As we get closer to the Madness, there is an outstanding story that is getting no recognition. Has anybody noticed that the Memphis Tigers have reeled off 57 straight Conference USA wins? Anybody? They stand 15-0 in the conference after their 69-60 win in Houston on Wednesday night. If they win their last game against Tulane and at least 2 more times in the C-USA tournament-which is on the home floor no doubt- than the Memphis Tigers will own the 2nd best conference winning streak in NCAA Division 1 history. To add to that if they win with 3 more wins this season they will have put together the best four year stretch of victories with 134. And now one seems to care
Coming into the year the Tigers were not expected to be in the position they are in today. By Monday the Tigers could end up being ranked number one in the Country. After losing Chris Douglas-Roberts, Joey Dorsey and eventual number one pick Derrick Rose to the NBA draft; everyone thought that Memphis would take a step back. That is the furthest thing from the truth. The Tigers are almost exactly where they were last season sitting at 27-3 and one win away from another perfect regular season. Yet there are still people that doubt them, having only played one other team ranked in the top 25 in their conference (UAB #25 2006) during this streak I can see why people think the Memphis Tigers are “Paper Tigers”. But let’s not forget those same people last year who thought that Memphis was over rated were shocked when they up 50-20 on Michigan State, or even whey they beat Texas by 18 in Houston. They even beat UCLA by 15. And how could we forget they were one game away from a National Championship and if it wasn’t for Mario Chalmers hitting a huge 3 in the late stages of that game, or Coach John Calipari forgetting to call a time out, who knows what would have happened.
Even though the Tigers are not in on of the Major Six Conferences in Division 1 its still amazing to me what that School has done in the last 4 years. So when it comes to bracket time and your thinking of having Memphis bow out in the early rounds…..I suggest you think better of it.
Coming into the year the Tigers were not expected to be in the position they are in today. By Monday the Tigers could end up being ranked number one in the Country. After losing Chris Douglas-Roberts, Joey Dorsey and eventual number one pick Derrick Rose to the NBA draft; everyone thought that Memphis would take a step back. That is the furthest thing from the truth. The Tigers are almost exactly where they were last season sitting at 27-3 and one win away from another perfect regular season. Yet there are still people that doubt them, having only played one other team ranked in the top 25 in their conference (UAB #25 2006) during this streak I can see why people think the Memphis Tigers are “Paper Tigers”. But let’s not forget those same people last year who thought that Memphis was over rated were shocked when they up 50-20 on Michigan State, or even whey they beat Texas by 18 in Houston. They even beat UCLA by 15. And how could we forget they were one game away from a National Championship and if it wasn’t for Mario Chalmers hitting a huge 3 in the late stages of that game, or Coach John Calipari forgetting to call a time out, who knows what would have happened.
Even though the Tigers are not in on of the Major Six Conferences in Division 1 its still amazing to me what that School has done in the last 4 years. So when it comes to bracket time and your thinking of having Memphis bow out in the early rounds…..I suggest you think better of it.
Nelson "Demon Seed" Swan
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