Will St. Mary's Add Another Game?

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In a unique bit of strategy, Randy Bennett is considering adding another game after the WCC tournament, but before Selection Sunday.

The NCAA allows a team to play 29 games, plus one for the conference tournament if it is not in an exempt tournament. If the team does play in an exempt tournament (like the Anaheim Classic that St. Mary's played in is), then the number of games the team is allowed to play goes up to 32.

Patty Mills may be back in the line-up for the WCC Tournament.
(photo credit: ESPN)

The Gaels played 29 games this season, which means that they can still add another one legally.

Playing in the game would not effect St. Mary's RPI rankings much, and likely would not influence the committee much at all because the Gaels would either be playing a D2 team or an independent D1 team.

So why play the game?

Reps.

Randy Bennett is trying to get a team that was missing its star player, a guy who dominates the ball, for a month back into a rhythm. Missing a guy that is that instrumental in your offense changes the way a team plays. You have to adjust how you play without the star, but you also need to adjust to the way you play with your star.

If St. Mary's does end up getting into the dance, having an extra game to get back into a rhythm, both for the team and for Mills, could really benefit the Gaels.