COUNTDOWN TO NCAA TOURNAMENT AT ALLTEL ARENA: 17 DAYS : Jaguars on track for at-large bid
Posted on Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Sun Belt Conference coaches usually aren’t so quick to name a favorite when it comes to postseason. That doesn’t seem to be the case this year. South Alabama is the clear front-runner.
The Jaguars (25-5 ), winners of the Sun Belt Conference’s East Division, are seeded No. 1 for the conference tournament, which begins Wednesday at campus sites and continues this weekend at the Mitchell Center in Mobile, Ala.
“That’s the best team in our conference,” said Florida International Coach Sergio Rouco, after his team lost to South Alabama 74-55 on Saturday. “Every time we tried to make a run, they made a big shot.” South Alabama’s rank in the Ratings Percentage Index is No. 29 going into the tournament, which should put the Jaguars in prime position for an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament in case of a postseason upset. The Ratings Percentage Index is a scale used by the NCAA Selection Committee to rank Division I basketball teams by their performance in light of strength of schedule. Low RPI ranking numbers denote strong teams; and high numbers, weaker ones.
“South Alabama’s great at every position,” New Orleans Coach Joe Pasternack said. “They could play with any high-major league in America.” UALR (19-10 ) and Louisiana-Lafayette (15-14 ) tied for first in the West Division, while Western Kentucky (24-6 ), which joins South Alabama and UALR with first-round byes, is also in consideration for an at-large bid. Western Kentucky’s only conference losses this season came to South Alabama. The Hilltoppers’ RPI is 49.
UALR opens play Sunday against the winner of the Florida International-Florida Atlantic game on Wednesday. Arkansas State (10-19 ) opens play Wednesday against North Texas (19-10 ) at Denton, Texas.
South Alabama went 16-0 this season at the Mitchell Center, where the Jaguars drew an average of 4, 812 fans, second only to Western Kentucky in league attendance.
“You’ve got to be confident at home, and we are,” South Alabama senior guard Daon Merritt said. “Hopefully, we can ride that success out to the championship.” South Alabama is ranked sixth in the latest Midmajortop 25. com poll and is receiving 27 votes in The Associated Press Top 25 and three votes in the USA Today / ESPN Top 25 coaches’ poll. The Jaguars are considered in the NCAA Tournament field by most national news sources.
South Alabama enters the tournament having won five consecutive games since a 76-70 loss at Middle Tennessee on Feb. 14. That streak includes a 69-64 victory at Western Kentucky on Feb. 21.
“We told the guys that we had to maintain our focus because we want to control our fate,” Merritt said after the Jaguars defeated New Orleans last week. “We want to punch our own ticket to the NCAA [Tournament ] and in order to do that, we have to come out and win games like this. There’s no way we were letting this get away.” Information for this article was contributed by Democrat-Gazette Press Services.
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