Last April I published a story about college basketball.  I heavily recommend going back and reading it online, for it is very humorous to look back at it today. Last year Saint Louis University (SLU) played Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in a smaller postseason tournament final.

Both were in similar situations, SLU was the youngest team in the country and VCU was building as well with only two seniors.  VCU won in two close games and the game commentators continually referenced SLU’s and VCU’s promise for the future.  Of course, as we know today, their seasons were dramatically different, VCU being broadcast in homes across the country for their success and SLU for their off the court problems.

While the off the court problems embarrassed the university, SLU did not perform well enough for people to forgive the players’ violations: they went 12-19 after finishing 23-12 the prior season.  Not only did I reference SLU’s promise, but also Missouri and Illinois’ predicted success for 2010-11.

Both Missouri and Illinois kept their core team together between the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons. The experts agreed with my predictions, ranking Missouri 15 and Illinois 16 in preseason and big things were expected of Missouri and Illinois come tournament time.

Quoting last year’s article, all three teams should improve “with SLU losing no players to graduation next year, Illinois only losing one major contributor and with Missouri having the depth to overcome their losses.” Of course, none of the teams improved, with SLU taking a huge step back and Illinois and Missouri staying put.

SLU’s two best players, Kwamain Mitchell and Willie Reed, as well as other role players, were excused from athletic participation this year following an incident involving multiple SLU basketball players and a SLU student.  No matter the player’s testimony, these off the court problems cannot be tolerated, especially at a mid-major school like SLU.

Some schools keep their respect despite suspensions and NCAA probations with one easy solution: winning games. A perfect example of this is Connecticut, who has been hammered by the NCAA for violations in recent years, yet because of their ability to win, they have maintained their respect in the eyes of much of the American public. However, SLU is not the team most area basketball fans follow, that title usually belongs to Missouri or Illinois, who had drastically disappointing seasons.

Missouri cracked the top 10 during the season and generated national attention. The team’s depth was on display during the non-conference games, beating Vanderbilt- a possible Final Four team next year, Illinois and Old Dominion.  Then, the season slowly began to unravel due to Missouri’s inability to win a conference game on the road. It was not a quick drop with one terrible loss, the losses added up as Missouri continually lost to lower-tier Big 12 teams.

Illinois’ downfall was even more mysterious, beating great teams in North Carolina and Wisconsin, but having horrific losses to Indiana and Illinois-Chicago. Last summer, it looked as if area basketball could reach its height this year, but because of off the court issues, inability to win on the road and inconsistency, SLU, Missouri and Illinois disappointed viewers across the country. An opportunity to make some noise on the national scene was knocking on the door of all three colleges, but they all failed to answer.