The debate has been raging for weeks now concerning the likelihood or unlikelihood of the Flyers making it into the NCAA tournament. Everyone seems to have an opinion and I am no different. Having been a Flyer fan for 40 years now, I have seen it all. We have been to the NCAA Finals and to the worst of the worst. We have had good, great, and even had one bad coach thrown in during that time. I love my Reds and Browns but there is nothing like my love for the Flyers basketball team.

There is something special about being a Dayton Flyer fan. We are well known around the country as one of the best at following our team wherever they play. Because UD is a private Catholic school, they pull from all over the country and deposit people all over the world. We come to the Arena when they win and come when they lose. We do boo our players occasionally, but it is the exception and not the rule. We take them into our hearts and homes and they become favorite sons no matter where they come from and no matter what the color of their skin. We go to sleep at night going over every play of every game and wake up the same way.

Because of all this, every win has a special meaning and every loss digs deep in our hearts. They are the best team in the world after a win and Oliver Purnell doesn’t know what he is doing after every loss. We hope in our heart every season that, no matter how many losses they had the year before, we will see them on the board on Selection Sunday. We are unrealistic, but what real fan isn’t?

We become impatient with the recruiting and expect the talent to get better every year and win the conference. The only problem is, the talent doesn’t necessarily get better every year and we have only won one conference championship in the 15 or so years that we have been conference affiliated. There is a chance that we will win the conference tournament this year, but I wouldn’t bet the house on it. Because of that, we fret, we agonize, and we complain. And now we fight among ourselves.

I have been using internet message boards since Prodigy lifted its now long departed head. I have been a member of John Huston’s e-mail list since he became a martyr for the cause and began taking care of it and all of its headaches. Through all of it, most have been civil and united, but that doesn’t seem to be the case any longer. We have finally reached the level of potential instantaneous combustion. We are too good to be in the NIT but not good enough to be in the NCAA.

I look at our current record and am somewhat amazed that my pre season prediction is as close as it is. I had us finishing the regular season at 19-8 and there is a real possibility that we can still accomplish that record. I also had them receiving the second seed in the tournament and that is still a possibility. They were to make it to the tournament finals and lose and even that is a possibility. In that scenario, they won their right into the NCAA tournament because of those wins in the conference tournament and that is probably the only way it can happen in the real world.

Even though they are doing close to what I predicted, that doesn’t mean that I am not disappointed. The schedule became much weaker than anticipated. Certainly not the fault of the schedule maker, but many of our preseason foes did not live up to expectations and the A-10 is definitely having a down year. As a result, our wins are over teams with losing records and our record against teams with winning records is an abysmal 2-7. That being the case, we do not deserve an invitation to the big dance.

If we get invited, I will be ecstatic. Yet, I will still have to ask myself, “Is this where we need to be?” One would have to ask, “How can I complain about 20 win season after 20 win season?” Good question. This could be our fourth 20-win season in five years. The last time that happened was in the 1960’s. Twenty wins used to be the guarantee of a great season. That is no longer the case. With expanded schedules and more and more division I teams available to play, that 20 win level says little. It doesn’t necessarily even get you into the NIT. If you look closely, in two of those twenty win seasons we lost 12 and 13 games. As a comparison, Tom Blackburn only lost thirteen games one time in his head-coaching career at UD.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not asking for Oliver Purnell’s head. I like him as a person and I think he has done a good job of getting us back to having fun when we go to the Arena. At the same time, I am not satisfied, yet I can assure you that he is far less satisfied that I am. Oliver Purnell did not stay at UD when other schools came courting to get to the NCAA 1 time in 8 years. He wants to get there even more that we want him to get there. However, he needs to realize that we, as fans, are getting restless. Going to the NIT is not good enough. Yes, it is fun to see a few extra games at home, but it is a lot more fun to see your team profiled in the USAToday on the Monday morning after the tournament teams are selected. It is more fun to pick with your heart instead of your head when filling out your brackets for the office pool.

It is more fun to skip out of work early to catch the Flyers in the 2:30 game at the local sports bar.

This team does not lack intensity. They rebound as well as a team as any I can remember. They have even been known to dive for loose balls. What they do lack is the ability to put points on the board with any kind of consistency. If there is a problem on this team, it is on the offensive end where intensity tends to take a back seat to skill.

My hope for this season was that Ramod Marshall would continue to improve and be the consistent scorer that we have not seen in years. It has not happened. Brooks Hall has had some exceptional games but is not the type of player that can get a shot off whenever needed. We continue to have trouble getting the ball inside and when we do we have had games when we couldn’t make a lay-up. No one expects this team to have a 20-point scorer, but they have not had a leader all year that can get them a bucket when needed. They will need that type of player if they are to win enough to get to the NCAA.

Next year should be better. The Flyers will add a number of players that should help with quickness and scoring and we will only lose two seniors. Morris and Holland will be missed, but not like a Knight or Perryman was missed. They are a relatively young team that must make it to the NCAA tournament next year or even more questions will be asked.

Putting it simply, we should not be satisfied with another trip to the NIT either this year or any year in the foreseeable future. That is not why the players work all year in the weight room and on the court to get better. If they stay injury free next year, there will be no excuses for anything short of contending for the conference title and a trip to the big dance. If we are one for nine in trips to the NCAA since Purnell arrived, I will be checking my mailbox daily for a refund on my seat license that will surely increase in the coming days.