The 2020 NCAA tournament cancellation has completely ruined the Dayton Flyers

In March 2020, the Dayton Flyers, led by NPOY Obi Toppin, were 29-2 and poised for a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, a once-in-a-lifetime achievement for a program of their caliber. SportsLine even had them as their projected champion. A program-boosting run to the Final Four seemed probable at worst. Such a run could've helped them join a major conference or become the Gonzaga of the Atlantic 10. Then COVID struck and the season got cancelled.

Since then, the program has fallen into complete ruin and any momentum gained from that season is shot. This year's team is the most disappointing. They returned basically everyone from last year that beat eventual national champion Kansas in the regular season and were ranked in both major polls. The reality? They're 5-5 with several bad losses and both their starting guards are out for an extended period of time. DaRon Holmes, who was supposed to be "Obi 2.0," doesn't even look like an NBA draft pick. It's bad enough that they're not living up to preseason expectations, but taking into account that this team was supposed to make up for what was lost in 2020, I'd go as far as to say that this year's Dayton team is the most disappointing in sports history. It feels like all their preseason ranking and them being considered a Final Four darkhorse/DaRon Holmes being considered a NPOY contender were just wishful thinking by people in hopes that they could make up for what was lost in 2020.

Before 2020, Dayton fans were just happy to have a team to root for. After having that once-in-a-lifetime season ripped away from them, their fans want that again and now. If they don't get back to that level soon (which is virtually impossible for them to achieve in 50 years, let alone 5), their fans will start to get impatient. Their support will start dwindling and the cash flow will get slower and slower. I wouldn't be surprised if they went the UAB football route down the line.