You didn't answer my question. Now that YOU have changed YOUR expectations, what is next for YOU?

All I see is the typical pissing and moaning and putting blame on other fans for…wait for it…supporting their current student athletes.

What you seem to be asking is…wait for it…burn it all down because YOU think being dissatisfied as a FAN improves the outcome.

How does this magic work? We have heard a lot of snake oil salesmen drive their wagon up and claim it does. How are YOU different?

If Houston wins the National Title the A&M-Houston classic will be shown on loop over and over again.
People are still talking about that game and how epic it was.

Buzz's team showed a ton of heart coming down from that deficit against one of the true national title contenders left in the field. The season was a success anyway you look at it.

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I'm asking for the mindset in posts like these to change. What's wrong with wanting to change the perception of Texas A&M basketball? We can do little as fans, but clapping our hands at great effort is never going to get us over the top. The extreme overreaction Pumpkinhead is sarcastically advising is a complete cliff jump from my post.

Many of the questions in my OP haven't been answered. I answered yours, you answer mine.

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You're a paying customer so I understand your frustration; I think it's logical to have expectations on the quality of the product that you are paying for.

Having said that, is it reasonable to expect a successful season? Sure, but that expectation varies depending on who you ask. Some support the team no matter what while some only support when we're winning. I think some of those inconsistencies are more visible during tournament time because that's about the only time most care about the program.

But what you're asking for is a change in mindset and so my curiosity is peaked at trying to characterize what that mindset should look like. (in a way I kind of agree with Pumpkin because you haven't clarified what actions should be taken to change that "mindset") In my opinion, it's perfectly okay to applaud the team for it's performance given that we were dead in the water after the SC loss. Now, I don't think any of us are happy how we arrived at the tournament, but you can also admit that we played better than most would have thought in that loss to UH. Most people probably didn't even see us blowing out Nebraska, but we did.

Most of us weren't happy with the inconsistencies throughout the year, but hey, it happens and sometimes you have to roll with it. And I say this because we hadn't been to the tournament in consecutive years since 2011.

So now that we're building consistency, we are happy that the program is improving one tournament game at a time, but also want us to perform better during the season by beating those inferior teams so that we aren't fighting in the bubble.

I don't think this is as dichotomous as it has been; you can applaud the team for their efforts and expect more improvement next year. I guarantee you Buzz feels the same way. The perception of Texas A&M basketball is changing, maybe not as fast as some would like, but it is moving forward and our reputation (regardless of seeding) is that of a team most would rather not play in a tournament.

Hopefully, we will see the ramifications of a successful season by the quality of players wanting to come to play at A&M. Not quality in terms of stars, but rather attitudes and work ethics that are in line with a Buzz coached team.

Only one team can win the National Championship each year. Many fan bases desire/demand/throw a fit if it isn't them.

It's the pushing a string problem to perform work. Just demanding change doesn't change anything. Neither does spending lots of money. Again: what is next for YOU???

greg.w.h said:

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Only one team can win the National Championship each year. Many fan bases desire/demand/throw a fit if it isn't them.

It's the pushing a string problem to perform work. Just demanding change doesn't change anything. Neither does spending lots of money. Again: what is next for YOU???

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fwiw... Google tells me that 37 schools have won a national championship in men's basketball in the 85 years it's been played.

For ALL our coaches? Men's and Women's sports? Football, Baseball, Golf, etc?

That a HECKUVA LOTTA GTFO there!!!

All of them. Let's throw the entire athletic department staff in there as well.

fatdad84ag said:

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Why do I need to change my mindset as a fan. I cheered as a student starting in 1980. I cheered for them when they went 0-18. I cheered for them the last 8 years now that I can afford season tickets without worry. I cheered for them last night. I've road tripped to Arkansas, Kansas, LSU and cheered at those opposing arenas. Went to Charlotte, Des Moines, Oklahoma City(Easiest 6 hour overnight drive home of my life on straight adrenaline) and cheered during those tournaments. Would go to more if it weren't for that pesky part of life called work. I cheered for them because I support my team and my school NO MATTER WHAT!!!! My mind set doesn't need a change. It's called being a fan!

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Ahhh the exact attitude my OP is directed towards. In your 45 years as a fan, through all those trips, how many national championships have you witnessed? Final 4s? Elite 8s? Wait, I know the answer…..0.

But as many have stated, that's just what we expect and we need to be ok with that. We road trip to Oklahoma City just hoping our team puts up a good fight.

After all, one of our favorite quotes around here is something about seeing them win, seeing them lose, but never seeing them quit. I look forward to telling my grandkids about that magical comeback in the round of 32 against Northern Iowa, the fight we showed against Houston, how we had UCLA on the ropes but got robbed by the referees. Those are the high times of being an Aggie basketball fan.

rlb28 said:

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greg.w.h said:

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Only one team can win the National Championship each year. Many fan bases desire/demand/throw a fit if it isn't them.

It's the pushing a string problem to perform work. Just demanding change doesn't change anything. Neither does spending lots of money. Again: what is next for YOU???

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fwiw... Google tells me that 37 schools have won a national championship in men's basketball in the 85 years it's been played.

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It's wrong to expect the great Texas A&M University to be a part of that 37? We're ranked top 30 in most athletic and academic categories. Why do we settle for having a middle tier basketball program?

frenchtoast said:

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Maybe we need to institute a "natty in three years or gtfo" policy to make the internet tough guys feel good.

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Yes, because I asked for a national championship once every 3 years. I'd start with a couple final 4s in the 110 years we've had a basketball team.

Do you guys think they'll have souvenir cups at Reed next season with "100-95" plastered across them? Maybe if Houston wins the natty we can put something like "Showed great fight against those guys in the 2nd round".

HersheyMonroe said:

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rlb28 said:

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greg.w.h said:

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Only one team can win the National Championship each year. Many fan bases desire/demand/throw a fit if it isn't them.

It's the pushing a string problem to perform work. Just demanding change doesn't change anything. Neither does spending lots of money. Again: what is next for YOU???

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fwiw... Google tells me that 37 schools have won a national championship in men's basketball in the 85 years it's been played.

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It's wrong to expect the great Texas A&M University to be a part of that 37? We're ranked top 30 in most athletic and academic categories. Why do we settle for having a middle tier basketball program?

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thumbs down for what? I stated a fact. And you put words in my mouth. I even prefaced the whole thing by saying "for what it's worth".

This thread is wild even by TexAgs standards. Is it wrong to expect a national championship from our basketball program? YES. It is.

Greatness doesn't come because you expect it or want it or cry about not having it on a message board, it comes because you create it.

As an institution we have not done enough to create greatness in basketball, so there's no reason to whine about not having it. We don't have the facilities the elite programs do, we don't put the money into recruiting that the elite programs do, we don't have the same level of coaching that elite programs do, etc. etc. So just expecting us to be elite without putting in the work is like me in college going to northgate expecting to hook up with a ten just because it would be cool.

This is one of the things I like about Elko's approach in football so far, but it applies to this mindset. You don't skip steps on the way to greatness. You don't go from bad to great just because you want to. You have to take every step.

Now this is where basketball is tricky, because there's so much emphasis put on the NCAA Tournament that sometimes it hides where you're really at as a program. If there were no NCAA Tournament, if there were some kind of bowl system, Kennedy's time here would look like a mountain. We had a decent peak, but then we were obviously trending back down again. We missed the NCAA Tournament, and weren't even close to making it, two of his last three years here, and the year we did make it, 2018, if it were a bowl system we'd have been in like the independence bowl. But it's basketball so we got in and won a couple games and it clouds just how disappointing we were for the back half of that season.

Now under Buzz it's more like a plateau at this point. We were better last year than this year, but we still made it in this year, and there's every reason to think we're going to make it next year. And if we do that enough times in a row, if we're consistently pretty good, and the support is there in every other way, then maybe there comes a day where pretty good isn't good enough and we have a right to expect better. That day is a long way away.

rlb28 said:

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Interesting that two of the most respected men's basketball coaches have had difficulty in the past four years...
John Calipari and Tony Bennett. Neither coach has an NCAA tournament victory in the last four years. NCAA men's basketball is hard.

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So, there are elite coaches for blue bloods who are in a 4-year drought. Our 80+ year drought of not winning more than 2 games in the tournament is nothing compared to those poor Kentucky fans.

"NCAA men's basketball is hard"....cmon now. I wish I had a job that paid millions and when asked in my performance review how we can improve, I say "it's hard".

Apologies for the thumbs down on the other one. I misread your post. Don't think I put any words in your mouth though.

At no point did I say we should expect to win a national championship. I simply posed the question of how we get to the point of expecting us to compete in the top echelon of college basketball rather than being proud of our guys for not giving up and calling the season a success.

All of your steps in getting to that point are 100% true. And as I've said in this thread, the average fan (which most of us are) cannot singlehandedly make any of those things happen. IMO, what we can do, is change our attitude towards our basketball program in hopes that the administration, media, etc take note and can begin working to take those steps.

Sorry you took this as whining. I viewed it as asking questions on a message board that may not want to be heard by our fanbase. I've just never understood the notion of telling a fan to manage their expectations and accept who your team really is. That's counterintuitive to being a sports fan.

You literally said

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It's wrong to expect the great Texas A&M University to be a part of that 37?

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But this whole mindset you're going for is kind of bizarre to me. We should be proud this team made the tournament and fought hard, a month ago we looked absolutely doomed.

Like others have pointed out, it's unclear what exactly you're expecting from people. It's this same tired TexAgs "Aggies accept mediocrity" thing like we as fans should literally show up with pitchforks when things aren't going well.

Kellso said:

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If Houston wins the National Title the A&M-Houston classic will be shown on loop over and over again.
People are still talking about that game and how epic it was.

Buzz's team showed a ton of heart coming down from that deficit against one of the true national title contenders left in the field. The season was a success anyway you look at it.

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Again, the exact sentiment my OP is directed towards.

We seem to always be on the losing end of these "epic" games, and I'm wondering why we're ok with that. They'll show Garcia's buzzer beater in the pregame hype video next season and we'll all yell WHOOP! You're proud that they'll show us losing "on loop over and over again"?

Who, outside of Aggies, will continue talking about that game after this tournament concludes? I guess Houston fans might when it's featured in their national championship DVD.

You think every single one of those 37 teams that have won a national championship in basketball have better facilities, resources, and support than we do?

I viewed that comment I was replying to as him saying "only 37 teams of the 300+ have won a natty in the past 85 years so it's ok to be best of the rest". We hold our university to such a high standard everywhere else, why is it wrong to be disappointed that we haven't ever made it past the Sweet 16? Change the question to how many teams have made it past the 3rd round in 85 years?

Again, if you go back through the thread I say I'm proud of the team. I highlight the threads this is pointed towards. You guys are looking at this from just this season's point of view...I'm talking about our program and a history as a whole. There's no doubt we were doomed and there were countless "fire Buzz" threads here a month ago. We can be proud that the team fought back...but it seems that this is far too common with our program. How do we take the next step? The fact that you call this the "same tired Texags Aggies accept mediocrity thing" is pretty telling that it's a common concern.

I don't understand why people call you bizarre or less of a fan for wanting your team to do better than what they're known for.

Season Ticket Holder Discovers Texags

HersheyMonroe said:

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Kellso said:

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If Houston wins the National Title the A&M-Houston classic will be shown on loop over and over again.
People are still talking about that game and how epic it was.

Buzz's team showed a ton of heart coming down from that deficit against one of the true national title contenders left in the field. The season was a success anyway you look at it.

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Again, the exact sentiment my OP is directed towards.

We seem to always be on the losing end of these "epic" games, and I'm wondering why we're ok with that. They'll show Garcia's buzzer beater in the pregame hype video next season and we'll all yell WHOOP! You're proud that they'll show us losing "on loop over and over again"?

Who, outside of Aggies, will continue talking about that game after this tournament concludes? I guess Houston fans might when it's featured in their national championship DVD.

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Only one school wins their final game and gets to call themselves National Champions. For everyone else heartbreak comes either sooner or later.

Look at Cougar High. 5 days ago they were on top the world. Now?
Their fans are sitting in a bar wondering what could have been.

The odds of winning the National Championship are extremely low......like 1 out of 332.
Unless you are the National Champion the only thing you can do is celebrate the positive moments once the season ends.

Five years ago, these same posters as OP were dissing SEC basketball. We've gone from being a "football conference" to being in the discussion of being the top basketball conference in America. We've risen along with everyone else in the conference, but keeping up with Kentucky's (who we beat regularly now) is not a simple task. We're better, the whole conference is better. There are some of the best HC's in this conference that there are anywhere.

I have great expectations and loved this team. Lots of great Ags on the court along with their coaches.

There are reasonable things to be frustrated with from our season (last second losses to teams like Vandy and Arkansas), but

A) anyone who actually follows the men's game knows that March Madness is called that for a reason; results can get haywire in the tournament for the best of teams in a single elimination challenge and

B) looking at it objectively, we took a #1 seed to the absolute limit after stomping out the #3 entrant from the Big 10. In terms of the bracket-as-ranking, you could easily argue that we were right outside the top-16 teams in the nation and we'd be somewhere around the high teens/low 20s… which is roughly in line with our preseason ranks (yes I understand the rollercoaster we took to get there).

Next year, the hope/expectation should and will absolutely be a top-5 finish in the SEC and to make it to the second week of the tournament, which would be the expectation basically any experienced major-conference squad aside from your true blue blood programs .