The MAC is obsessed with one thing: getting a second team in the NCAA Tournament.
That's one of the main reasons MAC coaches met last week in Indianapolis with commissioner Rick Chryst, associate commissioner Rick Boyages (who is in charge of men's basketball) and Kent State athletic director Laing Kennedy, who is on the NCAA Tournament selection committee.
The MAC has thrown up its hands wondering whether it ever can get a second team in since Ball State beat UCLA and Kansas early in the season in the Maui Invitational but, after finishing 12-6 in the MAC, was left out of the NCAA Tournament in 2002. Ball State was 7-4 going into MAC play that season, with the losses coming to Duke (in Maui), at Indiana, to Butler and at Oklahoma State. The Cardinals finished 23-12, lagging behind Kent State, which went 17-1 in the league that year and ended up in the Elite Eight.
Last season's mid-major renaissance, with a Colonial Athletic Association team (George Mason) reaching the Final Four and two Missouri Valley teams getting into the Sweet 16 (Wichita State and Bradley), has made it seem as though the MAC is a notch below. Last season alone, the CAA had multiple bids (with UNC Wilmington, the co-champ and auto bid winner joining GMU) and the Valley had four (Wichita State, Northern Iowa, Bradley and Southern Illinois). Even the WCC has had its share of multiple bids (Gonzaga and Saint Mary's, plus Gonzaga and Pepperdine) since the MAC last received two (1999).
What was Kennedy's advice? Play good people and beat them.
That's not easy to get done, though, especially when MAC schools can't get home games. Pittsburgh is playing at Buffalo, but of course the Bulls are (re)building. Pitt isn't choosing to play at league favorites Akron and/or Toledo, teams that also need home games.
The MAC dropped to 16 league games this season in the hope that its member schools could get a few marquee games. Chryst also put in a policy that said a majority of the nonconference games had to be at home. He said that they haven't devised a penalty if it doesn't happen but that the percentages of home games are up from a year ago.
Chryst also is hoping the Temple games (the Owls must play every MAC school home-and-home over the next five years since the school is becoming a MAC member in football next season) help. The MAC also ensured that all 12 members will be in Cleveland for the conference tournament instead of the first round being on campus.
Chryst acknowledged that the MAC needs to make a statement by getting multiple bids to the NCAAs and advancing in the tournament. The league is trying everything it can, but ultimately, as Kennedy said, its teams have to play games, even if they're on the road, and win. Fans from outside the MAC -- and administrators who haven't spent any time in it, either -- don't understand how balanced the league is and how losing a handful of league games is respectable.
Final nuggets from Friday night at the Basketball Hall of Fame
• Jim Larranaga's wife, Liz, gave the quick answer to how much her husband's travel schedule has changed since George Mason reached the Final Four in April.
All she had to do was roll her eyes.
Larranaga, whose candor was a hit during the NCAA Tournament, obviously was a good catch for the Washington Speakers Bureau. Larranaga said he did two to three speeches last offseason. Since joining the speakers' group, he said the number is up to 40, with locations from coast to coast. According to the bureau, Larranaga's range is from $7,500 to $15,000 a speech
Larranaga said his talks focus on three areas: the magic carpet ride of getting to the Final Four, the George Mason philosophy for success and how to build a program, and team work and leadership.
"That last one really goes over well with the corporate people," Larranaga said.
• Texas coach Rick Barnes, who was at the ceremony for former Big East commissioner Dave Gavitt (Barnes was a former Providence coach) said sophomore point guard A.J. Abrams is still down for a few weeks with a broken foot. Meanwhile, Barnes added that Abrams' competition, freshman D.J. Augustin, has lost some weight and is on track to be a top competitor.
The most improvement so far goes to 6-10 freshman Dexter Pittman, who apparently has added 18 pounds and is up to 318 now. The Longhorns are as young as they've ever been under Barnes. Abrams, Connor Atchley, Craig Winder and J.D. Lewis -- not exactly household names -- are the only holdovers. Of course, the vibe is good on bigger-name newcomers Kevin Durant and Damion James, who shouldn't have an issue making an impact.
"We're going to be very versatile," Barnes said. "We've got the ability, skillwise."
Barnes seemed openly excited about coaching this group and, despite the inexperience, Texas isn't shying away from competition. The Longhorns' schedule is similar to last season, when Texas was a title contender. The Longhorns play in the Coaches vs. Cancer with Maryland, Michigan State and St. John's as the other hosts, play Gonzaga in Phoenix, LSU in Houston, Arkansas at home, Tennessee in Knoxville and Villanova in Philadelphia.
"Some people are telling me the schedule is too hard, but I don't care," Barnes said. "We're going to roll with it. We're not going to back off. That's what we're about this year."
• So much has been made about the incoming Connecticut freshmen. The eight freshmen, and the debut of sophomore point guard A.J. Price, are the talk of Huskies Nation.
Sure, there is plenty to discuss so far, like the shot-blocking of Hasheem Thabeet, the toughness of Curtis Kelly, the shooting of Ben Eaves and the overall raw ability of Stanley Robinson, who could be a classic UConn wing. But according to assistant Patrick Sellers, there might be no one benefiting more from Price's arrival than Marcus Johnson.
The returning sophomore wing who started four games while Denham Brown was out last season had the ability to score (20 against UNH, 13 against Morehead State, 14 against Stony Brook and 17 against Quinnipiac in December), but his confidence waned when his minutes dropped. Now, the staff has noticed how much more at ease he is playing with Price, when he's getting the ball at the right time.
As much as the Huskies will lean on the newcomers, they'll need Johnson and returning forward Jeff Adrien (who apparently has been a monster on the boards in pickup games) to be the leaders on this squad, as well as Price, who has been in the program for two years but hasn't played because of an illness and a suspension.
• Maryland coach Gary Williams said that after a few workouts he's pleasantly pleased with the work ethic and ball skills of point guards Greivis Vasquez and Eric Hayes. He needs both players to be playmakers while he shifts D.J. Strawberry to his more natural shooting guard.
Strawberry likely still will be one of the best on-the-ball defenders on the team, but offensively he won't have as many responsibilities in bringing the ball up and jump-starting the offense.
"If those guys can play [at the point], that will be encouraging," Williams said.
• Maybe we're reading into this, but during his speech Friday night, Geno Auriemma stopped short of saying he would end his career at Connecticut. Auriemma was a legitimate candidate for the Oklahoma men's opening in April when Kelvin Sampson left for Indiana.
The coaches in attendance, such as Maryland's Williams (there for Gavitt), all said Auriemma should never leave the women's game. They're probably right, as Auriemma is a dominant fixture in the sport. Still, you wonder if he'll need to satisfy a hunger that might exist to coach men one day. There had to be some interest for him to talk to Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione.
• Providence finally filled its assistant coach opening. Tim Welsh said he hired former Syracuse guard Allen Griffin, who had been an assistant at St. Francis (N.Y.). Welsh went the whole July recruiting period with two assistants after Bill Courtney left for Virginia.
• Arizona coach Lute Olson said after finishing the Labor Day weekend trip to Vancouver that he's still a proponent of the more extensive summer tour overseas. He said playing five games in three days was a whirlwind, notably the finale at 9 a.m. on Sept. 4.
Andy Katz
