St. Mary’s finds out what Lamar learned long ago
On the 25th anniversary of the raping and pillaging of the winningest team in Lamar University history, the NCAA basketball tournament selection committee proved once again it’s a heartless collection of corporate elitists with no conscience when it comes to snuffing out the dreams of deserving mid majors.
This time the victim was St. Mary’s of California. The Gaels’ 26-6 record was deemed not good enough, in order to take care of the mediocrity wearing uniforms at Arizona, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Maryland, among others. Also getting ripped off were Creighton, San Diego State and Tulsa.
It was the St. Mary’s jobbing, however, that hit home for Southeast Texas basketball fans who recall a 25-4 Lamar team with a 19 RPI relegated to the NIT.
To briefly review, the 1934-84 Cardinals were coming off a 23-8 season that saw them crush Alabama by 23 points in the first round of the NCAAs before dropping a two-point decision to Villanova in the second round. The Alabama victory had made Lamar 4-for-4 in NCAA first-round games and somewhat of a cult figure with mid-major maniacs around the country.[/size]
The next season, with virtually the same team, Pat Foster’s club was a mere handful of points from going 27-1. They lost the season opener 59-58 at Wichita State, were defeated by the same score at Utah State and fell to Karl Malone’s Louisiana Tech powerhouse, 68-65, in the championship game of the Southland Conference tournament.
That setback ended Lamar’s 80-game home floor winning streak, but the pain from the loss was minor compared to what the NCAA served up on selection Sunday. Foster, in fact, was so livid over the snubbing he lashed out at the selection committee as “white collar criminals.”
A quarter century later, as a retiree in Fayetteville, Ark., the guy who posted a 134-49 record at Lamar still bristles when he discusses what was taken from him, from Cardinal players and from the school’s fans. He thought about it again Sunday afternoon when he saw the St. Mary’s mugging, and listened to committee chairman Mike Slive sounding like an AIG executive defending unconscionable bonuses.
“I feel so bad for the coach (Randy Bennett) and players at St. Mary’s,” Foster said. “What that committee did to them was sickening. I doubt the coach will ever get over it. I sure haven’t. I felt like I’d been run over by a truck.
“Our kids had worked so hard and we’d had a truly exceptional season. The players did everything I asked of them and more. Then you have to face them and try to explain to them that we had earned our way into the tournament but got kept out by politics. It’s just infuriating.”
St. Mary’s got jobbed after what Bennett called the best season in school history. The 26-6 record would have been even better but the Gaels lost three games when sensational point guard Patrick Mills was sidelined by a broken hand. Three of the losses, including a 72-70 heartbreaker, were to conference champ Gonzaga.
It made no difference to the committee. They took an Arizona team with a 19-13 record and five losses in the last six games. They took a Minnesota team that finished seventh in the Big 10. They took a Wisconsin team that was 10-8 in the Big 10 and finished sixth. They took a Maryland team that was 7-9 in the ACC.
Somewhere along the way the excitement of what the mid majors add to the first two rounds seems to have been buried. So what, if none of them have ever hoisted the championship trophy. Truth be told, there are no more than 6-to-8 teams which have a chance to win the tournament. After that, everybody else is just window dressing.
What the mid majors have consistently brought is first and second round drama and thrills. Davidson last year, George Mason before them. How about Bucknell beating Kansas? Northwestern State toppling Iowa? Richmond beating Bob Knight and Indiana?
The list goes on. San Diego University knocked out mighty UConn last year. Davidson brought down Georgetown. Who could forget Winthrop over Notre Dame? Or VCU over Duke? Western Kentucky regularly wreaks havoc. And before all of them there was Lamar soaring to the Sweet 16 in 1980.
David slaying Goliath makes for must-see TV, and for a while it seemed the bean counters on the committee might be getting it. Ten mid majors were handed at-large bids in 2003. The number peaked at a dozen in 2004. But it’s been going downhill ever since.
It dropped all the way to four this year, and that’s counting Brigham Young, which really isn’t a mid major. To further kick sand in the face of the little guy, one of the best of this year’s mid majors — Siena — is having to play Ohio State in Dayton, Ohio. In other words, a home game for the Buckeyes.
Sadly, nobody who can make a difference cares. No, that’s not completely true. Dick Vitale, God bless him, does care. He came on ESPN Sunday night and said St. Mary’s got a raw deal, that it deserved to be in over Arizona. He said Christmas came early in Arizona.
For Vitale’s efforts, he was rebuffed and lectured in a condescending manner by the ultimate snob, Jay Bilas. Bilas, who never got off the bench the night Lamar took Duke to the wire in the 1986 Big Apple NIT, apparently never has gotten over seeing a little school he’d never heard of nearly take out the Blue Devils.
He’s become Billy Packer with polish, when it comes to downing mid majors, and his repartee with Vitale bordered on getting ugly.
“Do you really think St. Mary’s is better than Arizona head to head?” he fired back at Vitale.
Vitale said yes. He then added that the committee is biased toward power conferences and noted St. Mary’s, as well as other smaller schools, can’t get the big boys to play them. Bilas disputed that. Vitale pointed out the only way it happens is for the little guy to schedule the power school on the road.
At the end of a contentious discussion, Vitale said to Bilas, “I like to be fair. Maybe I’m for the little guy and you’re for the elite guy.”
Foster, meanwhile, said it’s only going to get worse for mid majors.
“Unfortunately, college basketball is not being run by basketball people and hasn’t been for a long time. Most of the modern-day ADs are not good for basketball. Basketball is mostly a weakling, a tool. This is about the BCS conferences, power and greed. It’s all about money. They don’t want the mid majors around.”
It’s a point that came through loud and clear Sunday afternoon
On the 25th anniversary of the raping and pillaging of the winningest team in Lamar University history, the NCAA basketball tournament selection committee proved once again it’s a heartless collection of corporate elitists with no conscience when it comes to snuffing out the dreams of deserving mid majors.
This time the victim was St. Mary’s of California. The Gaels’ 26-6 record was deemed not good enough, in order to take care of the mediocrity wearing uniforms at Arizona, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Maryland, among others. Also getting ripped off were Creighton, San Diego State and Tulsa.
It was the St. Mary’s jobbing, however, that hit home for Southeast Texas basketball fans who recall a 25-4 Lamar team with a 19 RPI relegated to the NIT.
To briefly review, the 1934-84 Cardinals were coming off a 23-8 season that saw them crush Alabama by 23 points in the first round of the NCAAs before dropping a two-point decision to Villanova in the second round. The Alabama victory had made Lamar 4-for-4 in NCAA first-round games and somewhat of a cult figure with mid-major maniacs around the country.[/size]
The next season, with virtually the same team, Pat Foster’s club was a mere handful of points from going 27-1. They lost the season opener 59-58 at Wichita State, were defeated by the same score at Utah State and fell to Karl Malone’s Louisiana Tech powerhouse, 68-65, in the championship game of the Southland Conference tournament.
That setback ended Lamar’s 80-game home floor winning streak, but the pain from the loss was minor compared to what the NCAA served up on selection Sunday. Foster, in fact, was so livid over the snubbing he lashed out at the selection committee as “white collar criminals.”
A quarter century later, as a retiree in Fayetteville, Ark., the guy who posted a 134-49 record at Lamar still bristles when he discusses what was taken from him, from Cardinal players and from the school’s fans. He thought about it again Sunday afternoon when he saw the St. Mary’s mugging, and listened to committee chairman Mike Slive sounding like an AIG executive defending unconscionable bonuses.
“I feel so bad for the coach (Randy Bennett) and players at St. Mary’s,” Foster said. “What that committee did to them was sickening. I doubt the coach will ever get over it. I sure haven’t. I felt like I’d been run over by a truck.
“Our kids had worked so hard and we’d had a truly exceptional season. The players did everything I asked of them and more. Then you have to face them and try to explain to them that we had earned our way into the tournament but got kept out by politics. It’s just infuriating.”
St. Mary’s got jobbed after what Bennett called the best season in school history. The 26-6 record would have been even better but the Gaels lost three games when sensational point guard Patrick Mills was sidelined by a broken hand. Three of the losses, including a 72-70 heartbreaker, were to conference champ Gonzaga.
It made no difference to the committee. They took an Arizona team with a 19-13 record and five losses in the last six games. They took a Minnesota team that finished seventh in the Big 10. They took a Wisconsin team that was 10-8 in the Big 10 and finished sixth. They took a Maryland team that was 7-9 in the ACC.
Somewhere along the way the excitement of what the mid majors add to the first two rounds seems to have been buried. So what, if none of them have ever hoisted the championship trophy. Truth be told, there are no more than 6-to-8 teams which have a chance to win the tournament. After that, everybody else is just window dressing.
What the mid majors have consistently brought is first and second round drama and thrills. Davidson last year, George Mason before them. How about Bucknell beating Kansas? Northwestern State toppling Iowa? Richmond beating Bob Knight and Indiana?
The list goes on. San Diego University knocked out mighty UConn last year. Davidson brought down Georgetown. Who could forget Winthrop over Notre Dame? Or VCU over Duke? Western Kentucky regularly wreaks havoc. And before all of them there was Lamar soaring to the Sweet 16 in 1980.
David slaying Goliath makes for must-see TV, and for a while it seemed the bean counters on the committee might be getting it. Ten mid majors were handed at-large bids in 2003. The number peaked at a dozen in 2004. But it’s been going downhill ever since.
It dropped all the way to four this year, and that’s counting Brigham Young, which really isn’t a mid major. To further kick sand in the face of the little guy, one of the best of this year’s mid majors — Siena — is having to play Ohio State in Dayton, Ohio. In other words, a home game for the Buckeyes.
Sadly, nobody who can make a difference cares. No, that’s not completely true. Dick Vitale, God bless him, does care. He came on ESPN Sunday night and said St. Mary’s got a raw deal, that it deserved to be in over Arizona. He said Christmas came early in Arizona.
For Vitale’s efforts, he was rebuffed and lectured in a condescending manner by the ultimate snob, Jay Bilas. Bilas, who never got off the bench the night Lamar took Duke to the wire in the 1986 Big Apple NIT, apparently never has gotten over seeing a little school he’d never heard of nearly take out the Blue Devils.
He’s become Billy Packer with polish, when it comes to downing mid majors, and his repartee with Vitale bordered on getting ugly.
“Do you really think St. Mary’s is better than Arizona head to head?” he fired back at Vitale.
Vitale said yes. He then added that the committee is biased toward power conferences and noted St. Mary’s, as well as other smaller schools, can’t get the big boys to play them. Bilas disputed that. Vitale pointed out the only way it happens is for the little guy to schedule the power school on the road.
At the end of a contentious discussion, Vitale said to Bilas, “I like to be fair. Maybe I’m for the little guy and you’re for the elite guy.”
Foster, meanwhile, said it’s only going to get worse for mid majors.
“Unfortunately, college basketball is not being run by basketball people and hasn’t been for a long time. Most of the modern-day ADs are not good for basketball. Basketball is mostly a weakling, a tool. This is about the BCS conferences, power and greed. It’s all about money. They don’t want the mid majors around.”
It’s a point that came through loud and clear Sunday afternoon
