“I’m not mad. I’m disappointed.”
As a new father, I fully expect I’ll have to bust out that ancient wisdom later in life. But I couldn’t help recite it repeatedly to myself as Saturday’s debacle unfolded. Midway through the second half of Wichita State’s whipping of the Creighton Bluejays, when it was clear CU had no chance to battle back, my anger in the outcome transformed into true disappointment. I doubt I was alone, although many of the school-record 18,735 in attendance had already left.
In the days leading up to Saturday’s game, there was a lot of web banter about where this season’s CU-WSU game would fall among the “biggest” games at Qwest Center/CenturyLink Center. One 23-point loss later, is it safe to say it was the most disappointing game in the building’s nine-year history? Saturday’s defeat marked the largest home loss since 1995. But while the final margin surely played into the disappointment fuming from the steaming heads of CU fans walking into the cold February evening, the final outcome was overly frustrating for a few more important reasons.
My emotions instantly took me back to 2003. As a senior at CU, there were few better ways to enjoy my last collegiate hurrah than watching the Bluejays burst onto the national college hoops scene en route the best record in school history. But that team headed to St. Louis the #2 seed in Arch Madness; Creighton’s best team in years, record-wise, hadn’t been good enough to win the league championship.
Through 23 games, this season’s Jays looked every bit the part of the 02-03 team. But a three-game losing streak during the last week has dampened some of the comparisons between the two squads while highlighting another: with three league games left and CU staring up at a two-game Wichita State lead in the standings, it is improbable that the Bluejays will win a league title.
It’s been more than a decade since Creighton won its last outright Missouri Valley Conference regular season championship. The 2000-2001 team won the Valley (14-4) by two games over Illinois State (12-6) and Bradley (12-6). The next season the Bluejays entered the final regular season contest needing only to beat Drake to win the league over Southern Illinois; the Jays lost to the Bulldogs at the Civic Auditorium, split the league title with SIU (14-4). The Jays improved their league performance the next season, going 15-3 but losing out on a league title to the 16-2 Salukis. Their split title in 01-02 wasn’t their last; winning their last 9 regular season Valley games during the winter of 2009 allowed the Bluejays to share a regular season championship with Northern Iowa; both teams finished 14-4 and won on each other’s home court.
Things went horribly wrong for Josh Jones and the rest of the Creighton Bluejays against Wichita State (Mike Spomer/WBR)
So there you have it. Eleven seasons since the Bluejays last won a regular season title outright, with only two shared championships during that stretch. The loss to Drake in 2002 was disappointing because it cost the Bluejays an outright championship. But that was at the Civic. A few home losses to Southern Illinois during the Salukis’ great run during the 2000s were tough to swallow, but the Bluejays usually came out on the wrong end of a closely contested game. A last-second loss to Kentucky in the NIT was disappointing, if only because of the name on the front of the opponents’ jersey and the resounding feeling among Creighton fans that the Jays should have been one of the last four teams into the NCAA Tournament field that season.
I’ll contend, though, that Saturday’s loss was more discouraging than any of those, or any I missed. Being bludgeoned by a team you beat on the road? Check. Having it happen on national television? Check. Having it cost you a legitimate chance at a conference championship? Check. And sending you further into a late-season tailspin that could cast doubt on the 23 games previous to one bad week? Check.
Sitting with Panon during the game, he brought up a good point. It can take years for a person to establish good will, and one or two actions to destroy it. How many games does Creighton have to lose down the stretch to forfeit what they built during the first two-thirds of the season? Bluejays fans are surely overreacting, still, to the events from the past week. But with the Jays still struggling to score and pressure mounting to turn things around, when would the proverbial other shoe drop? That’s a question for the Bracketologists of the world, I guess. The World-Herald’s Dirk Chatelain says they’d be OK if they win their last four regular season games, or go 3-1 in those same games and win one in St. Louis. Some years college hoops fans hear about the importance of how a team’s played in its last 10 games; other years, it doesn’t seem to matter as much.
The Bluejays can’t worry about any of that, obviously. They need to find a way to break their losing streak. Until recently, a trip to Carbondale was anything but that. The Salukis are down this year, though, and sit at 5-10 in the league entering Tuesday’s game with Creighton. Can the Jays get back on track? While CU fans fret about the bubble and potential seeding in the Big Dance, can the players regain some of the shooting touch and subsequent swagger displayed during most of the season? A regular season championship is all but out of reach. Still, other goals remain in play. Can Creighton make the adjustments necessary to regain the footing that seemed so solid just a week ago?