2010-11 Big Sky Basketball

[Mvemjsunpx]

The Griz are getting totally jobbed by the refs in OT.

They miss a foul on the rebound & then call Cherry for a block on the dunk when he was clearly set.

[Mvemjsunpx]

Well, the Griz just choked away the regular season title. Horrible 3-point shooting was the main culprit, but I've never seen a team get so many lucky bounces & beneficial foul calls late (what was with that foul on the scramble on the OT tip? You never call a foul there unless there's violence). It looks like the tourney will be somewhere other than Missoula for the 11th. straight year.

Add all this to the Lady Griz choke job earlier today on Senior Day and this goes down as one of the worst days in the history of UM basketball.

[Mvemjsunpx]

As great as the Griz have been in coming out of nowhere to win Big Sky Tournaments, they've been equally horrible at figuring out ways to host them. Last year, they went 9-3 OOC, but started 1-3 in league with a home loss and a horrid loss to lousy ISU. They then lost to a mediocre MSU team twice &, like this year, suffered a tragic, controversial loss @ EWU (also on Altitude, no less). Also, in 2006, Montana looked like world-beaters OOC—and proved it later to some extent in pulling an NCAA First-Round upset—but choked on the road to each of the bottom 3 teams in the Big Sky and had to win the tournament in Flagstaff. That year, they went 9-1 against the other teams in the top 5 of the standings (including the tournament), but only went 3-3 against the bottom 3.

Do the Griz really hate Dahlberg that much?

[Wildcat Ryan]

One down one to go, its your turn UNC

[free7694]

One down one to go, its your turn UNC

Not gonna happen...

[Wildcat Ryan]

One down one to go, its your turn UNC

Not gonna happen...

Probably not, but us Weebs fans can always hope

[free7694]

Not gonna happen...

Probably not, but us Weebs fans can always hope

I've got a lot of confidence in winning against Sac State, but I'm gonna be nervous as hell on Monday.

[Mvemjsunpx]

I've got a lot of confidence in winning against Sac State, but I'm gonna be nervous as hell on Monday.

If ISU plays like they did against Weber, you have nothing to worry about.

[Mvemjsunpx]

• Men
  
  UMT 55-59 EWU (OT); The Griz shoot 15% from the arc & lose the boards after halftime 24-10
  MSU 64-69 PSU; Both teams blew big leads, but the Bobcats blew theirs last
  WEB 73-70 SAC; The Wildcats nearly blew a big lead, too, but the Hornets couldn't score in the final minute
  NAU 71-72 UNC; The 'Jacks still can't get the job done even with Devon Beitzel shockingly missing 3 FTs late
  
  
  
  Women
  
  SAC 68-81 WEB; After a good year in '09-10, the Hornets return to familiar surroundings by clinching last
  UNC 62-56 NAU; The Bears eliminate NAU thanks to a 10-0 run over the final 3 minutes
  EWU 71-63 UMT; The Eagles win in Missoula for the first time in 24 years—before the Big Sky adopted WBB
  PSU 81-77 MSU; After shooting 60% in the first half, the Bobcats shoot 28% in the second

[Mvemjsunpx]

The 6 tournament teams are now officially known for the women, and we finally had an elimination on the men's side…


Side note - "Clinched Home QF" means that team has clinched at least a home QF game. Also keep in mind that the women's tourney has no home QF games.

Portland State's men are shown in gray because they cannot make the Big Sky Tournament.

• • Men
    
    1. Northern Colorado___11-3_____17-10____ W1/W3___Clinched Home QF
    2. Montana _____________12-4_____20-9_____ L1___Clinched Home QF
    3. Weber State__________11-4_____17-10____ W8/W2___Clinched Home QF
    4. Northern Arizona _____8-7_____17-11____ L1___Clinched the #4 seed
    5. Montana State ________6-9_____12-17____ L1___Elim. from Home QF
    6. Eastern Washington___6-9______9-19____ W1___Elim. from Home QF
    7. Portland State_________5-10____13-15____ W1
    8. Idaho State ___________4-10_____9-18____ L2/L1___Elim. from Home QF
    9. Sacramento State _____4-11_____7-20____ L2/L3___Elim. from Tournament Contention

• • Women
    
    1. Northern Colorado___11-3_____16-11____ W2___Clinched Tournament Berth
    2. Portland State________10-4_____17-10____ W4___Clinched Tournament Berth
    3. Montana State _______10-4_____16-12____ L1___Clinched Tournament Berth
    4. Montana ______________9-5_____14-13____ L2___Clinched Tournament Berth
    5. Eastern Washington___8-6_____12-15____ W1___Clinched Berth/Elim. from Bye
    6. Idaho State ___________7-6_____16-10____ L2___Clinched Berth/Elim. from Bye
    7. Northern Arizona _____5-10____10-17____ L1___Elim. from Tournament Contention
    8. Weber State___________3-11_____7-19____ W2___Elim. from Tournament Contention
    9. Sacramento State _____0-14_____3-24____ L14/L17___Elim. from Tournament Contention

[Wildcat Ryan]

I've got a lot of confidence in winning against Sac State, but I'm gonna be nervous as hell on Monday.

If ISU plays like they did against Weber, you have nothing to worry about.

Yep it all depends on which ISU team shows up, the one who beat NAU or the one who got destroyed by Weber.

Heres to this Wildcat fan hoping the one who beat NAU shows up

[free7694]

If ISU plays like they did against Weber, you have nothing to worry about.

Yep it all depends on which ISU team shows up, the one who beat NAU or the one who got destroyed by Weber.

Heres to this Wildcat fan hoping the one who beat NAU shows up

Here's hoping Devon Beitzel does his best Jimmer impersonation and the Bears win, anyway!

[Mvemjsunpx]

Here's the specific scenarios with one week left. Sac State is eliminated, so they will not be listed. NoCo & Idaho State play 2 games, Montana is done, and everyone else plays 1. This is complicated in spots so if I've made a mistake, please point that out.

There are a couple possible tiebreakers that will require RPI to break. One is a sub-tie for second between Montana & NoCo (in a three-way for first with Weber, if NoCo splits beating Sac and ISU ties EWU) that I'm assuming Montana would win (that's the second #3 seed scenario for UNC). Another is a potential three-way tie for 5th. between ISU, MSU, and EWU. I'm not certain who would win that (probably MSU, and that's what I'm assuming here), but I'm sure EWU would lose it. That's the only scenario that leaves EWU out of the tournament.



UNC:. (1) - Clinches with 2 wins OR both a win AND a WEB loss

• (2) - Clinches with a win over ISU AND a loss to SAC AND a WEB win
  .... - OR with a loss to ISU AND a win over SAC AND a WEB win over EWU AND an ISU loss to MSU
  (3) - Clinches with 2 losses
  .... - OR with a loss to ISU AND a WEB win over EWU AND an ISU win over MSU

UMT:. (1) - Clinches with 2 UNC losses AND a WEB loss

• (2) - Clinches with a UNC win AND a WEB loss
  .... - OR with 2 ISU wins AND a WEB win over EWU
  (3) - Clinches with a UNC win over ISU AND a WEB win
  .... - OR with a UNC win over SAC AND a WEB win AND an ISU loss to MSU

WEB:. (1) - Clinches with a win AND a UNC loss

• (2) - Clinches with a win AND 2 UNC wins
  .... - OR with a loss AND 2 UNC losses
  (3) - Clinches with a loss AND a UNC win

NAU:. (4) - Already Clinched

MSU:. (5) - Clinches with a win

• .... - OR with a loss AND an EWU loss
  (6) - Clinches with a loss AND an EWU win AND an ISU loss to UNC
  Out - Clinches with a loss to ISU AND an ISU win over UNC AND an EWU win

EWU:. (5) - Clinches with a win AND an MSU loss

• (6) - Clinches with an MSU win OR an ISU loss to UNC OR a UNC loss to SAC
  Out - Clinches with a loss to WEB AND 2 ISU wins AND a UNC win over SAC

ISU:. (6) - Clinches with 2 wins AND either an EWU win OR a UNC win over SAC

• Out - Clinches with a loss OR both an EWU loss to WEB AND a UNC loss to SAC

[Mvemjsunpx]

• Men
  
  UNC 77-74 ISU; After a few uncharacteristic misses on Saturday, Devon Beitzel goes 16/16 from the free throw line
  
  
  
  Women
  
  ISU 49-73 UNC; The Bears outshoot the normally hot-shooting Bengals, 59%-28%, in clinching a bye

[Mvemjsunpx]

All Tournament Berths have now been clinched.


Side note - "Clinched Home QF" means that team has clinched at least a home QF game. Also keep in mind that the women's tourney has no home QF games.

Portland State's men are shown in gray because they cannot make the Big Sky Tournament.

• • Men
    
    1. Northern Colorado___12-3_____18-10____ W2/W4___Clinched First-Round Bye
    2. Montana _____________12-4_____20-9_____ L1___Clinched Home QF/Elim. from Title
    3. Weber State__________11-4_____17-10____ W8/W2___Clinched Home QF
    4. Northern Arizona _____8-7_____17-11____ L1___Clinched the #4 seed
    5. Montana State ________6-9_____12-17____ L1___Clinched Berth/Elim. from Home QF
    6. Eastern Washington___6-9______9-19____ W1___Clinched Berth/Elim. from Home QF
    7. Portland State_________5-10____13-15____ W1
    8. Sacramento State _____4-11_____7-20____ L2/L3___Elim. from Tournament Contention
    9. Idaho State ___________4-11_____9-19____ L3/L2___Elim. from Tournament Contention

• • Women
    
    1. Northern Colorado___12-3_____17-11____ W3___Clinched First-Round Bye
    2. Portland State________10-4_____17-10____ W4___Clinched Tournament Berth
    3. Montana State _______10-4_____16-12____ L1___Clinched Tournament Berth
    4. Montana ______________9-5_____14-13____ L2___Clinched Berth/Elim. from Title
    5. Eastern Washington___8-6_____12-15____ W1___Clinched Berth/Elim. from Bye
    6. Idaho State ___________7-7_____16-11____ L3___Clinched Berth/Elim. from Bye
    7. Northern Arizona _____5-10____10-17____ L1___Elim. from Tournament Contention
    8. Weber State___________3-11_____7-19____ W2___Elim. from Tournament Contention
    9. Sacramento State _____0-14_____3-24____ L15/L18___Elim. from Tournament Contention

[Mvemjsunpx]

The NoCo win over ISU crystallized quite a bit. Everything is frighteningly simple now.



UNC:. (1) - Clinches with a win OR a WEB loss

• (2) - Clinches with a loss AND a WEB win

UMT:. (2) - Clinches with a WEB loss

• (3) - Clinches with a WEB win

WEB:. (1) - Clinches with a win AND a UNC loss

• (2) - Clinches with a win AND a UNC win
  (3) - Clinches with a loss

NAU:. (4) - Already Clinched

MSU:. (5) - Clinches with a win OR an EWU loss

• (6) - Clinches with a loss AND an EWU win

EWU:. (5) - Clinches with a win AND an MSU loss

• (6) - Clinches with a loss OR an MSU win

[Wedgebuster]

Should UNC win the conference and host, and should they advance to the final next Wednesday night at Butler Hancock....

I will be there.

[Mvemjsunpx]

Did UNC get a waiver to play it at Butler-Hancock? I thought it was too small.

[Wedgebuster]

Did UNC get a waiver to play it at Butler-Hancock? I thought it was too small.

I don't have a clue. Judging from posters on their web, they think they are hosting with a win tonight.

My next question was going to be about tickets. I have to be in the area next Wednesday anyway, and was just hoping everything would work out so I could see UNC/UM play for the tournament championship.

(or Weber)

[Wedgebuster]

Story in the Greeley Tribune, no talk of waivers, or of not hosting...

http://www.greeleytribune.com/article/2 ... ofile=1010" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Wildcat Ryan]

Curse you Idaho State, you have failed me.

[Wildcat Ryan]

Did UNC get a waiver to play it at Butler-Hancock? I thought it was too small.

I don't have a clue. Judging from posters on their web, they think they are hosting with a win tonight.

My next question was going to be about tickets. I have to be in the area next Wednesday anyway, and was just hoping everything would work out so I could see UNC/UM play for the tournament championship.

(or Weber)
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the possible Weber/UM matchup in the semi's would be a great game to go see to.

[dbackjon]

Congrats to Northern Colorado - first ever Big Sky title

[Mvemjsunpx]

the possible Weber/UM matchup in the semi's would be a great game to go see to.

After tonight, you may want to put some "hopefully" qualifiers on that.

EWU leads in Ogden by 19 with 2 minutes left.

Because the Bobcats won, Weber will have to play EWU again in 3 days. Montana gets a bye.

If only NAU hadn't gone cold in Greeley the final couple minutes, the Griz would still be hosting even with their loss to EWU.

[mtjack]

If only NAU hadn't gone cold in Greeley the final couple minutes, the Griz would still be hosting even with their loss to EWU.

This is all on the Griz. Their not hosting has more to do with UM losing 63-45 on the road to UNC as opposed to NAU losing on the road to UNC 72-71.