This is for all the marbles in the Southland Conference. The winner on Sat clinches the first see in the SLC tournament. SHSU has their 4th 20+ win season in Bob Marlin's tenure (9th season). TAMU-CC is having great success in their first year in the SLC. Sam has beaten them once already at Corpus. I wonder every season why Bob Marlin is still at SHSU. He is a great basketball coach and could do very well in the upper levels of D-1 basketball. As a SHSU grad, I'm glad he's still there because I think this run of successes will end if/when he leaves. GO KATS!
My Cardinals are rounding into shape. They're going to run the table in the Southland Tournament. The poor Bearkats will be bridesmaids again.
Win out and you guys should win the East (I still don't understand why they felt the need to split the conference). It appears that they re-seed everyone for the tourney but I can't tell if the winner of each divison automatically gets a 1 or 2 seed (which would be crap for the loser of TAMU-CC and SHSU). It would, today, place SHSU playing Lamar in the first round game. I smell a sig bet should they meet in the tourney... EDIT: Found the seeding rules... So regardless of standings in the respective divisions, all teams will be seeded based on overall conference record.
As the week begins, there are four NCAA Division I men's basketball teams in Texas with 20 or more victories this season -- Texas A&M 24-4, Texas 21-7, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 21-6 and Sam Houston State 20-8. Two of those teams meet head-on in Huntsville Saturday at 5 p.m. in Johnson Coliseum with the Southland Conference regular season championship on the line. As a special promotion, all general admission tickets have been discounted to half price for only $3 for the game. And, Saturday will be Papa John's 25 cent pizza slice night at Johnson Colseum. While supplies last, pizza slices will be on sale at the concession stand for 25 cents each. Sam Houston State and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi are tied for first place, each with 12-2 records. No other team in the league has won more than nine conference games. The Bearkats own the longest current winning streak in the SLC with eight straight conference victories. One of those was an 84-79 victory over the Islanders on their home floor in Corpus Christi. "We really got their attention with that victory. They're going to be coming after us with everything they have," Sam Houston State head coach Bob Marlin said. " This is the kind of game you go into coaching for. We have a great college basketball atmosphere in Johnson Coliseum and the bigger the crowd, the more it will help our team. We hope the fans will come see what promises to be a great game." The contest features the two players most likely to contend for Southland Conference "Player of the Year," Sam Houston State 6-6 forward Ryan Bright and the Islanders 7-foot center Chris Daniels. The game marks the first time Sam Houston State ever has hosted a Southland Conference opponent in a one-on-one showdown for the regular season title. If the Bearkats win, they will be the No. 1 seed at the O'Reilly Auto Parts Southland Conference post-season tournament in Houston March 8-11. The winner of the tournament receives the Southland's NCAA automatic playoff berth. If the regular season champion does not win the tournament, they are guaranteed a berth in the 2007 National Invitational Tournament (NIT) LINK Wow, so the SLC tournament is in Houston?? Man, I'll have to go to some games and watch my Beerkats win it all. Is it at the Toyota Center? Also, it appears as though who ever wins this game gets a berth in the NIT no matter what happens in the SLC tournament.
It's at the Aldine Campbell Center which is a better arena than anything in the Southland outside of Beaumont or Corpus.
Where is that? Is that out on I-45 North? BTW, Johnson Coliseum (Huntsville) is a pretty nice facility. A lot of Division I schools would love to have an arena like that. I'm just sayin'....
Bright is a very good all-around player...very much in the mold of Mike Dunleavey. He can handle, pass, shoot, rebound and play defense. The stats aren't always there but he always has an effect on the game. Johnson Coliseum is a decent place. It could be really loud if it ever filled up for anything other than graduations. Hopefully, there will be a nice crowd there for Saturday's game. It's a shame it won't be on tv.
It sucks I had already planned to visit family in College Station this weekend or I'd be there. It will only be the second home game I've missed all season. Go Kats!!
The Campbell Center is on Aldine-Bender Road near I-45N and the Beltway. I saw a game at the Huntsville Johnson (this year. I thought it was a terrible layout (no near-floor seats on one side of the arena), but it was big enough and nice enough. The Campbell Center is supposedly a great place and the right size for an SLC tournament.
The Campbell center isnt that big. I think they would be better served to hold the tournament somewhere else. And by the way..... Ax'em Jacks!!!
How many people do you think are going to the SLC tourney? If it's more than 5, I'd be suprised. SFA? Please. I remember getting accepted to SFA out of high school. The problem was, I never applied. I got a letter one day saying, "Congratulations, you're a Lumberjack!" I said, "LIKE HELL I AM!"
I'm just showing support for my school thats all. As for how many people are gonna show up your probably right. During the high school playoff games and graduation you can barely get in there.
Sam Houston out for Southland title Bearkats put 9-game conference win streak on line By RICHARD DEAN Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle HUNTSVILLE - Since the 2000 basketball season, the Texas Longhorns have the best winning percentage among men's NCAA Division I college basketball teams in the state. Any guess who's second? Try Sam Houston State. Coach Bob Marlin's teams have won .635 percent of their games, two Southland Conference regular-season titles and a conference tournament championship in that period. And this year's team is riding a nine-game conference winning streak heading into its biggest regular-season game since becoming a NCAA I member in 1987-88. The Bearkats (21-8, 13-2) face Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (22-6, 13-2) at 5 p.m. today at Johnson Coliseum with the winner capturing the conference regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming SLC tournament. "We've played well and deserve our record," Marlin said. "We'll have to play well on Saturday, too." Talk of the town Today's home game has created a buzz around campus and in the Huntsville community. "You can't walk around campus without someone coming up to you and wanting to talk about the game," said Ryan Bright, a 6-6 junior from Deer Park High School and the team's top scorer (14.6) and rebounder (8.0). "There's interest from students and the faculty. Everyone's getting involved in the game." The hype and interest has merit. The Bearkats haven't lost a league game since Jan. 25, are 11-1 at home and ended the Islanders' 10-game winning streak in their first meeting. "It's the biggest game since I've been here," said 6-7 senior Aaron Wade, the team's second-leading scorer (12.1). "Every year, we've had a good team. "This year, we've really come together. We don't have any mental lapses. This team is more consistent." The Bearkats are a small team that can cause matchup problems, especially with Wade at center and Bright at power forward, and relies heavily on perimeter shooting. Sam Houston State is 15-2 this season when shooting 45 percent or better and 2-6 when making less than 40 percent of their shots. Utilize quickness Sam Houston State goes primarily with a three-guard, two-post lineup. The makeup of the team changed when starting center, 6-7 senior John Gardiner, was lost before the season with an injury and is redshirting. Gardiner tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in a summer pickup game. Gardiner averaged 7.8 points and 5.2 rebounds on last year's 22-9 team, which was conference runner-up in the season and postseason tournament. "We're a team that adjusts to what's necessary," said point guard Jejuan Plair, last year's conference newcomer of the year. He is second in the league in assists (5.7). As for Bright, he is one of many Bearkats that has delivered. He's in the top 10 in five SLC categories — third in rebounds (eight), fourth in steals (1.8), fifth in scoring (14.6), eighth in blocks (1.3) and 10th in field-goal percentage (.515). "He does so many things," Marlin said. "A good player that can get a basket or rebound for us. He's had a great junior year and has a chance to finish strong." Undersized at forward, Bright uses that to his advantage. He can penetrate effectively or shoot from outside. C.J. Hadley adds nine points and 4.1 rebounds per game and the Bearkats get key from James Barrett (7.6, 4.1) and Shamir McDaniel (6.1, 3.4). GO KATS!
