By James J. Parziale
The NCAA's version of the electoral college will congregate on Sunday to anoint the remainder of teams to the NCAA Tournament field of 65.
For some, Bloody Sunday will end their seasons.
Others will rejoice as their bubbles float on to the Big Dance. The rest will scoot over to the consolation bracket, a.k.a the NIT.
For the Hofstra men's basketball team, which played and lost its only game of the NIT last season, running with the varsity is the only option.
"I feel like we can compete against any team out there,” junior guard Loren Stokes said. "The NCAA would be the big accomplishment.”
Translation: NIT stands for Not Interested, Thanks.
Living life on the bubble, as Hofstra has done all season, can make head coach Tom Pecora's hair start to turn gray. But it pales with the alternative.
Pecora inherited a team which came off back-to-back NCAA appearances in 1999 and 2000 as Don of the America East under Jay Wright. But when Speedy Claxton packed his bags for the NBA and the Pride stepped up in weight class by joining the Colonial Athletic Association, the program dropped off the national radar. If a tree feel near the Hofstra Arena, no one cared to hear it.
That's what makes the program's rapid ascent to bubble-team status so remarkable. No one in Hofstra's inner-circles will brush off the NIT, but players and coaches expect more.
After going 8-21 two seasons ago, the Pride won 24 of 30 games this season and is world beaters in its bulding. Hofstra's 20-game home winning streak is second in the nation to only Gonzaga. Also, Hofstra is the only team in the nation to have five players score 25 points at least once.
With an RPI in the high 20s or low 30s depending on the source, the Pride has made waves in the CAA, a conference accostumed to southern dominance (five of the 12 teams reside in Virginia). One of those teams, George Mason, which was ranked No. 25 in the nation before falling at Hofstra on Feb. 25, was supposed to romp through the CAA tournament.
But instead of cutting down nets, GMU is cutting its losses after the Pride beat the Patriots in the semifinals. Two wins in 11 days against a team which some say is still a lock to go dancing should score some brownie points with the selection committee.
Though Hofstra lost to UNC-Wilmington in its first appearance in a CAA title game, the Pride rose from the grave and was within a three-pointer of knotting the score after being down by 23 points.
"We had a fine season even though it ended on a short note,” said sophomore guard Antoine Agudio, who scored 34 points against Virginia Commonwealth in the CAA quarterfinals. "We should have beaten [UNC-Wilmington].”
It's common knowledge the Pride will be making its seventh appearance in a postseason tournament. But Hofstra fits the archtype for a Cindarella team in the NCAA Tournament. In all likelihood the Pride's bubble will at some point burst, but it should happen while Dancin'.
Comments (6)
go pride go!
GREAT BLOG... I'll be coming back for the reaction tomorrow night
By now we know that Hofstra's rep counts for nada. They are in a souhern based coference that makes it almost impossible for fans to follow. The coach is a.dumb enough, b.ingnorant of HU's history or the leagues anti HU bias to think that being better ie I beating George MASON twice including a penalt against their team for the next game to think that he will get invited to the dance.Do not ever tell a team that they can afford to loose the championship game and still expect to go to the dance HU is not Duke are apparently not even George Mason who we beat 2x and lost 0x so we are not ever going to get a break especially with a coach who thinks he is Jay Wright's assistance's equal.I wish them the best but it ain't ever going to happen. Mid- Major not even,get a real coach not runner up who tells a team that that coming in second is good enough to win. Let's get an Admin. that cares enough to offer a competitive schedule that does not require frequent flyer miles.
By now we know that Hofstra's rep counts for nada. They are in a souhern based coference that makes it almost impossible for fans to follow. The coach is a.dumb enough, b.ingnorant of HU's history or the leagues anti HU bias to think that being better ie I beating George MASON twice including a penalt against their team for the next game to think that he will get invited to the dance.Do not ever tell a team that they can afford to loose the championship game and still expect to go to the dance HU is not Duke or apparently not even George Mason who we beat 2x and lost 0x so we are not ever going to get a break especially with a coach who thinks he is Jay Wright's assistance's equal.I wish them the best but it ain't ever going to happen. Mid- Major not even,get a real coach not runner up who tells a team that that coming in second is good enough to win. Let's get an Admin. that cares enough to offer a competitive schedule that does not require frequent flyer miles.
I'll trade a last second loss at the buzzer and a home loss, both in the same year, for the victory last night....anyday. ODU was never going to lose 3 times to Hofstra in one year.
the hofstra coach said they were in after winning the semi--and he gets a raise thats why hofsta is 3th class