Posted by unlikelyhero on 11/5/2012 1:10:00 AM (view original):
its so hard to win a national tournament if you cant form some kind of power conference so you can get the best players available.
This thread really makes me appreciate what happened to me last night. My D2 team, Abilene Christian (Smith), won my very first NT in my 14th season in HD.
It honestly shocked me. I started the season with no expectations of anything great and went 6-4 in noncon play. I have 1 guy who might be considered a star, overall decent ATH and DEF but not even good enough to be ranked for most of the season.
Then luck started falling my way and after I went 0-1 in the CT, I won 6 straight including vs 5 ranked teams (2 #1s and a #3).
I cannot explain it. I've had better teams with better players that flopped in the 1st or 2nd round. The best team did not win this tournament. It was sheer, blind luck.
My point, I guess, is that you just never know. If you recruit solid players every year and schedule tough it could happen to anybody. Abilene Christian's not even in a power conference - Lone Star on Smith is #9 RPI this season, but generally in the 10-12 range.
I may never win another NT, but I'm glad I stuck it out.