First, I wish to clarify the nicknames I use for the Big Sky Conference travel partners.
Montanas--Montana and Montana State
I-15ers--Weber State and Idaho State
Northerns--Northern Colorado and Northern Arizona
Northwesterns--Portland State and Eastern Washington
Sacramento State--Travels alone. Their old travel partner, CSU-Northridge, is now in the Big West.
Games this weekend:
Montanas visit the I-15ers
Sacramento State visits the Northwesterns
The Northerns play each other in Flagstaff on Saturday.
Second, the Big Sky is still only a one-bid NCAA conference, although UNC has come close to building a good enough resume for an at-large bid. If only they could have won that game at Oklahoma. Montana has a decent resume as well. There are not enough at-large opportunities to go around anymore. But there are four Big-Sky schools that have a good enough resume for the NIT or CBIT.
Third, the BSC tournament is a six-team tourney. The first place team hosts the tournament, both the first and second place team get a first round bye. The first round of the tournament will have the sixth place team visiting the third place team and the fifth place team visiting the fourth place team.
Power Rankings:
1. Northern Colorado--Enters Big Sky play with 12 wins. Three of those wins are against the Mountain West Conference: Air Force, Colorado State and TCU. They also beat Hawaii, San Jose State and Denver. The Bears beat Montana in Missoula in early season conference play. Their losses are to Wyoming, and Oklahoma in a nail-biter and an early-season Big Sky roadie at Montana State. The Bears are in good shape going into conference play. With the way the Bears are playing ball, I expect the Big Sky tourney to be in Greeley. This could put them in place for an NCAA bid...their first since becoming and D-I school.
2. Montana--The Grizzlies have 10 wins going into conference play. Their resume includes wins against Boise State, Loyola Marymont, Oregon and Fresno State--with the last two on the road. Their losses are to Denver, Washington, Colorado State and an early-season conference home game to the other Bears while beating the Lumberjacks. Montana should get into the NIT if they do not win the BSC tournament.
3. Weber State--The Wildcats were slow out of the gate. Street and Smith predicted they would go 2-10 in non-conference play and win the conference. Instead they went 6-6. Here is to beating expectations. The Cat's have had problems taking on teams with size, which explains losses to Utah State twice as well at UC Santa Barbara, Seattle, BYU and UNLV. But they own wins against Utah and Cal-State Fullerton. I imagine that the Street and Smith folks expected WSU to loose to Southern Utah and Morehead State as well. They also won an early-season conference roadie against Sacramento State. Weber State may get into the CBIT if they do not win the BSC tourney.
4. Montana State--The Bobcats are 7-5 at this time. They have a trio of impressive wins against San Francisco, UC-Santa Barbara and Cal-Poly. They have losses at Oregon, Nevada, Boise State and Memphis. They also split an early season conference home-stand against the Northerns, beating NCU but loosing to NAU. The Bobcats could use a little more consistency. Montana State may get into the CBIT as well, depending on how well they play in conference.
5. Portland State--The Vikings enter the bulk of Big Sky play at 6-7. Their early season conference game was a home win against Eastern Washington. They do not play again until they host the Hornets on Saturday. Their impressive wins come against Cal Poly, U or Portland, and Pepperdine. They lost to the likes of Wright State, Washington, Stanford, Saint Mary, Washington State and Boise State. A little more consistency and their resume would be a little bit stronger. Their bubble has already burst with just one to many losses. The Vikings will have to win the Big Sky tourney to go dancing. They will have to win 13 or 14 conference games to get to one of the consolation tournaments.
6. Sacramento State--The Hornets enter the New Year with a non-so-shabby 6-8 record. They also have a win at Oregon State. They won an early-season conference game at Idaho State, while loosing at home to Weber State. They have lost chances to impress selection committees--lossing to Rice, Idaho, USC, Pacific and Loyola Marymount. The only path the the post-season will be to win the Big Sky Tournament.
7. Northern Arizona--The Lumberjacks are 5-7 with one of the weaker non-conference schedules. They have a win at Air Force, but only had a chance to impress selection committees with road losses against Arizona, New Mexico and San Diego State. Had one game against Pacific suspended. Two of their losses were early season conference games in Montana. Will need to win the Big Sky Tournament to get to the post-season.
8. Eastern Washington--The Eagles are 4-10, and were the team that finally gave a dose of reality to the Seattle Red Hawks. They had plenty of chances to impress people with losses to Portland, Washington State, Boise State, Idaho, Nevada, BYU and Gonzaga. They also lost at home to Portland State in early December. It should be obvious that their bubble has burst. The Hornets are in Cheney on Thursday.
9. Idaho State--How many athletic directors in the country would schedule road games against Iowa State, Bradley, BYU, Utah State, Notre Dame, Utah, USC and Oregon? Idaho State had this schedule and all of these games all turned into losses for the Bengals. They also lost a home game to Boise State, as well as a close one at home to the Hornets. If it were not for a D-II team and an NAIA school at home, they would only have a win at Missouri-Kansas City to their credit. The Bengals are in last because who ever scheduled their games doesn't know the difference between a challenging schedule and a killer one. No NIT or CBIT or any post season unless they can win the Big Sky Tourney, even if they finish 15-1 in conference play.
No comments:
Post a Comment