And the results are in...
March 10, 2006
| By Matthew List
| 
Discuss
Now that the regular season has ended for all of the local division one basketball teams in our area, its time to figure out what teams lived up to the pre-season hype, who will be going to the Big Dance, and who will be in the Not Invited Tournament.
The number one team in our region for another year goes to the Villanova Wildcats. Coach Jay Wright has guided the Cats through another minefield of a season to a sure NCAA tourney at large bid. Nova went undefeated in Big Five play again this year but did lose 76-81 to the Drexel Dragons back on December 9th. It was the first loss to Philadelphia team in three years. The Cats boast an RPI ranking of 18 and strength of schedule ranking of 9th overall in the country. While a win in the Big East Tourney won’t hurt, they may not need any help getting to the big dance this year. The cats went 20-9 overall with a 9-7 record in the Big East conference, which is currently the fifth ranked conference by RPI in the country. Freshman standout Scottie Reynolds will need his A game on a nightly basis if the Cats want to make any noise in this year’s big dance.
Second place goes to Bruiser Flint’s Drexel Dragons. A loss in yesterdays Colonial Athletic Conference semi-final may have sealed Drexel’s fate to the NIT tournament, but this does not take anything away from the great year Drexel has had. The quality opponents they have beaten this year include Syracuse, Villanova, Saint Joseph’s and the Missouri Valley Conference Champions the Creighton Bulldogs. Drexel had a 23-9 overall record while going 14-6 in their conference. The 23 wins being the most since 1996-97. They sport an RPI ranking of 39 while having the 96th toughest schedule in the country. They are a bubble team to get into this year’s NCAA tourney, an NIT bid and good showing is more likely. Watch out for Drexel in the upcoming seasons, they may be here to stay.
The University of Pennsylvania Quakers under new head coach Glenn Miller were the first team in the NCAA to clinch a tournament spot by winning the Ivy League title for a third straight year. This is due to the fact that the Ivy is the only league in the country not to have a conference tournament to decide its champion. Penn’s RPI of 79 and their Strength of Schedule of 160 may give more fodder to the Ivy naysayer, who believes a team like Drexel should get an at large bid over an automatic Ivy bid. Penn is currently 20-8, 11-1 in the Ivy with a game against arch rival Princeton left to go. Their quality win was against Drexel on 11/21. We’ll have to see if Penn can finally win a game in the NCAA, but a low seed against a powerhouse team is likely. Still, another appearance in the dance under a new coach gets them the number three ranking among this year’s Division one local teams.
Local legend Phil Martelli and his Saint Joseph’s University Hawks
will have to settle for the fourth spot in this year rankings. The Joe ended
its year with a whimper losing three straight games to finish their regular
season. One game was a gut wrenching loss to the 4-12 Richmond Spiders.
It was a very inconsistent year for the Hawks, who hope to go to a third
straight Atlantic Ten Conference final this year. The fact is Saint Joe’s
needs to win it all to get an NCAA bid this year, and it wouldn’t
hurt to at least make a good showing for the NIT committee. There is hope
for the future Hawks with center Ahmad Nivens returning from a breakout
year, but for right now we just have to see how the Atlantic Ten Tourney
shakes out at Boardwalk Hall this week. St. Joe’s finished with a
17-13 record overall this year, 9-7 in the A10 conference, with a RPI of
99 and strength of schedule that’s 84th in the country. They had no
quality wins outside of their conference.
The Temple Owls may have hit rock bottom this year by its own standards. A once proud program is rebuilding after hall of fame coach Cheney’s retirement. They are currently the fifth ranked team in our region. Fran Dunphy hopes to get Temple righted soon, but this year was not a good start. Temple went 12-18 in the regular season this year, 6-10 in conference, while losing 5 out of their final six games. Unless Temple goes to the A10 finals an NIT bid is very unlikely, let alone a NCAA bid. They have an RPI of 164 while having the 103rd toughest overall schedule for 2006-07.
The sixth and final team is the LaSalle Explorers. LaSalle will remain as Big Five whipping boy unless they figure out something soon. They have virtually no shot at a NIT bid this year, even if they come in second in the A10 tournament. Freshman Rodney Green and Coach Dr. John Gianinni have their work cut out for them next year. LaSalle’s RPI is an awful 267 this year, with a Strength of Schedule of 180. Their record is currently 10-20 while winning only 4 games in the A10. There is a doctor in the house already!
