227 teams remain. That includes Utah Valley, who will be on the board due to being a first place finisher in the Great West, BYU who is out of the conference tournament, but still under consideration, and Wichita State, who is out of the conference tournament, but a virtual lock for the NCAA Tournament. Chad Sherwood has, as he always done, but together a list of today’s conference tournament action.
– Three teams punched their tickets yesterday. The final outcomes weren’t surprising, but the games themselves were. Florida Gulf Coast, in their first ever conference tournament, made it to the finals and had a lead at the half over heavily favored Belmont, who had crushed them twice during the regular season. In the end, Belmont was just too much and captured the automatic bid. They will be a dangerous first round opponent for whoever they face. Belmont’s profile isn’t the best and they did stub their toes multiple times throughout the year, but when they play up to their maximum ability they can beat top 25 caliber teams.
– Murray State got a scare from Tennessee State, but hit a game winning shot in the final seconds to win the Ohio Valley and the automatic bid. They really didn’t need the automatic bid, so because they managed to hold on, another bubble team will now make the field.
– VMI, who was just 8-10 on the season, played well for a half, but then UNC Asheville took over in the second half and won the Big South’s automatic bid. They’ll probably end up on the #16 line, but with the MEAC, SWAC and America East champions looking to take three out of four spots in the opening round, they should be able to avoid it and go straight into the round of 64.
– Some really good games yesterday, but again, it was mostly chalk. Georgia State put up a fierce fight against George Mason, but lost in the final seconds. The Colonial now has its top four teams in the semis in Drexel, Old Dominion, VCU and George Mason, and it the automatic bid really is up for grabs. Continue reading
