Big Sky Conference Tournament Preview
Last year, the top seed for the Big Sky Conference tournament failed to make the NCAA tournament.
This season has a very good chance of repeating history.
Last season, Northern Arizona was clearly the most dominant team in the Big Sky – thus landing the hosting rights for the conference tournament. But the Lumberjacks failed to finish the job, losing to the Montana Grizzlies in the conference tournament championship game.
What stung worse for NAU was that the ‘Jacks lost the game on their home floor.
This year, Weber State has the hosting rights. But the Wildcats were not as dominant as NAU was last season. Oh, by the way, NAU is the No. 2 seed in the tournament.
Not to mention this league is traditionally wide-open to begin with.
The Big Sky Conference Tournaments gets underway Saturday with a pair of quarterfinal games. Montana State travels to play Portland State, and Idaho State travels to play Montana. The winners advance to Tuesday’s semifinals in Ogden, Utah.
Idaho State split its season series with Montana, with both teams winning on the other team’s home court. Idaho State won Jan. 18, while Montana won in Pocatello just a few days ago.
But if it wasn’t for one gorgeous play with less than four seconds remaining in regulation, the Bengals would have won both games. Had the Bengals done that, the roles would be reversed as it would have been Montana traveling to Idaho State.
That’s just how tight this conference is.
The Bengals have reason to believe that they can make some noise in the tournament as the No. 6 seed. ISU beat Montana convincingly earlier this season, and only lost by one Monday night. If the Bengals get past Montana, the Bengals would play Weber State. ISU gave the Wildcats their lone conference loss at home.
But the one thing that’s working against the Bengals is experience on both sides of the spectrum. Idaho State is playing in its first Big Sky Conference tournament game since the 2003-04 season. The Grizzlies on the other hand have been to the NCAA tournament the past two seasons, including advancing to the second round last year. And there are many players on Montana’s roster who were contributors to last year’s squad, including All-Big Sky player Andrew Strait.
In the other quarterfinal, Montana State missed out on a chance to host the quarterfinal game by losing to Idaho State on Tuesday night. Instead, this game will be played in Portland State, which spells disaster for the Bobcats.
The Stott Center can be a tough place to play, and much like many other teams in the conference, one bounce here or there could have spelled a different season for the Vikings.
Portland State has played more consistently this season than Montana State, and having the home crowd on their side will provide a big difference for the Vikings.
