It's still October. The college basketball season won't start in earnest for several weeks and "March Madness" is four-plus months away.
But it's never too early to begin lobbying for spots in the 64-team NCAA basketball tournament.The 1996-97 WAC media days got underway Wednesday in Las Vegas, where the newly-expanded 16-member conference will hold its postseason men's and women's tournaments March 3-8. The Pacific Division coaches and one player from each team took their turn meeting the press Wednesday. The Mountain Division, of which BYU and Utah are a part, face a similar fate today.
In addition to the coaches pleading for more national respect (in other words, more berths in the NCAA tourney), the results of a preseason media poll were announced Wednesday.
It was no surprise that defending WAC champion Utah, with four returning starters led by All-American forward Keith Van Horn, was tabbed as the favorite in both the Mountain Division and overall. Fresno State was the overwhelming choice as the team to beat in the Pacific Division. (See chart).
BYU was picked fourth in its division, but the voting was done before Bryon Ruffner, the team's leading returning scorer, withdrew from school and was charged with theft last Friday.
In the women's preseason poll of the league's coaches, Utah was selected as the favorite in the Mountain Division with Colorado State favored overall and in the Pacific. BYU was picked fifth in its division.
Aretha Franklin's classic anthem "Respect" should have been the theme song Wednesday. The Pacific Division coaches all but belted out "R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Find out what it means to me" from the podium. The men's coaches, to a man, said the WAC deserves more national recognition and should get four or more teams into the NCAA's big dance.
Preseason basketball magazines seem to be giving WAC teams plenty of respect. Three WAC schools are near unanimous top-25 picks (Utah, Fresno State and New Mexico), while the Sporting News ranks Utah fourth in the country and Athlon's preseason guide predicts that both Utah and Fresno State will make it to the NCAA tourney's final eight and that no fewer than five WAC schools will be in the field of 64.
Yet not all are optimistic that such respect will actually occur.
"There is little doubt the WAC will get the short end of the stick (when it comes to getting NCAA berths)," said San Jose State coach Stan Morrison.
"My biggest concern (with the new WAC) is the number of postseason berths we'll get," said Colorado State's Stew Morrill. "If we get only two or three into the NCAA and a couple in the NIT from a 16-team league, it's not going to be fair and it'll be hazardous to coaches."
Air Force coach Reggie Minton said there is a bias against teams from the west in general. "The eastern media doesn't even think basketball is played anywhere but in a 150-mile corridor on the East Coast."
The coaches said victories against non-WAC teams in the preseason will be crucial to the league's success as a whole this year. Many of the schools have made concerted efforts to upgrade the strength of their non-league schedules.
Some of the big games in which the WAC could make their mark early this year on a national scale include Wake Forest at Utah, Fresno State at Massachusetts, UNLV at Syracuse, Arizona at New Mexico and BYU at Penn State.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
WAC preseason basketball polls
Men's preseason media poll
Mountain Division Pts.
1. Utah 346 2. New Mexico 314 3. Tulsa 273 4. Brigham Young 190 5. TCU 173 6. UTEP 145 7. Rice 109 8. SMU 70 Pacific Division Pts. 1. Fresno State 356 2. Wyoming 277 3. UNLV 272 4. Colorado State 186 5. Hawaii 173 6. San Diego State 171 7. San Jose State 135 8. Air Force 50 (First-place votes) 1997 WAC Champion 1. Utah , 2. Fresno State , New Mexico Tulsa UNLV
Women's preseason coaches' poll
Mountain Division
Pts. 1. Utah 110 2. SMU 95 3. New Mexico 79 4. Rice 75 5. Brigham Young 55 6. UTEP 48 7. TCU 35 8. Tulsa 15 Pacific Division Pts. 1. Colorado State 111 2. San Diego State ws 97 3. Hawaii 89 4. Wyoming 67 5. Fresno State 57 6. UNLV 43 7. San Jose State 30 8. Air Force 18 1997 WAC Champion 1. Colorado State , Utah San Diego State