As I sat in The Pyramid in Memphis and watched Justin Love and the rest of the Saint Louis University Billikens celebrate a Conference USA Tournament championship last season, I was overjoyed to know that SLU was dancin’. They were going to the tournament of tournaments, the Big Dance, the NCAA men’s college basketball tournament. The only sporting event that turns average, everyday offices into hot beds of brackets and pools.
If the Billikens hope to have their name listed in the bracket again this year, they have their work cut out for them. SLU has had an up and down season filled with impressive wins and horrible losses.
Unless SLU can repeat as C-USA Tournament champs, they’ll have to rely on the selection committee to deem them worthy of an at-large bid. When choosing at-large teams, the committee takes into account the number of victories, losses, strength of schedule and the opponents’ strength of schedule.
The Billikens can control their own destiny by doing the nearly impossible: winning the rest of their contests. If somehow the Bills can overcome the heartbreaking loss to Marquette last night and win the rest of their games, they would more than likely receive an at-large bid. This option is about as plausible as Dude Where’s My Car winning the Academy Award for best picture.
So what the Billikens have to do is win the games they should win. The rest of their schedule allows this sportswriter to believe they can win at least eight of their last 10 games. The Bills are at home for half of their remaining contests and always play tough at the Savvis Center. They also have road games against such weakened competition as Houston, Louisville and UAB.
What will hurt SLU is the games they let get away in the last few minutes. Against Mizzou, the Bills led most of the way only to fall short after a Tiger rally late in the second half in Columbia.
The Bills’ interstate rival walked away with a shocking victory and the Billikens drove back to campus with their heads hanging, thinking of what should have been. SLU could have made it two in a row against Mizzou and taken down a good and highly-respected team. The Tigers showed why they are such a good team as they snatched victory away from SLU’s slippery fingers.
Riding high off a last-second buzzer beater by Drew Diener against Illinois-Chicago, the Bills ventured to Carbondale to match up against another regional rival, Southern Illinois. The Billikens shot themselves in the foot with poor free throw shooting (46 percent) and almost 20 turnovers. The Salukis boosted their own chances for post-season play and walked off the court with an upset victory.
Just last week, the Billikens led the majority of the game against Memphis and were looking for a quality conference road win. Any coach will tell you that road wins in conference are important and hard to come by. The Bills let a late lead get away, and the Tigers dominated during overtime. This loss is just another example of how the Billikens could easily be sitting atop C-USA cruising on their way to the conference tournament in Louisville, Ky.
In order for the Billikens to take themselves off the bubble and into post-season play, they’ll need to beat the teams they are capable of beating. The Bills have played well this season in spurts. They proved their toughness last week against Cincinnati and even played a tough Iowa team to a close loss. The Billikens can be a top 25 team, or they can be participating in the office pools as they watch the tournament from their couches.
