Perhaps not winning the Big West Tournament could've hurt Long Beach State entirely. But their fans have forgotten that this team is not entirely out of the NCAA tournament entirely.
UC Santa Barbera deserved the 64-56 win after gaining the floor in the second half of the championship game, leaving Long Beach State to wonder if they are ever going to get into the tournament. To answer it, it is still a reasonable possibility.
The standings show that Long Beach State finished with a 20-10 record and at the top of the Big West before the Big West Tournament. They were 14-2 in the conference, the only losses coming on the road at Cal State Fullerton (Titans!!!!) and at UC Irvine. Since then, they've had a remarkable winning streak up until the championship game.
But the 14-2 conference record, including two big wins against UC Santa Barbera, is really saying something interesting about the 49ers. That conference record should at least get them into the tournament. They've also lost eight other games, but that was against teams like Washington, North Carolina (they lost a tight game against them), and Arizona State, who were all much, much better than Long Beach State.
So there's no reason why they shouldn't be in the NCAA tournament. It can afford two Big West teams in the tournament. Long Beach State has played a remarkable season and it would help the school and the team really much if they would at least get their hands on a seed in the NCAA tournament.
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