When will WBB be ranked?

[Catfanatic84]

11 in a row....19-6 record...you gotta think the women's team will get some attention from the national polls.

[MSU01]

Not a chance unless they do something crazy like make the Sweet 16. They only just broke into the Top 25 of the mid-major poll.

[WalkOn79]

Not a chance unless they do something crazy like make the Sweet 16. They only just broke into the Top 25 of the mid-major poll.

I agree, but if they run the table including the BSC tourney championship, they might get a good seed and a winnable first round game.

[MSU01]

Not a chance unless they do something crazy like make the Sweet 16. They only just broke into the Top 25 of the mid-major poll.

I agree, but if they run the table including the BSC tourney championship, they might get a good seed and a winnable first round game.

All the bracket projections I've seen currently have MSU as a 14 or 15 seed. I feel like 13 would be possible if they can win out. 12 seems like a major stretch, although that would be a huge plus as the first round game wouldn't be on their opponent's home court.

[rivercat]

I think two issues are going to hurt this team in the seeding. First, they played some quality teams before conference play and didn't win any of them. I think the way this team is playing now they would definitely win a few of those but unfortunately that's not what the record shows.

Second, while the Lady Cats are dominating the conference, the Big Sky is the 18th ranked conference this year. Last year the BSC was only a little better at 16 but that could be enough to end up being seeded a little higher.

The only thing they can do is continue to crush their opponents and win the BSC tourney convincingly. Go Lady Cats!

[Bobcat4Ever]

11 in a row....19-6 record...you gotta think the women's team will get some attention from the national polls.

The Massey team rankings have us at #73 in the nation and that’s pretty sweet out of 351 D-I teams. We are ranked #43 in offense, and #154 in defense. Our strength of schedule is only #153 and being in a pretty average conference causes that. For comparison, the team that gave us our biggest defeat of 15 points, Gonzaga, has a 27-2 record, is #18 in Massey, and is ranked in the Top-25 and the Mid-Major poll. They have the #4 defense in the nation, hence our 15-point loss. Gonzaga’s strength of schedule is #76.

Depending on other results, we may rise a bit in the Mid-Major poll. Being ranked there is a pretty big deal in itself. That’s a collection of really outstanding teams. Unfortunately we lost to two of them (Gonzaga and South Dakota State). We played some very good major conference teams (Texas A&M, etc.) very closely until the end. We have a lot of work to do to keep climbing the poll, but we are in a great place to continue incremental success, Choate-style. We’re actually to the losing by just a little stage — when you look at our pre-conference schedule and see no blowouts on there! We hung with everyone. That’s why I called for wreaking havoc in the Big Sky.

Go, ‘Cats!!!!!

[John K]

A team with 6 losses from a conference like the BSC is never even gonna get any votes, let alone actually cracking the top 25. I know we played some good teams very tough in non-conference play, but just coming close isn't good enough. You actually have to win a couple of those games, if you're going to expect or deserve to get some votes in the poll. We'd probably need to have no more than half as many losses (3 or less) to really attract any national attention or respect. I think this year's MSU team is one of the best WBB teams to come out of the BSC in several years, and if we could get a 12 or 13 seed, I honestly believe we'd have a legit shot at pulling off an upset in the 1st round of the NCAA tourney (assuming we don't stub our toe during the BSC tourney. like we did in 2016). I suspect that we're more likely to get a 14 or 15 seed though, which means we'd be playing one of the top 12 teams in the nation, on their home court no less, and it's gonna be almost impossible to get a win under those circumstances.

When we have a season like this, it almost makes me wish there was an FCS for hoops, so we could have some legitimate aspirations beyond just winning the BSC, and being somewhat competitive (rather than being completely blown out) against a 2 or 3 seed in the 1st round of the the tourney. The post-season for our football team was a lot more exciting than it promises to be for our WBB team, and that is really sort of a disservice to a group of ladies who have achieved so much and been so successful this season.

[Bobcat4Ever]

When we have a season like this, it almost makes me wish there was an FCS for hoops, so we could have some legitimate aspirations beyond just winning the BSC, and being somewhat competitive (rather than being completely blown out) against a 2 or 3 seed in the 1st round of the the tourney. The post-season for our football team was a lot more exciting than it promises to be for our WBB team, and that is really sort of a disservice to a group of ladies who have achieved so much and been so successful this season.

I was thinking this very thing yesterday when I posted. It’s really there already, just not organized. I’d be very happy if the current Mid-Major conferences had their own tournament. It won’t happen, though, because there are always 2-3-4 Mid-Major teams that make the Top 25 poll. Perhaps if they were eligible for the “FBS” tournament, and the rest of us played the “FCS” tournament...

The new Mid-Major poll comes out later today.

http://www.collegeinsider.com/womens-m ... top-25.php

[thefrank1]

It's called the NIT and until that becomes a major money generator the NCAA won't be interested in another tourney.

[Ilikecats]

I’d rather just see us continue to improve and compete on a National level. Hoops is different from Football. I think with the proper focus the program can become nationally renowned. I don’t think a second tiered championship makes sense.

[Bobcat4Ever]

Gonzaga and South Dakota are in the Top-25 poll. It’s not impossible.

[John K]

I’d rather just see us continue to improve and compete on a National level. Hoops is different from Football. I think with the proper focus the program can become nationally renowned. I don’t think a second tiered championship makes sense.

That's a nice thought, but no BSC MBB or WBB program has ever really been competitive nationally, for probably almost 40 years, since Idaho's MBB back in the early 80's. That's the last time a BSC MBB team advanced to the Sweet 16...UI in 1982. I think maybe the UM women may have done it a time or two since then...but it has been a very long time for them too. Sadly, I just don't think it's realistic to expect any BSC program, men or women, to ever become truly competitive nationally. BSC men have 3 tourney wins in the past 38 years, and the last one was 14 years ago. I'm not sure off the top of my head how long it's been since a WBB team has had a win, but I know it's been a very long time for them as well. The BSC is definitely a notch or two below the Summit League and the West Coast Conference, for those who cited USD's and Gonzaga's recent success. It may not be impossible, but it's highly unlikely.

[NorthernPlains]

Gonzaga and South Dakota are in the Top-25 poll. It’s not impossible.

Yes certainly possible but very unlikely.

I believe the Montana women's teams made a top 25 poll only a couple of times over the years. That was with over two decades of teams which dominated the Big Sky conference. Teams whose total losses could be counted on one hand, and teams with some March madness games won. In short, it is just very difficult to get any love in the Big Sky.

[rivercat]

Lady Cats climbed up 5 spots to #20 in latest mid-major poll. Keep dominating opponents and win the BSC tourney decisively and they may just get a 12 or 13 seed in the NCAA tournament.

[Bobcat4Ever]

Here is this week’s NCAA women’s basketball mid-major poll: