Nope. Forget it. Isn’t happening.
Go ahead. Point out the University of Maine’s 21 straight victories prior to Saturday’s loss to Boston University in the America East women’s basketball final. Twenty-five wins in all, you may boast.
Cite the national recognition that includes Saturday morning’s profile of Heather Ernest on a little show called “SportsCenter.”
Recall the proud tournament history in the form of six straight NCAA Tournament appearances from 1995 to 2000, including a pair of at-large bids accepted before doling out at-large bids to “mid-major” conferences was considered sexy.
That all resides in the credit column under the Maine banner in the conference room where the women’s basketball committee weighs who’s been naughty and nice. Pretty good resume.
But not good enough.
Bad news, Black Bears. Once those trained eyes examine your season in the ever-increasing spotlight of big-time women’s basketball, they most likely will say
Thank you for playing. We have lovely parting gifts backstage.
Before you curse me, then the faceless committee after its handiwork is revealed at 5 p.m. today on ESPN, please understand that this snub is not a slight against our fine, frozen state or a little conference that could.
America East stands at the top of the list only alphabetically. According to the most recent unofficial women’s RPI numbers, calculated before this week’s conference tournament, what was once one of the nation’s most upwardly mobile leagues ranked 23rd out of 31 conferences that receive an automatic bid.
Two years ago, America East enjoyed a seat in the top half of women’s basketball conferences.
Now it leads the bottom quarter. You can attribute that to the defection of Drexel, Delaware and Towson State and the influx of Albany, Binghamton and Stony Brook, all relative newcomers to NCAA Division I.
The individual numbers are even more staggeringly stacked against the Black Bears.
Prior to its cruise through two-thirds of the conference tournament, Maine sat 62nd in the RPI, a mathematical formula that weighs heavily in the selection and seeding of tournament teams. That put them one spot ahead of Clemson, the first team on the board with a losing record.
In both seasons Maine lost its conference championship game but snagged an at-large invitation, the Black Bears were ensconced comfortably in the top 40.
The committee may forgive two of Maine’s previous four losses, as they occurred in the absence of junior star Ernest, who was serving a three-game suspension for a minor violation of NCAA rules. Still, the four non-conference defeats were inflicted by Holy Cross (ranked 52nd in the RPI), Montana (85th), Kent State (138th) and Dartmouth (156th).Six non-conference wins look even uglier, if that’s possible. Thank you, Rhode Island (No. 125), Bradley (143), Brown (155), Yale (290), Akron (302) and Robert Morris (319th out of 324).
Vermont was America East’s second-ranked team at a distant 118th. BU checked in 178th.
No question the pre-holiday slate has been watered down during Sharon Versyp’s three-year tenure, but you can’t blame Versyp for that.
The cupboard was virtually bare, with only seven players left behind for Versyp’s restructuring project when Joanne Palombo-McCallie left Maine for Michigan State.
Bringing Stanford, Florida and Western Kentucky to town didn’t make much sense in any of the last three seasons. Next winter, a beefed-up docket will be welcome and necessary, even if it means hitting the road for the entire month of December.
Ellen Geraghty was the lone senior to take the floor against BU on Saturday, and she played less than a minute at the end of the game.
Everyone else will be back, stronger and better for the experience of not seeing “Maine” pop up on the screen on Selection Sunday.
Kalle Oakes is sports editor. He can be reached by e-mail at koakes@sunjournal.com.
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