also fwiw i think that tourney success is both wildly overrated and yet under appreciated by fans. only 32 teams win at least one (real) tourney game in any given year; the number of programs that win at least one game 2, 3, 4+ years in a row is small; and basically nobody makes the E8 or FF with regularity.
take this stretch of our upcoming schedule:
after the opening round of the tourney you’re basically facing a schedule like this the rest of the way, in a tourney setting, in cavernous arenas at neutral sites, with very little time to prepare for half of your opponents. shooting, guard play, experience, and depth rule the day, and the number of teams that have even 3/4 of those in any given year can be counted on one hand.
it’s an incredibly difficult task, and yet fans are ruthlessly unforgiving about any perceived underachievement and yet at the same time wholly underwhelmed by anything less than making the S16 on a regular basis. its a nearly no-win situation for a good coach and/or team. fans are generally only happy with a mediocre team that surprisingly makes the S16 (meaning a shitty november - february) or with a good team that makes the E8 (meaning a great november - february that nobody remember fondly) or further. they don’t appreciate just how difficult it is to win in the tourney, nor do they properly appreciate the regular season ride. that’s my opinion anyway.