Walnut Creek, CA--It's been more than two weeks since the last posting. I apologize. Literally, there have been too many "other" things happening for me to find time to write about my favorite pastime...college basketball.
As the regular season is just about over, it is certainly appropriate to congratulate the season champions. Weber State won the Big Sky and will host the tournament for a second consecutive year. This year Randy Rahe players will have a stiff challenge from Northern Colorado and Missouri State. Will Weber State win on their own floor?
The Lobos of New Mexico started the season strong; faultered a bit and then finished the regular season in convincing style knocking off BYU and UNLV on the road.
Gonzaga proved once again that they are the leaders of the WCC. They swept the season series from both St. Mary's and Portland who finished second and third, respectively.
In the Pac-10 race, Cal survived a tight race in a down year for the conference. The tandem of Randle and Christopher in the back court was the difference...and, of course, Mike Montgomery.
The Big West came down to two teams, neither of which were expected to be there.
UC-Santa Barbara edge out Pacific relying heavily on the talents of James Nunnally and Orlando Johnson. The Pacific Tigers lost both home and home games to the Gauchos but won enough in league to earn the number seed in the conference tourney.
The whacky WAC was a tight race until Utah State got rolling. The Aggies took charge in mid season, but will face a strong challenger from both New Mexico State and Louisiana Tech in the conference tourney.
Here's my Top Teams. I've expanded the list to 15 because I felt the additional five teams were so close:
1. New Mexico
2. BYU
3. Gonzaga
4. Utah State
5. St. Mary's
6. California
7. New Mexico State
8. Portland
9. Weber State
10. UNLV
11. UC-Santa Barbara
12. Louisiana Tech
13. Pacific
14. San Diego State
15. Northern Colorado
My next posting will be about the players.
