[NU Sports] We lost to crappy Indiana

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

> We have to quit labelling this 'a succesful
> season'

Overall, you're right. But since most of us have said it's a successful season for Northwestern, that would also be correct. 

> We play in the Big Ten - success would imply finishing
> above .500 in the league

Not that it applies to us this year, but in this era of mega conferences and missed opponents, I'm not sure that definition holds. A Pac 10 team above .500 in league is successful. But a Big Ten team could get breaks by facing MSU/OSU/Illinois and Purdue only once. Like I said, that wasn't us this year since we had the bottom of the league all twice and couldn't beat them. But in some leagues like the Big East, it's ridiculous how inflated the records are because they simply do not face each other in league play.

> We haven't done that this year.  We have
> finished in 7th place, at 7-11

Again, looking at the W-L records alone, you're right.

But throw in
... a team that has never been to the NCAA tournament.
... a team that lost its star player and one real playmaker before the year.
... a team that earned a brief appearance in the Top 25 for the first time in decades.
... a team that managed to play above their heads against NCAA teams such as Purdue, Notre Dame and Illinois.

Like I said, the losses to Iowa, Indiana and frickin' Penn State ended the year on a down note and a bummer, but *for Northwestern* this was indeed a successful season and a reason to have realistic expectations of the standard definition of "success" next year. 

Be honest, did you expect this much out of NU this year? I think it's safe to say that once Coble went down and gloom and doom were everywhere on this list that the 2009-10 NU men's basketball team exceeded our expectations.

With that, we raise the bar for next year to a level never reached before by NU -- and have a legit chance of exceeding those expectations.

GO CATS!!!
-SjT