One thing I think everyone should understand about Memphis—the city, the institution, the basketball team and the idea itself—as a matter of policy: it is going to assume your disrespect is intentional, whether that’s how you meant it or not.
This probably doesn’t have anything to do with you as a person; the chip on the shoulder is a feature, not a bug, and it would be there either way. But it’s you that’s got to find a way to get square with it, because Memphis is gonna be Memphis in all its glory.
For Memphis, in a post-Texas A&M, post-Clemson, post-Virginia world where all those games became wins for the Tigers, the crowing is going to be loud, brash, and earned. And why not? Three ranked wins in a row for the Tigers—a first for the program since the storied 2008 season that ultimately led to the NCAA sniffing around and John Calipari absconding to Lexington—is reason enough to get fired up.
People don’t want to give credit to Penny Hardaway, which is a shame because he is Memphis in many ways—the “We want all the smoke” statement didn’t appear out of thin air. That’s a dude who played for Memphis when it meant something more, when the Pyramid was more than a Bass Pro, when the Great Midwest Conference was a thing, when Cincinnati was the devil in black. He watched the program crumble, rise, plateau and was identified as The Guy among all guys who could restore it to former glory. Ding Penny for the James Wiseman business or some of the most baby-town frolic recruiting violations if you want, but all of college basketball needs to stop pretending the guy can’t coach.