So here I was, ready to proclaim Saint Mary's the new West Coast Conference power.
George Mason 65, Saint Mary's 63: Gonzaga had already lost this year to Dayton in Maui and to Kansas State in Wichita, neither horrible losses, but this Gonzaga has no signature wins. Before it headed out to Maui, SMC had a comparable schedule, yet was still undefeated. Well, undefeated no more. SMC flies away from Hawaii with three losses and no additional wins. Three bad losses, mind you. The late game on Tuesday night was Saint Mary's playing at Hawaii, and UH squeaked out a two-point win. This followed SMC's loss to a fairly poor South Carolina team. Tonight's loss to George Mason is just as bad.
Heading into the Diamond Head Classic, Saint Mary's probably seemed to be the second-best team in the tournament behind Iowa State, who ended up winning. To walk away with these three losses, all to the three worst-teams in the tournament, is fairly shocking. SMC is clearly not ready to take away the WCC from Gonzaga, and more than that, SMC is looking at some bubble danger. Gonzaga and BYU have suffered losses which do not raise the WCC's RPI as high as it could be, and now SMC has added three bad losses to the conference's RPI. SMC needs to get back to its winning ways, or it could be sweating on Selection Sunday.
Iowa State 70, Boise State 66: This is not an unexpected win, but I was expecting a bit of a bigger win by the Cyclones. Boise State's 8-0 start had some hints of Wyoming's 13-0 start last year: no real good teas, and as soon as the competition picks up, the losses start piling up. BSU's wins are even worse than Wyoming's last year, and as we all remember, the Cowboys fell apart so completely that they missed the NCAA tournament. At this point, BSU isn't in that position, they're still easily on the bubble, but the Broncos would serve themselves well by finding a win on the schedule at some point that is better than its home win over Utah.
ISU keeps rolling though, remaining one of only nine unbeaten teams, with wins over Michigan, Iowa, and at BYU. It has a ridiculous RPI, gaudy efficiency numbers, and should challenge for the championship of one of the best conferences this year. Iowa State shouldn't be challenged again until a home game against Baylor on January 7. Things are nothing but rosy at Iowa State right now.
College basketball does not pick back up until Friday, with only nine games on the slate. But it is worth keeping your bracket eye on:
UL Monroe at Ohio State
Northern Kentucky at North Carolina
St. Katherine at San Diego State
Yes, SDSU is playing the same St. Katherine who lost to 5-7 Utah Valley by 52 points. Who lost to 2-5 Weber State by 71 points. SKC is playing its very first season this year, borrowing gyms from others to practice in, hopefully making some money to suffer these absurd losses. If Weber State beat this team by 71, what on Earth is SDSU going to win by?
No comments:
Post a Comment