With an eye toward March...
Study your west coast, and that is not limited to the Pac-10.
It The Mountain West and the Western Athletic conferences are keeping potential opponents up late, and not just because their games come on ESPN at midnight eastern time. BYU, Air Force and UNLV from the Mountain West, and Nevada and New Mexico State from the WAC, all belong in this year’s NCAA Tournament and all have the capability of playing into the second weekend.
The five teams have a combined 102-23 record, and 11 of those wins against teams from the traditional top six conferences. All five average at least 70. 6 points per game, and slip into that dangerous range of not being recognizable enough names to qualify as favorites but too recognizable to be grouped with double-digit seeded Cinderellas.
New Mexico State is the only of the five teams without one of those 11 wins, but the Aggies played Arizona tough and beat Nevada. In 2004, Utah St. made dubious history as the first Top 25 team not to be included in the field of 64, and this would be the perfect time to atone for that mistake by tossing the WAC a second bid.
Questions or Comments?
Contact Ryan at rdunleav@hotmail.com.