Southern Illinois is solid matchup
God I’m glad it wasn’t Cleveland State.
Or Cal State Northridge. Or Ohio. Or any of the other one-hit wonder mid-majors the Nevada men’s basketball team could have drawn for ESPN’s BracketBusters on Feb. 23.
The Wolf Pack needed one of those matchups like a Playboy playmate needs a third nipple.
The Wolf Pack needed Southern Illinois.
Nevada coach Mark Fox might never say this, but the Wolf Pack has outgrown BracketBusters weekend in a lot of ways.
A matchup against Directional South Dakota just wouldn’t do a whole lot for Nevada at this point in the program’s progression.
SoIll, though, that’s a program with some sex appeal (well at least as much as a basketball team, and one with maroon and white unis and an ugly dog for a mascot no less, can offer).
In fact, outside of No. 10 Butler against No. 15 Drake, the Wolf Pack and Salukis are the next sexiest pairing for the BracketBusters event.
So what if both teams are a bit down this season (the Wolf Pack has a Real Time RPI of 82 while the Salukis are at No. 80)? There aren’t too many mid-major super powers out there right now. Not like there have been in years past, at least.
Be real, most of the world doesn’t know, or care about, the Sienas, Wright States or Riders of the world. But the Pack and Salukis have been the best mid-major programs in the country over the last five years. The Wolf Pack’s been to four straight NCAA Tournaments and a Sweet 16 while the Salukis have won six straight Missouri Valley Conference championships and went to the Sweet 16 twice over that period.
Both teams might not get back to the tournament this season, but they have the best name-recognition in the field, which means there will be a lot of college basketball fans that tune in to watch a mid-major slugfest.
And those are just the implications for this season, which aren’t all that heavy.
The best part of the deal comes next season, when the Salukis have to come back to Reno for a return match.
If Butler-Drake is the “Clash of the Titans,” Nevada-Southern Illinois is the “OK, so both these teams might miss the tournament, but we promise this will be epic next season” game.
And that’s really what this season’s BracketBusters has always been about for Nevada. The Wolf Pack isn’t getting an at-large bid this season. If the team wins out and gets to the WAC Tournament final, we’ll talk, but that’s not happening.
More than a quality game this season, the Wolf Pack needed to add another top-shelf home game to make some noise next season.
Now Lawlor Events Center will at least play host to North Carolina and Southern Illinois, which is a potential nationally televised Top 25 mid showdown. That’s easily the best nonconference home slate of Fox’s tenure.
With a really, really ridiculously good looking recruiting class and returning cast of talent, next season could be special. But Fox is still going to have to fit a bunch of new players into the rotation, and the best way to get them ready for a postseason run is to test them in the regular season.
Now Fox can do that.
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February 5th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
I’m an alumni of North Dakota State University and I’ve never heard of a Directional South Dakota, for example a South South Dakota or a North South Dakota. At least put a small school in your paper that exists.
February 5th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
“…I’ve never heard of a Directional South Dakota, for example a South South Dakota or a North South Dakota.”
That was sort of the point.
February 7th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Southern Illinois is a good matchup for Nevada and it will help their RPI even more. The Salukis were sweet sixteen finalists last before losing to Kansas. The game is also one of the matchups on TV and if Nevada can pull off a fifth straight Bracketbuster victory on February 23, then this will look good for them come March.