Here’s the list of teams who have already qualified by winning their conference tournaments:Xavier is No. 42 in KenPom’s rankings and No. 45 in the NET rankings with a 1-9 record in Quad 1 games, helped by an 8-2 mark in Quad 2 games.Xavier (21-11): The Musketeers should have played themselves into the tournament with […]
Here’s the list of teams who have already qualified by winning their conference tournaments:Xavier is No. 42 in KenPom’s rankings and No. 45 in the NET rankings with a 1-9 record in Quad 1 games, helped by an 8-2 mark in Quad 2 games.Xavier (21-11): The Musketeers should have played themselves into the tournament with the way they performed down the stretch. Xavier closed the regular season on a seven-game win streak, though it’s worth mentioning that six of those seven wins came against teams in the bottom four in the Big East.UNC ranks No. 33 in KenPom’s metrics and is 36th in the NET rankings with just a 1-12 record in Quad 1 games.
Hoping a Friday elimination was enough
[Yahoo Fantasy Bracket Mayhem is back: Enter for a shot to win up to K]The Mountaineers rank far behind both North Carolina and Texas in the NET and KenPom rankings, too. WVU is No. 53 in KenPom’s data despite having the No. 14 defense and is No. 51 in the NET rankings with a 6-9 record in Quad 1 games.The Broncos beat MWC No. 1 seed New Mexico 72-69 on Friday while Colorado State beat No. 3 seed Utah State 83-72 in the other semifinal. Boise State entered the MWC tournament as the No. 5 seed and has pulled two upsets to get to the title game.If Cooper Flagg and Maliq Brown were playing for the Blue Devils, you could make the case the game was enough for North Carolina to safely make the NCAA tournament field. Instead, both players sat out with injuries, and it still wasn’t enough for North Carolina to get the win.
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Did Colorado State steal bid in MWC title game?
Selection Sunday is almost here.Here’s our last look at the bubble before the 68-team bracket is revealed.North Carolina (22-13): The Tar Heels were a lane violation away from tying the game and potentially taking Duke to overtime in the ACC tournament on Friday night. UNC outscored the Blue Devils by 18 in the second half after trailing by 21 at halftime, but it wasn’t enough in the 74-71 loss.
Hoping they’re safe
America East: Bryant
American Athletic: UAB vs. Memphis, 3:15 p.m. ET Sunday
Atlantic 10: George Mason vs. VCU, 1 p.m. ET Sunday
ACC: Duke
ASUN: Lipscomb
Big 12: Houston
Big East: St. John’s
Big Sky: Montana
Big South: High Point
Big Ten: Wisconsin vs. Michigan, 3:30 p.m. ET Sunday
Big West: UC San Diego
CAA: UNC Wilmington
Conference USA: JLiberty
Horizon League: Robert Morris
Ivy League: Cornell vs. Yale, 12 p.m. ET Sunday
MAAC: Mount Saint Mary’s
MAC: Akron
MEAC: Norfolk State
Missouri Valley: Drake
Mountain West: Colorado State
Northeast: Saint Francis
Ohio Valley: SIU Edwardsville
Patriot League: American University
SEC: Tennessee vs. Florida, 1 p.m. ET Sunday
Southern: Wofford
Southland: McNeese
SWAC: Alabama State
Summit League: Omaha
Sun Belt: Troy
West Coast: Gonzaga
WAC: Grand CanyonTexas (19-15): The Longhorns are three spots behind the Tar Heels in the NET rankings and 10 spots back in KenPom’s data after losing to Tennessee in the SEC tournament quarterfinals Friday. Texas is much better in Quad 1 games — 7-10 — than North Carolina, but is just 3-5 in Quad 2 games. A win over Texas A&M on Thursday should have been enough for the Longhorns to get into the tournament, but they can’t feel totally sure about their status until they see their name on a seed line on Selection Sunday. And if Texas is in, there’s a decent chance the Longhorns are heading to Dayton for a First Four game on either Tuesday or Wednesday.Saturday was chock-full of conference tournament semifinals and finals as the last automatic bids to the men’s NCAA tournament are finalized. Grand Canyon University beat Utah Valley to win the WAC tournament and claim a bid in Saturday’s final game. With most bubble teams already eliminated from their respective conference tournaments, there will be a lot of waiting and hoping before Sunday’s selection show.Both CSU and BSU had a case for an at-large spot before the title game.
Automatic bids
Colorado State (24-9) earned the Mountain West’s automatic bid on Saturday with a 69-56 win over Boise State (24-9), but the Broncos should be in the field as well.West Virginia (19-13): The Mountaineers are feeling a bit uneasy this weekend after a one-and-done performance in the Big 12 tournament. West Virginia got the No. 8 seed in the Big 12 after winning three of its last four regular-season games but lost 67-60 to cellar dweller Colorado in its first Big 12 tournament game.
