EXCEL-lent

So one of the unexpected perks of not having a men's basketball team playing anymore is I got to really look at the women's basketball standings....and boy are they a mess. It reminded me of a few years ago when entering the final weekend of the regular season, Eastern Washington was in first place, and then there were six teams at 6-7, with Portland State at 5-8 ... crazy, crazy stuff. Well, everyone is asking poor Katie Zigars what the scenarios are...can ISU finish second? Can they get a bye? Who will they play? Where will they play?

Well, that's where my morning went....back to high school math. I'm guessing a lot of folks don't remember much of their high school math stuff, but I was fairly proficient at it (obviously based on what I do for a living), so I busted out the tried and true EXCEL spreadsheet and went to work.

Basically, the standings are as such...

EWU 11-4
SAC 9-5
ISU 9-6
PSU 9-6
UM 8-6
MSU 8-6
UNC 5-9
NAU 3-11
WSU 3-12

and basically, there are seven games left

UM @ NAU (Thursday)
MSU @ UNC (Thursday)
SAC @ ISU (Friday)
PSU @ EWU (Saturday)
MSU @ NAU (Saturday)
UM @ UNC (Saturday)
SAC @ WSU (Saturday)

Now, there are 128 different possible outcomes of those seven games...so what I did was map out all 128 (once you know the number it's easy...for the UM/NAU game, I listed UM as a winner the first 64 slots, and then NAU as the winner the last 64, then on the next ro, MSU as the winner the first 32, then UNC the next 32, and then repeat. I did that all the way to the last game, SAC at WSU, which just alternated SAC and WSU on the line, giving me 128 different seven-game outcomes.

Now, no matter what happens in those seven games, someone somewhere will be tied (my favorite was the EWU winning the title at 11-5 and then SAC, PSU, ISU, UM, and MSU all finishing 10-6), and there is one scenario where there is a tie for 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 8th...crazy stuff.

This much is known. EWU will host with a win over PSU or a SAC loss to either ISU or WSU. If SAC sweeps and PSU beats EWU, than SAC is 1st, EWU is 2nd, and PSU is 3rd. EWU has clinched a bye.

SAC can finish from first through sixth, PSU, MSU, ISU, UM all can finish anywhere from second to sixth.

If ISU is the 3 seed, they can play PSU, UM, MSU, or SAC
If ISU is the 4 seed, they can play PSU, UM, MSU, or SAC
If ISU is the 5 seed, they can play PSU, UM, MSU, or SAC
If ISU is the 6 seed, they can play PSU, UM, MSU, or SAC

To get the #2 seed, ISU must have at a minimum a win over SAC and an EWU win over PSU...then it's various combinations of other things. The good thing is after the two games on Thursday, ISU will have a shot at second, no matter what.

Anyways, the spreadsheet is in two places...one is hanging in Seton's office, and the other is spanning the length of Katie's shelf above her desk, along with the tiebreaker key. If the Big Sky agrees with everything I'll post that sucker here, because it's kind of awesome in it's own demented sad (but social) way...Here is what it looks like (sorry these are a little craptastic...took them on my phone)





that's all of it taped together









a blurry closeup of the names









five feet worth of scenario goodness


Senior Night
Brad Bugger touched on it, but a great chance to see a game on Friday night at Reed and honor Oana Iocavita, Devin Diehl, and Andrea Vidabeck, who have all been great to have around.

I'm gonna get to finally see a women's game, and I'm excited to see the league's biggest surprise in Sacramento State, who were 0-4 and are now 9-5, and just putting up points like crazy. They came back from an 18-point deficit at Northern Colorado by putting up 63 ... 63(!!?!?!?!) points in the second half against the Bears. Geez.

Softball Up to 3-4
ISU's softball team rock and rolled over the weekend against the College of Idaho, winning 10-1 and 11-3, with Brittany Olsin going nuts, going 5-for-7 in two games with three doubles, a home run, and 6 RBI, including five in game two.

Idaho State's 3-4 record is the best in the PCSC Mountain Division...

Idaho State	0-0	0.000	3-4	0.429	W2
Utah Valley	0-0	0.000	3-5	0.375	L3
Portland State	0-0	0.000	4-8	0.333	L1
Northern Colo.	0-0	0.000	3-9	0.250	W1
Seattle	0-0	0.000	1-8	0.111	L1
Weber State	0-0	0.000	0-10	0.000	L10

...so that's always good.

Also, I want to touch on something, and I'm only doing this because I'm gonna guess the same pinhead who posted some serious misinformation on the Bengal Den message board contacted Kelvin at the Idaho State Journal trying to stir up some controversy. This past weekend assistant coach Shelly Prochaska handled the team, and she will do the same for the Arizona State tournament this weekend, because we granted head coach Andrea Wilson some time off to tend to a personal family matter.

Of course, the phone call I got from Kelvin was that he got a tip that we placed Andrea on administrative leave. I can confirm and end all those rumors right here....Andrea Wilson is dealing with a personal issue and will be back with the team shortly. What sucks is I even had to put that out there, but I know how rumors get started...

Good Hearts...
One last thing....having traveled with the men's basketball team all year, I can tell you that it was fun to see the team busting their butts all the way through the final whistle on Saturday with nothing to play for. I credit that to the kinds of people that Joe O'Brien has recruited, and all six guys should get their degrees either this year or next, which is really what it is all about for those guys.

Vengence is Mine, Saith the Coach

While fully believing in the separation of Church and State, a quick lesson on the blog today. For those of you that miss their Bible Studies, Romans 12:19 says "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord."

Well, Joe O'Brien was hoping his team would exact a little revenge on Sacramento State last night, and holy cow did they ever. In case you missed it (and you shouldn't have...we had a shuttle) ISU led 26-3 with 5:36 left when Sacramento State scored their first field goal. Seriously. They went 0-for-14 until Randy Adams hit a basket from underneath. It was weird to watch, it wasn't like Sacramento State wasn't trying ... they were hustling everywhere, and they were in our grill defensively, but ISU shot 63.0% for the game. It was like watching Pleasantville....it was fun to watch.

But my thoughts was .... where would this rate on the Bill Simmons "Vengence Scale"? That scale came about due to the Shaquille O'Neal meeting against Kobe and the Lakers on Christmas Day a few years back when he torched the Lakers. For the full Vengence Scale from 0.0 (Rocky Balboa defeating Tommy Gunn in Rocky V) to 10.0 (Keyser Soze in the Usual Suspects), just click here and prepare to lose about 30 minutes of time at work. It's OK...everyone needs a break.

Anyways, I'm putting the 74-39 beatdown at 7.15, right between:

7.1 -- Snoop and Dre taking shots at Easy E in "Wit' Dre Day" ... Biggie recording "Who Shot Ya?" ... 50 Cent creating the word "Wankster" in a song about Ja Rule.

7.2 -- Darren McCarty beating up Claude Lemeiux (after Lemeiux broke Kris Draper's jaw the previous season) ... Ricky Steamboat learning to speak again after Randy Savage crushed his larynx with the ring bell, then ultimately seeking revenge (bonus points for the comedy of every taped piece where Steamboat pretended he couldn't speak, so he had to make crazy gestures to indicate how angry he was).

I remember the Ricky Steamboat incident from my childhood...we used to run around my house pretending we couldn't speak because of him....good times. Anyways, 7.15 belongs to the Bengals.

Tickets on Sale.....Psyche!
There are things that are embarrassing, and then there was the slip up last night after the game, where ISU announced that we were selling tickets for our conference tournament home game, but for some reason, the ticket folks thought that we hadn't clinched a home game yet because Northern Colorado snuck up and beat Montana. I'm not sure how it happened, but I am the scenariologist around here, and if I say we host.....well....listen to me, we host.

Anyways, fans can get tickets today, Saturday, and all next week, and how about ISU LOWERING the prices for the tournament? Nice right? Tickets are $14 and $9 for adults (those are on the floor in the end zones for $9...a steal), children and seniors are $6, and ISU students are $3 (have to charge for the tournament).

Seton Sobolewski for Coach of the Year
I should make buttons for that. Seriously....who else gets it on the women's side? Everyone and their parents knew Portland State and Montana would be 1-2. Montana State is a disappointing 6-7. ISU is 6-8 and in fourth place after changing coaches, losing the greatest player in the history of the Big Sky Conference, losing ISU's top two career scorers, and having just seven scholarship players. He is totally the Coach of the Year....not a doubt in my mind.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I think it's safe to say that even though I have the very lofty title of "Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations" ... well, I'm pretty much a geek at heart. I mean let's face it, I'm very popular on UniWatch as I'm a bit of a uniform obsessive. I also am all into LOST, and I follow the blogs after an episode, and I feel like I could write in what little spare time I have for LOSTpedia. On this last road trip once my computer battery died I found out that I enjoyed this a little bit too much, and I got to rewatch a few great sports documentaries, including Long Shots, the Life and Times of the American Basketball Association (a must-see) and When It Was A Game as well.

So, with this the final week for Big Sky men's basketball, you know I get geeked up when I get to help the conference office with conference tournament scenarios. I mean seriously, I love it. And while I won't break down everything (Jon at the conference office is looking everything over and comparing it to what he has figured out), I do know the ISU ones down pat.

Amazingly, ISU can finish as high as third, or out all together, but for that to happen, it would take a major, major miracle. Here is the scenarios for Idaho State:

IDAHO STATE

To clinch a spot in the tournament

*A win over either NAU or SAC OR a NAU loss to WSU OR if MSU wins one or none of their final three games OR an EWU win over PSU OR one Northern Colorado loss. ISU cannot lose a 7-9 tie to any team involved in the tie unless the only two teams in the tie are ISU and NAU.

To clinch fourth

*Wins over NAU and SAC OR one win over either NAU or SAC and one loss by MSU to either PSU, UNC, or WSU OR with losses to NAU and SAC AND if MSU wins one or none of their final three games AND UNC does not sweep UM and MSU

To clinch third

*Wins over NAU and SAC AND PSU losses to MSU and EWU

Pretty simple right? I mean that is a load for ISU to miss the tournament. Anyways, back to the release, but I'm sorta pumped after figuring all that out. Have I ever mentioned I love my job?

Go Bengals!