NCAA Basketball FanHouse

Worst-Case Scenario for St. Mary's

Adam Papagiorgio — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 01:27:00 EST

Filed under: Gonzaga, WCC, St. Mary's (CA)

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?

No. 12 Gonzaga 83, St. Mary's 58: Recap | Box Score | RPI | Scores

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.

Worst-Case Scenario for St. Mary's originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Tue, 10 Mar 2009 01:27:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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St. Mary's Belongs in NCAA Tournament

Adam Papagiorgio — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 02:15:00 EST

Filed under: Gonzaga, WCC, St. Mary's (CA)

St. Mary's moved into the West Coast Conference finals with a convincing win over Portland. But was it convincing enough for the Gaels to get into the NCAA tournament barring Monday's finals outcome? Right now, St. Mary's looks deserving enough to get into the tournament. The Gaels are a much more complete team right now.

Almost as if losing Mills for a stretch made this team better. But St. Mary's looked impressive enough on Sunday night to make its case to be included in the field of 65.

St. Mary's 71, Portland 61: Recap | Box Score | RPI | Scores

That is a far cry from where the team was on Jan. 31, just two days removed from Mills injuring his wrist against Gonzaga. St. Mary's went to Portland and it was trounced, 88-64. One of the most embarrassing losses for the Gaels in recent memory, and all but seemed to doomed the team's tournament hopes.

The Gaels would lose two of its next three games after that loss before beating the Pilots on Feb. 14. Since that time, the seniors Diamon Simpson, Omar Samhan and Carlin Hughes were able to take control of the team. St. Mary's had that impressive win over Utah State and have no won six consecutive games.

And the Gaels are getting Mills back.

He wasn't quite as sharp from the field as you would expect, but made enough key shots. Really, the most important thing here was to get Mills back into game shape, get him some time on the floor and get the win. This was probably going to be his most trying game.

Gonzaga wasn't challenged in its semi-final game against Santa Clara, so it's tough to judge them. But the Bulldogs could be walking into one of those dreaded trap games. The Gaels really have something to prove. They really pulled away from the Pilots and let's remember, Portland crushed St. Mary's 88-64 in the game immediately following Mills' injury. So I like the Gaels to win on Monday.

But right now, St. Mary's has shown me enough to get into the tournament win or lose in the WCC finals. The team is currently ranks No. 50 in the RPI. The Gaels are 2-2 against the RPI top 50, but those two loses were to Gonzaga -- without Mills. There's that huge win over Utah State without Mills. This seems enough to put them into the tournament.

St. Mary's Belongs in NCAA Tournament originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Mon, 09 Mar 2009 02:15:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bubble Teams Are Big Gonzaga Fans This Weekend

Adam Papagiorgio — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Gonzaga, WCC, St. Mary's (CA)

The West Coast Conference tournament starts tonight in Las Vegas, but nobody is really going to be paying attention until Sunday when St. Mary's Patrick Mills makes his much anticipated return. No offense to LMU, San Diego, Pepperdine or USF, but like most opening acts in Las Vegas, nobody cares.

(Well not nobody. The WCC did sell out all of its all-tournament passes before the first tonight's tip-off. So maybe that move to a neutral court in Las Vegas wasn't a bad move afterall. Remember this when the Pac-10 and the other big schools play conference tournaments in front of empty crowds.)
And the WCC tournament will draw a lot of interest from the bubble teams. Gonzaga is already in the NCAA tournament. If the Bulldogs can win the conference tournament, then St. Mary's could be left on the bubble. That's the rub for the WCC commissioner Jamie Zaninovich. To be honest, I don't know how he does it.

Now, you can't just keep Gonzaga out of the tournament. And you can't exactly turn into Marsellus from Pulp Fiction ... "Listen Mark, in the second half, your butt goes down. Say it." Though, you couldn't really blame the commissioner if he turns into Bobby "the Brain" Heenan for a day. You know, Matt Boldin comes running down the court and the Zaninovich throws sand in his eyes. Or maybe he gives Omar Samhan a foreign object to use.

The crowning achievement would be if St. Mary's held a one-point lead with only seconds remaining and Zaninovich ran out on the court and screamed, "Sound the horn, sound the horn!" ending the game in the Gaels' favor. (Though, that seemingly happened with the screw-job ending in the Super Bowl.)

Not that Zaninovich has to go to any of those extremes. St. Mary's probably ends up winning the tournament anyway. The Gaels have much more on the line and have something to prove. Gonzaga does not, it's human nature.

Not that it will be easy. Mills figures to come out rusty in his first game. And St. Mary's opponent will already have at least a game under its belt. But the Gaels will find a way to win that semi-final game before running the Bulldogs out of the building. Which, of course, would be bad news for the bubble teams out there.

Bubble Teams Are Big Gonzaga Fans This Weekend originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Fri, 06 Mar 2009 14:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Patrick Mills' Return Should Lift St. Mary's Into Tourney

Adam Papagiorgio — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 02:59:00 EST

Filed under: Marquette, WCC, Mid-Majors, St. Mary's (CA)

Point guard Patrick Mills has been cleared to play in the WCC tournament which begins in Las Vegas on Sunday. (Don't ask why that conference chose Sin City of all places.) That's great news that not only greatly increases St. Mary's conference tournament chances, but also should impact the Gaels at-large bid hopes.

St. Mary's isn't in the tournament right now -- not according to any of the mock brackets out there. But should St. Mary's be given the benefit of the doubt in this instance? Should the tournament selection committee consider Mills' injury while figuring out the tournament resume of the Gaels? Uh, yeah.

And for that reason, St. Mary's should be given an at-large bid in the tournament.
Now a lot of you might take offense to this. Mainly because you are big school snobs who would rather see the eighth place team from the Big Ten make the tournament over a deserving mid-major. (And yes, it's dangerous to generalize, but play along.)

But when your postseason championship is, in large part, determined by a committee, then everything should be a factor. NCAA basketball isn't as cut and dry as, say, football. There is no selection committee in the NFL that weighs Tom Brady's injury and decides to give the Patriots a playoff bid over the Ravens. Though, that would be a pretty cool idea.

The NCAA however, does have conference winners. You have the conference winners, and then you have at large bids. Committee members will sit in a room and hash out the remaining bids. The committee will consider schedule, quality wins and a number of factors. And if a team lost its star point guard for a large chunk of the season, that team should be given the benefit of the doubt. Especially if that player is returning. If Mills was out for the season, I wouldn't be pushing for this. But when your participants are so subjective, taking injuries into consideration should play a big part.

And likewise, if a team loses its point guard for the season and he doesn't return, then the committee should consider that too and rule against them. Right Marquette? That team is completely different without Dominic James and shouldn't even be considered for the tournament right now.

St. Mary's with Mills is certainly an at-large team. And my hunch is that St. Mary's probably wins the WCC tournament to make this point moot. Still, it shouldn't come to that and hopefully the tournament selection committee does the right thing.

Patrick Mills' Return Should Lift St. Mary's Into Tourney originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Tue, 03 Mar 2009 02:59:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Billy Packer Would Have Loved the Upcoming NCAA Tournament

Shiloh Carder — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 01:00:00 EST

Filed under: Butler, Davidson, George Mason, Gonzaga, WCC, Xavier, A-10, ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Mid-Majors, MVC, MWC, Pac-10, SEC, March Madness, St. Mary's (CA)

One of the biggest gripes against former CBS basketball analyst Billy Packer was that he didn't respect the mid-majors. He famously complained that there were too many mid-majors in the 2006 NCAA Tournament. That was the year that George Mason upset Michigan State, North Carolina and UConn to get to the Final Four.

This will be the first Packer-less tournament in decades as he retired after last year's Final Four. It's a shame for him because he would have loved the makeup of the brackets this time around. Going against the recent trends, it looks as if the major conferences will get most of the at-large bids, leaving the mid-majors out in the cold.

According to ESPN's Joe Lunardi, there aren't too many mid-majors that are locks to get in if they do not win their conference tournament. Siena, Utah State and Davidson have the strongest cases to be at-large teams but there are factions that believe they won't. Utah State has that win over Utah, but nothing else. Davidson has actually lost a couple of SoCon games this year and their biggest win is against West Virginia on a neutral court. Siena just lost to Niagara last night. All will be overwhelming favorites to win their conference tournaments but they could be in trouble if they don't.

Gonzaga will snatch a bid if they don't win the West Coast Conference tournament. Butler does the same if they fail to win the Horizon.

Lunardi is also projecting that 31 of the 34 at-large bids will be going to the so-called "BCS conferences". The ACC leads the way with eight teams, followed by the Big East and Big Ten with seven each. The SEC, which is suffering a perceived down period, is projected to get five teams in the tournament. The other three bids are penciled in for the Atlantic 10's Dayton and two from the Mountain West (Utah, BYU and UNLV should all get in; one should win the conference tournament). The only non-BCS school that is currently seeded as a No. 4 seed or better is Memphis.

Even Lunardi's last four out includes nothing but BCS schools. The "next four out" features two more Mountain West schools and two Big XII schools.

All this leads up to schools from power conferences fighting for those last spots available in the tournament. It will also lead to more name matchups in the first and second round. Right now, Lunardi has first round games of Kentucky-Texas, Florida-California, Oklahoma State-Arizona State, Boston College-Tennessee, Michigan-LSU, Penn State-UCLA and South Carolina-Wisconsin.

Billy Packer Would Have Loved the Upcoming NCAA Tournament originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Sat, 28 Feb 2009 01:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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St. Mary's Bursts Utah State's Bubble

Adam Papagiorgio — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 02:04:00 EST

Filed under: Nevada, WCC, Mid-Majors, WAC, St. Mary's (CA)

St. Mary's might have been the biggest winner in Saturday's BracketBuster following a huge 75-64 win over Utah State. The Gaels had been adrift in recent weeks, seemingly rudderless without star Patrick Mills.

But St. Mary's has been solid in recent weeks, fattening up on the weaker teams in the West Coast Conference. Saturday's win over the Aggies was a big exclamation point on the season, letting people know that the Gaels are still in the hunt for an at-large bid.

Not to say that St. Mary's is in right now; the Gaels still have a lot of work to do. But the team is squarely on the bubble right now.

Utah State, not so much. It is on the bubble -- possibly. But after its own and the WAC's dismal showing in general, the Aggies are going to have to win the WAC tournament to reach the NCAA tournament. Again, this is coach Stew Morrill's own doing. As long as he is unwilling to play some of the big boys on the road, he has no reason to complain.

The ESPN announcers kept saying that this was a bigger game for St. Mary's. And the Gaels needed the win, no doubt. But Utah State has always been viewed as a fraud and probably needed the win more, especially with Mills out. Utah State was a disappointment for a conference that just looked ugly in the BracketBusters. When you don't play many good teams, you need to beat them when you get the chance.

How bad was it for the WAC on Saturday?

Nevada is clearly in a rebuilding mode, but will play host to the conference tournament. The Wolf Pack hasn't been the same following the loss of players Nick Fazekas, Ramon Sessions and Marcelus Kemp. But coach Mark Fox still has enough to win the conference tournament.

New Mexico State has never recovered from the loss of Reggie Theus and the NCAA jacking around Herb Pope. The Aggies actually had a solid win over Cal State Fullerton, but this program is on the decline.

Boise State -- last year's conference tournament winner -- beat Utah State this week, but looked average at Portland State.

In fact, the West Coast conference proved that it was the premiere mid-major conference on the West Coast. St. Mary's and San Diego knocked off Utah State and Pacific respectively, arguably the top two teams in thet WAC and Big West. (Sorry, Long Beach State fans.)

Even San Jose State was exposed by UC-Riverside.

In the end, Utah State was proven to just be the best team in a really bad conference. Which is the equivalent of being the smartest contestant on Rock of Love. St. Mary's, on the other hand, is back in the mix.

BTW, you might not have noticed this, but did you see the way the St. Mary's fans reacted after the win? They stayed in their freaking seats and cheered on their team despite beating a ranked opponent. Maryland, on the other hand, has a championship banner hanging in its rafters and its fans rushed the court after winning a conference home game. Embarrassing.

St. Mary's Bursts Utah State's Bubble originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Sun, 22 Feb 2009 02:04:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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St. Mary's At-Large Hopes Gone

Adam Papagiorgio — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 02:57:00 EST

Filed under: Gonzaga, WCC, WAC, St. Mary's (CA)

St. Mary's point guard Patrick Mills and the other spectators at McKeon Pavilion are likely filled with the same 'what if' fantasies after Gonzaga defeated the home team, 72-70, on Thursday night. A crushing defeat for the Gaels who entered the season with tournament hopes.

You can never say never in college basketball. Not with conference tournaments looming a few weeks away. But any hope that St. Mary's had of getting an at-large bid floated away as the Gaels failed to rally for the second time this season against Gonzaga with their injured point guard languishing on the bench.

Fellow Australian Carlin Hughes almost willed St. Mary's to a win. A win that would have kept those at-large hopes alive. But in the end, he came up just short. The Gaels are also in danger of finishing out of the top two in the West Coast Conference, which guarantees a bye into the semifinals. But then again, playing extra games didn't seem to bother San Diego last season.

Gonzaga looked pretty good, holding off undermanned St. Mary's. The Bulldogs don't play too well in McKeon Pavilion, so escaping with a win is key and not a given. Not like, say, going to LMU.

Josh Heytvelt, in particular, looked really good. Heytvelt is the Lamar Odom of Gonzaga. He has all of the talent in the world, but sometimes you wonder where his heart is at. Much like the Lakers and Odom, Gonzaga is only going to go as far as Heytvelt will take them. He has to have a presence down low for the Bulldogs to have any sort of sustained run.

In another mid-major game of note:

Utah State 62, Idaho 53: This game was closer than it should have been. The Aggies are the Gaels last chance for a true "quality win" prior to the conference tournaments when the teams battle in the BracketBusters next week. So you can't blame Utah State for looking ahead. That happens.

St. Mary's At-Large Hopes Gone originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Fri, 13 Feb 2009 02:57:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BracketBusters: Utah State at St. Mary's

Adam Papagiorgio — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 22:35:00 EST

Filed under: WCC, Mid-Majors, WAC, St. Mary's (CA)

BracketBusters 2009 matchups have been announced. FanHouse has the skinny.

The BracketBusters series is going to finally force No. 22 Utah State to play somebody good. Well, sort of.

Utah State finally cracked the Top 25 thanks in part to a schedule that includes more cupcakes than a Duncan Hines display case. Utah State's strength of schedule is currently as shameful 275 -- and that includes games against BYU and Utah.

So it's only fitting that the Aggies will be paired against an undermanned team in the 2009 BracketBusters. Utah State will face St. Mary's -- a team that has received a lot of unexplained attention from Aggies' fans.

St. Mary's, of course, will be without star guard Patrick Mills who will likely undergo surgery on his injured right hand. The Gaels haven't looked the same since Mills was injured in the first half against Gonzaga on Thursday. St. Mary's followed that up by being smoked by Portland on Saturday.

In other words, St. Mary's is the prefect opponent for Utah State.

So even when being forced to play a decent team for a change, Utah State catches a break. And it needs a break like the Steelers need another beneficial call from the referees.

The one positive for Utah State is that it will get a return visit from St. Mary's next year. Coach Stew Morrill has had trouble getting teams to travel to Logan, so now he figures to have at least one quality non-conference opponent come to town. That is, of course, assuming that Mills returns to St. Mary's next year. You can likely guess what he is going to do.

BracketBusters: Utah State at St. Mary's originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Mon, 02 Feb 2009 22:35:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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St. Mary's Tournament Hopes Now Dim

Adam Papagiorgio — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 02:07:00 EST

Filed under: WCC, Mid-Majors, St. Mary's (CA)

St. Mary's guard Patrick Mills will miss at least four weeks with two broken metacarpal bones in his right hand on Thursday night at Gonzaga. And with it, St. Mary's tournament hopes have taken a serious, serious hit.

The Gaels were a bubble team coming out of the WCC, needing a signature win against a Utah State-like soft schedule thanks in part to a first-round loss in the Anaheim Classic. They did schedule games with San Diego State, Cal State Fullerton and Oregon, so there was intent for a decent schedule. But still, St. Mary's is now likely going to have to win the WCC tournament to get a bid.

And that looks unlikely without Mills. Fans got a sneak peak of a Mills-less St. Mary's team last night and it wasn't very pretty. Mills was more than just the team's leading scorer, he was the stopper. The guy who could stop another team's run. Now the Gaels are going to lean on Diamon Simpson and Omar Samhan.

St. Mary's will have its first major test at Portland today. Portland has been playing pretty good as of late and should be ready to make it's mark against St. Mary's. But be advised, teams missing their star player always seem to play good in the immediate game following the injury. That is an unscientific theory, but more of an observation. The Gaels will be desperate, however, and really need to win to keep any at-large hopes alive.

St. Mary's Tournament Hopes Now Dim originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Sat, 31 Jan 2009 02:07:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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St. Mary's Loses Patrick Mills, Game

Adam Papagiorgio — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 02:55:00 EST

Filed under: Gonzaga, WCC, Mid-Majors, St. Mary's (CA)

St. Mary's looked like the best team in the West Coast Conference on Thursday night. At least for a half. The Gaels were rocking in Spokane, and it appeared that there might have been a changing of the guard right there in front of the Kennel Club.

But then the game turned on Patrick Mills' right wrist. Literally. Mills injured his wrist and did not return for the second half. Neither did St. Mary's mojo. Gonzaga took advantage of the situation and went on to win, 69-62. The Bulldogs ended the Gaels' 15-game winning streak.

St. Mary's put in a valiant effort without Mills, but there were stretches where the team obviously missed Mills' leadership. Or his ability to take the big shot. There was a time in the second half when it looked like nobody on the court wanted to shoot the ball for St. Mary's. Shot-clock violations or desperate 3-point shots taken well beyond NBA range probably wouldn't have happened with Mills in the game.

But the truth is, you have to win with the guys on the floor. Losing Mills was an obvious setback, but guys like Diamon Simpson and Omar Samhan needed to take control on the floor. They never did, at least not before it was too late.

Mills' wrist is going to be one of the top stories to follow in the coming days.

Gonzaga should be concerned about center Josh Heytvelt. The ESPN broadcasters mentioned it a couple of times, but he really played poorly. Heytvelt had a couple of nice games against Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount recently, but he needs to show something against the good teams in the conference. Though, Austin Daye has had no problem asserting himself.

In some other mid-major games of note.

Cal State Fullerton 61, Long Beach State 60: A raucous at the Rusting Pyramid witnessed Josh Akognon sink the winner in the closing seconds. A group of Cal State students chartered a bus to help cheer the Titans to victory. Long Beach State also was honoring former coach Tex Winter and Craig Hodges. Witnesses in the crowd said that Hodges was burning up. Cal State is now undefeated on the road in Big West play, but can't win at home. Maybe the Titans should move their games to Troy High School across the street.

Long Beach hospitals, however, are on full alert getting prepared to treat legions of busted ankles after all of the front-running 49ers fans jump off the Dan Monson bandwagon. Way to send the home-town fans happy. Long Beach fans are the Big West equivalent of Raiders fans so expect some reports of property damage.

Utah State 72, Nevada 61: The Aggies win, but will this push their SOS under 200? Tough call. Nobody is going to challenge Utah State at home. That just won't happen. But still, Utah State still hasn't earned your respect yet.

Idaho 63, Boise State 59: The Broncos have a weird way of showing that they want to compete in the WAC this season. Are they banking on another WAC tournament title?

Northridge 72, UCSB 70: Santa Barbara coach Bob Williams should enjoy his last season as Gauchos' coach. But if the school believes that Cheating Brad Holland is the answer, it is foolish. Matador fans will celebrate with a trip to Best Buy!

St. Mary's Loses Patrick Mills, Game originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Fri, 30 Jan 2009 02:55:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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St. Mary's Might Be Best Team in WCC

Adam Papagiorgio — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 02:37:00 EST

Filed under: Gonzaga, WCC, St. Mary's (CA)

Even though Gonzaga was knocked off in the West Coast Conference tournament last season, the Bulldogs were considered the best team in the league. And even as Gonzaga has struggled at times this season, the perception has been that -- again -- the Bulldogs are the class of the WCC. Gonzaga has even climbed back into the Top 25 again.

But is that perception reality?

St. Mary's is certainly making its case following a convincing 65-42 win at San Diego on Thursday night. The Gaels have no won 15 consecutive games and will look to challenge the Bulldogs for conference supremacy. St. Mary's figured to be a Top 25 team this season. But a loss to UTEP in the Anaheim Classic took them out of the national spotlight. (And would be the last time it would lose.)

They finally didn't return until they got a chance to play at San Diego on ESPN. The same place where the team crashed and burned in the WCC tournament last season. St. Mary's buried San Diego right from the start, taking last year's tournament champion apart.

Point guard Patty Mills continues to be impressive and Omar Samhan (16 points and 11 rebounds) is really exerting himself in the low post -- and could provide some matchup problems for Gonzaga. But that's the thing. We can't get too far ahead of ourselves. St. Mary's hasn't played the grueling schedule that Gonzaga has, but it will get its chance to take on the Bulldogs next week.

But for right now, St. Mary's looks unbeatable.

St. Mary's Might Be Best Team in WCC originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Fri, 23 Jan 2009 02:37:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Watching Tournament Hoops in an Empty Building is Kind of Cool

Adam Papagiorgio — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 02:45:00 EST

Filed under: Arizona State, ACC, Mid-Majors, St. Mary's (CA)

I had the opportunity to be one of just a few of the hundreds of people actually attending the 76 Classic held at the Anaheim Convention Center. Who can say "no" to a tournament when you can pick up a free ticket at a local 76 station. (True story.)

Plus, there is something interesting about sitting close enough to the bench to hear the coach cursing the players (and some times the fans ... again a true story). Not to mention all of the senior citizens who double as the security force. Let's just say that they aren't too strenuous when it comes to looking for contraband alcohol. Though, I swear at least of few of those dames probably hung out with Dean Martin and the rest of the Rat Pack. Besides, said security staff didn't mind where you sat, they just seemed happy that somebody was showing up. Like the event staff at a UC Riverside game.

Free, festival seating with a lax security staff, what more could you want?

Oh, and as an added bonus there was some excellent basketball played over the weekend.

Wake Forest is pretty good, but they had their moments. They were tested by Cal State during their first game on Thanksgiving, and UTEP took them to overtime. The Demon Deacons trailed early in the second half, but put Baylor away in the championship game.

Of course, the championship game would have been more compelling if Arizona State hadn't lost to Baylor on Friday. Typical Sun Devils, getting our hopes up only to let us down. And I for one was disappointed in the turnout by the ASU faithful. Some of the ASU coeds missed out on a perfect weekend of watching their team play basketball, followed by some test shoots at the Playboy mansion. Or do they only do that when they travel to town to play USC in football?

St. Mary's rallied from an opening-round loss to pound Cal State on Friday and then beat Providence. The Gaels looked really impressive in person, and probably have enough size to challenge Gonzaga. The highlight was all of the Australia fans who made the trip. Not just to the game. But the Aussies who made the "fun run" from the ACC to the Hilton Towers lobby bar at halftime on Friday. Again, this is one of the greatest traditions in college basketball. Talk about your international relations.

And finally, Cal State beat North Carolina! Well, North Carolina - Charlotte, but let the Titans fans have their fun. Besides, the 49ers -- save for one miracle run -- haven't had much recent success at the ACC. Another cool site, Cal State wearing the home whites during a tournament. That was, uh, unusual.

Overall, the tournament was a very good experience. As said, there were plenty of empty seats because of the holiday weekend, but any time you get to see a couple of Top 25 teams and some of the best mid majors, fans should take advantage. Not that many did.

Watching Tournament Hoops in an Empty Building is Kind of Cool originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Mon, 01 Dec 2008 02:45:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A Mulligan on Picking St. Mary's

Adam Papagiorgio — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 13:57:00 EST

Filed under: Arizona State, ACC, Mid-Majors, St. Mary's (CA)

Alright, picking St. Mary's to win the 76 Classic might not have been my finest moment. But the astute reader would have noticed that when I said, "UTEP in no pushover," what that really meant was the Miners were going to roll past the Gaels with ease.

What, not buying that?

St. Mary's was just awful. Especially Patrick Mills who was brutal from the 3-point line and was very generous turning the ball over. Mills was 5-for-20 shooting and missed all six of this 3-point attempts. The Gaels just looked awful, and while it's too early to say that they are overrated, they really looked bad against an athletic team.

Now you have to wonder what kind of performance St. Mary's will give on Friday. Do they fold the tents, or do they rise to the occasion? There are some doubts about the Gaels, and maybe they are too soft. We will certainly find out on Friday.

Fans learned yesterday that Cal State will not be a pushover. Titans fans were disappointed that they could not pull the upset and they should be. Cal State certainly did enough to win that game, but Wake Forest was able to prevail in the end. The Demon Deacons are a very good team, and had a great height advantage. Eventually, they just wore down the Titans, who weren't quite able to make that big play to push them past Wake Forest.

Cal State, though, no longer has room for moral victories (save that for Northridge and Long Beach) and need to beat a quality opponent like St. Mary's. When they flashed Bob Burton's record at Cal State, it really sticks out just how far this program has come. The Titans won 20 games under the three-year reign of Donny Daniels, now they routinely post 20-win seasons. Now, it's time to get some big ones.

Wake Forest and UTEP should have a pretty entertaining affair in the morning tilt. Randy Culpepper was great for the Miners. And the Deacon's Jeff Teague was really impressive. His dunk over Gerard Anderson likely will live on for years on YouTube (will try to find some video of it soon).

In the evening session, Arizona State looked awesome against pretty average looking UNC Charlotte. Jeff Pendergraph was unstoppable. The Sun Devils should be playing Wake in the title game on Sunday. (That's should be good news for UTEP.)

Providence is just awful. Too be honest, I don't watch a lot of Providence basketball, but was shocked by how poorly they played. They look a step behind everybody in the field, except maybe Charlotte.

A Mulligan on Picking St. Mary's originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Fri, 28 Nov 2008 13:57:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wake Forest in Trouble at 76 Classic

Adam Papagiorgio — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 01:56:00 EST

Filed under: Arizona State, ACC, Mid-Majors, St. Mary's (CA)

Wake Forest is in real trouble when they tipoff against Cal State Fullerton in the opening round of the 76 Classic at the Anaheim Convention Center today. Sure, the Demon Deacons are nationally ranked. Sure, they are from the ACC. And yeah, they are probably a lot taller and a lot deeper than the Titans.

But have they ever played in front of empty seats?

Because there certainly is going to be a lot of them.

And while Wake Forest might be battle tested in those cushy, NBA-type arenas, playing in front of hostile crowds, they have never played in front of the sounds of silence and row upon row of empty seats.

Advantage Titans.

All of those years of playing in the Matagym and the UC Riverside recreation room is going to pay off here. Plus, Cal State will grace the Anaheim Convention floor for the first time since win the Big West championship last season.

Who else smells Titan upset?

Now, empty seats are not a problem limited to just the 76 Classic. The tournament in Puerto Rico was played in front of nobody. The Maui Invitational is played in a high school gym. So this tournament isn't any different from the rest of them.

And I don't want to rip the tournament. Instead, I do give the Big West conference credit putting this tournament together. They have brought together some good teams and they give the rub to one of local schools who could never otherwise get these teams to come to town. The tournament field includes St. Mary's, Arizona State, UNC Charlotte, Baylor, Providence and UTEP. That's not bad. Cal State, St. Mary's and Baylor were all in the NCAA tournament last year. This is a good field.

And hey, empty seats means there is more room to roam around and some TV exposure for teams like Cal State, St. Mary's and UTEP who might not otherwise be on the Mother Ship Network (ESPN).

Most anticipated matchup: There are a couple of interesting scenarios working here. One matchup that would be awesome to see would be Arizona State vs. St. Mary's in the final. The Gaels could play Wake Forest in the second round if the Deacons can overcome the empty seats. So there is a nice mix.

Player to watch: Has to be St. Mary's point guard Patrick Mills. UTEP coach Tony Barbee has compared Mills to Isiah Thomas. Well, the player obviously. And he's that good and is a reason to put down your beers at the Sand Box across the street and get to the game early.

Other notable players to watch: Josh Akognon (Cal State), James Harden (Arizona State), Diamon Simpson (St. Mary's) and Jeff Teague (Wake Forest).

Local's tip: It's possible to race from the Anaheim Convention Center, to the Hilton next door, pound to beers and return to your seat before halftime is even over. And if they serve beer at the tournament, all the better. Just be glad that Long Beach State isn't playing.

Pick to win it all: Got to go with St. Mary's. The Gaels are loaded this year, and have looked really impressive this year. Mills has grown so much from playing in the Olympics. He was awesome last year, and now he's even better. The only question around St. Mary's is the lack of competition they have played so far. UTEP is no pushover, but if they come out firing, they should be able to capture this thing.

Wake Forest in Trouble at 76 Classic originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Thu, 27 Nov 2008 01:56:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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