Eagles, the morning after a big win
Thanks to a stirring win last night over Northern Colorado, the Eastern Washington men's basketball team will be in a nice frame of mind for Saturday's Bracket Buster game at UC Irvine. They also got some help Wednesday from Weber State, which defeated reeling Montana State, and from Portland State, which handed Sacramento State its 10th conference loss and put the Hornets on the brink of elimination from the Big Sky Tournament. So, what are the Eagles' chances for postseason play?
Pretty good, really. Let's check out this morning's standings
2011-12 Men's Basketball Standings
| School | Conf | Pct | Overall | Home | Away | Streak |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weber State * | 13-1 | 0.929 | 21-4 | 14-0 | 6-4 | W5 |
| Montana * | 12-1 | 0.923 | 19-6 | 10-2 | 9-4 | W8 |
| Portland State | 7-6 | 0.538 | 13-12 | 7-3 | 4-9 | W3 |
| Idaho State | 7-6 | 0.538 | 9-16 | 5-6 | 4-10 | W1 |
| Eastern Washington | 6-7 | 0.462 | 12-14 | 7-4 | 5-10 | W1 |
| Montana State | 6-8 | 0.429 | 11-14 | 6-6 | 5-8 | L6 |
| Northern Colorado | 5-9 | 0.357 | 8-17 | 4-8 | 2-9 | L1 |
| Sacramento State | 4-10 | 0.286 | 9-16 | 6-7 | 3-9 | L2 |
| Northern Arizona | 1-13 | 0.071 | 5-21 | 4-8 | 1-10 | L13 |
Remember, Weber and Montana are guaranteed two semifinal spots. The third- through sixth-place teams will play March 3 (#6 at #3 and #4 at #5) for the right to join them. EWU has road teams next week at Idaho State and PSU, then finishes the regular season Feb. 28 at home against Idaho State. Win at least two of three and the Eags would be a good bet to host a first-round game. Win just one and they can figure to be going to either Portland or Pocatello for the first round. Lose them all? Let's not go there, although even in that case, the Eagles could get help, since Northern Colorado has games with Weber and PSU. Meanwhile,Montana State has dropped six straight and still has to play at co-leader Montana next week.
