COLUMN: Conference tournaments prove to be pressure-filled
Last week, while the rest of the school was enjoying the weather in Anaheim, I decided to check out the Mountain West Conference tournament in Denver. There was some great basketball being played; it was exciting to see some great teams fighting for their postseason hopes and dreams. In some cases, the course of a game would certainly change a coach, player, or administrator’s livelihood.
Jay Spoonhouer and Kerry Rupp, interim coaches for UNLV and Utah, respectively, had about a 100 percent chance of being replaced if they didn’t at least win the conference tournament for an automatic bid to the NCAA tourney.
Seniors like Nick Jacobson, Mark Bigelow, Tim Frost, and lottery-bound Rafael Araujo were fighting for their lives to not have to finish off their careers with a loss in the “Not Interested Tournament.”
It was a pressure cooker inside the Pepsi Center last week. Realizing the seriousness of the games, I took close note of all the university figures who are likely to be fall guys in a losing situation.
I could sense the pressure BYU coach Steve Cleveland was feeling, as I sat directly behind the Cougar bench not far from BYU athletic director Val Hale.
Wyoming coach Steve McClain, all 5-feet-9 of him, looked so evil as he was chewing out the refs, fans around me couldn’t help the Smeagol comparisons. As Wyoming’s chances at a victory over BYU in the quarterfinals were getting slim, I was kind of hoping to see McClain dive out on the floor and start gnawing on Araujo’s ankles.
Air Force coach Joe Scott has taken the hardest coaching job in America and been very successful. The Falcon basketball team won their first-ever Mountain West championship in the regular season, but then lost in the first round as the top seed to eighth-seeded Colorado State. The look on Scott’s face in the loss was as though somebody had kicked his dog.
Watching the U’s Jacobson during a stretch of their game against San Diego State when the Utes were getting beaten, I could see the shock on his face when he realized that this might be his last meaningful college basketball game.
These conference tournaments are very crucial and high-pressured, not to mention perhaps a little unfair.
For example, the Utah State Aggies before the Big Sky tournament last week: 27-2 overall, 17-1 in conference, ranked 23rd in the nation. ESPN.com’s Joe Lunardi, possibly the top scientist in the field of “Bracketology,” considered Utah State a lock for a spot in the NCAA’s for months before that forgetful tournament.
In the first round against CS Northridge, the Aggies fell by one point. Consequently, the selection committee had a lot easier time not taking two teams from the lowly Big West Conference, and the Aggies were left out in the cold.
Unfair? Well yes, Utah State is the only team to be ranked in the Top 25 ever to not make the NCAAs. The Aggies are also the team with the best Ratings Percentage Index number in history to not make the tournament.
On to the other side of the pendulum. Fair? Mmm, I’d say more like fun. With the conference tournaments set up so that the winner gets an automatic bid to the one and only important post season tournament, fans from every team, from Kentucky to IUPUI, can have hope for their team to go to the big dance.
More importantly to college basketball, the conference tournaments will attract money, I mean, fans and alumni, from every team. From Duke to East Tennessee State, fans with a glimmer of hope of making it to March Madness by winning the tournament will continue to head over to the tournaments to see their schools play must-win games.
The Utah Utes ended up winning their first Mountain West tournament championship, over UNLV with a last second three-point shot by tournament MVP Jacobson. Not that it matters, but I had a couple of firsts last week as well. I never thought that I would walk away from a BYU loss to Utah with a smile on my face, but after seeing Araujo drop Utah’s Andrew Bogut with a hard elbow, I couldn’t help but enjoy myself.
I also came to a realization that Utah fans are in fact not the worst collective group on the face of the earth. Please pray for me that I don’t go to Wyoming on my mission.
Brad Barth is a freshman majoring in English. Comments can be sent to bcb@cc.usu.edu.