Does lack of NCAA tourney this year impact next season?

[SpiderTrap]

Brought this up on other thread and thought I would start a new one. But does anyone worry that a team like ours, which had struggled and been through a lot of injuries in years past - then this year with a full strength team that likely would have made the NCAA tourney - will the lack of NCAA tourney hurt the experience of this team next season.

I am just thinking if UR could have made the tourney - even if we lost in the first round, just the experience of the travel, fanfare, big time opponent and atmosphere - would have been good experience and helped them make a serious run next season. Sure other teams out there will fall into same boat - but wonder if this will have an effect on UR and other teams.

 

[Spiders05]

Great question.

Our '11 team definitely benefited from the '10 experience. Given that all teams will be on equal footing, I'm not sure if there's an advantage/disadvantage to be had here.

 

[spider23]

Not sure how much or little the lack of one, two, dare I say 3 games in the dance would have had?

I think a couple things can be at play, could be positives or negatives:
Positive: Team did not get chance to fulfill its ultimate goal, everyone comes back hungry and fully invested from day STFU 1.

Negative: Covid-19 nightmare doesn't allow early season practice time, team comes out sluggish, loses an early stinker. Pressure builds. Pressure builds on Mooney that he has not made the tourney in 3400+ days and he starts to tighten. Cayo is solely focused on getting 1000 points. Gilly going for steal record, doesn't even play one bit of good defense and turns it over on purpose so he can get another steal opportunity. Sherod is home eating all day long. Grant goes into hibernation. Francis transfers to Louisville. Burton to Gonzaga.

So yes, a lot could go wrong. Its easier to go wrong than right, that is for sure.

 

[GKiller]

Of course it hurts some. Experience helps. I agree with 05 it benefited the 11' team with a lot of returnees similar to what we have now. But a year is a long time, I think matchups and whether you're playing well down stretch are more important come NCAA. If we have a full season I also think we'll be in a different spot. We're gunning for highest UR seed ever, being a 5 or 6 is different than an 11.

 

[spiderman]

no worse for us than anyone else, imo. we'll have more overall experience than anyone. we had no experience winning going into this year. we learned.

 

[Eight Legger]

Next year's NCAA tournament likely will be played on Zoom, so no, I don't think it will have an impact.