Big Sky Conference Basketball

[mtgrizrule]

Congrats to EWU for making the Dance, and nice effort to comeback. Many in GRIZ NATION were pulling for EWU to get an upset. With that said, this and the majority of NCAA tournament games over the last 5 to 7 years show that the conference really has to make efforts become more competitive.

There really is not a sure fire solution for the conference, but every program has to commit to bettering itself. I feel the conference should demand more from each team in better out of conference scheduling. Secondly, every year our conference representative struggles adjusting to officiating in the NCAA tournament, and it gets in their head. I beg and plead for the conference to expect the conference officiating to let the teams play, and quit calling the nit picky crap. Those nit picky calls are few and far between in most NCAA tournament games. 3rd, find a way to get the conference more tv exposure!

I feel the conference can control these things easier than other things. More TV exposure will be difficult. The other things are more up to each program and coaching. It just seems like other small conferences have leaped ahead of the BSC, and the BSC is stuck in the mud.

 

[Grizbeer]

I don't disagree with anything you said, but:

1) this game isn't over and EWU could still come back

2) GU is the mid major model, but really they had 1 very lucky year they leveraged into several sub-par ncaa appearances and finally into respectability for the WCC. Lesson - the whole conference gets better if 1 team leverages a great season(I'm looking at you EWU Cough stuckey/Harvey and WSU cough Lilard).

3) Mo Valley is GU on steroids.

 

[mtgrizrule]

Hell, the GRIZ are recruiting guards like never before. EWU looks much better playing with a lot of pressure defense too. Maybe the conference teams should just look to run and gun with small ball and take our chances.

 

[Grizbeer]

Also, with the underclass men in this conference, Big Sky could be special next year. EWU, UM, and especially Weber are going to be very good next year. If Fish gets his shot together this might be the best year in BSC since the early 80's. Really excited for next year.

 

[mtgrizrule]

Also, with the underclass men in this conference, Big Sky could be special next year. EWU, UM, and especially Weber are going to be very good next year. If Fish gets his shot together this might be the best year in BSC since the early 80's. Really excited for next year.

Me too. GRIZ, Weber State, EWU and NAU all have talented returners next season. I see Sac State taking a step back with the loss of their guards. PSU has the young big man to build around. If I remember right SUU had a pretty young team this year too. I feel Idaho is capable of being a contender within the next few years. MSU looked much improved the last month of the season, but has a long way to go. UND should continue to improve. Beyond that, I really don't know.

 

[Grizbeer]

Also, with the underclass men in this conference, Big Sky could be special next year. EWU, UM, and especially Weber are going to be very good next year. If Fish gets his shot together this might be the best year in BSC since the early 80's. Really excited for next year.

Me too. GRIZ, Weber State, EWU and NAU all have talented returners next season. I see Sac State taking a step back with the loss of their guards. PSU has the young big man to build around. If I remember right SUU had a pretty young team this year too. I feel Idaho is capable of being a contender within the next few years. MSU looked much improved the last month of the season, but has a long way to go. UND should continue to improve. Beyond that, I really don't know.

Yep. About as excited about BSC basketball as I hVe been in 20 years.

 

[Potomac Griz]

Hell, the GRIZ are recruiting guards like never before. EWU looks much better playing with a lot of pressure defense too. Maybe the conference teams should just look to run and gun with small ball and take our chances.

Kind of like that idea. Conference full of VCU and Davidson like teams would be fun to watch.

 

[mtgrizrule]

Hell, the GRIZ are recruiting guards like never before. EWU looks much better playing with a lot of pressure defense too. Maybe the conference teams should just look to run and gun with small ball and take our chances.

Kind of like that idea. Conference full of VCU and Davidson like teams would be fun to watch.

The reality of it is, the few quality big men out there go to bigger conferences and teams. Then again, now and then a BSC team scores a quality intimidating big man like a Qvale or Bolemboy. Yes Breunig is great, but he is not a true big man. He is not the shot blocker those 2 were/are. :thumb:

 

[SWeberCat02]

The conference was better this year. Just improving each year, even if small improvements, should be the goal. In regards to better OOC scheduling, that one is very difficult. Bigger conference teams refuse to travel to play Big Sky teams. Only way to play them is play at their place, leaving the only option to schedule very few homes games. This could change some if the conference improves, but OOC scheduling is always going to be a problem, I'm afraid. And it's a problem the NCAA has no desire to fix.

 

[get'em_griz]

The conference was better this year. Just improving each year, even if small improvements, should be the goal. In regards to better OOC scheduling, that one is very difficult. Bigger conference teams refuse to travel to play Big Sky teams. Only way to play them is play at their place, leaving the only option to schedule very few homes games. This could change some if the conference improves, but OOC scheduling is always going to be a problem, I'm afraid. And it's a problem the NCAA has no desire to fix.

At this point, traveling to bigger conference teams to play them is necessary for teams in the Big Sky who want to improve. If Montana, Weber, etc do that and improve over the next few years, you'll start seeing bigger schools make the return trip to Big Sky venues.

 

[EverettGriz]

Neutral floors. Do anything you must -- beg, plead, bribe -- to get invited to the major pre-season tournaments. That gives you the opportunity to play a number of good teams and at least a reasonable shot at winning. If Foolerton cared at all about the BSC, he'd whore himself out to get MONTANA, Weber, ewoo and NAU invited to those.

 

[MT Jack]

Neutral floors. Do anything you must -- beg, plead, bribe -- to get invited to the major pre-season tournaments. That gives you the opportunity to play a number of good teams and at least a reasonable shot at winning. If Foolerton cared at all about the BSC, he'd whore himself out to get MONTANA, Weber, ewoo and NAU invited to those.

For years, NAU attempted to schedule at least ASU or U of A once a year. U of A kept it up for a long time but stopped this year. NAU beat ASU twice in a row in Tempe and now ASU hasn't scheduled the Lumberjacks since 2011. I'd have to guess that if ASU hadn't lost those two games, the Sundevils would still find a place on their yearly schedule for their little brother up the road.

Some BSC schools try to schedule better quality competition. But mid major success isn't always rewarded.

 

[statler & waldorf]

The Big Sky Conference is to basketball what the Pioneer League is to FCS football. Not surprising that the Griz or Lady Griz get their ass handed to them when they play one of the top teams in the entire country. National exposure is the best we can expect.

 

[DoubleNicks]

I disagree with the scheduling aspect. BSC teams did play big name teams (UM played Cal, Boise State, Colorado State, as well as Davidson and NDSU; Eastern Washington played SMU, Indiana, Washington, and California; Idaho played Washington State and Boise State; Idaho State played Washington State, New Mexico, and Utah State; Montana State played Kentucky and UCLA; Northern Arizona played Xavier, Mississippi, as well as Toledo, Fresno State, and Saint Mary's; Northern Colorado played Colorado and Colorado State; North Dakota played Utah, Minnesota, Marquette, and midmajor power UNI; Portland State played USC and Oregon; Sac State played Gonzaga; Southern Utah played Kansas State, UNLV, and Boise State; Weber State played Oklahoma, LSU, BYU, Nevada and Utah State) but it did little to help them.

Maybe they should try taking a page from the Hauck football teams. Schedule all winnable games during OOC, build an impressive record during the regular season (although maybe over-inflated), get a respectable seed in postseason that gives them a much better chance of getting a win.

As far as battle-tested and being prepared, the Griz play over 2/3 of their games in the BSC. Even if they were to schedule every single OOC game against teams that were in the Top 25, would it really help when they have almost a 3 month break of that type of competition? If the Griz would have played Kentucky this year they would have most likely lost by 40+. What does that teach a team when they are already deflated by halftime?

No, the answer is replacing the non-DI RPI counters like Montana-Western and Montana Tech (that's what exhibitions are for) with winnable games against western midmajor DI teams that aren't as traditionally strong and then actually beating the plus 100 RPI teams like San Francisco (what is it with that team), South Dakota, and Milwaukee. 1-2 matchups against bigger conferences per team is okay as long as it doesn't get to be too many and then all the teams have losing OOC records, which then affects the teams' and conference's RPIs, which in turn, affects the BSC autobids seeds. Both play a role in determining seeding, but RPI is more important than SOS.

Take EWU, they had a pretty tough schedule with 3 games against teams that were ranked in the Top 25 at some point this year (SMU, Indiana, and Washington). Even if they would have somehow went undefeated at 34-0 instead of 26-8 heading into the tourney what would their seed have been? Because of the BSC, probably no better than a 6-8 seed. And how likely would going undefeated against that schedule be for a BSC team? Now, what could a BSC team that went undefeated against all midmajors and maybe one MWC/upper WCC/Pac12 team expect? Probably a 10-13 seed but it would be much more likely to happen than to have even a winning OOC record against all power conference opponents.

The difference between getting a 10-13 seed as compared to a 15 or 16 seed are huge. A 10-13 seed gives good enough odds usually of pulling an upset. It's sad but this is what the BSC teams need to strive for first (getting wins of any sort in the OOC and getting 10-13 seeds) and then maybe a few years down the road there could be good enough showings/upsets in the tourney to start garnering a little higher seeds in the 6-10 range.

Or the Griz could just "move-up" conferences but that's probably not going to happen when possibility of football playoffs are more important than possible gains for the basketball teams.