Day 7 Reactionary Look: Mountain West, Northeast, Ohio Valley

Mountain West
The branch-off of the WAC in 1999 has quickly become one of the top tier mid major conferences, and easily surpassed the WAC as the best conference other than the Pac-10 west of Texas. The Mountain can always be reliable for three quality teams with NCAA resumes, and normally one will get the "snub," but two will be featured in the field of 65. Such an occurance has happened the last two seasons, and did this year as well. BYU and UNLV led the Mountain all season, with the Cougars from Provo winning the league by two full games at 14-2. BYU nearly clipped UNC in November out in Las Vegas after Ty Lawson was injured in the second half. The Cougars managed to appear in the Top-25 briefly, and earned another trip to the NCAA Tournament where they were defeated by a team that managed to match their great size and physicality insinde, in Texas A&M. UNLV made it to the second round after trouncing Kent State. The Runnin Rebs captured their second straight MWC conference tournament championship, beating BYU in the final by 19 points in their most impressive game of the season. Lon Kruger has tremendously turned the UNLV program around after the departure of Charlie Spoonhour. Kruger led this team to the Sweet 16 in '07, and back to the dance in '08. Look for UNLV to remain atop the Mountain West in the future if Kruger continues at the helm. New Mexico finished exactly where they were predicted this season. Journeyman JR Giddens led the Lobos to third in the M-West, a 24-9 record and a first round NIT appearance. Giddens led the team in scoring and rebounding, averaging 16.3 and 8.8 respectively. San Diego State also appeared in the NIT after finishing fourth in the league, but they were thinking greater goals after they began the season at 11-3. Air Force ended the season with a very disappointing .500 (8-8) record in conference; they finished fifth and only two games above the even mark at 16-14 this season. The Falcons' huge problem is that they continue to be unable to score, averaging only 63 points per game and scoring under 55 twelve times. A team to watch out for next year has to be the improving Utah Utes. Junior Luke Nevill was everything for this team, leading them in scoring, rebounding and assists. The 7-1 center from Australia helped the Utes return to the postseason in the CBI, and will have the inside track at MWC player of the year next year. Look for the Utes to be right with UNLV atop the MWC next season.

2007-2008 Mountain West Grade: B
I think that the Mwest did a solid job this season in sending five teams to the postseason, and really having an interesting race all year. Teams like BYU and UNLV were very impressive, and showed that they could perform on a national landscape. New Mexico, San Diego State and Utah all showed flashes of brilliance, especially inside the league which aided in the overall RPI for this conference. I would like to see the return of powerhouse Mountain West teams that gain spots in the top 10 however which has not happened since the Andrew Bogut era in Salt Lake. Until then the Mountain will continue to send two teams into the tournament and probably not feature anybody in the second weekend, as UNLV last season backed into it facing the weakest 2-seed of the draw in Wisconsin. I think that the Mountain West will be a force next year nationally, and I think that BYU, UNLV and Utah could all see time in the top 25.


Northeast
A great season helped by intelligence, blood, sweat and tears can be ripped away in literally an hour. The Robert Morris Colonials went 16-2 in the NEC regular season, capturing their first ever conference title, one seed in the tournament, home court throughout and had finally showed they arrived in Division-I basketball after struggling for their first three seasons out of NAIA. Booom. Mount St. Mary's defeats the Colonials, big; 83-65 the final, on the RMU home court, as The Mount celebrates their triumph and later their trip to the field of 65 and Dayton, Ohio for the opening round game. The Colonials were led by point guard Tony Lee who maneuvered this team in and out of jams all season long. He led the team in assists and rebounding and earned the NEC player of the year award. Unfortunately, Robert Morris settled for the NIT, still an astounding accomplishment for a team that had only three wins three seasons ago. The Mount on the otherh and waited until March to get going. Recording only a 19-15 regular season mark, the Mountaineers won four games in the NEC tourney, including beating the top two seeds and won a game in the NCAAs before getting balasted by North Carolina. If there was a theme in the NEC this season, it had to have been that anything could happen on any given night. Robert Morris dropped a game at home to cellar-dweller St. Francis PA which set the tone for a quirky, topsy turvy year for the league. The disappointment of the year was Quinnipiac. The Bobcats featured league top scorer Demario Anderson at 21.7 PPG, but they never managed to get things together and never won more than four games in a row on their way to a 15-15, fifth place finish in the conference.

2007-2008 NEC Grade: C-
Another middy conference with nothing to speak of in the non con really is not a shocker. This league has always been a whipping boy from the MAAC, which certainly has not showed any sort of intense leadership nationwide. The NEC has earned consecutive 16 seeds, and has not won a tournament game in years other than the play-in game. The Mount had an incredible run this season, but Robert Morris ruled their territory all season long, and deserved a shot with the big boys for that domination. Unfortunately for them and the league, it was not meant to be. Featuring only two 20-win teams in Robert Morris and Wagner, multiple teams with coaching changes, and four 4-14 campaigns at the bottom of the standings, a subpar year for the NEC with no real superstars to speak of.


Ohio Valley
Second straight conference title. School record 24 wins. 32 0f 36 wins in OVC play. The Austin Peay Governors have turned into the neo-Murray State of the Ohio Valley. The Govs made their 24th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, and led the league from start to finish as they won their eighth OVC tournament title. The Govs featured five players in double figures, a balanced attack which helped them drop only two games after January 31st. Second in the league was Murray State, who finished four games back of the Govs, at just 18-13, but managed their 21st straight winning season, the fourth longest streak nationally. The Racers were eliminated by upstart Tennessee State in the semifinals of the OVC in Nashville. Tenn State finished 10-10 in the conference, 15-17 overall, but knew they were ready come March because they went out and played big boys, Indiana, Illinois, a victory by two, Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt. The Tigers prepared themselves for difficult contests in league play although starting out 5-12 is not always the best recipe for a successful season. Tennessee-Martin captured third in the league with a 17-16 overall record, and an 11-9 mark in league. The Skyhawks featured junior Lester Hudson who averaged 25.7 PPG and earned OVC Player of the Year in the process. Also, freshman Marques Weedle earned Freshman of the Year honors while averaging 17.1 for the Skyhawks. That 1-2 punch returns next year and figures to help the Skyhawks have the inside track to the OVC championship

2007-2008 OVC Grade: C+
The "Other" Valley Conference only managed three teams over .500 for the season, and just four over .500 in league play. Although those numbers are certainly not very gaudy, the league was difficult, especially to win on the road. Just ask Austin Peay who lost four league games all on the road to Samford, SE Missouri, Murray State and Tennessee State. When home teams manage to win games regardless of their record, I believe this proves that a conference may be on its way to having success. The Valley has a few young teams like Murray, Tenn State and Tenn Martin that can all make some noise next season; the most difficult task for these coaches is to stress to their young players how important winning in November and December is on the road against low majors to gain confidence. If these top teams learn to win on the road, and continue to improve, look out; the OVC will have at least three 20-win teams next season.