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UTEP in Basketball Classic

I haven’t bothered to look at the tourney site since Sunday (cuz it’s a piece of shit), but with 21 teams, is anyone aware who gets the first round bye?
 
I haven’t bothered to look at the tourney site since Sunday (cuz it’s a piece of shit), but with 21 teams, is anyone aware who gets the first round bye?
21 teams is unusual for a tournament, but it can be done. 11 first round byes and 5 play in games, and you're off and running with 16 teams.

Since this tournament is a cluster, I guess they put the matchups together without having a final number. So we now have 10 first round games with 1 bye. The only way it makes sense is that 5 first round winners get a bye into the quarters, and 6 winners have to play into the quarters. How that will be determined, no one knows probably including at the organizer level.
 
Western Illinois is 225 in the NET rankings. On "paper" their best win is over 10-22 Nebraska that's ranked 141. They started the season 10-2 but have lost 13 of the last 19 games.
 
One of the weaker teams in the tournament, USC Upstate (274) knocked off one of the better teams, App St (160) on the road.

UTEP better be ready on Saturday.
 
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Do the players sound hungry enough for BB that they make a real run at this afterthought tournament? UTEP has been in third rate tournaments before. Done well and done poorly. The difference is attitude. If they do well, that sets up a better next year. So root for the team and not the tournament. Go Miners.
 
Do the players sound hungry enough for BB that they make a real run at this afterthought tournament? UTEP has been in third rate tournaments before. Done well and done poorly. The difference is attitude. If they do well, that sets up a better next year. So root for the team and not the tournament. Go Miners.
Well they're the ones who chose to keep playing, so.....
 
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How stupid is it having an image with with a huge "Sold Out" across it? At a quick view it looks like the game is sold out, not everyone takes the time to read the full tweet. They need something that says "$10 general admission still available but selling fast!"
Yeah I thought the same for a split second. I think there might be like 120 court side seats?
 
So it looks like if we win we'll play the winner of Portland vs New Orleans. It's very weird how the tournament has been out together with chewing gum and duct tape, but Damn the Miners should really win this whole thing!
 
Kent State lost to Southern Utah. The two best records in the tournament. I would have thought Kent State to be the favorite. UTEP really does have a good shot at winning it. Go Miners.
 
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So it looks like if we win we'll play the winner of Portland vs New Orleans. It's very weird how the tournament has been out together with chewing gum and duct tape, but Damn the Miners should really win this whole thing!
I don't think so. "Bracket is for visual purposes only. In lieu of a traditional bracket, The Basketball Classic will use the old NIT model in which the field and matchups will be set after each round."
 
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Kent State lost to Southern Utah. The two best records in the tournament. I would have thought Kent State to be the favorite. UTEP really does have a good shot at winning it. Go Miners.
If Fresno St survives them and S. Utah would be the stiffest competition probably.
 
Net rankings of remaining teams..

73 Fresno St
107 Wofford
146 South Alabama
158 Coastal Carolina
164 UTEP
176 Portland
178 Southern Utah
198 FGCU
221 Eastern Washington
225 Western Illinois
249 Youngstown St
264 New Orleans
274 USC Upstate
293 Merrimack
 
Fresno State would be a cool game. KK matched up with Stroud! Unfortunately Orlando Robinson would have a field day against our interior D and rebounding.
 
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Net rankings of remaining teams..

73 Fresno St
107 Wofford
146 South Alabama
158 Coastal Carolina
164 UTEP
176 Portland
178 Southern Utah
198 FGCU
221 Eastern Washington
225 Western Illinois
249 Youngstown St
264 New Orleans
274 USC Upstate
293 Merrimack
Wow Wofford better than I thought
 
Wow Wofford better than I thought
Jay McAuley has been putting together a nice mid major at Wofford. Had a really good team prior to covid outbreak if I remember correctly. He is kind of a Mack Rhoades; the name is not a big splash, but a competitive mid major.
 
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Somebody mentioned it already, but do you think Senter had his hands on the decision?
Pretty sure Golding/Senter were looking to skip the post season entirely and focus on next year, but KK/SB/TV etc all wanted to play “one more game”. We’ll never really know for sure, and Senter’s primary focus is money after all.
 
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