2025-26 College Hoops Thread

[Badgerhater]

Minesalle is a "wasted scholarship"

We can only hope he is half as good as Ramsey.

[GoldenEagles03]

Seems like quite the advantage Duke has been given.

https://x.com/i/status/2049881559201624246

[MU82]

Seems like quite the advantage Duke has been given.

https://x.com/i/status/2049881559201624246

Notre Dame football has been doing this for decades. I guess it was only a matter of time before basketball programs do it, too.

[GoldenEagles03]

Notre Dame football has been doing this for decades. I guess it was only a matter of time before basketball programs do it, too.

Ya it was bound to happen. Kinda seems like Amazon just becomes another booster for Duke though. It now directly benefits Amazon for Duke to be good. Could be quite the partnership moving forward.

[Jay Bee]

MU partnering with Kopps. We've got games in Neenah and Duluth, MN.

[Uncle Rico]

Seems like quite the advantage Duke has been given.

https://x.com/i/status/2049881559201624246

Always chuckled at the thought of Duke irrelevancy post-K. 

[WhiteTrash]

Always chuckled at the thought of Duke irrelevancy post-K. 

I still wouldn't completely rule out CFB's impacts to Duke's position in college sports. 

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

Always chuckled at the thought of Duke irrelevancy post-K. 

Their irrelevancy is only a matter of time.

Signed,
Georgetown, Indiana, and UCLA

[JakeBarnes]

Seems like quite the advantage Duke has been given.

https://x.com/i/status/2049881559201624246

Until Bezos fires them and replaces them with robots

[Uncle Rico]

I still wouldn't completely rule out CFB's impacts to Duke's position in college sports. 

They're a Nike cash cow.  They'll be fine.

They've seamlessly transitioned post Coach-K.  The schools Juan listed did not seamlessly transition post legendary coaches.

UCLA's chair was too hot until Harrick and he fumbled the bag after his title.  And Sam Gilbert was done with UCLA in '81 after the investigation showing his relationship with players.

Indiana had the coach but Kelvin Sampson couldn't stay off the phone.  History is probably a LOT different in Bloomington if he had been able to stick around.

Georgetown has dual issues, finding a personality as big as Big John and institutional support.

Duke has the coach who gets talent and has the support of the institution and other corporate money, like say Amazon TV.

[Billy Hoyle]

Their irrelevancy is only a matter of time.

Signed,
Georgetown, Indiana, and UCLA

Those were all powers in the 70s and 80s. Duke is a powerhouse during the internet and mass media era. They have ESPN backing them. They are too big to fail.

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

Those were all powers in the 70s and 80s. Duke is a powerhouse during the internet and mass media era. They have ESPN backing them. They are too big to fail.

ESPN's best days are behind them. Great example of how nothing lasts forever.

[Mr. Nielsen]

Seems like quite the advantage Duke has been given.

https://x.com/i/status/2049881559201624246

Duke worked with the ACC and ESPN in exchange for the ability to play these three neutral-site games, including participating neutral-site events in 2027-28 and 2028-29.

[willie warrior]

Their irrelevancy is only a matter of time.

Signed,
Georgetown, Indiana, and UCLA

So will history repeat itself with Duke?

[willie warrior]

Those were all powers in the 70s and 80s. Duke is a powerhouse during the internet and mass media era. They have ESPN backing them. They are too big to fail.

All the more reason for them to fail. Any school that believes that deserves to fail. Arrogance is a disease.

[Uncle Rico]

All the more reason for them to fail. Any school that believes that deserves to fail. Arrogance is a disease.

Boy, the irony is thick

[Galway Eagle]

Their irrelevancy is only a matter of time.

Signed,
Georgetown, Indiana, and UCLA

Georgetown wasn't ever on that level they're more similar to us as a program than the others. And then for every IU & UCLA there's Kansas & UNc

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

Georgetown wasn't ever on that level they're more similar to us as a program than the others. And then for every IU & UCLA there's Kansas & UNc

Thanks for reminding me.

Kansas and UNC are descending, too. Haven't bottomed out yet, but definitely starting their descent.

And Kentucky is down from the Calipari hayday.  They had a similar lull after Pitino.

[JWags85]

Georgetown wasn't ever on that level they're more similar to us as a program than the others. And then for every IU & UCLA there's Kansas & UNc

Yea, that was a wild inclusion.  Georgetown had an outsized impact on college basketball culturally, but they had a pretty narrow window of being an "elite" program.  They have only made 1 Final Four without Patrick Ewing in the modern era, and that was after John Thompson had retired.  For as amazing as the 4 years with Ewing was, Thompson only made 2 E8s in the next 15 seasons (and only 3 second weekends total) before he retired.  2 E8s in 15 years is nothing to sniff at but lots of non-elite, no blue blood programs have done that. Really good, absolutely, but not elite. 

Which is probably interesting and relevant to think about why Georgetown can't get it together these days.  The mystique of JT's Georgetown was always bigger than the results/true place among the top programs.

Thanks for reminding me.

Kansas and UNC are descending, too. Haven't bottomed out yet, but definitely starting there descent.

And Kentucky is down from the Calipari hayday.  They had a similar lull after Pitino.

Kansas won a title 4 years ago.  In the last 10 years, they've also made another Final Four, 2 E8s, and a S16 (and also were the #1 overall seed the year COVID cancelled the tournament).  Stretch it to 20, all under the same coach, you have 2 titles, a Runner Up, another Final Four, 5 E8s, and 3 S16s and only 1 first round exit.  That's a pretty nice "descending" just cause they had haven't made a S16 in a few years?  They have a top 3 class coming in next year as well.

[MU82]

Yeah, I wish we could "descend" like Kansas has.

[Galway Eagle]

Yeah, I wish we could "descend" like Kansas has.

Same with UConn, I mean they haven't won a title in 2 years and just lost the title game. Clearly a program on the decline.

[SaveOD238]

UConn and Duke are realizing that conference affiliations without football might be limiting factors, so they are turning to models that look more like the independent school model that MU used in the 1970s or that Gonzaga has used in the last ten years. They are big enough brands on their own to sustain that.  I'd like to see MU reach a place where we can do the same

[willie warrior]

Same with UConn, I mean they haven't won a title in 2 years and just lost the title game. Clearly a program on the decline.

Yes. According to some here, we are just a stud or 2 or 3 away from surpassing UCOnn. Enter Reeker with some snarky BS about the greatness of Dick Hurley but we are still right there with UConn.

[Hards Alumni]

Yes. According to some here, we are just a stud or 2 or 3 away from surpassing UCOnn. Enter Reeker with some snarky BS about the greatness of Dick Hurley but we are still right there with UConn.

Strange, I'd think you'd be the expert on the greatness of Dick, little willie.

I guess that may be too big of a subject for you though.

[Uncle Rico]

Strange, I'd think you'd be the expert on the greatness of Dick, little willie.

I guess that may be too big of a subject for you though.

Calling Dan Hurley a great coach is snarky, I guess.  His two championship rings kinda speak for themselves