The majority of people that look at the UCF men’s basketball team’s season might think disappointment, collapse or even failure.
The Knights were 18-6 after beating Marshall on Feb. 8 and seemed poised to make their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2005. Then, they split their final six games, including a devastating loss at Rice later in the month that pretty much doomed UCF’s tournament hopes.
The Knights finished 10-6 in Conference-USA play, a far cry from last year’s 6-10 mark, but they failed to win key games late in league play that could have secured them an at-large bid in the Big Dance.
Now, UCF finds itself playing in the National Invitation Tournament for the first time in school history, with a matchup against No. 3 Drexel University tonight in Philadelphia at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.
Many fans might be upset with the NITs as a substitute for March Madness. Even UCF head coach Donnie Jones expressed disdain about an NIT berth before last week’s C-USA Tournament, saying that the Big Dance was the team’s ultimate goal.
“No, we want to go to the NCAA Tournament. We’ve had five of our nine losses have been to teams that are in the Top 25 in the RPI, and we’ve had five wins over team’s that have been to the NCAA Tournament last year,” Jones said. “We’ve played a really good schedule. These guys have earned that opportunity (to make the Big Dance).”
Jones made some solid points regarding the Knights resume and tournament credentials. Although late losses killed UCF, it should be their body of work from the season as a whole that is examined.
The Knights notched victories over defending national champion UConn, as well as this year’s C-USA champion Memphis Tigers, and last year tournament teams Old Dominion and UAB.
And while they did suffer some bad losses against the likes of LA Lafayette and Rice, most of their losses were against teams that are either in the tournament this year or were in it last year.
Regardless of the Knights body of work, they came up short in the conference tourney with a blowout loss at the hands of the Tigers and will have to settle for the NITs.
However, I don’t believe UCF Nation should be upset with the NIT bid. I think we should be excited and happy about it. Just think- this time last year, the Knights were in the College Basketball Invitational. I still don’t even know what the hell the CBI is? UCF finished with a 6-10 conference record and completely collapsed after a 14-0 start to the season.
This year, the Knights finished with the third best record in C-USA, posted their first-ever wins over Memphis and UAB, saw their first-ever storming of the court, and made a very respectable tournament that features teams such as Oregon, LSU, Tennessee, Washington and Arizona.
So, I think we should revel in UCF’s accomplishments this year and enjoy just how far the program has come since Donnie Jones took it over. The Knights have had back-to-back 20-win campaigns, two consecutive postseason berths and given UCF Nation plenty of things to be excited about as they enter the Big East in 2013.
So, look forward to tonight’s game vs. Drexel, and let’s hope that UCF is able to make a run in the NITs. The Knights have a legitimate superstar in Keith Clanton, who was named to the Conference-USA First Team, C-USA All-Defensive Team, and today was just announced as a member of the National Association of Basketball Coaches All-District 11 First Team.
Clanton is the first Knight to receive NABC All-District honors and C-USA First Team Honors since Jermaine Taylor was recognized in 2008-09.
They also have a budding star in Isaiah Sykes, who is one of the most improved players in the nation this year, as well as another star in Marcus Jordan.
So, make sure to tune-in to ESPN3 tonight and support the Knights as they square off with the Dragons at 7:15 in what could turn into a wild March run.
Be proud of the UCF basketball team and how far they’ve come because this is just the start of where this program could be sooner rather than later.
