To be fair to Erickson, his role expanded when Exacte was not coming back this year and Worster got hurt. He wasn’t brought in to play meaningful PG minutes
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No, just UCLA. Utah lost to USC
Utes beat Uckla twice, lost at USC, didn’t play the Trojans in Salt Lake.
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Looked at the box score of the Iowa/KState game. Iowa took 30 FT’s and made 22. KState was 8 of 16. Home cooking? Who knows?
K State is no joke and Iowa ain’t no slouches either. This game is a tall order.
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I was right!!! VCU just won at Villanova!!! Utah doesn’t have to go on the road!!! Woot woot!!!
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Great opportunity to make a deep NIT run. Need to see the Huntsman packed this Sunday!
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Damn straight. Especially with a Big Ten opponent coming in. Iowa is a pretty good team. They won at Michigan State plus they beat both Wisconsin and Nebraska. All three teams made the NCAA Tournament. Utah hasn’t played Iowa since 1964. This game also holds even more meaning because the winner gets to host the NIT quarterfinals in their gym. Utah has a huge opportunity on Sunday. I’m smelling another trip back to the NIT semis or even the championship game. All things considered, that’s pretty much as good as making a first round NCAA Tournament Game.
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Massey’s algorithm tells us…
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I have a soft spot for the NIT. Way back when I had hair and functional knees, Syracuse University won the Big East tournament but did not get a bid for the NCAA because it was harder back then, and the Big East was brand new, so no automatic bid. Dumb rules.
Syracuse went to the NIT finals and we were all crammed into a hallway watching the game at the Madison Square Garden. Very exciting. Unfortunately, we lost to Bradley.
I hope Utah goes far. I know it’s kind of like playing to be the 69th (nice) best team in the NCAA, but it’s always better to be a champion than not.
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We’ve come close to taking it (since '47 when we actually DID take it). Narrowly missed making it to the championship in '92 (ahead by 1 with 10 seconds left and lost), then in 2018 losing to Penn State in the championship.
Let’s get one for Branden Carlson. That’d be a nice way for him to go out.
Of course we’d prefer March Madness, but if not, I’d take an NIT championship in a heartbeat.
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There was a time when the NIT was the tournament you wanted to be in. It has been a very long time since it was, but there was a time…
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Got to the championship in 1974 with Ticky Burden and Mike Sojourner. Think we lost to Purdue by 7?
And don’t forget, in 1966 BYU fans said their winning the NIT was better than our NCAA final four appearance.
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It’s not the 69th best team. It’s the best team who didn’t get an at large berth into the tournament. Most teams in the NIT had better resumes than most NCAA Tournament teams that got 13 seeds or worse. Most of those teams only got in because they won their 1-bid leagues. Meaning, none of the teams in those leagues were ever in the discussion for at large berths and would be underdogs against the best teams in the NIT. Do you really think a team like Montana State, who finished with a losing overall record but made the NCAA Tournament solely because they won the Big Sky Tournament, is a better team than Utah? Are you on drugs?
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The NET rankings are useful here. Utah is #48, our next opponent, #62, for example.
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This is one of the oldest tongue-in-cheek CBB jokes that I know. I assume you’re joking.
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My earliest NIT memory was Bill Foster, Jeff Jonas, Tyrone Medley, Ticky Burden and Mike Sojourner.
Moment No. 17 - The 1974 NIT - University of Utah Athletics (utahutes.com)
Make some memories, Utes! Send Branden out like he deserves!
(Bonus - For those of you who reach back far enough, what are the chances this is Ticky’s grandson? Luther Burden III Wide Receiver Missouri | NFL Draft Profile & Scouting Report (nfldraftbuzz.com) )
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Just offhand, I’d say the chances are pretty good. The name + the athletic skill + the III by his name.
I found this after a quick search. No mention of Grandpa Ticky, if he is in fact the grandpa:
I have asked myself this same question. Haven’t gotten a definitive answer.
I tried to figure that out once and couldn’t find a reference to Ticky.