Marco Anskis Posts

In the college basketball coaching world, the ultimate goal for many is a head coaching job on Tobacco Road.

That is why former North Carolina State coach Herb Sendek shocked so many with his 2006 decision to leave NC State and the prestige of Tobacco Road for Arizona State, a school with a grand total of four NCAA Tournament bids since 1981.

As if the critics needed any more ammunition to fire Sendek's way, his first campaign in Tempe was a flaming disaster. The Sun Devils went 8-22 on the year and lost their first 14 Pac-10 conference games.

But in his second season in the desert, Sendek appears to have revived the once dormant Sun Devils hoops program much quicker than anyone could have imagined.

It's easy to see how last night's match-up between Houston and UMass may have flown under-the-radar for most college basketball fans. A game between two mid-level conference teams that haven't sniffed success in nearly a decade is only going to get college basketball nerds excited. But the Minutemen's thrilling 95-89 comeback victory in Amherst is exactly the kind of under-the-radar game that will go a long way in determining which of these likely bubble teams will be dancing in March.

Lost in the shuffle amongst fellow Atlantic 10 conference teams like Xavier, Rhode Island and Dayton, UMass is quietly having a fine season of its own. The Minutemen are currently 11-2, 22nd in the latest RPI and possess quality wins over Syracuse and Boston College. The Minutemen's strengths of perimeter shooting, scoring balance and depth are what propelled the comeback against Houston. After struggling to find a shooting rhythm in the first half, UMass shot a blistering 53% in the second half to get back into the game after trailing by 11 at the break. Leading scorer Gary Forbes led the way 19 points, but he was backed up by 18 points from both Chris Lowe and Etienne Brower and 16 from Ricky Harris. If the Minutemen's depth and scoring balance can hold steady for the rest of the season, there is no reason to think that the Minutemen can't return to the Big Dance for the first time since 1998.

As for Houston, the Cougars have to feel as if they just let a golden opportunity to pick up a quality road victory slip right through their fingers. At 11-2, the Cougars should still be in the at-large picture come March, even with a shaky 114 RPI ranking. Behind scoring machine Rob McKiver, the Cougars should rack up wins against the Conference USA pasties and pick up RPI points with upcoming games against Arizona and Memphis. But if the Cougars are left at in the cold on Selection Sunday, they can point to the blown opportunity at Amherst as the reason.