citay said:
PR: I'm not talking about another one-and-done here. God knows we've had enough of those these past decades--UNLV, Florida State, Oregon, Wisconsin, Syracuse, Michigan. That won't move the needle. But when we beat Nevada, and came within a half of beating Boston College to get to the Sweet 16, that showed us the potential for basketball. We got tons of press, and plenty of national air time. And it would have escalated had we made it to the Sweet 16. Please remember:
1. Unlike a Division 1-AA National Championship, the Big Dance is a huge national sporting event--for many of my friends, more important even than the Super Bowl. It's an occasion for office pools, profiles in national publications on all the schools, human interest stories ad nauseum, and constant constant attention on ESPN and the other sports channels. It arrives at the point that football is over, the NBA schedule is going through its doldrums, and the baseball season hasn't yet started. Thus the Big Dance fills a huge void, and has almost no competition for the National Sports Attention.
2. Remember, I'm talking Sweet 16 here, not the ratings for a one-and-done on TBS. And while I can't access those number right here, I know the numbers for the Sweet 16 increase significantly, to something in the range of five to six million viewers per game. And for the Final Four, the numbers in 2017 soared to 23 million when the game was on CBS, but dropped to a combined 16 million this year when the championship games aired on three cable channels.
My point is, basketball at the Division One level provides the OPPORTUNITY for massive exposure, a la Gonzaga or Creighton or Loyola of Chicago, teams that performed well in the national glare. But the way our football program is structured, there is no chance for much national exposure. And while you say it is a "very nice championship, and not easy to achieve," I would argue that ANY championship is very nice and not easy to achieve, whether Little League, PONY league, church league, YMCA. It's a matter of exposure.
I know all that. However, the chances of UM getting to the Sweet 16 are very remote, in my view. The chances of advancing in the FCS football playoffs are much better and have been done many times in the past. I don't see why you need to denigrate or minimize the accomplishments and thrill of advancing in the FCS playoffs, and even to the national championship game, to discuss your goal for UM basketball. I didn't come back at your post calling it pie in the sky. Perhaps you could show more respect for Griz football and FCS.
As for national exposure, personally, I couldn't care less about that. For me, it's joy of following or playing the sport--for myself, and the players and others--not the number of people watching on tv. It's the games, the guys, and the accomplishment (hopefully success).
I played in front of 60,000 people. I played on ABC TV every year. I played in the biggest ABC game of the week, with the no. 1 ABC crew. That was fun, and I can mention it in times like this. But what I got out of the game and get out of following the Griz and Dartmouth/Stanford now, have nothing to do with how many people watched on tv, or the ratings. It was the comradery, the sense of accomplishment, the lessons learned, etc. It is the friends and connections I made. These continue to provide joy, as well as push/pull me along in my professional life. I now enjoy seeing "my" teams work to achieve success each year. It can be thrilling to share their successes. It's fun knowing a few of them and their parents, and the coaches. It's fun stopping at practice. It's fun getting to know other Griz fans.
To me, as a former player and now fan, winning the FCS championship would be every bit as good as winning the FBS championship.