Newsletter: WAC/Conference USA Initiative, Rough Friday, Tarleton First Road Win
Newsletter: WAC/Conference USA Initiative, Rough Friday, Tarleton First Road Win
College basketball is off and running for the 2023-24 season. And with a new season comes new Conference Challenges. Yes, you read that correctly…Conference Challenges.
Unfortunately, for whatever reason, the WAC and Conference USA decided to call their challenge a ‘Scheduling Initiative’.
WHAT?! That’s right. Schools from Conference USA received an email Thursday morning notifying them that their broadcasts were not to use the phrase ‘WAC/Conference USA Challenge’ like ESPN names each game between WAC and Conference USA foes.
A source told WAC Hoops Nation that semantics were needed to broker the deal so ‘Scheduling Initiative’ is what they came up with.
Let me break this down for you of names for inter-conference matchups.
MAAC/ASUN Dublin Challenge
Big Sky - Summit League Challenge
ACC/Big Ten Challenge
Big 12 - Big East Battle
SEC/Big 12 Challenge
Do you see? This was a big marketing miss for both Conference USA and Western Athletic Conference.
There have been seven games played so far: three men’s games and four women’s games. Here are the results in simple terms.
Three overtime games
Men: Utah Valley beat Sam Houston in OT, SFA lost at Middle Tennessee in OT
Women: Liberty beat SFA in OT
Three blowouts
Men: Tarleton routed FIU
Women: Western Kentucky blew out WAC regular season champion Southern Utah
Women: Utah Tech dominated Jacksonville State
One buzzer-beater
Women: FIU won on a last-second shot at UTRGV
Road Team Success
Road teams are a combined 5-2 in the seven games played thus far. Only road team not to win was the SFA men’s basketball team who lost in OT at Middle Tennessee
There is a lot of pride to play for in these games. Teams know it. Bragging rights are on the line. And perhaps conference rankings in KenPom are on the line, too. These two are 11 and 13, respectively, in the recent KenPom conference rankings. There are 18 men’s games and 18 women’s games.
This could have been a huge marketing tool moving forward. But both leagues, if we are being honest, kind of dropped the ball with that one.
There is only one WAC/Conference USA game on Saturday Nov. 11. It is a men’s game as Utah Tech travels to take on Jacksonville State - 1 p.m. MT, ESPN+.
Friday Was a Struggle Around the WAC
Maybe we shouldn’t have Friday games anymore around the WAC. If you were paying attention, it was not a good night for Western Athletic Conference basketball.
Sure, there was some crazy endings and competitive games. But, record-wise, it was simply not a good night.
Here are the results.
Women
Lamar 74, UT Arlington 57
Liberty 84, SFA 81 - overtime
FIU 65, UTRGV 65
WKU 76, Southern Utah 62
Texas Tech 70, Tarleton 63
CBU 76, San Diego State 68
Men
NC State 84, ACU 64
South Dakota 100, UTRGV 79
CBU 80, Jackson State 66
2-9 overall. 2-7 against mid-majors. And 0-3 in the WAC/Conference USA Initiative.
Oh, and four home losses. Remember, in the WAC Resume Seeding System, home losses will hurt more than road losses.
Texans First Non-Conference Road Win
Opening Night at Virginia was not what many Tarleton men’s basketball fans had in mind. The Texans allowed Virginia to shoot close to 60 percent from the field in an 80-50 loss. It might be one of the worst of the Billy Gillispie era in Stephenville.
However, on Thursday night in Miami, fans got a much different performance. Jakorie Smith went for a game-high 34 points and the Texans led wire-to-wire in an 82-65 win over FIU.
What makes it more special is that it was the first non-conference road win of the Division I era for the Texans.
Tarleton has won games on a neutral floor but never a true road game in its crazy non-conference slates.
That changed on Thursday. Smith and the Texans shot nearly 52 percent from the field and hit eight 3-pointers in the win.
Tarleton comes home to face UNT Dallas on Saturday before competing in the SoCal Challenge next week.