Honestly, I am way off the "does bad NCAA Tournament Seed save John Groce's Job" discussion. To me, it all comes down to conference play. I would like to see 11 results in 18 opportunities that make me happy. Wins make me happy.
Argue whether NCAA bad seed vs. NIT good seed means anything, but our continued worst nightmare is any conference record between 8-10 and 10-8. Either 7-11 or 11-7 makes the decision on what to do with the head coach at Illinois moot. With 11-7, Illinois will make the NCAA Tournament, be off the bubble, and an extension is coming given the class Groce has coming in and the positive vibes. At 7-11, no one in the fanbase is reasonably arguing why we should keep Groce. Illinois will miss the NCAA Tournament again and the sample size is unquestionable against Groce's coaching abilities.
Anything 8-10 to 10-8. SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGH. Put me in the camp of "let's try our luck on the coaching carousel". But man, it doesn't feel good. There just isn't enough evidence after 5 years to suggest this is the path our program should try to continue down.
I also think that this could be the thing that saves Groce. If he moved on from Illinois and ultimately became very successful... I won't be surprised. That doesn't mean he was ever going to become successful AT Illinois, just that he learned from this experience and benefited from a fresh start in a new location.
#SayNoTo9And9 #WorstCaseScenario