RTC Live: Utah State @ St. Mary’s
Posted by rtmsf on February 19th, 2011
Game #147. The Bracketbuster game of the day comes from tiny McKeon Pavilion in Moraga, California between the WCC and WAC leaders.
It’s being billed as the game of the day in the BracketBusters, and without question that assertion is true. Both Utah State and St. Mary’s are currently ranked in the Top 25 polls (#23 and #25 in the RTC poll, respectively), and while both are presumptively into the NCAA Tournament as things stand right now, neither is an incontrovertible lock. Utah State comes in at a gaudy 24-3, but the Aggies have zero top 100 wins and are trending in the lower reaches of the at-large pool as it stands today. St. Mary’s is at 22-5, but the Gaels are coming off an incomprehensible loss at five-win San Diego Wednesday night, the worst team in the WCC. The key point here? Both of these perennial mid-major powers need tonight’s win to impress the NCAA Selection Committee. The victor here tonight could arguably earn a full seed line bump given that their schedules will be relatively soft the rest of the way. Expect a raucous crowd tonight in Moraga’s McKeon Pavilion, quickly becoming one of the toughest places to play on the west coast.
