2008 NCAA Tournament Preview: Mount Saint Mary’s Mountaineers
Championship Week kicks off the best time of the year in the sports world. Teams that would otherwise be counted out have the opportunity to shine in front of a national audience. Mount Saint Mary’s is a prime example of why Championship Week is so fantastic. The Mountaineers are an 18-14 team playing in the NCAA Tournament. In this preview, you’ll read why the Mountaineers most likely won’t win another game this year.
A true NCAA Tournament Cinderella team is one that comes from out of nowhere to stun everybody. It may even be a team that doesn’t belong in the NCAA Tournament. The biggest stunner of them all thus far emerged on Wednesday evening when Mount Saint Mary’s advanced to the Big Dance.
The Mount Saint Mary’s Mountaineers completed an improbable run through the Northeast Conference tournament championship with a 68-55 victory over Sacred Heart. The Mountaineers also defeated Robert Morris, the NEC regular season champs, in the tournament semi-finals. As of Wednesday night, Mount Saint Mary’s enters the NCAA Tournament at 18-14, the worst record of any tournament team. All that matters to the Mountaineers is that they’re going dancing.
Looking back at their season, Mount Saint Mary’s is about as impressive as their record would indicate. The Mountaineers finished fourth in the NEC, going 11-7 in conference play. There isn’t much to jump up and down about outside of conference play, either. Mount Saint Mary’s began their season on a four-game losing streak. They then went on to win six straight before losing five of their next six. The Mountaineers did defeat an NCAA Tournament team this season, taking down Winthrop at home in mid-December. Losses against George Washington (9-17, 5-11), Quinnipiac (15-15, 11-7) and Fairleigh Dickinson (8-20, 4-14) puts that victory into perspective.
A duo of guards lead the Mountaineers into the 2008 NCAA Tournament. Senior Chris Vann leads Mount Saint Mary’s in scoring, averaging 14.7 points per game. Sophomore Jeremy Goode isn’t far behind, putting up 14.3 a contest. These are the only two players averaging more than ten points a game for the Mountaineers but they weren’t alone during the NEC tournament. Freshman guard Jean Cajou averaged less than seven points a contest during the regular season, as did forward Kelly Beidler. Both players scored 15 points during the conference tournament championship game.
The Mountaineers are without a true game-changing player on their team. Don’t be fooled by the performance of certain players in the NEC tournament title game. This isn’t a team that is deep at any position. They do enter the NCAA Tournament on a winning streak, something that is important for any team. A five-game winning streak is hardly anything to get excited about, though.
There’s a reason that Mount Saint Mary’s was fourth in the Northeast Conference and only four games over .500 overall this season. They made their magical run during Championship Week and definitely earned their spot in the NCAA Tournament. With that said, the Mountaineers will very likely end up as a 16 seed on Selection Sunday. We all know what that means. A single victory in the NCAA Tournament would make Mount Saint Mary’s one of the all-time great stories in men’s college basketball history. I wouldn’t count on it.
