Originally Posted by
diamondm
Haven't been over to the DBR in ages, but I wanted to come check in on what my second alma mater was saying about my first (SMU), and give some perspective on what it means for a team and fans to be in the Finals of the NIT.
3 weeks ago, we didn't want to be here. We weren't supposed to be here. By all accounts we were locks on selection Sunday (which is why I saw no problem going to that damn selection Sunday event with my husband and 2 children). We got screwed, along with the rest of the AAC (that's not up for debate, really). If you asked us a week before whether we would have preferred to be in the NCAA and lose in the first round or go to the Finals of the NIT, we would have chosen the former. We all said NIT is a consolation prize compared to the NCAAs. No one cares if you're in the NIT. Media doesn't care. Recruits don't care. Players don't care. Fans don't care. (In fact, this was an actual debate on our boards in February before we beat UConn for the second time at UConn and became "locks". After that the debate seemed moot). And all that is probably true if you're Duke. Or UNC. Or other programs that have a history of being in the Big Dance.
But what a consolation prize it has been for our program, where it is right now. We have been in the desert so long. Had we got our bid, we would have had our party and patted ourselves on the back, and who knows what would have happened. Maybe we'd have gone far in the tourney, or maybe we would have lost in the first round satisfied with accomplishing what hadn't been done at SMU in 21 years. But what did happen was that our players got hungry to prove everyone wrong. So we got 3 more home games -- 2 of them sell outs, and the 3rd one against UC Irvine (UC Irvine!) was close. I was shocked --- SHOCKED --- that local (and national) celebrities and even the average SMU fan in a city that is notorious for front runner syndrome still actually cared enough to show up. Building this bandwagon momentum is HUGE for an SMU program that I have supported for over 2 decades wishing and hoping that Moody would realized its potential as a Cameron-like environment. Let me tell you, the only time I can remember a louder roar and more excitement in the stands in person at a basketball game than when Nic Moore hit the 3 against Cal was when Capel hit that shot against UNC to send it to double OT (you know the one I'm talking about -- I was there in the front row). So our 2 seniors who saw the craptastic crowds and records from just a few short years ago under Coach Doh got a do-over for their Senior Night, which had been our only previous home loss, to Louisville with Russ Smith going out of his mind hitting 3s from everywhere with hands in his face. (Finally, my dream of becoming the crazy towel lady at Moody might actually not be so far fetched.)
And then there is the way the team has won these NIT games -- finally showing the ability to come back from adversity. We didn't show it in our nail in the coffin loss in the first round of the AAC tourney, or in our losses at Louisville and Memphis, or in our 2 bad losses earlier in the year. But we have showed poise and determination in every game of the NIT in coming back from deficits to win. (It would be nice though if they could please play better in the first half against Minnesota. Maybe we could instead jump out to double digit leads like we did against Memphis, Cinci, and UCONN at home.) But now they can go into next year knowing that they have it in them, but still with a little chip on their shoulder that they have something to prove to the doubters.
So yes, you can't always get what you want. But sometimes, you get just what you need.
Thanks for posting this perspective. Good luck to your team in the finals.
"We are not provided with wisdom, we must discover it for ourselves, after a journey through the wilderness which no one else can take for us, an effort which no one can spare us, for our wisdom is the point of view from which we come at last to regard the world." --M. Proust