In a context-free land overcome by knee-jerking, tunnel vision, mismanagement from the ankles up and across all businesses and organizations, misguided standards, steroid-like expectations, vacations from reality, and a fuzzy view of the big picture, we have this.

Bob Hoffman is fired. By Mercer.

Well, hell. On so many levels.

It was an easy prediction because, of course, it makes pretty much no sense.

Twitter watchers don't get the firing

And the list to replace Hoffman ...

Column: Nobody knew Hoffman's leash was so tight

The iffy grip on reality and blurred views? They got ‘em both over there by the interstate, keeping alive a tradition that long precedes current people with titles.

Tis a land we’re in filled with people who counter nearly everything lately with “What about …?” as they pull out a measuring stick for any debate.

What about Davidson?

Won three games in the 2008 NCAA Tournament, didn't make the tournament again until 2012, and has made it four times since 2008, and won't make it this year if it doesn't win the Atlantic 10 tournament.

Bob McKillop’s first four seasons were non-winning seasons. Took Hoffman 11 – in a much tougher basketball world with much more heat – to accomplish that.

McKillop was 169-144 after 11 seasons. Two years after the big run in 2007-08, Davidson went 16-15 and 18-15.

The Wildcats since then have made, yes, four NCAA Tournaments (0-4), three NITs (1-3), and a CBI (0-1). Nope, didn't revolutionize mid-major hoops (No, Davidson, not taking a shot at you, believe me).

What about Florida Gulf Coast?

Won a couple NCAA Tourney games in 2013, didn't go again until 2016 and beat Fairleigh Dickinson and lost to North Carolina, and lost the opener in 2017 to Florida State.

The Eagles have, in fact, been pretty stable, with five straight 20-win seasons since then. Nevertheless, head coach Joe Dooley left after 2017-18 for East Carolina (yikes), FGCU hasn’t quite dominated the A-Sun (even minus Mercer, with which such a great rivalry was developing) and the Eagles are 14-18 under head coach and former assistant Michael Fly.

Nope, not quite the poster children for mid-majors here, either (Not ripping, Eagles, loved the atmosphere at the A-Sun tourney final in 2014, outstanding, and you’re still doing pretty well).

What about Wofford?

Everybody's raving about Mike Young, right? Good coach, no doubt, not in the least. Just won an award from The Sporting News.

Well, of course, in 17 years with the Terriers, he has seven losing seasons. Took him seven years to get an above-.500 season, and then, only 16-14.

“ In eight regular-season games against the top four teams - who combine for an average record of 27-7, with games left for all four - Mercer lost by only 13 in two games against Wofford, by an average of 17 to UNCG, 12 to Furman, and 11.5 to ETSU.

Those teams’ NCAA NET rankings (replacing RPIs) Tuesday afternoon: 13, 41, 58, and 72.

Last year, the SoCon’s top four teams were the same, in a different order, and combined for a 24-10 year for the full season. Last year’s final RPIs: No. 66 UNCG, No. 93 ETSU, No. 96 Furman, No. 141 Wofford, No. 163 Mercer.”

His last five years? 28-7, 15-17, 16-17, 21-13, and 29-4. One might note a lack of consistency, and one might note that patience during 31-34 leads to 29-4 and a fifth NCAA trip. And one might knee-jerk note that he didn’t build on the 28-7 year and had two losing seasons in a row and fire him. Or not.

Maybe he had a young team for a few years, like two seniors and four juniors and a bunch of freshmen and sophomores.

All of this thinking-out-loud is to help put in context Bob Hoffman's career at Mercer in the current world of college basketball.

Context. It's a fairly naughty thought process to employ anymore, and one fairly absent in the head-scratching firing Monday of Hoffman, something clearly done unofficially a week or so before Monday. Like after a 27-point loss on senior day to UNCG. Senior day. With two seniors.

To UNCG, one of three conference teams that could very, very easily make history as the Southern Conference's first at-large NCAA team.

Note: the reality is that the SoCon deserves talk of being a three-bid league this year (and almost has a fourth team, ETSU), adding to historical context, so there’s the timing of a subpar season amid historical conference success up top.

Context.

In eight regular-season games against the top four teams - who combine for an average record of 27-7, with games left for all four - Mercer lost by only 13 in two games against Wofford, by an average of 17 to UNCG, 12 to Furman, and 11.5 to ETSU.

Those teams' NCAA NET rankings (replacing RPIs) Tuesday afternoon: 13, 41, 58, and 72.

Last year, the SoCon's top four teams were the same, in a different order, and combined for a 24-10 year for the full season. Last year’s final RPIs: No. 66 UNCG, No. 93 ETSU, No. 96 Furman, No. 141 Wofford, No. 163 Mercer.

So life in the conference is getting tougher, and the Bears were likely to add to it in 2019-20.

Mercer won 19 last year, was probably a .500 team this year. The Bears had two seniors and four juniors. The rest were freshmen and sophomores. Seven Bears started at least five games, and averaged 15 or more minutes a game: Two seniors, three juniors, a sophomore, and a freshman.

That’s a nucleus of sorts returning, yes?

The Bears went 45-52 the past three seasons. Yes, the worst three years under Hoffman, who was 48-50 his first three years.

Of the 52 losses, 32 were by single digits, 23 by two possessions (six points) or less, and only seven were by 20 or more. This year, 12 by less than 10, with mostly young’ns.

Spiral? As of Wednesday afternoon, Mercer’s NET (replaced RPI) of No. 218 (out of 353 Division I teams) is ahead of 20-win Campbell (223), 21-win and last year’s tourney darling UMBC (No. 227), ol’ buddybuddy FGCU (14-18, No. 226), and above-.500 teams like No. 231 Texas Southern (20-12, SWAC), No. 238 Delaware (17-16, CAA), and No. 241 High Point (16-15, Big South).

In fact (sorry for the F word), the only teams with fewer wins ahead of Mercer are No. 197 Columbia (10-18, Ivy) and No. 212 LaSalle (10-20, A-10). And that’s it.

Clarification and disclosure: many websites still use assorted RPI formulas, and will do so until they figure out the NCAA NET algorithm. Under those equations, Mercer’s rank drops to around 250. Masseyratings.com lists a composite ranking from 62 – yeah, 62, isn’t that absurd? - different groups, and Mercer is at 218.

So please stop with the “bad couple years” and “hit a wall” and all that nonsense. Fake fiction.

Mercer under Hoffman has had very few "bad" losses, however you define it, and suffered only a few "not good" losses. This year, yes, by 27 to UNCG was bad, and by 19 to ETSU and by 13 at VMI weren't good, nor was getting swept by The Citadel.

But isn't that countered a bit by sweeping an above-.500 Samford? By losing at Georgia State by two? At N.C. State by four? At Florida by eight? At Wofford by four?

UNCG and 27 smothered all that? Smashed the light at the end of the tunnel?

Hoffman followed one losing season with another, followed that with 27 wins and the thrilling CIT championship win at Utah State. Followed the third one with 19-15, despite – typing slowly here – losing his best player, Ria’n Holland, to injury for 13 of 34 games, getting him back nowhere near 100 percent for the final two games.

So Mercer went 8-5 without its top player, that injury coming 19 games into the season, a season of six two-possession (six points or less) losses.

Yeah, embarrassing.

“ All those numbers in context indicate merely a hiccup, as Bob McKillop has had and as Mike Young has had.”

I’ve never been a believer in the blank-check thing where, no, you can’t fire this or that coach, he/she should be able to leave when they want. Bull. No team or coach is bigger than the school – note that Florida State and Penn State didn’t close, nor did Alabama or Kentucky or UCLA, etc. - and that’s still the case.

But really, Hoffman seemingly earned the right to stay until there was a legit spiral, 11 wins followed by 11 – or fewer - wins, and blowouts rather than close games, losing with seniors and juniors as the top seven or eight, evidence of a trend of iffy recruiting and poor oversight of the program.

That wasn’t the case.

Could he have a run that would truly deserve dismissal? Sure. Highly unlikely, but possible. If somebody deserves firing, fire ‘em. Not arguing that in the least.

That wasn’t the case. All those numbers in context indicate merely a hiccup, as Bob McKillop has had and as Mike Young has had.

Turns out the man who put Mercer on the map locally and nationally was on a much tighter leash than any of us imagined.

Dang leash-holders.

Coming Friday: Deciphering the possible reasons