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The improbable title run is done. Youngstown State's football team, a team predicted to finish in the middle of the Missouri Valley Football Conference pack, advanced to Saturday's FCS title game -- losing 28-14 against a talented James Madison team.
That said, YSU fans will focus their attention to the Feb. 1 signing day when the Penguins can address some of their needs heading into the 2017 season.
Penguins fans also can start talking men's basketball as well.
YSU, now 8-9 and 2-2 in the Horizon League, won a come-from-behind victory Saturday at Wright State, 80-75.
The Penguins shot 60 percent in the second half and kept Wright State's offense at bay, with Raiders' leading scorer Mark Alstork limited to 10 points on 3-of-13 shooting from the floor -- almost 10 points under his average.
YSU rallied from a 14-point halftime deficit and had four players in double figures -- Francisco Santiago (20), Cameron Morse (16), Jorden Kaufman (14) and Matt Donlan (11).
YSU also shot 11-of-15 from the foul line. Considering it was a road game, it was amazing to see the Penguins get 15 free-throw attempts -- let alone 11 makes. This was a YSU team that started Horizon League play with two straight games of shooting less than 60 percent from the charity stripe.
Can the Penguins get this kind of production the rest of the season? Can YSU have success in its current two-game homestand -- Thursday (Valparaiso) and Saturday (UIC) -- then go on the road Jan. 16 for a win at 2-13 Detroit?
It would be YSU's first three-game win streak in league play since the 2012-13 season. That season the Penguins went 18-16 and were 7-9 in league play -- advancing to the second-round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament. YSU went on a four-game winning streak starting in mid-January in 2013.
Saturday's victory against Wright State could be a turning point for this YSU team, which has one of the best offenses in this league -- when it is producing.
Morse, who is trying to make his bid as Horizon League Player of the Year, leads the league with 21.5 points per game. Santiago, a feisty point guard, averages 16 points and nine rebounds. Donlan broke through into double figures for the first time in league play. The Penguins two posts, Devin Haygood and Jorden Kaufman, both shoot more than 71 percent from the floor.
YSU needs to find four consistent double-figure scorers and find a way to be consistently productive this season. It doesn't have to be the same four every night. The deeper this bench can be, the more dangerous this team can be closer to the Horizon League Tournament in early March.
Can this YSU team build off of this Wright State victory and put something together this season instead of another 20-loss season, one-and-out in the league tournament, and so forth?
YSU's football team was a middle-of-the-pack squad that exceeded expectations -- advancing to the FCS Championship.
In this upcoming homestand, YSU can build upon its road win and have, gasp, a winning streak. That could lead to the Penguins climbing up the Horizon League standings and putting more people than empty seats inside Beeghly Center.
For the next couple of months, all eyes are on the men's basketball team. The question is can this Penguins team make something magical happen at the end of its regular season?
After what the football team has done, the men's basketball team needs to keep YSU fans well entertained this winter.