Day off should benefit the Eagles - Tulsa World (3-4-2007)

[ORUTerry]

Day off should benefit the Eagles

Story Link

ORU head coach Scott Sutton said having Sunday off "was all about rest and getting our legs under us."

 

by JOHN KLEIN World Sports Columnist

3/5/2007

The Oral Roberts men found themselves with a rare day off during the conference tournament on Sunday.

Most leagues start play and finish a few days later without any kind of break.

"This day was all about rest and getting our legs under us," said ORU coach Scott Sutton on Sunday. "I don't know if it makes a difference when it comes to the semis on Monday.

"When it makes a difference is on that third day. You are just much fresher and much sharper if you've had that extra day."

ORU, the top seed, hopes to take that extra rest right into Tuesday's finals of the Mid-Continent Conference Tournament at the Union Multipurpose Activity Center.

At many conference tournaments, the format for some teams can mean a rare four-day grind of victories to win the championship.

"That's why you often see some finals that aren't very well played," said Sutton. "It can really wear you down just to get to the finals if you've had two or three really difficult games just to get there."

As it should be, the conference regular season does mean something in the Mid-Con. It means if you finish low or in the middle, you have the toughest road to the league's automatic NCAA Tournament bid.

That's the dilemma facing Oklahoma State, Oklahoma and Tulsa later this week.

However, if you can finish at or near the top there is an advantage.

Usually, it is the first day off as the mid and lower division teams eliminate a portion of the field. That's the way it is in the Big 12, which gives a day off to the top four seeds on the first day.

Not in the Mid-Continent Conference Tournament.

The Mid-Con has a format that rewards the top two teams with an off day during the tournament.

The top two teams play the bottom two teams on the first day of the tournament.

As a result, those teams are forced to show up and win to get the tournament advantage of an off day.

Oral Roberts earned that advantage, as did No. 2 seed Oakland, during opening round games on Saturday.

That earned those teams a Sunday off.

Now, unlike most tournaments, ORU and Oakland face only a two-games-in-two-days gauntlet to win the league title and get to the NCAAs.

In most leagues, even the top teams face three games in three days.

The Mid-Con isn't even in the same stratosphere for popularity and interest as the Big 12. However, the Mid-Con's format is better.

It is great because it gives you what should be either the most lopsided or biggest upsets on the opening day of the tournament.

Then, if the top teams win, they get to sit back and watch as the rest of the league plays for a spot in the semifinals.

A league such as the Big 12, with 12 teams, can't really do the same. The numbers don't work.

Still, figuring a way to give teams a day of rest isn't such a bad idea.

For instance, once the Big 12 women's tournament reaches two teams, it takes a day off on Friday before the tournament final on Saturday.

It isn't perfect but the top two teams, by winning a couple of times, get the advantage of an off day before what could be a huge game in the eyes of the NCAA Selection Committee.

Yet, there just doesn't seem to be a good solution for an off day for the Big 12 men.

Even though the women take off on Friday, it would be difficult for the Big 12 men to take off on Saturday. That's a huge sports day on television that the Big 12 must use.

Playing the semis on Friday and taking off Saturday before a Sunday final doesn't make sense when it comes to television ratings.

But in a league like the Mid-Con or Conference USA, with little television appeal, the strategy to get a day of rest for the top teams is a good idea.

Sure, Conference USA has a chance to become a better tele vision product if someone other than Memphis would elevate its program to national power to challenge the Tigers.

That is not currently the case, although Tulsa, Houston and UTEP would all appear capable of getting back to the national spotlight.

In the Mid-Con, unless it has a Missouri Valley Conference type transformation (the MVC finals were on CBS on Sunday), the format to take a day off is terrific.

Perhaps it does little other than allow teams to regain their legs. That's probably true.

Unlike the NCAA Tournament, when the off day is used to formulate a game plan and prepare a team for a new opponent, the conference tournament off day is all about rest.

In a conference tournament, teams have usually already played at least once and often twice. Veteran teams, the most likely to be at the top of the standings, have not only the past season but several years of experience against other league teams and coaches.

In other words, there are few surprises in strategy for conference tournament games.

"There's little question our format rewards teams for the regular season," said Sutton. "That's the way it should be.

"It gives some importance to what happened during the regular season."

Of course, taking advantage of the extra rest, by playing sharp on Monday and Tuesday, is the key.

"It all boils down to being at your best for a couple of nights," said Sutton.