Sprinkle Throws Down--For the Griz Too

[citygriz]

Hey, that was impressive last night! Cats were 11-point dogs and won by 13--and the game was not that close. Cats were up 22 late until the Rebels scored the last seven points as the Cats were walking off the floor.

This was no fluke.The Cats have size, a super-quick point guard and shooters all over the floor. In just his second year, Sprinkle has a team ready to contend in the Big Sky.

But why is this good for us? Here's why.

Nobody is satisfied being a "Big Sky Power." In football we've won national championships, and want more. In basketball, we want to get to the Sweet 16. But to do that, it's important the Big Sky Conference have a national profile.

In football, in a division of second-tier sports programs, the Big Sky has a major national profile as one of the premier conferences in the country. Come playoffs, we're likely to qualify anywhere from three to five teams.

But in basketball, playing against the top-tier sports programs, the Big Sky has no national profile. Come tournament time, we get one team in, and lucky to get a 15-seed. Against the country's elite teams, that's a suicide mission.

Which is why this win was so important to the Big Sky conference. If we could raise our national profile, we'd improve our seeding and improve our chances of making some noise on the national scene. Remember, the last time we won a game at the Big Dance, we were a twelve seed.

For too long it has been up to Montana, Weber and Eastern to carry the Big Sky banner. If the Bobcats are ready to make a few more of the statements that they emphatically made last night, that helps the Conference, nourishes our rivalry and hastens the day we might see a victory or two at the Big Dance.

Thank you Mr. Sprinkle.

 

[CleanHOUSE]

I agree with all that whatchu said, but I got to let my Cats hate out since there was no Griz Cat week this year. UNLV was .500 team in Mountain West last year, if Bigsky wants to raise its national profile these are the type of games we should be winning 30-40% of the time rather than getting 1or 2 as a conference all year...Mt West isn't exactly the big time. As for the Cats they do this all the time their programs have the money and can get the players to shine at times but they are never consistent....they might flash here and there beat a FCS school one week the lose to Chadron State the next week, beat the Griz one week then get torn up against some southland team...ok I know thats football but I feel like their basketball program has the same identify they have had the top player (Tyler Hall) or been the hot team or the team with high scoring offense, but they always end up reverting to average and a team that can't elevate in the big moments.
So I wouldn't pin my hope on the Cats raising the conference, I think teams like NAU thats a big school in good recruiting area (Also can NAU just take over Bigsky Media productions they are the only tech savy school in Bigsky and their student media/broadcast team does a better job than any program in bigsky) SUU and PSU also have high ceilings I think if they invested in their programs.

 

[Griz til I die]

I agree with all that whatchu said, but I got to let my Cats hate out since there was no Griz Cat week this year. UNLV was .500 team in Mountain West last year, if Bigsky wants to raise its national profile these are the type of games we should be winning 30-40% of the time rather than getting 1or 2 as a conference all year...Mt West isn't exactly the big time. As for the Cats they do this all the time their programs have the money and can get the players to shine at times but they are never consistent....they might flash here and there beat a FCS school one week the lose to Chadron State the next week, beat the Griz one week then get torn up against some southland team...ok I know thats football but I feel like their basketball program has the same identify they have had the top player (Tyler Hall) or been the hot team or the team with high scoring offense, but they always end up reverting to average and a team that can't elevate in the big moments.
So I wouldn't pin my hope on the Cats raising the conference, I think teams like NAU thats a big school in good recruiting area (Also can NAU just take over Bigsky Media productions they are the only tech savy school in Bigsky and their student media/broadcast team does a better job than any program in bigsky) SUU and PSU also have high ceilings I think if they invested in their programs.

Here’s what I’ll say.

I predicted when Danny Sprinkle was hired, 1 of 2 things was gonna happen.
1. They’re going to somewhat model what the Griz do and hire a former player who’s passionate about the school with good recruiting ties, and he would come in and save the program and turn them into a competitive program.
2. He’ll bomb and the program is dead forever. If he can’t save it, no one can cause they’ve tried everything. Highly successful JC coaches, very flashy p5 assistants, and now a former player. This is there last chance.

With that said, I somewhat agree with cleanhouse. Yes they did beat UNLV, but we’ve seen them get up for big early non-conf games. Losing a very tight one to Utah State last year, beating Wazzu two years ago, so they have a tendency to do this. However, they slaughtered UNLV last night. It is 1 game but if the cats go 4-0 in non conference, which they got a very good chance of doing, then you can start thinking they’ve finally turned the corner. For now, I’m in wait and see mode.

 

[Hoops watcher]

I think most of us who are college basketball fans want to see the league get better and have OOC success. Don't think this year of the Bat Soup Flu is going to be a good one to make comparisons. Even though UNLV is eons away from the glory days you have to give the Kitties a tip 'o the hat for the W.