I was fearing that 12pm slot against Poly. Prime matchup and schedule for a 2-7 upset.

Yeah, I know. Poly always plays us tough and has a history of knocking off higher seeds in the BW tournament. However, both the Aggies and Poly are coming off equally poor games and I would say that Poly's loss to Santa Barbara was worse than the pummeling the Aggies took at Irvine.

The Ags ran into a buzz saw at Irvine and I don't think the Eaters will replicate that kind of performance against anybody in the tournament. The Ags were cold as ice the whole game and especially at the start. We shot 31% overall, 20% from 3 and hit only 6-22 from the line for the game. The 49 points scored by the Ags was a season low. I don't expect that to happen again.

Poly, on the other hand, lost to last place Santa Barbara in their own house. They shot an equally miserable 30% overall and 25% from 3 and only scored 44 points.

The Ags will need to recoup and get over being shell shocked by the loss at Irvine. They went from high to low after the ESPN game and the win over Hawai'i to getting trounced at Irvine. That's tough for team mentally but it just might motivate them even more in the tournament.

Irvine has shown that they are the team to beat in the tournament but, there is so much parity in the conference this year, that any team is capable of winning the whole thing.

BGA, I love your enthusiasm, but we were almost bounced in the same slot by #8 CSUN two years ago. If I remember correctly, we chose that slot to provide the maximum recovery time between the first 2 rounds, which I HATE because it assumes a W in the 1st round. Combine and odd time, an empty cavernous arena (with reference points for shots being WAY off) and that's a recipe for an upset even BEFORE considering the opponent.

On a separate note - what's the benefit of securing a top-2 seed? Still have to play 3 games in 3 days. I think the WBB tourney has a good idea going....

Changes need to be made. The only game that makes sense is the #1 seed in the 6 pm slot. Why is the #2 seed at noon? Should be at 8 pm.

IMO, a one bid conference like the Big West should give a bye to the semis for the #1 and #2 seeds. Protect the best teams who will represent the conference in the tourney.

There is no benefit for earning that seed. Depending on the situation, you may be better off going the Pop/NBA route and resting guys here and there than working for that seed.

Absolutely agree. It's a ridiculous format and scheduling. (N)

Said, "BGA, I love your enthusiasm..." It helps me keep my sanity! ;)

is the big west the only post-season tourney where the conference champs and runner-ups don't get a bye? crazy.

if we can't win it (and i'm not optimistic based on our offensive struggles, and lack of depth), we want Irvine to win -> that sends us to the NIT.

Do we get to go to the NIT if Irvine takes the NCAA bid? I was under the impression from Wikipedia that only the conference champion is eligible for the auto-bid, and it's lost of the champion gets the NCAA bid. Did the rules change?

i was mimicking what i read in the Enterprise. i think we have to send someone, but i wouldn't bet my life on that.

I do not believe that is the case. All conferences do not have to be represented and if the team who wins the automatic NIT bid goes on to win the conference tournament the number 2 team is watching basketball from home.

EDIT: Here is the link I found: http://www.ncaa.com/championships/basketball-men/nit/postseason-nit

I don't think the NIT has auto-bids for anyone except the regular season champs who failed to win their conference post season tourney. (I read something about auto-bids to the "First Four Out" of the NCAA, but I think that's a given...) There are even "bracketology" predictions for this year's NIT. They don't have any BWC teams.

http://bracketmatrix.com/nit
http://www.dratings.com/predictor/bracketology/
http://www.nycbuckets.com/current-nit-bracketology/

One of them has NIT 'bubble teams' and 'teams given serious consideration." UCD is not listed in any of them.

Maybe CBI, CIT, Vegas 16? A tournament yet to be named?

One of the bracketology sites had E. Washington in the NCAA for the Big Sky and regular season champ North Dakota going to the NIT.

72, found the same sites. Not sure what Bruce was referring to...

Neither is Bruce.

I think there may be a super-secret rule that provides for an auto-bid to the NIT for the team with the greatest time of possession.

So that explains Aggie Football for the last 4 years..... :D

Hawaii won the regular season last year and won the tournament. Long Beach, who was the 3rd seed in the tournament, went to the NIT ahead of Irvine. prior to that, regular season champ Long Beach won the 2012 tournament and the NIT was BWC-less.

so, 3-0, or we're looking at the College Insider or CBI.

When you see where UCI is seeded in people's brackets, (14? 16? play-in?) it is unlikely that a team they beat by 30 points is likely to go to the NIT.

Our RPI is currently 195 and SOS is 318...no NIT for us.

Guess we'll just have to win the conference tournament!

last year, irvine tied for the regular season title (13-3 with hawaii), and lost in the BW tournament, which Hawaii winning. Irvine was 25-9 and was skipped by the NIT, only to land in the CIT. played AT north dakota, at louisiana-lafayette, at coastal caroline, and lost at columbia in the championship. i can't imagine they made money from that adventure.

Go Ags!!

Check the Big West Conference website for the television schedule for tomorrow's first round games. Heads up: It's a very confusing schedule!

http://www.bigwest.org/assets/sports/mbball/17_MB_Bracket.pdf

SOS 318 out of how many teams?

351

Cal Poly is #293

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/rpi/_/page/6/sort/sos

Let's go Aggies

Here we go...good luck Ags!!!

Let's go!