NIT 6 seed

Vs. 3-seed Stanford.



Didn't see what seed or match-up St. Mary's got in the NIT.

BYU was the final at large and only made it in because Georgia players elected not to slum at the NIT.



https://twitter.com/rtmccombs/status/973004248215531520?s=19

SMC is a #1 seed playing SE Louisiana.



https://twitter.com/rushthecourt/status/972999499680440321?s=19

Well, thank you Georgia. Their poor sportsmanship is our advantage.



Will be good experience for our guys. We can beat Stanford.



I hope Holmoe and Rose took note of who made it into the tourney. We need to toughen up the OOC schedule.

Georgia beat Gonzaga this year.



BYU is 6-2 against Stanford, 2-0 under Dave Rose, but obviously this will be a tough game.

I'm pleased we made it. I'm glad George players opted out.



Looking at the whole NCAA field and NIT field, there are just a lot of questions.

Mars wrote:

Georgia beat Gonzaga this year.

No they have not. They beat St. Mary's. Gonzaga did not play them this year.

Thanks.



This game is Wednesday night.

hawkwing wrote:

BYU was the final at large and only made it in because Georgia players elected not to slum at the NIT.



https://twitter.com/rtmccombs/status/973004248215531520?s=19

Well, also because Georgia doesn't have a coach right now. Hard to tell for sure if the players were actually voting "no" to the NIT or "no" because they were mad about their coach getting fired.

Gunk wrote:





I hope Holmoe and Rose took note of who made it into the tourney. We need to toughen up the OOC schedule.

Toughening up the non-conference schedule is essential for next year. But BYU has scheduled tough OOC not that long ago. Fans tend to forget fast. In 2014 we made the NCAA tournament with a 10 seed in large part because our OOC schedule was very difficult and the committee rewarded us for it. In 2015 the schedule wasn't quite as hard as in 2014, but still tougher than the last couple of years. We lightened up the non-conference schedule the last couple of years I assume because we've had very young teams.

Here are the highest ranking teams BYU played in the non-conference schedule in 2013-2014 when we got a 10 seed from the committee with only 22 wins. The rankings are rpi.



#40 Stanford - road win

#7 Iowa State - home loss

#37 Texas - neutral win

#4 Wichita State - neutral loss

#23 UMass - neutral loss

#82 Utah - road loss

#27 Oregon - road loss



In the conference BYU had a win over #19 Gonzaga and two wins against #56 St. Mary's (Waldow throws mouthguard).



This was also the year BYU spent almost the whole month of December away from home. I don't think that's really necessary, but the committee also gives credit for playing these on the road.



This goes to show you don't even have to win most of these. You do have to win a few, but mostly you just have to prove you're brave enough to play them.

It will be interesting to see SMC's response. Only the 2nd time this century that a top 25 team didn't make the NCAA Tournament and I don't think you can point to anything other than their OOC schedule.



Heck, with the few that come to their games, games on the road aren't lacking a whole lot of support. It's just key to find the right opportunities.

one rumor out there is that SMC refused offers to play Creighton and Rhode Island this year. That's not smart. I think Bennett likes to keep it weak. They will have to change their approach because they're also hurting the league by staying with their traditional scheduling strategy. Today on BYUSN Dave Rose said that BYU would buckle down and do what it takes to strengthen the OOC schedule this year, which I think is good.

Yeah, word is SMC passed on bigger games. Bennett's excuse is vague and says there is a multitude economic factors that go into scheduling games, which leads me to believe SMC doesn't have the funds.



They aren't building a new gym. What are they doing with all their money?



And...if they don't have the funds to schedule games with bigger teams, then honestly, BYU needs to get out of the WCC as fast as possible. A top 25 team and top 3 conference team doesn't have the funds!? Eeshh.

I was trying to find an interview of Bennett related to not scheduling better for "economic factors". I ran across this article:

https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2018/03/11/ncaa-tournament-bracket-selection-saint-marys-snub-college-basketball/



Did this writer not know that Tom Holmoe and Craig Thompson were two of the 10 members of the NCAA tournament committee? Now I can see the point of Dieter Kurtenbach from the Bay Aea News Group if the NCAA was actually making the selections of the field, but besides members wanting to protect their conference agendas, I don't think any of the 10 committee members were drooling about picking Alabama at 19-15 over SMC at 28-5.



I believe this was a travesty based on SMC's rankings of 40th in RPI and 28th in Ken Pomeroy, but I find it difficult to believe those 10 were that moved by CBS and TB Sports rating, and that's why Syracuse, Florida, Florida State, North Carolina State, Arizona State, Alabama, Missouri, and Oklahoma made it with lesser credentials.

I was upset with the committee even before I read that article.-

EM_Puma wrote:

I was trying to find an interview of Bennett related to not scheduling better for "economic factors". I ran across this article:

https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2018/03/11/ncaa-tournament-bracket-selection-saint-marys-snub-college-basketball/



Did this writer not know that Tom Holmoe and Craig Thompson were two of the 10 members of the NCAA tournament committee? Now I can see the point of Dieter Kurtenbach from the Bay Aea News Group if the NCAA was actually making the selections of the field, but besides members wanting to protect their conference agendas, I don't think any of the 10 committee members were drooling about picking Alabama at 19-15 over SMC at 28-5.



I believe this was a travesty based on SMC's rankings of 40th in RPI and 28th in Ken Pomeroy, but I find it difficult to believe those 10 were that moved by CBS and TB Sports rating, and that's why Syracuse, Florida, Florida State, North Carolina State, Arizona State, Alabama, Missouri, and Oklahoma made it with lesser credentials.

Only two "worthwhile" teams in the WCC? This writer has an ax to grind and isn't letting facts get in the way of his righteous indignation.



My take is that the selection committee has been transparent over the years that scheduling tough out of conference games will be rewarded, even if you don't win them. St. Mary's has thumbed its nose at the committee daring them not to select them because of their lousy scheduling, and the committee took them up on their dare. End of story

ABYUFAN wrote:

Only two "worthwhile" teams in the WCC? This writer has an ax to grind and isn't letting facts get in the way of his righteous indignation.

This statement is probably true this year.

EM_Puma wrote:

I was trying to find an interview of Bennett related to not scheduling better for "economic factors". I ran across this article:

https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2018/03/11/ncaa-tournament-bracket-selection-saint-marys-snub-college-basketball/



Did this writer not know that Tom Holmoe and Craig Thompson were two of the 10 members of the NCAA tournament committee? Now I can see the point of Dieter Kurtenbach from the Bay Aea News Group if the NCAA was actually making the selections of the field, but besides members wanting to protect their conference agendas, I don't think any of the 10 committee members were drooling about picking Alabama at 19-15 over SMC at 28-5.



I believe this was a travesty based on SMC's rankings of 40th in RPI and 28th in Ken Pomeroy, but I find it difficult to believe those 10 were that moved by CBS and TB Sports rating, and that's why Syracuse, Florida, Florida State, North Carolina State, Arizona State, Alabama, Missouri, and Oklahoma made it with lesser credentials.

This is unbelievable! I don't care how weak they think St. Mary's schedule was they were still 28-5 and had the win over Gonzaga. They were ranked 20th and couldn't make a 64 team tournament? This writer calls the NCAA corrupt and morally bankrupt. I now agree.



I will cheer for BYU and St. Mary's in the NIT and hope it eats in on the NCAA popularity.

I'll have to admit, it was much more enjoyable back in the day when there wasn't all this constant issues about conferences. It is what it is, but once in a conference, we didn't worry as much about what change will come about that will greatly impact our own position and whether that change will be positive or negative. We've had a bit of both over these years of independence and it would be nice if it could settle for a time, but I guess that's wishful thinking. It's taking the luster somewhat off of the college sports world.