The only game of interest today is WSU @ SMC (7pm ESPN2 / ESPN+). WSU has struggled of late but they certainly have some talent, decent size and depth in the post to deal w/ Saxen/Wessels/Mauraskas and their starting bigs shoot a lot of 3’s so may be a chance for them to draw SMC’s bigs away from the hoop. I wouldn’t bet against SMC in this one but might be an interesting and competitive game.
No other games of consequence. Amongst the teams we’re battling w/ in the standings, I don’t see USF having much trouble with a floundering USD squad and Pepp is a 25point underdog at GU.
I could see USF at USD producing a little drama. They held relatively tightly to USF on the Hilltop and GU in the Kennel. Obviously, they really over performed against SCU in the Slim Gym. Plus, USF is fresh off an emotional defeat in Spokane and having to do the WA to SoCal flight with little rest.
I wouldn’t bet on USD to win. But a little drama down the stretch? I could see it. But my anti-USF bias has been noted, so the Dons probably clobber the Toreros…
I was, of course, wrong about USF yet again. And LMU lost to the Pilots…that LMU loss was spoiled milk to begin with and continues to age like it. Better put them away fast in Leavey this week.
Yes, both USF (23 pt win) and GU (52 pt win) cruised.
WSU played well in the 1st half vs. SMC, tied with a few mins left in the 1st half but SMC when on 12-0 or 14-0 run to start the 2nd half and that was it.
LMU seems to be tanking, a blowout loss to Pacific Thurs. and now a loss to Portland. In their defense, the Tues make-up game vs. Pepp led to them playing 5 games in 10, seems to show in their legs as their last 2 games have been terrible defensively. Regardless, can’t take them lightly Thurs.
A 3-1 finish will secure us the 4th or 3rd seed. Maybe 4th is better for another shot at the Gaels as the #1 seed if we get to the quarterfinal game.
In any case we would need to win the tournament to get the auto NCAA invite…
I would never cede a higher seed willingly but would also prefer matching up with SMC a third time. Few’s teams peak in March whereas March has been Bennett’s weakness. Plus, for pride, I want another shot at the Gaels.
Adding on….Torvik predicts OSU to finish 10-8 in 5th place with LMU and WSU tied in 6th/7th. If it comes to it, WSU holds the tiebreaker over LMU w/ their win in their single head-head matchup.
Regardless, all three have been inconsistent and it’s far from certain that OSU will win their 1st game and advance to be our opponent as a 4th seed. Based on what we’ve seen so far in our head-to-heads, OSU has given us the most trouble with the caveat that we have 2nd comes coming up this week vs. LMU and WSU….so the evidence may shift.
Objectively, I could make pro/con arguments for who is the most challenging match up for us:
OSU: We haven’t handled their bigs Fallah and Rataj very well and OSU has thrown some zones at us that have slowed us for a bit. Nor do we have an overwhelming advantage on the perimeter….our guards/wings are longer but OSU’s are as or more athletic with some strong skill (Kings is one of the most efficient perimeter shooters in the league and beat our guards off the dribble when overplayed his 3pt shot).
LMU: They play a lot of ‘positionless’ lineups (though I hate that term as it is both overused and misunderstood by most fans), that create some matchup challenges, especially in lineups where Porter is effectively their 5 and they have tallish wings (Merkviladze, Stone, Stone-Carrwell and Vide, that negate the height advantage we often have on the wings.
WSU: LeJuan Watts is versatile, strong, athletic and skilled wing who is a matchup challenge for everyone. SMC threw multiple players and schemes at him last night and he still scored 17pts. And WSU starting bigs, Price and Erikstrup are their top 2 3pt shooting threats and allow them to invert their offense, pull our bigs from the hoop and open up driving lanes for their guards.
Bottom line……all three teams have some very capable players and multiple All-WCC candidates that can hurt you.
And a final consideration……we’ve reached the dog days of the season and all three of OSU, WSU and LMU seemed to have hit a wall and aren’t playing their best basketball. Guessing who may or may not right the ship down the stretch is a complete WAG. I wouldn’t put money on any games involving these three teams regardless of the spread.
BYU absolutely walloped Kansas last night in Provo.
Validates, to me, that the Marriott Center was a dang tough place to play. Correct me if I’m wrong, but the Cougars - while they competed favorably in the league and I enjoyed their presence generally - never won a regular season or tournament championship in the WCC? They’re doing just fine in a very good Big 12.
While I’m spouting off on random college basketball nonesense, my other team, the CU Buffs, are a sparkling 1-14 in Big 12 play, having finally gotten their first win. Brutal - we may wish for the NCAA over the NIT this year, but it’s always worth remembering just how far things can fall (CU having been an NIT/NCAA team for most of the last decade).
Yup, BYU was consistently 3rd best in conference when they entered. And thanks to us and USF investing more, they were finishing 4th-5th by the time they left. Honestly them being “upset” by Duquesne was one of the easier ones to call in last years tournament. Their roster didn’t change that much compared to the year before, but because they finished 5th in the B12 instead of 5th in the WCC, that gave them enough good wins to get an at large bid despite that the fact they were essentially the same team.
And to your other point, while most of us are understandably disappointed in how this season has unfolded, we shouldn’t lose track of how far this program has come in the last 5 years. Over 360 teams in D1 basketball, and we’ve hovered around the top 50-80 in that span. It’s easy forget how bad things used to be and appreciate the progress that has been made. The last hurdles are always the hardest ones to clear.
BYU has really embraced the NIL era and spending money for both football & basketball and the success has followed for both programs. They just signed the #1 basketball recruit, AJ Dybantsa for $5 million if you believe the reported numbers. That’s significantly more than the total NIL budget for Broncos basketball.
Interesting. One would imagine that only goes so far as non-LDS kids probably have limited interest in going to a school where they have to abide by the Honor Code and have significantly less traditional college “fun.” But every kid is different (and Dybantsa could well be LDS, what do I know).
For $5M I could keep my fly zipped up and stay off the booze for a semester and a half assuming I would leave school in March or April and get drafted. Heck, I might even put on the funny underwear. LOL.
So if theBroncos upset the Zags and take down Pacific… we will finish ahead of Gonzaga in league play.
This has been disappointing given our opportunity to reach the tournament this year, but this team has given us more to root for than any other Bronco team in 25 years.
Best case scenario is for both USF and SCU to beat the Zags (yeah, I know). But if it were to happen, SCU has to win one game to meet USF in the semis and SMC in the final. Waaaaay better than a third tilt against Gonzaga.
