Last win against a ranked opponent.....

[thekimmer]

Because USC was ranked, the broadcast team on Sat made a point of mentioning it has been 6 years since we last defeated a ranked opponent. That piqued my interest in the details about our last win against a ranked team.

Best I can tell it was in Nov 2011 in Madison Square Garden against #15 Arizona (they may have mentioned that but if so I missed it) to win the 2K sports classic having just knocked off a pre-SEC #18 TAM in the same tournament. We just missed another opportunity to beat #6 Baylor later that year carrying a lead in to the last two minutes until....well that's another story.

Looking back at the schedule I had forgotten how good we were for most of that season. Started off with the Akron debacle which ended up costing us dearly but we were ranked for parts of 4 months from Nov 2011 to Feb 2012 rising to #15 and considered a lock for the tourney most of the season until the wheels flew off the bus with a five game losing streak. That I suppose was the straw that broke Stan's back.

Then we entered the deep, dark hole from which we are still trying to claw our way out.

 

[Hoover Dawg]

We won small and lost big that year. None of us wanted to see it but it was there to be seen. That said, we should have canned Stansbury after 2011 or waited until after 2013 (or whenever he had a losing record at minimum. Colossal bungling by Stricklin that was nearly as bad as Templeton's handling of McMahon's departure.

 

[patdog]

That said, we should have canned Stansbury after 2011 or waited until after 2013 (or whenever he had a losing record at minimum.

Agree. Stansbury had to go, but we 17ed up the timing of it. Really, the best thing for both Stansbury and MSU would have been for him to take the Clemson job instead of changing his mind and staying.

 

[mstateglfr]

Yup, the dumpster fire was in full force that February. Wheels fell off, train derailed, etc etc.

 

[MSUDC11]

I remember the exact day where the epic collapse began. Early Saturday home game against a bad Georgia team. We were ranked No. 18 in the polls and had just beaten the crap out of a decent Ole Miss team a couple of days before. Georgia had a losing record overall and was like 2-7 in conference play.

We had won like 13 in a row at home and then screwed around and got beat by a bad team. Then we follow that up by blowing a big lead at LSU and losing to an awful Auburn team in the following week.

We got it together a little bit at the end of the season and seemed to be in good shape for an NCAA bid. But who did we lose to right away in the SEC tourney? Freaking Georgia again. They helped start the downward spiral and then they put the nail in the coffin.

Inexcusable for that team to be anywhere near the bubble. Should've been about a 5 or 6 seed at worst.

 

[MadDawg.sixpack]

Inexcusable for that team to be anywhere near the bubble. Should've been about a 5 or 6 seed at worst.

Oh man. I remember the bubble. I'm sure year 7 is going to be time.

 

[Hoover Dawg]

Probably about time to let it go. I liked Stansbury too but there was no easy way out of that situation at the time. From your comment it seems that you aren't too convinced that Howland can get it done. Any nimrod can see that we'll be back on the bubble next year, maybe even IN the dance. So what's your problem?

It's nearly fact to say that 2012 greatly underachieved relative to talent. Crazy to say otherwise. Internal problems tore the team apart, and Stansbury was responsible. It became a staple of his late tenure.

 

[Philly Dawg]

I have an excuse for that team, we had several very good players but you need more than 4-5. Deville played during the stretch we were at our best but didn't finish season, and then Hood was injured and cost us against UK and next few games. The bench was abysmal.

We led the conference in minutes played by our starters by a substantial margin. You will not defend well and won't finish strong when you do that. Stansbury's mistake was not forcing minutes out of his young bench early in the season, but if he had, we would have lost some of those games and we'd have still been outside looking in.

 

[MadDawg.sixpack]

Probably about time to let it go. I liked Stansbury too but there was no easy way out of that situation at the time. From your comment it seems that you aren't too convinced that Howland can get it done. Any nimrod can see that we'll be back on the bubble next year, maybe even IN the dance. So what's your problem?

It's nearly fact to say that 2012 greatly underachieved relative to talent. Crazy to say otherwise. Internal problems tore the team apart, and Stansbury was responsible. It became a staple of his late tenure.

Not sure how any nimrod could take from my comment that I haven't "let it go", but whatever. I like Howland a lot. Our upside seems to be very high.

 

[Hoover Dawg]

Cut the crap.

Oh man. I remember the bubble. I'm sure year 7 is going to be time.

Don't act like that wasn't smartass in the 9th degree.

 

[MadDawg.sixpack]

Cut the crap.


Don't act like that wasn't smartass in the 9th degree.

Yeah, there was definitely a little smartass in there. But it had nothing to do with Howland. And it certainly has nothing to do with not "letting it go". I just found it funny someone was lamenting the fact that we were unacceptably on the bubble a long time ago. I was just reminiscing the old "unacceptable" days of being on the bubble. And pointing out that hopefully in year 7 we will get back the unacceptable level of being on the bubble.

 

[ShrubDog]

So how many ranked teams have we faced during this drought?

 

[thekimmer]

What if Stans had stayed?....

Agree. Stansbury had to go, but we 17ed up the timing of it. Really, the best thing for both Stansbury and MSU would have been for him to take the Clemson job instead of changing his mind and staying.

This is just pure what if for funsies. No ulterior motive or anything. What if stans had not left in 2012. How would it have played out? What would have happened those next couple of years and where would we be today?

My thought is that we might have had bad years but with a softer landing. We would not have augured-in like we did under Ray. Stansbury had a way of getting a player or two. We would have probably gone about 15-17 in 2012-13 and maybe the same the next year and if so that would have brought him to the end. But then, who knows what rabbit he might have pulled out of the hat. I think the chances of Stans still being our coach in 2017 are very slim and no telling who might be here now.

 

[johnson86-1]

So how many ranked teams have we faced during this drought?

This is a good question. Sadly, because SEC basketball is so bad, probably not that many. One or maybe two games against UK. UF has usually been ranked I guess. After that, a lot of different teams ranked at different times I assume, but not sure how often they were ranked when we played them.

Four games a year? Six? Have no clue.

 

[thf24]

Stans in 2012-13 would have had Pollard and maybe kept Hood (depending on who you talk to). Assuming the best case having those two, I think it's reasonable to believe he could have gotten to the NIT with that team and hung onto his job at least another year to get something going again. That's ignoring the real issue behind the whole thing though; his toxic locker room. Unless he miraculously managed to rectify that situation in a very short period of time, he wasn't going to make it much longer regardless.

 

[ShrubDog]

This is a good question. Sadly, because SEC basketball is so bad, probably not that many. One or maybe two games against UK. UF has usually been ranked I guess. After that, a lot of different teams ranked at different times I assume, but not sure how often they were ranked when we played them.

Four games a year? Six? Have no clue.

Exactly, we wouldn't face that many every year. UK & UF were definitely ranked a bunch and maybe throw in OM,LSU,UT, Vandy, USC and ARK sporadically.

 

[thekimmer]

Good question...

So how many ranked teams have we faced during this drought?

Looks like this

2011-12 3(after winning 2 earlier in season)
2012-13 3
2013-14 3
2014-15 2
2015-16 3
2016-17 2 so far. Have 2 more if UF and USC holds on to ranking.

So the answer is just 15 to date after last top 25 win. Heck, we play twice as many in football with less than half the number of games. Played 5 teams in the top 10 in 2014 alone.

 

[Go Budaw]

Agree. Stansbury had to go, but we 17ed up the timing of it. Really, the best thing for both Stansbury and MSU would have been for him to take the Clemson job instead of changing his mind and staying.

How exactly did we 17 up the timing? We had two first round draft picks in our starting 5 in 2012. We ended up as a 4 seed in the NIT. In my book, that is 10 times more inexcusable than both the 2010-2011 seasons and the Hawaii fight all put together.

 

[Willow Grove Dawg]

Rodney Hood was not coming back regardless of what happened with Stans

 

[tcdog70]

Don't forget Stans never had a practice facility. He went out and secured the money and got it built. Then We booted Him. There is no doubt in my mind we would have been in post season play again if Stans would have stayed. Moultrie might have come back if Stans stayed. Also the Kid from Macon and the European player and maybe Hood would have been on the team. The Gray PG also would have been with Stans. Ray blew up,the team and if Stans hadn't signed 3 talented freshman that started for Ray, Ray wouldn't have won 2 games.

 

[mstateglfr]

Don't forget Stans never had a practice facility. He went out and secured the money and got it built. Then We booted Him. There is no doubt in my mind we would have been in post season play again if Stans would have stayed. Moultrie might have come back if Stans stayed. Also the Kid from Macon and the European player and maybe Hood would have been on the team. The Gray PG also would have been with Stans. Ray blew up,the team and if Stans hadn't signed 3 talented freshman that started for Ray, Ray wouldn't have won 2 games.

 

[thf24]

Rodney Hood was not coming back regardless of what happened with Stans

Like I said, depends on who you talk to. Some said his dad was floating his name around to other schools as early as January of 2012, others that he loved Stans and never even thought about leaving until he was fired, with people usually "in the know" on both sides. I personally believe he was gone regardless, but it's all obviously moot at this point.

 

[patdog]

He most definitely at least thought about leaving while Stansbury was still there. He tried to get out of even coming in the first place after he had signed, but we didn't release him.

 

[patdog]

We should have booted him after the 2011 season. The dumpster fire was well underway by then and we didn't even make the postseason that year. But after 2012, we're the school that fired it's winningest coach ever when he won 21 games, and it hurt us in the hiring process. If we didn't fire him after 2011, we should have let him either put things back together with Sidney gone or fail in 2013. This is hindsight on my part. I wanted him gone.

 

[DawgatAuburn]

Stans in 2012-13 would have had Pollard and maybe kept Hood (depending on who you talk to). Assuming the best case having those two, I think it's reasonable to believe he could have gotten to the NIT with that team and hung onto his job at least another year to get something going again. That's ignoring the real issue behind the whole thing though; his toxic locker room. Unless he miraculously managed to rectify that situation in a very short period of time, he wasn't going to make it much longer regardless.

So your contention is that Devonta Pollard, who averaged less than 4 ppg as a freshman at another SEC school, would somehow have become such a reliable second option to Rodney Hood that it would have propelled an otherwise undermanned Mississippi State team into the NIT?

 

[MSU601Dawg]

Ah, I remember the days of being massively disappointed in being on the NCAA bubble and going through 2 months of the year in the top 25. In the 5 years since Stans we can't even sniff the CBI bubble, Starkville High gets bigger crowds for games, yet the message board world is completely happy.

And I disagree about how Stricklin handled Stans "retirement." We had to let him come back and coach that team he put together that last year, there was a lot of buildup for that year and optimism. If he's fired before that last year, that roster falls apart before the season.

But what was more impressive to me is how Strick somehow sold Stans on having that retirement press conference and convincing him that he was being honored. The way Strick framed Stans leaving was masterful

 

[Willow Grove Dawg]

Rodney Hood

That locker room was beyond toxic with Sidney, Moultrie, & Bost not to mention Deville Smith. Rodney Hood never had a chance. I Just struggle to think that his dad would have allowed him back into an environment controlled by Stansbury. You will not find more of a Stansbury supporter than me over his tenure, but he had to go. Honestly in hindsight he should have been gone a year earlier.

 

[bruiser.sixpack]

How many unranked teams have we lost to in that time frame?

When did Mississippi State become one of the Basketball elites?

We went to one Final 4, and have been to what, 3, maybe 4 Sweet 16's.
It is called "catching lightening in a bottle."

Butler and VCU say hi!

Who do our fans think we are?
Gonzaga? Villanova? UConn?

MSU is as far from being a Basketball power as we are a Football Power.

In fact, winning a Basketball National Championship in my lifetime will most definitely require the stars to align perfectly.

In my old age, I still get upset at unacceptable play or coaching, but I get over it quickly.

Because, after all,

We is po' ol' Missippi State U!**

 

[Croom's knee socks]

I I was a junior in the 2011-12 season. I'll never forget one of the team managers telling me that the team hadn't practiced in over a week. This was in the middle of SEC play and right before the Tennessee game. Stans had checked out before the season was even over.

 

[ShrubDog]

One thing that used to perplex me was Stans never knew when to take a timeout.

 

[stateu1]

Or how to draw a scoring play after one.

One thing that used to perplex me was Stans never knew when to take a timeout.

 

[ShrubDog]

By that time the other team would be on a
20-4 run up by 12 with 2:30mins to go.