Mid Major (and Lower) Conference Tournaments. | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Mid Major (and Lower) Conference Tournaments.

Lindy LaRocque's UNLV blew out Nevada in the MWC quarterfinals today. Not a surprise as UNLV was 18-0 in conference. I watched part of the game, and they looked very good.
 
Cleveland St. punches their ticket out of the Horizon.
 
SDSU wants to get back to the Tourney after missing out last year. They are well on their way. I forgot Dru Gylten transferred there.
 
South Florida upset in the quarterfinal of the AAC. They might get an at large bid, but not a good look for them.
 
SDSU was a buzzsaw today. 93-51 final and it was never close after the opening tip.

Good day for Jacks. Jackrabbits cruise to a tourney title, and NAU Lumberjacks moved on to the Big Sky championship game.
 
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The SDSU are the UConn of their conference. Told this to my Jackrabbits friend today and she's been giddy all day, as she considers that the highest compliment coming from me. :p

CSU Bakersfield escaped with the upset win. They were behind by 2-3 scores almost the whole game until the very end when they were able to draw a foul. Missed the 2nd free throw but a CSUB player was able to grab the rebound for an easy put back and eventually seal the win.

They play UC Irvine tomorrow, who is the #1 seed but is currently missing a player (I believe a big starter?) out due to injury. CSUB isn't going to light up the gym with shooting but I think they might be able to sneak away with another upset if they come out confident.

CSUB was coming off a 9 game losing streak and lost to CSUN both times in conference play this season. They must feel good right now. :)
 
nwhoopfan said:
South Florida upset in the quarterfinal of the AAC. They might get an at large bid, but not a good look for them.
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Think this spells doom for one at large hopeful - don't see how USF doesn't get one of those bids at NET 30 before today and wins against TX and Arkansas.

Gonzaga in a dog fight with Portland could also cost another hopeful as Gonzaga is getting in regardless. Portland up three in the fourth.
 
The teams to watch for reducing expected at large bids are:
C-USA - Middle TN
ASUN - FGSU
IVY - Princeton (I think they are in even if the lose to Columbia (which at NET 45 might sneak in anyway)
WCC - Gonzaga which we will know in the next 10 minutes.

The other Mid Major league leaders are too far down the NET ranking to get an at large bid.
 
I guess Portland doesn't want it. Blown an 8 point lead late in the game, GU on a 9-0 run to retake the lead.
 
Or maybe the game isn't over. FTs coming w/ virtually no time left.

Fowler had a miserable first half but really good 2nd half. She's probably one of the best players hardly anybody knows about.

GU kinda fell apart w/ TOs in the 2nd half.

This could be a costly game for GU. Inside 30 seconds left there was a huge collision and Kaylynnne Truong (WCC POY) appeared to suffer a shoulder injury.

This was a very physical game.
 
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Sacramento St. thumped Portland St. Big Sky title features Sac. St. against Northern Arizona. I think a team from Idaho or Montana has represented the Big Sky in the Tourney for just about forever. Not this year.
 
nwhoopfan said:
Sacramento St. thumped Portland St. Big Sky title features Sac. St. against Northern Arizona. I think a team from Idaho or Montana has represented the Big Sky in the Tourney for just about forever. Not this year.
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I assume Mark Campbell is the first call when Graves bows out from Eugene?
 
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Gate81 said:
I assume Mark Campbell is the first call when Graves bows out from Eugene?
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I think he needs a few more years under his belt to prove himself. I don't think Oregon needs to limit themselves to looking at former assistant coaches under Graves.
 
LwrcasefaN said:
Bubble Teams are toast.
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Most of the time when you look at bubble teams, they earned their way to sweating it out on Selection Sunday. As in they should've done more during the season to make sure of their inclusion.
 
The second 1st round game of the Big West conference finished up and it was another upset, UC Riverside over Cal Poly. The real stars of this conference come out tomorrow but I'm pulling for some upsets.

"Fun" fact: UC Riverside considered cutting sports in 2021 due to financial issues caused by COVID-19. Their WBB team is also languishing at the bottom of one of the lowest conferences. Nice to see the ladies get a win today.
 
This is what I dislike about the discussion of "mid-majors". Should both Portland and Gonzaga get in? IMHO yes. Should both Columbia and Princeton get in, same. Seeing the so called P5 conference teams get rewarded with a bid to the NCAAT while championing mediocrity is mind blowing. I want to see more of the less known schools in the tourney as that's how they get better, and how the whole sport gets better. As we get closer to selection Sunday, we'll see the prognosticators opine on how many bids the SEC, B10, ACC, B12 get, at the expense of a really good lesser known school.
 
BRS24 said:
This is what I dislike about the discussion of "mid-majors". Should both Portland and Gonzaga get in? IMHO yes. Should both Columbia and Princeton get in, same. Seeing the so called P5 conference teams get rewarded with a bid to the NCAAT while championing mediocrity is mind blowing. I want to see more of the less known schools in the tourney as that's how they get better, and how the whole sport gets better. As we get closer to selection Sunday, we'll see the prognosticators opine on how many bids the SEC, B10, ACC, B12 get, at the expense of a really good lesser known school.
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I don't agree in this regard - what criteria gets a so-called mid-major school a bid over a power 5 school?

A Power 5 school that has a decent record against their peers is better than a non-power 5 team that didn't beat anyone good (and many of them didn't). I feel bad for teams that went 24 - 4 and won't be in the big dance. But a closer look will usually reveal that they have absolutely no strength of schedule.

That's why Gonzaga will almost certainly be in, they have a quality body of work, and why UMass and Green Bay won't.
 
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Most of the Mid-Majors really are ONLY one bid conferences - they just don't have the athletes and skills to be competitive in the NCAA as most 1/16 and 2/15 and 3/14 games show - 50+ margins of victory are common as are many games being decided at the end of the first quarter or first half at the latest. No one wants to add a second team from any of those conferences. Of the 13 seeds only one has won a game in the tournament since 2007 and again, you really don't want to add another team from their conferences either.

Of the mid-majors only the following have a team in the top 70 of NET
C-USA - Middle TN NET 28
AAC - USF NET 30
Summit - SDSU NET 37
ASUN - FGCU NET 38
Ivy - Princeton NET 40
WCC - Gonzaga NET 41
Ivy - Columbia NET 45
Mountain West - UNLV NET 51
MVC - Drake NET 53 (fourth in their conference standings heading into the tournament)
A10 - Massachusetts NET 59
WAC - SFA NET 62
MVC - UNI NET 63 (third in their conference)
Horizon - Green Bay NET 67
MAC - Toledo NET 69
Horizon - Cleveland State NET 70

NET and RPI and other attempts at measurement always have a bias toward major conferences, but it is hard to get around that. The only thing I think should be used as a 'corrective' is to punish the majors that play really bad OOC and are in bubble territory - smack those resume padding schools down!

Most if not all of the at large bids will come from top 50 NET - a team outside of top 50 NET would need a signature win or a stunning resume and the only one I am aware of is St. Johns win against NET 2 Uconn. St Johns is currently NET 55 and that is a better win than anyone in bubble territory except Marquette at NET 43 who has the same win on their resume. The bubble will mostly be teams NET 40-50 because the top 39 already includes 10 or the AQ teams. That means if all top 39 NET make it in (likely) there are only 7 more bids to be filled. Columbia or Princeton will likely be the Ivy AQ so 40-50 leaves 10 teams to fill 7 spaces.

I think Gonzaga will make it in. And I think both Ivies will as well, and I think Marquette will too. That would leave 4 bids out of the the 7 remaining NET 50 plus St Johns. So my bubble is:
Illinois
Nebraska
Michigan St
Oklahoma St
Arkansas
Purdue
Miami
St Johns
 
I agree with others that Gonzaga and South Florida are definitely in the NCAA Tournament. So are there any other mid-major conferences that could get in an at large team if there is an upset in the conference tournament?.
 
Wyoming vs UNLV for the MWC championship. I'm pulling for the Pokes, obviously
 
Tough loss for Gonzaga yesterday. Despite the loss, they should be able to land a spot in the field of 68 in the tournament.
 
JellyBean said:
Tough loss for Gonzaga yesterday. Despite the loss, they should be able to land a spot in the field of 68 in the tournament.
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If they don't what's the point of the Top 25 rankings? They've been listed consistently throughout the season by coaches and the press. The selection committee would be daft if they were excluded.
 
In today's MAC quarterfinals, 8th seeded Buffalo giving #1 seed Toledo all they can handle, within 2 at the beginning of 3Q.
 
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