Don't let this be your deciding factor. It is often a crapshoot as to whether bubble teams like St. Mays, Penn State, etc will react with motivation or if they will feel so slighted that they start to force things and start turning the ball over and taking bad shots. Or if the team is particularly weak minded they can just mail it in out of frustration not getting into the tournament.
I am on St. Mays as well but not because of the motivation. Be careful with the motivation aspect of the NIT.
Good Luck.
I am on St. Mays as well but not because of the motivation. Be careful with the motivation aspect of the NIT.
Good Luck.
i think teams in the nit from big con.[big ten sec etc] dont need to impress anyone now..they only need to be in the top 5 or in their confrnence nxt yr to go to the dance...small confrence teams are still trying to impress for an at large bid next year..they want to shw they are `tourney worthy
I don't think it has anything to do with St. Mary's being ready to play. Even if this were the National Championship game I would still pick Washington St. ML. They are a solid fundamental team that will bring it on defense, and St. Marys is not that stacked of an offensive team. They played 1 Pac-10 team all year and it happened to be the worst Pac-10 team in the history of the Pac-10, Oregon, and they beat them by 5.
Wazzus last game against Oregon 67-38. This Wazzu team is much better then the beginning of the season, and I think they take this game regardless of how depressed St. Marys is about not getting in the dance.
Wazzus last game against Oregon 67-38. This Wazzu team is much better then the beginning of the season, and I think they take this game regardless of how depressed St. Marys is about not getting in the dance.
At first, when St. Marys knew they were being screwed, they did not want to play in the NIT, saying they didn't work hard all year to be in the NIT. By Monday AM, the NIT didn't sound so bad, once they saw some of the other schools in the NIT and most important, they want to play in New York. So, I'm throwing the "not happy to be here" factor out the window.
The post that started this thread said "and St. Marys is not that stacked of an offensive team." Geez, then what does it take. They average 72 points a game and 78 points a game at home. If that's not a good offensive team, then I give up.
St. Marys at home is almost always an automatic play, depending on the line. They are 12-1 at home, winning all but two home games by double digits, including Utah State in the bracket buster game, which ended up not meaning anything. THey lost at home to Gonzaga by two and won by just one over Santa Clara.
Although I don't see anything making St. Marys a Special Play, I see enough to play them. I am a little concerned if they can win by 4 or more because WSU really slows the game down, but St. Marys at home is the better team and is the play.
The post that started this thread said "and St. Marys is not that stacked of an offensive team." Geez, then what does it take. They average 72 points a game and 78 points a game at home. If that's not a good offensive team, then I give up.
St. Marys at home is almost always an automatic play, depending on the line. They are 12-1 at home, winning all but two home games by double digits, including Utah State in the bracket buster game, which ended up not meaning anything. THey lost at home to Gonzaga by two and won by just one over Santa Clara.
Although I don't see anything making St. Marys a Special Play, I see enough to play them. I am a little concerned if they can win by 4 or more because WSU really slows the game down, but St. Marys at home is the better team and is the play.
Only 55% on Washington State right now.
Hopefully they get pissed but I saw a few of the players yesterday and they were totally dejected. The previous 2 times the Gaels were on the bubble Bennett had the players watch the selection show in a private room adjacent to the fan party because of the uncertainty. This year just hours before the show Bennett changed things up and had the players and fans view together. The whole athletic department were convinced the Gaels were in. These guys were absolutely crushed after the selection show. Like i said hopefully it's turned to anger by now.
