{"id":322012,"date":"2010-02-15T11:23:27","date_gmt":"2010-02-15T16:23:27","guid":{"rendered":"urn:newsml:sports.yahoo,yhoo:20050301:fantasy,article,yhoo-ept_sports_fantasy_experts-219746:1"},"modified":"2010-02-15T11:23:27","modified_gmt":"2010-02-15T16:23:27","slug":"bracket-big-board-new-mexicos-wolfmen-ready-for-tourney-feast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/322012","title":{"rendered":"Bracket Big Board: New Mexico’s ‘Wolfmen’ ready for tourney feast"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Bracket Big Board takes into consideration past returns,
\ncurrent performance and expected future gains in determining who should
\nbe included among the field of 65 (31 automatic and 34 at-large bids).
\nEssentially, the Bracket Big Board is a cheat sheet designed for
\namateur bracketologists if they were filling out a Tourney Pick ‘Em ’10<\/a> entry today. The Bracket Big Board is updated every Monday until the dance card is officially unveiled March 14.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a>
<\/p>\n

Currently standing atop the underappreciated Mountain West,
\nthe Lobos are the lone wolves in a conference with a rather unimpressive NCAA tournament
\nhistory. <\/p>\n

Since the league’s basketball inception in 2000, postseason
\nrespectability has remained elusive. Though the MWC has churned out multiple
\nbids in nine of its past 10 seasons, only two teams have managed to escape
\nRound 1. Overall, the conference sports a rather pathetic 8-22 record (26.7%) in
\nthe Big Dance. "Footloose<\/a>" the MWC is not.<\/a><\/p>\n

But the new decade ushers in optimistic feelings and another
\nchance for the MWC to gain the national attention it deserves. Steve Alford’s
\nclub – and to a similar extent Dave Rose’s BYU team – has the best odds of
\ntasting sweetness. <\/p>\n

Although ranked in the top 15 in both polls, few have actually
\nwatched a single minute of New Mexico basketball, especially viewers east of the Mississippi. Often broadcasts
\nhave been aired at strange hours or on sparsely distributed networks. Even when
\ngames have been accessible, eyeball-gouging quadruple overtime women’s hoops
\ngames<\/a> have kept the Lobos in the dark. Due to an almost complete lack of
\nexposure – more eyes have probably watched Isaiah Thomas coaching train-wrecks
\nat Florida International<\/a> – the Mountain West titans have unintentionally become
\nthe masked luchadores<\/a> of college basketball, sans colorful Spandex.  <\/p>\n

Despite its dwarfish viewership, Danny Granger-U has quietly
\nestablished itself as one of the country’s more formidable foes posting a gaudy
\n23-3 record. With non-conference wins over Cal,
\nTexas A&M and Dayton
\nalong with key league victories over BYU and, most notably, at UNLV, the Lobos’
\nresume is rich. In total, they boast seven RPI top 50 wins, the second-most in
\nthe country. Against teams ranked inside the RPI top 100, they’re 11-2.<\/p>\n

Indiana’s
\nformer Boy Wonder has done a marvelous job with his young team (Roman Martinez
\nis the Lobos’ lone senior). Swingman Darington Hobson has developed into one of
\nthe more well-rounded performers in the West. Meanwhile, Martinez, a gritty glue guy who routinely
\nfills up the stat sheet, ranks 13th<\/sup> nationally in individual efficiency
\nchecking in with a 127.8 offensive rating. <\/p>\n

Collectively, Alford’s bunch has excelled offensively,
\nparticularly from distance. Four players (Hobson, Martinez, Dairese Gary and Phillip McDonald)
\naverage at least 11 points per game. Based on their 24th<\/sup> ranked
\noffensive efficiency and twelve 80-plus point performances, they can light up
\nthe scoreboard. More importantly for tournament play, they’ve rarely turned over
\nthe rock and won several games away from "The Pit," a feat they’ve struggled to
\nachieve versus difficult opponents in recent years. <\/p>\n

Defending the basket, New
\n Mexico definitely could improve<\/a>. According to
\nKenPom.com<\/a>, it ranks 64th<\/sup> in D-efficiency. Outside forwards A.J.
\nHardeman and Will Brown, the Lobos are suspect interiorly. As a result, they’ve
\noccasionally been pushed around in the paint, indicative in their 48.6 shooting
\npercentage allowed inside the arc (210th<\/sup> nationally). <\/p>\n

Still, despite its shortcomings defensively, the masked men
\nfrom Albuquerque
\nhave enough offensive power and skill players to earn the Mountain West
\nits second ever Sweet 16 berth.  <\/p>\n

Here are this week’s risers and fallers on the Triple-B:<\/p>\n

<\/a>
<\/a>
<\/p>\n

*For games played through Sunday, February 14
*RPI data provided by Rivals<\/a>
*Efficiency stats from kenpom.com<\/a>
<\/strong><\/p>\n

On the Bubble:<\/strong> UAB (19-5), San Diego St. (18-7), Cincinnati (15-9), Northwestern (17-8), Notre Dame (17-9), Washington (17-8), Memphis (18-7), Tulsa (19-6), Texas Tech (16-8), Arizona St. (18-8) <\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dropped Out:<\/strong> St. Mary’s, UAB <\/p>\n

Conference Breakdown: <\/strong>American
\nEast (1), ACC (7), Atlantic Sun (1), Atlantic 10 (6), Big 12 (7), Big
\nEast (7), Big Sky (1), Big South (1), Big Ten (5), Big West (1),
\nColonial (1), Conference USA (1), Horizon (1), Ivy (1), Metro (1),
\nMid-American (1), Mid-Eastern (1), Missouri Valley (1), Mountain West
\n(3), Northeast (1), Ohio Valley (1), Pac-10 (1), Patriot (1), SEC (5),
\nSouthern (1), Southland (1), SWAC (1), Summit (1), Sun Belt (1), West Coast (1), WAC
\n(1) <\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Image courtesy of Getty <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Bracket Big Board takes into consideration past returns, current performance and expected future gains in determining who should be included among the field of 65 (31 automatic and 34 at-large bids). Essentially, the Bracket Big Board is a cheat sheet designed for amateur bracketologists if they were filling out a Tourney Pick ‘Em ’10 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5446,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-322012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5446"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=322012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322012\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=322012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=322012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=322012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}