There’s the NCAAs, then there’s the NCAAs in Vegas

By Ryan Greene

Thursday, March 26, 2009 | 1:32 a.m.

Want proof that you haven't experienced the NCAA Tournament as a fan until you've done it in Vegas?

Let me take you back to an unidentified sportsbook, mid-day last Thursday.

Late in the contest, as in under a minute to play, North Carolina is leading Radford -- yes, that Radford -- 101-58.

Why do people still care? Why are grown men with aluminum Bud Light bottles in their hands cursing the name of Jack Wooten?

Because the over/under is 163.5

Five garbage points, and all hell might break loose, since the tone of the room gives off the notion that just about everyone bet the under.

Wooten, one of the token walk-ons UNC coach Roy Williams always stashes away at the end of the bench, is making the most of the moment, running the floor and even chucking up a long jumper. The same goes for fellow walk-on Patrick Moody.

Lucky for these men, every shot the rest of the way draws iron and nothing else. The men have prayed -- yes, prayed; I saw it -- for both teams to slow the pace down. Well, someone sort of listened upstairs.

No points are scored, and grown men hug after the stressful closing seconds of a 43-point blowout.

Welcome to Las Vegas, rookie. (In this case, yours truly was the rook)

--Remember all of the belly-aching the fans of certain Mountain West Conference programs thrown up during the season, claiming it deserved as many as 5 at-large bids in the NCAA Tournament?

Well, as we all know, a late-season skid did the Rebels in, as did a first-round MWC tourney loss for league tri-champ New Mexico. San Diego State got hosed on Selection Sunday thanks to BCS conference middle-dwellers Mississippi State (SEC) and Southern Cal (Pac-10) winning their league tournaments.

And just how did the Mountain hold up after it was 'slighted', drawing only two bids?

Lets start with BYU, who lost its eighth consecutive NCAA Tournament contest, getting throttled by Texas A&M in Philadelphia, 79-66. This game was never close after the opening minutes. It was the first game to tip off in the tourney, and it had fans clamoring for the second almost right away.

Of course, given the fact that the Cougars haven't won an NCAA tourney game since 1993 (when I was 11, may I point out), makes this one not too huge of a shocker.

The bigger one was Utah falling to Arizona a day later in Miami, 84-71.

The Utes looked awesome just a week earlier -- and the handful of weeks before that.

But this time, Luke Nevill was constantly in foul trouble (12 points and 6 boards in only 27 minutes), the Utes couldn't hit 3-pointers (8-of-32) and not having a true point guard really hurt them.

Say what you will about U of A interim coach Russ Pennell, but noticing that Utah 'point guard' Luka Drca could be flustered with full-court pressure and backcourt traps helped seal this game after Utah made a push late in the first half and early in the second. The 'Cats forced 19 turnovers.

The point being? Yes, this season marked the first time in MWC history that 5 teams won 20 games. But don't expect any at-large handouts a year from now when the field of 65 is hotly debated yet again.

--Speaking of BYU, I want someone to make a case for me as to how the Cougars truly earned a bid over San Diego State. For real.

Lets take a quick glance at the bodies of work, eh?

First, the Cougars. Best wins? Probably at Utah and a regular season sweep of SDSU.

Remember, the Cougars had to escape lowly Air Force twice in the week leading up to Selection Sunday.

Non-conference? They beat nobody. The Cougars lost to Arizona State, 76-75, and Wake Forest, 94-87. Essentially, they took care of what they should have taken care of, but did nothing flashy. Kind of like a Toyota Corolla.

San Diego State now.

I'm not gonna say their regular season resumé is that much more impressive. Losses came to their healthiest competition, such as Arizona State, Arizona, St. Mary's and (at full-strength, pre-collapse) San Diego.

But the fact is that the Aztecs won 5 in a row before losing to Utah in the MWC title game by two points. They played their best basketball late. And they beat BYU in the tournament semifinals in what should have been a play-in game of sorts.

Plus, plain and simple, the Aztecs just played better ball than the Cougars down the stretch.

Isn't that the point of the league tournaments? (Well, besides the obvious opportunity to make some coin). To weed out the pretenders from the contenders? Because it was easy to classify which was which, based on that final meeting.

Don't cry for SDSU, though. Steve Fisher's club is the last team standing in the MWC.

After Wednesday's 70-66 victory over St. Mary's, they're moving on to New York City for the NIT semifinals, playing like a team on a mission. And don't think the selection committee isn't taking notice. Performing in a dominant fashion (and acting like you care) in a tournament nobody wants to be in is very commendable.

--Now, this week's final tid-bits ...

...There should be a rule in place that unless you win your league tournament, a sub-.500 record in your league means an at-large bid to the NCAAs is impossible. Maryland had no right this year, sorry.

...Arizona and Louisville -- two of UNLV's most impressive resumé highlights -- meet this weekend in the Sweet 16. Just sayin'.

...Gus Johnson is hands-down the most entertaining play-by-play guy CBS throws out there during the NCAAs. But, man, imagine if he were there to call the action in the sportsbooks as spreads and over/unders hang in the balance until the closing seconds? His voice would last maybe half a day.