The Bears, the Eagles, the field and the math

And then there were two. Well, sort of.

With Portland State’s victory over Montana Thursday, the Grizzlies took a large step back in the quest for the No. 2 seed in the women’s basketball Big SkyConference Championship next week in Pocatello, Idaho.

So, instead of Montana possibly being tied with UNC and Eastern Washington, the Bears and Eagles are now tied with one game remaining.

The University of Northern Colorado, however, now has only one team to worry about: Eastern Washington.

Luckily, the Bears have the easiest path to the second seed and a bye into the semifinals of the conference tournament.

All the Bears have to do is win Saturday at home against Portland State. Even if Eastern Washington wins its final game against Idaho State, UNC still owns the tiebreaker over the Eagles (and Montana, for that matter) should they end up with the same conference record thanks to a season sweep of the teams’ two games.

Eastern Washington would end up with the second seed if UNC loses and the Eagles defeat Idaho State. Based on recent games alone, though, UNC seemingly still has the advantage.

The Bears have won six of their last seven games, including four straight. Eastern Washington has lost three straight, the most recent coming against Idaho State by 13 points at home. Now the Eagles must face the same Bengals team in Pocatello, where ISU is 10-2 this season.

It’s likely the only way Montana gets the second seed is if Eastern Washington, UNC and Montana State all lose and the Grizzlies win at Northern Arizona, who’s struggled this season.

There are a lot of “ifs” involved there, and it’s probable UM will defeat the Lumberjacks anyway, but UNC can save everybody a lot of math problems and scoreboard-watching with a win Saturday at Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion.