On Saturday the Ball State University women's basketball team lost to Indiana University in Worthen Arena despite leading for a majority of the game. While the loss hurts, the full effect of it won't be felt until March 9.
That's a day known to NCAA basketball fans as "selection Sunday." It is the day teams' dreams are either made or burst. It is the day a NCAA committee meets and selects what teams are in the NCAA Tournament and what teams are not.
After not getting into the tournament last year despite a very good 24-6 record, coach Tracy Roller knew the team needed a tougher schedule if it wanted to get in without the automatic bid from winning the Mid-American Conference Tournament. She did the right thing getting the University of Louisville, a nationally ranked team, to come to Worthen Arena to open the 2007-08 season and Indiana two games later. However, the problem facing the Cardinals now is that they lost both games. By losing both the games the selection committee will look at the games and think it just proves the stereotype that a middle-of-the-road, big conference team is better than the best team in any small conference.
Let's say both Indiana and Louisville make it into the big dance, which would only help Ball State. The selection committee will find it hard, if not impossible, to give a higher seed to Ball State than Indiana or Louisville no matter what happens in the 27-or-so games left on the team's schedule.
As things sit right now, one of two things can happen to the women's basketball team. Either it wins the MAC Tournament and gets a low seed because it lost these early games or it loses in the MAC Tournament, likely missing March Madness completely.
What could help the Cardinals' case is the fact that they led at halftime in both games. The selection committee could look at that and give the Cardinals the benefit of doubt. This is unlikely to happen for two reasons.
First, the NCAA Tournament field won't be set for another 110 days making these earlier games a distant memory and meaning the committee will look only at the final result. Second, both games were at home for Ball State.
There is good news for the Cardinals, and it's not that I just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance. The season is only three games old, meaning any team can still change its fortunes.
The Cardinals have one more big game remaining. They play Temple University on Nov. 28 in Philadelphia. If they win that game and take care of business in the MAC, they will finish the season MAC champions with a win over one of the top-tier programs in the country.
The Cardinals need to take the advice of the old baboon in "Lion King." The monkey advises Simba to not worry about the past because you can't change the past.
What the Cardinals need to do is forget about the Indiana and Louisville games and look only to the future. If they take care of business the rest of the way they will be sitting pretty come selection Sunday and these early letdowns won't matter.
Write to Levin at levintblack@gmail.com
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