Madness before madness is upon us.
The major conference tournaments begin on Tuesday and don’t slow down until just before Sunday’s selections are announced. Here are his five biggest questions answered in the coming week.
1. Who will get the fourth No. 1 seed?
university universityPurdue, and Houston all could lose by 35 points in the first game of their respective conference tournaments, and a 1 seed in Sunday’s selection is still out of reach.
You might think “who will be the No. 1 overall seed” would be a logical starting point. That’s interesting, but the reality is that it doesn’t matter at all this year.
The biggest benefit of being the No. 1 seed throughout the tournament is that you get to choose your geographic path to the Final Four. The problem this season is that all three teams are so far apart that all teams will get their desired geographic designation, regardless of seeding order.
Headed to Brooklyn and then Boston for college. Houston would be sent to Memphis and then Dallas. Purdue will play in Indianapolis and then in Detroit.
So there’s nothing particularly interesting about the top three seeds overall. That fourth No. 1 seed…
There are three teams that have a strong case to take that final spot, and at least two others are praying. His five teams from five different conferences.
Tennessee appears to have the inside line despite losing at home to Kentucky on Saturday. Based on their overall history, winning the SEC Tournament; should Grab the last spot on the top line.
There is one thing worth noting here. The SEC tournament finals will be held on Selection Sunday. For many years, the general belief (as of 2015) was that selection committees would not consider the impact of Sunday games unless absolutely necessary. they actually admitted They did not take into account the impact of the previous year’s SEC title game due to “time constraints”). So maybe if North Carolina State (the team I think is No. 2 here) advances to the ACC Tournament Championship on Saturday, the committee thinks it doesn’t really matter who is No. 4 and who is No. 5. He will judge and be defeated. Go ahead and give UNC the top spot. Must take a look.
Arizona in the Pac-12 also has a chance at the No. 1 seed, but it will need to win the conference tournament convincingly and then both of the other teams in the top half lose, preferably before the conference championship game.
iowa and Marquette are both long shots (much longer), but there’s a world where one of them wins the conference title in dominant fashion and everyone else loses early and ends up on the top line. .
2. Which bubble team will solidify an at-large bid?
People love to ignore the bubble talk and say too much attention has been focused on teams that haven’t accomplished anything of substance in the NCAA Tournament in recent weeks.
I’m here to argue that those people are wrong.
First of all, the “First Four” (four games typically played in Dayton on Tuesday and Wednesday, featuring the lowest four seeded teams in the field and the last four teams to qualify). is quite controversial and often controversial. Though ridiculed since its inception in 2011, the team from Dayton has won at least one game in the tournament’s “main game” every year, but only once since the First Four took hold. The only year that didn’t happen was 2019.
Overall, the First Four has produced a total of 22 wins, five Sweet 16 teams, and two Final Four teams in the tournament’s “main game,” the most recent being UCLA in 2021.
Additionally, all but one Final Four since 2012 has had at least one team seeded No. 7 or lower. Since 2011, a total of 12 teams seeded seventh or lower have been eliminated in the final weekend of the season, a significant portion of which were at or near the center of the “bubble” conversation during the final week of the regular season. .
Basically, bubbles are important.
I guess to summarize things, I can say we have four openings for 14 different teams. His one of those teams, Indiana State University, is no longer available to play basketball. Their case was settled. The other, James Madison, will play Monday night against Arkansas State for the Sun Belt championship. If you win, you will qualify. If they lose, the company will have to decide whether to remove a 30-win team from its 68 teams for the first time in history.
Here are the other 13 teams and their game times this week:
st john’s — Thursday, Big East tournament quarterfinals vs. Seton Hall.
villanova — Wednesday, Big East tournament first round vs. DePaul
providence — Wednesday, Big East tournament first round vs. Georgetown.
wake forest — Wednesday, ACC Tournament second round vs. notre dame cathedral/Georgia Tech
Virginia — Thursday, ACC Tournament Quarterfinals vs. TBD
pittsburgh —Thursday, ACC Tournament Quarterfinals vs. TBD
new mexico – Wednesday, mountain west Tournament 1st round vs Air Force
iowa — Thursday, Big Ten Tournament second round vs. Ohio
Ohio — Thursday, Big Ten Tournament second round vs. Iowa.
Texas A&M — Thursday, SEC Tournament second round vs. Ole Miss
mississippi — Thursday, SEC Tournament second round vs. LSU
colorado — Thursday, Pac-12 Tournament Quarterfinals vs. Utah/arizona
Kansas — Wednesday, Big 12 Tournament second round vs. Texas
Bubble madness begins within about 48 hours. Please rest now.
3. Which teams will be eliminated from national title contention before the tournament begins?
My favorite March tidbit is that no team has ever won the national championship by losing the first game of a conference tournament.
The closest a team came to this trend was Texas Tech in 2019. The Red Raiders were upset by West Virginia in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament, but three weeks later they came within one game of defeating Virginia to win the national title. .
When an unexpected early exit occurs during championship week, fans (and sometimes coaches) treat it as if it’s a hidden blessing that the team can get a few extra days of rest before the big dance. I like to behave. In reality, the numbers show that this is not the case.
4. Will there be a bid thief or multiple bid thieves this week?
As previously mentioned, the Bubble Boys will be rooting hard for James Madison in the Sun Belt Championship Game on Monday night. If the Dukes are upset by the tournament’s No. 7 seed, Arkansas State, they could end up with a stellar 30-4 record, including road wins. michigan, is enough to get you into the dance. With two teams from the Sun Belt joining, he will be one less spot for other teams.
Obviously, Georgetown in 2021 or if there is a 2021; oregon A situation where a team with no shots in the tournament gets hot and wins four or five games in four or five days doesn’t bode well for anyone in the bubble.
In the American Athletic Conference, Florida Atlantic is a strong contender for the NCAA Tournament, but other teams in the league, including Memphis and South Florida, must win their conference tournaments to qualify. There is a high possibility that there is. It’s certainly possible.
The major leagues to watch for bid theft this week will be the Atlantic 10. Dayton is the No. 3 seed in the tournament, but the Flyers are the only team in the conference locked in top 68. -10s tournament finals will be held on Selection Sunday. There have been many times in recent years when teams watching from the outside have torn up their tickets hours before the standings were announced, shattering the united spirit of a team that was unknowingly sitting in the 68th place spot. -10 brings us the cruelest drama this year as well.
5. Who will be fired?
Mike Hopkins has already left in Washington, and Louisville’s Kenny Payne seems like a sure bet to win within 24-48 hours of the Cardinals’ elimination in the ACC Tournament. But there are several other names from power conferences who could be coaching for their jobs this week.
Here’s a list of players to watch this week:
Jerrod Haas (Stanford)
Jerry Stackhouse (Vanderbilt)
Wayne Tinkle (Oregon)
Mike Boynton (Oklahoma State)
Juwan Howard (Michigan)
Bobby Hurley (Arizona)
People like Kevin Keats (north carolina), Johnny Dawkins (UCF) and Andy Enfield (USC) may not be in the high-profile seats as some of the other players on this list, but it’s important to avoid embarrassment this week. Of course (the Wolfpack plays Louisville in the ACC in the first round of the tournament on Tuesday). A player like Pitt’s Jeff Capel would need at least one win in D.C. to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
