What should be the goals for ETSU basketball?

It's a different era in NCAA Division I college athletics with it more challenging than ever for schools like East Tennessee State. There weren't the big upsets in the opening round of the NCAA basketball tournament. Much was made of No. 12 High Point beating No. 5 Wisconsin. In reality, the Panthers have made an incredible investment to compete with the larger schools. Leagues like the Southern Conference get just one bid in the postseason. Mercer was the highest-rated RPI team ever to miss an at-large bid to the NCAA baseball tournament. The Bears (44-15) were No. 28 in the RPI, three spots ahead of Tennessee when the selections were made. Mercer's resume' included a late-season win over ACC champion Georgia Tech. Back in 2015, the Bears received an at-large bid with a 42 ranking in the RPI. Likewise, the ETSU men's tennis team missed the postseason despite having a 21-match win streak before their loss in the SoCon tournament. With that in mind and ETSU not getting in the NIT tournament after winning the 2026 Southern Conference regular-season basketball championship, what should be the goals for head coach Brooks Savage and the Bucs' hoops program? This comes from a media perspective, so we're talking about external goals. Coaches have internal issues, such as building relationships, that aren't measured by sheer numbers. Winning record — Like it or not, wins and losses are No. 1 in the way coaches are judged. Obviously, no one wants a scandal or off-court issues. On the court, what matters most to the average fan is the end result. Savage has a winning record in all three of his seasons as head coach. He has posted an overall record of 61-40 record and 33-21 in the Southern Conference. Exciting product — Have the Bucs played an exciting brand of basketball under Savage? Absolutely. There have been multiple games which have come down to the final possessions. There have been a couple of the greatest comebacks in program history against the school's two biggest rivals. The first was ETSU's 85-84 victory over Chattanooga in the 2024 Southern Conference semifinal. The Bucs were down by 20 points with a little over 14 minutes remaining when they stormed back to win. Similarly, the Bucs rallied from a 17-point deficit to defeat Western Carolina 69-67 in this year's tournament. 20 Wins — After 19 wins in each of his first two seasons as head coach, Savage went 23-11 in the 2025-26 campaign. Some of the highlights included blowout wins over Central Arkansas and South Alabama at home, and key SoCon road wins at Wofford and Furman. Going back to the previous point, ETSU erased a 15-point deficit in the second half of their home game against Furman to score a 75-71 overtime win. Regular-season championship — This doesn't ensure postseason play, but it is a reflection on a team's body of work over an extended period. The Bucs were able to wrap up the 2026 title with back-to-back road wins at Furman and UNC Greensboro. Unfortunately, they came up short against Wofford in the final home game and lost to Mercer to end the regular season. Still, it provided fans a season to remember as the men and women both captured SoCon crowns. 25 Wins — This mark has become harder to achieve, although the Bucs were close last season. Obviously, you have to get some breaks in close games. As Savage has pointed out multiple times, the Bucs aren't getting the talent they were able to recruit when he was an assistant coach on the 2017 and 2020 championship teams. The current NIL and transfer portal means there are few guys like a 7-foot Peter Jurkin or 6-10 Mladen Armus available. If players like them and more recently Quimari Peterson have success, it's nearly impossible to keep them. They're lucky to keep the fourth or fifth best player in this era. So, the 27-8 record posted by the 2017 squad or the 30-4 record of the 2020 team, which didn't get to play in the NCAA tournament due to COVID-19, is extremely tough to match. SoCon tournament championship — That's the goal every season. Like the previous goal, it takes a certain amount of good fortune over the 3-4 days in Asheville to come away with a championship. Although Furman was the No. 6 seed in the 2026 tournament, the Paladins were the worst matchup for the Bucs. Most looked at Furman as the most talented team in the SoCon with the return of 6-11 junior Cooper Bowser from injury late in the season. He along with his brother, Cole, freshman sensation Alex Wilkins, Tom House and Charles Johnston provided plenty of punch for the Paladins. NCAA tournament win — This has become extremely difficult, although Furman was competitive against UConn in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The Huskies led just 40-36 at halftime before taking an 82-71 victory. Still, this is a far cry from ETSU winning against Arizona in 1992, nearly upsetting No. 1 Oklahoma in 1989 or losing to Cincinnati 80-77 in 2004. Will the tournament expansion to 76 teams hurt or help the mid-to-lower major programs? That remains to be seen. Why ETSU has a chance of meeting goals? Savage has built a program based on defensive intensity and tough play. ETSU led the Southern Conference by giving up less than 70 points per game, and outrebounded opponents despite being outsized in many games last season. The Bucs forced nearly 13 turnovers per game, and scored 16 points per game off them. They averaged nearly nine steals per game, and opponents were held to 42.5 percent from the field. When the Bucs are playing unselfish and knocking down shots, they're particularly hard to handle. They had 14.1 assists per game last season with a positive assist-to-turnover ratio.