Vote: Who Had A Better First Five Years?

[Coleman]

Based on some experts in 2011, they had us as one of the last teams in but the tournament had just expanded that year.

We were an 11. That's safely in. even in a 65 team field, that's safely in. 12 was usually the last at-large before expansion, and now its 13.

That said, it obviously wasn't an NCAA tournament team int he 1970s.

[TJ]

Only conference champions made the NCAA tournament so we examples where USC was ranked #2 in the country but didn't make the NCAAs because UCLA was #1 and won the Pac Eight conference...same with Maryland one year.

Did we have an advantage in that respect being independent?  Were we eligible for spots that teams better than us were not because we were not held back behind another team in a conference?

[Coleman]

Did we have an advantage in that respect being independent?  Were we eligible for spots that teams better than us were not because we were not held back behind another team in a conference?

Overall, it was probably better to be an independent. But I'm sure there were some crappy autobids back then too that wouldn't have made it as an at large. Goes both ways