Selection Sunday can sting in the worst way if you’re on the wrong side of the gate.
For every bubble team that finds itself in the field of 68, there’s a George Mason who comes up short (68-63 loss in the Atlantic 10 Championship Game) in its conference tournament and doesn’t hear its name during Selection Sunday.
“I’d love to know when the last time an A-10 team won 26 games and did not get in the NCAA Tournament,” Patriots head coach Tony Skinn said Saturday before Selection Sunday.
“I think that (game) just showed to you how strong this league is, and how deserving George Mason is for an NCAA Tournament bid. A 26-win season, 15-3 in conference, you get to the final game. It’s tough.”
The Patriots will host Samford Wednesday in the first round of the NIT.
Maryland did hear its name called Sunday, receiving the No. 4 seed in the West Region and a first-round date with Grand Canyon in Seattle Friday. Heading into the Big Ten Tournament, there was an outside chance the Terps might move up into a No. 3 seed.
“I think the Michigan game (81-80 loss in the Big Ten Semifinals) kind of knocked us off the three-line. I think if we had gotten to the finals against Wisconsin, I think we would have had a good shot for a three,” Maryland head coach Kevin Willard said. “But again, I’m not complaining about four. I think it’s a great opportunity for us.”
Grand Canyon is fresh from winning the WAC Tournament after finishing second in the regular season. The Antelopes are led by former March Madness hero Bryce Drew, who hit a buzzer-beater in 1998 for Valparaiso against Ole Miss.
“Bryce is a heck of a coach,” Willard said. “It’s his third straight NCAA Tournament. They play fast. They’ve been there before. I have tremendous respect for Bryce as a coach.”
The Terps enter the tournament having won 12 of 15, with those three losses all coming at the buzzer (Ohio State, Michigan State, Michigan). And after hearing their name Sunday, have at least 40 more minutes to dream.
“I say this every year that when you’re an at-large team, you’re pretty much saying that you’ve had one of the 30 best seasons in college basketball. And that you’re a really good basketball team. It’s not easy to become an at-large team,” Willard said. “I told them to enjoy it and get ready to get to work tomorrow.”
The rest of the West includes SEC champ Florida, Big East champ St. John’s, and two-time defending national champ UConn. Also in the mix: bid-stealer Colorado State (Rams were likely not going to get an at-large bid), SEC sad-sack Oklahoma (6-12 conference record), plus a potential Rick Pitino-John Calipari coaching showdown in the second round (providing St. John’s and Arkansas win their first round games).
So let’s tip off our “Bold” (which team in the bracket wins a game or two beyond their seeding), Fold (which school underperforms) and “Gold” (who goes to San Antonio for the Final Four) picks.
Bold: Kansas has been a disappointment all season, dropping out of the rankings for the first time since the 2020-21 season. But they’ve got a pair of fifth-year seniors in Hunter Dickinson and Dajuan Harris Jr. who are looking to make their final days in Jayhawk uniforms matter.
Fold: Which Missouri will we get? The one that beat Florida and Alabama when each was in the top five, or the Tigers team that has dropped five of seven entering the tournament? Leading scorer Mark Mitchell is also a question mark after suffering a knee injury in the SEC Tournament. They also face a rested 30-win Drake in the First Round.
Gold: Get used to the “Crab Five” being mentioned by the CBS and Turner crew over the next few weeks, because Maryland’s starting five is good enough to play its way not only to its first Sweet Sixteen trip since 2016, but also reach the Final Four for the first time since the 2002 National Championship season.
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