Let's temper some of that enthusiasm

today we take a break from all the positive vibes to remember that the biggest reason people are fired up about this team is the lack of a surprising loss. granted, a four point loss at still-undefeated Butler will hold up well, although DePaul looks like they might be terrible.

but in every other season under Bill Carmody, this team has lost to a low-major team, often at home, in the pre-conference schedule. this year NU hasn't (yet) slipped up against inferior competition, and the fact that this has created such enthusiasm among the purple fan base should tell you how desperate we are for some success. here is a look at the bad starts the previous seven seasons got off to...

2007 - home loss to Brown

2006 - home loss to Cornell; neutral site loss to Tennessee Tech

2005 - home losses to UNC Wilmington and UIC

2004 - this one's not terrible: two competitive losses to New Mexico State and Utah State at the Top of the World Classic.

2003 - road loss @ UIC; neutral site loss to Mississippi Valley State

2002 - home losses to IUPUI and UIC

2001 - neutral site losses to East Carolina and Fordham

2000 - home losses to Arkansas Little Rock and Kent State; road losses to LaSalle and Pepperdine


and this is not a problem limited to the Bill Carmody era. in fact, you have to go all the way back to the 1993/94 NIT team to find a season that didn't have a bad loss in November or December. hopefully i didn't just jinx us.