Tweeting ORU Fans Lift Perception Of Golden Eagles (Mike Brown blog)

[Old Titan]

You're gonna love this....

Tweeting ORU fans lift perception of Golden Eagles

3/9/2012 10:15:00 PM

As Selection Sunday approaches, ORU is coming up in the world, at least in one bracketologist’s estimation. And it’s apparently all because of the efforts of Golden Eagles fans savvy in the use of social media tools, such as Twitter.

Mike Minyard, ORU director of marketing/ticket sales, has been driving an all-out Twitter blitz that finally came to the attention of Eamonn Brennan, who writes the Bubble Watch for ESPN.com.

After excluding the Eagles from his consideration for days, Brennan added them in Friday afternoon, along with an admission that ORU fans "have a point."

"Oral Roberts fans have been incessantly pinging the Watch on Twitter over the past week, asking exactly why the Golden Eagles haven't been getting the same at-large bubble "love" as, say, Drexel," Brennan wrote.

"The Watch tries to avoid peer pressure at all costs, of course, but the more it looked at ORU's resume, the more it had to just come out and admit it: Those fans have a point. That’s not to say the Eagles have a totally strong case. The top-50 RPI and the (17-1) Summit League mark are about the best things going. . . .

"But when you compare and contrast this profile with, say, Drexel’s – a team most believe to be worthy of a bid – ORU’s has similar marks in road-neutral record, top-50 (1-2), top-100 and its quantity of wins against teams outside the top 200 (both went 15-0). . . . (And), if we’re talking about Drexel as an at-large, it’s hard to ignore the fightin’ Oral Bobs in that calculus, too.â€

ORU posted a school-record 27 regular-season wins at the Division I level and won the Summit League title outright, but lost in the semifinals of the conference tournament. The Eagles are now hoping against long odds that they will hear their name called Sunday when the 68-team field is unveiled.

Minyard and other ORU fans have been using cyberspace to lobby the experts to take a closer look at the Eagles.

“It was pretty cool to see (Friday) that ESPN has put us on the bubble watch,†Minyard said. “A lot of people who didn’t know that much about us, it’s opened their eyes.â€

ESPN analyst Doug Gottlieb has been in ORU’s corner all week, and endorsements have also come from Dick Vitale, ESPN’s Dana O’Neil and CBS’s Greg Anthony, who long ago said the Eagles could be the next Butler or Virginia Commonwealth, a mid-major team capable of making a run to the Final Four.

Earlier this year, Minyard used Twitter to help boost Damen Bell-Holter’s game-winning shot at Arkansas-Little Rock into a media sensation. He said the potential of the social media tool is “monstrous. People thought the Internet made the world a smaller place. Twitter has made it a tiny place.â€

-- Mike Brown

Here's a link to the ESPN "Bubble Watch" article mentioned in Brown's blog.

Have to admit, I was one of the skeptics earlier this week about whether or not social media could have ANY meaningful impact "inside the room" with the NCAA Selection Committee, but this incredible admission by the ESPN writer has totally changed my perspective: I think what HE says MIGHT have an impact "in the room", and if what we say to HIM is getting through via social media, then by all means, we should be TWEETING LIKE CRAZY!!

Talk about a grassroots campaign: a couple of goof-ball fans with cell phones within 72 hours get nationally published by "The Worldwide Leader In Sports". Twenty years ago, you could only hope for that kind of result with a 1000-piece direct mail campaign by a PR firm, followed by a LOT of wining, dining, and Fed-Ex envelopes to media members, and culminating in a $50,000 invoice to the ORU Athletic Deprtment for services rendered.

Minyard would probably just be grateful if someone picked up the tab for going over his data plan on his AT&T bill this month.

[ORUTerry]

It's all about the name recognition and publicity for the school and program. Some people don't get that.

[ORUalum]

I have to admit I thought you guys were tilting at windmills with the twitter campaign, but apparently it has put ORU in the discussion.

At the end of the day, I still don't see ORU getting in.

With the right match-ups I think ORU is capable of a good run in the NIT.

[Old Titan]

I have to admit I thought you guys were tilting at windmills with the twitter campaign, but apparently it has put ORU in the discussion.

At the end of the day, I still don't see ORU getting in.

With the right match-ups I think ORU is capable of a good run in the NIT.

"At the end of the day", it's not about getting in; it's about the PUBLICITY.

We're setting a precedent of being considered a POSSIBLE AT-LARGE TEAM - now, and for years to come.

This way, if our name comes up AGAIN in the next year or two, it doesn't sound as far-fetched as it perhaps seems now (or seemed a month ago).

It's a PROCESS - worthy of going through, whether we get in or not.

[Dr. Cornelius]

For years we have had to rely on biased outlets like the Tulsa World to get the message out. The Tulsa World and local media are usually slanted to the state schools because of their larger fan bases and then toward TU.

The internet changes things.

The NCAAs or not people should voice their opinion.

[SOLO_Gold]

"At the end of the day", it's not about getting in; it's about the PUBLICITY.

We're setting a precedent of being considered a POSSIBLE AT-LARGE TEAM - now, and for years to come.

This way, if our name comes up AGAIN in the next year or two, it doesn't sound as far-fetched as it perhaps seems now (or seemed a month ago).

It's a PROCESS - worthy of going through, whether we get in or not.

Wish I could retweet this entire post, OT. This is what it's all about.

Learn to take the long view, folks.

[Old Titan]

OK, now that it appears that we were MUCH more highly-regarded by the committee than probably any of us ever imagined, a couple of observations:

1. How much did social media play a part in raising the awareness of ORU's resume with the committee, via the media who picked up on it?

2. How incredibly STUPID do certain cynics who said ORU had no chance of ever getting in now look, as they went out of their way to say the social media effort was a complete waste of time?

We'll never about No. 1 (and, I already know the answer to No. 2: "Very".) But, suffice it to say that the committee apparently thought enough of ORU that they were prepared to withstand the inevitable firestorm that would have ensued had they picked the Golden Eagles over the likes of Drexel, Seton Hall, Miami, etc.

The vitriol - and the accompanying first-round expectations on a national scale that would have come from it - might have crushed this team. As it is now, they enter NIT play with a chip on their shoulder and the confidence that comes with having their name bandied about for the past week with the likes of Big East, ACC and SEC teams. Hopefully, that ego boost will pay off on Wednesday night.

[ManiacAlum]

Yeah, I gotta admit I really didn't think we were gonna be THAT close. Seems like the selection committee genuinely gave mid-majors a fair look. I can live with that. It would have been tougher if ORU had not been considered at all after a great season.

The other thing is-- I really didn't believe you guys about how much "buzz" would be generated about ORU being in the conversation on Sunday. In fact, there might be more talk now than if ORU had actually won the Summit tourney.

Remembering ORU tourney teams in '06-'08, it seems like low-major automatic qualifiers are pretty much all lumped together, some media outlets will run 'feel good' stories this week, and then they're quickly forgetten unless they win.

Don't get me wrong, I would prefer the NCAA bid, but it is fun to be mentioned along with Miami, Seton Hall, Washington and Mississippi as teams with strong enough seasons to nearly earn an at-large.

At the end of the day-- It's another banner, and 5 postseasons in 8 seasons is not bad at all.

[tmh8286]

Butler and VCU have opened a few eyes th past few tournaments.

[Old Titan]

Yeah, I gotta admit I really didn't think we were gonna be THAT close. Seems like the selection committee genuinely gave mid-majors a fair look. I can live with that. It would have been tougher if ORU had not been considered at all after a great season.

The other thing is-- I really didn't believe you guys about how much "buzz" would be generated about ORU being in the conversation on Sunday. In fact, there might be more talk now than if ORU had actually won the Summit tourney.

Remembering ORU tourney teams in '06-'08, it seems like low-major automatic qualifiers are pretty much all lumped together, some media outlets will run 'feel good' stories this week, and then they're quickly forgetten unless they win.

Don't get me wrong, I would prefer the NCAA bid, but it is fun to be mentioned along with Miami, Seton Hall, Washington and Mississippi as teams with strong enough seasons to nearly earn an at-large.

At the end of the day-- It's another banner, and 5 postseasons in 8 seasons is not bad at all.

It was really interesting week in terms of publicity - because of the bubble microscope, a lot of people in positions of influence in college basketball now know more than they probably EVER thought they would about li'l ol' ORU.

And, along those lines, I don't think I heard a word nationally all week (until the bracket came out) about the team that actually WON the Summit League tournament.

Of course, SDSU's turn in the limelight comes this week, as the office pool bracketeers wonder whether or not the Jackrabbits can shoot over Baylor's zone...

[tmh8286]

It was really interesting week in terms of publicity - because of the bubble microscope, a lot of people in positions of influence in college basketball now know more than they probably EVER thought they would about li'l ol' ORU.

And, along those lines, I don't think I heard a word nationally all week (until the bracket came out) about the team that actually WON the Summit League tournament.

Of course, SDSU's turn in the limelight comes this week, as the office pool bracketeers wonder whether or not the Jackrabbits can shoot over Baylor's zone...

It really was an interesting week for ORU. I wonder if all the national media attention about our record made our "blip" any brighter on radar screens around the coaching carousel . . .

[Bogus Smith]

OK, now that it appears that we were MUCH more highly-regarded by the committee than probably any of us ever imagined, a couple of observations:

1. How much did social media play a part in raising the awareness of ORU's resume with the committee, via the media who picked up on it?

2. How incredibly STUPID do certain cynics who said ORU had no chance of ever getting in now look, as they went out of their way to say the social media effort was a complete waste of time?

We'll never about No. 1 (and, I already know the answer to No. 2: "Very".) But, suffice it to say that the committee apparently thought enough of ORU that they were prepared to withstand the inevitable firestorm that would have ensued had they picked the Golden Eagles over the likes of Drexel, Seton Hall, Miami, etc.

The vitriol - and the accompanying first-round expectations on a national scale that would have come from it - might have crushed this team. As it is now, they enter NIT play with a chip on their shoulder and the confidence that comes with having their name bandied about for the past week with the likes of Big East, ACC and SEC teams. Hopefully, that ego boost will pay off on Wednesday night.

Although the social media showed the start of how schools will make noise to get attention in the future (great job, MM!), I believe we had some pretty good people on the selection committee on our side (IMHO).

Joe Castiglione is a big ally of ORU (even if we did stink against them in December), the Xavier AD was impressed with us in not just beating, but crushing a team that only had three good players (which didn't play), They also recognized that our winning streak started with the Xavier win and acknowledged our close game with Gonzaga before that. I have to believe that the UTSA and SMU ADs wanted anything other than another East Coach media-darling mid-major showing up in the Big Dance. When you have that many people talking in the room about you, the others are going to listen (especially if they want their particular teams selected).

A win against WIU would have knocked out Iona. Instead, we were on the other side of the St. Bonnie win as I think our chances were good for being in the First Four. This whole exercise just goes to show you that the talking heads sometimes don't have the clout that they think they have.