BYU Falls To A Non-Big Three In The WCC

Loyola-Marymount 82, BYU 68
The WCC has three teams that are far, far better than the rest of the conference. Gonzaga, BYU and St. Mary's are all in a good position for an at-large bid, while entering this game there was no other team in the conference in the Pomeroy Top 150. It seemed like the conference might just come down to how the Big Three did against each other, and that they'd all just swamp every other opponent. But of course, that's not how it works. Every team has a clunker now and then, and BYU had a clunker here. They were a frigid 2-for-25 behind the arc (8%), their worst three-point shooting performance in at least six years. They were also sloppy with the ball, allowing ten steals. Loyola-Marymount's Anthony Ireland (27 points on 9-for-11 shooting, 5 assists, 5 steals) was the best player for either team. Ireland is already a do-everything star for this team, and he's only a sophomore. So keep an eye on him for the next couple of years.

Loyola-Marymount is now 4-2, putting them in 4th place, a full two games clear of fifth place. The 4th seed in the WCC tournament gets a bye straight to the quarterfinals, so that's a valuable place to be. And they proved here that if things go right they have the ability on any given night to beat one of the big boys in the conference (in their last game they lost to Gonzaga by only four points). It's not a likely scenario, but if any team in the WCC other than the Big Three makes the WCC tournament finals, the Lions have to be the most likely. Their next game will be Monday at Santa Clara.

BYU is still 16-5 after this loss, but they're only 5-2 in conference play and they still don't have a win against the RPI Top 50. Their RPI has slipped all the way to 55th, and they would be a bubble team if the season ended now. They will play at Virginia Tech next Wednesday, and also have home games remaining against Gonzaga and St. Mary's. They'll need to collect a couple of big wins out of those games in order to firm up their resume.

Penn State 54, #25 Illinois 52
This was a classic, predictable letdown game. Illinois was coming off a huge home win over Ohio State, going on the road to play a feisty Penn State team that is always hard to play at the Bryce Jordan Center. Heading into the season, the belief was that Tim Frazier was the one Big Ten-quality player left on this Penn State roster. But he's been more than just a Big Ten-quality player - when you consider the level of his teammates and the fact that every other team focuses their defense on stopping him, you can make an argument that Frazier should be First Team All-Big Ten this season (I wouldn't agree with that argument, mind you, but the argument can be plausibly made). And he was dominant here, collecting 9 assists and scoring 12 points, including the game-winning floater with around eight seconds to go. Credit in this game also goes to the Penn State front line, which contained Meyers Leonard as well as could have been expected. He scored only 15 points and actually fouled out with a minute to go in the game. The two teams fought to a draw on the boards.

This win pushes Penn State to 2-5 in the Big Ten, though with a brutal upcoming schedule. They'll play at Indiana tomorrow, then at Ohio State on Wednesday followed by a home game against Wisconsin. And a week after that? A road game at Michigan State. Honestly, I'll be surprised if Penn State wins a road game the rest of the season. Their role will be as spoiler, pulling a couple more of these home upsets.

Illinois is still 4-2 in Big Ten play after this loss, and they do have that win over Ohio State, along with wins over Gonzaga, Northwestern and Minnesota. This is their first bad loss of the season. So I still think Illinois has a buffer between them and the bubble, though they'll need to get to 10-8 to keep it there. If Illinois finishes only 9-9 in Big Ten or worse then they're going to enter the Big Ten tournament with work left to do to secure their place in the Field of 68.

#16 San Diego State 75, New Mexico 70
Forget that #16 written next to San Diego State's name because this was actually a massive upset. San Diego State was an 11 point underdog in Vegas. Even after this win they're overrated at #16, and New Mexico is a better team than most people realize. And you'd have figured San Diego State was due for a letdown game after a buzzer-beating win at home against UNLV after absolutely everything went right for them. But New Mexico just struggled mightily in this game scoring around the rim. The Lobos backcourt, in particular, couldn't get anything to fall in the paint (5-for-24 on two-pointers).

This has been a heck of a start to conference play for San Diego State. After collecting just three decent wins out-of-conference (Arizona, California and Long Beach State) they have opened up Mountain West play by beating UNLV and then winning at New Mexico. They shouldn't have much trouble tonight with Air Force, but then head on the road for a pair of tricky games (at Wyoming, at Colorado State). I'll be impressed, and surprised, if they win both of those games.

The computers like New Mexico, though it hasn't shown up in their resume. They have zero RPI Top 50 wins (though I expect that win over St. Louis to eventually be an RPI Top 50 win) and two bad losses (Santa Clara, New Mexico State). With San Diego State's two big wins they are looking like a safe NCAA Tournament team, and UNLV is the team I've picked all season to win the conference. But New Mexico? They're looking like a bubble team right now, honestly. I still expect them to make the Tournament, but they're going to have to get to at least 9-5 in conference play to stay in a good position. They are 1-1 heading into a massive road game at UNLV tonight. They'll come home Wednesday for a tricky game against Colorado State before their schedule will ease up a bit.