Behind Texas Southern, a Lowly Conference Rides High

PORTLAND, Oregon — Among the few constants in college basketball is the Southwestern Athletic Conference’s position at the bottom. The conference, consisting of historically black colleges, is perennially the lowest-rated league in the country. Of the 351 teams ranked in the Basketball Power Index, only one SWAC team is higher than No. 261.

That is Texas Southern, seeded 15th in the West Region and matched against No. 2 Arizona on Thursday. And while it is unlikely that the Tigers (B.P.I.: 210) will become the first SWAC team since 1993 to win a round-of-64 game in the N.C.A.A. tournament, they have the attention of big-name programs.

Coach Mike Davis coached at Indiana for six seasons, leading the Hoosiers to the 2002 championship game. This season, Davis’s third with the Tigers, Texas Southern beat Michigan State and Kansas State on the road, part of an intentionally brutal nonconference schedule intended to make up for the anchor effect of playing in the SWAC.

“My vision for the program is to one day get it to the level of an at-large bid,” Davis said Wednesday.

The nonconference schedule included games at Indiana, Tennessee, Southern Methodist, Baylor, Florida, Gonzaga and Auburn. That helps the strength-of-schedule component of the rankings, of course. But the goal is winning.

CONTINUE READING