The Official “Regular Posters of the Basketball Forum” Thread

[Chunkyvol12]

My son reports from UT camp that Zeigler is shooting and walking around normal with no support or whatnot

Well done

 

[TheMookieMonster]

I think it’s fairly clear Tony Vitello is the best coach on this campus right now. Unreal post-season.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

I think it’s fairly clear Tony Vitello is the best coach on this campus right now. Unreal post-season.

Don’t discount Kim Cupini.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Omaha!

 

[Orange.]

I think it’s fairly clear Tony Vitello is the best coach on this campus right now. Unreal post-season.

Why so salty toward our other programs? Doesn't make sense.

 

[TrippieRedd]

Just seen this and siap, but Awaka and Dillione are finalist for the 19u national team.

Surprised by Awaka, but also excited

 

[ColinS]

I think it’s fairly clear Tony Vitello is the best coach on this campus right now. Unreal post-season.

Agree but Huepal would be a close 2nd because of the overall competetive nature of football. He has pick us up from the bottom of the barrell in a sport that every major program is spending millions and millions of dollars on. The entire athletic deparrment is rolling now with tremendous coaching across the board.

 

[walkenvol]

I think it’s fairly clear Tony Vitello is the best coach on this campus right now. Unreal post-season.

So you give him a pass for not making the WS last year with probably the most talented team in the country?

I think TV is a good coach, but we have several good coaches. Going to have to keep stacking WS trips to separate himself above the rest. JMO

 

[mr.checkerboards]

So you give him a pass for not making the WS last year with probably the most talented team in the country?

I think TV is a good coach, but we have several good coaches. Going to have to keep stacking WS trips to separate himself above the rest. JMO

Hes got the most postseason success currently.
6 years in and he's had 4 postseason births. 4 S16's. 2 elite Eights. A reg season title and a tournament title.
I'm not really sure anyone tops that.

 

[walkenvol]

Hes got the most postseason success currently.
6 years in and he's had 4 postseason births. 4 S16's. 2 elite Eights. A reg season title and a tournament title.
I'm not really sure anyone tops that.

I’m sure many will disagree with me, but it seems that baseball as a non revenue sport has fewer number of schools who are truly committed to funding a competitive program compared to football and basketball making it such that your comparisons aren’t apples to apples.

 

[mr.checkerboards]

I’m sure many will disagree with me, but it seems that baseball as a non revenue sport has fewer number of schools who are truly committed to funding a competitive program compared to football and basketball making it such that your comparisons aren’t apples to apples.

I dont think that's fair. The SEC is so much better than pretty much any conference that getting to the top of the conference consistently is extremely impressive.

 

[TheMookieMonster]

Why so salty toward our other programs? Doesn't make sense.

It’s not salt. I never said other programs were bad. I’m just making a statement that it’s crazy how much post-season success he has had in such a short time on campus. 5 Regionals, 3 Supers, 2 CWS appearances in just 7 years. That’s a resume.

 

[cncchris33]

Agree but Huepal would be a close 2nd because of the overall competetive nature of football. He has pick us up from the bottom of the barrell in a sport that every major program is spending millions and millions of dollars on. The entire athletic deparrment is rolling now with tremendous coaching across the board.

Heupel and Vitello are in two different stages. Heupel is where Vitello was going into 2021 or 2022. Coming off of the Covid-shortened season (which Vitello actually claims to believe was his most talented team), CTV then proceeded to take that 21 team to Omaha and then the 22 team was maybe the best CBB team of the last 10 years. They infamously failed to make Omaha, last year, but were obviously ultra-talented. Heupel is still in those earlier stages, so we obviously hope he follows a similar path.

 

[TheMookieMonster]

I’m sure many will disagree with me, but it seems that baseball as a non revenue sport has fewer number of schools who are truly committed to funding a competitive program compared to football and basketball making it such that your comparisons aren’t apples to apples.

Disagree here. If you think the SEC is good in football, it’s not even on the same playing field as the SEC in baseball. 8 of the Top 16 teams in the country were in the SEC this year, just like basically every year. If anything, baseball is a harder sport to find success in the post-season for the simple fact that there is SO much parity. You will absolutely never see Oral Roberts make a college football playoff, yet that team won 50+ games and has insane talent. It is really hard to win the college World Series, because there is so much talent parity in display.

There are maybe 5-6 good football teams in a year in college football and only about 2-3 of them actually have a chance to win it all. IMO.

 

[cncchris33]

I’m sure many will disagree with me, but it seems that baseball as a non revenue sport has fewer number of schools who are truly committed to funding a competitive program compared to football and basketball making it such that your comparisons aren’t apples to apples.

I think that is partially correct, but I also think it levels the playing field, which seems to run in contrast with the point you are trying to make. It's why teams like Southern Miss, Coastal Carolina, East Carolina, Indiana St, Campbell, etc. are competitive in the sport with some regularity, and others like Wichita St, Cal St Fullerton, etc. have been historically competitive in the past. The extremely limited scholarship numbers also force that parity.

In the SEC, however, plemty of schools are committed to baseball, and Vitello has almost immediately succeeded despite Tennessee not being one of those schools, at least initially. And you can see just how dominant the SEC is in baseball by looking at the NCAAT bracket. Half of the 16 regionals were hosted by SEC teams and Tennessee wasn't even one of them. We seem to be moving towards a greater financial commitment to the sport, and I'd be surprised if we don't begin to see it become more profitable. Season ticket sales were at an all-time high this year, and that is likely to continue, as should our on-field success.

 

[cncchris33]

It’s not salt. I never said other programs were bad. I’m just making a statement that it’s crazy how much post-season success he has had in such a short time on campus. 5 Regionals, 3 Supers, 2 CWS appearances in just 7 years. That’s a resume.

And the covid-shortened season was probably trending toward a super regional level team, at worst.

 

[TheMookieMonster]

And the covid-shortened season was probably trending toward a super regional level team, at worst.

Yeah, that will always be the big “What If”. That season was trending towards special. Started 16-2 I believe and won the Round Rock Classic which featured #1 Texas Tech right before everything got shut down.

 

[VolsSportsFan]

I’m sure many will disagree with me, but it seems that baseball as a non revenue sport has fewer number of schools who are truly committed to funding a competitive program compared to football and basketball making it such that your comparisons aren’t apples to apples.

I would maybe agree nationwide, but top to bottom the SEC is more brutal and competitive in baseball than football and basketball. It's unreal how stacked the conference is.

 

[VolsSportsFan]

It's pretty remarkable what UT athletics has accomplished in the last 9/10 months:

Football - NY6 Bowl Win (Orange), Top 6 final ranking
Men's Basketball - Sweet 16
Women's Basketball - Sweet 16
Softball - SEC Regular Season and Tournament Champs, CWS berth
Baseball - CWS Berth

And that's just the 5 biggest spectator sports.

 

[cncchris33]

It's pretty remarkable what UT athletics has accomplished in the last 9/10 months:

Football - NY6 Bowl Win (Orange), Top 6 final ranking
Men's Basketball - Sweet 16
Women's Basketball - Sweet 16
Softball - SEC Regular Season and Tournament Champs, CWS berth
Baseball - CWS Berth

And that's just the 5 biggest spectator sports.

6 sports, but point stands

 

[walkenvol]

I agree with everyone saying the SEC is a baseball committed league. I don’t see the same financial commitment and fan support nationally whereas football and basketball are more nationally supported which is likely due to the revenue generated by those 2 and the associated exposure that comes with it.

My opinion was it appears there are more programs committed to trying to succeed in the revenue generating sports compared to baseball on a national level. If this is correct then it should be somewhat easier to consistently make the top 8 or 16 in baseball (although it is still obviously quite difficult). Same goes for other non revenue sports like Lacrosse, wrestling, etc. To me this doesn’t diminish the success of CTV as his record is impressive, but a similar record in basketball or football would be more impressive IMHO. That’s why I think it’s not fair to make a direct record comparison between CTV and CRB or CJH as your justification of why CTV is the better coach. I don’t see there being a numbers comparison between these sports that proves anyone’s position. CTV may be the best coach but it’s only an opinion. Hopefully that makes sense, but again many of you may disagree with me and that’s fine.

 

[Dallasbowlin]

I think it’s fairly clear Tony Vitello is the best coach on this campus right now. Unreal post-season.

Kinda unfair considering they get double elimination/three games in the post season, when in basketball it’s single elimination in the post season.

I see where you’re coming from though.

 

[Volprofch05]

I agree with everyone saying the SEC is a baseball committed league. I don’t see the same financial commitment and fan support nationally whereas football and basketball are more nationally supported which is likely due to the revenue generated by those 2 and the associated exposure that comes with it.

My opinion was it appears there are more programs committed to trying to succeed in the revenue generating sports compared to baseball on a national level. If this is correct then it should be somewhat easier to consistently make the top 8 or 16 in baseball (although it is still obviously quite difficult). Same goes for other non revenue sports like Lacrosse, wrestling, etc. To me this doesn’t diminish the success of CTV as his record is impressive, but a similar record in basketball or football would be more impressive IMHO. That’s why I think it’s not fair to make a direct record comparison between CTV and CRB or CJH as your justification of why CTV is the better coach. I don’t see there being a numbers comparison between these sports that proves anyone’s position. CTV may be the best coach but it’s only an opinion. Hopefully that makes sense, but again many of you may disagree with me and that’s fine.

Yeah, I'm not into into directly compare UT coaches, particularly at this time when I'm very happy across the board! However, I will point out that many smaller institutions seem to target sports like baseball as an opportunity to compete against the big dogs due to the lower investments in these sports, whereas they have no chance in football or basketball. As such, is not unusual to see teams like Coastal Carolina, Indiana St, Campbell, Oral Roberts, Southern Miss, etc either make it to Omaha or get close. So, I think college baseball is quite competitive as well.

 

[TheMookieMonster]

I didn’t mean to start a firestorm or “lessen” the accomplishments of other coaches. Obviously I’m very happy with Rick and Heupel and I have always said as much. This was just more of a statement on the level Vitello is operating at right now with how much success he has had at such a young age in a sport I personally believe is harder to succeed at just due to the immense parity involved across the board.

That’s all. My bad.

 

[VolsSportsFan]

6 sports, but point stands

What's the 6th?