The Thursday GoMocs.com Top 10 Moments series continues today with No. 4. Check the countdown out here with
No. 5,
No. 6,
No. 7,
No. 8,
No. 9 and
No. 10.
When you talk about the greatest team in school history, the term arguably has to be thrown in. Let's face it, when you have the history the Chattanooga Mocs do, how can put one team over another?
One pundit mentions the 1977 DII National Championship team. An alum quickly asserts the 1982 Southern Conference Champions that so narrowly missed a trip to the NCAA Sweet 16 ending the season ranked No. 15 in the AP poll.
Another fan quickly chimes in…the 1997 team DID go to the Sweet 16! It's a fun debate. But the 2015-16 team can stand up, look right and left and proclaim as quietly or loudly as they like…
No Chattanooga Mocs team ever won more games!
Here is a list of "winning notes" from the season:
- School-record 29 games tied for seventh-most in the nation (best 27 in 1976-77 & 1981-82).
- 26 REGULAR SEASON victories (23, 1992-93) is also a new program standard.
- 19th 20-win campaign in school history and the first back-to-back since 1993 and 1994.
- 51 wins over last two years is most since 53 in 1982 (27) and 1983 (26).
- Tied '82 and '83 for fastest in school history reaching 20 wins (23 ggames).
The recently graduated
Eric Robertson had two thoughts when asked about the epic campaign. One was how special it was to win almost 30 while also hoping the record is short lived.
Yep 29 triumphs. Two more than any UTC team before it. Matched only by two of the Stephen Curry Davidson (2007, 2008) teams and the 1959 West Virginia Mountaineers, led by Jerry West, in the last 75 years in the SoCon. The record of 30 is held, for now, by North Carolina (1946) and N.C. State (1951).
So what went into it? What caused this run? Why was this the winningest team in school history and over the last 75 years in the league?
According to rising senior
Tre' McLean, it was the depth of the team. You never knew who was going to step up, but someone always did.
The season opened with three straight wins, two coming on the road at Georgia and Illinois. McLean shared that the UGA win was the season's springboard despite it being the first contest.
So how did they do it? What was the magic formula? For McLean, it wasn't one person. It wasn't just the five guys on the floor.
It was 15 guys…especially the 10 not on the floor.
He'll get no argument from coach
Matt McCall.
Trademark humbleness from McCall there. Truth be told, you can't pin it on one thing or person. Execution on the court only comes from tireless work off it. That came from the coaches, players and support staff. It takes a team effort.
It didn't start in November of 2015. This particular team began its work well before then. For some, it was a four years of labor.
Looking back, Robertson summed it up better than my words ever could.