It wasnt. But, personally, I think its probably the 3rd best Tourney in the Nation. ASA Nationals, ASA Ca. State, and Fresno, in that order. Just my personal opinion........
Fresno is a very good tournament with very good competition and comes at a good time of the year when everyone is itching for a big tourney...
Unfortunately, how you finish there really doesn't amount to a whole lot in the grand scheme of things.
I guess what I'm saying is that it lacks the prestige and recognition of the other tournaments. There isn't much on the line like an ASA berth or ASA championship so the pressure is much less than others. You'll often see teams perform reasonably well at Fresno yet crumble when it really counts and when the pressure is on at Nationals.
Hard to rank it really high when not much is riding on it but bragging rights for the 4 hour trip home.