There are just four days until Selection Sunday, with four area schools headed to the Big Dance regardless of how they perform in their conference tournaments, with a few others hopeful and still others delusional regarding March Madness hopes.
The in-crowd (with likely seeding)
Virginia: #1 seed in the East, headed to Charlotte for the first weekend with a round-of-64 matchup against the winner of Lafayette and North Florida (per ESPN) or St. Francis-NY (per CBS). Of course, American can bust that bracket with a win over the Leopards Wednesday in the Patriot League Finals.
Maryland: #3 seed in the East, headed to Pittsburgh and a matchup with Yale (ESPN) or Georgia State (CBS). Does the committee realize that Lefty Driesell’s retired?
Georgetown: CBS has the Hoyas as a #4 seed in the East, playing Central Michigan in Seattle, while ESPN has Gtown a #6 seed in the East facing Oklahoma State in Pittsburgh. Nothing like rekindling the magic of the Hoyas’ NCAA title 31 years later.
VCU: CBS sends the Rams to Pittsburgh as the #8 seed in the West Bracket, facing North Carolina State. ESPN sends Shaka Smart’s team to Omaha as the #10 seed in the East where they will meet Iowa. An A-10 flameout might push the one-time lock right on the bubble, especially if a team like the ones below makes a magical run through its conference tournament.
On the outside looking in
American (17-15, 8-10 Patriot League): After wins over Lehigh and Colgate, the Eagles stand one more upset on the road away from a second straight NCAA Tournament bid. Can they repeat the March Magic that got them to the dance during Mike Brennan’s first season with the Eagles? They face a Lafayette team (19-12, 9-9) that’s ahead of them in the standings, but one they swept during the regular season. All eyes on Easton, Pa. Wednesday night.
George Washington (20-11, 10-8 Atlantic 10): GW has to win the Atlantic 10 Tournament in a very top-heavy league: VCU & Dayton are deemed “locks” by the “experts,” Davidson might be the most dangerous, Richmond could be the hottest, and Rhode Island might be the best suited for March.
Richmond (19-12, 12-6 Atlantic 10): The Spiders remain the red-headed stepchild in the commonwealth’s capital city. Aren’t they headed to Brooklyn on a six-game winning streak? Didn’t they finish ahead of VCU in the standings? Didn’t they sweep the Rams? They can beat their crosstown rivals again in the A-10 Quarterfinals Friday — barring a VCU upset. But enough about the Spiders — can we talk more about Shaka Smart and the Rams’ HAVOC?
Old Dominion (24-6, 13-5 Conference USA): ODU is listed by ESPN as one of the first four out of the field…meaning the Monarchs need to advance to at least the finals of the Conference USA Tournament to have any hope of snagging an at-large bid. Of course, they could eliminate all doubt by winning the tournament. Coach Jeff Jones’ team has won six straight and faces the winner of Middle Tennessee and Charlotte Thursday in the first round. They swept the 89ers, but lost to the Blue Raiders on the road during the regular season. Will Jones grow a mustache ala Blaine Taylor?
On the outside looking in the opposite direction
George Mason (9-21, 4-14)– Bummer the Patriots didn’t qualify for the A-10 Tourney. What, there’s a double bye? They have to play 40 more minutes–against a Fordham team they lost by 12 to in the regular season? Not even the Green Machine can elevate this team to five wins in five days…
Howard (16-15, 10-6 MEAC)– can the miracle season continue for the Bison? Delaware State disposes of Savannah State 64-58, meaning that Howard will face the Hornets Friday in the MEAC Quarterfinals. The Bison lost the only regular season game January 12th, 79-76 in D.C.
Virginia Tech (10-21, 2-16 ACC)– At least it’s a relatively short drive from Blacksburg to Greensboro…
Bids locked up Monday/Tursday
CAA– Northeastern ended William & Mary’s dream, 72-61. The Tribe missed a chance to make the Big Dance for the first time ever: they’re one of five schools that have been a part of Division I since its inception in 1948 that haven’t reached the Mens Basketball Tournament (Army, The Citadel, Northwestern and St Francis-NY are the others).
Southern– Wofford holds off Furman, 67-64. The Paladins almost advanced to the tourney despite a losing record.
MAAC– Manhattan upsets Iona, 79-69. The Jaspers have busted brackets in the past, shocking Oklahoma in 1995 as a #13 seed and Florida as a #12 seed in 2004. Pressure defense? Three-point shooting? I think having a name like the Jaspers is enough to throw anybody off-balance.
NEC — Robert Morris overcame a six-point halftime deficit to upset top-seeded St. Francis. The boys from Moon Township, Pa. make their first trip to the dance since 2010.
Horizon — Valparaiso shook off a slow start to defend their regular season conference title and return to the tournament for the second straight year with a 54-44 victory over Wisconsin-Green Bay. Can coach Bryce Drew engineer the kind of memorable upset he produced as a player at Valpo?
WCC — Gonzaga was going to the tourney anyway, likely as a 2 or 3 seed, but they made it official with a resounding 91-7 win over a BYU team that had beaten them just 10 days prior. Can the Zags live up to their billing once the real dance begins?
Summit — North Dakota State hung on for dear life, thanks to a controversial overturned call in the final 10 seconds, and escaped South Dakota State 57-56 in essentially a road game in Sioux Falls. The Bison took down 5 seed Oklahoma last year
