Final Day of Regular Season is Full of Key Matchups and WAC Vegas Implications
Final Day of Regular Season is Full of Key Matchups and WAC Vegas Implications
Crazy to think the final day of the 2023-24 regular season is here. But, it is going to be an exciting day for some while a disappointing day for others.
On Thursday night, in Ruston, Louisiana, former WAC member Sam Houston won the Conference USA Men’s Basketball regular season title with a win over La Tech.
I tell you this because the first road trip I took of the 2023-24 season was to Huntsville for a Nov. 9 matchup of reigning WAC regular season champ Utah Valley against the Bearkats in the WAC-Conference USA Scheduling Initiative.
It was a game the Bearkats had won, leading by 10 with a little over two minutes to play. But, Utah Valley came roaring back, forced an extra five minutes, and eventually won in the extra period.
It seems so long ago.
Now, four months later, we have come to the end of the 2023-24 regular season.
One game left for 10 of 11 schools in the WAC. UT Arlington finished up its regular season on Thursday with the men beating CBU at College Park Center and the women losing at CBU at Fowler Events Center.
We have two games on the Saturday slate that have outright regular season champion implications. There are multiple games that have WAC Vegas implications involved. And we have one lone game against two teams who haven’t had any bit of luck all year.
This season has flown by. We have seen upsets. A win over a nationally ranked opponent. An interim head coach nearly leading his team to a regular season title. Buzzer-beaters, heartbreak, questionable officiating, and so WACkiness that it almost makes sense.
Now, it comes down to the final day.
We still have two spots for the women’s WAC Tournament open. And one spot on the men’s side has yet to be determined.
With the top seeds all locked up, will the GCU men and the CBU women win on Saturday, making them the outright regular season champs?
Can Utah Tech get another road win to cap off the regular season to put pressure on CBU in a must-win situation against GCU?
Can UT Arlington get some love from Tarleton in its bid to be the 3-seed?
Which one of five teams will fill the final two spots in the women’s bracket?
Does ACU stay red hot or can Utah Valley get another impressive road win to sweep a trip to West Texas?
Do you see all that is going on Saturday in the regular season finales?
Here is something to think about. Two years ago, the men’s race came down to the final day of the regular season.
SFA, New Mexico State, and Seattle U all had a shot at the regular season title. All three were in a must-win situation.
SFA blew out UTRGV by 30 to clinch its share.
New Mexico State, after back-to-back losses to Chicago State and SFA, beat Utah Valley on Senior Night to clinch its share.
And then Seattle U beat Chicago State on Senior Night to clinch its share.
Last year, the only question was, who would be the top seed at the WAC Tournament? Utah Valley had wrapped up a share of the regular season title with a win over UT Arlington two days before walloping on SFA to win the title outright. However, the drama ensued with the new resume seeding system, giving Sam Houston the 1-seed by less than a tenth of a point.
And now, here we are. Another year, and another final day of the regular season filled with a bunch of drama.
So, let’s get to some of the drama to look forward to.
Lopes, Lancers Playing for Outright Titles
On Thursday night, despite not playing a game, GCU clinched at least a share of the WAC regular season title. Yes, the Lopes saw their friends from Orem knock off Tarleton in Stephenville behind a big second half to clinch the regular season title.
Now, GCU has a chance to win the title outright for the first time in the Division I era. A win at CBU in the regular season finale guarantees there will be no sharing of the title in 2023-24.
GCU’s other WAC regular season title was shared with Utah Valley in 2020-21.
Tip off is at 6 p.m. MT on ESPN+ from Fowler Events Center. The Lopes already have the 1-seed locked up for the WAC Tournament. Can they add an outright regular season title to the list of accomplishments, as well? One thing to keep an eye on is whether or not Tarleton can get a win against Seattle U.
If the Texans beat the Redhawks, then GCU is in a must-win situation to win it outright or else share the title with the Texans.
On the other side of things, Jarrod Olson’s Lancers won another regular season title, the second in four years with a wire-to-wire win over UT Arlington on Thursday night.
Along with the win, CBU also clinched the top seed at next week’s WAC Tournament. Can the Lancers get a win at GCU to cap off a rather impressive season? Or will Molly Miller’s crew, who has been off for a week since the SFA loss that still stings, be ready to go and earn a share of the regular season title?
Tip is at 2 p.m. MT at Global Credit Union Arena and can also be seen on ESPN+.
Five Teams, Two Spots; Who Gets In?
There are five women’s basketball teams vying for two spots at WAC Vegas.
Four of the five teams play one another. The fifth team hosts a team coming off a brutal loss on Thursday night that already has its seed locked up for the WAC Tournament.
Tarleton is at Seattle U. UTRGV is at Southern Utah. And Utah Valley hosts ACU.
This is where it gets wild.
Tarleton swept Utah Valley, and split with Utah Valley and UTRGV. The Texans lost the lone matchup against Seattle U, making Saturday’s matchup a big one.
Utah Valley split with Tarleton, UTRGV, and Seattle U but got swept by Southern utah.
UTRGV split with Tarleton, Seattle U, and Utah Valley. However, Southern Utah won the lone meeting heading into Saturday’s season finale.
Southern Utah swept Utah Valley, got swept by Tarleton, and split with Seattle U. Tracy Mason’s T-Birds already beat UTRGV once. Can they do it again?
Seattle U split with Utah Valley, UTRGV, and SUU and beat Tarleton once this season.
Both Seattle U and Tarleton are 6-13 in WAC play. Utah Valley, Southern Utah, and UTRGV are 5-14.
So, who goes to Las Vegas?
First answer: the winner of Tarleton at Seattle U earns a berth. No ifs, ands, or buts. The winner would finish WAC play at 7-13, while the best any of the other teams can do is 6-14.
Second answer: If Tarleton, UTRGV and Utah Valley win, then Tarleton and Utah Valley would be in.
Third answer: If Tarleton and Southern Utah win, the Texans and T-Birds are in.
Fourth answer: If Seattle U and Southern Utah win, and Utah Valley loses, then Seattle U and Tarleton are in. Texans will go over SUU because the Texans swept the season series.
Fifth answer: If Seattle U, Utah Valley and UTRGV win, then Seattle U and Utah Valley will be in.
It is pretty wild to think about. Five teams playing for two spots with four of the five teams playing each other. The fifth team needs a win and some help.
It all makes for a wild Saturday afternoon of women’s basketball in the Western Athletic Conference. All three of these games tip at 2 p.m. MT.
So, we will know by about 4:30 p.m. MT who is in and who is out.
Seeding Implications on the Final Day
Say it with me now…”WE ALL LOVE THE WAC RESUME SEEDING SYSTEM!”
Okay, from the interactions I have had on Twitter over the past 48 hours or so, that really isn’t a true statement.
Far from it.
But, that doesn’t mean we are going to ignore it, especially on the final day of WAC play where seeding implications are happening all over the place.
First implication: it is highly likely a Seattle U win at Tarleton will give the Redhawks the 3-seed, thus avoiding GCU in a potential WAC semifinal matchup.
If Tarleton beats the Redhawks, the math, at this point, says that UT Arlington would lock u the 3-seed, and the Redhawks would be the 4-seed.
Even if Seattle U beats Tarleton, there is still a chance UT Arlington can be the 3-seed depending on the math and what opponents of teams do on Saturday.
Either way, UT Arlington and Seattle U are locked in as top-4 seeds with a first round bye.
Second implication: who is going to be the 5-seed? Or even the 6-seed? Or even the 7-seed?
Well, the Utah Valley at ACU game will basically settle that. A Utah Valley win gives the Wolverines the 5-seed and ACU the 7-seed. Even if SFA were to lose to Utah Tech, SFA, by the current numbers, would still be higher in the resume seeding system to be the 6-seed.
If both ACU and SFA win, the Jacks, per the math right now, would be slightly ahead of ACU for the 5-seed, and Utah Valley would fall to the 7-seed.
Third implication: If Utah Tech beats SFA in Nacogdoches, and GCU beats CBU later Saturday night, Utah Tech goes to WAC Vegas courtesy of a season sweep over the Lancers. If SFA beats Utah Tech on Saturday afternoon, CBU will punch its ticket and be locked in as the 8-seed.
SFA and Utah Tech tip off at 2 p.m. CT. GCU and CBU tip off at 6 p.m. MT. So, CBU will know its fate before it tips off its regular season finale.
On the women’s side, there is one game that will impact seeding implications.
Utah Tech hosts SFA at Burns Arena. It is potentially the final game for Breaunna Gillen, the Trailblazers all-time leading scorer. And, a Utah Tech win would give the Trailblazers the 4-seed and a first round bye.
It Utah Tech loses at home, then Shereka Wright’s Lady Mavs squad will be the 4-seed. The Lady Mavs have the day off as they finished their regular season on Thursday at CBU.
There is a lot of drama to be had on Saturday. The women’s bracket will be set by 4:30 p.m. MT as all five regular season finales tip off at 2 p.m. MT.
On the men’s side, we will have to wait until a little later in the evening to break down the bracket on another Straight Outta WAC After Hours show.
It is going to be a wild and WACky Saturday. We wouldn’t want it any other way.