The Bobcat Nation

Thought this was interesting if not a little long:

Updated: Dec. 15, 2005, 12:30 AM ET
Teams starting to resemble growling mascots By Kyle Whelliston
Special to ESPN.com


"Under the radar" is one of those phrases that just doesn't make the transition to the sports world very well.

First of all, it's an aircraft reference, and sports are about players and coaches and fans and stuff. Planes don't talk, despite anything you've seen on the PBS Kids show "Jay Jay the Jet Plane." Radar is all about bouncing signals off things and measuring their locations, something that's easily done with the wide array of statistical evaluation tools we have at our disposal here in the digital age.

So let's look at three mid-major teams that probably are not on your metaphorical radar yet but that likely will be when bracket-filling time is here. None of these squads was given much consideration in preseason polls, but each has stepped up in recent weeks to assume the mantle of conference favorite.

So let's start pinging.


Pacific (6-3): 2004-05 was the year when Big West basketball really started to get serious. The conference staged a thrilling cutthroat battle between Utah State and Pacific, sending both teams to the NCAA Tournament. After the season, the league ditched its fun and frisky fast-food logo, opting for button-down block italics that better suited its new all-business outlook.

The summer provided a key vacancy in the building, however. Utah State packed up and moved on to the bigger, tougher Western Athletic Conference. The preseason pollsters decided that 2005-06 would belong to the up-tempo Cal State Northridge Matadors, a team with plenty of unfinished business; they've seen two consecutive seasons end at the Big West tourney in two-point losses.

But everybody forgot about Pacific, the team that delivered those death blows, the team that has advanced to the NCAA Tournament's second round in consecutive seasons. Pacific's perfect regular-season conference record last season rightfully earned them the league's second Dance card after falling to Utah State in the conference tourney final. But the Tigers lost four starters from that squad, and Pacific's early results this season encouraged doubt -- especially an 82-64 loss to Oregon in the final of the Hispanic College Fund Classic.

But the Tigers seem to have found their classic form in recent weeks and are roaring once again. They traded scoring runs with powerful Nevada two Saturdays ago before falling by seven, and they destroyed San Jose State 81-63 Wednesday in front of an appreciative home crowd. But it was their convincing 91-75 road win last weekend at Western Kentucky that put them back in this conversation, highlighted by the efforts of that lone returning starter.

The Pacific attack has been led by senior leader Christian Maraker (team-high 18.1 ppg and 8.8 rpg), a big 6-9 Swede who's currently riding a five-game double-double streak. He put up 34 and 12 in the win at Western Kentucky and took Big West Player of the Week honors for the second week in a row.

So yes, it's true: The Tigers are very, very serious about going back to the Dance.


Gardner-Webb (4-3, 2-0 Atlantic Sun): Six years ago, the former president of Gardner-Webb University erased a failing grade from a basketball player's transcript, a mark that would have rendered him academically ineligible to play for the Bulldogs.

That "F" haunts the program to this day. In March 2004, the NCAA noted the transcript incident after a thorough investigation of Gardner-Webb's transition to Division I, citing the school for a "lack of institutional control." The school entered 2004-05, its second year as a full-fledged Division I program, on probation.

But despite recruiting restrictions and a docked scholarship, the Runnin' Bulldogs From Boiling Springs were just nine points away from the NCAA Tournament last March, losing to eventual No. 15-seed Central Florida in the Atlantic Sun final. And in their next game, the 2005-06 season opener on Nov. 19 at the Dean Dome against North Carolina, they nearly shocked the draft-depleted defending national champions, losing by just three points, 83-80.

If this is Basketball 102, that's got to be worth at least a B+.

In a league dominated by miniature guards and 3-point shooting, Gardner-Webb is bringing the beef. They might not be Olajuwon and Sampson, but seniors Simon Conn (6-9, 250) and Brian Bender (6-6, 205) are twin towers that likely will rise over the A-Sun this season and help G-Dub (no relation) challenge for the league crown once again. In addition to their 8.0 and 7.0 rpg, respectively, they lead the way with a combined 30 points per game of scoring, fed by their solidly reliable point guard, T.J. McCullough.

Gardner-Webb swept its first weekend of league play, over Stetson and Mercer, and hung in with North Carolina-Greensboro of the Southern Conference last weekend (a 76-68 loss). The only truly bad mark on the ledger is a 70-43 thrashing by Auburn, but that doesn't really count. Since there's no hope of a second bid for the A-Sun, all 11 teams are taking the nonconference season pass/fail.


Montana (7-1): When the Griz beat Stanford 88-69 in Missoula, Mont., on Dec. 2, the win quickly was discounted. The Cardinal lost to UC-Davis two days later, making "beating Stanford" so common that teenage boys all across America were doing it.

But Montana followed up that win with a completion of an in-season home-and-home sweep of Loyola Marymount. Then the Grizzlies earned a cheapie championship on the road in the Drake Regency Challenge. Their weekend in Des Moines, Iowa, was capped by a scrappy, hard-fought overtime win over host Drake to earn their seventh straight victory.

And while "Coach K West" (Montana grad and second-year sideline pacer Larry Krystkowiak) lost star forward Kamaar Davis (15.2 ppg, 6.1 rpg) from his 2005 Big Sky champion squad, he's been getting a lot of output from a previously unknown X-factor, due to injuries to proven frontcourt commodities.

Andrew Strait, a 6-8, 250-pound sophomore, has been a revelation in maroon and silver. Strait only started four games as a freshman in 2004-05, but he's logged minutes aplenty on the way to a 15.1 ppg, 6.6 rpg season line so far. Strait has led his team in scoring four times and rebounding five times during the winning streak -- not bad for a player who was projected to be a bench dude this past summer.

And don't forget that Montana refused to let Washington run away and hide in the Dance last March -- the Grizzlies scored 77 points and lost by only 11 in a No. 1 vs. No. 16 matchup that routinely produces 30-point blowouts. So, with all due respect to those who picked Montana State and Sacramento State ahead of the Griz in the preseason polls, you may want to check your radar screens again.


Kyle Whelliston is the founder of midmajority.com and is a daily contributor to ESPN.com.

Now the griz care about basketball? Why did you post this?

Cats 0-0 in Conference
Griz 0-0 in Conference

Enough said.

http://www.bobcatnation.com/bobcatboard ... php?t=4577

This was here yesterday.

SACCAT wrote:Now the griz care about basketball?

Ideally, yes.

'Sky basketball has zero prominence on the national stage right now. This isn't helped when Weber State and Eastern Washington get the NCAA autobid, as no one has a clue what those programs are about.
Montana is very well known, due to the football success of the past decade and a half. When Montana is mentioned, people think about the school, and think about the great football team. It's a name people can recognize, even if better known for another sport. It's in a town where sportswriters have been, even if for another sport. Consider this; after one year of coaching, Coach K. has already been given more attention from ESPN than Durham has in his long tenure.

The team most capable of raising the conference profile is Montana.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm happy for the Griz. I only hate the Griz during football season. If MSU doesn't make the dance (I sure don't think we will at this point, please prove me wrong!) then I want Montana to go.

They've even received a vote in national polls. I think it is pretty cool myself.

It's good that the Griz are doing well. It's good for the state of Montana and Big Sky basketball. And it will be more fun when they're so highly ranked in January and we beat them.

gecko,

Give me a break. Have you spent much time outside Montana? Any area that has a DI football program within 100 miles has NO IDEA about the Grizzly football program. The only folks who associate dUMb with anything important are students, alumni, and fans of I-AA schools.

Did you happen to catch the total disregard Duck fans had for the Griz football team leading up to their game in September? Oregon/Eugene is not that far away and yet those folks still didn't know squat about the Griz.

I'm afraid you're VASTLY over-stating the knowledge/opinions MOST college sports fans have regarding the Griz (or any Big Sky team, for that matter).

Face it, we're in the backwoods, no matter how prominent either of our teams seem at any given time LOCALLY.

CelticCat wrote:I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm happy for the Griz. I only hate the Griz during football season. If MSU doesn't make the dance (I sure don't think we will at this point, please prove me wrong!) then I want Montana to go.

They've even received a vote in national polls. I think it is pretty cool myself.

I am happy for Larry K, he is a class act and a great coach!

El_Gato wrote:gecko,

Give me a break. Have you spent much time outside Montana? Any area that has a DI football program within 100 miles has NO IDEA about the Grizzly football program. The only folks who associate dUMb with anything important are students, alumni, and fans of I-AA schools.

Did you happen to catch the total disregard Duck fans had for the Griz football team leading up to their game in September? Oregon/Eugene is not that far away and yet those folks still didn't know squat about the Griz.

I'm afraid you're VASTLY over-stating the knowledge/opinions MOST college sports fans have regarding the Griz (or any Big Sky team, for that matter).

Face it, we're in the backwoods, no matter how prominent either of our teams seem at any given time LOCALLY.

Considering that I have lived in Eugene, I can say with honesty that people in Eugene know about the Griz.

The Wazzu AD seems to have high complements for Montana. I especially like the part about more Montana fans traveling to Seattle than Colorado fans.
http://www.spokesmanreview.com/tools/st ... p?ID=56319

Do the Griz have the same prominence as say, Michigan? No. But the Griz do sell (roughly) as much merchandise as BYU and Utah.
http://www.clc.com/iclc/clcinter.nsf/0/ ... enDocument

Montana has prominence on the national scene.

theblackgecko wrote:

El_Gato wrote:gecko,

Give me a break. Have you spent much time outside Montana? Any area that has a DI football program within 100 miles has NO IDEA about the Grizzly football program. The only folks who associate dUMb with anything important are students, alumni, and fans of I-AA schools.

Did you happen to catch the total disregard Duck fans had for the Griz football team leading up to their game in September? Oregon/Eugene is not that far away and yet those folks still didn't know squat about the Griz.

I'm afraid you're VASTLY over-stating the knowledge/opinions MOST college sports fans have regarding the Griz (or any Big Sky team, for that matter).

Face it, we're in the backwoods, no matter how prominent either of our teams seem at any given time LOCALLY.

Considering that I have lived in Eugene, I can say with honesty that people in Eugene know about the Griz.

The Wazzu AD seems to have high complements for Montana. I especially like the part about more Montana fans traveling to Seattle than Colorado fans.
http://www.spokesmanreview.com/tools/st ... p?ID=56319

Do the Griz have the same prominence as say, Michigan? No. But the Griz do sell (roughly) as much merchandise as BYU and Utah.
http://www.clc.com/iclc/clcinter.nsf/0/ ... enDocument

Montana has prominence on the national scene.

Yeah. Sure. There is some level of prominence (most sports fans would be able to name the state that the University of Montana is from), but El Gato is also right -- no BSC school has more than a "cute little spunky small school" tag attached to it in the minds of nearly all sports fans outside of Montana.

I hope that changes, and since MSU isn't stepping up in any way shape or form this season, I hope the Griz keep winning their OOC games and bring at least some credibility to the conference.

As to suggestions that the average sports fan knows anything about Montana football -- please. We are I-AA fans, and so we all know who the powers are, but we are a strange little minority in the sports world. The rest of the sports world only mentions schools like Furman, Georgia Southern, Montana, and yes, Montana State in terms of football with a mocking statement before or after it.

And now, our entire division is becoming a drop-down JV league, which just gives more ammunition to those who like to put us down.

I have had hundreds of football related conversations with I-A alums and fans (as most I-AA school alums don't even follow it), and I have to fight to hold my head high when I defend our league. They don't follow us, and they certainly don't respect us.

We can pretend like winning a I-AA title is something that the average sports fan would care about, but we are only kidding ourselves. We are the only ones that care ... and few of us even care unless our conference is involved.

theblackgecko wrote:

SACCAT wrote:Now the griz care about basketball?

Ideally, yes.

'Sky basketball has zero prominence on the national stage right now. This isn't helped when Weber State and Eastern Washington get the NCAA autobid, as no one has a clue what those programs are about.
Montana is very well known, due to the football success of the past decade and a half. When Montana is mentioned, people think about the school, and think about the great football team. It's a name people can recognize, even if better known for another sport. It's in a town where sportswriters have been, even if for another sport. Consider this; after one year of coaching, Coach K. has already been given more attention from ESPN than Durham has in his long tenure.

The team most capable of raising the conference profile is Montana.

Im guessing North Carolina fans know a heck of a lot more about Weber that they do about the Griz.

That is what I was thinking, too. Remember Harold "The Show" Arceneaux? Weber usually always fields a good team, and has made it to the NCAA's more than any other BSC team (I think).