This is part 31 of a 33-part series in this blog, designed to give you all the information you need to know about each conference's tournament, and the postseason prospects of every single team in the conference.
Final standings:
Montana 14-4
Eastern Washington 14-4
Sacramento St 13-5
Northern Arizona 13-5
Northern Colorado 10-8
Portland St 9-9
Idaho 8-10
Weber St 8-10
Southern Utah 7-11
North Dakota 4-14
Idaho St 4-14
Montana St 4-14
Conference tournament format: Thursday March 12 to Saturday March 14, hosted by Montana. But wait, this is the most elitist conference tournament in the country! Only the top 8 are invited.
Bracket:
1) Montana vs. 8) Weber St
4) Northern Arizona vs. 5) Northern Colorado
2) Eastern Washington vs. 7) Idaho
3) Sacramento St vs. 6) Portland St
The stakes:
This isn't a great conference. However, one did break away from the rest in terms of overall profile: Eastern Washington. RPI under 100, non-con RPI and SoS are double digits only, beat TSU and Indiana. This leads me to believe they're well clear of the 16 line, probably 13, although 14 is still possible. Worth noting: I think EWU is off the NIT bubble and wouldn't get an at-large selection there...but it isn't impossible.
The reason I highlight this is because everyone else is around RPI 150 or worse, and seem destined to play in Dayton. There's not a lot of rays of hope for Montana, NAU, or SSU. There just isn't. There's nothing in the profiles to help them avoid the 16 line. Montana has the NIT bid; NAU and SSU are probable CIT/CBI teams, at least.
Deeper down, Northern Colorado and Portland St are CBI/CIT eligible at just above .500, but a 5th and 6th postseason team out of this conference? Might not be enough room.
No comments:
Post a Comment