Gonzaga and St. Mary's opened the WCC tournament final with Matt Boldin shooting a pair of technical free throws after the Gaels' Omar Samhan dunked in warmups. That turned out to be the highlight of St. Mary's evening.
The Gaels were looking to make a big splash against the Bulldogs on national television and they did. Just not the splash they were looking to make. This game was a worst-case scenario for a team looking to go to the Dance, like an acne outbreak on prom night. St. Mary's made it's case for the NCAA tournament. The only problem was, that case was, "Please don't take us."
Now the only question is, does St. Mary's deserve an at-large bid?
ESPN analysts Steve Lavin and Stephen Bardo made the case for St. Mary's during the telecast. But even the most ardent of West Coast Conference basketball fans are going to have a hard time defending this one.
The Gaels had a chance to take their NCAA selection future out of the committee's hands, and that was the effort they came up with? Samhan's gaff during warmups should have sent a red flag that this team might be a little excited. Maybe St. Mary's read one too many positive reviews of Sunday night's game. Whatever the reason, the team did as much as it could to erase any of the good feelings from its recent winning streak.
Patrick Mills seemed a little too eager to prove that he was ready to go after missing so much time. Now you have to wonder if the selection committee should hold it against them. Don't give the committee any excuse to hold back a West Coast team. This was certainly a costly game.
St. Mary's does have a game Friday against Eastern Washington, one last chance to make its case. But how much can a possible win there erase this embarrassing loss on national television?
If forced to make a call, I'd say St. Mary's deserves the chance. Primarily because Gonzaga looked so good. Don't gloss over the Bulldogs' effort. Gonzaga would have made a lot of teams look foolish on Monday night. So I would give St. Mary's a bid, but I'm not sure that many will feel the same way.
Maybe we can get a Patrick Mills vs. Stephen Curry in the NIT.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-10-2009 @ 3:27PM
dvstckwll said...
St. Mary's in the dance? Are you kidding me? Second rate league decent team but no near dance worthy.
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3-10-2009 @ 11:12AM
Kyle said...
Seriously, you're likely going to put them in at the expense of a Big 6 conference team for no reason other than the sentimentality of seeing a smaller school in the bracket. That's not fair to South Carolina, Minnesota, Florida, or other schools who have played far better than the Gaels.
They were exposed last night. Hopefully they'll enjoy MSG.
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3-10-2009 @ 11:39AM
tpbhome said...
As a A-Ten fan I am not a big fan of St. Marys or Gonzaga. However, your BS about the "top six" conferences is just that BS. St. Marys would probably be in the middle of the pack in the big ten or pac 10 and most of those teams are looking for at large bids to the NCAA. This "big six" crap and everyone else being mid-majors is a bunch of bull made up by CBS and ESPN who have big television contracts. Remember, this is not football it is basketball and if you have six to eight good to very good players you can play with almost everyone. That is the great thing about the NCAA tournament. Is Memphis a "mid-major" or Xavier. Spare me.
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