Wisconsin 91, Illinois 88 OT Postgame

wc_illini said:

It's even worse. 10 in the last 5 minutes of regulation (plus the 10 in OT), so 20 in the last 10 minutes:

View attachment 48252

Click to expand...

This is super telling. All things summed up, it was the greatest impact on the game.

Navy_illini said:

I understand the frustration and I wish we would have close out that game

The BTT does not determine NCAA success or failure. We have won the BTT and go on to lose to Loyola the next week

For the BU frustrations I have them too but let’s be realistic about coaching. BU has shown the ability to identify, adjust, and develop talent throughout his time here. Post season success has been elusive. There are coaches who have been fired who have had more postseason success for a season but they did not put a consistent product on the floor. That’s why BU is one of the top coaches. Not many programs can claim what BU has done over the last few years

Click to expand...

I am obviously a pro Brad guys. He's a phenomenal coach, which any team would fall over with delight if they had him. He's not going anywhere, so that needs to just stop.

HOWEVER, if I'm going to criticize him, I don't like the system, but I think the system is a byproduct of not having "elite" resources that other programs have. A couple of years ago, we thought we were top 10 and we weren't. Then we defaulted to top 15 and that was borderline. Most settled into the top 20 number, which is still good, don't get me wrong. That said, we can't do what Michigan did. They were able to buy, what is very likely, to be a final four team. One of their key players was taken from our roster.

What I believe is that we thought outside the box and went the European route because it's cheaper and more budget friendly to build a solid roster with. I'm doing that, you're pretty much signing up to play the Euro game, which is high skill, lack of dynamic/athletic players and guys who would much rather play of the perimeter. So, you end up with a 5 out roster. If a guy like Tomi is going to shoot the ball like this, that style won't work. He came in as a key to our season and a guy we could rely on. He's been bad on both ends.

So, I don't like the style, basically because of what we saw yesterday. If we play a team with quick guards, it's going to be a problem. Boswell is a good defender, but he's built like a linebacker. He can be physical and shut down more physical guards, but asking him to stay in front of guys like Boyd and Dent...it's a terrible matchup. At 6'6", it's an awful matchup for Wagler as well.

Another issue that the style creates is that we get absolutely nothing in transition. We get very minimal "easy" buckets. We are a team that has to player with a much slower pace. This has NEVER been a style that Brad has adopted. He wants to ball pressure, get our in transition and go. Make the game chaotic, physical, fast and nasty. That's where EDG came from. This doesn't resemble that at all.

Again, not sure if the roster construction is an NIL issue? It's the second year that it's just not working well in stretches. I'm hoping he gets back to his roots, but I'm not sure if it's in the budget. What would TJ have commanded in today's market? Could we have afforded it? I'm guessing no.

We don’t have an emotional guy on this team except for Big Z. None of our guards are nasty. Jake might be but still, no guards have that bite. Ayo and Terrance were electric, they would go nuts. Trent and damonte were also nasty, those guys could talk. DMW could back it up too. We miss leadership, this team is leaning on a freshman for leadership, a quiet freshman. Sorry, the ncaa tournament is based on great guard play and leadership and we just don’t have that.

The only person on the court that I have seen hold anyone accountable is Ben H, think about that….thats our accountability guy??

I still have zero clue why Petro gets zero minutes. What a waste.

Chase321 said:

Playing Andrej and Kylan at the same time leads to bad things. Two guys that don’t shoot 3s well. No bueno.

Click to expand...

I totally get it but Andrej needs to start in some capacity. Hell, embrace the “tallest team in the country” thing and go Wagler-Stoj-Jake-Mirk-Tomi if you have to….it’s just too late in the year for the staff to make such extreme changes.. Unfortunately. Love Kylan but he got beat at will by Wiscy guards and Boyd was salivating at the idea of driving up against Mirk and Tomi. If we can’t keep guards in front we are cooked as we’ve seen time and time again.

LJ22 said:

I guess my point is that I don't feel we are consistently competitive. We win a lot of games (and always lose some real head scratchers) but I have not one iota of belief that we make it to a final four.

It would be great if Brad would start proving me wrong.

Click to expand...

Completely understand the frustration of some supporters. But we have won 2 BTT tourneys and one regular season title in the past 7 years. Competing at the sweet 16 level annually is within the grasp of 4 or 5 programs right now. There also seems to be some misunderstanding that we are amongst the top spenders on talent in NCAA men's basketball. We are not. All that said, the consistency that we have seen over the past 7 years puts us in the top 10 in terms of wins.

There aren't a whole lot of programs that can honestly say they are final 4 contenders outside of 2 from the Big 12, 1 one from the SEC, 1 one from the B1G and 1 one from the ACC. If anyone else gets there (including UCONN) it will come as a surprise. The game has changed radically owing to the payment system. Indiana, UNC, Kentucky, UCLA and the other traditionally dominant programs can't make that claim anymore. The fact that we compete with a less than top 20 budget I think is a credit to this coaching staff. But I still understand the frustration.

Chase321 said:

I would call winning more games in the Big Ten this decade than any other team the definition of consistently competitive. The last game of the season isn’t going the way we want it to but we are consistently competitive

Click to expand...

I'm not even just talking about winning a national championship. I think we have consistently underperformed in March despite winning a lot of games, and to me, success comes down to that. We are always a good team, but I think there have to be some post season results to consider ourselves consistently competitive.

Completely understand the frustration of some supporters. But we have won 2 BTT tourneys and one regular season title in the past 7 years. Competing at the sweet 16 level annually is within the grasp of 4 or 5 programs right now. There also seems to be some misunderstanding that we are amongst the top spenders on talent in NCAA men's basketball. We are not. All that said, the consistency that we have seen over the past 7 years puts us in the top 10 in terms of wins.

There aren't a whole lot of programs that can honestly say they are final 4 contenders outside of 2 from the Big 12, 1 one from the SEC, 1 one from the B1G and 1 one from the ACC. If anyone else gets there (including UCONN) it will come as a surprise. The game has changed radically owing to the payment system. Indiana, UNC, Kentucky, UCLA and the other traditionally dominant programs can't make that claim anymore. The fact that we compete with a less than top 20 budget I think is a credit to this coaching staff. But I still understand the frustration.

Click to expand...

This is a good point. I probably need to adjust expectations.

I compare it to football and think that there, winning a lot of games is acceptable because of where we started. But it just seems we never realize our potential in basketball. We underachieve instead of overachieve.

I am obviously a pro Brad guys. He's a phenomenal coach, which any team would fall over with delight if they had him. He's not going anywhere, so that needs to just stop.

HOWEVER, if I'm going to criticize him, I don't like the system, but I think the system is a byproduct of not having "elite" resources that other programs have. A couple of years ago, we thought we were top 10 and we weren't. Then we defaulted to top 15 and that was borderline. Most settled into the top 20 number, which is still good, don't get me wrong. That said, we can't do what Michigan did. They were able to buy, what is very likely, to be a final four team. One of their key players was taken from our roster.

What I believe is that we thought outside the box and went the European route because it's cheaper and more budget friendly to build a solid roster with. I'm doing that, you're pretty much signing up to play the Euro game, which is high skill, lack of dynamic/athletic players and guys who would much rather play of the perimeter. So, you end up with a 5 out roster. If a guy like Tomi is going to shoot the ball like this, that style won't work. He came in as a key to our season and a guy we could rely on. He's been bad on both ends.

So, I don't like the style, basically because of what we saw yesterday. If we play a team with quick guards, it's going to be a problem. Boswell is a good defender, but he's built like a linebacker. He can be physical and shut down more physical guards, but asking him to stay in front of guys like Boyd and Dent...it's a terrible matchup. At 6'6", it's an awful matchup for Wagler as well.

Another issue that the style creates is that we get absolutely nothing in transition. We get very minimal "easy" buckets. We are a team that has to player with a much slower pace. This has NEVER been a style that Brad has adopted. He wants to ball pressure, get our in transition and go. Make the game chaotic, physical, fast and nasty. That's where EDG came from. This doesn't resemble that at all.

Again, not sure if the roster construction is an NIL issue? It's the second year that it's just not working well in stretches. I'm hoping he gets back to his roots, but I'm not sure if it's in the budget. What would TJ have commanded in today's market? Could we have afforded it? I'm guessing no.

Click to expand...

You may be right. I hope not, but you may be. If so, then until this administration and donor base decide that Illinois sports should be at the top of the heap in college athletics this is what we will have. And that would be unfortunate.

CentralILLini said:

I totally get it but Andrej needs to start in some capacity. Hell, embrace the “tallest team in the country” thing and go Wagler-Stoj-Jake-Mirk-Tomi if you have to….it’s just too late in the year for the staff to make such extreme changes.. Unfortunately. Love Kylan but he got beat at will by Wiscy guards and Boyd was salivating at the idea of driving up against Mirk and Tomi. If we can’t keep guards in front we are cooked as we’ve seen time and time again.

Click to expand...

I also thought about suggesting that lineup. Bring Kylan off the bench. See if Stojakovic does better consistently as a starter

Second place is 1st loser said:

Ok, when we go 8 of 14 from the line with a few of those misses being front ends, that is not on Brad. Shooting 57% is unacceptable. Meanwhile, they shot 19 of 20. That's 95%. In regulation, they made 11 more free throws. Think about for a second, that's the equivalent of them making almost four more three pointers in regulation. They were making their front ends, then they got the second shot.

If we would have shot 60%, which is still awful, we win in regulation.

We shot 31 threes. They shot 41. Both teams shot less than 25%. They "chucked" a lot more than we did and still got to the line and converted.

None of that is on Brad. Jake, Keaton and Mirk all missed front ends. That's where the game was lost. Quit overthinking it and over complicating it.

Stop using chucking as an excuse. This is at least the third game that we've lost at the line. We shot 55% in another one.

Blackwell and Boyd were the best players in the court, they absolutely abused all of our guards, got to the line and between the both of them, they missed exactly one foul shot.

Now, one could argue that the refs blew some whistles for Boyd that were absolutely ridiculous. That continued the march to the foul line, where they converted.

Quit making excuses. Step to the line, convert, we win and win comfortably. Those are the facts. It's that easy.

Edit:

Boyd/Blackwell were 21 of 22 from the stripe.
Boswell/Wagler were 2 of 3.

Wagler was 1 of 6 from 3.
Boswell was 1 of 1 from 3.

Blackwell was 4 of 12 from 3
Boyd was 2 of 8.

Their backcourt "chucked" 20 threes. Ours "chucked" 7.

That's the backcourt comparison. None of that is Brad.

Click to expand...

You're right, not making high pressure free throws is on the players, not Brad. But the rest? Guess who's in charge of lineups? Of substitutions? Of institutions a gameplan? Of making sure players are well trained and versed in your defensive scheme? Of holding accountability? Of drawing up play calls or sets at pivotal moments? Of what to focus on in practices? Of preparation? Of working the refs? Of game management? Is that just the players also?

This Brad did nothing wrong is something I just cannot even remotely understand. Players didn't make plays late, sure, but Brad also played Tomi all OT despite him looking like a traffic cone most of the game. Funny how Wisconsin went nuts inside every time he was on the court yesterday. If only he had a better defensive option he could have played. Oh wait...

Second place is 1st loser said:

I am obviously a pro Brad guys. He's a phenomenal coach, which any team would fall over with delight if they had him. He's not going anywhere, so that needs to just stop.

HOWEVER, if I'm going to criticize him, I don't like the system, but I think the system is a byproduct of not having "elite" resources that other programs have. A couple of years ago, we thought we were top 10 and we weren't. Then we defaulted to top 15 and that was borderline. Most settled into the top 20 number, which is still good, don't get me wrong. That said, we can't do what Michigan did. They were able to buy, what is very likely, to be a final four team. One of their key players was taken from our roster.

What I believe is that we thought outside the box and went the European route because it's cheaper and more budget friendly to build a solid roster with. I'm doing that, you're pretty much signing up to play the Euro game, which is high skill, lack of dynamic/athletic players and guys who would much rather play of the perimeter. So, you end up with a 5 out roster. If a guy like Tomi is going to shoot the ball like this, that style won't work. He came in as a key to our season and a guy we could rely on. He's been bad on both ends.

So, I don't like the style, basically because of what we saw yesterday. If we play a team with quick guards, it's going to be a problem. Boswell is a good defender, but he's built like a linebacker. He can be physical and shut down more physical guards, but asking him to stay in front of guys like Boyd and Dent...it's a terrible matchup. At 6'6", it's an awful matchup for Wagler as well.

Another issue that the style creates is that we get absolutely nothing in transition. We get very minimal "easy" buckets. We are a team that has to player with a much slower pace. This has NEVER been a style that Brad has adopted. He wants to ball pressure, get our in transition and go. Make the game chaotic, physical, fast and nasty. That's where EDG came from. This doesn't resemble that at all.

Again, not sure if the roster construction is an NIL issue? It's the second year that it's just not working well in stretches. I'm hoping he gets back to his roots, but I'm not sure if it's in the budget. What would TJ have commanded in today's market? Could we have afforded it? I'm guessing no.

Click to expand...

Well stated.

One other thought - this seasons success came down to two things: Finding an undervalued Keyton Wagler and an undervalued David Mirkovic that we could afford. This "business model" scares me.

Brad sturdy in the postgame presser

I’m not sure why nobody has mentioned Boswell completely shutting off Boyd’s water on mulitlple dribble drives that very first possession, then had to get in his face which resulted in foul trouble the entire game. The one guy who could conceivably help stop what Wisconsin was doing was on the bench for 2/3 of the game.

The reason we lost in Champaign was because we couldn’t guard Blackwell & Boyd with our two best perimeter defenders out.

The reason we lost yesterday was more the free throw/foul disparity and lack of rebounding, but having the best guy to throw at Nick Boyd play 1/3rd of the game contributed to things greatly.

Kylan had good intentions and wanted to set the tone, but he failed his teammates with the escalated interaction with Boyd.

UCantHideYer said:

This is super telling. All things summed up, it was the greatest impact on the game.

Click to expand...

1000000% true. The foul line was the difference.

I don't care if you're on the 1)Players choked, 2) Wisconsin was phenomenal, 3)Terrible calls or 4)All of the above...side of the fence, it doesn't matter. A 16 point made free throw deferential is like them making 5+ more threes than us. Those are stats that can't be overcome.

This game was decided at the line.

For the record, I'm an all of the above guy.

PleaseMakeABowlGame said:

Serious question: how is "1 for 9 on second weekends" a true statistic?

He hasn't made a second weekend in 2026. Exactly ZERO other college basketball programs have made a sweet sixteen in 2026; the tournament is still a week away.

He didn't make a second weekend in 2020. Exactly ZERO other college basketball programs have made a sweet sixteen in 2020; the tournament was cancelled.

After our 18-19 season, at the beginning of our 19-20 season - if I told you most BIG wins over the next 7 years, would you say great or good? Just curious.

Click to expand...

Most wins over a 7-year stretch in the premier conference in America. I want to see tournament success as much as anyone but it is ludicrous to call for a change under those circumstances.

HensonHall71 said:

The mantra were better with Jake in the lineup- ja doesn’t hold true anymore- need to start Andrej and bring Jake off the bench and start attacking the rim more

We’re not making threes and teams are simply leaving T and Z to shoot them so “spreading the floor” isn’t a thing anymore

Tyler and Brad need to figure it out before the tournament and not just expect us to start making threes at a high clip. Z should not be allowed to shoot them

Click to expand...

I’m with you on this. Put AS back in the starting lineup. Nothing against Davis at all.

Defensively, either we can’t guard the way we are trying to or guys aren’t motivated to do so. I don’t know the answer, but I wouldn’t hate trying to play more of the zone we saw throughout the season. It’s rough watching quick guards just drive on us.

Final thing, I don’t know what happened to Tomi, but last year he had some edge to him and would get feisty. A lot of times now he seems like a guy that doesn’t want to play.

21ChampaignSt said:

This is not a knock against Keaton at all. Kid is our best freshman ever.

But, IMO, we've gone a little too far in the direction of handing the keys to him. What made him and us great was his ability to take whatever the game gives him and make teams pay with his impeccable decision making. Now, I feel like we're so Keaton-centric that he's forcing it occasionally and other players are standing around waiting for him to make a play. We become more predictable.

In high major games where Keaton shoots fewer than 13 shots, we're 12-2. When he shoots more than 12, we're 6-6.

Now, big caveat is that four of those games where Keaton shoots more than 12 have been overtime games. And without doing the math, I'm sure our opponents have been better on average during those games. So, more losses isn't totally unexpected. But, that also makes me wonder, why in these marquee match ups are we putting more on Keaton rather than playing more of the equal opportunity style of ball that kickstarted our 12 game winning streak?

I suppose (and now I'm just thinking out loud) that it doesn't help that seemingly no one else, particularly the twins, can step up and make a shot. But I go back to the idea that maybe we're doing too many Keaton pick and pops and not enough action with our bigs closer to the basket where they (Tomi specifically) can be a true double or triple threat. Jake and Ben, two of our most consistent shooters were a combined 2 of 5 from three vs Wisconsin. In part, I think, because without the ball popping around and getting teams in rotation, they aren't getting space to shoot.

I guess I'm saying the emergence of Keaton has made us less dynamic, IMO.

Hoping we can find a good balance. A Kylan or Tomi 20 point game on Thursday or Friday would bode really well for the rest of the tourney.

Click to expand...

I don’t disagree with this. We were most dynamic this year when the ball was moving around a lot. You see it at times now, but I think we’ve maybe taken the matchup hunting a little too far and there’s too much 1:1

NarrowJ said:

I’m not sure why nobody has mentioned Boswell completely shutting off Boyd’s water on mulitlple dribble drives that very first possession, then had to get in his face which resulted in foul trouble the entire game. The one guy who could conceivably help stop what Wisconsin was doing was on the bench for 2/3 of the game.

The reason we lost in Champaign was because we couldn’t guard Blackwell & Boyd with our two best perimeter defenders out.

The reason we lost yesterday was more the free throw/foul disparity and lack of rebounding, but having the best guy to throw at Nick Boyd play 1/3rd of the game contributed to things greatly.

Kylan had good intentions and wanted to set the tone, but he failed his teammates with the escalated interaction with Boyd.

Click to expand...

That's a fantastic point. If you want to set the tone and match Boyd's fire, that's fine. The refs gave double techs, that's fine. Picking up that 2nd foul less than a minute later(on a VERY questionable call) made that tech just a huge play.

You put it perfectly. Good intentions gone wrong.

aaeismacgychel said:

You're right, not making high pressure free throws is on the players, not Brad. But the rest? Guess who's in charge of lineups? Of substitutions? Of institutions a gameplan? Of making sure players are well trained and versed in your defensive scheme? Of holding accountability? Of drawing up play calls or sets at pivotal moments? Of what to focus on in practices? Of preparation? Of working the refs? Of game management? Is that just the players also?

This Brad did nothing wrong is something I just cannot even remotely understand. Players didn't make plays late, sure, but Brad also played Tomi all OT despite him looking like a traffic cone most of the game. Funny how Wisconsin went nuts inside every time he was on the court yesterday. If only he had a better defensive option he could have played. Oh wait...

Click to expand...

I get where you're going with that and you're not wrong. However, Z missed two WIDE OPEN corner threes. They were completely uncontested and he missed both. Those sets were beautifully run, he has to make the shots.

We can agree that defensively, Tomi is less than stellar, but conversely, even if Tomi isn't making shots, the offense runs through him. He's FAR more aware in that side of the ball. Ultimately, the best big we have, that can play both ends, is Mirk and he's a freshman. Heck, even he missed a critical free throw.

Let me ask you this and be honest. If we're 13 of 17 from the line in regulation(making 2 of 3 front ends)....what's the post game take? A lot of times, we called plays and they are well executed plays and we end up being fouled. That's a good outcome. However, missing the front end is the same as a turnover.

So, while you aren't wrong, ultimately we arrive at the same outcome. Make free throws at a 60% clip, which is less than High School expectations....and these complaints are side notes, keep getting better, celebrating a Q1 win and being nervous now as we're tipping off vs Michigan in an hour.

We did the same thing vs Bama and we were 11 of 19 from the line the first time around versus Wisconsin.

If we're just REASONABLE from the line, we're 27-5, battling for a one seed(or the best 2) and we're playing UCLA today.

Chase321 said:

I would call winning more games in the Big Ten this decade than any other team the definition of consistently competitive.

Click to expand...

Objectively, you're absolutely right.

But subjectively, at least for me, there's a tremendous disconnect between this undeniable level of success within the league and the frequent disappointment (not just with the outcome, but the all-too-familiar mechanism of it under Brad ) that is very challenging for me to reconcile.

To be perfectly candid, I'm really struggling to make sense of what appropriate expectations even *are* anymore. Relatedly, I am also struggling with the fact that I just don't really care for this Illinois Basketball product as much as I used to (and would very much like to). I appreciate that the players are getting paid, and I appreciate how it has allowed us to openly play ball in that regard as compared to the era when other teams and coaches could run circles around us in the shady recruiting scene. But I hate the (unintended, maybe?) consequence that there's very little continuity to teams between seasons.

I'm beginning to suspect that as my emotional investment in watching guys develop and build a bond and a team identity with each other over the course of multiple years together becomes functionally impossible, I am expecting a corresponding increase in on-court success to compensate for it, and instead, I'm just seeing the same exact types of predictable blown leads and failure to adapt in many (but not all - insert "but Jay Wright's bootyball" here...) recurring circumstances is making it harder for me to give a !!!! anymore.

I can say for certain that I now have lower expectations for our tournament performance than at any other point this season, so I guess I have less disappointment to endure in a week (or two, if we're lucky).

What a dismal silver lining.

because i’m an idiot, i’m looking at teams that made the f4 after early exit from conf tourney and ranked top 15-ish at the time.
looks like bama from a couple years ago and texas tech on ‘19 did something similar. tech even lost their only game in the conf tourney.

hopefully they get their heads (and shots) right this week.

Most programs would love to have BU as their BB coach.

That said, I don't think that he will ever get to a Final Four (unlike Coach Weber).

However, he will get the team into the tournament every year (unlike Coach Weber).

Click to expand...

Most top 15 programs would NOT want Underwood as their coach.

Michigan - No
Michigan St - No
Purdue - No
Arizona - No
Duke - No
Connecticut - No
Houston - No
Florida- No
Gonzaga - No
Kansas - No
Alabama - No
Arkansas - No
Iowa St - No
Texas Tech - No
BYU - No
North Carolina - No

And I could go on. Many BT programs would not trade their head coach for Underwood: Michigan, MSU, Purdue, Iowa, UCLA, Oregon, Nebraska, Wisconsin. When you say most programs you are talking about non Top 25 programs. Most quality programs would not want Underwood.

I’m not sure why nobody has mentioned Boswell completely shutting off Boyd’s water on mulitlple dribble drives that very first possession, then had to get in his face which resulted in foul trouble the entire game. The one guy who could conceivably help stop what Wisconsin was doing was on the bench for 2/3 of the game.

The reason we lost in Champaign was because we couldn’t guard Blackwell & Boyd with our two best perimeter defenders out.

The reason we lost yesterday was more the free throw/foul disparity and lack of rebounding, but having the best guy to throw at Nick Boyd play 1/3rd of the game contributed to things greatly.

Kylan had good intentions and wanted to set the tone, but he failed his teammates with the escalated interaction with Boyd.

Click to expand...

The tone was set when he locked him up resulting in a travel. The extra stuff was just poking the dawg resulting in…well..you saw.

Indy Illini Fan said:

Pretty good coaches …

Click to expand...

It’s time to have to Chris Beard conversation that no one wants to have.

For those of you who think we need to replace BU to get to the FF or a championship

Only four coaches have a Championship since COVID:

Todd Golden
Dan Hurley
Bill Self
Scott Drew

14 other Coaches have made a Final Four since COVID:

Kelvin Sampson
Jon Scheyer
Bruce Pearl
Matt Painter
Nate Oats
Kevin Keatts
Jim Larranga
Dusty May
Brian Dutcher
Mike Krzyzewski
Jay Wright
Hubert Davis
Mark Few
Mick Cronin

So 18 total coaches who have achieved what BU has not yet achieved. 4 of these guys are retired. Kevin Keatts got fired because outside of this run he was very unsuccessful. Despite making the FF I don't think people would be clamoring to replace Brad with Mick Cronin, Hubert Davis, or Scott Drew right now. Golden, Hurley, Self, Sampson, Scheyer, Painter, Oats, May and Few aren't coming here even if we wanted them. So I guess that leaves Brian Dutcher? I don't think hiring Brian Dutcher is the move.

So that leaves the option of hiring someone who hasn't gotten there, because we think they'd do a better job if only they had our resources.

Here are some major programs who've hired they guy (or the guys, plural) they thought would get them there since BU's hire and have failed to get to even the Elite Eight:

Indiana - last Elite Eight 2001, coached by Archie Miller, Mike Woodson, and Darien Devries in the time since

Kentucky - last Elite Eight was 2019. Does anyone have more resources than Kentucky? And yet...maybe this thing isn't that easy?

Louisville - hasn't made it since 2015* (vacated, whoops)

Syracuse - last made 2016

Iowa - hasn't made the Elite Eight since 1987, can't find the guy to get them there

Arizona - Shockingly has not made it to Elite Eight in the last decade, since 2015

Iowa St. - has not made it since 2000, a drought Brad Underwoods subpar coaching has contributed to

And here are some big time programs who haven't made more than one S16s since COVID:

Kentucky (1)
Kansas (1)
Florida (1)
Maryland (1)
Oregon (1)
USC (1)
Baylor (1)
Syracuse (1)
Ole Miss (1)
Texas (1)
Kansas St. (1)
BYU (1)
FSU (1)
Ohio St. (0 - last made in 2013)
Wisconsin (0 - last made 2017)
Iowa (0 - last made 1999)
Louisville (0 - last made 2015)
Georgia Tech (0 - last made 2004)
Notre Dame (0 - last made 2016)
St. John's (0 - last made 1999)
Georgetown (0 - last made 2007)
LSU (0 - last made 2019)
Oklahoma (0 - last made 2016)
Vanderbilt (0 - last made 2007)
Missouri (0 - last made 2009)
West Virginia (0 - last made 2018)
Wake Forest (0 - last made 2004)
Virginia (0 - last made 2019)

It's not easy to hire a coach who is going to get you even to where Brad has gotten (Elite Eight). All of these programs hire guys with that and more in mind. Most of them fail. BU has a better chance of getting us to a Final Four and Championship than any coach we can hire to replace him, no matter how good a fit we think that guy will be in the abstract. Every one of these programs hires/retains guys with that in mind.