster besides Child’s we knew had the capability to score. This is what made the cancellation of last years NCAAs so brutal for me. Last year was BUs year to make a post season run and we were robbed.

It is just very hard to come back from that type of roster turnover especially when it was 2/3 of the most reliable scorers. And we saw early this season that scoring was going to be a big issue. Of course then the injuries and suspensions just nailed the coffin shit on the season.

I too have had a hard time seeing BU under perform during the regular season. I just want one season without double digits losses. Is that too hard to ask? Maybe 13-14 MVC wins? Regular season performance is the best indicator of the health of the program. Three magic weekends in the past 20 years isn’t.

Even in 07’ with a loaded post S16 team BU went on a 5 MVC game skid. It just seems like no matter what talent or coach BU can never fully put it together.

The excuses keep coming too. “Can’t compare ourselves to Wichita State or Crieghton” etc. we should be able to, we competed against them well until the Ford years against WSU. Head to head BU Creighton was 40-46, and 68-71 vs WSU.

Hell I was one of the guys that laughed at adding Loyola-Chicago to the MVC. In six years they have two MVC championships, 3 20 win seasons, a final four appearance, and this year they have another 20+ win season and are ranked. And I wanted to laugh them out of the conference 6 yrs ago thinking they would never compete at this level.

Then we have other teams like Drake or Indiana State that were known for being the bottom dwellers of the MVC for decades have great regular seasons in the past 10 years. We should expect a 25 win BU team from time to time, and that shouldn’t be unreasonable.
 
Men's College Basketball Rankings -
2005-06
Final Rankings

Coaches Poll
1Florida(31)31-67759
2UCLA31-67396
3LSU27-866615
4UConn30-46582
5Villanova28-56201
6Memphis33-46073
7Duke32-45856
8George Mason27-756418
9Texas30-7542-
10Gonzaga29-45035
11Boston College28-84634
12Washington26-74035
13Ohio State26-63547
14North Carolina23-83122
15West Virginia22-113008
16Georgetown23-102968
17Illinois26-72613
18Pittsburgh25-82472
19George Washington27-32218
20Tennessee22-81981
21Wichita State26-91695
22Kansas25-81559
23Iowa25-91098
24Bradley22-111062
25Bucknell27-5511
Others receiving votes: NC State 23, Nevada 18, Syracuse 16, UAB 16, Indiana 14, Alabama 13, Oklahoma 13, Arizona 12, Michigan State 10, Kentucky 10, California 6, Texas A&M 5, South Carolina 4, Pacific 3, Northwestern State 2, UNC Wilmington 2, Milwaukee 2, San Diego State 2

Dropped from rankings: Oklahoma 20, Nevada 21, Syracuse 22, UAB 25
 
Ya, that other site I posted shows the AP poll history. We haven’t been ranked in the AP since two of the Hawkins years, and before that the 60s. Even the coaches poll, I don’t think we have been ranked during the season since then.
 
Let me just clarify one thing. The two seniors-Child’s and Kingsby would not count against the 13 scholarship limits if they returned (Due to COVID rules). I don’t expect they will return. Therefore we have (assuming all other players return) we have 2 open scholarships. We already have Connor Hickman signed so that leaves 1 open scholorship if everyone returns. I doubt everyone will but (in most programs there are some departures) I don’t want to speculate who- but in any case we don’t appear to have many scholarships available. 1 definite maybe a little more.
 
I assume Nolan is another open scholarship now. That leaves two available. Will there be others that leave outside of those suspended?
 
Da Coach said:
There will be a couple more. :)
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My guesses for guys to transfer are Thomas and Kent,
Guys like Kent who show potential but have limited minutes almost always leave after their freshman year.
Hope I’m wrong, but it’s the BU trend I’ve noticed.
 
LittleBrave said:
My guesses for guys to transfer are Thomas and Kent,
Guys like Kent who show potential but have limited minutes almost always leave after their freshman year.
Hope I’m wrong, but it’s the BU trend I’ve noticed.
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I don't remember a trend of having lost a player due to transfer since BW has been our coach that wasn't most likely something that was prompted by him in the first place. Most players that have moved on have been players that weren't going to be getting much playing time. Am I forgetting someone?

Thomas is a possibility, but I'd be very surprised to see Kent gone, and anyone beyond that I think would be because of attitude. East, McAdoo, and Nolan all have sat out games for one reason or another that are not all known, if anyone else goes, my guess would be out of that group.
 
Tommy said:
I don't remember a trend of having lost a player due to transfer since BW has been our coach that wasn't most likely something that was prompted by him in the first place. Most players that have moved on have been players that weren't going to be getting much playing time. Am I forgetting someone?

Thomas is a possibility, but I'd be very surprised to see Kent gone, and anyone beyond that I think would be because of attitude. East, McAdoo, and Nolan all have sat out games for one reason or another that are not all known, if anyone else goes, my guess would be out of that group.
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That freshman (red-head) like 3 yrs ago was pretty good-looking, but only got like 8-10 min. per game. Great 3-point shooter.
Not sure why he transferred, but I thought he might become like a Kennel. There were a couple others, but their names slip my mind.

I truly hope Kent stays - he probably has the 2nd best stroke from behind the arc among the Braves playing currently.
 
If East were to transfer, we best find a reliable PG in a HURRY!!!
We don't have good ball-handlers who make smart decisions...not to say East didn't make any.
 
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