Will the WAC Ever Get More than One Bid Again?
Looking at the trend over the past few years for the NCAA selection committee to fill at-large berths with schools from so-called "power conferences," I'm wondering if the WAC will ever be able to get more than one team into the tourney again. This year, if memory serves, only 4 at-large berths were awarded to schools from non-power conferences. Doesn't seem to bode well for the WAC. Especially when you consider how low USU's seeding was while owning the most wins in the country this year. Seems clear that they would not have gotten in with 29 wins if UNR had beaten them in the WAC final.
Thoughts?
Re: Will the WAC Ever Get More than One Bid Again?
According to Jay Bilas we(mid-majors) don't deserve it. He claims that the USU's and Saint Mary's aren't doing a good enough job of scheduling OOC opponents. That is the perception out there right now and that's coming from a guy who supposedly knows college bball.
Re: Will the WAC Ever Get More than One Bid Again?
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Originally Posted by
TECH88
According to Jay Bilas we(mid-majors) don't deserve it. He claims that the USU's and Saint Mary's aren't doing a good enough job of scheduling OOC opponents. That is the perception out there right now and that's coming from a guy who supposedly knows college bball.
Yeh, in order to schedule harder, the mid-majors have to take it up the ass. The big schools demand 2 for 1s, and you end up like Davidson this year. Having to play 3 away games and 2 neutral site games against the bigs because they dont have to come to your house. College sports is the epitome of the rich getting richer.
Re: Will the WAC Ever Get More than One Bid Again?
I think the selection committee shot a very audible warning shot over the bow of every non-BCS basketball playing conference with the exclusion of St Mary's -
High rpi -
Good number of wins -
Good looking schedule before the season started -
Eight strait road games so they didn't load up with patsies at home -
I don't buy the fact that USC and MSU cost St Mary's their bid - my guess is that it would have been Penn St, Fla or Auburn - instead of St Mary's or Creighton in the field -
I think its fairly obivious that Utah St would have been the odd mad out if they would have lost to NMST or Nevada since they were seeded 11th -
However, I think USU's OOC schedule did not stack up very well
I think it will be very hard for the WAC to get two bids once again - unless you get some strong OOC wins on the road some place - basically forcing the mid-majors to play 3 or 4 BCS schools away each year to have a chance
Re: Will the WAC Ever Get More than One Bid Again?
A large part of the problem with that logic is that a lot of the "power conference" schools won't play the mid-major schools they see as being dangerous. I heard Condie say one time that when they were trying to fill out their schedule for last year, they called pretty much every school in the SEC and Big 12 -- looking for guarantee games, not even looking for return trips -- and they all gave Tech an emphatic NO. UCLA was the only big-time school that would agree to give Tech a money game because the other schools knew what we had and knew that there was a decent chance they might get beat.
It's a no-win situation...the mid-majors get blasted for not playing a tougher schedule, but the bigger schools won't agree to play them, because the bigger schools have nothing to gain and everything to lose by playing a Utah State or a Louisiana Tech.
Re: Will the WAC Ever Get More than One Bid Again?
Most schools can get 1 and done guarantees...
Because in college basketball they know that 80% of the time they are going to win on thier home court....
The number is even higher in OOC play -
Re: Will the WAC Ever Get More than One Bid Again?
Well, I guess USU proved their detractors correct. :icon_roll:
Re: Will the WAC Ever Get More than One Bid Again?
Dang it. Marquette wins by one point over USU.
Re: Will the WAC Ever Get More than One Bid Again?
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Originally Posted by
Tech77
Dang it. Marquette wins by one point over USU.
I didn't see the game, but it looks like USU dug itself into a hole the first half and couldn't quite dig itself back out.
Re: Will the WAC Ever Get More than One Bid Again?
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Originally Posted by
Brian96
I didn't see the game, but it looks like USU dug itself into a hole the first half and couldn't quite dig itself back out.
They were down something like 23-9 as Dwayne and I left the truck to eat lunch.
Re: Will the WAC Ever Get More than One Bid Again?
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Originally Posted by
Tech77
They were down something like 23-9 as Dwayne and I left the truck to eat lunch.
And 26-18 at the half, so it looks like they started the turnaround earlier than I realized.
I wonder if this is like what Knight was saying about Memphis. They got into something of a rut playing against mediocre teams in their conference and conference tourney, and just weren't mentally prepared for the kind of opponent they were going to face in the tourney.
I was hoping they would make a decent run, start off next year with better RPI, and then be in a position to get an at-large berth when we beat them in the WAC tourney next year. Oh, well. I guess we'll just have to be a one-bid league again next year, and it will be up to the Dawgs to make that Sweet 16 run that the conference needs to get the units back up. :icon_wink:
Re: Will the WAC Ever Get More than One Bid Again?
Looking at the play-by-play they caught up at 33-33 and 43-43, before taking a six-point lead with about 4:40 left.
They then gave up six straight points, but had one more lead, a one-point lead, with about 1:40 left, before going down for good.
Re: Will the WAC Ever Get More than One Bid Again?
Marq. played great defense in the 1st half and USU couldn't get a look. The had a hand on a LOT of passes. USU came out in the 2nd half in a zone that really frustrated and got them back in the game. But USU's top 2 scorers (PG and Wiley) fouled out in the last 2 minutes and you could tell the rest of the team got worried.
They were strong but Marquette was just too quick for them and got them out of their game plan. A LOT of missed 3pt shots as well.
Re: Will the WAC Ever Get More than One Bid Again?
Utah State's RPI was 23, so there should have been no question they should have been in even with a loss to Nevada in the WAC final.
It is about time the NCAA men's basketball committee instituted a rule that puts teams with 20 or more wins and in the Top 30 RPI in the field with no discussion allowed.
Re: Will the WAC Ever Get More than One Bid Again?
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Originally Posted by
Brian96
I wonder if this is like what Knight was saying about Memphis. They got into something of a rut playing against mediocre teams in their conference and conference tourney, and just weren't mentally prepared for the kind of opponent they were going to face in the tourney.
I assume he was saying this before the tournament started this year. But his point falls apart when you look at Memphis's two games this year and run last year. It doesn't look like their schedule really hurt them at all.
I guess you could make the case that they didn't know how to win the close NC game because they hadn't been in many, but it isn't like they hadn't ever shot free throws before.