Tuesday, November 16, 2010

An Important Poll Question for BS Readers

Photo not meant to imply Danny Hope will lead Purdue to a national title
This is something that we discussed on the Handsome Hour last week and I think it's fun to debate. I'll put the poll on the site but here's the question:

Between Purdue football and Purdue basketball, which would you prefer to have a national championship in?

The parameters are this:

-- You can only have one.

-- The time period is, let's say, five years from now...2015. I say this so that you don't say "Well, I'd want JJ and Smooge to get a national title, so I'll say basketball."

-- I'm saying, irrespective of who is playing for the teams, which sport would you want to see win a national title more and why?

-- We're aware that the football team is no where close and may never be, etc. But if I could wave the magic wand... which would it be?

It's always fun to dream...

26 comments:

Eric said...

Basketball would be so much more satisfying because with the tourney I think it means more. But we all know football is king in the NCAA and a football championship would mean more for Purdue overall which is what drove my decision.

Collin Fultz said...

Basketball is the state's sport so I'd go with that. Plus it would really grind the IU fans up. For me, Purdue football being competitive and going to a bowl game are about expected, with the occasional Drew-Brees-Rose-Bowl season. I expect more from the basketball program.

PurduePeach said...

Definitely Football. It would be more satisfying because it's much tougher to win a national championship in football. You have to be good AND play against good opponents. In basketball, there's more leeway for losses and fluctuation, while still having the chance to make it into -and win- the NCAA Tourney.

zlionsfan said...

Even assuming that there would be a real championship in football and not the BCS crap there is now, I would choose basketball instead. I might personally appreciate a football title more, but there are a lot of people around here who would be covered in STFU if Purdue won the men's basketball tournament, and by "people", I mean "obnoxious IU fans who think 1987 was yesterday".

COD said...

Basketball. That sport has "earned" it with a fairly long run of highly competitive play. (Minus the end of Gene's career) Football would be written off as a fluke and would not really do a whole lot long term for the school.

Shawn said...

Football. Winning one in basketball wouldn't take a magic wand. Football might take a stadium full of magic wands. I don't see that kind of turnaround in Ross Ade in the next five years.

Benjamin said...

Got to be basketball: 1) the sport of the state, and so it means more despite the disparity in football's popularity nation-wide; 2) championship football programs seem to inevitably get marred with the dirty program tag - nature of the sport/complex - and it's possible still to be clean and win in b-ball; 2) running through March Madness is so much more satisfying than getting lucky with how things fall into place in the BCS machine - always questions about whether another team deserved to be in the game/ would have won.

Ben C said...

We're in Indiana. Basketball FTW.

chevys10 said...

definitely basketball.....it seems like a NC in football would be regarded as a "fluke" while one in basketball would have more of a "long time coming" type feeling.

JD said...

Basketball.

A title in football in the next five years would be like Georgia Tech or Colorado in 1990. People would forget it once we went back to being 6-6.

A title in basketball in the next five years would be would be similar to Arizona in 1997 and Syracuse in 2003. It would be celebrated as a historically strong program finally breaking through.

Eric said...

Basketball. Purdue is now and always has been a basketball school. From John Wooden through today, the basketball legacy is far stronger. Football is fun but it just doesn't compare, nor have the history at the University.

& has been said, a football championship doesn't shut anybody at IU up.

Basketball.

Daniel Kirkdorffer said...

I agree with Eric, we're a basketball school first. It is time for the men's team to match what the women have already done, and more.

dasMetzger said...

there is more of a connect with purdue and basketball than there is football. the state is a basketball state first and foremost and there is such a deep and strong tradition with basketball at this school. it would just validate everything if we won a national title.

if we won in football, it would be great and all, but we are not a traditional power by any stretch of the imagination, and would need to win multiple before we were taken seriously in the realm of recruiting battles and national image.

basketball.

John J. said...

I am a huge Purdue Basketball fan and proud Paint Crew member. It is such an incredible experience going to all those games, and I love being able to turn on the TV and watch some college hoops almost any day of the week during the college season. And even though I would like to see succeed at a sport we have been traditionally good at, nothing gets hyped up more than college football, and there isn't another fan experience quite like it.

I had the privilege of attending the Rose Bowl in 2008 when USC crushed my dad's alma matter Illinois. The game itself was lopsided, but I am still awed by the overall experience of the Rose Bowl. I don't even need to see Purdue in a National Championship, just a Rose Bowl.

I agree with COD, a football championship would be seen as a fluke, but the road to get there and the memories of winning it all would grossly overshadow any doubts in my mind.

BoilerPaulie said...

I'm going to have to say football, because I'm going to see Purdue cut the nets down in Houston this April come hell or high water! ...And with any luck we'll do it again at least once more before 2015, so it would only be fitting if the football program followed the model of the basketball team and got their own hardware after Matty's boys get the glory a couple times.

Allow me to share what also been a belief of mine for a couple years now: that Coach Hope will eventually be able to do what Matt Painter has done for the basketball team. Both were very successful at smaller schools in less-competitive conferences. Both came in and had a rough start, being hand-picked by their predecessors and re-joining the coaching staff for the year before taking the reins. Both took over for the most decorated coaches in Purdue history in their respective sports, but in my opinion after both Keady and Tiller had passed their prime and had begun losing the battle in the recruiting game before that translated to the court/field.

Likewise, both have come in with an insatiable fire for recruiting. Now, it's much more difficult to rebuild a football team than a basketball team, and by more difficult I mean "it generally takes more time." So I don't expect it to happen overnight, but I can actually see Coach Hope getting Purdue to a BCS bowl or two in the next 5 years. Yeah, I know, the Big Ten just got even harder with Nebraska coming in and a conference championship game, but I really believe it's possible, given Hope's history and (call me superstitious) the parallels between the basketball and football programs.

I didn't mention injuries either, but it's clear that there are parallels there. Let's just hope those end now, altogether.

Yeah, I know, I'm a wishful thinker. But I've been a Boilermaker my whole life - that has required some wishful thinking at times.

Purdue Matt said...

Basketball. It would give further credibility to Purdue's program as one of the nation's top programs.

I have a feeling that if football won it people would easily write it off as a one year flash in the pan.

Bloomington.Boiler said...

I prefer another women's golf championship.

Plang said...

Basketball.
We need one for the modern era.

zlionsfan said...

Women's golf? The defending champs are currently 5th in the country (side note: apparently Sagarin is no longer keeping rankings on his personal site). It'd be a shame to use the magic on a team that's that close anyway ...

Boiler2000 said...

Football without a doubt. It's much harder to do, would bring in more money and fans to the program, and would be much more exciting. Let's be honest, not many care about college basketball these days.

Benjamin said...

Let's be honest, Lauren - you meant to say YOU don't care much about college basketball.

And, the reason I don't care so much about college football are the same reasons you would rather see a Purdue BCS win - too much money involved in maintaining a great program, so a BCS championship would either equal a one-year fluke written off years later or the beginning of Purdue turning into tO$U as far as maintaining ridiculous facilities, shady recruiting, and low academic standards.

In b-ball you can still have a clean and academically rigorous program full of real college athletes and be a perrenial winner. We all know who I'm talking about...

Markag said...

Football. One hundred percent, no doubt about it. Perhaps it is because I grew up in Michigan, but basketball is not that interesting to me. Football is king. If Purdue's football program won a national championship and was consistantly in the mix for the big ten championship each season, I would be the happiest man in the world.

4thandshort said...

I feel no magic will be needed for basketball. I think Purdue will win a national title in basketball at some point in my lifetime.

But magic would really be needed for football. More like an act of God. Football championships are reserved for the few elite powers so Purdue winning it would be improbable. Who cares if it would be a fluke. Just seeing that crystal football in the trophy case would be wild.

greg said...

Football because it would be miraculous and bring more money and fan attention to the school. If we won a national championship in football in the BCS era, we'd get lots of attention. It wouldn't just fade way.
To be honest, I'd like to see them in both sports every year, but I'd settle for just one of them in my lifetime.

Erin said...

Basketball, basketball, basketball. Oh, and mens.

Boiler2000 said...

Benjamin, you're joking about high academics and clean reputations in big time college basketball, right? Do you really think Michigan State, Kansas, Kentucky, Duke, and Florida all run clean programs? No chance. Schools like Butler, Gonzaga, and Stanford will always make runs but will never be an elite program contending for a national title year-over-year.

All I care about is bringing more excitment to Purdue university. Unfortunately, having a Purdue astronaut doesn't get the press that sports does. A football championship would infinitely bring publicity over a basketball championship. A hoops champ wouldn't be celebrated outside of a 100-mile radius of West Lafayette. A football champ would be celebrated nationwide.

I am a die-hard Purdue hoops fan, but we have to look beyond the Wabash River. I would argue that Indy and Philly are the only major cities in this country that care more about college basketball than other college sports.