ETSU Buccaneer basketball has won their 13th straight Southern Conference game and they’re getting no respect among the NCAA basketball community.
After being in the small category of 20-win teams this early in the season, the Bucs rank 89th in ESPN’s RPI rankings as of Feb. 8 and 79th in another poll.
The fate of ETSU’s season has already been called by the sporting wizards in Bristol, Connecticut. On ESPN.com, it says that ETSU will not get an at-large bid to the tournament if they lose the SoCon.
Even if they remain undefeated in the Southern Conference and beat Fresno State in the bracket busters next Saturday, it’s the same fate, barring the SoCon title.
Strength of schedule hurts ETSU, playing three non-division I-A teams in Mars Hill, UVA-Wise and Union College. But playing these three teams is not enough to keep ETSU from an at-large bid.
First of all, the selection committee must look at Southern Conference and ETSU basketball history in the tournament. The SoCon has made big impacts in NCAA tournament – look at UT-Chattanooga making into the sweet 16 in the late ’90s. Not to mention ETSU’s illustrious past in the big dance from 1989 until present.
In their last five appearances at the dance, the Bucs have put the fear of God in some of the top NCAA powerhouses. Last year, they almost beat No. 2 seed Wake Forest.
In 1992, ETSU beat No. 3-seeded Arizona, then faced the famed fab five of Michigan, who would face Dean Smith’s Tarheels in the championship game.
Second, the Bucs were robbed of a win at Clemson on Dec. 15, which had they won, we might be in the AP Top 25 presently. Any bystander who saw that game would say that the ACC officials gave that game to the struggling Tigers.
A South Carolina reporter told me after the game that the ACC officials were not going to let a small mid-major school win in that gym.
Just for a side note, if you want to read the Clemson game coverage for yourself, look at the archives on the Elizabethton Star website.
At the Rainbow Classic tournament in Hawaii, ETSU lost two of three games. They were hurt by an injured Zakee Wadood.
Third, the Bucs are the perfect tournament Cinderella story.
Take for instance their huge comeback win at Chattanooga last Monday. ETSU had not won at the roundhouse since 1992, and after being down 31-14 at one point only to come back and beat one of the NCAA’s top-scoring offenses for the North Division title, how can anyone deny them an at-large bid, even if they happen to lose in the SoCon tournament?
Fans love the Cinderella teams, and ETSU is that perfect team. But the Bucs are more than just another Valparaiso.
They came within 11 points of beating a Top 25-ranked Texas Tech in their second game of the season.
I was talking with another local sports writer who has covered the Bucs for over five years. He said that he believed the Bucs could beat any team in the Top 25. It just happens that I believe the same thing.
Tim Smith is one of the best guards in the country. Zakee Wadood and Jerald Fields have been playing championship ball since their high school days, not to mention that Wadood is tied for the most steals in the country with 73.
Ben Rhoda has been the quite force for the Bucs all season; he is much improved from last season. James Anthony’s defensive performance in Western Carolina shutting down NCAA top scorer Kevin Martin makes him valuable not just from three-point range.
Off the bench, Brad Nuckles has been grabbing rebounds like a man of war.
In tournament play, his calmness gives him an advantage over his competitors.
Travis Strong has been hitting some big threes coming off the pine. Defensively, Aaron Scott can jump out of the court. Scott usually gets a couple of big blocks a game.
Look at ESPN’s top two mid-majors, the first being Gonzaga (7th AP) of the West Coast Conference.
The Zag’s are 2-2 against Top-25 teams, but their conference is weak. SoCon teams face ACC and SEC teams regularly and take that experience to Charleston in March.
Utah State, the second ranked mid (19th AP) of the Big West, lost Saturday, and they play no Top-25 teams, not even a Pac-10 team.
The glass slipper belongs to ETSU – in the Cinderella top ten, they should be ranked first.

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