They all showed up Friday night at Savage Arena.
The national TV cameras. The students. The community.
And, most of all, the best basketball team in the Mid-American Conference.
If the Rockets had visions of a regular-season league title or an address on the bubble of the big dance, they vanished in an 88-82 loss to No. 25 Buffalo that felt less like a missed opportunity than a confirmation of what we already suspected.
Toledo is a good MAC team. Buffalo is a great one.
There is no shame in that. The Rockets did not step on themselves.