The Belts Big Three ?

[MeanGreen61]

WW applaudes WKU, USA and the Muts

Pogue: Time for SBC to validate itself at NCAAs

By GREG POGUE

pogue@dnj.com

More than just Western Kentucky and South Alabama played into the Sun Belt Conference getting multiple entries into the NCAA men's basketball tournament that tips off today.

Granted, WKU won the conference tourney for the league's automatic bid, while South Alabama got the at-large invitation for its body of work.

But another common denominator factoring into the league getting two teams into the Big Dance for the first time since 1994 was a team that is not participating in postseason play.

And that's MTSU.

After South Alabama lost to MTSU on its home court in the Sun Belt tourney semifinal, the impact on the Jaguars' RPI (Ratings Percentage Index, an important factor in NCAA tourney at-large selections) was negligible. It dropped from the mid-30s to the mid-40s, keeping South Alabama alive.

Conversely, when WKU beat MTSU in the title game, the Hilltoppers' RPI improved around 10 spots, making South Alabama's season sweep of WKU even more beneficial.

"We are very fortunate the league had three coaches step up and significantly improve their non-conference schedules," Sun Belt commissioner Wright Waters says of the multiple bids, "and that was the coaches at South Alabama (Ronnie Arrow), Western Kentucky (Darrin Horn) and Middle Tennessee (Kermit Davis)."

Waters noted that usually when an event happens like regular-season champion South Alabama losing to MTSU in the semifinals, that losing team would go into RPI free fall and slip from the NCAA tourney radar.

"That didn't happen this year," Waters says, "and that's because MTSU did everything right."

And that was reflected in MTSU's non-conference strength of schedule that remained as the best in the country the last two months of the season.

Now that the Sun Belt has two teams in for the first time in 14 seasons, it's time to boot another barrier, and that's win a game. The last Sun Belt victory in the NCAA men's tourney came in 1995 when Western Kentucky beat Michigan.

"It is a big step forward," Waters says of two tourney entries. "But it's not a final step."

Ironically on Friday, the Sun Belt Conference faces teams from a pair of fellow mid-major conferences that, quite frankly, have more national respect and are accustomed to multiple bids.

South Alabama plays Butler of the Summitt Conference, while Western Kentucky plays Drake from the Missouri Valley Conference.

"What we have to do now is take this opportunity and validate the trust that's been given to us (by the tourney selection committee)," Waters says.

[CMJ]

MTSU hasn't made the NCAA's in 19 years, and I'm not sure if they've ever made the NIT. I wouldn't call them one of the "Big 3" at all.

[MeanGreen61]

MTSU hasn't made the NCAA's in 19 years, and I'm not sure if they've ever made the NIT. I wouldn't call them one of the "Big 3" at all.

I agree but WW did singles them out along with USA & WKU as the ones who stepped up to improve the conference with their scheduling. Reads like he credits those three for two bids to the Dance.

[Mean Green 93-98]

Interesting how he singularly credits the coaches for their schedules. I thought that was primarily the work of the AD.

[TheTastyGreek]

Guys... Waters made these comments to a reporter from the Daily News Journal, the newspaper for Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

He's helping promote a Belt school in their local market. If he were talking to Vito for a DRC article, I'd bet that he'd reference our two Belt teams in the NCAA Tournament and then praise Johnny and RV for scheduling and beating Oklahoma State.

He's just patting the Raiders on the back for making the finals and scheduling better to their hometown paper. Nothing to get worked up over here.

[Pen Yan Fan]

Since Jones took over, UNT has consistently had one of the worst/easiest non-conference schedules in the Sun Belt. Not many teams win 20 game and still have an rpi in the mid 100's. Waters is making a good point in the article.

[NT80]

Since Jones took over, UNT has consistently had one of the worst/easiest non-conference schedules in the Sun Belt. Not many teams win 20 game and still have an rpi in the mid 100's. Waters is making a good point in the article.

It's the 20 wins that draws the fans. An RPI in the 40's but only 7 wins won't bring fence-sitters to the SuperPit. It's the ole K-State football theory of success, schedule low, win to build confidence and fans, then surprise someone later you're not suppossed to beat, like NT did in the SBC tourney last year.

[CMJ]

Since Jones took over, UNT has consistently had one of the worst/easiest non-conference schedules in the Sun Belt. Not many teams win 20 game and still have an rpi in the mid 100's. Waters is making a good point in the article.

I'm not sure it's that out of line with the rest of the Belt. New Orleans and UALR both had worse RPI's with 20 wins.

[Pen Yan Fan]

I'm not sure it's that out of line with the rest of the Belt. New Orleans and UALR both had worse RPI's with 20 wins.

I didn't see Waters mention UALR or UNO in the article either. Does anyone remember that UNT was a 15th seed last year in the tourney. That was because they beat no one with a respectable RPI.

[CMJ]

You stated NT had one of the worst non conference schedules for any school in the Sunbelt. I was merely pointing out that wasn't so.

BTW - NT had a 15 seed just as much because our conference record wasn't sparkling as anything else. If we'd been 16-2 or something instead of 10-8 our nonconference schedule wouldn't have mattered much. We'd have likely been a 13 or something. Not great, but within the realm of reasonable upsets.

[CMJ]

Just so we're comparing. Here's the overall strength of schedule rankings for the Sunbelt.

MTSU 72

FIU 120

South Alabama 126

Western Kentucky 138

UL-Monroe 144

Troy 166

ULL 171

NT 183

ASU 198

UNO 216

Denver 222

FAU 245

UALR 288

[Buford_Julep]

We are very fortunate the league had three coaches step up and significantly improve their non-conference schedules," Sun Belt commissioner Wright Waters says of the multiple bids, "and that was the coaches at South Alabama (Ronnie Arrow), Western Kentucky (Darrin Horn) and Middle Tennessee (Kermit Davis)."

Actually North Texas had a better out of conference strength of schedule rating than Western Kentucky did.

National Rank:

1. MTSU

70. South Alabama

79. La Monroe

82. La Lafayette

86. UNT

98. WKU

102. FIU

231. Troy

263. Ark St

303. Denver

309. FAU

317. UNO

333. UALR

UNT has consistently had one of the worst/easiest non-conference schedules in the Sun Belt

Bullshit.

[Buford_Julep]

Out of conference strength of schedule rankings during J Jones era:

Year...National Rank ....Sun Belt Rank

2001: 40....................1

2002: 234..................7

2003: 32....................1

2004: 310..................11

2005: 132..................6

2006: 167..................7

2007: 286..................12

2008: 86....................5

[GoMeanGreen1999]

Someone help me out - where did Kermit Davis coach last as a head coach - was it College Station?

[Censored by Laurie]

Someone help me out - where did Kermit Davis coach last as a head coach - was it College Station?

He worked with John Brady at LSU and was head coach at Idaho.

As for our schedule...2007 was sort of the exception to the rule. JJ and RV have done a great job of not only scheduling major and local programs, but often bringing them to Denton. Home games with Houston, Indiana, Baylor and Oklahoma State...home and homes with SMU and UTA and even a 2 and 2 with TCU during the Jones era...throw in road games at Nebraska, Charolette, Arkansas, Auburn, Texas, A&M, Alabama and Arizona State (which has seemed to help our recruiting)...and 2 titles and one third place in pre-season tourneys against solid compittion like Weber State, NM State and Winthrop.

Personally, I'm hoping the game with Hartford was a home and home.

[NT03]

He worked with John Brady at LSU and was head coach at Idaho.

As for our schedule...2007 was sort of the exception to the rule. JJ and RV have done a great job of not only scheduling major and local programs, but often bringing them to Denton. Home games with Houston, Indiana, Baylor and Oklahoma State...home and homes with SMU and UTA and even a 2 and 2 with TCU during the Jones era...throw in road games at Nebraska, Charolette, Arkansas, Auburn, Texas, A&M, Alabama and Arizona State (which has seemed to help our recruiting)...and 2 titles and one third place in pre-season tourneys against solid compittion like Weber State, NM State and Winthrop.

Personally, I'm hoping the game with Hartford was a home and home.

Wasn't A&M also a home and home ??

[Mean Green Matt]

Wasn't A&M also a home and home ??

We played the first game in Reed Arena, but I don't remember them ever coming to the Super Pit...

[Eagle1855]

If not MTSU, then who would be the big 3? Clearly WKU, USA... but I cant in good conscience put UNT in there. MTSU played the toughest sched, knocked out USA in the conf tourney.

[CMJ]

If not MTSU, then who would be the big 3? Clearly WKU, USA... but I cant in good conscience put UNT in there. MTSU played the toughest sched, knocked out USA in the conf tourney.

I don't think there IS a third. It's the Big 2.

[NT03]

We played the first game in Reed Arena, but I don't remember them ever coming to the Super Pit...

TeXaS A&M played IN DENTON in either 99 or 2000. I know for a fact , it was my very 1st UNT Basketball game to attend

[NT03]

If only we had landed Tyrus Thomas or even had Rod Flemings stay.... no doubt we could consider ourselves in the " BIG III" , but for now we are on the outside looking in and unless we can land an impact player or two in the recruiting processs , it will stay that way.

[Censored by Laurie]

If only we had landed Tyrus Thomas or even had Rod Flemings stay.... no doubt we could consider ourselves in the " BIG III" , but for now we are on the outside looking in and unless we can land an impact player or two in the recruiting processs , it will stay that way.

If that other kid only qualified for LSU...I forget his name...just remembering thinking how unstable it would've been had we had a Ty and a Tyrus Thomas.

[Arkstfan]

Normally coaches handle their own scheduling in basketball.

MTSU's RPI didn't hurt USA and kept them alive in the hunt for an at-large. If MTSU had beaten WKU in the finals, USA might have been knocked out because it would have reduced the quality of their sweep of WKU.

[Spaceraider]

Someone help me out - where did Kermit Davis coach last as a head coach - was it College Station?

sorry for this to be so long, but got started and couldn't stop...

Coach Davis did coach at texas A&M for one year (90-91) and resigned when he was accused/involved in recruiting infractions. Before that, starting in 1984, he became the nation's youngest head coach at a junior college (SW Mississippi JC) at age 24, after two years (and record of 39-20), Tim Floyd hired Kermit for his staff at Idaho, after two years when Floyd was hired away to coach at New Orleans, Kermit was promoted to head coach of the Vandals at age 28, becoming the nation's youngest head coach on the d-1 level. Davis posted two of the best single-season records in school history during his first two seasons at Idaho as well, turning in 25-6 marks in both of those seasons (1988-89, 1989-90). His Idaho squad won the Big Sky championship in 1989 and went on to capture the league's tournament crown and a berth into the NCAA Tournament, as well. For his efforts, Davis was named Big Sky Coach of the Year. In 1990, Davis once again led the Vandals to the Big Sky title in both the regular season and tournament, garnering yet another NCAA Tournament berth. From there he was hired away by Texas A&M. As a result of the recruiting infractions, Kermit resigned, and the aggies received two years probation. After that, Davis went back to the junior college ranks for three years, where in 94, he led Chipola junior college to a 27-5 record and a #4 ranking in the national juco poll.

Larry Eustachy, then at Utah State hired Coach Davis as associate head coach, and the next season, Utah State won the the Big West Championship. After 4 years under Eustachy at Utah State, Kermit Davis was hired for a second tour of duty at Idaho, but after one season, when LSU's John Brady called, Kermit left Idaho to become associate head coach at LSU where he spent five years. One of the reasons that Kermit has given for leaving Idaho and a 2nd chance opportunity to be a D-1 head coach is that he and his wife have a special needs child and that at LSU, there were more resources to help them with the child than in Moscow Idaho. Within two years, LSU was in the sweet sixteen, and they averaged 20+ wins the last three seasons Kermit was there as Brady's top assistant. After five years, when the MT job came open, Kermit was hired. There was concern about Kermit's past with the ncaa at texas A&M, but the MT AD at the time, former long time MT FB coach, Boots Donnelly - an old school coach, did his homework and was convinced that Kermit had learned from that mistake and the past ten years since had not had any issues with the NCAA. Coach Davis was hired and in the first year took a MT team that had not seen any success in over 4 years and had them in the conference title hunt til the very last week of the regular season and in the conference finals his first year. MT has been consistent winners under Kermit his first four years.

The last two seasons have been viewed as disappointments, due in large part to injuries to starters who were considered the leaders of the team. In the 06-07 season, MT's top returning scorer, Adam Vogelsberg, was injured the week before the season started, and while everyone expected he would return for the 07-08 season, in the late spring of '07 he told the coaches he just couldn't go through the pain and rehab anymore and left the team. MT then received a double whammy when MT's top defender, and returning starter Calvin O'Neil was injured and lost in the very first game of the season. While the team never totally recovered in the '07 season from Vogelsberg's absence, this past year after a terrible start (4-9) adjusting to O'Neil's loss in the first game of the season, Kermit guided them back to finish 3rd in the east division behind USA and wku, a 4th seed (although if not due to the Sun Belt's divisional format, MT actually had the 3rd best record in conference) and an appearance in the conference finals thanks to beating South Alabama for the second straight time in conference tourney action. Kermit did this with not a single senior on the team. for the 08-09 season, MT will return all five started plus O'Neil, a starter from the previous season, returning off his injury, plus the Raiders get additonal help from prized '07 recruit Antwaun Boyd (a top 10 HS prospect out of Indiana) and a '08 commit, 6-5 sharp shooting guard, Eric Allen, the leading scorer among jucos in Alabama, that one recruiting service guru called “a top-10 junior college player in the nation if you just rank them overall and not by position.....the real deal. He’s a great 3-point shooter, and his game isn’t fragmented like a lot of 3-point shooters. He can do all the other things, and he’s real athletic. He can catch and shoot or go get his own shot. He’s not the kind of player you’re going to see come into the Sun Belt every year. I know Middle Tennessee has a good team coming back, but if he fits into what they do he has the potential to be an all-conference player.”

MT fans are getting a little impatient, were heavily critical (myself included) earlier this past season after the bad start, and Kermit may be feeling some heat, but if he can add one juco big to the team this spring, MT will be very good next season and a legitmate top 50 rpi team as well as a SBC title contender.

Edited March 24, 2008 by Spaceraider