Only problem is Crean has a final 4 and a few sweet 16s. I'm honestly not even sure who to compare Underwood to. It's not that he's losing in 2nd rd it's by double digits. Maybe I'm just salty after losing some big bets in 20 and 21 against Arizona and Baylor.
Illinois was not a top 10 talent in the tournament this year. Belo’s injury/regression, no Jake, and Trent only having one eye.
So Underwood is not Crean now because he doesn’t have a final four?
Whatever suits the argument at that given time becomes the trump card.
They matter when comparing to someone who hasn't been there. They don't matter when someone says Michigan carried the B1G in the tournament. You're smart enough to understand context with comparisons hail.
Their first 5-6 years are similar at their B1G schools except Crean had more success. Both excited the fanbase but let them down in the end. In that way they're similar.
You weren't even posting about it the other day it was @GOO_HAM. Not every slight against Michigan involves you. And Yes I view a conference championship over a sweet 16. And I'm not using a sweet 16 to prop Crean up just using it as a bar Underwood hasn't reached. You can use .500 seasons as a bar but doesn't mean it's deemed a successful season by whos using it.
Nah - he won the bet with me. It was a couple of things. Ivey 1st team and Purdue winning conference. He just let me donate to a charity. I think he was drunk or stoned the night he went on the doxxing spree. I’d let him back if I could for the humor.
You’re projecting, hoping more room at the top for a resurgent IU. No Illini fan feels “let down” by Underwood, lol. We’d have loved a ~Sweet Sixteen~ (though I admit I don’t really see this big cutoff after the Second Round … 4 seeds lose in the Second Round quite routinely), but he’s more than proven himself to the fan base. The goons here wouldn’t be poo-pooing a Big Ten championship and our recruiting momentum for any other coach, IMO. Lol.
I mean I get it I was in those shoes before. Crean looked to be on fire with momentum and recruiting but there were several hints that things weren't quite as they seem. Underwood has a few of those same hints but you can see that things can go bad until they do. Both struggled early in their first few years. Both brought in highly rated guys and had a big title. Both struggled to have tournament results, although Crean did make it out of the 1st weekend they were still let downs.
If your point is that no one knows if Underwood will eventually break through and eventually give us a deep Tournament run … well yeah, agreed, we can’t see into the future. However, because it happened once to another coach at another school doesn’t mean squat.
I said he's reached further in the tournament. Show me where I said he was a better coach because of that.
I initially didn't think Underwood was that good of a coach. After a few years that thought changed. Now that he's struggled in the tournament it just had that Crean feeling I'm all to familiar with and now I'm in the unsure camp. We've seen countless times of guys getting momentum after building and building and go no where with it. I don't know if he's that guy or if he'll get over the hump but his trajectory has began to flatten.
Underwood is currently reeling in recruits and advanced stats love him. The loss to Loyola was a black eye, but getting beat by a very good Houston team with your team held together by duct tape isn't exactly a red flag. Comparing Underwood is wishful thinking because you're desperate.
I'm sure he is and Crean continued to recruit well until his final years. I've just not seen a coach propped up so much that has done so little. I mean without Wisconsin choking this year and backing into a share of the title what has he really done?
Rebuilt a program from the dredges into the winningest program in the Big Ten over the past 3 seasons by 5 games, upped the recruiting to a consistent top 25 (and top 10 this year) program. I guess positioning yourself as one of the top 2 programs in the conference isn't that impressive anymore?
I'm not happy about it either. Blame JD's ankle. Or better yet blame Iowa for choking at the free throw line later that night.
Imagine talking shit about our big ten title after losing 15 games this season and the way you got yours in the previous season.
Lololol ran your fvcking mouth all off season talking about ducking some inferior ass program only to win your big ten title in an even worse way . Backing into the luckiest title ever in the history of the Big Ten
I'm saying Michigan and Illinois moving forward. MSU has an argument to be there based on their past and Izzo. Wisconsin wishes they were.
17-15 isn't something you can just overlook because you beat Colorado St and Tennessee though.
"Moving forward"
