It has happened, which means it can happen again. Georgia did it in 2008. Coppin State did it that same year. Washington did it a couple of years back. Oakland, Fairfield, Florida A&M -- there have been quite a few teams through the years that caught breaks at just the right time, won conference tournaments as decided underdogs and wound up in the NCAA Tournament.
Another one of those teams was North Carolina-Wilmington in 2000. The Seahawks struggled a bit in the Colonial Athletic Association that year, losing a lot of close games. They were 8-8 in the league, in fourth place, and six of those losses had come by five points or fewer.
Jerry Wainwright, now an assistant at Fresno State, coached that team. Rodney Terry, now the Bulldogs coach, was an assistant coach on that staff.
And the message for the Bulldogs the past few days has been the same as it was then for the Seahawks.
"Anything is possible," Terry said. "The thing I told our guys about that team, we were much like this team here. They were competitive in every game, win, lose or draw. But they made their minds up when they entered that weekend that, hey, we're going to a neutral court, we played all these teams close, we didn't win them all; we lost a couple that we probably should have won. But for this weekend, for 40 minutes, we're going to do whatever it takes to win these games.
"They did it for a weekend and got it done. And the only thing they remember about that season is that they were conference champs. Not a fourth-place finish, but that they were conference champs."
Fresno State will put that theory to the test this afternoon at the Western Athletic Conference tournament, playing New Mexico State in a quarterfinal matchup at 2:30 p.m. at the Orleans Arena.
The Aggies just beat the Bulldogs on Saturday at the Save Mart Center, coming back from a 19-point second-half deficit to win 83-78 in overtime, and won both matchups in WAC play.
But both games were close -- the Bulldogs lost by only four points, 60-56, in Las Cruces.
And for two halves of basketball in the first matchup and for the first half in the second, Fresno State was able to stymie the highest-scoring team in the WAC. The Aggies are averaging 78.3 points per game, but managed just 35 and 25 per half in the first game against Fresno State and had just 25 in the first half at the Save Mart Center before putting up 42 in the second half and 16 in overtime.
"Regardless of the bumps we've had in conference, we've proven that we can play with anybody. But we're not trying just to compete. We're going up there to try to get three games," said guard Tyler Johnson, who had 16 points, five rebounds and three steals in the loss Saturday.
"Anything can happen once you get into single elimination. The records go out the door. It's really just want-to and, I mean, I'd be a fool to say we're not planning to go in there and play three games because that's the coaching staff's goal and that's what we've been talking about."
Terry gave the Bulldogs the day off Sunday, after one of their most difficult losses of the season. But they were back to work Monday, going over their games against New Mexico State.
"We needed to get the wheels spinning a little bit in terms of being able to see the visual part of it, things we did well against those guys and things we haven't done so well against them, and what we need to do better to put ourselves in position to be successful," Terry said.
"If you put your mind to it and you play your best basketball and you execute for 40 minutes, anybody has got a chance on that given day. It's not always the most talented team that wins; it's the team that competes at a high level and executes at a very high level for 40 minutes on that given day."
Another one of those teams was North Carolina-Wilmington in 2000. The Seahawks struggled a bit in the Colonial Athletic Association that year, losing a lot of close games. They were 8-8 in the league, in fourth place, and six of those losses had come by five points or fewer.
Jerry Wainwright, now an assistant at Fresno State, coached that team. Rodney Terry, now the Bulldogs coach, was an assistant coach on that staff.
And the message for the Bulldogs the past few days has been the same as it was then for the Seahawks.
"Anything is possible," Terry said. "The thing I told our guys about that team, we were much like this team here. They were competitive in every game, win, lose or draw. But they made their minds up when they entered that weekend that, hey, we're going to a neutral court, we played all these teams close, we didn't win them all; we lost a couple that we probably should have won. But for this weekend, for 40 minutes, we're going to do whatever it takes to win these games.
"They did it for a weekend and got it done. And the only thing they remember about that season is that they were conference champs. Not a fourth-place finish, but that they were conference champs."
Fresno State will put that theory to the test this afternoon at the Western Athletic Conference tournament, playing New Mexico State in a quarterfinal matchup at 2:30 p.m. at the Orleans Arena.
The Aggies just beat the Bulldogs on Saturday at the Save Mart Center, coming back from a 19-point second-half deficit to win 83-78 in overtime, and won both matchups in WAC play.
But both games were close -- the Bulldogs lost by only four points, 60-56, in Las Cruces.
And for two halves of basketball in the first matchup and for the first half in the second, Fresno State was able to stymie the highest-scoring team in the WAC. The Aggies are averaging 78.3 points per game, but managed just 35 and 25 per half in the first game against Fresno State and had just 25 in the first half at the Save Mart Center before putting up 42 in the second half and 16 in overtime.
"Regardless of the bumps we've had in conference, we've proven that we can play with anybody. But we're not trying just to compete. We're going up there to try to get three games," said guard Tyler Johnson, who had 16 points, five rebounds and three steals in the loss Saturday.
"Anything can happen once you get into single elimination. The records go out the door. It's really just want-to and, I mean, I'd be a fool to say we're not planning to go in there and play three games because that's the coaching staff's goal and that's what we've been talking about."
Terry gave the Bulldogs the day off Sunday, after one of their most difficult losses of the season. But they were back to work Monday, going over their games against New Mexico State.
"We needed to get the wheels spinning a little bit in terms of being able to see the visual part of it, things we did well against those guys and things we haven't done so well against them, and what we need to do better to put ourselves in position to be successful," Terry said.
"If you put your mind to it and you play your best basketball and you execute for 40 minutes, anybody has got a chance on that given day. It's not always the most talented team that wins; it's the team that competes at a high level and executes at a very high level for 40 minutes on that given day."
