With the first round action at Tuesday's ACC and Big 12 tournament kick-off, Madness of Championship Week is on the verge of enveloping us all.
Here are four things you can do to make us even more crazy this week than most people.
1. Power Conference Bid Thief
When you hear the term “bid thief” this year, you usually think of meetings like the Atlantic 10 or Missouri Valley. There are teams with one or two locked teams to play the NCAA tournament, and then everyone else is fighting to “steal” bids from one of the teams on the bubble.
But even big boys can steal bids.
The winners of the old PAC-12 (RIP) multiple conference tournaments were teams who were comfortable outside looking at the 68 fields when Championship Week began. Georgetown Hoyas Despite starting the week, he won the 2021 Big East Tournament. last year, NC status He won the ACC Tournament title and knocked Oklahoma out of the big dance with an incredible five wins in five days of running.
So, look out for those who get hot in one of this week's Power Five tournaments and are ruining everything for the team who lives on the edge of last month. In fact, we could probably call this week's Power Four. LSU Or South Carolina won the SEC tournament. We are almost certainly talking about tournament champions who were already dancing.
A power conference with the most likely chance of creating bid thieves? It must be ACC.
Certainly, Duke is incredible and dominates the conference at a level that is rarely seen, but the ACC has not won postseason tournaments all along the way back to 2018.
2. Auburn could lose the entire seed
Mostly thanks to the otherworldly strength of this year's SEC, Auburn has compiled historic NCAA Tournament resumes this season.
The Tigers had a whopping 16 quadrants – my victory, and most teams in the country have easily won since the NCAA went to the quadrant system. They've been 11-0 in games other than Quadrant-I, playing the toughest schedule in America depending on all metrics, and locking out the full championship in the toughest league in the sport before the final week of the regular season begins.
Naturally, there are many who claimed that Auburn locked up the overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, first place in the NCAA Tournament before the calendar marched.
They may have spoken too soon.
Just like the Tigers, most of the advanced metrics utilized by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee believes Duke is better at this point. The Blue Devils are ranked 1st on the net, 1st on Kenpom, 1st on BPI, and 1st on T-rank. Duke has also lost only once since last November, but Auburn has dropped both of his last two regular-season games.
Oh yeah, Duke hit Auburn from head to head.
Despite being one of the strongest resumes for the NCAA Tournament, despite seeing in recent memory, if Auburn fails early in the SEC tournament and Duke takes care of the business in Charlotte, the Tigers are very likely to be left to second seed status on Sunday's selection.
3. St. John's is very angry, St. John's makes everyone else very angry
Without a doubt, one of the best stories of the 2024-25 college basketball season is Rick Pitino and St. John's Red Storm. The Hall of Fame head coach injected his life into New York's long dormant program, leading Johnny to his first Big East regular season title in 40 years.
St. John's is 27-4 overall and will begin this week's Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden.
Let St. John take Pitino and all the hubbubs about St. John returning for a while. If you say that Any team Any The head coach could enter the selection on Sunday as the dual big East champion, and simply assume that the team is earning the No. 1 seed with a 30-4 overall record. At the very least, I'd assume the team has locked in one of the top two seeds.
This may not be the case with St. John's.
As great as Redstorm's overall record, sparkling as much as the national rankings for No. 5 (Coach Poll) and No. 6 (AP Voting), they have no depth in their tournament resumes.
St. John's is currently ranked 16th in the net rankings, winning just four elephants. This is the least of the top 20 teams outside of Gonzaga. This is playing at the West Coast Conference and is currently predicted to be the number eight seed.
If St. John's wins the Big East Tournament and wins the second seed, the committee will have to justify it by calling the infamous “eye test.” It will disrupt a few teams with better quality wins and better computer numbers. On the back, if St. John's wins 30 games before Sunday's selection, wins both Big East Championships and doesn't score March Madness' top two seeds, Pitino may set a one-man riot in the middle of Times Square.
If you don't have skin in the game, both options are fun.
4. Delaware can join elite groups
In the history of Division I College basketball, only two teams have won the NCAA Tournament by winning five games in five days and winning conference tournament titles.
The first uconn In 2011, led by the incredible play of star guard Kemba Walker, the 9th seed Husky made history with an incredible run that included a top seed pit in the quarterfinals and overtime victory in the semi-finals. Walker and the company then brought their success to Big Dance, where they made a surprise run to win the program's third national championship.
Unlike UCONN, last year's NC state team had no chance to create an NCAA tournament if they didn't perform any miracles in the conference tournament. That's exactly what Wolfpack did, winning five games in five days. This is a run highlighted by the stunning upset between state rivals Duke and North Carolina and Virginia's thrilling overtime victories. The spell continued deep into March as the puck was stacked with four more victories and was interrupted by another upset by Duke's incentive to send the program to the first Final 4 since 1983.
Although Championship Week is young, there is already a team on the verge of joining UConn and NC State at the 5 Timers Club. If they can match the successes that Husky and Wolfpack had in Big Dance since they got the job done, it's safe to say that it will become the biggest March madness story of all time.
Delaware lost six straight wins last Friday, ending the regular season and 11 of its final 12 games. The Blue Hens (Blue Hens!) ranked 267th in Kenpon, and was the seed of 12 out of 14 teams in the Coastal Athletics Association Tournament, and not winning it from the weekend was a very safe bet.
Then the march took place.
Blue Hens (Blue Hens!) found a touch from the outside and won the first round with 13th seed Stony Brook. Then they Really I found a touch from outside. Delaware blasted fifth seed Campbell with 17, then multiplied 100 points with a 22-point upset from fourth seed William & Mary, then defeated top seed Towson with 10. The only thing standing now between the hen and the NCAA tournament is Tuesday night tilt.
When was Delaware's last victory over DI's opponents five times in a row? December 2023. Now they're one win from doing it with a single 5 game stretch on the biggest stage the meeting offers.
If they can pass Wilmington, no one has said Pencil Delaware in your Final Four, but perhaps they are moving forward from the first four of Dayton.
