Pacific 63 Cal Poly 43 in the WNIT
Cal 65 Hawai'i in the WBIT

Arizona 85 Long Beach 65 - Final

Long Beach has a lot talent but they simply don't play good, disciplined defense. I can only imagine what a defensive minded coach like Les could do with a team with their level of talent.

They've fallen way behind now. 70-53 with 7:16 to go.

Yes, I think Irvine got shafted at being the #15 seed in the NIT.

You're right, Utah has incredible size! I thought Irvine played very well against them and they fought their way back to within 4 points with 2 minutes to go.

I agree...not much respect for the Big West teams I guess. Irvine was a very good team this year and I think they would have won a couple of games in the NIT with a better draw.

Toke, the -10.5 actually means that San Diego is a 10.5 point favorite. I think it's has something to with the way betting odds are listed. I don't bet on games but I know that the team favored to win is shown with the negative number.

Utah 84 Irvine 75 - Final

Utah 46 Irvine 40 at the half. Irvine is playing well but the Utes are shooting lights out. The Anteaters need to stiffen up their defense especially beyond the arc.

Here's an interesting article about how more schools are not accepting invitations to the NIT because they they think they can get an early recruiting advantage over the other teams who are involved in post-season tournaments. St John's, Memphis, Oklahoma, Pittsburgh and Ole Miss all declined to play in the NIT this year. I think it stinks since these schools are thinking more about getting ahead of other schools in recruiting than they are about giving their current players a chance to play in the post-season.

https://sports.yahoo.com/nit-practically-obsolete-more-teams-204003228.html

The NCAA has full ownership of the NIT and the WBIT not the WNIT. They created the WBIT this year in an effort to maintain more control in women's basketball. The following link, which was posted in another thread here, discusses the WBIT and the WNIT.

https://dknetwork.draftkings.com/2024/3/17/24104099/what-is-the-wbit-womens-basketball-new-tournament-wnit-ncaa-ownership-rules-regulations-indianapolis

Here's a list for the first games of every Big West Men's and Women's Basketball teams playing in the post-season.

MBB:

Tu 3/19 NIT #15 Irvine #2 Utah 8 pm on ESPN2
Th 3/21 NCAA #15 Long Beach State vs #2 Arizona 11 am on TBS
Sa 3/23 CBI #2 UC San Diego vs #15 Chicago State 12:30 pm on FloHoops

WBB:

Th 3/21 WNIT Cal Poly @ Pacific 6 pm on ESPN+
Th 3/21 WBIT Hawai'i @ Cal 7 pm on ESPN+
Fri 3/22 WNIT Riverside @ South Dakota 5 pm on ESPN+
Sa 3/23 NCAA #13 Irvine @ #4 Gonzaga 4:30 pm on ESPN2

"It's been a joy to coach these true student-athletes, who do this the right way," said the Aggie coach. "They make this the best job in America. They hurt right now because they worked very hard all year and that was evident by how much better they got as the season went on.

"I just want to say thank you to all of them for how they represented this university on the court and off. They are special young men who just fell a little short of their goal. Wherever they go in life, we'll be there for them and we'll always be their biggest fans."

https://www.davisenterprise.com/sports/aggie-men-fall-short-in-bwc-finale-74-70/article_c7f40776-e432-11ee-a411-cfe83807a5e7.html

Post-game comments from Jen Gross:

"Of course, we're all full of heartache because we wanted to be the ones to cut down the nets," said Aggie coach Jen Gross. "But give Irvine credit. They really came out in the second half and took control after we had made a run in the first half. We wish them the very best in the NCAA tournament."

"It was an incredible run, but sometimes things don't work out and the ball doesn't always bounce your way, but it's really about the journey and the growth of your team and the relationships, and in that regard we were 100 percent successful this year," Gross added.

Turner was named to the all-tournament team along with teammate Tova Sabel.

Added Gross: "Aggie Pride means different things to different people, but Evanne epitomizes what it means. She would go to battle every moment of every game.

"She brings joy to everyone around her and she's one of those players that we will talk about for years to come. Tradition never graduates, and she is part of our tradition."

https://www.davisenterprise.com/sports/aggie-women-run-low-on-fuel-in-loss/article_ebc61408-e402-11ee-99f7-cb572c6eecd8.html

The Aggies finished with the 3rd best record in the Big West including the games played in the BW Tournament but they are not playing in any of the post-season tournaments. I'm not sure what the selection criteria is for the WNIT but, the only thing I can guess, is that they offer teams based on the final conference standings and how the teams were seeded in the BW Tournament. We were seeded 5th in the BW Tournament with Riverside #3 and Poly #4.

We were the #5 seed in the conference tournament but then won 3 games in the BW Tournament and finished with an overall better record than Riverside and Poly. We even had a better overall record than Hawai'i when you include the games in the BW Tournament but I think Hawai'i ended up in the WBIT since they won the regular season BW Title.

I wonder if the Aggies got and invitation to the WNIT and the Athletics Department turned it down? I'm not sure we'll ever know but I am sure that the team must be very disappointed to see Riverside and Poly playing in the post-season while they sit at home.

So here are the Women's Big West Teams that are playing in the post-season:

Irvine (23-8) in the NCAA Tournament
Hawai'i (20-10) in the WBIT
Riverside (18-13) in the WNIT
Cal Poly (17-13) in the WNIT

...but the Aggies (20-14) are not going anywhere...

These are the teams in the WNIT:

Good for Irvine. They'll have a better chance of winning some games in the NIT than Long Beach will in the NCAA Tournament.

There's a $27,500 buy in fee for the CBI and that doesn't include the cost of travel to Florida, meals and accommodations. That would be quite a big cost for the Athletics Department for a possible one and done in a minor tournament.

NIT very unlikely and CBI maybe not worth the money. — Toke69

Yes, I don't see the Aggies buying into the CBI. $27,500 is a lot of money for a program like UCD and that's not counting the costs of travel to Florida plus meals and accommodations. That would add up to a very expensive bill for playing in a minor tournament where you could possibly go one and done.

The thing that really made Pepper so special was how much he contributed to the team with his defense, rebounding and assists even when he wasn't scoring big numbers. For example, during his 3 game scoring drought, he had 7 steals in the win over CSUN. He wasn't an exceptionally gifted player when he first arrived at Davis but he worked tirelessly under the leadership of Jim Les and grew into an elite, all around player.

His work ethic during his time at Davis was second to none and he had a motor that wouldn't quit. In the last couple of seasons, the Big West teams focused their defensive strategies primarily at slowing him down. They played him very physical and he often had to fight through double and triple teams in order to get a decent look. He was a very unselfish player who put winning as a team above his own personal numbers.

Jim Les said that Pepper had an opportunity to leave Davis and go to a major program that included some good NIL money so he wasn't sure Eli was going to stay with the Aggies for his final season. Then one day last summer, he came into Les' office and told him that he was going to stay in Davis because he wanted to win a championship for him. The Aggies fell short of that goal but, in his post-game comments, Les said, "The team is hurting, they fell a little short of their goal but in my eyes they're all champions." I'm sure no one was more disappointed than Pepper.

It's been a pleasure to watch to watch Pepper grow into the outstanding basketball player that he is today over the last 5 years. He is certainly one of the greatest Aggie players ever to wear the uniform.