1) They players want to win, but the fans are invested in winning. If winning a title is your sole end all, be all, you are going to be very disappointed. With any coach.
2) You all have heard it, it's very hard to beat a team 3 times in one year. Your players don't play with the same fire. Add in Pearl was playing the "win one for the gipper" card, and Auburn was a team on a mission.
3) That we missed so many free throws is an indicator of where the cats mental focus was...not Auburn.
4) You can out coach the other team, and win, out talent the other team, and win, or our coach AND out talent the other team, and blow the other guys out.
We have done the 4th option for so long a lot of our fan base assumes that this is the natural order. It's not. The natural order is you're better half the time, and worse the other half. Too many of our posters, whether troll , CLOD, or immature, do not handle disappointment as well as a toddler.
I had a bad feeling about playing Auburn for a third time, minus their best player. Trap game written all over it. So instead I went to a family function, even though the hostess gave me permission to skip it to watch the game. Told her I'll just skip today, and watch the FF. Didn't even tape it, and glad I didn't