Why?

Because the Presidents' Athletic Conference champion - either 15-12 Grove City or 14-13 Washington & Jefferson - doesn't receive an automatic berth to the national tournament. That won't happen until next year when the PAC expands to eight members with the addition of St. Vincent.

If the PAC had an automatic berth, the conference would be taking a spot away from a more deserving team.

Joe Onderko, the executive director of the PAC, spent Friday morning traveling to Crestview Hills, Ky., where the PAC women's basketball Final Four is being held this weekend and 20-4 Thomas More and 21-5 Westminster are entertaining thoughts of making the Division III tournament. Onderko has to like their chances if either wins the PAC.

Onderko, however, also had to be wondering during his drive what it says about the PAC when two teams, barely above the .500, are playing for the men's basketball title.

At first glance, it doesn't look good for a conference when two teams with double-digit losses are in the final. It's like DePaul and St. John's playing in the Big East tournament championship. Think that wouldn't make commissioner Mike Tranghese cringe?

But if you move beyond the less-than-imposing records, you'll find tonight's PAC final at Henry Memorial Center features the two hottest teams in the league, and the goal of any conference tournament is to pit the teams playing the best at season's end in the final. Both W&J and Grove City pulled off semifinal wins on the road over teams that had at least 18 wins. They earned their spots in the title game, even if people aren't likely to be impressed by their records.

"To those people, I'd say come see the basketball," W&J coach Glenn Gutierrez said. "This is a very competitve league. From the first-place to the seventh-place team, anyone is capable of beating anyone else. And it says something about the two teams in the final that they went on the road and won in the semifinals."

The PAC is nothing if not competitive and unpredictable. It's the poster conference for parity. Waynesburg, the preseason favorite in the PAC, finished fifth in the regular season but beat Grove City twice. On Tuesday, Grove City beat the Yellow Jackets by 29 points in the first round of the tournament. It's easier to figure out a Rubik's Cube than a PAC game.

What the PAC is lacking, and desperately needs, is a powerhouse team. It usually has one such team in football, which legitimizes the conference in that sport. In this week's Division III regional men's basketball rankings and top 25 poll, there were no PAC teams to be found. No surprise there.

Bethany won the conference and advanced to Division III tournament in each of the last two years, only to lose in the first round. It was unable to score a win that would be the breakthrough for the PAC on the national scene. Until a team does that - and the chances will be improved with the automatic berth next year - the PAC will be considered a mere mid-major among Division III conferences.

"If you compare us to the Ohio Athletic Conference, we're not that. But there are reasons why," Bethany coach Aaron Huffman said. "In Ohio, there are about three Division II schools in the entire state. If you're a Division III program, it's a goldmine. Here, where we're located, anyone who can play is at least on a Division II campus visiting.

"Basketball in this conference is solid. Is it as good as the OAC? No. We had the longest winning streak in PAC history end this year and at no time during that streak did we make the top 25. But that doesn't mean we didn't play good basketball. We're not a bad conference. I can tell you about bad conferences, but I won't go there."

It doesn't help the PAC's reputation that W&J lost nine of its first 10 nonconference games this season, though many were to quality opponents. And, as Huffman says, the only similarity between the W&J team now and the one in December is the roster.

"I'd like to see W&J go back through those first 11 games," Huffman said. "I guarantee they wouldn't go 1-10 again. They are so much better now. W&J is a good basketball team."

So just how good is W&J and Grove City? Good only on a PAC level? Competitive with some of the best teams in the region or Division III? W&J senior guard Jon Koch, the school's all-time leading scorer, says it's up to each individual to decide.

"Before you question what the conference is like, you should see a game," he says.

The last chance to catch one this season is 7:30 tonight at Henry Memorial Center.

Sports editor Chris Dugan can be reached at dugan@observer-reporter.com

Home