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Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Don't buy the hype
In his preview of Lehigh's opener against Northwestern, Andre Williams of The Morning Call refers to Bucknell's win over Kansas and Holy Cross' win over Notre Dame and argues Lehigh has a chance to deliver a similar shocker:
Now Lehigh, under fourth-year coach Billy Taylor, gets a chance to make some big news first. The Mountain Hawks open their season against Northwestern of the Big Ten in the first round of the three-day Black Coaches Association Invitational in Laramie, Wyo., at 8 p.m., Sunday.
Well, not exactly, Andre.

Yes, it would be a good win for the Mountain Hawks. Any time a Patriot League team knocks off a team from a major conference like the Big Ten, it is a quality win. But as Williams himself points out, Northwestern is not exactly a perennial power:
Beating Northwestern, a program that has never been to the NCAA Tournament, would be a good start for Lehigh, which is coming off a 14-15 season that included a fourt-place finish in the Patriot League tournament.
We added the emphasis to the part about never having danced. When you come from a conference that routinely sends five teams, sometimes even six, to the tournament, having never made it is a pretty significant statement about your program.

This is not Kansas, or Notre Dame. Not Pitt or Saint Joseph's either. This is a team that was 15-16 a year ago. This is a team that was 3-12 away from home.
Published at 2:10 PM by Hoop Time.
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