Is It Possible?

By now, you all know that I think home court advantage is huge in college basketball.



Gonzaga was blessed with a ton of WCC home games early and cursed with a 4-game road trip at the end.



They had a 4 game lead in WCC Standings.



They are 0-2 so far having lost to BYU and now SD.



Now they have a 2 game lead.



Could the Zags actually choke and lose their last two road games @Pacific and @Saint Mary's?



BYU split with them. Who owns the tie breaker if they lose out?



Is it possible that SD and Johnny Dee could rise up and do to BYU what they did to the Zags?



A lot of possibilities. Conferences are fun. If Zags lose 3 of 4 - that probably hurts BYU.



USF is still in the mix with 5 losses, but 2 games remaining @Pepperdine and @LMU. BYU owns the tie breaker.



BYU has only @SD left.



Home Court matters to Zags too.



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Most tie breaks are head to head (split) and then best record against 3rd place team. Which would be USF right now. I think both teams swept USF and if Zags split with SMC then BYU would win the conference, right?

SpiffCoug wrote:
Most tie breaks are head to head (split) and then best record against 3rd place team. Which would be USF right now. I think both teams swept USF and if Zags split with SMC then BYU would win the conference, right?

This is what I was thinking. Hard to imagine Zags losing 2 more - hope it is in their heads - choke.



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Yeah, I'm not sure I see them losing 2 more either.

I know it sounds dumb maybe but I'd rather now see a possible match up with St. Mary's in the semi's. As it was last night when they showed projected pairings St. Mary's is 4th in the top half of the bracket and we would end up with San Fran in the bottom half if we win as well as SF.



Maybe it's just me but I'd rather see SF than SM's in the semi's.



Go Cougs!!!

J. Child

Ammon, ID

AmmonCougar1 wrote:
I know it sounds dumb maybe but I'd rather now see a possible match up with St. Mary's in the semi's. As it was last night when they showed projected pairings St. Mary's is 4th in the top half of the bracket and we would end up with San Fran in the bottom half if we win as well as SF.



Maybe it's just me but I'd rather see SF than SM's in the semi's.



Go Cougs!!!

J. Child

Ammon, ID

Did you say what you meant in the last sentence. Seems reversed from your first sentence. Other than that it does not sound dumb. I would prefer to see SMC. It would help even the score if we nailed 3-0 vs them all in one year.



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Gonzaga drew the short end of the end-of-season scheduling stick. Course the beginning of the season was loaded for us so I don't feel bad for them. There should never be back to back road trips. Too hard on the programs and too hard on the students. That's a lot if school they are missing in a row.



Gonzaga still has Pacific and SMC. Likely they win out, but just as likely they split. Doubt they lose both, though certainly possible.



SF still has games at Pepperdine and LMU. Most likely they split there.



We just have one left at SD. Good news is we have some extra days to prepare (make up for the short turn around earlier?).



We just need to win. If want any hope of an at large bid, we need to win.



I do like our chances at winning the WCC tournament this year.



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87-53



Nearly two months ago now, on the heels of the debacle road trip to Pepperdine and LMU, we beat San Diego in Provo by 34 points.



Home Court has been worth a ton to us, but logic would lead one to think the result will not swing by 35 points.



So - why am I a bit nervous about that game? Probably because logic would say Gonzaga would have blown them out instead of losing Saturday. And SD gave us unexplainable problems last year.



But, so did Saint Mary's. And we swept them this year.



Saturday seems so far away. We need to shut down Dee again. They are hot right now - 3 games - stink most of the time - hopefully we get into their heads this year.

It is no longer even remotely possible. Gonzaga blew away @Pacific Thursday night. That cinched WCC regular season title for them.



So that raises this question -



What helps our resume most. Zags beat @SMC whom BYUswept or @SMC beats con champion Zags with whom we split. We played them both twice. One way two SMC wins look better while diminishing 1 Zag win and 1 Zag loss explainability.



The other way diminishes those 2 SMC wins but bolsters the Zag win and Zag loss explainability.



IMHO, Zags never lose at home so that loss is explainable either way. So, I hope SMC wins and bolsters those two BYUSWEPT wins.



And this question - Is it safe to assume BYU can win @SD?



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We can win @SD. No question. But doesn't mean we will. We have a real tendency to play down when on the road.



If we play tight D on Johnny Dee then I think we have a real good chance.



SMC beating Gonzaga would make our win over Gonzaga look better, but we also need Gonzaga to look as strong as possible to bolster our win over them. I'm torn. I do see your logic, so guess I'll be cheering for the Gaels. :sick:



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