When SLU goes to its conference basketball tournament, it's usually an all-or-nothing situation. Not since 1998 have the Billikens gone to their tournament with a reasonable expectation of NCAA play in their future.
When the final three rounds of the Atlantic 10 tournament begin their swan song at Boardwalk Hall this afternoon ? the tournament moves to Brooklyn, N.Y., next year after six years on the Jersey shore ? SLU looks like it has a future no matter what happens this weekend.
The Billikens aren't quite a lock for the NCAA Tournament, but they're pretty darn close to it. About the only thing that could gum up the works at this point would be an ugly quarterfinal loss today to La Salle, and even that more likely would be aggravating rather than fatal.
SLU coach Rick Majerus has called his team's claim to a tournament spot "irrefutable," and there are plenty of good points to support that: a 24-6 record, a clear-cut second-place finish in the league ranked seventh-best in the nation, a 3-0 record against the teams that finished tied for third, a top 30 RPI, even better numbers in other statistical rankings and six wins on the road.
"If that's not good enough," Majerus said, "I don't know what is."
The only thing SLU doesn't have is a strong nonconference RPI or any wins against top 50 RPI teams. While SLU has beaten teams from the ACC, Big East, Big 12 and Pac-12, all the teams it beat had, at best, so-so seasons. Washington won the Pac-12 regular-season title but its RPI is in the 50s. Boston College was last in the ACC, Villanova 14th in the Big East, Oklahoma eighth in the 10-team Big 12. It's not that SLU didn't try to put together a tough schedule; it's that all the high-profile teams they played didn't do well. And though SLU lost to the two toughest teams on its schedule, New Mexico and Temple, if the cutoff was top-60 RPI, they would be 4-2. Against teams with RPIs from 51 to 100, SLU is 7-2.
ESPN.com bracket expert Joe Lunardi doesn't figure SLU as a lock just yet, but he has them pretty close. The top 35 teams on his board he considers locks; right now, SLU is team 36. He thinks that while SLU doesn't have a big win, its r?sum? stacks up pretty well against other bubble teams.
"The lack of a signature win may be overstating it," said Lunardi, who has spoken to his former ESPN colleague Majerus about SLU's situation. "I do think their r?sum? is strong across the board more than individually. ? Washington's a bubble team, St. Joseph's is a bubble team, Xavier's a bubble team, Dayton's a bubble team, and they've gone 5-1 against those teams. They have a quote-unquote good loss at New Mexico. Overall, the numbers favor SLU. I think if they avoid a bad loss Friday, they're going to get in. They may get in without it, but as long as they don't lay an egg while the committee is watching, I think they'll be all right."
Most bracket projections have SLU as a 10 seed, which means even if it lost to La Salle, a lot would have to happen to knock them out of the picture. Lunardi thinks it's too soon to say for sure, but getting to the A-10 final could be enough to jump SLU over the dangerous eight and nine seeds in the NCAAs.
Majerus has drilled into his players that they should focus on what's next, and even with their long-awaited goal of reaching the NCAA Tournament hovering close they're not looking past the conference tournament. The 2000 C-USA tournament in Memphis is the only one SLU has ever won.
"I don't think these guys are looking past these games," forward Dwayne Evans said "Winning the A-10 tournament is a really big accomplishment. It's nothing to look past and the guys really don't want to get ahead of ourselves."
"I think everyone on our team still has a goal we want to reach," guard Kwamain Mitchell said, "and that's win the conference championship."
Is he thinking about the NCAAs?
"Not one bit," he said. "Coach Majerus always tells us to prepare for the moment."
When the final three rounds of the Atlantic 10 tournament begin their swan song at Boardwalk Hall this afternoon ? the tournament moves to Brooklyn, N.Y., next year after six years on the Jersey shore ? SLU looks like it has a future no matter what happens this weekend.
The Billikens aren't quite a lock for the NCAA Tournament, but they're pretty darn close to it. About the only thing that could gum up the works at this point would be an ugly quarterfinal loss today to La Salle, and even that more likely would be aggravating rather than fatal.
SLU coach Rick Majerus has called his team's claim to a tournament spot "irrefutable," and there are plenty of good points to support that: a 24-6 record, a clear-cut second-place finish in the league ranked seventh-best in the nation, a 3-0 record against the teams that finished tied for third, a top 30 RPI, even better numbers in other statistical rankings and six wins on the road.
"If that's not good enough," Majerus said, "I don't know what is."
The only thing SLU doesn't have is a strong nonconference RPI or any wins against top 50 RPI teams. While SLU has beaten teams from the ACC, Big East, Big 12 and Pac-12, all the teams it beat had, at best, so-so seasons. Washington won the Pac-12 regular-season title but its RPI is in the 50s. Boston College was last in the ACC, Villanova 14th in the Big East, Oklahoma eighth in the 10-team Big 12. It's not that SLU didn't try to put together a tough schedule; it's that all the high-profile teams they played didn't do well. And though SLU lost to the two toughest teams on its schedule, New Mexico and Temple, if the cutoff was top-60 RPI, they would be 4-2. Against teams with RPIs from 51 to 100, SLU is 7-2.
ESPN.com bracket expert Joe Lunardi doesn't figure SLU as a lock just yet, but he has them pretty close. The top 35 teams on his board he considers locks; right now, SLU is team 36. He thinks that while SLU doesn't have a big win, its r?sum? stacks up pretty well against other bubble teams.
"The lack of a signature win may be overstating it," said Lunardi, who has spoken to his former ESPN colleague Majerus about SLU's situation. "I do think their r?sum? is strong across the board more than individually. ? Washington's a bubble team, St. Joseph's is a bubble team, Xavier's a bubble team, Dayton's a bubble team, and they've gone 5-1 against those teams. They have a quote-unquote good loss at New Mexico. Overall, the numbers favor SLU. I think if they avoid a bad loss Friday, they're going to get in. They may get in without it, but as long as they don't lay an egg while the committee is watching, I think they'll be all right."
Most bracket projections have SLU as a 10 seed, which means even if it lost to La Salle, a lot would have to happen to knock them out of the picture. Lunardi thinks it's too soon to say for sure, but getting to the A-10 final could be enough to jump SLU over the dangerous eight and nine seeds in the NCAAs.
Majerus has drilled into his players that they should focus on what's next, and even with their long-awaited goal of reaching the NCAA Tournament hovering close they're not looking past the conference tournament. The 2000 C-USA tournament in Memphis is the only one SLU has ever won.
"I don't think these guys are looking past these games," forward Dwayne Evans said "Winning the A-10 tournament is a really big accomplishment. It's nothing to look past and the guys really don't want to get ahead of ourselves."
"I think everyone on our team still has a goal we want to reach," guard Kwamain Mitchell said, "and that's win the conference championship."
Is he thinking about the NCAAs?
"Not one bit," he said. "Coach Majerus always tells us to prepare for the moment."
