WAC parity, Fresno folly increase SMU’s hopes
While Fresno State’s players may not write their own papers, they will have the opportunity to write a big part of SMU’s season.
The Bulldogs, banned from the WAC Tournament, will have the chance to help the Mustangs in a WAC round robin that could land SMU the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The WAC board of directors, comprised of the 10 member schools’ presidents, voted not to allow Fresno State to participate in the conference tournament. The decision was made after the school imposed sanctions upon itself, withdrawing its postseason (NCAA and NIT tournaments) eligibility after school officials and the local newspaper uncovered evidence of academic fraud.
“It helps all the other teams that are competing,” head coach Mike Dement said in The Dallas Morning News. “Fresno is a great team. You would have to play a great game to get by them.”
For SMU, Fresno State’s truancy pushes open the Mustangs’ doors of opportunity. With the Bulldogs out of the way, SMU could secure the top seed in the tournament.
The winner of the WAC tournament will get an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. SMU has not been in 10 years.
With a win Saturday against Louisiana Tech, SMU will have beaten every team in the conference – except Fresno – at least once. If Fresno State continues to dominate the league, SMU stands to benefit tremendously.
Rice, Tulsa and Fresno State will all play each other between Wednesday and Saturday. Rice or Tulsa must win both of their final games in order to secure the top seed. If Fresno State wins out, the Mustangs will finish second in the conference behind homeward-bound Fresno.
If SMU loses, however, it can finish as low as third in the conference. The Mustangs have played well of late, but SMU has struggled to finish seasons in the past. It has dropped six Senior Night games in a row, and despite a three-game winning streak, Dement thinks that his team is not playing well offensively.
In Ruston, La., SMU was defeated 89-77. Despite that loss, the Mustangs are confident that they can put positive punctuation on the season.
“We’re just trying to finish the season playing well,” senior Quinton Ross said. “We’re going to try to beat La Tech and go into the tournament with a four-game win streak.”
Fresno State’s players and staff were disappointed by the ruling, seeing their season unexpectedly cut short in a matter of days.
“We had a great chance to go to the NCAA Tournament,” Fresno State senior Hiram Fuller told the Fresno Bee. “We wanted to keep beating teams, knowing we had a postseason to look forward to. It’s hard now knowing we don’t.”
Fresno must now find the determination to finish the season, despite not being able to claim the conference crown.
Fresno State imposed postseason bans on itself for two seasons. They will also give three fewer scholarships in that time. The WAC board voted as it did because its members did not want to have to send the conference tournament runner-up to the NCAA Tournament.
