Doug McKinney | Staff Writer

3/01/02

Before there is the NCAA championship game, before the Final Four, the Elite Eight, the Sweet Sixteen, and even before the 6PM selection show (aka Selection Sunday), there is the conference tournament.  For the major powerhouse teams, playing in their conference tournament just gives them some competition and gets them prepared for the NCAA tourney.  Then for some other teams, especially teams on the bubble, conference tourney time is their last chance of a shot showing everyone they deserve to be at the NCAA tourney.  And for the rest of the crop, like the teams in the Big South Conference, it's their only chance in experiencing March Madness.

Unfortunately, for small name programs like Radford, Winthrop, and UNC Asheville, who have all pulled off some quality wins this year, the BSC tournament is their only hope for a postseason berth.  Which means winning three straight games in three straight days.  Radford University enters the BSC tournament drawing the #3 seed and facing the #6 ranked Coastal Carolina.  RU has beaten CCU two times this season, and as the old saying goes, "three times a charm".  If we were to beat CCU that's great, then maybe we would match up with UNCA.

Next is the championship (possibly with our best friends Winthrop...I was being sarcastic) and well if luck is on our side, we win it.  But nevertheless, because of the BSC's low RPI of late, even if we pulled out a season of 20 wins it would be hard for us to earn an at-large bid.  Unless, we go undefeated in a season or pretty damn close to it, it's awfully hard for Radford being considered a bubble team.  However as McDonald¹s commercials would say, "hey it could happen."

As of recent years, some teams have shown that there is hope for us mid-major schools.  You'll hear next week about my Gonzaga and Hampton opinions when we go more in depth with March Madness, but if you are truly a college basketball fan you would remember Valparaiso's shot heard around the world back in the 1998 NCAA tournament.  Bryce Drew, son of head coach Homer, hit a 3 point shot at the buzzer to end Mississippi's hopes of making it into the next round in one of the biggest upsets in NCAA tournament history.  The magic didn't stop there.

Next round Valparaiso defeated ACC-school Florida State and reached Sweet 16 for the first time in school history. Although the Crusaders lost in a tough game with Rhode Island in the Sweet 16 they gained national recognition and gained many fans rooting for them as underdogs.  A year later the Crusaders were back in the tournament and had many fans rooting for them, but they eventually had a date with Maryland and eventually lost.  If you've been keeping up with basketball this year, mid-major teams are making progress, as more upsets have been occurring this regular season then most other seasons.

Bubble teams seem to sweat out the final few weeks of the season (especially on Selection Sunday) as much as MD coach Gary Williams does during game time.  The term bubble is entitled to a team that either lost too many games to be considered a definite lock, or they didn't get enough quality wins.  Now how does the system work? Well remember there are 31 conferences that receive automatic bids, which leaves 34 for at large bids.  15 of those 31 conferences usually are projected to send only one team to March Madness.  So 50 teams are comprised from the remaining 16 conferences (remember this is just projected).

So are you confused yet?  Well just deduct 16 from 50 and you're left with 34.  Now this brings us up to the term "lock," which means you're team is in. This coveted word usually goes for the teams that didn't win their respected conference tournament, but they did finish with an impressive record and will make it to the NCAA's.  The lock teams will get the go ahead automatic bid to dance, which usually is given out to around 20 teams.  Which leaves 14 spots left for bubble teams and there are definitely more then 14 teams competing for those remaining spots bids. Which means "Houston there is a problem" your team might be on the bubble burst.

What is the advice Dr. Dougie Fresh can give you?  Well your team better win the rest of your games.  Whether you're a mid major with no chance in becoming a bubble, win your conference tournament.  If you're team has a few games left and plays their conference tourney next week, win the rest of your games and then win the tournament. The committee looks at everything. And I mean everything, from the quality wins to the embarrassing losses to the RPI ranking and to the makeup of your team, the selection committee will be all over you like Maryland was over Duke last week.  (You can see I have a thing for Maryland!)

Can you believe March Madness is almost here?  I can.  Some teams will find out as early as Saturday if they will be dancing.  My advice is if your team wants to dance, then you got to survive the conference tournament, and then you can wear dancing shoes.