Terriers vs. Spartans tilt?

[boulder3m]

YT-Great analysis. Out of sight, out of mind. Basketball is carrying the Wofford torch, and we don't need the local team to help us out. A road game at any ACC or SEC location is worth more in so many ways than a game against the locals.

[Ruckus]

And because Upstate needs a game with us to be more relevant in an inferior conference is exactly why the taunting by the SHJ sports editor is so offensive to me. It is an attempt at public blackmail. I can guarantee you we would not be hearing any of this if Upstate was still D-2 or NAIA.
We definitely have more to lose and very little to gain by playing them.

[woffordgrad94]

I know might be considered childish and chilched by some to bring this up, but maybe some at Wofford are a bit uneasy at the thought of taking on Upstate. I wonder if some at Wofford are afraid that if we played them and they beat us that it would kind of in the public's mind erase all we have accomplished? That people would say "well Upstate is really the king of Spartanburg College Basketball". But I don't thing that would really be the case at all. I tend to think If we did lose that in the end it would just be a nonconference loss, nothing more. But realistically, what would be the chance of us losing? In my mind, low, despite our graduation losses. I recall that we once did played a home and home with A-Sun member Jacksonville, and as I recall we demolished them both times. The SoCon is a superior conference. I also remember thinking "why play Jacksonville in this conference and not Upstate?" I think that truthfully we would likely beat Upstate soundly anyway (just as we did in Charleston). I have to give Eddie Payne, an excellent coach and from all reports a great guy (unlike Jerry Waters) and his Upstate Spartans credit for what they have done in building their program, but we have gone to 4 dances as a member of a superior conference than they are in. This year, our RPI was in the Top 50. Upstate, despite winning over 20 games counting the CBI, was still over 200. We might fall a little next year, but they are losing some good seniors too and they can't close the gap THAT much. So obviously we have the better program. And we regularly beat them in the sports we do play them in, so it's not hard to envision us soundly whipping them at our best sport. So give them their games. After a couple, they might not be so interested in playing anymore after that, and this whole thing will go away. On another note, Upstate being a commuter school and also a "metropolitan" school with many non-traditional (over 25) students with jobs' would never outdraw us at the game. It would be a mostly pro-Wofford crowd.

[lawdog]

Make no mistake about one thing: if we play USC-Upstate, it will be a hard fought, competitive game. They are well coached and have some talent.

[youngterrier]

I know might be considered childish and chilched by some to bring this up, but maybe some at Wofford are a bit uneasy at the thought of taking on Upstate. I wonder if some at Wofford are afraid that if we played them and they beat us that it would kind of in the public's mind erase all we have accomplished? That people would say "well Upstate is really the king of Spartanburg College Basketball". But I don't thing that would really be the case at all. I tend to think If we did lose that in the end it would just be a nonconference loss, nothing more. But realistically, what would be the chance of us losing? In my mind, low, despite our graduation losses. I recall that we once did played a home and home with A-Sun member Jacksonville, and as I recall we demolished them both times. The SoCon is a superior conference. I also remember thinking "why play Jacksonville in this conference and not Upstate?" I think that truthfully we would likely beat Upstate soundly anyway (just as we did in Charleston). I have to give Eddie Payne, an excellent coach and from all reports a great guy (unlike Jerry Waters) and his Upstate Spartans credit for what they have done in building their program, but we have gone to 4 dances as a member of a superior conference than they are in. This year, our RPI was in the Top 50. Upstate, despite winning over 20 games counting the CBI, was still over 200. We might fall a little next year, but they are losing some good seniors too and they can't close the gap THAT much. So obviously we have the better program. And we regularly beat them in the sports we do play them in, so it's not hard to envision us soundly whipping them at our best sport. So give them their games. After a couple, they might not be so interested in playing anymore after that, and this whole thing will go away. On another note, Upstate being a commuter school and also a "metropolitan" school with many non-traditional (over 25) students with jobs' would never outdraw us at the game. It would be a mostly pro-Wofford crowd.

I guarantee this. Upstate and Wofford are just two completely different cultures when it comes to student/campus life.

[TerrierDomination]

A+ analysis by YT.

Kudos to upstate's success in basketball, but in terms of recruitment. I don't think talented highschool basketball players wake up in the morning thinking, "I want to play basketball for the upstate Spartans..." However, these guys do dream of playing for an ACC or SEC school.

1 problem, when is the last time Clemson or Carolina went to the Dance?
Fletcher MaGee commented he wanted to go to the Dance. And every school that offered him a ride (including an ACC and SEC team) had one thing in common, NONE OF THEM CAN DANCE!

With that said, I have 0 desire to play upstate, I want to see us whip ACC Clemson and SEC USC (and of course the Fuglies) in the same year and continue to prove that Wofford has the best academic and basketball program in the state. #WeAreWofford

[woffordgrad94]

A+ analysis by YT.

Kudos to upstate's success in basketball, but in terms of recruitment. I don't think talented highschool basketball players wake up in the morning thinking, "I want to play basketball for the upstate Spartans..." However, these guys do dream of playing for an ACC or SEC school.

1 problem, when is the last time Clemson or Carolina went to the Dance?
Fletcher MaGee commented he wanted to go to the Dance. And every school that offered him a ride (including an ACC and SEC team) had one thing in common, NONE OF THEM CAN DANCE!

With that said, I have 0 desire to play upstate, I want to see us whip ACC Clemson and SEC USC (and of course the Fuglies) in the same year and continue to prove that Wofford has the best academic and basketball program in the state. #WeAreWofford

So do many talented basketball players wake up in the morning saying "I want to play for the Wofford College Terriers?" Despite our four Dance appearances, it is a stretch to say yes to that, Our success comes from not having the most talented guys, but from the way Mike Yoing and staff get them to buy into and play a team first, defense first game. So we are in the same boat as Upstate as far as that is concerned. We both have to rely more on coaching and heart than talent. But anyway, this is all moot as long as RJ is AD. He still associates USCU with Jerry Waters, a man he absolutely loathes from the bottom of his heart. That is understandable- I hated that arrogant jerk myself. Even though I consider Waters to be ancient history now and would be willing to move on from all that crap from the 80s, apparently RJ is not. The Johnson-Waters fued must have been extremely intense for him to still harbor such hard feelings today, at least in my speculation. Now I could be totally off base here, but this is my thoughts on why we don't schedule USCU onthe basketball court. My strong belief is that as long as RJ is our AD, which will likely we quite a while, we will not schedule a game with USCU. The only way we'll play them is as part of a tourney like we did in Charleston. No newspaper columns or message board discussions are ever going to change that.

[Eyes of Old Main]

Newspaper articles and fan bases have no business dictating athletic department policy. I say let our AD and HC handle the scheduling and we watch the games they come up with. Upstate might want the game, but if Wofford doesn't then too bad. I'm pretty sure Wofford would have liked to have played Duke well before this season, but it never met Duke's goals until now when our team was a seasoned tournament team with a quality RPI. Everybody acts in their own self interest and if our leadership has determined that playing Upstate isn't in our best interest, then what else is there to say?