Last night, my (our?) beloved UCSB Gauchos welcomed the Anteaters of UC Irvine to the Thunderdome, and sent the 'Eaters home crying on the AirBus, after a 71-58 victory. James Nunnally (from San Jose) and Orlando Johnson (from Seaside) scored 22 points a piece, and OJ also helped out with 7 boards. Adding to the victory flavor was Senior and Anaheim native Jon Pastorek, who dished out 10 assists.
It was a big win for the 'Chos, as we're now 9-6 overall and 2-2 within the Conference (which is being joined by Hawaii next year, in case you didn't know). That record is good enough to rank us fourth, behind the Dirtbags, those white trash hicks from Cal Poly, and those white trash hicks from UCR. Tomorrow we meet the aforementioned Riverside (their mascott is named "Scotty The Bear," I'm not joking) at the aforementioned Thunderdome, with a chance to improve our standing even more.
2003 (I was a Junior) and 2008 were years that Gaucho fans will always remember as years we got robbed (or "jobbed," if you prefer). In 2003, an 18-4 (14-4 in conference) UCSB team won the Big West regular season title, in a year when we beat USC 69-53 (I remember being at that game). We didn't make the big dance, though, as conference tournament winner Utah State earned the Big West's only automatic bid, despite going 12-6 in conference play that year. In 2008, it happened again, when a 23-9 (12-4 in conference) Gaucho sqaud, that had beaten a solid UNLV team 63-60, watched Cal State Fullerton win the conference tournament and advance to the dance (although, that CSF team was pretty good as well).
Of course, 2002 was a year when we benefited from this system, winning the tournament final over regular season champs Utah State, only to lose to Arizona in a first round game that we're all still trying to forget. Last year, we finally got it right, winning both the regular season title and the conference tournament, and got our shot at Ohio State. But, in the history of the Big West (since they went to a conference tournament system), the regular season champion has secured a bid in the big tournament only 53% of the time. How is it fair that a team who works all season, stays consistently good, and wins the conference, is left sitting at home, when a team that gets hot for three games at the end of the year gets an automatic bid? It's not.
You have to give it to the Ivy League, because they are the only conference in all of college basketball that gets it right. This season, there will be 31 automatic bids handed out to the tournament. 30 of them are awarded to the winner of the conference tournaments, while the final 1 is handed to the regular season winner of the Ivy League. Why? The Ivy League has stopped having a conference tournament because they see how unfair it is. In most major conferences, the regular season winner (even if they fail to win the conference tournament) will still make it to the dance, thanks to an at large bid. However, for conferences like the Ivy League or the Big West, only one team is ever going to get called on Selection Sunday. The Ivy League has forced the NCAA's hand, making them award a bid to the best team from their conference, not simply the team that caught lightning in a bottle in the small sample size known as the conference tournaments.
It is time for the Big West to do the same. 1975 was the last year that the Big West didn't have a conference tournament, and they only started it because from 1970 (the inception of the Big West) to 1975 Long Beach State kept winning the conference title, and the big shots at the Big West introduced the tournament as a way of giving the little guy a shot. Well, it kind of backfired quickly, because in 1976 Cal State Fullerton won the regular season title, only to see San Diego State win the conference tournament to steal their automatic bid. It's time for the Big West to go back to the good old days. The winner of the regular season deserves the automatic bid to the big dance. It's only fair.
The ball is in your court, Big West. Are you going to follow the brains over in the Ivy League, or stay with the same moronic plan that has jipped so many legitimately good basketball teams over the years?
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
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