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Recapping yesterday's 2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Mock Selection Seminar activities, BYU ended up as a 9 seed in the East Region, playing the 8 seed Minnesota in Philadelphia. How unusual: BYU in an 8/9 game...
By the way, the Cougars' hypothetical second-round opponent would have been UConn.
Utah (6) and UNLV (9) were the only other MWC teams selected. Interestingly, neither current WAC leader Utah State nor current Big Sky leader Weber State were selected as tournament teams.
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ESPN Radio and dot-com's Doug Gottlieb references the MWC In his "Ten Things We Have Learned This Season":
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"8. The Mountain West Conference is the most underrated league in the country. You might not see them on national television too often, but the league is really quite good. Utah, with Jim Boylen at the helm, appears to have found its stride as Shaun Green (21 points) helped the Utes take down San Diego State on Wednesday night. The Aztecs, meanwhile, are an experienced and talented team that not only should get an at-large bid, but also could win a game or two in the tournament. BYU has been a little disappointing this season -- as has UNLV -- but they are both in the mix for bids as the league extends even deeper with New Mexico's Tony Danridge helping the Lobos win five of their last six games. The Mountain West has never been just a single-bid league, and with the collapse of the mid-majors in terms of relevance, basketball in the MWC, like its football counterpart, is far more "major" than it will get credit for."
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BYU plays TCU in Fort Worth tonight. The last time the Horned Frogs beat BYU was 12 years and one day ago today. BYU's 9-game win streak over TCU includes an 8-0 mark under Dave Rose.
The Frogs are 7th in the MWC in home attendance, drawing an average of only 3,470 fans per game to Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. With TCU on a five-game losing skid, and BYU traditionally drawing well in the Metroplex, I expect another one of those "home road games" for the Cougars tonight. As you tune to the radio broadcast tonight, you will not that the crowd noise for BYU baskets will equal if not exceed the noise level for TCU makes.
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My quick read on tonight's game: the Frogs simply don't have enough offense to beat BYU. TCU has shot under 40% from the field in four of its last five games, has shot under 30% from the arc in five of its last six games, and has scored fewer than 65 points in five straight (averaging a paltry 55.6 pg in that span).
BYU, on the other hand, leads the league in scoring and leads the nation in shooting. The Cougars will have plenty of air in their lungs, and plenty of fans in the stands. I refrain from predictions, but I like BYU, big, tonight.
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