wouldn't sweep either, so we can obviously lose one game. That's probably true of Mich St too. Not so sure if we'd take puke in a 7 game match up if they're at full strength, but we could. We certainly haven't seen them play as well in the tourney as they did against us in Cville, and the game at puke could've gone either way.

Long winded way of saying no guarantees, but yeah, I like our chances as much as any remaining team's, except maybe puke.

As for last year, we'll always be first to lose to a 16, but this year already adds a new pleasant dimension to what had been only a painful memory. I think it was easy to fall into the trap of thinking we were doomed after last year. That's natural for a passionate fan, and Key changed the outlook quite a bit this year when he came and became eligible. But I do think it's a trap to evaluate the future of a program like ours just by the rankings of the recruits. The kid who needs the spotlight isn't coming to us, or will transfer (like Shayok did, and he stood out more at Iowa St than he ever would have with us).

Recruiting class rank doesn't provide any indication that relatively lightly recruited guys like London and Kihei would be such immediate impact players. I don't know that TB's teams will always outperform the expectation from pure recruiting class rank, but I think it will much of the time. I think we find diamonds in the rough who stay long enough to noticeably progress while they're with us.

Nagging fear - Huff will decide to transfer, take a red shirt year, and be a standout somewhere in a way that he probably won't ever be with us. Hopefully, he will bust his ass this off season instead, and be a major part of a rotation next year that might include a twin-towerish line-up with MD and JH on the floor together at times, when match ups dictate. Could be a dynamic way to "go big".
[Post edited by hoolstoptheheels at 03/31/2019 12:48PM]