As I tweeted at twitter.com/EvanJ3535 Gonzaga is Number 1 and Nevada is Number 5. It's the first time that teams outside the top six conferences had Number 1 and another top 5 team since St. Joseph's was Number 1 and Gonzaga was Number 3 on March 9, 2004, which was 274 polls ago.

Gonazag might be in a "Mid-major" conference but there is nothing "Mid-Major" about that basketball program.

Yeah, they are considered major by some outlets similar to Memphis in CUSA. The 2007-2008 Tigers spent most of the season at #1/2 out of mid major CUSA.

It’s still crazy to believe St Joseph’s was ranked #1 in the modern era of college basketball. Remember that season vaguely.

(11-26-2018 03:49 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  It’s still crazy to believe St Joseph’s was ranked #1 in the modern era of college basketball. Remember that season vaguely.

I remember it very well. They started the season with a win over Gonzaga (Gonzaga went 28-3 that year) and were undefeated until the A-10 Championship game against Xavier.

I went to the whole A-10 tourney that year. The A-10 got 4 bids to the NCAAs. Xavier and St. Joe's both made the Elite Eight.

That Xavier team featured Romain Sato, who later turned out to be part of an illegal immigration scheme to bring basketball players from the Central African Republic to Dayton Christian High School. Sato was the only member of the scheme who didn't get deported (the deportations happened when Sato was already at Xavier - who says there's no benefit to being a D-1 athlete?)

(11-26-2018 02:39 PM)CliftonAve Wrote:  Gonazag might be in a "Mid-major" conference but there is nothing "Mid-Major" about that basketball program.

St. Mary's was left out. They finished 28th in the RPI, but I don't know what their RPI was on Selection Sunday. If Gonzaga finished with a NET (that replaced the RPI) of 30 to 35 and didn't win the WCC Tournament, I would expect them to get an at-large bid, but I wouldn't be shocked if they didn't. I'm not saying the situation would happen, but if it did happen I wouldn't be shocked if they got snubbed. Beyond their reputation, Gonzaga can stand out by playing the best schedule in the WCC. In last season's Sagarin, Gonzaga played the best schedule in the WCC, but it was close enough that I don't know if they had the best schedule in the WCC on Selection Sunday.

Unless you're in the Top 20 of the NET, there's no such thing as a lock outside the top six conference. I would say the same thing to Nevada, Wichita State, Cincinnati, Dayton, VCU, Middle Tennessee (who got snubbed), Buffalo, and Missouri Valley teams. Those teams are good now and/or have deserved at-large bids recently.