WAC hoping to have three in Big Dance

With only five conference games remaining in the regular season, it's time to start looking at post-season possibilities for Western Athletic Conference men's basketball teams.

Entering last night's games, Nevada and Louisiana Tech had just three losses, while Hawai'i and Utah State were a step behind with four losses.

"The WAC has always been a multi-team conference (in terms of qualifying for NCAA), and I think it will continue to put multiple teams in the tournament," WAC commissioner Karl Benson said during the conference's weekly teleconference. "Competition exists in the WAC.

"Six weeks ago, there were a couple of teams expected to run away with it. That's certainly not the case. It will make for a great last month of the season and a very competitive tournament in March in Reno."

Benson, a member of the NCAA selection committee, said that he's not allowed to talk about WAC teams at selection time, but said the committee is aware of his top teams - Nevada, Utah State, Hawai'i and Louisiana Tech.

The NCAA published its first (public) set of RPI rankings last week, and both Nevada (37) and Utah State (41) were ranked in the top 50. However, Benson said that is only one of the criteria used to select at-large teams, and people shouldn't get overly excited.

"I had access to the report leading up to it (release of the rankings)," Benson said. "It was no surprise to me. It certainly put them in the spotlight."

Benson said that, at the present time, Nevada and Utah State have good chances of making the tournament without winning the conference tournament.

Benson said that Nevada's four road wins against Vermont, UNLV, Kansas and Pacific were looked upon favorably by the committee. Vermont is having a down season, but Pacififc, Kansas and UNLV have played well in their conferences. Nevada's recent road sweep at Louisiana Tech was a big help and Utah State's losses to New Mexico State will hurt it.

Nearly all the WAC coaches questioned believe that the conference certainly deserves at least two teams, and a couple of coaches believe three could be selected, pending the outcome of these last five games.

Boise State's Greg Graham said that with the Big East going to 16 teams, and that conference publicly saying they should get 8 to 10 teams, that could take (extra) slots from some of the smaller conferences.

"It will be interesting to see how they select the teams," Graham said. "There should be two or three (from the WAC), but we hurt ourselves in league because we are so balanced. Some other conferences have already started to separate themselves out.

"I hope the committee takes a look at that. I anticipate another year of having four or five teams (in post-season), including the NIT. It will be interesting to see how the bids go out."

Nevada coach Mark Fox is still standing by the comment he made at the conference's annual media day.

"I said at media day that three teams could go to the NCAA Tournament," Fox said. "A few teams are playing really well right now. I don't get caught up in all the projections on the Internet."

Fox said the Big East's 16-team monster conference has advantages, but could also work against it. The biggest plus is strength of schedule, because Big East losses won't hurt as much because so many of the teams are ranked. Fox said he's confident that the selection committee will find the best field for the tournament.

INJURY, DEPTH ISSUES AT FRESNO STATE

The Bulldogs' already thin roster has gotten even thinner in the last couple of weeks because 6-9 forward Renato Cesar has an Achilles injury, and his status is day-to-day, according to Cleveland.

"It's more of a chronic problem," FSU coach Steve Cleveland said. "It's been two or three weeks that he hasn't been able to play."

The Bulldogs only have seven scholarship players, and Cleveland said that fatigue has played a big role in Fresno State's 5-6 record.

"We're playing guys 37 or 38 minutes because that's the way it has to be. Most nights they are capable and have had good energy."

IDAHO'S SHEPARD REACHES MILESTONE

Idaho point guard Tanoris Shepard, who leads the Vandals in scoring, became the 12th player in IU history to reach the 1,000-point plateau.

Shepard scored with 11:52 left in the game against Fresno State. He finished with 29 points, leading Idaho to its only WAC win of the season. Shepard also is fifth on the all-time career assists list.

Contact Darrell Moody at dmoody@nevadaappeal.com, or by calling (775) 881-1281