Cancun Tournament Field

[b.hayes]

http://interact.stltoday.com/blogzone/bill...all-tournament/

"OK, it’s not the most inspiring field you’ll see for a college basketball tournament, but it’s Cancun in mid-December, so why be picky?

ESPN just released the field for the Cancun Governor’s Cup to be played Dec. 22 to 24. The field:

Appalachian State, Colorado State, East Tennessee State, Ole Miss, Northeastern, SLU, Southern Miss and Texas State.

Seven of those teams reached the 2009-10 postseason, including ETSU in the NCAA Tournament. Ole Miss advanced to the National Invitation Tournament’s final four, while Northeastern also played in the NIT. Colorado State and SLU played in the College Basketball Invitational. Appalachian State and Southern Miss played in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament. Draw your own conclusions about Texas State.

There’s no mention yet of what the bracket looks like.

SLU coach Rick Majerus has said they thought they were going to get a better field, but recent unrest in Mexico scared some teams off. Still, agreeing to do this ESPN-sponsored event allowed SLU to get into another ESPN event in Anaheim, Calif., the following year.

For those without a map handy, Cancun is at the easternmost point of Mexico. It’s actually further east than St. Louis and isn’t that far from the western tip of Cuba."

[kshoe]

http://interact.stltoday.com/blogzone/bill...all-tournament/

"OK, it’s not the most inspiring field you’ll see for a college basketball tournament, but it’s Cancun in mid-December, so why be picky?

ESPN just released the field for the Cancun Governor’s Cup to be played Dec. 22 to 24. The field:

Appalachian State, Colorado State, East Tennessee State, Ole Miss, Northeastern, SLU, Southern Miss and Texas State.

Seven of those teams reached the 2009-10 postseason, including ETSU in the NCAA Tournament. Ole Miss advanced to the National Invitation Tournament’s final four, while Northeastern also played in the NIT. Colorado State and SLU played in the College Basketball Invitational. Appalachian State and Southern Miss played in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament. Draw your own conclusions about Texas State.

There’s no mention yet of what the bracket looks like.

SLU coach Rick Majerus has said they thought they were going to get a better field, but recent unrest in Mexico scared some teams off. Still, agreeing to do this ESPN-sponsored event allowed SLU to get into another ESPN event in Anaheim, Calif., the following year.

For those without a map handy, Cancun is at the easternmost point of Mexico. It’s actually further east than St. Louis and isn’t that far from the western tip of Cuba."

Simply put, an NCAA caliber team will win that tournament. At the very minimum, we need to make the finals and lose a close one to Ole miss.

[NH]

Simply put, an NCAA caliber team will win that tournament. At the very minimum, we need to make the finals and lose a close one to Ole miss.

And we probably need to beat Ole Miss. They could be the only NCAA at-large team we play out-of-conference next year. And it is looking like we will not play a single team that got an at-large bid last year out of conference this season.

[b.hayes]

And we probably need to beat Ole Miss. They could be the only NCAA at-large team we play out-of-conference next year. And it is looking like we will not play a single team that got an at-large bid last year out of conference this season.

Georgia is supposed to be a tournament team.

[TheChosenOne]

And we probably need to beat Ole Miss. They could be the only NCAA at-large team we play out-of-conference next year. And it is looking like we will not play a single team that got an at-large bid last year out of conference this season.

Ole Miss looks like they will be beatable with two of their top players not returning with Terrico White going pro and Murphy Holloway leaving the program as well as another starter, Eniel Polynice, not returning for his final season.

[TheChosenOne]

Georgia is supposed to be a tournament team.

I am not a big SEC basketball fan, but based on what Ole Miss is losing and Georgia has returning I would think Georgia will be the better team. Georgia will have two of the most talented players in the conference and potential lottery picks in next years NBA draft in Trey Thompkins and Travis Leslie. Georgia looks like a potential top #25 team. It is nice that we will be playing them at home.

[NH]

Georgia is supposed to be a tournament team.

They might well be as they return a lot of talent in Thompkins, Leslie etc. But the fact of the matter is that they were 14-17 last year so it is a little hard to consider them a shoo-in.

[billiken_roy]

i've read the opening post twice and i did not see georgia mentioned as one of the teams in this horrible tourney.

[b.hayes]

i've read the opening post twice and i did not see georgia mentioned as one of the teams in this horrible tourney.

Then your eyes are working perfectly, old man. They are not in the tourney but they are on our schedule.

[SLUDrew]

i've read the opening post twice and i did not see georgia mentioned as one of the teams in this horrible tourney.

Agreed. Since so many other teams have pulled out, can we as well? This is pathetic

[b.hayes]

Georgia was brought up as a response to this quote from NH regarding Ole Miss, if you don't follow:

"They could be the only NCAA at-large team we play out-of-conference next year."

[slufanskip]

I think we are worrying too much about the schedule. If our non conf is weak, we have to win and by all means we should. Just win baby, everything else will take care of itself

[SShoe]

They might well be as they return a lot of talent in Thompkins, Leslie etc. But the fact of the matter is that they were 14-17 last year so it is a little hard to consider them a shoo-in.

I think that's probably why he put "supposed to" in italics.

[NH]

I think that's probably why he put "supposed to" in italics.

I got that thanks.

The point is you would like to not only play teams you know are going to be good to help your SOS, RPI etc., you need quality wins for the tournament to consider you. That is going to mean beating some tournament-quality teams, not all of which can be in conference. And if the best team we are going to play OOC was 14-17 last year that should be a little worrisome.

Also, as Billiken fans don't you want to see us play high-level teams?

Don't recruits want to play high-level teams?

[kshoe]

I think we are worrying too much about the schedule. If our non conf is weak, we have to win and by all means we should. Just win baby, everything else will take care of itself

Amen.

If you play a weak schedule (by choice or because you have to) just win the games. Its that simple. All playing a tougher schedule does is give you more possible losses (of course it also gives you many more chances to lose). Either way is fair and there's no way to materially "game it" either way.

[Billiken Rich]

I think we are worrying too much about the schedule. If our non conf is weak, we have to win and by all means we should. Just win baby, everything else will take care of itself

I agree. Win the games and we'll be fine.

As a preseason tourney this is weak to middling field. As a group of teams we'd normally start the season with though they aren't that bad. They're certainly an upgrade from Div II schools. If we get back from Cancun and have a horrible stretch of "Coastal Eastern Iowa Divinity A&T" type programs, then I'll be disappointed. Fortunately two games with Dayton and two with X give us a bit of will give leeway for the RPI.........

[kshoe]

I got that thanks.

The point is you would like to not only play teams you know are going to be good to help your SOS, RPI etc., you need quality wins for the tournament to consider you. That is going to mean beating some tournament-quality teams, not all of which can be in conference. And if the best team we are going to play OOC was 14-17 last year that should be a little worrisome.

Also, as Billiken fans don't you want to see us play high-level teams?

Don't recruits want to play high-level teams?

Didn't we have 2 or 3 threads on this subject just a week ago? There are more than 100 posts in one of them.

[kshoe]

I agree. Win the games and we'll be fine.

As a preseason tourney this is weak to middling field. As a group of teams we'd normally start the season with though they aren't that bad. They're certainly an upgrade from Div II schools. If we get back from Cancun and have a horrible stretch of "Coastal Eastern Iowa Divinity A&T" type programs, then I'll be disappointed. Fortunately two games with Dayton and two with X give us a bit of will give leeway for the RPI.........

the tourney is right before christmas so its not really a preseason tourney. I suspect we'll only have one or two more games after this tourney and before conference play starts.

[NH]

Amen.

If you play a weak schedule (by choice or because you have to) just win the games. Its that simple. All playing a tougher schedule does is give you more possible losses (of course it also gives you many more chances to lose). Either way is fair and there's no way to materially "game it" either way.

But when you play in a non-bcs league like SLU you need a chance for signature wins. I am not saying we need to play the hardest schedule in the nation or anything, but we should play some marquee opponents.

Look at Xavier. Every year they play a lot of quality opponents. They lose some and win some. But when conference play comes around, their team is ready and prepared to face high-quality opponents and they often roll through A-10 play.

[NH]

Didn't we have 2 or 3 threads on this subject just a week ago? There are more than 100 posts in one of them.

We have definitely discussed how RM has had trouble getting BCS schools to play us. So I was hoping this tournament would give us a chance for a good opponent that we otherwise wouldn't have played. That is obviously not the case.

In the end, if we beat Georgia (and they have a good year) and we win the tournament, we will be in a position to control our own destiny. At least we get to be on ESPN.

[SShoe]

I got that thanks.

The point is you would like to not only play teams you know are going to be good to help your SOS, RPI etc., you need quality wins for the tournament to consider you. That is going to mean beating some tournament-quality teams, not all of which can be in conference. And if the best team we are going to play OOC was 14-17 last year that should be a little worrisome.

Also, as Billiken fans don't you want to see us play high-level teams?

Don't recruits want to play high-level teams?

Would I like the schedule to be tougher? Sure. I think most people on this board would admit that our non-conference schedule is pretty weak. But someone points out that there is an opportunity for a solid win and you act like people are happy with the schedule. Nobody said Georgia is a shoe-in for the NCAA tourney, but you seemed to imply that they did.

[Westy03]

So is anyone going to this tournament? I think me and the wife are making the trip and maybe a few other posters. The teams arent great but it should be a great time.

[kshoe]

We have definitely discussed how RM has had trouble getting BCS schools to play us. So I was hoping this tournament would give us a chance for a good opponent that we otherwise wouldn't have played. That is obviously not the case.

In the end, if we beat Georgia (and they have a good year) and we win the tournament, we will be in a position to control our own destiny. At least we get to be on ESPN.

Fact is we know little about the schedule as it stands now but we do know that we have a few games that will offer us chances at "quality" wins.

Neutral: Ole Miss

Neutral: Southern Miss/someone else in that tourney

Road: Portland

Road: Missouri St. (supposed to be pretty good next year)

Home: Georgia

The rest of the schedule is basically unknown. Before anybody jumps off a bridge I suggest you wait to see if we can get 2-3 more home and homes going before declaring this a horrible schedule.

[brianstl]

Agreed. Since so many other teams have pulled out, can we as well? This is pathetic

That would cost us the Anaheim game next year and those are solid teams that make this acceptable.

[slufanskip]

http://interact.stltoday.com/blogzone/bill...all-tournament/

"OK, it’s not the most inspiring field you’ll see for a college basketball tournament, but it’s Cancun in mid-December, so why be picky?

ESPN just released the field for the Cancun Governor’s Cup to be played Dec. 22 to 24. The field:

Appalachian State, Colorado State, East Tennessee State, Ole Miss, Northeastern, SLU, Southern Miss and Texas State.

Seven of those teams reached the 2009-10 postseason, including ETSU in the NCAA Tournament. Ole Miss advanced to the National Invitation Tournament’s final four, while Northeastern also played in the NIT. Colorado State and SLU played in the College Basketball Invitational. Appalachian State and Southern Miss played in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament. Draw your own conclusions about Texas State.

There’s no mention yet of what the bracket looks like.

SLU coach Rick Majerus has said they thought they were going to get a better field, but recent unrest in Mexico scared some teams off. Still, agreeing to do this ESPN-sponsored event allowed SLU to get into another ESPN event in Anaheim, Calif., the following year.

For those without a map handy, Cancun is at the easternmost point of Mexico. It’s actually further east than St. Louis and isn’t that far from the western tip of Cuba."

I can't believe no one noticed that RM is obviously willing to put his players in harms way just so he can do a little cliff diving and zip lining.