Just looking as a generic college basketball fan; is there a program that you would like to see return (or arrive for the first time) to national prominence? Let's say at least a 3-4 year run as a consistent top 20 program with at least one Final Four mixed in.
Personally, I get tired of the blue bloods and generally always root against them. But I also don't really root for the Cinderellas either. For me it is programs with big or at least decent sized fan bases that bring something interesting and unique to the table in terms of history, geography, fan culture, roster building approach, or style of play or whatever.
Here is my quick list.
1. Illinois- I remember some great Illinois teams growing up. I always enjoyed seeing the kids from Chicago playing for the in state school.
2. NC State- Something about me that always makes me cheer for the NC States of the world in the shadow of the Dukes and UNC's.
3. UNLV- It will never be the same as when Tark was there, but that was a really fun part of college basketball history.
4. San Diego State- Whereas college football programs can galvanize a state, college basketball programs can galvanize a city, beyond just their alumni, especially a city that doesn't have an NBA team. That includes programs like Dayton, Creighton, Wichita State, etc. But I will put San Diego State here. I thought that was one of the really cool stories of the last 15 years to see a program with basically zero history and Steve Fisher showed up, built a really good program mostly with local kids and got the whole city behind the team to the point they were bringing in great crowds for the first time ever. I think it would be cool to see them build on that and take it to the next level.
5. New Mexico- Such a unique thing where New Mexico basketball is the big team in a pretty big city so that they have great crowds and tons of local coverage but are completely below the radar nationally. Although they are consistently pretty good they have never really accomplished anything on the national level. Kinda the opposite of a program like, say, Georgetown or some of the other Big East programs that are pretty prominent nationally but pretty much under the radar behind the pro sports teams locally. I think it would be fun to see them have at least a run of being very good. I think this is the least likely of all but nonetheless.
Personally, I get tired of the blue bloods and generally always root against them. But I also don't really root for the Cinderellas either. For me it is programs with big or at least decent sized fan bases that bring something interesting and unique to the table in terms of history, geography, fan culture, roster building approach, or style of play or whatever.
Here is my quick list.
1. Illinois- I remember some great Illinois teams growing up. I always enjoyed seeing the kids from Chicago playing for the in state school.
2. NC State- Something about me that always makes me cheer for the NC States of the world in the shadow of the Dukes and UNC's.
3. UNLV- It will never be the same as when Tark was there, but that was a really fun part of college basketball history.
4. San Diego State- Whereas college football programs can galvanize a state, college basketball programs can galvanize a city, beyond just their alumni, especially a city that doesn't have an NBA team. That includes programs like Dayton, Creighton, Wichita State, etc. But I will put San Diego State here. I thought that was one of the really cool stories of the last 15 years to see a program with basically zero history and Steve Fisher showed up, built a really good program mostly with local kids and got the whole city behind the team to the point they were bringing in great crowds for the first time ever. I think it would be cool to see them build on that and take it to the next level.
5. New Mexico- Such a unique thing where New Mexico basketball is the big team in a pretty big city so that they have great crowds and tons of local coverage but are completely below the radar nationally. Although they are consistently pretty good they have never really accomplished anything on the national level. Kinda the opposite of a program like, say, Georgetown or some of the other Big East programs that are pretty prominent nationally but pretty much under the radar behind the pro sports teams locally. I think it would be fun to see them have at least a run of being very good. I think this is the least likely of all but nonetheless.