Mixed feelings about BracketBuster

BY DARRELL MOODY

Appeal Sports Writer

Simply put, the Western Athletic Conference laid an egg in last weekend's 6th annual O'Reilly/ESPNU BracketBuster.

The WAC went 3-6, which was its worst showing since the 2004-05 season when the conference posted a 3-7 record.

Utah State, Fresno State and New Mexico State posted the wins, all of which came against Big West schools.

The biggest disappointments were Nevada's 74-49 loss at Southern Illinois and Boise State's 93-70 loss at home against Siena, a team that knocked off Stanford earlier this season.

Much of the discussion on the weekly teleconference was whether the WAC should continue to participate in the BracketBuster, and the reaction was mixed. There were only three teams picked to be on TV - Utah State, Nevada and Boise State. The latter was actually shown on ESPN 360 and not on television.

The coaches were unhappy with the lack of television exposure on BracketBuster weekend as well as the lack of coverage during the regular season. Currently, the WAC contract, which is a combined contract with football, calls for a minimum of three games to be broadcast. The current contract runs through the 2009-2010 school year.

"I've supported the BracketBuster because it has allowed us to finish our schedule (the last few years)," Nevada coach Mark Fox said. "We need to improve our exposure in conference. If we stay in the BracketBuster, we need to see the benefit of TV."

"I was never in favor of the BracketBuster when I was in the Big West because the whole league didn't participate," Utah State coach Stew Morrill said. "Since we've been in the WAC, we've been on TV all three years, and we've been fortunate to win all three years. If I had to vote now, I'd stay with it."

Morrill did bemoan the fact that ESPN didn't include the WAC in its Big Monday package like it did a few years ago. He also said that if a school is one of the 72 not on TV then the BracketBuster experience isn't a real positive one. The plus he sees is that he gets a home-and-home out of it.

It's getting tougher and tougher to make a TV game with 100-plus teams in the BracketBuster pool.

"There were some good games, matchups," Boise State coach Greg Graham said. "I wish we were in the old format where not so many teams were involved and we'd get more TV games. It's gone from where it originally started to a nationwide format."

Fresno State's Steve Cleveland said he supports the BracketBuster as long as the WAC continues its relationship with ESPN.

"When we get together in April as coaches, athletic directors and conference officers we need to talk about the future and how it relates to ESPN," Cleveland said. "I believe in ESPN and everything they do for college basketball.

"If there is an opportunity (for a relationship with ESPN) down the road, I completely support the BracketBuster."

If that doesn't happen, Cleveland said he'd just as soon schedule his own games.

WAC commissioner Karl Benson said he understood the lack of TV games and that he was pleasantly surprised that the conference did wrangle three games.

Benson pointed out that ESPN tried to re-negotiate with the conference in the summer of 2006. However, WAC administrators can't seem to come to an agreement among themselves, leading one to believe that they want more money than ESPN wants to deliver.

Judging by the comments of the WAC coaches, they are probably more concerned about exposure than money at this point. Many believe that if something isn't done to get a TV package in place soon it could affect baseketball recruiting in the next 8-to-10 years.

AWARD WINNERS

Fresno State's Kevin Bell and Utah State's Jenny Gross were named the men's and women's players of the week.

Bell scored seven points in the final 15 seconds of the game to help Fresno State upset Hawaii. Bell finished with a career-high 27 points. In a win over Cal-Poly, Bell had 19 points and nine assists.

Gross led the Aggies to upset wins over third-place Nevada and first-place Fresno State last week.

Gross averaged 15 points and 6.5 rebounds in the two victories. She shot 57 percent from the floor and 75 percent from the line.

PLAY BALL

Nevada baseball was the only conference team to not post a victory in the opening weekend of non-conference play.

Nevada went 0-2 and had its final game against UC Irvine wiped out because of snow.

Tech and San Jose State each went 3-0. Tech swept McNeese State 14-5, 13-1 and 17-0. The Spartans swept a double-header from Utah 6-5 and 7-6 on Friday, and then topped the Utes 10-4 on Saturday.

Hawaii has already played seven games, and Mike Trapasso's team is off to a 4-3 start. The Warriors beat Hawaii-Hilo twice and USF twice.

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

Year TV games Overall

2002-03 1-3

2003-04 2-3

2004-05 1-4 3-7

2005-06 3-1 6-3

2006-07 4-0 7-2

2007-08 1-2 3-6