YES! GU goes down to USF

USF Dons are this time on the other side of a one-point game!



Gonzaga 65

USF 66



We are tied for 2nd in the WCC.



If we do get by GU this week, and that's a BIG if, then USF will have a whole lot of fans pulling for them next Saturday when SMC visits USF. I am very shocked we are that close to a tie for the WCC regular season crown.

EM_Puma wrote:
USF Dons are this time on the other side of a one-point game!



Gonzaga 65

USF 66



We are tied for 2nd in the WCC.

What's the tiebreaker? Head to head or season record?



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Dcr36 wrote:

USF Dons are this time on the other side of a one-point game!



Gonzaga 65

USF 66



We are tied for 2nd in the WCC.

What's the tiebreaker? Head to head or season record?



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Not certain, but seeing as to who each of out two other opponents are after our game with GU Thursday, we beat them and we don't have to worry about tie breakers.

All I want is a tie for first and a free pass to the semifinals.

Seems about right. I think we're a slightly better team than Gonzaga. Which puts USF just barely in between us.

SMC is the biggest issue. If we beat the Zags, we will not be tied with them. SMC has to lose to a very spent USF team. Then we could be tied with SMC. But they swept us - probably the tie breaker.



Just Keep Winning Cougs. Big night Thursday.



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Tied for the title would be wonderful. Another conference title and it should help with NCAA seeding. The first seed probably will get LMU in the semifinals. So SMC can take the 1 seed.

SMC is going down to USF. The wheels are coming off of SMC's season and USF is going to have a full head of steam after beating GU.

BerliNY wrote:
SMC is going down to USF. The wheels are coming off of SMC's season and USF is going to have a full head of steam after beating GU.

SMCs biggest weakness is their complete lack of depth. They got the injury bug at a very bad time because USF is real good at home (and of course they just laid an egg against Murray State) And If Holt and Dellavadova (sp?) aren't healthy by tourney time, LMU is going to be in the conference tourney finals, which means either the Zags or Cougs could get left out if LMU won the whole thing.

craigoscarson wrote:

SMC is going down to USF. The wheels are coming off of SMC's season and USF is going to have a full head of steam after beating GU.

SMCs biggest weakness is their complete lack of depth. They got the injury bug at a very bad time because USF is real good at home (and of course they just laid an egg against Murray State) And If Holt and Dellavadova (sp?) aren't healthy by tourney time, LMU is going to be in the conference tourney finals, which means either the Zags or Cougs could get left out if LMU won the whole thing.

LMU is good (and getting better) but I think we'd take them on a neutral court in the conf tourney, same for Gonzaga. SMC is falling apart. USF is tough but we just beat them (barely) at their place and I don't think it would be as close on a neutral court with short rest. Right now I give us 1 chance in 2 to win the tourney. Next weeks game against GU is huge but more for momentum and confidence going into the conference tournament (and by extension the NCAA tournament) than for the actual standings.

craigoscarson wrote:
...LMU is going to be in the conference tourney finals, which means either the Zags or Cougs could get left out if LMU won the whole thing.

Exactly. As I noted in another thread, the WCC is fighting to have a 3rd team represented for the first time in eons. If LMU continued to be as red hot as they've been of late, and somehow takes the tourney crown, then I guarantee you that SMC, GU or BYU is going to be left out of the Dance. The WCC is NEVER going to have 4 teams dancing. I believe that the loser of the game Thursday of BYU and Gonzaga, under that scenario, would be the odd team out. This game is huge.



A lot of people forget that only last year SMC and Gonzaga tied for the WCC crown and only one WCC team went, the one that won the tourney. Paradigam shifts for NCAA committees do not happen easily. When they're struggling with the WCC being only a one horse town, it comes more difficult to go to two, but exceptionally hard to go to three. Fantastic that this is a down year for the PUKE12. It took quite some time to get the MWC to be, at the mininum, a two team conference.

Too lazy to look it up, but how many wins did the SMC team that got left out of the dance after tying for first have?



I do not know where to find this information, but what teams with 25 or more wins during regular season and tourney play have been jilted the last several years.



BYU ain't Duke, but we do have a nationally recognized basketball brand re making the dance. We took that with us to WCC. SMC is on the rise. WCC is on the rise. If we lose to nobody not named Gonzaga or SMC, all will be well.



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Cougarbib2 wrote:
Too lazy to look it up, but how many wins did the SMC team that got left out of the dance after tying for first have?



I do not know where to find this information, but what teams with 25 or more wins during regular season and tourney play have been jilted the last several years.



BYU ain't Duke, but we do have a nationally recognized basketball brand re making the dance. We took that with us to WCC. SMC is on the rise. WCC is on the rise. If we lose to nobody not named Gonzaga or SMC, all will be well.



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SMC last season before Selection Sunday was 24 - 8 having lost 4 out of the last 6. The wheels literally came off for SMC at the end of the season. Selection Committee favors teams that are surging. SMC was regressing and appears to be doing the same now. A loss at USF is quite probable this week..



GU also isn't doing itself any favors and should we knock them off this week they could find themselves in a sticky situation between LMU surging and BYU riding its own wave.



Should BYU win against GU and Portland next week, make it to the WCC Finals against LMU, and BYU lose to LMU, I'm willing to bet it's only BYU and LMU that go dancing. Under such a scenario, we would have just come off an 8 game winning streak, having not dropped a single game in Feb.



SMC on the other hand would have dropped at least 4 in Feb, possibly 5 if the lose to USF and don't make it to the Finals. GU would have dropped 3, possibly 4 in Feb (at least 2 to BYU).



LMU on the other hand would have only dropped one game in Feb.



If BYU wins next week, we'll be riding the biggest win-wave in the WCC. We'll have the longest win streak going. We keep that alive until the WCC Finals and we're definitely in. Given our Sweet 16 appearance last year and the balance tips in our favor.



I'm not confident in 3 teams from the WCC dancing, even with the PAC12 down so low. Mathematically it makes sense, but tradition would say otherwise.