Coach Tim O'Shea knows that a win at New Mexico State Saturday really doesn't mean anything.
Aside from a possible boost in momentum, Ohio's ESPNU BracketBuster matchup with the Aggies will do nothing to affect O'Shea's primary concern ' the Bobcats' standing in the Mid-American Conference.
I would gladly trade a win there for a win in the conference
O'Shea said. If you're a coach right now you're far more concerned with conference play. This is more of an ESPN-inspired event.
This is the fourth year the Bobcats have participated in the two-day, ESPN-created event, which pairs more than 100 teams from mid-major conferences this year. The Bobcats are 2-1 in BracketBuster games.
The farthest the Bobcats have had to travel for a BracketBuster game was in 2005, when it lost at Butler ' a far cry from the near 4,000 miles they will log on their trip to Las Cruces, N.M. this weekend.
It's a tough trip. Let's face it O'Shea said. It's 4
000 miles over the weekend for a single game in the middle of the season.
The Bobcats left at 5 this morning and travel all day before they practice tonight. Because of the game's odd starting time of midnight tomorrow, Ohio will not return to Athens until late Sunday.
Even though a win won't do anything for the Bobcats' place in the MAC, it would snap a rough two-game slide that has the team reeling. Tuesday's 31-point loss at Akron was the largest deficit the team had lost by since 1998 when they lost by 32 to Miami.
It's tough trying to bounce back from that
especially at the end of the season
guard G
obviously
we aren't doing that right now.
Just to get a win against a real good team would reassure us that we're still a good team, Davis said.
New Mexico State is
indeed
a very good team. The Aggies (19-6
9-3 Western-Athletic Conference) are second in the WAC and are undefeated at home this season. A win for the Aggies tomorrow could clinch an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament if they are unable to win their conference tournament.
They probably feel that this is a game they have to win, O'Shea said. If we were to beat them, it'd throw a kink in their armor.",",17,Archives,Andrew Gribble,200702163743midsize.jpg,Ohio guard Whitney Davis goes up for a shot under the basket in the second half of Ohio's 81-74 loss to Northern Illinois. The Bobcats visit New Mexico State tomorrow as part of ESPN's BracketBuster tomorrow.,",",",","
18055,2007-02-16 06:10:00,Women's Basketball: Bobcats set for rematch with RedHawks,",Ohio's revenge tour is under way.
After salvaging a split in its season series with Kent State on Wednesday night
