At this pace, let’s give NJIT an NCAA Tournament bid.
Since the word “bubble” is becoming a four-letter word, why not
give it to a four-letter team?
In perhaps the most atrocious collection of mediocrity seen
on the bubble yet, teams are dropping like flies left and right down the
stretch. Conference tournament sites have become mass graveyards for aspiring
NCAA Tournament contenders.
That stench, coming from the collective rotting carcasses
and bursting bubbles of teams nationwide, has left a rhetorical question on the
minds of self-proclaimed bracketologists and college
basketball fans alike: “does anyone want a bid?”
And the answer, at least based on the first three days of
conference tournament action, has been a resounding “No!”
If history has taught us anything with regard to the final
at-large selections by the NCAA selection committee on an annual basis, it’s
that a few undeserving teams are likely to make it. This year will be no
exception. But unlike most years, relatively speaking, no team is likely to
have a solid argument against being left out should the selection show not call
their name Sunday evening on CBS – unlike Syracuse last season and
Missouri State the year before.
Beginning Thursday afternoon, the selection committee
checked in an Indianapolis hotel, and amid no fewer than 24 laptops in the
corresponding conference room, began making lists and checking them twice to
find the 65 best teams in the country.
That committee, which is comprised of 10 conference
commissioners and directors of athletics, six from football sub-division
institutions and four from smaller Division I colleges, is represented by at
least two individuals from each of the four geographical regions that
conferences are split-into. The Midwest region, which includes the Big Ten,
Conference USA, Horizon League, Mid-American Conference, Summit League, Big 12
and Missouri Valley Conference, includes Ohio State Athletic Director Gene
Smith, Kent State Athletic Director Laing Kennedy and Horizon League
Commissioner Jonathan LeCrone this season.
As the committee got settled in yesterday, they started by
submitting two ballots: the first a list of no more than 34 teams that, as of
that moment deserved an at-large bid based on successful play to date. Any
teams that had already clinched an automatic bid by virtue of a conference
tournament championship or (in the case of the Ivy League) a regular season
championship were excluded. The second ballot lists any other team deserving of
at-large consideration, regardless of the possibility they may, at some point
this weekend, clinch an automatic bid.
To accurately gauge the less-than-blissful bubble landscape,
one must first depict the teams whose fates are secure. In other words, it’s
best to take a look at the teams who knows their names will be called later
this weekend.
That list, most likely looks something like this today:
1.
Xavier (Atlantic 10)
2.
North Carolina (ACC)
3.
Duke (ACC)
4.
Clemson (ACC)
5.
Miami FL (ACC)
6.
Kansas (Big 12)
7.
Texas (Big 12)
8.
Kansas State (Big 12)
9.
Oklahoma (Big 12)
10.
Georgetown (Big East)
11.
Notre Dame (Big East)
12.
Louisville (Big East)
13.
Connecticut (Big East)
14.
Marquette (Big East)
15.
Pittsburgh (Big East)
16.
West Virginia (Big East)
17.
Wisconsin (Big Ten)
18.
Indiana (Big Ten)
19.
Purdue (Big Ten)
20.
Michigan St. (Big Ten)
21.
BYU (Mountain West)
22.
UCLA (Pac-10)
23.
Stanford (Pac-10)
24.
Southern California (Pac-10)
25.
Washington St. (Pac-10)
26.
Tennessee (SEC)
27.
Vanderbilt (SEC)
28.
Kentucky (SEC)
29.
Mississippi St. (SEC)
30.
Arkansas (SEC)
31.
Gonzaga (West Coast)
32.
St. Mary’s (West Coast)
Sure, there are other teams that are closing in on bids, but
more than likely, it’s those 32 teams that should have little to no
worries just 24 hours from now when the field of 65 teams is announced.
That list would leave room for one additional at-large bid.
In addition, the ACC Champion, the Big 12 Champion, the Big East Champion, Big
Ten Champion, Pac-10 Champion and SEC Champion may still yet be removed from
this list thanks to automatic bids. So in total, as many as eight (8) more bids
may open up to the proverbial “bubble” the rest of the weekend.
And there are a whole slew of teams fighting for those eight
spots.
To see what the committee sees, let’s stack those
teams up complete with accompanying profile information.
Of course, on Sunday, Illinois looks to steal a bid from
someone by beating Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship. But beyond that, the
bubble teams look to be unscathed after Virginia Tech lost to North Carolina
early Saturday afternoon and Memphis won the Conference USA Championship in
convincing fashion.
As of this writing, both Saint Joseph’s and Temple are
fighting it out for the Atlantic 10 Championship so one of those two teams off
the list of 23 possible at-large bids will not need the gratuity of an at-large
selection.
For those wondering, my picks of these eight would be:
Arizona, Ohio State, Baylor, Texas A&M, Villanova,
South Alabama, UNLV and either Illinois State, the loser of the Atlantic 10
Championship, Oregon, Arizona State or Mississippi.