Unless they get healthy and have a good run to win the Big East tournament (in DePaul's backyard), there will be no NCAA bid coming this year either, having effectively played themselves out of an at-large bid already by going 2-2 against mid-major teams (counting Providence as mid-major) and losing all three games against middle of the pack major conference teams.
Your chart was one year short of coming up with the last Nova WBB NCAA win. The 2003-2004 team took out Missisippi State in the first round before losing to Purdue in the second round. That was the year following the elite eight run with wins over St. Francis, George Washington and Colorado before falling to Tennesse on their home court. The 2004-2005 team was pretty darn good and should have gotten a bid also, but a couple of bad losses to poor RPI teams that year wiped out some wins over top 25 teams and left them out in the cold. That team was stunned when they were left out as everyone had them as a lock.
The current team is playing like they did four years ago with no offense other than slowing things down before throwing up three balls and hoping we score enough to win. After taking a 17 point lead today with about two minutes to go in the half, the team scored exactly one basket in the nest 16 minutes of play. How is that even possible against a poor team like Providence? The team sorely misses the speed of Devon Kane and we have absolutely no action other than a perimeter game this year. We started the season with only a nine-player rotation, now down to eight. The front line is so thin that as soon as the forwards get a couple of fouls, we play ole defense and don't go hard after rebounds. We have just been killed with offenseive rebounds, second chance points and giving up layups, especially late in the games.
The schedule makers gave us no favors either this year, starting off with 8 straight on the road against some tough teams, then coming home to play a half dozen games while the student body is off on vacation. Lucky if we get a thousand people total out to the first six home games. Then we head into the new Big East schedule of Friday night and Sunday afternoon games. With traffic troubles common on Friday nights and the Eagles probably playing some playoff games on Sunday
afternoons, the forecast for plenty of empty seats at the Pavilion is a sure bet.
I feel sorry for the players, they deserve better. The fans deserve a better product, but other than being somewhat competitive in what is now a mid-major conference that may only get one NCAA bid this year, there is not a whole lot to look forward to. The adminsitraton did a poor job of promoting the team when they had top-notch teams coming into the Pavilion so I don't expect any miracle promotions to surface that will entice anyone new to come out and watch this team.
In summary, it sure looks like we have a stocking full of coal and a Bah! Humbug! sigh of resignation.
