Falling off

I know a lot of Tiger fans are not quite as excited about next season as we have been about the last four or so. Not that we aren't anxious. That's why so many of us are scrounging for any offseason news we can get are hands on (not that there's been any shortage).

We do know that things just cannot go as well. We only have one returning starter. We have a lot of talent, but lack depth, especially in the front court. The out of conference schedule is very weak, and, as a result, it will be especially difficult to get a high seed in the NCAA tournament this year. That is assuming we win the C-USA tournament.

I am kind of okay with this drop in talent. I know next year will be better. We already have Barton and Jackson is already trimming the fat(by that I mean knocking Kentucky off his list of schools). Our dreams of championships can begin again.

But think about it. In conference games will be fun again. Not that I didn't enjoy watching Memphis beat SMU by more points than SMU had scored itself. I just wasn't kept at the edge of my seat. In the last two years, I have probably had a total of two minutes where I thought that Memphis would lost an in conference basketball game. All two of those minutes were during Memphis's first match against Tulsa last season, and that includes stopped game play.

Now we can go to or watch conference games and wonder if we are going to win. We can watch the tournament and feel our anxiety rise as Memphis makes it closer to the tournament. Competition will be brought back to our conference games, and I think that's a good thing. Atleast for now.