Only one major upset in the big conferences occurred Thursday night as LSU fell out of the bracket following a loss to Georgia. So tonight, we'll look at two issues involving mid and low majors. First, we'll see just what is going on in the WAC as the seeming favorite lost. And we'll see why the Bracket Brief gives automatic bids to certain teams who may not be in first-place in their league.
@Idaho 73, New Mexico State 67: I don't usually spend any time up here on games involving conferences that will only advance an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, but this one is worth noting. Heading into the conference season, NMSU looked like it would run away with the WAC. But Sim Bhullar, the Aggies' 7'5" center, missed almost all of January with a foot issue. During that time, NMSU slipped, going only 4-2 with once incomprehensible losses to Chicago State and UMKC. With Bhullar back and playing a full set of minutes, it seemed like NMSU should be able to storm through the rest of its WAC schedule. But NMSU still found a way to lose at 9-14 (3-6) Idaho. I think at this point, I will have to project Utah Valley as the WAC's champion until NMSU proves it can earn the automatic bid.
The conference tournaments with home sites used are always interesting from an automatic bid standpoint. In the NEC, I think Bryant is the best team by a slight margin, but Robert Morris has been maintaining its first-place standing, even when on the road, as tonight where they picked up a win at LIU Brooklyn. That win is far more important than, say, Georgia State's because GSU will have to head to New Orleans with all the other Sun Belt teams.
That distinction is part of the reason why I left North Dakota State as the Summit's automatic bid even when IPFW was alone in first place. All of the Summit's teams will play in Sioux Falls for the conference automatic bid. The conference that use some home courts: America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Horizon, MAC, NEC, and Patriot. (Thanks to Chris Dobbertean's excellent page on Blogging the Bracket for the conference sites information.)
There are other considerations, of course. I put a lot of weight in those conferences into how a team is playing within the conference and ignore most of the early season results. That's why NMSU is poised to lose its spot in the WAC (see above), and why I've got VMI winning the Big South despite Charleston Southern's decent and competitive non-conference slate (I would put a number of teams above the Buccaneers in the Big South currently).
@Cincinnati 63, Connecticut 58 - Cinci wins close game over UConn at home, as expected
Robert Morris 65, @LIU Brooklyn 56
@VCU 68, Rhode Island 52
@Georgia 91, LSU 78 - LSU falls out of the bracket with this loss
@SMU 75, Temple 52
@North Dakota State 66, IUPUI 60
Georgia State 68, @Arkansas Little Rock 57
Davidson 109, @Samford 88
@Arizona 67, Oregon - UA escapes in first game of its season without Brandon Ashley
@Michigan State 82, Penn State 67
@Weber State 84, North Dakota 72
@Louisiana Tech 66, Tulsa 61
@Belmont 99, Murray State 96
@Utah 78, Washington 69 - very important win for Utes, who can still get at-large bid
@Stephen F. Austin 93, Nicholls State 64
@Arizona State 86, Oregon State 82 (OT)
@BYU 89, Santa Clara 76
Saint Mary's 77, Loyola Marymount 58
UC Santa Barbara 75, @Hawaii 64
While Friday is typically reserved for the MAAC and the Ivy, with a couple of other low-major teams sprinkled in, the Big East hits college basketball's off day hard with its two power teams in action. We'll also look at all the best-case scenarios left for teams in major conferences hoping to get into the bracket in the Friday Appraisal.
Seton Hall at #2 Villanova
#14 Mercer at Kennesaw State
#15 Iona at Niagara
Brown at #9 Harvard
DePaul at #3 Creighton
Marshall at #12 Southern Miss
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