NIT Or NCAA: South Alabama

Throughout the season we'll look at bubble teams and assess whether they have a better chance of ending up in the NIT or NCAA Tournament.

Team: South Alabama

Record: 20-5

Good Wins: Mississippi State, Western Kentucky X 2

Bad Losses: North Texas, Middle Tennessee

Comments: Toiling in the relative obscurity of the Sun Belt is the only thing keeping the Jaguars on the bubble. Other than their two, admittedly bad, conference losses, they lost to Vanderbilt (2OT), Miami of Ohio and Mississippi by a combined 11 points. They have the 14th best rebounding percentage in the country, the 14th most efficient offense and play smashmouth on each end of the court.

Other Views: They ranked 37th in RPI before beating WKU on the road last night, are 32nd in Basketball State's ratings, 48th in the Sagarin Ratings and in as an at-large according to Bracketology.

Verdict: A glance at the numbers above should leave you scratching your head about how the Jaguars aren't a tournament team. The answer lies in their conference, of course. Assuming they win their three remaining regular season games, it shouldn't matter if they win the Sun Belt tournament, but history has too much evidence that it's not a sure thing. They've achieved on the court and do well in any ratings metric, though, and actually watching them play only makes them look better. Last night's sweep of Western Kentucky, cementing them as the league's best team, should be the final feather in the cap.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

2-23-2008 @ 8:10PM

Gamecock Man said...

I think South is in if they win their final regular season games and win one or two games in the SB tourney. Their RPI is good and has survived their losses to NT and MTS. Also, this is a team that could certainly surprise someone in the first round. Their win over Miss St and close loss to Vandy have aged really well, although the loss to Miss hasn't so much. At any rate, Vandy is the SEC's second best team and Miss St is up there too. South can beat a very good major con team on a good day. Western Kentucky is pretty damn good too. Took Tennessee, a def. national title contender, down to the wire.

I think the SB, or at least the teams that comprise it now, will be good down the road. As a Jag at heart who was transported into Gamecock land, this year has been great to watch. South is a growing institution with a football team on the way and a commitment to athletics. Watch for South to be basketball's version of South Florida. They might even do it in football too, because there's a ton of talent in the Mobile area.