The BracketBuster games redux

With additional time for digestion and buttressed by a few comments from friends and fellow basketball fans, here's the PTW take on the BracketBuster game outcomes:

Utah State 68, Wichita State 58 - great for host USU and also great for the WAC RPI

Louisiana Tech 70, Northeastern 67 - yeah, that last-second bankshot wasn't by design but LT was on the road and also tired after a busy WAC week so it's an additional pair of 'greats' for the Ruston-ites and the WAC

New Mexico State 84, Pacific 78 - we expected the margin of victory to be a bit larger but the Tigers are a tough team and also were the hosts -- more 'ammunition' for the WAC and, who knows, the Aggies may just be playing themselves into an at-large NCAA bid if they don't capture the tourney in Reno

San Jose State 77, Montana State 66 - ANY win in Bozeman in February in a non-conference game in the midst of fighting for a favorable placement in the upcoming conference tournament is a solid achievement

The Line of Demarcation -- two home wins, two road wins

Missouri State 62, Nevada 60 - this is an over-simplification but a team with two future NBA-ers should win against an opponent featuring none, even if it's a road matchup and meaningless regarding league standings -- hard to figure

UC Santa Barbara 64, Fresno State 60 - A healthy Greg Smith (probably the same goes for Paul George) makes a real difference here but these numbers are mystifying:

* George attempts but 10 shots in the game???

* 14 steals for the Bulldogs is a fantastic stat but what did this the total produce on the scoreboard?

* Making 20 but missing 15 free throws is below even some high school teams -- does Bill Sproat have a brother or cousin who follows Santa Barbara?

The Dogs should have taken the visiting Gauchos.


UC Davis 82, Boise State 74 - Davis was missing Mark Payne its best player, Davis was on the road, Davis had previously won but two other road games this season -- well, you get the picture and it's not a pretty one. Call this a winnable but missed opportunity.

Long Beach State 77, Idaho 66 - The host Vandals lost this one in the first half to a tough but unpredictable 49ers squad who came in at 12-12 overall and 6-5 in Big West Conference action. Our pre-game thoughts were that the matchup was going to be much closer but Idaho was a no-show.

Cal Poly 102, Hawaii 89 - Was this like the combined scores of seven or eight games of H-O-R-S-E or an actual game? It probably was fun to watch if were a Mustang fan or a basketball fan in general -- hey, that's the best we can do.

That's four losses to Big West members. Ugh. We have no desire to knock the Big Westies but it's not a conference that is equal to or ahead of the WAC in so-called stature or in recruiting possibilities.

OVERALL

Some very good wins but too many missed opportunities for the 10th or so conference in the country.