San Diego proves WCC suits were right to move tourney

Gonzaga is still going dancing, although its seeding may have suffered. Saint Mary's must must anxiously wait to see if the fairy godmother will come with an invitation to the Big Dance.

And San Diego, on the wings of its home crowd, already has a ticket punched.

Nothing should diminish the Torrero's achievement's this weekend in San Diego. Coming back from a seemingly insurmountable deficit (helped by SMC's sudden inability to find the basket) to make it to the finals, then stunning powerhouse Gonzaga to win the West Coast Conference championship. Their play was inspired and thrilling to watch.

But it's ironic that all of this happened the same weekend the WCC announced that next year's tournament will be held on an neutral site, in Las Vegas. San Diego's victory showed precisely why the WCC tournament needs a neutral court, and thus that the conference made the right decision.

The reasoning behind rotating the tournament between schools makes some sense. It allows the action to remain close to home. Many I'm sure feel that by playing the games in some far-off arena, the tournament loses some of its charm.

But the WCC is no longer a sideshow conference, exciting to watch for the students at those schools and the alumni who still follow games, but few else. In basketball, at least, it has become a player on the national stage. Gonzaga has been a Top-25 team for most of the past 10 years. Saint Mary's is quickly becoming the conference's second powerhouse. And each year an upstart challenger not wearing blue and red seems to provide trouble for the Gaels and the Zags: San Diego this year, Santa Clara last year, Loyola Marymount the year before.

Hosting the tournament gives the home team an incredible advantage. This usually mattered little since Gonzaga was a sure shot to win the conference anyways, but now it's different. Other teams, notably Saint Mary's but increasingly San Diego and Santa Clara, are posing an increasing threat to the Zags' dominance.

In addition, the tournament is not even rotated fairly. Of the eight teams in the conference, only half are allowed to host. Saint Mary's, Loyola Marymount, San Francisco and Pepperdine are ineligible because their gyms don't meet the requirements. So while Gonzaga, Santa Clara, San Diego and Portland can travel to another school's home court knowing that in a few years they enjoy playing for the title in front of a friendly crowd, the others will never get that advantage.

Few analysts doubt that, had the tournament been held anywhere other than San Diego, the outcome would have been different. True, if you're good enough to make the NCAA tournament, you should win tough road games. But the Big Dance is held on entirely neutral courts.

Home court advantage is rightly a part of the regular season, because its evened out. You know you're going to have face their team in their gym, but you also know that, sometime else in the season, you'll face them again at home. But in the postseason, when its one-and-done, you don't have a chance to make up for any advantage the crowd provides. And in college basketball, the crowd provides a huge advantage.

Your postseason chances should be determined by the statement you made - your record - in the regular season, not by the noise level of a partisan crowd. The WCC was right to elect to move the tournament, and with the WCC on the rise in the college basketball world, let's hope the decision stands.