The Case for Long Beach State
By Geoff Hutchinson
Selection Sunday is officially less than a month away, and teams are starting to make their cases for inclusion in the NCAA Tournament field. One team with a particularly intriguing case is the Long Beach State 49ers.
The 49ers currently sit at 19-7, with a perfect 12-0 record in the Big West. You may wonder why a 19-7 team from the obscure Big West should be up for discussion for an at-large bid. It’s simple. They did what the NCAA selection committee asked of them. The committee wants to see teams schedule a tough non-conference schedule, and that is exactly what Long Beach State did this season.
According to Ken Pomeroy’s ratings, Long Beach State has played the third-toughest non-conference schedule in the nation thus far. They have travelled on the road to face the likes of Pittsburgh, San Diego State, Louisville, UNC, Kansas, and most recently, Creighton. They also played in an early-season tournament with Kansas State and Xavier. The 49ers’ 81-79 loss to Creighton on Saturday dropped Long Beach State to 2-6 in these matchups. A win at Creighton would have gone a long way to helping the 49ers’ at-large case. Even though, they have been on the losing end of many of these games, their level of play in these matchups certainly suggests that they can compete with the major teams in the nation.
Based off their computer numbers, Long Beach State is certainly deserving of an at- large bid. USA Today's Jeff Sagarin’s rankings has them as the 41st best team in the nation, while Ken Pomeroy’s rankings has them as the 44th best team. They currently have an RPI of 39, according to RealTimeRPI.com. The major hindrance to Long Beach State’s at-large chances is the fact that the Big West is the 21st-ranked conference, again per Sagarin, which means that the 49ers will not have any more chances to improve their resume.
The goal of the committee is to award the 34 best at-large teams a spot in the NCAA tournament based off the body of their work. After watching them play this season, is there any doubt that Long Beach State would not be one of these 34 teams, if they do not win their conference tournament? It doesn’t hurt the 49ers that the teams currently being mentioned for the last at-large spots have less than stellar resumes.
Currently, many bracketologists have the 49ers around a 10-12 seed in their tournament projections. They have bracketed them here based off their tough non-conference schedule, along with their performance in the Big West. Hopefully, Long Beach State will continue on their winning ways in the Big West, and capture its conference’s automatic tournament bid, leaving this discussion futile.
It will be interesting to see how the next few weeks will play out for the 49ers.
Editor's Note: Geoff Hutchinson is a blogger for ESPN's Truehoop's Knickerblogger and a proud Vanderbilt alumn. He can be followed on twitter @hutchngo. We really thank him for his contribution.
Selection Sunday is officially less than a month away, and teams are starting to make their cases for inclusion in the NCAA Tournament field. One team with a particularly intriguing case is the Long Beach State 49ers.
The 49ers currently sit at 19-7, with a perfect 12-0 record in the Big West. You may wonder why a 19-7 team from the obscure Big West should be up for discussion for an at-large bid. It’s simple. They did what the NCAA selection committee asked of them. The committee wants to see teams schedule a tough non-conference schedule, and that is exactly what Long Beach State did this season.
According to Ken Pomeroy’s ratings, Long Beach State has played the third-toughest non-conference schedule in the nation thus far. They have travelled on the road to face the likes of Pittsburgh, San Diego State, Louisville, UNC, Kansas, and most recently, Creighton. They also played in an early-season tournament with Kansas State and Xavier. The 49ers’ 81-79 loss to Creighton on Saturday dropped Long Beach State to 2-6 in these matchups. A win at Creighton would have gone a long way to helping the 49ers’ at-large case. Even though, they have been on the losing end of many of these games, their level of play in these matchups certainly suggests that they can compete with the major teams in the nation.
Based off their computer numbers, Long Beach State is certainly deserving of an at- large bid. USA Today's Jeff Sagarin’s rankings has them as the 41st best team in the nation, while Ken Pomeroy’s rankings has them as the 44th best team. They currently have an RPI of 39, according to RealTimeRPI.com. The major hindrance to Long Beach State’s at-large chances is the fact that the Big West is the 21st-ranked conference, again per Sagarin, which means that the 49ers will not have any more chances to improve their resume.
The goal of the committee is to award the 34 best at-large teams a spot in the NCAA tournament based off the body of their work. After watching them play this season, is there any doubt that Long Beach State would not be one of these 34 teams, if they do not win their conference tournament? It doesn’t hurt the 49ers that the teams currently being mentioned for the last at-large spots have less than stellar resumes.
Currently, many bracketologists have the 49ers around a 10-12 seed in their tournament projections. They have bracketed them here based off their tough non-conference schedule, along with their performance in the Big West. Hopefully, Long Beach State will continue on their winning ways in the Big West, and capture its conference’s automatic tournament bid, leaving this discussion futile.
It will be interesting to see how the next few weeks will play out for the 49ers.
Editor's Note: Geoff Hutchinson is a blogger for ESPN's Truehoop's Knickerblogger and a proud Vanderbilt alumn. He can be followed on twitter @hutchngo. We really thank him for his contribution.
Posted by Rafael Uehara at Monday, February 20, 2012 5:55:27 PM 
Categories: NCAA
Tags: Geoff Hutchinson
Categories: NCAA
Tags: Geoff Hutchinson
Comments