Dave Reardon: Better conference could help basketball 'Bows

Mar. 13—In a world better for Hawaii fans, the Rainbow Warriors would be in the same conference for basketball as they are for football.

In a world better for Hawaii fans, the Rainbow Warriors would be in the same conference for basketball as they are for football.

The Mountain West is expected to place at least five teams in the NCAA Tournament when the field is announced Sunday. And that is five times as many as UH's conference, the Big West, will get.

The Mountain West has always been at least somewhat decent as a hoops conference, even going back to the 1990s, when it was the WAC and UH was a member. One year Utah made the Final Four, which meant a nice infusion of cash for all of the WAC's basketball-playing schools, for several years.

Last year, San Diego State played the part of the Utes, going all the way to the NCAA championship game before falling to UConn, 76-59.

That brought to mind a question, the answer to which I was 99.9 % sure about. But I still needed to check with someone who would know for sure.

"We don't share in any of the basketball money coming from the NCAA basketball units, " UH athletic director Craig Angelos said. "But keep in mind with all the MWC conference revenues about 85 % comes from football, and that is what we share because we are a (football ) member."

I'll remember that as football season approaches. But it's March now, and, I'm watching Milwaukee and Oakland.

No, not the Brewers and A's. These are the Panthers and the Golden Grizzlies, and they're tangling for the Horizon League championship and the NCAA Tournament bid that comes with it.

Some of the most thrilling college basketball comes the week before the Big Dance starts, when teams from a one-bid conference battle for their league's lone spot in the NCAAs. These games are all-or-nothing, unlike the tournament championship games of the more prominent conferences, where all you might lose are bragging rights and a good seed.

It's very close until the last couple of minutes, but Oakland pulls away to win 83-76.

The Grizzlies (23-11 ) are from Michigan, and they're a former Division II power going to March Madness for the first time since 2011. But it's unlikely they will be intimidated. Their nonconference schedule included games at Ohio State and three schools that were or are nationally ranked : Illinois, Michigan State and Dayton.

Those were all losses, but Oakland did win a game at Xavier. That counts as a quadrant one victory, because Xavier is No. 64 in the NCAA's NET ratings, which are used to determine if teams deserve at-large bids. A quad one win is at home against a team ranked 1-30, 1-50 at a neutral site, or 1-75 on the road. Oakland is 1-5 in quad one games.

I don't know if what follows is a statistical anomaly, coincidence, or something to merely shrug your shoulders about. But it was a fact Tuesday afternoon : Oakland of the Horizon League has a quad one victory this season and the entire Big West has zero.

The Big West is 0-26 in such games ; Hawaii is 0-1. UC Irvine (73 in NET ) is the only conference member in the top 75, and no one in the conference beat the Anteaters at the Bren Events Center. Another reason for that abysmal mark is no one in the Big West beat any high-quality teams, anywhere.

"A team cannot pass the test if it cannot even take the test, " said Dayton athletic director Dean Sullivan, in an ESPN article.

The piece by Joe Lunardi proposes increasing the NCAA Tournament field to 80 teams.

Even if that does happen, teams like Hawaii (172 NET ) in conferences like the Big West must improve their nonconference scheduling—and win a few of those games—if they hope to ever escape the world of one-bid leagues.