WBB: American Southwest Conference

[inthepaint]

Paint,  Pre-emptive...for the lurkers!

Gotcha, Ralph!  We'll see what develops! 

[Pat Coleman]

The games were so different.  Not the emotion in tonight's game like last night!  The crowd (or lack thereof) really makes a difference!

Attendance was 147
Guess not much draw in Washington for a Texas-Virginia game.
Couldn't sectional inclusion criteria be improved?

Where would you have played this game? St. Louis? What's the central location for those four teams?

Would you put both teams in a plane Friday night and played this game on one of the remaining two campuses?

Or are you just upset that Macon didn't get home court two years in a row??

[Ralph Turner]

There is absolutely no question that Coach Briggs figured out how to get the most out of her team when it mattered most.  I have asked more than one time this season if coaching made the difference in some of the close games between the conference leaders.  The answer each time I asked was pretty direct - coaching was not the difference.  

It would seem that coaching is a real strength for HSU.  It is the complete picture?  Absolutely not.  It is, however, a major, maybe THE major, reason why the Cowgirls are playing in the first-ever ASC Final Four appearance.  Coach Briggs is getting some valuable experience.  She and the HSU Cowgirls will only improve as the result.

Paint, I must respectfully disagree.

I believe that it is the competition and the expanded Pool C.  The ASC-West is no longer the Cowgirls and the seven dwarves.  The Selection Committee had to believe that the ASC was so strong that the conference deserved 2 Pool C bids, the second going to HSU.  By my assessment, HSU was about #17 or #18 among the 21 Pool C's chosen.  For McMurry and HPU, it is like a bad 1950's Zombie movie.  How many times do you have to defeat HSU to knock them out of the playoffs?

I hope that the Selection Committee persists in its appreciation for Southern basketball.  The South Region got 5 Pool C bids (HPU, HSU, Trinity, Oglethorpe and Bridgewater) and  a Pool B (Maryville TN).

The 2nd Regional Ranking on Feb 15th showed 4 ASC schools (including Miss Coll)!  (If there was ever a reason to consider splitting the conference, the ASC-East has never sent a team to the Playoffs in the 7 years of the Pools system!)

Trinity, the 2003 Champion, which had stayed home in 2005 due to a shortage of Pool C bids, also benefited from the expanded Pool C and was quickly dispatched by the ASC's other Pool C team, HPU, on a neutral floor.

The ASC-West is very tough, and we have not even mentioned UMHB!  This should be interesting in 2006-07!

[dsc]

Pat, you're jumping all over me and I'm not even complaining!   HSU won!!!  If they had played ANYWHERE else, they might have lost.    (How can anyone complain when their team is in the Final Four?

Maybe your comments were directed to RMC, but you used a quote by me. I simply made a factual statement (IMHO) that the PLU home crowd made for a very emotional, exciting game for HSU's Cowgirls...on Friday night.  It was one of the best types of game one could hope to listen to.  (Some of the players have even said that the crowd (noise) really gets them "going!")

Believe me, I'm happy that only 147 fans were there...certainly made a "level court" for both teams.  And since they were already there...stay there, it is ridiculous to suggest anything else!

And for HSU to be playing McMurry/HPU @ McMurry (in the first weekend) is practically a "home game"...and the very deserving trip for the Cowgirls is a plus...something I'm sure the team will remember.

No, I'm not complaining...nor or other ASC fans.  (Other than it would have been nice for at least one of the "Texas teams" to have been in another geographical bracket, but how many times do we have to have that explained, so I certainly understand the $$$ situation.)

To answer your question from my (HSU) perspective, the game was played in the right location...home court of the highest seeded team, right?

Thanks for all the coverage of the playoffs.

dsc

[GAVA]

[quote author=Pat Coleman

Where would you have played this game? St. Louis? What's the central location for those four teams?


Or are you just upset that Macon didn't get home court two years in a row??

No, RMC had it last year. My question was: is there not a way to plan ahead so that 4 teams from such dispersed locations are in the same sectional?

The regional at RMC was well attended by fans that drove in from Maryland and NC.

[dsc]

[quote author=Ralph Turner link=topic=1526.

  How many times do you have to defeat HSU to knock them out of the playoffs?

.................................................................

Ralph, how about two out of three?

[Ralph Turner]

Like the bad zombie movie, I was thinking that --

--McMurry, as the ASC-West division champion, didn't knock them out.

--The losses to HPU and to UMHB, which knocked them to 3rd in the ASC-West didn't.  (Remember that this is only the 2nd year that the #3 team in the divisions has gone to the expanded ASC Tourney!)

--The loss to ETBU in the first round didn't knock them out!

By the NCAA giving them a "home game" in the McMurry gym to assure a good crowd on Saturday night, the Cowgirls got favorable seeding, not bad for the #18 Pool C bid. 

[Ralph Turner]

[quote author=Pat Coleman

Where would you have played this game? St. Louis? What's the central location for those four teams?


Or are you just upset that Macon didn't get home court two years in a row??

No, RMC had it last year. My question was: is there not a way to plan ahead so that 4 teams from such dispersed locations are in the same sectional?

The regional at RMC was well attended by fans that drove in from Maryland and NC.

GAVA, the Championship Handbook does designate the location of the hosting for the Sectional.  Next year, we, the South Region, will be paired with the Great Lakes Region in the Sectionals.

As for hosting, the hosting rotates between Regions.

In 2003, HSU (South Region) hosted, paired with the Central Region.
In 2004, UW-SP (Central Region) hosted, paired with the South.
In 2005, RMC, paired wiht the West.
In 2006, PLU, paired with the South. 

[dsc]

Yes, not bad at all!  (I understand your frustration.)

However, HSU's success out west justifies their Pool C selection...IMHO.

Good Luck to the Cowgirls on Friday/Saturday!  Those other teams look "tough."

[mcmfan]

At the risk of falling into Ralph's Schadenfreude syndrome, it might be noted that in 2005, HSU went 19-3, won the Western Division, and was eliminated in the second round of the ASC tournament.  In 2006, HSU went 18-4, did not win the West, and was eliminated in the first round of the tournament.  Yet in 2006, unlike 2005, HSU got a bid to the playoffs.  Is this just a result of this year's expanded post season pool, or is HSU the zombie Ralph says it is?

[dsc]

I have said this repeatedly...the NCAA needed one more team to complete the "foursome" at the site of the Conference Champion...McM LIB.

Why not choose a team that is <5> miles away? 

Now don't think I am complaining...just an observation.

Many think last year's HSU team deserved an invitation...your point is well taken, mcmfan, about this year...I must admit.

Does anyone else think that maybe the ASC tournament should be limited to the top two teams from East/West?  Someone made the point that McM/HPU had played three games...wearing them down.  HSU was "one and out" (some say "dead"), but it did give them a chance to rest up before the Sub-sectional at McM.  Just a thought...

[inthepaint]

Paint, I must respectfully disagree.

I appreciate the "respect."  We may be treading on pioneer territory here! 

From my perspective HSU was toast before the trip to Mississippi.  The way they ended the season with losses to HPU and UMHB was completely unexpected.  Then in Clinton they get spanked by ETBU in the first round. 

Something very significant happened between Clinton and the McM gym.  I would propose that "something" falls squarely at the feet of Coach Briggs.  Had their season ended with a single loss to ETBU I could possibly agree that the Final Four appearance is all part of the expanded Pool C bids.  However, the other losses tell me something was whacked out with the team, something that was identified and corrected by the head coach.  They entered the McM gym as a transformed team.

Yes, the opportunity to shoot for the Final Four is the result of an expanded Pool C bid system.  However, the victories from HPU, McM and everyone else through the Elite Eight is the result of exceptional coaching!

[Ron Boerger]

At the risk of falling into Ralph's Schadenfreude syndrome, it might be noted that in 2005, HSU went 19-3, won the Western Division, and was eliminated in the second round of the ASC tournament.  In 2006, HSU went 18-4, did not win the West, and was eliminated in the first round of the tournament.  Yet in 2006, unlike 2005, HSU got a bid to the playoffs.  Is this just a result of this year's expanded post season pool, or is HSU the zombie Ralph says it is?

Yes, when you invite basically half again as many teams to the playoffs you get many more Pool C bids.  Trinity went 24-3 the year after winning it all and did not get a bid, this year's team with 2x as many losses did. 

Congrats to HSU and good luck in the Final Four!

[Ralph Turner]

I have said this repeatedly...the NCAA needed one more team to complete the "foursome" at the site of the Conference Champion...McM LIB.

(a) Why not choose a team that is <5> miles away?  

Now don't think I am complaining...just an observation.

Many think last year's HSU team deserved an invitation...your point is well taken, mcmfan, about this year...I must admit.

(b) Does anyone else think that maybe the ASC tournament should be limited to the top two teams from East/West?  Someone made the point that McM/HPU had played three games...wearing them down.  HSU was "one and out" (some say "dead"), but it did give them a chance to rest up before the Sub-sectional at McM.  Just a thought...

Two answers to the two questons:

(a) On the Pool C board, I outline the QOWI that the committee used after the ASC Tourney (and all tourneys).  TU has a worse QOWI than HSU.  On the 3rd Regional rankings, HSU is ranked and TU is not.  I think that HSU may be #17 or #18 and TU is #20 or #21.

(b) If we wish to pare this to a 2-night tourney, why not split the conference in half?  There is something to be said for 6-7 teams contending for the 3rd and 4th tourney slots going into the last weekend of the season.

Finally to respond to paint, I like your assessment of Coach Briggs' coaching job since the ETBU loss.

Luck is when preparation meets opportunity!

If the Zombie analogy motivates the Cowgirls, I will waive any copyright provisions.

[Ralph Turner]

Good morning, Ron!

With the extra Pool C bids, I can see the ASC and SCAC getting 1-2 Pool C bids every year.