The Charlotte 49ers (19-12) failed to receive an invite from the National Invitation Tournament on Sunday night and will not participate in postseason play for the second consecutive season.
The 49ers have no interest in participating in the College Basketball Invitational or CollegeInsider.com tournaments, both play-to-play postseason tournaments.
Charlotte began the year 18-5 and 8-1 in the Atlantic 10 Conference but struggled mightily down the stretch, losing seven of their last eight games, including a first round home game in the A-10 tournament this week against Massachusetts.
The 49ers did make an eight-game improvement over last season, which is tops in the A-10 and ranks in the Top 10 nationally.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
No postseason play for 49ers men's basketball
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45 comments:
No possible way the administration can justify keeping Bobby Lutz. If they do it shows they are not committed to putting a quality product on the court.
Do not start blaming the A-10. If this school hate the A-10 so badly it is the job of the AD to find alternatives.
This school is waiting to blossom. A bright new young energetic coach would be great.
I was ready for the season to end, but how does a 16-16 team get in over the Niners?
Yeah buy out Bobby Lutz while the state cuts college majors and classes. If you think that is going to happen you're NUTS.
Any one who buys a Charlotte season ticket or gives to Athletic Foundation should call Judy Rose on Monday and voice their displeasure at the UTTER collaspe of the 49ers in the last 8 games of the season. It wasn't the Players, who failed, it was the coach on the end of the bench. When you lose the last 7 of 8 games at the end of the year, it is like leading by 10 at the half and losing by 10 in the second half. It is unacceptable!!
10:06 .. So the coach failed in the last eight but suceeded in the first 23? And it's not any of the players' fault? I guess you didn't watch any of the last eight games moron.
Thank God, I didn't want this disgusting season to continue.
I for one will not buy tickets in advance this coming year. I have no hope for this team until we get a fresh start with a new coach. Yes, the players could have played better, but many times they looked unprepared. Allowing Richmond to tie the game, not getting a shot off at the end of regulation against Richmond, and 6 players on the court against UMASS? Those examples come from just the past two losses.
Why did they ever leave C-USA? Why take 2 steps down? If they had invested in a football team 10 years ago, they would have joined the Big East with Louisville and Cincinnati.
Charlotte needs a new coach to jumpstart the basketball program.
FIRE LUTZ:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?ref=profile&id=1053596968#!/group.php?gid=349368183217&ref=mf
They didn't leave Conference USA by choice IDIOT !!!
what the hell is a play-to-play tournament??
This paper never fails to amaze me...
I think Kummer could lead this program.
Time for Bobby to go. If he coaches us out of an NIT bid, it can't get much worse. The prevailing wisdom is a buyout is too expensive, wait till you see next season's ticket renewals and the atmosphere at next year's games.
Bobby, do the noble thing, please step down
Thanks for the memories in CUSA.
Two steps down from C-USA to the A-10? Sorry to break the news, but the old C-USA is dead. The A-10 is a superior basketball league. The new C-USA is a league where a losing team like Houston can win the conference tournament and steal a bid from a legit at-large bid contender. The A-10 placed three teams, all of which would have received an at-large bid, with 5, 6, and 7 seeds. The C-USA gets two teams in, one that shouldn't be there, at seeds 12 & 13. After the Big East robbed the C-USA of all its marquee basketball schools, the 49ers couldn't have done much better than join the A-10.
Melvin Watkins led the 49ers to two second round appearances in the NCAA Tournament and was a jump shot away from beating the Tar Heels and a Sweet 16 appearance. Why can't he be coaxed back from Missouri? The only other coach to take us past the NCAA First Round was Lee Rose himself. Please rehire Melvin Watkins. The next thing we need to work on is getting out of the A-10.
Why all the hate for the A-10 around here? Exactly where does everyone propose that the 49ers go? I don't think an invitation to the ACC, SEC or Big East is in the cards for a non-BCS school. The A-10 is #7 in conference RPI, barely behind the Mountain West for the 2nd best mid-major rating (if the Mountain West can still be considered a mid-major). I know everyone is still bitter over the destruction of the old C-USA, but there is no better mid-major conference for a non-BCS basketball school to be in than the Atlantic 10. The only reason Charlotte failed to make the NCAAs is because they lost 7 of their last 8, not because the Atlantic 10 is inadequate. Had the Niners and URI not gone flat down the stretch, the A-10 would have landed at least 5 bids. URI is #40 in the RPI, the best of schools left out of the NCAA, and were left out only because the selection committee puts emphasis on the last ten games. The C-USA is nothing but a one-bid conference now (had it not been for Houston's run) Seriously, I want to hear everybody's suggestions. What conference move do you propose?
A 16-16 team gets in the NIT over the Niners because that particular 16-16 team actually PLAYED good teams outside their conference, unlike the Niners whose non-conference schedule was full of cupcakes. The only tough games we played were Ga Tech, Tennessee, and a very undermanned Louisville team, and we got that embarrassing blowout at Duke via the preseason NIT. Of our 19 wins, 13 of them were against teams ranked 150 or WORSE in the RPI, and we were only 6-11 vs teams in the top 150. Sorry, but with a resume' like that, we didn't deserve to be in ANY postseason play. I've always liked Bobby Lutz, but it's time for him to go. Sure it might be costly in the short run to buy out his contract, but considering the NUMEROUS empty seats in Halton all season long (hell, we couldn't even sell out when we upset Temple?!?! That NEVER happened back in the C-USA days!!), and the number of empty seats there will be next year if no change is made...it would be a worthwhile investment to buy him out now and get somebody who can truly lead this team.
Hey Mr. The A-10 is so great,
You answered your own question. Rhode Island went 23-9 and got left out of the NCAA Tournament.
The A-10 is will never be respected and neither will any teams associated with it.
A-10 football disbanded and A-10basketball is probably not far behind.
Charlotte nearest competition is Richmond. The other 12 teams are in Pennsylvannia or farther north....
Somebody needs to take bold action, even it means creating a new conference.
If you could get Charlotte, Richmond, Old Dominion, App. St. Asheville, Western Carolina, Greensboro, Coastal Carolina, Coll. of Charleston, Winthrop, GA Southern, GA State to make their own conference you would have a mini ACC on your hands. Every Charlotte game would sell out and travel costs would be greatly reduced. So you say, oh a conference like that would only pull 2 or 3 NCAA bids. Well, thats all the A-10 pulled this year. Why not have regional rivalries that sell out every game and still get 2 or 3 bids at the end of the year, instead flying to Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New York.
Like to new conference idea ! Would love to have all the road games within driving distance ! Reguardless....it's time for a new start ! Bring Watkins back to re-start the program and let him nurture a suitable replacement for when he's ready to retire. At least when he coached, then team had focus and direction. Its HIS players that got Lutz off to his decent start, then after he started believing what the media said about him being such a great coach, he lost whatever he had. Make the change Judy, swallow your pride, or go with him ! If you don't make a change, you'll see the graet 1,900 fan turnout ALOT next year !
I personally like Bobby Lutz. He is a likeable guy, but he and Judy Rose are going to really put Charlotte Athletics as a whole in a very tough situation if he stays. We have made a commitment to Football which is just around the corner from starting and we have a collaspe like we haven't seen in years (last year we did have players hurt and the team was lean to begin with). Expectations were high this year, we started 18-5 and then the collaspe. Whether there was bad blood on the team or bad preparation of the players, Bobby was in the leadership role and he failed. If our basketball support base goes away next year, we will be left with a Football bill to pay that will break the budget. Judy and Bobby, loyal 49ers have paid the bill to this point and we have done our part, what's next???
Because UNC-CH paid ESPN off. There is no other explanation. Typical UNC-CH behavior. Pathetic.
Maybe Ol Roy will stroke out if they lose to W&M in Carmichael.
You idiots think that since Carolina went 16-16 after winning the National chanpionship that Roy all of a sudden cannot coach? If you do not have quality players you will not win consistantly reqardless of how good of coach you are. It has become next to impossible to attract quality players to Charlotte. The good players want to play At the BCS schools which means the A-10 will get the left overs. Futhermore what kid wants to play at a school that has such little support from its booster club and fan base other than the student body. Be glad you have a quality coach like Bobby Lutz. Coaches do not take and miss open shots or free throws. Yea you great basketball minds will say we do not get the ball inside and we shoot too many three's. Well if the inside guys are getting doubled in the post then you have to be able to take and make outside shots. If you experts knew anything about the X's and O's of the game you would understand that how oppoosing teams defend you dictates where the shots will come from and if you do not have quality players at five positions that can score then it makes a team easier to defend. You better hope that Lutz stays. No body else will come in and win the way he has in the past 12 years.
I refuse to believe that Richmond, Xavier, Dayton, Temple, St. Joe, Rhode Island, St. Louis have so much more to offer than Charlotte and can recruit players to their schools that we can't. With the right leadership, we CAN get players that will make us competitive in the A10!
It's not about recruiting...Spears is one of the best players in the league, Braswell is one of the best freshmen, Harris was one of the best PGs. The recruiting is fine, we beat Temple and Richmond, we had the players to compete, but we totally collapsed down the stretch for whatever reason.
Second time in 6 years that we've had a team good enough to go to the NCAA tournament (which is sad enough on its own), and the second time we couldn't win a game down the stretch. Lost 4 of 5 in '05, and 7 of 8 this year. At least we were ranked #18 when the '05 started, we still go the benefit of the doubt and made the dance.
UNC should be a #1 seed. This is NOT the Carolina way! Pathetic!
That wouldn't be a mini ACC, it would be the a watered down version of the A10 and SoCon. Schools like Richmond and Charleston wouldn't do it. Then, all you'd have left is a bunch of sattelite campuses in one league.
Most of those schools mentioned have plenty of things UNCC doesn't. Take Richmond for example and compare campus/ students, other sports. They have a beautiful campus, whereas UNCC doesn't (one or two nice buildings doesn't make a campus). Richmond draws wealthy students from wealthy towns up the east coast. UNCC draws students from Gaston County, India and CPCC. While UNCC is almost somebody's last resort, Richmond is a top school that requires much more than UNCC to get into. Finally, Richmond has a national title in football. UNCC has soccer,
Yeah, but you have to live in Richmond.
No, you don't have to live in Richmond - you have to live on the UR campus - it's got its own lake and everything...
The way the 49ers finished the season is embarrassing. It's one thing to struggle, but this team completely died. Certainly the coach shares some of the blame. Since I graduated in 2002 the team has gone downhill fast.
Megasports.com is reporting that Lutz will be fired.
Absolutely right. Some of the teams from the Southern Conference, the Big South, and the CAA, can join with Charlotte to make a new power conference. Local rivalries will increase local recruiting.
I saw Independence Arena nearly full when Charlotte played App. St. in the 1990's. Tickets Charlotte doesn't sell to its own fans will get bought by the teams we are playing if we were in a new conference with Appalachian St. Asheville, Davidson, Western Carolina, Greensboro, Winthrop and some other teams in the region.
Staying in the A-10 makes no sense. There are no rivalries. The distance being traveled is robbing the basketball program of funds. Furthermore, the A-10 conference can't even land a bid for a team that is 23-9 and 40 in the RPI. Charlotte is not doing itself any favors staying in a sub par conference that has no geographical rivalries. Charlotte will have a hard time attracting players with a home attendance of 2000 and the teams they play are on the average of 500 miles away or more.
Several of the teams of the ACC were once in the Southern Conference back in the day. But they moved up in the world. Its time for Charlotte and some teams in Southern Conference, Big South, and CAA to move up in the world, too.
Last post, I would invite you out to the Charlotte campus since you haven't ever been there or not since the 1970's. Charlotte is a great campus which has much to offer. You obviously just need to be educated, no pun intended.
I might be biased because I graduated from Charlotte, but I believe the Charlotte campus is very modern, beautiful, and clean. Charlotte would make a great first choice college for anyone.
Also getting out of the A-10 would be great idea. I find it hard to believe that Charlotte can't find two or three good teams from some regional conferences that would join them in creating a new league. No automatic bid the first year. So what? A good new conference will land at least two or three At Large bids anyway.
Six men on the court............
Don't blame that on the players.
How can you be mad at a team that had 19 wins....post season or not. Do you know how ridiculous that sounds? Guess it is a business of what-can-you-do-for-me-now. Unbelievable!
Richmond has what is constantly cited as the most beautiful campus in the country. UNCC has a nice campus. But we're comparing apples to oranges. Richmond is in a natural setting, surrounded by trees. UNCC is in a man made setting, surrounded by 85 and UC Blvd. UNCC is no different than any big school's campus. Richmond is strikingly different.
They should get Matt Doherty from SMU. Excellent coach and even better recruiter!
"You answered your own question. Rhode Island went 23-9 and got left out of the NCAA Tournament."
It is openly stated by the NCAA selection committee that the last 10 games of the season are weighed heavily in the selection process. URI and Charlotte sucked it up over those last 10 games, or else the A-10 would have had 5 teams in the tourney. URI didn't get a bid because they had several bad losses over the last 10 games, not because they are in the A-10. Six of their nine losses came in the last 10 games, and to some low RPI teams to boot. Mississippi St. also won 23 games and failed to make the tourney. Are you going to argue it is because the SEC is a poor conference?
If you could get Charlotte, Richmond, Old Dominion, App. St. Asheville, Western Carolina, Greensboro, Coastal Carolina, Coll. of Charleston, Winthrop, GA Southern, GA State to make their own conference you would have a mini ACC on your hands. Every Charlotte game would sell out and travel costs would be greatly reduced. So you say, oh a conference like that would only pull 2 or 3 NCAA bids. Well, thats all the A-10 pulled this year. Why not have regional rivalries that sell out every game and still get 2 or 3 bids at the end of the year, instead flying to Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New York.
A mini ACC? Please, you might make for a new decent mid-major, but it will not hold a candle to the real ACC. Richmond seems content in the A-10 having landed two NCAA bids since moving there, I doubt they would be so eager to make a move. In reality, I doubt your new conference would land multiple bids anytime soon. Three bids is all any mid-major conference ever gets anymore. From the travel stand-point, you are correct, it would be better for Charlotte than the A-10, but it would not be as strong of a basketball conference as the A-10.
"Absolutely right. Some of the teams from the Southern Conference, the Big South, and the CAA, can join with Charlotte to make a new power conference. Local rivalries will increase local recruiting."
Not a bad idea for Charlotte, except this would not be a power conference. It would be nothing more than another mid-major, one bid conference at best. At least the A-10 has had multiple bids to the NCAAs 17 of the past 20 years. Very few other (read: NONE) mid-majors can claim that.
i like the comments at 9:10. obviously this guy has never been to the unc-charlotte. you could fit all of richmond's student body in one building at the charlotte campus. two totally different schools. richmond has a student body listed at 4,250. charlotte's enrollment is barely under 25,000 and fastly approaching 30,000 and becoming the largest university in the state. they are two different universities that provide two totally different needs.
i feel the main problem with the basketball team currently at charlotte is timing. they are stuck in the A-10 until the football program can give them a reason to move to - c-usa, sunbelt or whatever may be the best move when that time comes. as someone has already said, the a-10 was the best move at the time when the c-usa wanted schools with only football programs. a new conference with some local rivalry would be an ideal situation but the teams previously mentioned for that wouldn't work out. i attended charlotte from 2001-2005 and the rivalry with louisville and cinncinati was some of the best competition between two schools, despite the distance between each of the campuses.
i agree that it is probably time for bobby to go and get someone with some new energy and a new approach to the game in there to run things. bobby's style of shoot as many three's as possible isn't getting it done anymore. he's a good guy an alright coach but sometimes things have run their course and its time to move on.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/mensbasketball/atlantic10/2010-03-15-charlotte-lutz-fired_N.htm
Bobby is gone. Ok, now what? Hopefully, a Coach K or Roy Williams assistant might be interested?
The "get out of the A-10" talk is tiresome. There was no alternative for Charlotte.
Now, adding Football is nice but, where do they go?
Does the ACC want them? no
Does the SEC want them? no
Does the Big East want them? no
Does Charlotte want to take a step down in basketball to join C-USA? I dunno...maybe.
Why not just join the Big South. Once UNCC gets football they will be a bottom feeder for at least a few years anyways.
Yes, Miss. St. didn't make the tourney because they did poorly in an SEC which is usually (and was again this year) a poor basketball conference.
This new local conference some are touting? Does anyone remember the original Sun Belt Conference? Ga State?, Asheville?, why dont you include Montreat while your at it. Are you kidding? By the way, Judy Rose needs to go. She is behind the stupidity thats been happening. Great talker, remembers your name like a politician, but ineffective.
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