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.