Basketball History vs. Ranked Opponents

[skip-zip]

I thought this deserved its own topic since we might need some fellow old timers to chime in on this, or someone that's good at digging up statistical data.I'm pretty sure that Cleveland State was ranked when we beat them at home in OT early in the 86-87 season. Does anyone else remember that? It was the beginning of the next season following our first-ever NCAA tourney appearance, and CSU's Sweet 16 accomplishment. And both teams returned almost all of their players. We had to get there early that day just to get in the JAR. What a game!

[Hilltopper]

The JAR was so full, people were sitting in the aisles. The fire marshal told them to stop selling tickets. It was "Mouse" McFadden vs Eric "Cricket" McLaughlin. What a great game. People complain about how weak our schedule is now. Take a look at this schedule. 1. 8,168 Cleveland State (ot) 12-9-86 W, 73-692. 7,131 Murray State 2-22-86 W, 76-573. 6,701 Middle Tenn. State* 3-7-86 W, 68-634. 6,546 Eastern Kentucky 2-16-87 W, 74-735. 6,518 Youngstown State 3-2-87 W, 103-746. 6,382 Eastern Michigan 12-3-83 W, 78-747. 6,140 Morehead State (ot) 1-28-84 L, 78-868. 5,864 Bowling Green 12-10-83 L, 90-919. 5,718 Middle Tenn. State 2-25-84 L, 64-8410. 5,657 Can't State 1-17-07 W, 78-6811. 5,651 Can't State 3-4-06 W, 75-6712. 5,607 K ent State 3-9-08 L, 58-6113. 5,582 Tennessee Tech* 3-3-86 W, 67-5814. 5,552 Youngstown State 1-3-86 W, 60-4615. 5,547 Can't State 12-6-86 W, 67-6216. 5,519 Ohio 12-9-87 W, 76-6917. 5,511 Austin Peay 2-24-86 W, 84-72* - 1986 OVC TournamentArena attendanc e records1986-87 (21-9, 9-5 OVC*)• NIT Participa ntCoach: Bob HugginsN29 Slippery Rock W 82-53D1 at Ohio L 79-81D3 Bowling Green W 79-52D6 Can't State W 67-62D9 Cleveland St. (ot) W 73-69D12 Central Conn.+ W 72-47D13 Coastal Carolina+ W 66-61D20 Edinboro State W 95-76D22 at Robert Morris W 73-60D29 South Carolina St. W 81-66J3 Youngstown State* W 60-46J5 at (14) Pittsburgh L 65-67J10 at Eastern Ky.* L 61-82J12 at Morehead St.* L 52-62J17 Austin Peay* W 89-76J19 Murray State* W 76-70J24 Tennessee Tech* W 95-73J26 Middle Tennessee* W 96-78J31 at Youngstown St.* L 68-71F2 Detroit W 82-74F4 Hiram W 91-63F7 at Middle Tenn.* L 62-64F9 at Tennessee Tech* W 87-83F14 Morehead State* W 93-83F16 Eastern Kentucky* W 74-73F21 at Murray State* W 76-66F23 at Austin Peay* L 58-63OVC Tournament(Murfreesboro, Tenn.)M2 Youngstown St.# W 103-74M6 vs. Eastern Ky.% L 85-94NIT (Normal, Ill.)at Illinois State L 72-79+-McDonald’s Zip Classic#-OVC First Round(UA 2 seed, YSU 7 seed)%-OVC

[Let'sGoZips94]

The JAR was so full, people were sitting in the aisles. The fire marshal told them to stop selling tickets. It was "Mouse" McFadden vs Eric "Cricket" McLaughlin. What a great game. People complain about how weak our schedule is now. Take a look at this schedule. 1986-87 (21-9, 9-5 OVC*)• NIT Participa ntCoach: Bob HugginsN29 Slippery Rock W 82-53D1 at Ohio L 79-81D3 Bowling Green W 79-52D6 Can't State W 67-62D9 Cleveland St. (ot) W 73-69D12 Central Conn.+ W 72-47D13 Coastal Carolina+ W 66-61D20 Edinboro State W 95-76D22 at Robert Morris W 73-60D29 South Carolina St. W 81-66J3 Youngstown State* W 60-46J5 at (14) Pittsburgh L 65-67J10 at Eastern Ky.* L 61-82J12 at Morehead St.* L 52-62J17 Austin Peay* W 89-76J19 Murray State* W 76-70J24 Tennessee Tech* W 95-73J26 Middle Tennessee* W 96-78J31 at Youngstown St.* L 68-71F2 Detroit W 82-74F4 Hiram W 91-63F7 at Middle Tenn.* L 62-64F9 at Tennessee Tech* W 87-83F14 Morehead State* W 93-83F16 Eastern Kentucky* W 74-73F21 at Murray State* W 76-66F23 at Austin Peay* L 58-63OVC Tournament(Murfreesboro, Tenn.)M2 Youngstown St.# W 103-74M6 vs. Eastern Ky.% L 85-94NIT (Normal, Ill.)at Illinois State L 72-79+-McDonald’s Zip Classic#-OVC First Round(UA 2 seed, YSU 7 seed)%-OVC

No joke, most of those games are better than what we play today.

[GP1]

The JAR was so full people were sitting in the aisles. It was "Mouse" McFadden vs Eric "Cricket" McLaughlin. What a great game. People complain about how weak our schedule is now. Take a look at this schedule. 1986-87 (21-9, 9-5 OVC*)• NIT Participa ntCoach: Bob HugginsN29 Slippery Rock W 82-53D1 at Ohio L 79-81D3 Bowling Green W 79-52D6 Can't State W 67-62D9 Cleveland St. (ot) W 73-69D12 Central Conn.+ W 72-47D13 Coastal Carolina+ W 66-61D20 Edinboro State W 95-76D22 at Robert Morris W 73-60D29 South Carolina St. W 81-66J3 Youngstown State* W 60-46J5 at (14) Pittsburgh L 65-67J10 at Eastern Ky.* L 61-82J12 at Morehead St.* L 52-62J17 Austin Peay* W 89-76J19 Murray State* W 76-70J24 Tennessee Tech* W 95-73J26 Middle Tennessee* W 96-78J31 at Youngstown St.* L 68-71F2 Detroit W 82-74F4 Hiram W 91-63F7 at Middle Tenn.* L 62-64F9 at Tennessee Tech* W 87-83F14 Morehead State* W 93-83F16 Eastern Kentucky* W 74-73F21 at Murray State* W 76-66F23 at Austin Peay* L 58-63OVC Tournament(Murfreesboro, Tenn.)M2 Youngstown St.# W 103-74M6 vs. Eastern Ky.% L 85-94NIT (Normal, Ill.)at Illinois State L 72-79+-McDonald’s Zip Classic#-OVC First Round(UA 2 seed, YSU 7 seed)%-OVC

The ooc schedule the year above doesn't seem to be all that more easy than the one we play now. Given we have better facilities in the form of the fieldhouse, more money to throw at the program and campus is better, I wouldn't say our schedule has "grown" much over the years. We certainly don't seem to be "building" a better schedule. In fact, we seem to be in around the same position. Potential conference champion in a bad conference, weak ooc schedule and good coach with good players (although the players as a group are much better today).In all seriousness, the landscape of college basketball and college athletics in general have changed drastically over the past 20+ years. It's hard to compare with the time laps between the two periods.

[RootforRoo44]

The JAR was so full, people were sitting in the aisles. The fire marshal told them to stop selling tickets. It was "Mouse" McFadden vs Eric "Cricket" McLaughlin. What a great game. People complain about how weak our schedule is now. Take a look at this schedule. 1. 8,168 Cleveland State (ot) 12-9-86 W, 73-692. 7,131 Murray State 2-22-86 W, 76-573. 6,701 Middle Tenn. State* 3-7-86 W, 68-634. 6,546 Eastern Kentucky 2-16-87 W, 74-73...

8,000 PEOPLE?!?!Id love to have been there for that. I guess i was one, i should have made the trip.

[Dave in Green]

The JAR was so full, people were sitting in the aisles. The fire marshal told them to stop selling tickets. It was "Mouse" McFadden vs Eric "Cricket" McLaughlin. What a great game. People complain about how weak our schedule is now. Take a look at this schedule. 1986-87 (21-9, 9-5 OVC*)• NIT Participa ntCoach: Bob HugginsN29 Slippery Rock W 82-53D1 at Ohio L 79-81D3 Bowling Green W 79-52D6 Can't State W 67-62D9 Cleveland St. (ot) W 73-69D12 Central Conn.+ W 72-47D13 Coastal Carolina+ W 66-61D20 Edinboro State W 95-76D22 at Robert Morris W 73-60D29 South Carolina St. W 81-66J3 Youngstown State* W 60-46J5 at (14) Pittsburgh L 65-67J10 at Eastern Ky.* L 61-82J12 at Morehead St.* L 52-62J17 Austin Peay* W 89-76J19 Murray State* W 76-70J24 Tennessee Tech* W 95-73J26 Middle Tennessee* W 96-78J31 at Youngstown St.* L 68-71F2 Detroit W 82-74F4 Hiram W 91-63F7 at Middle Tenn.* L 62-64F9 at Tennessee Tech* W 87-83F14 Morehead State* W 93-83F16 Eastern Kentucky* W 74-73F21 at Murray State* W 76-66F23 at Austin Peay* L 58-63OVC Tournament(Murfreesboro, Tenn.)M2 Youngstown St.# W 103-74M6 vs. Eastern Ky.% L 85-94NIT (Normal, Ill.)at Illinois State L 72-79+-McDonald’s Zip Classic#-OVC First Round(UA 2 seed, YSU 7 seed)%-OVC

No joke, most of those games are better than what we play today.

Please go through those teams again, one at a time, slowly, give it some more thought, and report back.

[Let'sGoZips94]

The JAR was so full, people were sitting in the aisles. The fire marshal told them to stop selling tickets. It was "Mouse" McFadden vs Eric "Cricket" McLaughlin. What a great game. People complain about how weak our schedule is now. Take a look at this schedule. 1986-87 (21-9, 9-5 OVC*)• NIT Participa ntCoach: Bob HugginsN29 Slippery Rock W 82-53D1 at Ohio L 79-81D3 Bowling Green W 79-52D6 Can't State W 67-62D9 Cleveland St. (ot) W 73-69D12 Central Conn.+ W 72-47D13 Coastal Carolina+ W 66-61D20 Edinboro State W 95-76D22 at Robert Morris W 73-60D29 South Carolina St. W 81-66J3 Youngstown State* W 60-46J5 at (14) Pittsburgh L 65-67J10 at Eastern Ky.* L 61-82J12 at Morehead St.* L 52-62J17 Austin Peay* W 89-76J19 Murray State* W 76-70J24 Tennessee Tech* W 95-73J26 Middle Tennessee* W 96-78J31 at Youngstown St.* L 68-71F2 Detroit W 82-74F4 Hiram W 91-63F7 at Middle Tenn.* L 62-64F9 at Tennessee Tech* W 87-83F14 Morehead State* W 93-83F16 Eastern Kentucky* W 74-73F21 at Murray State* W 76-66F23 at Austin Peay* L 58-63OVC Tournament(Murfreesboro, Tenn.)M2 Youngstown St.# W 103-74M6 vs. Eastern Ky.% L 85-94NIT (Normal, Ill.)at Illinois State L 72-79+-McDonald’s Zip Classic#-OVC First Round(UA 2 seed, YSU 7 seed)%-OVC

No joke, most of those games are better than what we play today.

Please go through those teams again, one at a time, slowly, give it some more thought, and report back.

All I'm saying is I'd rather play Pitt, Eastern Kentucky, Robert Morris, and Austin Peay as an OOC schedule than Malone, St. Francis, and UNCG. I mean look at these teams today, and they aren't bad. Even Illinois State is decent.

[Dave in Green]

Selecting the strongest programs off of the 1986-87 schedule and comparing them against the weakest programs on the current schedule is guaranteed to produce skewed results, just as the results could be skewed the opposite way.For example, another selective comparison would be that Pitt was the only "big name" school on the 1986-87 schedule while this year's schedule features at least two in North Carolina State and Texas A&M.But the only way to reach a fair and accurate conclusion would be to compare all of the teams and rate them on overall program strength in the context of their respective eras. A truly objective comparison would require a lot of historical research.

[skip-zip]

I remember listening to that Pitt game on the radio. We had a great chance to win that game, as well as the game against them at the Richfield Coliseum the following year when they were ranked even higher. I really thought Cleveland State was ranked early in that 86-87 season. I guess not.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Murray State and MTSU actually won NCAA tourney games in the late 80's. Can a MAC school from the last 5 years say that? The OVC was a tough conference in the 80's. Tougher than today's MAC for certain.

[Hilltopper]

Here is the schedule for 87-88, the first year after we left the OVC. 1987-88 (21-7)Coach: Bob HugginsN30 Ashland W 69-52D4 Rice+ W 74-67D5 Western Illinois+ L 73-77D7 Robert Morris W 74-61D9 Ohio W 76-69D12 at Can't State L 74-92D21 (3) Pittsburgh^ L 63-67D30 Bethune Cookman W 85-51J2 North Carolina A&T W 63-57J6 at Cleveland State L 73-80J9 at Youngstown St. W 80-61J11 at Middle Tenn. L 78-82J18 Middle Tennessee W 76-72J20 Otterbein W 109-54J23 at Northern Illinois W 75-68J25 at Chicago State W 61-56J28 Kenyon W 75-53J30 Brooklyn College W 96-57F3 at N. Carolina A&T L 70-92F6 Youngstown State W 90-59F10 at Wright State W 88-81F13 at Brooklyn College W 97-70F15 Florida International W 103-58F17 Wright State (ot) W 89-82F20 Chicago State W 78-58F24 at Western Illinois L 71-76F27 Morehead State W 90-67M5 at Western Mich. W 79-74

[Captain Kangaroo]

Here is the schedule for 87-88, the first year after we left the OVC. 1987-88 (21-7)Coach: Bob HugginsN30 Ashland W 69-52D4 Rice+ W 74-67D5 Western Illinois+ L 73-77D7 Robert Morris W 74-61D9 Ohio W 76-69D12 at Can't State L 74-92D21 (3) Pittsburgh^ L 63-67D30 Bethune Cookman W 85-51J2 North Carolina A&T W 63-57J6 at Cleveland State L 73-80J9 at Youngstown St. W 80-61J11 at Middle Tenn. L 78-82J18 Middle Tennessee W 76-72J20 Otterbein W 109-54J23 at Northern Illinois W 75-68J25 at Chicago State W 61-56J28 Kenyon W 75-53J30 Brooklyn College W 96-57F3 at N. Carolina A&T L 70-92F6 Youngstown State W 90-59F10 at Wright State W 88-81F13 at Brooklyn College W 97-70F15 Florida International W 103-58F17 Wright State (ot) W 89-82F20 Chicago State W 78-58F24 at Western Illinois L 71-76F27 Morehead State W 90-67M5 at Western Mich. W 79-74

Some thoughts from that season -The Zips played as an Independent. Being a basketball Independent at that time, much like today, is an impossible situation. You have no Conference Championship to play for...absolutely no chance at an NCAA bid...you needed to fight and scrape to schedule every game played after January 1st, because every other school in the nation went into their own Conference schedule at that time and had no desire to schedule an Independent game. Especially on the road.I remember those two games against Pitt. I attended both. Unbelievable wars. Losing by 2-points and 4-points to those Top 15 teams was impressive. We went toe-to-toe with some greats...Sean Miller, Jerome Lane, Demetrious Gore, Charles Smith...lots of big names on those Pitt rosters.

[skip-zip]

Here is the schedule for 87-88, the first year after we left the OVC. 1987-88 (21-7)Coach: Bob HugginsN30 Ashland W 69-52D4 Rice+ W 74-67D5 Western Illinois+ L 73-77D7 Robert Morris W 74-61D9 Ohio W 76-69D12 at Can't State L 74-92D21 (3) Pittsburgh^ L 63-67D30 Bethune Cookman W 85-51J2 North Carolina A&T W 63-57J6 at Cleveland State L 73-80J9 at Youngstown St. W 80-61J11 at Middle Tenn. L 78-82J18 Middle Tennessee W 76-72J20 Otterbein W 109-54J23 at Northern Illinois W 75-68J25 at Chicago State W 61-56J28 Kenyon W 75-53J30 Brooklyn College W 96-57F3 at N. Carolina A&T L 70-92F6 Youngstown State W 90-59F10 at Wright State W 88-81F13 at Brooklyn College W 97-70F15 Florida International W 103-58F17 Wright State (ot) W 89-82F20 Chicago State W 78-58F24 at Western Illinois L 71-76F27 Morehead State W 90-67M5 at Western Mich. W 79-74

Some thoughts from that season -The Zips played as an Independent. Being a basketball Independent at that time, much like today, is an impossible situation. You have no Conference Championship to play for...absolutely no chance at an NCAA bid...you needed to fight and scrape to schedule every game played after January 1st, because every other school in the nation went into their own Conference schedule at that time and had no desire to schedule an Independent game. Especially on the road.I remember those two games against Pitt. I attended both. Unbelievable wars. Losing by 2-points and 4-points to those Top 15 teams was impressive. We went toe-to-toe with some greats...Sean Miller, Jerome Lane, Demetrious Gore, Charles Smith...lots of big names on those Pitt rosters.

Yep...that Independent scheduling was tough. However, myself and most of the people I know still believe that this '88 team's biggest downfall was the two losses to Western Illinois. That was a tough hurdle to get over when trying to impress the NCAA tourney committee. Once again, no matter what your record, "bad losses" will do you in. I still wonder if the strong turnout for that game against #3 Pitt in Richfield indicates that possibly a game today against a Top 10 team at the Q would be a good draw. Or...was it the fact that Richfield was so close to Akron. Who knows. But, I do know a lot of people throughout NE Ohio who went to that game, and would not otherwise go to an Akron basketball game.

[Hilltopper]

Here is the schedule for 87-88, the first year after we left the OVC. 1987-88 (21-7)Coach: Bob HugginsN30 Ashland W 69-52D4 Rice+ W 74-67D5 Western Illinois+ L 73-77D7 Robert Morris W 74-61D9 Ohio W 76-69D12 at Can't State L 74-92D21 (3) Pittsburgh^ L 63-67D30 Bethune Cookman W 85-51J2 North Carolina A&T W 63-57J6 at Cleveland State L 73-80J9 at Youngstown St. W 80-61J11 at Middle Tenn. L 78-82J18 Middle Tennessee W 76-72J20 Otterbein W 109-54J23 at Northern Illinois W 75-68J25 at Chicago State W 61-56J28 Kenyon W 75-53J30 Brooklyn College W 96-57F3 at N. Carolina A&T L 70-92F6 Youngstown State W 90-59F10 at Wright State W 88-81F13 at Brooklyn College W 97-70F15 Florida International W 103-58F17 Wright State (ot) W 89-82F20 Chicago State W 78-58F24 at Western Illinois L 71-76F27 Morehead State W 90-67M5 at Western Mich. W 79-74

Some thoughts from that season -The Zips played as an Independent. Being a basketball Independent at that time, much like today, is an impossible situation. You have no Conference Championship to play for...absolutely no chance at an NCAA bid...you needed to fight and scrape to schedule every game played after January 1st, because every other school in the nation went into their own Conference schedule at that time and had no desire to schedule an Independent game. Especially on the road.I remember those two games against Pitt. I attended both. Unbelievable wars. Losing by 2-points and 4-points to those Top 15 teams was impressive. We went toe-to-toe with some greats...Sean Miller, Jerome Lane, Demetrious Gore, Charles Smith...lots of big names on those Pitt rosters.

Yep...that Independent scheduling was tough. However, myself and most of the people I know still believe that this '88 team's biggest downfall was the two losses to Western Illinois. That was a tough hurdle to get over when trying to impress the NCAA tourney committee. Once again, no matter what your record, "bad losses" will do you in. I still wonder if the strong turnout for that game against #3 Pitt in Richfield indicates that possibly a game today against a Top 10 team at the Q would be a good draw. Or...was it the fact that Richfield was so close to Akron. Who knows. But, I do know a lot of people throughout NE Ohio who went to that game, and would not otherwise go to an Akron basketball game.

Skip, I think some of it can be attributed to the fact that we were finally winning at the D-1 level. Bob Ruperts teams were not so good, but when Huggins arrived and the opening of the JAR, the people of Akron started to take notice. You didn't have hundreds of games available to watch on TV like today and the internet was unknown to the average fan. If you wanted to see NCAA basketball your options were limited to a few games a week on TV. Huggins was also a very flamboyant coach(Still is) and part of going to game was the guessing what he might do next. I lost count of how many times he removed his suit coat and flung it into the stands. It was rumored that he kept a roll of quarters in one pocket so that the coat would fly farther. When Muse decided that we needed to go bigtime in football as an independant it was the kiss of death for the BB program. After Huggins left, we were treated to really awful basketball during the C Crawford era. His idea of basketball was summed up in the "Defense 65" promotion. All you had to look forward to was a free taco if we held our opponent under 65 points.

[skip-zip]

Here is the schedule for 87-88, the first year after we left the OVC. 1987-88 (21-7)Coach: Bob HugginsN30 Ashland W 69-52D4 Rice+ W 74-67D5 Western Illinois+ L 73-77D7 Robert Morris W 74-61D9 Ohio W 76-69D12 at Can't State L 74-92D21 (3) Pittsburgh^ L 63-67D30 Bethune Cookman W 85-51J2 North Carolina A&T W 63-57J6 at Cleveland State L 73-80J9 at Youngstown St. W 80-61J11 at Middle Tenn. L 78-82J18 Middle Tennessee W 76-72J20 Otterbein W 109-54J23 at Northern Illinois W 75-68J25 at Chicago State W 61-56J28 Kenyon W 75-53J30 Brooklyn College W 96-57F3 at N. Carolina A&T L 70-92F6 Youngstown State W 90-59F10 at Wright State W 88-81F13 at Brooklyn College W 97-70F15 Florida International W 103-58F17 Wright State (ot) W 89-82F20 Chicago State W 78-58F24 at Western Illinois L 71-76F27 Morehead State W 90-67M5 at Western Mich. W 79-74

Some thoughts from that season -The Zips played as an Independent. Being a basketball Independent at that time, much like today, is an impossible situation. You have no Conference Championship to play for...absolutely no chance at an NCAA bid...you needed to fight and scrape to schedule every game played after January 1st, because every other school in the nation went into their own Conference schedule at that time and had no desire to schedule an Independent game. Especially on the road.I remember those two games against Pitt. I attended both. Unbelievable wars. Losing by 2-points and 4-points to those Top 15 teams was impressive. We went toe-to-toe with some greats...Sean Miller, Jerome Lane, Demetrious Gore, Charles Smith...lots of big names on those Pitt rosters.

Yep...that Independent scheduling was tough. However, myself and most of the people I know still believe that this '88 team's biggest downfall was the two losses to Western Illinois. That was a tough hurdle to get over when trying to impress the NCAA tourney committee. Once again, no matter what your record, "bad losses" will do you in. I still wonder if the strong turnout for that game against #3 Pitt in Richfield indicates that possibly a game today against a Top 10 team at the Q would be a good draw. Or...was it the fact that Richfield was so close to Akron. Who knows. But, I do know a lot of people throughout NE Ohio who went to that game, and would not otherwise go to an Akron basketball game.

Skip, I think some of it can be attributed to the fact that we were finally winning at the D-1 level. Bob Ruperts teams were not so good, but when Huggins arrived and the opening of the JAR, the people of Akron started to take notice. You didn't have hundreds of games available to watch on TV like today and the internet was unknown to the average fan. If you wanted to see NCAA basketball your options were limited to a few games a week on TV. Huggins was also a very flamboyant coach(Still is) and part of going to game was the guessing what he might do next. I lost count of how many times he removed his suit coat and flung it into the stands. It was rumored that he kept a roll of quarters in one pocket so that the coat would fly farther. When Muse decided that we needed to go bigtime in football as an independant it was the kiss of death for the BB program. After Huggins left, we were treated to really awful basketball during the C Crawford era. His idea of basketball was summed up in the "Defense 65" promotion. All you had to look forward to was a free taco if we held our opponent under 65 points.

Some good points, Hilltopper. You bring back some old memories. And Huggins was indeed often a side show that added to the value of your ticket.You also make me think again about the affect our D-1A upgrade in football had on the basketball program...and the timing. All of us who were around at the time, and have known people who were involved, may all have our own story. But, one thing I like to remind people about is that the wheels were turning on our transition to D-1A in football LONG before we returned to playing successful basketball again. In fact, if you recall, our basketball program was going through some NCAA sanctions, and were getting scholarships pulled right around that time. That somewhat magical 85-86 team really came out of nowhere....and what an exciting year it was. But, we had already done everything to qualify as D-1A in football the previous season, and had everything in place to start competing at that level, and I don't think anyone wanted to turn back at that point.Personally, I still agree that we did the right thing. We were a large, growing University, and we seized an opportunity to move up to the big-time level, and had the people around who could make that happen. And a dozen or so other schools have followed our lead since that time.