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Post by pdlglm on Jul 25, 2022 12:44:11 GMT -5
In 1969 we went 3-1 in the NIT. Beating Rutgers and Ohio, losing to Temple and then beating Army. All at MSG.
In the 1971 NIT we beat St Johns and then lost to Duke at the Garden.
Then there was the 1974 tourney you mention.
In 1975 we played in something called the National Commissioners Invitational Tourney.... lost 1st round to Bowling Green.
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Post by tns56 on Jul 25, 2022 13:17:32 GMT -5
One more thing to add about Bald Kevin and the radio days as I like to call them, most games still weren’t televised, he did absolutely hands down the best post game show I ever listened to. You just never knew what would come out of his mouth. I don’t miss the losing but I often miss John Ward and the radio days. Mississippi St. also had a good radio guy his name escapes me, maybe Munson?Larry Munson was the Georgia radio guy. Jack Cristil was the announcer for Mississippi State. He held that job for 58 years and announced his retirement after a home basketball game against Tennessee in 2011. He passed away 3 years later at the age of 88. I believe he and John Ward were really good friends. He was born in Memphis. |
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Post by pdlglm on Jul 25, 2022 13:31:30 GMT -5
I listened to every TN basketball game on the radio in my room when I was a kid, while I pretended to play point guard for the Vols on the nerf hoop above my door.
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Post by cherokee04 on Jul 25, 2022 13:38:05 GMT -5
In 1969 we went 3-1 in the NIT. Beating Rutgers and Ohio, losing to Temple and then beating Army. All at MSG. In the 1971 NIT we beat St Johns and then lost to Duke at the Garden. Then there was the 1974 tourney you mention. In 1975 we played in something called the National Commissioners Invitational Tourney.... lost 1st round to Bowling Green. Yep, I looked all of those up. I think in one of the NIT's, it was stated in an article that it was considered the primary tourney that season. I know we tend to not fare well against Indiana when it comes to tourney time (like we struggle with Michigan). The fields of both the CCA and NCI included some typically strong programs. But having gone 4-2 in our two NITs, which were of higher relative quality overall than today's NCAAT's are IMO, improves Mears' standing somewhat. I had long heard that there was a period of years where the NCAAT and NIT struggled for supremacy in the postseason. In a 64 team field, Mears would have been in the NCAAT just about every year at UT, and his record would have looked a lot better than it does. |
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Post by cherokee04 on Jul 25, 2022 13:40:52 GMT -5
I listened to every TN basketball game on the radio in my room when I was a kid, while I pretended to play point guard for the Vols on the nerf hoop above my door. Same here. And as a kid I would get down in a four point stance when UT was trying to stop someone on 4th and short. I had few superstitions growing up, but one of them was during basketball season. My sister and I shared a bathroom, and whether the door from my bedroom to the bathroom, or hers, or both of them, were open or shut depended entirely on how UT was playing at a given time. If we started to struggle during a game, I'd change up the door situation, LOL. |
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Post by pdlglm on Jul 25, 2022 13:45:41 GMT -5
In 1969 we went 3-1 in the NIT. Beating Rutgers and Ohio, losing to Temple and then beating Army. All at MSG. In the 1971 NIT we beat St Johns and then lost to Duke at the Garden. Then there was the 1974 tourney you mention. In 1975 we played in something called the National Commissioners Invitational Tourney.... lost 1st round to Bowling Green. Yep, I looked all of those up. I think in one of the NIT's, it was stated in an article that it was considered the primary tourney that season. I know we tend to not fare well against Indiana when it comes to tourney time (like we struggle with Michigan). The fields of both the CCA and NCI included some typically strong programs. But having gone 4-2 in our two NITs, which were of higher relative quality overall than today's NCAAT's are IMO, improves Mears' standing somewhat. I had long heard that there was a period of years where the NCAAT and NIT struggled for supremacy in the postseason. In a 64 team field, Mears would have been in the NCAAT just about every year at UT, and his record would have looked a lot better than it does. I think by the 70's the NCAAT was clearly dominant and had been for a while. The days when the NIT was the best tourney would have been the 40s and some of the 50s. |
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Post by pdlglm on Jul 25, 2022 14:10:49 GMT -5
Bruce went undefeated at home in both the 07 and 08 seasons...
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Post by cherokee04 on Jul 25, 2022 14:19:34 GMT -5
Yep, I looked all of those up. I think in one of the NIT's, it was stated in an article that it was considered the primary tourney that season. I know we tend to not fare well against Indiana when it comes to tourney time (like we struggle with Michigan). The fields of both the CCA and NCI included some typically strong programs. But having gone 4-2 in our two NITs, which were of higher relative quality overall than today's NCAAT's are IMO, improves Mears' standing somewhat. I had long heard that there was a period of years where the NCAAT and NIT struggled for supremacy in the postseason. In a 64 team field, Mears would have been in the NCAAT just about every year at UT, and his record would have looked a lot better than it does. I think by the 70's the NCAAT was clearly dominant and had been for a while. The days when the NIT was the best tourney would have been the 40s and some of the 50s. No doubt, the NCAAT had surpassed the NIT by then. But even in the 1970's, the NIT field was pretty strong and was overall a tougher first round game than we'd see in a 64 team NCAAT, which is part of what makes the comparison between Mears and Barnes apples and oranges. I'm not saying the point is completely invalid - Mears DID have his struggles in the postseason, for sure. But he was a lot better than his tiny sample of NCAAT games suggests. |
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Post by gvt11 on Jul 25, 2022 14:53:29 GMT -5
Bruce went undefeated at home in both the 07 and 08 seasons... Best coach we've ever had and may ever have in terms of total package. |
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Post by gvt11 on Jul 25, 2022 14:54:10 GMT -5
Yep, I looked all of those up. I think in one of the NIT's, it was stated in an article that it was considered the primary tourney that season. I know we tend to not fare well against Indiana when it comes to tourney time (like we struggle with Michigan). The fields of both the CCA and NCI included some typically strong programs. But having gone 4-2 in our two NITs, which were of higher relative quality overall than today's NCAAT's are IMO, improves Mears' standing somewhat. I had long heard that there was a period of years where the NCAAT and NIT struggled for supremacy in the postseason. In a 64 team field, Mears would have been in the NCAAT just about every year at UT, and his record would have looked a lot better than it does. I think by the 70's the NCAAT was clearly dominant and had been for a while. The days when the NIT was the best tourney would have been the 40s and some of the 50s. By mid-70s. In the late 60s in particular, with a 16 team NCAA field, the NIT still was very strong. Almost exclusively conference runners up. |
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Post by awinatl on Jul 25, 2022 15:24:52 GMT -5
I listened to every TN basketball game on the radio in my room when I was a kid, while I pretended to play point guard for the Vols on the nerf hoop above my door. I’m sure gvt can dig up some video of this |
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Post by gvt11 on Jul 25, 2022 15:46:22 GMT -5
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Post by cherokee04 on Jul 25, 2022 17:46:42 GMT -5
Bruce went undefeated at home in both the 07 and 08 seasons... Best coach we've ever had and may ever have in terms of total package. Yeah, he had his issues but I tend to go along with this. If he had not hijacked his own career at UT, I can only wonder what we might have achieved under Pearl over the past almost decade. |
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Post by bdpvols on Jul 25, 2022 18:55:33 GMT -5
One more thing to add about Bald Kevin and the radio days as I like to call them, most games still weren’t televised, he did absolutely hands down the best post game show I ever listened to. You just never knew what would come out of his mouth. I don’t miss the losing but I often miss John Ward and the radio days. Mississippi St. also had a good radio guy his name escapes me, maybe Munson?Larry Munson was the Georgia radio guy. Jack Cristil was the announcer for Mississippi State. He held that job for 58 years and announced his retirement after a home basketball game against Tennessee in 2011. He passed away 3 years later at the age of 88. I believe he and John Ward were really good friends. He was born in Memphis. I knew Munson did Georgia football, but wasn't sure about basketball. Also, didn't he work in Nashville for a while? |
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Post by gvt11 on Jul 25, 2022 18:59:38 GMT -5
Larry Munson was the Georgia radio guy. Jack Cristil was the announcer for Mississippi State. He held that job for 58 years and announced his retirement after a home basketball game against Tennessee in 2011. He passed away 3 years later at the age of 88. I believe he and John Ward were really good friends. He was born in Memphis. I knew Munson did Georgia football, but wasn't sure about basketball. Also, didn't he work in Nashville for a while? Yeah, Munson did Vandy for nearly 20 years. 247sports.com/college/vanderbilt/Article/Munson-also-broadcast-Golden-Era-at-Vandy-104853183/ |
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