Bozgriz said:
Especially when two members of the committee are from schools the Lady Griz lost to this season...
Or maybe it means nothing. I would still guess a 12-13 seed is probably realistic-
Gonzaga may get in the tournament but Charlie Creme doesn't think so. Boise State will not. WAC in women's basketball is pretty much a 1 bid conference. It was ranked just below the Big Sky Conference in RPI. Boise State will likely be at the NIT. the rep from Boise cannot help Boise because she has to step out of the room when the committee considers (if) her school as an at-large.
But, since the Boise State loss was the first game of the season, I do not think it will hurt the Lady Griz so much as the losses to Gonzaga and Wyoming. If Lady Griz had Mandy healthy, Wyoming would have been a win instead of a loss. Lady Griz were up in that game with around 10 minutes left in the game. Of course, even that fact won't help the Lady Griz seeding.
Lady Griz did finish strong, and the Big Sky Conference was ranked 19th in RPI, which isn't bad (better than the WAC anyway).
on collegerpi.com, Lady Griz jumped from 69 to 64 in RPI rankings.
I figure Lady Griz should be seeded higher than any of the automatic bids from the conferences ranked lower than the Big Sky. Considering some of the conference champions from conferences ranked just above Big Sky may have lost their conference tournaments, will certainly help Lady Griz jump higher in seedings.
Gonzaga lost their conference tournament championship, but I think they will get in. But losing the championship may cost them seeding. collegerpi had Gonzaga a 13th seed last week but it's site isn't up to date for today yet. It had Montana 14th seed. I am thinking once collegerpi.com updates it, Lady Griz will move up a seed to 13th seed.
Charlie Creme has Gonzaga next four out. But, Charlie Creme still has Montana 13th seed.
With luck, hopefully, some of the committee will move some teams down, and Lady Griz up. Lady Griz are better then the 2005 team in my opinion and should be seeded the same. 12th seed, but I still predict 13th seed.