For John Stalica’s recap of our Hoops HD Mock Selection Committee – CLICK HERE
Today is the final day to make NCAA tourney predictions: Selection Sunday! HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel correctly picked 66 of the 68 teams that made the 2025 tourney: 62 of his 66 were within 1 spot of their actual seed and 52 were right on the money. He will spend today predicting which 68 teams will hear their names called tonight. See below for his list of who will make the cut and if you agree or disagree then feel free to tweet us. To see how he stacks up with other websites (ranked 7th out of 186 bracket veterans over the past 5 years), check out: www.bracketmatrix.com
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SEED: TEAM (CONFERENCE) 1: Duke (ACC): AUTO-BID 1: Michigan (Big 10) 1: Arizona (Big 12): AUTO-BID 1: Florida (SEC)
2: Connecticut (Big East) 2: Houston (Big 12) 2: Iowa State (Big 12) 2: Michigan State (Big 10)
Tonight was our third night of committee meetings; this was our busiest night to date. We began the day with three at-large bids available; Ole Miss’s loss to Arkansas came as a relief to everyone on the bubble since a bid thief would no longer come out of the SEC. The Atlantic 10 was a different story since Dayton defeated Saint Louis on a last-second shot and could steal a bid on Selection Sunday with a win against VCU.
As for the voting itself, we had Mother Miami, Texas and VCU as carryover teams from the previous round of voting. We debated all of the teams Under Consideration; nobody ended up being motioned off of the Under Consideration board. After debate, each Committee member nominated six teams and submitted choices to Chad (our Chairman). The top four teams that were added to the nomination board were New Mexico, San Diego State, SMU and South Florida (in the event they lose to Wichita State in the American title game).
In the final round of voting, Mother Miami and VCU were voted into the at-large field; there was a tie between SMU and Texas for the final spot and the final contingency spot (in the event that the A-10 doesn’t result in a stolen bid). SMU got the guaranteed at-large spot and Texas ended up getting the contingency bid; Texas would move to the First Four Out in the event that Dayton wins the A-10 title. Our first four teams out ended up being San Diego State, South Florida (at-large), New Mexico and Florida State. Auburn would be the other team moving up in the event that South Florida wins the American.
Our next task was to continue seeding the field; we included teams that were still alive (i.e. Louisiana Tech, Toledo, UC-Irvine, Utah Valley) at the time of voting. We ended up seeding 73 teams at the time, but at the time of posting the list went down to 71 teams. It will ultimately become 68 teams once the Ivy League, A-10 and American championship games go final and we will have two contingency brackets – one for South Florida winning the autobid and one for Wichita State winning the auto bid.
Update (2:15 AM) – We added California Baptist to the field after an incredible finish in the WAC Championship. The Lancers hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 30 seconds left; Utah Valley had a chance to tie the game in regulation and MISSED a dunk with 2.7 seconds on the clock. CBU ran out the clock for their first NCAA Division I Tournament bid.
We also did an initial scrub of the Master Seed List; click on the above graphic to see where things stood through games of Saturday night. We will meet at 2:30 PM later today to do a final scrub of the seed list and bracket the field based on what happens in this afternoon’s games. Keep an eye on our website for our final bracket as well as Jon Teitel’s final NCAA Tournament Bracket projection!
There were eleven championship games today. Duke held off Virginia in a thriller in the ACC. Arizona held off a comeback from Houston to win the Big 12. Akron needed to come from behind against Toledo to win the MAC. There was a ton of other excitement, including a thriller in the Atlantic 10 in the Arch Baron Cup semifinals. We discuss all that and previoew tomorrow’s action.
And for all you radio lovers, below is an audio only version of the show….
We are 1 day away from Selection Sunday as we continue to make our NCAA tourney predictions. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel correctly picked 66 of the 68 teams that made the 2025 tourney: 62 of his 66 were within 1 spot of their actual seed and 52 were right on the money. He will spend this weekend predicting which 68 teams will hear their names called on March 15th. See below for his list of who would make the cut if they picked the field today and if you agree or disagree then feel free to tweet us. To see how he stacks up with other websites (ranked 7th out of 186 bracket veterans over the past 5 years), check out: www.bracketmatrix.com
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SEED: TEAM (CONFERENCE) 1: Duke (ACC) 1: Michigan (Big 10) 1: Arizona (Big 12) 1: Florida (SEC)
Last Wednesday Lehigh beat Boston University 74-60 in the Patriot League tourney title game to earn an automatic bid to next week’s NCAA tournament. The Mountain Hawks were 12-16 in mid-February, but have won 6 in a row since then to make the NCAA tourney for the 1st time since 2012. Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with Lehigh JR G Nasir Whitlock about being named conference tourney MVP and making the NCAA tourney.
You were born/raised in Minnesota: what made you choose Lehigh? It was a combination of basketball and academics for me. The coaching staff was great, so it felt like the best situation for me.
You play for Coach Brett Reed: what makes him such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have learned from him so far? His competitiveness: sometimes I can sense that he has to turn it down for us because he always wants to win. His biggest thing with me was to help me improve all the facets of my game to make me a well-rounded player.
You played in 31 games as a freshman: how were you able to come in and contribute right from the start? My role as a freshman was to come off the bench and be a sparkplug as a PG. I just tried to get some scoring going and bring some energy to the court. It was my 1st time coming off the bench in a while, so I had to adjust to that, but it ended up giving me some confidence.
Last month you tied a career-high with 33 PTS/12-16 FG in an 8-PT win over American: was it just 1 of those scenarios where every shot you put up seemed to go in because you were “in the zone”? My teammates found me at the right time: American was doubling our big men in the post, so my teammates passed the ball out to me and I had a couple of open looks early on. As a player it is always good when you can get in the zone, but I credit my teammates for making the right plays.
You led the league this season with 21 PPG: what is the secret to being a great scorer? Letting it come to you rather than forcing it. The more I let the game come to me, the more effective a scorer I am. I just get into the flow of the game, which is what the best scorers are able to do.
Last Wednesday in the Patriot title game you scored a team-high 18 PTS in a win over Boston University: how were you able to play your best when it mattered the most? There were 4 of us who scored 14+ PTS that night so our offense was very well-rounded. I did not play my best (5-13 FG), but just tried to clear my mind, treat it like any other game, and be aggressive.
You were also named tourney MVP: what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding honor? It meant a lot and is a blessing, but I was just focused on the win. The MVP award also could have gone to 2 of my teammates who ended up making the all-tournament team (Hank Alvey/Joshua Ingram).
After only starting 2 games combined during your 1st 2 years you started all 34 (and counting) this year: what is the biggest difference between being a starter and coming off the bench? Being a starter allows you to find your way into the flow of the game, but if you come off the bench then you need to make an impact right away.
Your opening game this season featured your most impressive opponent this season (Houston): what makes the Cougars such a great team? Their defense and how hard they play, which travels anywhere. They have so much communication and hold each other accountable.
What kind of seed do you think you deserve, and what kind of seed do you think you will get? I think we will get a 16 seed. I do not pay much attention to predictions, so we will just go out and play.
Last Tuesday Hofstra beat Monmouth 75-69 in the CAA tourney title game to earn an automatic bid to next week’s NCAA tournament. The Pride lost 5 games in a row last January but turned things around after that and will be playing in the NCAA tourney for the 1st time since 2001. Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with Hofstra associate head coach Mike DePaoli about playing great defense and making the NCAA tourney.
You were captain of the basketball team at The College of Saint Rose in Albany, NY, and played in a pair of NCAA tourneys for the Golden Knights: what is the key to being a good leader? Being authentic and wanting greatness for the group before greatness for yourself. There are different ways to lead but you need to be geunine, whether you are a quiet leader or whether you vocally hold everyone accountable. 2 of our best players this year were conference POY Cruz Davis/conference ROY Preston Edmead: they did not focus on winning awards, but rather on winning a championship. I always had a lot of fire as a player, and that is also how I coach, but I hope my guys know that I care about them as people.
You spent 11 years on the staff at Fordham, including 6 games as interim head coach in 2021: what is the biggest difference between being a head coach and being an assistant coach? You go from making suggestions to making decisions, and you cannot make a decision that will just solve the problem at the moment: you need to look at the big picture on the horizon. Every suggestion that I make to our head coach (Speedy Claxton) is to keep the big picture in mind. You have no idea how lonely that seat is until you are in it, so I make sure to let Speedy know that he is not alone.
You were a founding member of the “A-10 Connecting for Change” group that helped give student-athletes a voice in the fight against systemic racism: why did you do it, and what were you able to accomplish? Back in 2020 during COVID and the Black Lives Matter movement, I saw how emotional our players were and I wanted to use that emotion and harness it into a productive thing. We got all the A-10 schools to commit to creating a minority scholarship fund, which allowed us to go back to our players and show them how we were making a difference: it was a big outlet for a lot of our guys. What makes Coach Claxton such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have learned from him so far? #1 is that he is very comfortable in his own skin. He played in the NBA for 10 years so he demands so much respect when he walks into a gym. Other guys lead from insecurity/anxiety, but Speedy’s emotional security permeates throughout our entire program. #2 is that he does not get too high or low. If you came into our office 1 morning, you would not know whether we had won or lost the previous night. The season is a marathon, not a sprint, so you want the temperature in the gym to be right every day. Some teams can get burned out by January but we have a history of being fresh at the right time of the year (February).
Your roster has 2 players from New York, 4 from foreign countries, and the rest are from various states around the US: what sort of recruiting philosophy does your team have? In years past we have been more New York-centric, but the college basketball landscape has changed over the past 2 decades: a lot of New York players will end up moving around the country to various prep schools. We work more from an NBA model, which involves a lot of analytics. The other challenge is that instead of spending a year getting to know your incoming freshmen, you only have a short 2-3 week window to recruit a guy out of the portal: it is like speed-dating! The 3 C’s that are non-negotiable for us are character/commitment/competitive spirit. Cruz is 1 of the quietest guys in our gym…but he is also the most competitive.
Your team lost 5 games in a row in January: how were you able to turn things around in February? If you look at that stretch, we had a combination of injuries/foul trouble. Not only were we limited in our rotation, but when our big man kept fouling out, we ended up having our worst rebounding/defending stretch of the season. Since then, we have been able to hold all but 1 of our opponents under 70 PTS.
Take me through the 2026 CAA tourney: In the semifinals Preston Edmead scored 22 PTS including the game-winning 28-footer off the glass in the final second of OT in a 3-PT win over Towson: did you think it was going in, and where does that rank among the most incredible shots you have ever seen in person? Whenever Preston shoots the ball, we all have great confidence that it is going in. Tyler Thomas hit an OT game-winner for us at Rutgers in the 2023 NIT, so we have been a part of some special ones…but Preston’s shot is up there. He is not afraid of the moment and as Bill Raftery would say, has great onions.
In the title game you had a win over Monmouth: what did it mean to you to win a title, and what was the reaction like when you got back to campus? The coolest part of winning a title is that it is a culmination/validation of all the hard work that our group has put in. When you play with that emotional fire, it can either heat your whole house or burn your house down it if is not regulated. You want to play with great emotion, but not play emotional. The other cool thing is that you get to walk together forever: they will get to come back to campus every few years and get honored.
Your team’s 66.1 PPG is top-20 in the nation: what is the secret to playing great defense? We are 17-0 when we outrebound our opponent by 5 or more, and have only lost 1 game when we prevented our opponent from shooting over 40 FG%. I am a big FG% defense guy, and we are #6 in the nation at that: it is a staple of our program. Defense allows you to win games, while offense determines how much you will win games by. The biggest improvement we have made from last year to this year is offensive rebounding, which allows us to generate extra possessions, and that is how we won the title.
What kind of seed do you think you deserve, and what kind of seed do you think you will get? “Anybody anywhere anytime!” They can send us to Philly or Portland: I am just looking forward to another chance to compete with this team.
The 2026 Hoops HD Selection Committee – Saturday, March 14th
Tonight was our third night of committee meetings; this was our busiest night to date. We began the day with three at-large bids available; Ole Miss’s loss to Arkansas came as a relief to everyone on the bubble since a bid thief would no longer come out of the SEC. The Atlantic 10 was a different story since Dayton defeated Saint Louis on a last-second shot and could steal a bid on Selection Sunday with a win against VCU.
As for the voting itself, we had Mother Miami, Texas and VCU as carryover teams from the previous round of voting. We debated all of the teams Under Consideration; nobody ended up being motioned off of the Under Consideration board. After debate, each Committee member nominated six teams and submitted choices to Chad (our Chairman). The top four teams that were added to the nomination board were New Mexico, San Diego State, SMU and South Florida (in the event they lose to Wichita State in the American title game).
In the final round of voting, Mother Miami and VCU were voted into the at-large field; there was a tie between SMU and Texas for the final spot and the final contingency spot (in the event that the A-10 doesn’t result in a stolen bid). SMU got the guaranteed at-large spot and Texas ended up getting the contingency bid; Texas would move to the First Four Out in the event that Dayton wins the A-10 title. Our first four teams out ended up being San Diego State, South Florida (at-large), New Mexico and Florida State. Auburn would be the other team moving up in the event that South Florida wins the American.
Our next task was to continue seeding the field; we included teams that were still alive (i.e. Louisiana Tech, Toledo, UC-Irvine, Utah Valley) at the time of voting. We ended up seeding 73 teams at the time, but at the time of posting the list went down to 71 teams. It will ultimately become 68 teams once the Ivy League, A-10 and American championship games go final and we will have two contingency brackets – one for South Florida winning the autobid and one for Wichita State winning the auto bid.
Update (2:15 AM) – We added California Baptist to the field after an incredible finish in the WAC Championship. The Lancers hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 30 seconds left; Utah Valley had a chance to tie the game in regulation and MISSED a dunk with 2.7 seconds on the clock. CBU ran out the clock for their first NCAA Division I Tournament bid.
We also did an initial scrub of the Master Seed List; click on the above graphic to see where things stood through games of Saturday night. We will meet at 2:30 PM later today to do a final scrub of the seed list and bracket the field based on what happens in this afternoon’s games. Keep an eye on our website for our final bracket as well as Jon Teitel’s final NCAA Tournament Bracket projection!