USC, a young team with promise that staggered into the Pac-10 tourney with a 6-6 record over their last 12 games, including losses to California and Stanford, won three games in a row in tournament play to win the PAC-10 crown. If you include their last two regular season games, they now have a 5 game winning streak, which matches their longest of the season, when they beat a pretty average series of teams--Pepperdine, North Dakota State, Georgia Tech, Oral Roberts, and Oregon.
They most definitely took a spot from a potential at-large team, and I doubt it is going to be a team within their own conference, as the PAC-10 was too weak to have any bubble teams aside from Arizona, and the Wildcats had already shit the bed a few days earlier.
As I said yesterday, the A-10 already took a spot away from someone, when the final for the conference tournament ended up being Temple vs. Duquesne. And you may wish to look out for who A-10 Tournament Champion Temple matches up with in the first round. They have a pure scorer in Dionte Christmas, who is bad ass, and they have a pretty OK if gawky big man in Sergio Olmos.
And Mississippi State, who may still be a bubble team, is in the SEC Final. Big 10 teams, you best root for Tennessee to destroy Mississippi State, because the Bulldogs have won 5 games in a row (following a 3 game losing streak to Bama, Tennessee and Auburn), and could be taking a spot with just a strong performance against the Volunteers. And clearly, if Mississippi State wins the SEC title outright (which is hardly beyond the realm of possibility) then some other team is definitely being sent to the NIT. And again, I have a feeling it maybe a Big 10 team--Minnesota, Penn State, possibly even Wisconsin.
Like I said. Today was Bananas.
1 comment:
Guess it won't be the Gophers. Suck it, Penn State!
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