When did you feel the best about the Pitino Era?

[Ewert86PC]

As someone who strongly felt that he should have never been hired and was Norwood Teague's flaming bag left on the doorstep of the Athletic department, give me a week or two and I'll let you know.

 

[howeda7]

How can that be possible, for a 12 seed over a 5 seed?

I must be forgetting something. Was someone out due to injury or something?

Springs was out, we were seeded too high and they were way too low. It should have been a 7/10 or 8/9 match-up.

 

[howeda7]

yeah probably at that moment, ranked 14. In the first half. Then the 5 on 3 second half where they held their own against us and made a comeback was the first signs that maybe things weren’t as good as they seemed. Turns out that was the peak.

When that brawl and the 5 on 3 happened, you could literally feel the vibe change. I was worried it would derail the season, but it derailed his entire tenure. Obviously the Lynch stuff would have happened either way, but it was still the weirdest vibe I've gotten watching a Gopher game since probably 2003 Michigan.

 

[Bad Gopher]

When that brawl and the 5 on 3 happened, you could literally feel the vibe change. I was worried it would derail the season, but it derailed his entire tenure. Obviously the Lynch stuff would have happened either way, but it was still the weirdest vibe I've gotten watching a Gopher game since probably 2003 Michigan.

It was a strange, dark episode. Now that you bring it up as an inflection point of not just the season but his tenure, it makes sense. Certainly the team wasn't the same after that. I've always wondered whether the 5-on-3 debacle ruptured their confidence.

 

[MplsGopher]

That's a bit unfair. Nate was first team All Big Ten and I'm pretty sure he hit a number of big shots at Mackey alone to beat Purdue in that OT thriller in 2017 (just an example from memory).

I’m sure you’re correct and I’m wrong. It just always felt that way when I watched.

 

[EG#9]

How can that be possible, for a 12 seed over a 5 seed?

I must be forgetting something. Was someone out due to injury or something?

We were favored to win when the line opened. Everyone loves the 5/12 upset and that year the 5's had good recent history of success (Notre Dame, Iowa State, and someone else) while our 12 seed was known for beating Michigan State in the first round the year or two before. It was the perfect storm for the casusal money to come in against us..especially when Seth Davis said "I spy a 5-12 upset" on CBS during when out matchup was revealed. I think you could find the line anywhere from Minnesota favored by a point or two to MTSU by 1.5 depending on the book by tip off time. I

Unfortunately we ended up being the highest seeded team to lose in the first round that year. Quite a disappointing end to the season. Gophers missed a bunch of good looks early and then Nate Mason got hurt and we were already without Springs (which we found out was a big deal the next year).

 

[SelectionSunday]

The Big Ten winning streak during the second half of the 2016-17 season.