NAU in CIT Final

[n.ogdencat]

Congrats the to the Lumberjacks. They beat NJIT last night in Flagstaff to claim a spot in the CIT Final. Really great exposure for the Conference to have another team in the CIT Final again after only two seasons. Way to go NAU and in front of the biggest Jack crowd ever.

Since MT. Jack is a fairly regular poster, I want to congratulate him on his consistent fanship for NAU. He is a classy guy and I always appreciate his comments and visits. Mt. Jack I hope you are able to watch the game. The CIT two years ago in Ogden was pretty dang awesome.

NAU has beaten Grand Canyon, Sac, Kent State, and NJIT to reach the final. Two years ago, Weber beat Cal Poly, Air Force, Oral Roberts, and Northern Iowa to reach the final against Eastern Carolina.

 

[SWWeatherCat]

No doubt, contgrats NAU and MtJack. I'm sure this was a much better environment than at a neutral site. The fan fun, excitement was probably off the chart in Flagstaff. What was the attendance, anyway? Good luck 'Jacks against a middle of the pack Evansville, from a very respectable conference, on their floor.

 

[Webergrad02]

Lets go Jacks! Anytime a Big Sky school is playing in April it is darn near a miracle.

 

[sasquatch]

The box score showed about 5,600 (5,583).

 

[AlumniWSU]

Great to see! Speaks a lot on good fan atmosphere & fun, even if it is the CIT, like it was two years ago in Ogden for a lot of us fans! May the CIT live on! :twocents:

 

[weberwildcat]

very cool to see nau have an all-time record attendance.

 

[dbackjon]

Thanks!

Yup, it is a great run for NAU - hope we can sustain this into the future.

School record attendance, and wins

 

[n.ogdencat]

The box score showed about 5,600 (5,583).

Catcat...this is why College sports are better than the pros; especially cycling lol. It means more to everyone involved and instills deeper sense of pride in the community, students, conference, and state.

 

[Webergrad02]

It's been a very long time since that court was rushed. Maddawg should have made the trip to Flagstaff. I know how bad he has been wanting to rush the court at the DEE.

 

[WeberSki]

The box score showed about 5,600 (5,583).

Catcat...this is why College sports are better than the pros; especially cycling lol. It means more to everyone involved and instills deeper sense of pride in the community, students, conference, and state.

catcat likes to bum rush the court.

 

[mt jack]

Talhadfoursteals and SWWeathercat - Thank you for the kind words. I figured that you guys would still be talking hoops over here.

This has been a fun last two weeks. I feared the last second loss @ UM in the Big Sky tourney was the end of the road for this team and was somewhat shocked to see 2 Big Sky teams in the CIT. I drove up to Grand Canyon U to watch and was impressed with the Jacks comeback win. Didn't make it to Sac State and kinda expected the season to end there. Drove up last Friday for the game against Kent State....fully expecting the season to come to an end. But sadly couldn't get work to cooperate and let me leave 3 hours early yesterday to get up to Flagstaff in time for the NJIT game. Four come from behind victories in four games for a program that had never won a postseason game in the school's history. You can't script this stuff.

The Jacks rebound the ball like mad, play pretty tough defense, hit their free throws and don't quit when the chips are down. Obviously that's been enough to overcome being a relatively crummy shooting team.

I'll admit that I've been a bit envious of WSU and the UofM for your post season excursions over the years. This is so fun. I may be bummed out but there's no way I can be mad with a loss tomorrow in the championship game after all this. This all makes me wish I still lived in Flagstaff so I could attend more games.

I'm sure that many "blue blood" programs and their fans out there look down on this (NAU fans getting amped for a lower level tournament, students rushing the court, getting excited over something as trivial as the CIT tourney) but I don't give two squats and a piss. This matters to NAU players, parents, NAU coaches and NAU fans.

Game's at 4 pm (Pacific/AZ time) tomorrow on CBS Sports Network. No internet video coverage but it's on cable. Jacks fans appreciate all the support they can muster up. Listen in on the radio: http://hits106.gcmaz.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Mitch Strohman (voice of NAU sports) just may officially lose it if they win.

MTJack

PS - Maybe next year the NAU-WSU game won't be on a Thursday in Flagstaff? Maybe the NAU-WSU game in Ogden won't be on Valentine's Day weekend so I can cross off a bucket list item by catching a game at the Dee too?

 

[SWWeatherCat]

...
I'm sure that many "blue blood" programs and their fans out there look down on this (NAU fans getting amped for a lower level tournament, students rushing the court, getting excited over something as trivial as the CIT tourney) but I don't give two squats and a piss. This matters to NAU players, parents, NAU coaches and NAU fans.

Game's at 4 pm (Pacific/AZ time) tomorrow on CBS Sports Network. No internet video coverage but it's on cable. Jacks fans appreciate all the support they can muster up. Listen in on the radio: http://hits106.gcmaz.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Mitch Strohman (voice of NAU sports) just may officially lose it if they win.
...

There are bandwagon "fans" and there are true (purple) fans, it sure must be exiting rooting for the "haves" and the enormous amount of pride they must feel watching their silver-spoon teams on the biggest stages. Give me real sport; real excitement; and real pride any day. What NAU is experiencing and playing for right now is a real achievement and source of pride and excitement.

NAU has always been very easy to root for (when they're not playing Weber,) and Strohman and the NAU broadcast has always been top notch. I should have remembered, but thanks for the reminder that CBSSN broadcasts this Championship game. I've set the DVR to record it in case I can't watch it live, but I'll certainly be watching and rooting for the 'Jacks. Good luck!

 

[n.ogdencat]

Mt. Jack, you can count on this Wildcat fan cheering on the Jacks! I hope to see them pulling off the W and bringing home some hardware. Yes, there is quite a bit a bickering that goes on during the season. We are rabid basketball fans and we love our schools, but, for the most part, we all love the game of basketball and want to see our conference mates do well. I love Wildcat Basketball, but I don't mind seeing a Big Sky School do well. :thumb:

Personally, I hope the conference took notice. Quite the crowd at NAU. THIS IS WHY a predetermined site isn't a good idea. Look at the crowd at that stadium. Biggest in NAU history! When a school hosts it creates a sense of pride and will draw fans. Those fans deserve to root for their team who has earned the right of hosting by winning the regular season crown. That team should have the clearest path to the NCAA Tournament because they are the ones who earned that right during the regular season. Not for three days at a "predetermined" location.

It was great seeing those sights from the Dome! I love seeing a full stadium. What an opportunity for the Jacks. This is proof that each school has the potential to really pull in fans. Yes it takes some time, effort, and hard work, but each university has the personnel available to do the job.

Good luck Jacks!

 

[AlumniWSU]

FYI (anyone interested & doesn't know): CIT final @Evansville, they beat NAU 71-65, in front of 4,549 fans...NAU's Yanku scored 18 pts...Weber St. still holds highest CIT finals attendance record?

In NIT, Stanford beat Miami 66-64 in OT...starter Omar scored 8 pts. (remember might-have-been-Wildcat?)... probably has no regrets now?

And now it's just a matter of seeing if Wildcats (not our brand of) go undefeated & win the big dance?

'Till next season....