http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=3461096

Fresno State entered the NCAA tournament with a pedestrian 33-27 record and a No. 4 seed in the Long Beach Regional. Six weeks later, the Bulldogs had become the first regional 4-seed to win a national championship. They finished as the lowest-seeded team in college sports history to claim an NCAA team championship, staying alive with victories in six elimination games -- including two against Georgia.

Just to put in perspective, that #4 seed in a baseball regional is essentially the same as being a #13-16 seed in the NCAA basketball tournament. That's why this is a huge accomplishment.

Fresno finished the WAC regular season as their #1 team, but barely over .500 in overall record in the regular season at 33-27. Without winning the automatic bid as WAC champion, they weren't going to be chosen for the NCAA baseball championships.

Fresno sure picked one hell of a way to finish out the season. :ncaabbs:

I hate to say so.. but as of today.. Wac is clearly the #7 conf. back to back bcs bids and the national title in baseball. CUSA nor MWC are close to that over the last 3 years.

goodknightfl Wrote:I hate to say so.. but as of today.. Wac is clearly the #7 conf. back to back bcs bids and the national title in baseball. CUSA nor MWC are close to that over the last 3 years.

In terms of last year in football and this year's baseball, maybe. But overall? Since Zeke the Freak left for the NBA, the C-USA and the MWC have been much stronger in basketball. The MWC had two teams this year while Memphis went to the final four. Even though Hawaii went to the BCS, the MWC still had a way better 2007 Saragin Rating (70.95, within a few points of the Big Ten) than the WAC (61.29) while several WAC teams were rated below FCS schools.

On a yearly basis, C-USA is easily the strongest of the three conferences in baseball. You'd take Fresno State over Rice, a college baseball superpower, based on one CWS victory? Rice already has the 04' title under its belt, and is regularly fields a top ten team.

Also, the MWC and C-USA are better on an institutional basis. Hawaii, the team with the highest athletic budget in the WAC [26.4 Million] in 2007, would behind three other teams in both the C-USA and the MWC. The WAC has no programs in the current USNews and World Report Tier 1 [the MWC has two] and the schools in the MWC in general have larger endowments and more students than WAC schools.

The MWC also dominates two major western markets with over 1M inhabitants [Las Vegas and Salt Lake City] while the WAC dominates no markets over 1M. The MWC also has footholds in DFW, San Diego, Denver, and Albuquerque. C-USA has a foothold in just about every southeastern market, from Orlando to Texas.

While the recent BCS bids are nice, the MWC and Conference USA still hold a mid-major edge over the WAC.

The problem with the WAC is that they have no depth.

In the Director's Cup for this year, the WAC had 3 teams in the Top 100. You don't need a second guess to figure out which 3 it is.

The top is very solid, but the bottom of the WAC is comparable to the bottom of the Sun Belt and MAC.

TheLurker Wrote:Rice already has the 04' title under its belt, and is regularly fields a top ten team.

Rice won the College World Series in 2003 and sent Huston Street running to the arms of the A's in the process. The 2004 championship belongs to none other than Kurt Suzuki and his fellow Titans from Cal State Fullerton.

goodknightfl Wrote:I hate to say so.. but as of today.. Wac is clearly the #7 conf. back to back bcs bids and the national title in baseball. CUSA nor MWC are close to that over the last 3 years.

Conferences are about more than 1 or 2 good teams. I don't agree with your assessment.

goodknightfl Wrote:I hate to say so.. but as of today.. Wac is clearly the #7 conf. back to back bcs bids and the national title in baseball. CUSA nor MWC are close to that over the last 3 years.

The fact that 4 WAC schools (as well as 2 MAC schools) gladly jumped to C-USA says something in my book.