Day 11 Reactionary Look: WCC and Final thoughts

West Coast
Nine straight seasons the Gonzaga Bulldogs had won the West Coast Conference regular season championship, and were figured to have the best team in the league again in '07-'08. Little did they realize that a small jesuit school from Oakland would rival them all year long, and make the WCC race one of the best in the nation. Saint Mary's defeated the Zags for the second straight year at home, something no other West Coast team has done since the turn of the century. Three teams which played nip and tuck games all year long absolutely dominated the league with Gonzaga finally claiming the league title on the last Saturday of the regular season by beating Saint Mary in Spokane. San Diego who finished third in the league had the last laugh however, defeating the Bulldogs and Gaels in respective nights to claim the conference tournament title on their home court at the Jenny Craig pavilion. Gonzaga again played a brutal non-conference schedule before easing the reins during league play; they played at Memphis, at Oklahoma, at Connecticut, and versus Tennessee and Washington State. Gonzaga was led by speedster Jeremy Pargo who had his name in the NBA Draft mix until the very last possible minute before returning to school. Pargo took all the big shots for Zaga and led the team in assists with six a game while claiming All-WCC honors as well as player of the year. Saint Mary's freshman Patrick Mills captivated the late night nation on ESPN every night that he played, capped with a stellar 23 points in the win at home over Gonzaga; he was later named West Coast freshman of the year. San Diego also featured two first-team all conference performers; guard Brandon Johnson and forward Gyno Pomare. Johnson led the team in scoring and assists all season while Pomare led the team with 22 in their first round win over UCONN in the NCAAs. Ironically enough, the team with the least talent and experience was the only WCC team to win a game as a 13-seed. Gonzaga was a hard luck loser to Stephen Curry magic, while the Gaels were dropped by Miami (FL). Outside of the big three, no other West Coast team was over the .500 mark as San Francisco went Texas Tech in the middle of the season and hired a living legend, Eddie Sutton to coach the remainder of the season. Portland and Pepperdine were both young teams that were supposed to drastically improve this season compared to last, but both still showed signs of immaturity, especially Portland who dropped a one point lead with 11:00 left to lose by 24 to Gonzaga. So everything gets jumbled up, a different WCC team advances in the NCAAs, but the same school from Spokane hangs another WCC regular season championship banner in its rafters. Make that ten consecutive.

2007-2008 WCC Grade: B
Gonzaga and Saint Mary were ranked for much of the season, but San Diego made the biggest impact to maybe show that the conference was more than just top-eavy. That unfortunately would be a wrong conclusion to make, but this league had three real dominant teams that all made some headway on a national stage. Saint Mary's beat two tournament teams in Oregon and Drake, and San Diego did as well defeating UCONN and Kentucky. The WCC is a growing league, but it will be a true test if any program can sustain some type of success to go against the Zags every season. If this season is any indication, the times could be achangin for the mids out west.


Closing Thoughts
The 2008 college basketball season featured an incredible blend of youth and experience, powers and mid-majors, Davids and Goliaths and an amazing road before being capped off by an absolutely stunning NCAA Tournament. Here are a few of my favorite moments as a fan from this past college basketball season as well as a few awards to be handed out.

2008 Player of the Year
Michael Beasley, K-State
This is not even a question. he was amazing all year long unlike Rose, Hansbrough and Love. He showed no signs of discomfort while adjusting to the college game and put K-State back on the map in terms of relevancy in the Big 12. Now good luck without him, Frank Martin.

2008 Coach of the Year
John Calipari, Memphis
Calipari helped this team go undefeated in C-USA. Again. He keeps these guys fresh and cool and ready to tackle anything that comes their way as long as it is not from the charity stripe.

2008 Middy of the Year
Adam Emmenecker, Drake / AJ Graves, Butler
Yes Curry was amazing, yes he was the best player from a non-BCS school and a well deserved all-american. These guys though are the quinessential mid-major players, and no it is not because they are white. They could shoot and lead but most importantly they were not afraid to lock up on defense. Do not think that by some coincidence that these two guys led their teams to amazing seasons and really high seeds for where their programs come from

2008 League of the Year
Pac-10
Deep. Deep. Deep. The Big 12 had a one and a two seed. The Big East had four protected seeds and the ACC had a one and a two seed. However, the Pac-10 had eight teams over .500, sent six to the NCAAs (shoulda been seven) and all year long every game on the road was an absolute war. I will take UCLA, Stanford, Washington State, USC and Arizona against any five teams you can arrange, and I like these five to capture three of the games. Every indication in the NCAA tournament was that this league was overrated. Who knows, but I say it did not get enough publicity because maybe all the teams were cooked from playing a brutal non-con, a brutal conference schedule and then having to play in the league tournament.

2008 Top Memories for MTM
-Midnight Madness where everyone realized Florida was not going to win it again
-Watching Davidson play UNC and thinking this Curry kid can kind of shoot
-Hearing about Beasley going for 32 and 24 and thinking "I wonder if he could be better than Mayo"
- Wondering who the hell Gardner-Webb was after reaching MSG for the 2k Sports Classic
- Thinking how the Atlantic Sun will get multiple teams in the tourney
- Maui
- Watching Butler dismantle Michigan in the Great Alaska Shootout and thinking "AJ Graves looks like a nerd"
- VCU's Jamal Shuler hitting a three to beat Houston in Puerto Rico at 10 AM and thinking "That game will matter come March"........
- The Old Spice Classic when George Mason beat K-State and knowing Mason could go through the CAA undefeated if they wanted to.
- The Duke/Marquette Maui Final...God I love Maui
- The General's Retirement
- Dick Vitale coming back for UNC/Duke. Typical.
- Watching Gameday before Tennessee/Memphis and knowing it would not live up to the hype. Errrrrrrr.....
- Beasley calling the win over KU
- Being amazed that Butler actually loses games in the Horizon
- Being amazed that Gonzaga actually loses games in the West Coast
- Watching Roy Hibbert rumble and stumble up the court
- Praying that UAB would beat Memphis at home, and nearly doing it
- Watching Memphis go on 30-2 runs like it was easier than shooting a free throw
- After watching Kansas crush BC and thinking "They might be the best in the land"
- After watching Kansas lose to Okla State and thinking "There is no way they will make the Sweet 16"
- The month-long Big 12/Pac 10 challenge
- Syracuse fading from the bubble. Again.
- Watching Eric Maynor in person
- Watching DJ Augustin on television
- Watching USC play Southern Illinois in November and saying "No way either team makes the tournament"
- Texas beating Kansas
- The growing pains with Arizona and the injury problems
- Watching Iowa and Michigan State battle out in the mid 30s and thinking Naismith is rolling over in his grave.
- Robert McKiver's 52 against Southern Miss
- Chris Lofton and the battle against his testicle
- Thinking there is no way that Drake will win the MVC in January
- Hoping Oregon State would win a Pac-10 game
- Thinking Virginia Tech, Ohio State and Oregon all deserved to be in the NIT
- William and Mary's run in the CAA Tournament
- Wondering how Texas A&M would solve losing Acie Law IV
- Kelvin Sampson cheating and getting fired
- Thinking Drew Neitzel would be player of the year in October
- That the best story all season was Baylor and the resurrection of the program
- Wishing that Sean Singletary would have had one more NCAA game
- Shocked when the A-10 was a legit threat to get six teams into the Dance
- BracketBuster Saturday being the best thing to happen to Mid-Majors
- Wanting the Ivy League to be banned from Division I-A, but its cool they play on Friday nights
- Rolling my eyes at every speak of how great the ACC was.
- Kansas running the same play to get a game winning shot against Texas and Oklahoma State
- Clemson blowing a huge lead to Villanova in the first round
- Championship Week
- Selection Sunday and thinking that the committee gets too much credit
- Thursday and Friday from Noon to Midnight
- The Western Kentucky Shot
- The San Diego Shot
- Stephen Curry in March
- Rooting so hard for any 16 seed
- Mississippi State nearly clipping Memphis in the second round
- Wondering why Mount St Mary's was running with UNC in the first round...113 points later, I still didnt know
- Joe Alexander beating Duke
- The desheveling Memphis put on the South Regional in Houston
- All four #1's getting to the Final Four
- The Kansas first half versus the Tar Heels
- Memphis missing free throws
- Mario Chalmers
- October 15 - April 7 and not waiting until October 15 2008.

Day 10 Reactionary Look: Summit, Sun Belt, WAC

Summit
It has become a foregone conclusion that the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles are going to win the Summit Conference (formerly the Mid-Con) every season. Oral Roberts had never been to an NCAA Tournament until 2006, and since have cruised to three consecutive appearances and have completely dominated the league since head man Scott Sutton took over. ORU played for major schools (Arkansas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M) going 1-3 but managing to be competitive for 30 minutes with all four. ORU's Robert Jarvis averaged 16.1 PPG and shot over 40 % from three point land and clearly captured the title for the nation's best hair in the NCAA Tournament as he won Sixth Man of the Year in the Summit; incredibly Jarvis played only 29.6 minutes per game for the Golden Eagles. IUPUI was ORU's only competition all season long; going 26-9, beating Oral Roberts at home and claiming the conference's player of the year in forward George Hill who led the team with 21 and 6 and led the team in every major statistical category. The Jaguars reached the league championship game but conceded the title to ORU after a great battle between Hill and the entire ORU team, just as the last two seasons had ended. The rest of the Summit did not have much success to speak of; only two other teams were over .500 (Oakland and North Dakota State) who were only three games above the even mark. Southern Utah was figured to finish in the upper half of the Summit because of their exciting young recruiting class. Unfortunately growing pains ensued as they earned an 11-19 mark, but were led by freshman of the year Geoff Payne (20.6 PPG).

2008 Summit Grade: C+
Oral Roberts has turned into one of the top mid-major programs especially in the midwest because of the job that Sean Sutton has done at the helm. This season he lost honorable mention all american Caleb Green who was two-time conference player of the year, but you could not have noticed the way the Eagles picked up the slack. Jarvis came off the bench so impressively all season bringing a sharpshooting and energetic aspect to this team. IUPUI proved a very formidable second in the league which made for a most interesting Summit final, but Oral was double digit favorites and well-deserved. Unfortunately the Golden Eagles still could not snatch up a first round win, but it certainly looks as if there is no changing in Tulsa.

Sun Belt
The Sun Belt managed to get two teams on the national stage in March for the first time in many years this past season in South Alabama and Western Kentucky. South Alabama ran the league all season long going 28-5 and solidifying the chance for an at-large bid. Unfortunately for the Jags, they got ambushed in the Sun Belt semis to Middle Tenn. State opening the door for another bid and raising their status into question. Luckily for them the selection committee (wrong in this writer's opinion) placed them into the field based on their regular season performance- based on two three point losses to SEC foes Ole Miss and Vanderbilt? Demetric Bennett and Richmond defection Daon Merritt led the squad to a very successful conference docket however, with Bennett averaging 19 a game and Merritt literally guiding the team through each and every game. South Alabama was moved to the back pages of the Sun Belt after the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers cruised into the Sweet 16 with wins over Drake and San Diego. There was absolutely no speak of WKU getting an at-large bid, but there profile was just as good as USA; three point loss to Gonzaga in Alaska and a six point loss to Tennessee. WKU earned it on merit though, hitting the (arguably) shot of the tournament as they ousted Drake in the first round. The story of the SUn Belt conference season though was Middle Tennessee State; coming from middle of the pack of the league to 20 minutes away from an NCAA bid in the Sun Belt final as well as beating SOuth Alabama in Mobile during the conference tournament.

2008 Sun Belt Grade: B
Two teams in the tourney for a mid-major conference; you really do not need anything more when you are a league that has not done that very often. Western Kentucky is a very history rich program, but the way they battled, took a big lead over Drake and made a furious comeback against UCLA in the Sweet 16, showed that they were very worthy of the Sweet 16 appearance. The draw helped them out when San Diego defeated UCONN, but that is no one's fault. Coach Darrin Horn said we'll see ya, and is now at South Carolina, but an excellent job he did this seaosn with the Hilltoppers. South Alabama got the hell beat out of them in the first round, but that was a terrible draw. A great, underseeded guard oriented team versus a deflated, over-achieving team in South Alabama; Butler had no problems with the Jags. An impressive year at the top for the Sun Belt with four twenty win teams made the league deep and competitive.

Western Athletic
Mid-major league, four 20-win teams, an exciting conference season with a four-way tie at the top, and an amazing finish to the conference tournament. What an amazing year. Except for the fact that this league in the late 90s and early '00s was THE big league out west with UNLV. With the creation of the Mountain West, the WAC has suffered enormously, and for the first season since '04, Nevada was not the juggernaut team to beat. Instead it was New Mexico State who sought out to return to the tournament after giving Texas and Kevin Durant all they could handle in '07. Boise State however took it upon themselves to jump out early and grab the league lead. Boise started the league docket 10-2, holding a two-game lead before blowing it all and falling into a tie with New Mexico State, Utah State and, who else, Nevada. Nevada lost player of the year Nick Fazekas this year, but they have learned to simply reload. Marcellus Kemp was a hangover from the Wolfpack team that went to four straight NCAAs, and he led the team this year averaging 20 a game for the 'Pack. The amazing thing about the WAC this season is the four way tie at the top could not be spliced because each team swept another. Nevada swept New Mexico State, but Utah State swept Nevada and Boise swept Utah State, but Nevada swept Boise. It was a complicated process that could only be solved by the conference tourney. Reggie Larry told his Broncos they were not going to lose in the final regardless of how long it took. Well it took awhile, but Boise beat New Mexico St in three overtimes IN Las Cruces to make their first NCAA appearance of the decade.

2008 WAC Grade: B-
The best year for the whole WAC in quite some time, but it still cannot compare to some of the early years. Nevertheless the WAC is a solid mid-major league; getting a four way tie at the top with 20-win teams is a tribute to the squads, but also shows how weak the bottom feeders are. I was happy to see that the conference was deep however rather than having one like Nevada run the thing from November to March. Boise had a great year, and won when they had to which gave them the NCAA bid. New Mexico State had their opportunities all season long, and they had the entire conference tournament on their home court, but could not capitalize. Nevada and Utah State both overachieved, but that has become expected with two mid-major programs that have been outstanding for this entire decade now. The WAC has alot to be proud of, and a ton to build on for the future based on this season's success.