Last night marked the beginning of the 2017 NCAA Tournament – both games were competitive and literally involved fighting teammates in the case of New Orleans. The Privateers ended up losing to Mount St. Mary’s 67-66 after their in-bounds pass was intercepted with 2 seconds to play in their game. Their reward is a trip to Buffalo to play top-seeded Villanova on Thursday. Kansas State led most of the way against Wake Forest, but were never able to completely pull away until the final minute. They won 95-88 to mark their first NCAA Tournament victory since 2011 and will now fly cross-country to play Cincinnati at the Sacramento sub-regional site on Friday.
In the NIT, the first round was filled with upsets. Teams like Clemson (beaten at home by Oakland) and Indiana (losing at Georgia Tech) were put out of their misery after what can colloquially be described as hard-luck seasons. Monmouth, Utah, California and Alabama all lost their openers to Ole Miss, Boise State, Cal-State Bakersfield and Richmond, respectively. The only home teams to win last night were Illinois (against Valparaiso) and Colorado State (beating Charleston).
As for the CIT, there was one team that won away from home and that was the surging St. Francis Red Flash thanks to their 78-76 win at Jacksonville. This game was billed as the Hugh Durham Classic (the 2nd of 4 1st-round trophy games in the CIT). Campbell and Samford also advanced to the 2nd round with home wins against Houston Baptist and Canisius, respectively.
On the coaching front, Brian Gregory made it official that he will be the head coach at South Florida after serving as a consultant for Tom Izzo for one season. Maurice Joseph is also expected to be named the full-time head coach at GW after serving as interim head coach following the departure of Mike Lonergan.
NCAA TOURNAMENT
NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL vs. UC-DAVIS (6:40 PM, TruTV). Our committee was a little surprised that NC Central was assigned a play-in game after winning both the regular season and conference tournament in the MEAC, but I suppose it was inevitable with a 2-game slide at the end of the regular season. The Aggies are a first-time entrant to the Division I NCAA Tournament thanks to their thrilling win over UC-Irvine in the Big West championship last Saturday. The winner advances to the Tulsa sub-regional to play Kansas on Friday.
PROVIDENCE vs. USC (9:10 PM, TruTV). The Trojans are the first team to play a second time in the First Four in a game that doesn’t involve 16th-seeded teams. While the Trojans faded badly at the end of the regular season and eked out an at-large bid over teams like Syracuse and Illinois State, the Friars come into the NCAA Tournament having won 6 out of their last 7 games. This is actually a rematch of the 1st round from last year where Rodney Bullock defeated the Trojans with a game-winning layup in the closing seconds. The winner also goes to Tulsa on Friday – they will play SMU in the first round.
NIT
(8) UNC-GREENSBORO at (1) SYRACUSE (7:00 PM, ESPN2). This game was initially scheduled to be played last night, but was postponed due to a blizzard that struck the Northeast yesterday. This game is expected to go forward tonight.
(7) BELMONT at (2) GEORGIA (7:00 PM, ESPN3/WatchESPN). Belmont received an auto-bid to the NIT after losing in the semifinals of the Ohio Valley conference tournament against eventual champion Jacksonville State. Georgia had an up-and-down year in the SEC, and it is possible that they might be playing for Mark Fox’s job tonight and throughout the NIT.
(5) COLORADO at (4) CENTRAL FLORIDA (7:00 PM, ESPN3/WatchESPN). While Colorado had a tough season in the Pac-12 by recent standards, UCF was a pleasant surprise in the American under Johnny Dawkins’ first season as head coach for the Knights. UCF’s best win at home came against Cincinnati and are more than capable of winning their NIT opener tonight.
(7) AKRON at (2) HOUSTON (7:30 PM, ESPNU). Houston racked up a quantity of wins this year in the American, but failed to get any quality wins of note outside of Vermont and Rhode Island. They are still playing better basketball at the moment than an Akron team that has been in a slump since February.
(5) FRESNO STATE at (4) TCU (8:00 PM, ESPN3/WatchESPN). The Jamie Dixon reclamation project at TCU is ahead of schedule – the Big 12’s perennial doormat advanced to the NIT in a season where they were actually a threat to be considered for the NCAA Tournament until a February swoon. Fresno State was unable to defend their Mountain West title from last year, but they have shown they are capable of winning in hostile environments after a regular-season sweep of Nevada (excluding the Mountain West tournament where Nevada finally beat the Bulldogs).
(8) SOUTH DAKOTA at (1) IOWA (9:00 PM, ESPN2). The Coyotes were the surprise winner of the Summit League regular-season title but were unable to get beyond the semifinals of their conference tournament thanks to a loss to in-state rival South Dakota State. Iowa has star power in Peter Jok and actually has some late-season momentum in a year where they were expected to rebuild and not make any postseason tournament that didn’t require an entry fee (cough)CBI(cough).
(8) UC IRVINE at (1) ILLINOIS STATE (9:30 PM, ESPNU). While head coach Dan Muller was busy on Twitter on Monday trying to encourage people to schedule a home-and-home with his team, they were still getting ready for a postseason game tonight. Will they be motivated to take on a UC-Irvine team that had a potential game-tying shot blocked at the end of regulation against UC-Davis in the Big West championship?
(6) TEXAS-ARLINGTON at (3) BYU (11:00 PM, ESPN2). Injuries took their toll on the Mavs during the Sun Belt tournament and are likely looking at a one-and-done against a BYU team that was the only team all year to defeat Gonzaga.
CBI
UTAH VALLEY at GEORGIA SOUTHERN (7:00 PM). This should be an exciting matchup between a Utah Valley that is one of the top teams of the country in terms of pace of play and a Georgia Southern team that was a contender for the Sun Belt title throughout the regular season.
LOYOLA-MD at GEORGE MASON (7:00 PM). George Mason has been much improved this season under 2nd-year head coach Dave Paulsen. They’re looking to gain some momentum going into next season in the A-10. Loyola also had a few nice wins of their own in the Patriot League this season, so a road upset is not out of the question for tonight.
HAMPTON at COASTAL CAROLINA (7:00 PM). It just wouldn’t be a postseason without Conway, SC playing host to at least one game, now would it? Their guests are the Hampton Pirates – they lost in the semifinals of the MEAC tournament last weekend.
TOLEDO at GEORGE WASHINGTON (7:00 PM). As alluded to earlier, GW should have some momentum going into this game with Maurice Joseph expected to become the permanent head coach for the Colonials. Their biggest win of the season was their regular-season finale at home against Dayton where our esteemed colleague Jon Teitel was in attendance to cover the game.
GREEN BAY at UMKC (8:00 PM). Finally, the Municipal Auditorium will once again host a postseason game for the first time since 1964. They used to actually hold the record for most tournament games hosted until they were surpassed by UD Arena. And then there’s a matchup between Green Bay and the UMKC Roos.
SAN FRANCISCO at RICE (8:00 PM). The Dons have been more of an under-the-radar team that should have gotten love from our panel this year, but the promotion of the WCC up to the big boys really pushed them back in terms of coverage this year. Rice has also been much improved compared to this time last season.
EASTERN WASHINGTON at WYOMING (9:00 PM). Tonight marks a battle of the Front Range versus the Cascade Range at the NCAA’s highest point at 7,220 feet at Wyoming.
CIT
BALL STATE at FORT WAYNE (7:00 PM, Facebook Live). Tonight marks the 3rd of 4 trophy games in the CIT First Round – the Cardinals and Mastodons will be competing in the Lou Henson Classic. It’s unknown as to whether or not the winner gets a custom Lou Henson orange blazer as their trophy.
FAIRFIELD at UMBC (7:00 PM, Facebook Live). UMBC is another great turnaround story from last year – despite losing to the Team of the People in the 1st round of the America East tournament, they are showing that they will be a future force in the America East under Ryan Odom’s leadership. Fairfield had a win at Boston College earlier in the season but not much else beyond that.
GEORGIA STATE at TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI (8:00 PM, Facebook Live). Both teams came off of stunning losses in their respective conference tournaments – Georgia State was upset by Texas State in the Sun Belt semis and Corpus Christi lost a heartbreaker in OT in the Southland championship to New Orleans.
STEPHEN F. AUSTIN at IDAHO (11:00 PM, Facebook Live). The Lumberjacks are not in their customary spot in the NCAA Tournament that they enjoyed under Brad Underwood, but nonetheless will be playing at a solid Idaho team tonight. Can they stop Victor Sanders and the Sherwood brothers?
Postseason News, Notes and Highlighted Games – Wednesday, March 15
Last night marked the beginning of the 2017 NCAA Tournament – both games were competitive and literally involved fighting teammates in the case of New Orleans. The Privateers ended up losing to Mount St. Mary’s 67-66 after their in-bounds pass was intercepted with 2 seconds to play in their game. Their reward is a trip to Buffalo to play top-seeded Villanova on Thursday. Kansas State led most of the way against Wake Forest, but were never able to completely pull away until the final minute. They won 95-88 to mark their first NCAA Tournament victory since 2011 and will now fly cross-country to play Cincinnati at the Sacramento sub-regional site on Friday.
In the NIT, the first round was filled with upsets. Teams like Clemson (beaten at home by Oakland) and Indiana (losing at Georgia Tech) were put out of their misery after what can colloquially be described as hard-luck seasons. Monmouth, Utah, California and Alabama all lost their openers to Ole Miss, Boise State, Cal-State Bakersfield and Richmond, respectively. The only home teams to win last night were Illinois (against Valparaiso) and Colorado State (beating Charleston).
As for the CIT, there was one team that won away from home and that was the surging St. Francis Red Flash thanks to their 78-76 win at Jacksonville. This game was billed as the Hugh Durham Classic (the 2nd of 4 1st-round trophy games in the CIT). Campbell and Samford also advanced to the 2nd round with home wins against Houston Baptist and Canisius, respectively.
On the coaching front, Brian Gregory made it official that he will be the head coach at South Florida after serving as a consultant for Tom Izzo for one season. Maurice Joseph is also expected to be named the full-time head coach at GW after serving as interim head coach following the departure of Mike Lonergan.
NCAA TOURNAMENT
NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL vs. UC-DAVIS (6:40 PM, TruTV). Our committee was a little surprised that NC Central was assigned a play-in game after winning both the regular season and conference tournament in the MEAC, but I suppose it was inevitable with a 2-game slide at the end of the regular season. The Aggies are a first-time entrant to the Division I NCAA Tournament thanks to their thrilling win over UC-Irvine in the Big West championship last Saturday. The winner advances to the Tulsa sub-regional to play Kansas on Friday.
PROVIDENCE vs. USC (9:10 PM, TruTV). The Trojans are the first team to play a second time in the First Four in a game that doesn’t involve 16th-seeded teams. While the Trojans faded badly at the end of the regular season and eked out an at-large bid over teams like Syracuse and Illinois State, the Friars come into the NCAA Tournament having won 6 out of their last 7 games. This is actually a rematch of the 1st round from last year where Rodney Bullock defeated the Trojans with a game-winning layup in the closing seconds. The winner also goes to Tulsa on Friday – they will play SMU in the first round.
NIT
(8) UNC-GREENSBORO at (1) SYRACUSE (7:00 PM, ESPN2). This game was initially scheduled to be played last night, but was postponed due to a blizzard that struck the Northeast yesterday. This game is expected to go forward tonight.
(7) BELMONT at (2) GEORGIA (7:00 PM, ESPN3/WatchESPN). Belmont received an auto-bid to the NIT after losing in the semifinals of the Ohio Valley conference tournament against eventual champion Jacksonville State. Georgia had an up-and-down year in the SEC, and it is possible that they might be playing for Mark Fox’s job tonight and throughout the NIT.
(5) COLORADO at (4) CENTRAL FLORIDA (7:00 PM, ESPN3/WatchESPN). While Colorado had a tough season in the Pac-12 by recent standards, UCF was a pleasant surprise in the American under Johnny Dawkins’ first season as head coach for the Knights. UCF’s best win at home came against Cincinnati and are more than capable of winning their NIT opener tonight.
(7) AKRON at (2) HOUSTON (7:30 PM, ESPNU). Houston racked up a quantity of wins this year in the American, but failed to get any quality wins of note outside of Vermont and Rhode Island. They are still playing better basketball at the moment than an Akron team that has been in a slump since February.
(5) FRESNO STATE at (4) TCU (8:00 PM, ESPN3/WatchESPN). The Jamie Dixon reclamation project at TCU is ahead of schedule – the Big 12’s perennial doormat advanced to the NIT in a season where they were actually a threat to be considered for the NCAA Tournament until a February swoon. Fresno State was unable to defend their Mountain West title from last year, but they have shown they are capable of winning in hostile environments after a regular-season sweep of Nevada (excluding the Mountain West tournament where Nevada finally beat the Bulldogs).
(8) SOUTH DAKOTA at (1) IOWA (9:00 PM, ESPN2). The Coyotes were the surprise winner of the Summit League regular-season title but were unable to get beyond the semifinals of their conference tournament thanks to a loss to in-state rival South Dakota State. Iowa has star power in Peter Jok and actually has some late-season momentum in a year where they were expected to rebuild and not make any postseason tournament that didn’t require an entry fee (cough)CBI(cough).
(8) UC IRVINE at (1) ILLINOIS STATE (9:30 PM, ESPNU). While head coach Dan Muller was busy on Twitter on Monday trying to encourage people to schedule a home-and-home with his team, they were still getting ready for a postseason game tonight. Will they be motivated to take on a UC-Irvine team that had a potential game-tying shot blocked at the end of regulation against UC-Davis in the Big West championship?
(6) TEXAS-ARLINGTON at (3) BYU (11:00 PM, ESPN2). Injuries took their toll on the Mavs during the Sun Belt tournament and are likely looking at a one-and-done against a BYU team that was the only team all year to defeat Gonzaga.
CBI
UTAH VALLEY at GEORGIA SOUTHERN (7:00 PM). This should be an exciting matchup between a Utah Valley that is one of the top teams of the country in terms of pace of play and a Georgia Southern team that was a contender for the Sun Belt title throughout the regular season.
LOYOLA-MD at GEORGE MASON (7:00 PM). George Mason has been much improved this season under 2nd-year head coach Dave Paulsen. They’re looking to gain some momentum going into next season in the A-10. Loyola also had a few nice wins of their own in the Patriot League this season, so a road upset is not out of the question for tonight.
HAMPTON at COASTAL CAROLINA (7:00 PM). It just wouldn’t be a postseason without Conway, SC playing host to at least one game, now would it? Their guests are the Hampton Pirates – they lost in the semifinals of the MEAC tournament last weekend.
TOLEDO at GEORGE WASHINGTON (7:00 PM). As alluded to earlier, GW should have some momentum going into this game with Maurice Joseph expected to become the permanent head coach for the Colonials. Their biggest win of the season was their regular-season finale at home against Dayton where our esteemed colleague Jon Teitel was in attendance to cover the game.
GREEN BAY at UMKC (8:00 PM). Finally, the Municipal Auditorium will once again host a postseason game for the first time since 1964. They used to actually hold the record for most tournament games hosted until they were surpassed by UD Arena. And then there’s a matchup between Green Bay and the UMKC Roos.
SAN FRANCISCO at RICE (8:00 PM). The Dons have been more of an under-the-radar team that should have gotten love from our panel this year, but the promotion of the WCC up to the big boys really pushed them back in terms of coverage this year. Rice has also been much improved compared to this time last season.
EASTERN WASHINGTON at WYOMING (9:00 PM). Tonight marks a battle of the Front Range versus the Cascade Range at the NCAA’s highest point at 7,220 feet at Wyoming.
CIT
BALL STATE at FORT WAYNE (7:00 PM, Facebook Live). Tonight marks the 3rd of 4 trophy games in the CIT First Round – the Cardinals and Mastodons will be competing in the Lou Henson Classic. It’s unknown as to whether or not the winner gets a custom Lou Henson orange blazer as their trophy.
FAIRFIELD at UMBC (7:00 PM, Facebook Live). UMBC is another great turnaround story from last year – despite losing to the Team of the People in the 1st round of the America East tournament, they are showing that they will be a future force in the America East under Ryan Odom’s leadership. Fairfield had a win at Boston College earlier in the season but not much else beyond that.
GEORGIA STATE at TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI (8:00 PM, Facebook Live). Both teams came off of stunning losses in their respective conference tournaments – Georgia State was upset by Texas State in the Sun Belt semis and Corpus Christi lost a heartbreaker in OT in the Southland championship to New Orleans.
STEPHEN F. AUSTIN at IDAHO (11:00 PM, Facebook Live). The Lumberjacks are not in their customary spot in the NCAA Tournament that they enjoyed under Brad Underwood, but nonetheless will be playing at a solid Idaho team tonight. Can they stop Victor Sanders and the Sherwood brothers?