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PROVO — Nearly halfway through the college basketball season, BYU is squarely positioned on the fence for getting into the NCAA tournament.
Will the Cougars make it for the seventh consecutive season? Not if the West Coast Conference can help it.
The WCC, where most BYU sports were dumped when the football program became independent, is a bad basketball conference. Simple as that.
Too harsh, you say? Try to name another time in its history when BYU was 14-4 and 4-0 in conference and not almost certain to make the Big Dance.
Cougar Tracks:
We're going streaking!
For the first time since Jimmer Fredette wore BYU blue, the Cougar hoopsters have won six games in a row--their longest run since BYU put together a seven-game streak near the end of Fredette's senior season in 2010-11.Can’t do it.
It definitely wouldn’t have happened in the days of the WAC and Mountain West. At this point, if they were 14-4, the Cougars would be playing for seeding purposes.
The problem is, the Cougars get no credit for winning WCC games unless they come against Gonzaga or Saint Mary’s. Everybody else stinks, including the four teams BYU has handled already this conference season.
In the old days, it was hard to win on the road during January and February. Even if teams weren’t good overall, they were always decent at home.
As a newspaper beat writer assigned to the University of Utah in the 1990s, I never covered a Ute win against Wyoming in Laramie. During the Final Four season in 1997-98, Utah went 30-4 and 12-2 in the WAC, with the losses coming at New Mexico and Wyoming.
The Utes went 28-6 and reached the Sweet 16 in 1994-95, but they lost in Laramie during a season in which the Cowboys finished 14-15. No matter the circumstances, it was always tough for visiting teams to win in the Arena-Auditorium.
Playing before 10,000 rabid Wyoming fans was never easy. WCC teams sometimes practically need a month’s worth of games to draw as many fans as a bad Wyoming team would get against BYU or Utah.
This isn’t to imply it’s easy for BYU to win on the road in the WCC. But except for Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga, members of the NCAA Tournament selection committee most likely don’t give respect for wins in the other WCC gyms.
Certainly in this case, perception is reality. Around the country, perception of the WCC is that it's a second-rate league.
Give credit to Dave Rose for constantly trying to plead his case. After his team beat Santa Clara 82-64 in the Bay Area last week, Rose made Lou Holtz proud.
“That’s a really good team,” said Rose, borrowing from the famous retired football coach, known for overstating the talent level of his team’s opponents.
For the record, Santa Clara has an RPI of 84 and had lost to a lousy Loyola Marymount team before getting smoked by BYU. But in the WCC, the Broncos apparently pass for a good team.
Even if the Cougars do get an at-large berth, their seeding would dictate a one-and-done appearance. We only need to look at last season as proof, when the Cougars were awarded with a play-in game and then earned the right to get spanked by No. 3 seed Marquette.
As those great Utah teams can attest to, seeding usually goes a long way toward advancing in the NCAA tournament.
In the past five years, Gonzaga has reached the Sweet 16 once (in 2009). Not coincidentally, Gonzaga was a No. 4 for that NCAA tournament, the best seed the program received since getting a No. 3 in 2006.
#poll
Actually, the Cougars deserve better. Since losing at Baylor on Dec. 21, BYU has rounded into form, winning six consecutive games.
Looking inside the riding streak, Matt Carlino has been outstanding. During the past four games, the point guard has averaged 17.2 points and 5.2 assists. In the last two games, he’s combined for 12 assists and no turnovers.
As long as Carlino stays within the framework of the offense and doesn’t hunt for shots, BYU can be outstanding and worthy of an at-large NCAA tournament bid. With Carlino on his game, assuming the stellar play continues from Tyler Haws and Brandon Davies, BYU is even capable of winning in the tournament.
Most likely, the Cougars will be playing well into March. But if they get there, it won’t be because of any help from the WCC.
