Road to Selection Sunday
Teams who locked up a bid:
West Virginia: The Mountaineers needed to beat Providence to feel secure, but they went one further and defeated Connecticut, moving them up to a potential top-eight seed.
Miami (Fl.): The Hurricanes just had to beat North Carolina State in the first-round of the ACC Tournament – and they did it in solid fashion. ‘Canes should go to the Dance.
UNLV: The Rebels survived a close quarterfinal game against No. 7 TCU and won by one, making them a little more comfortable. Clear No. 2 in the Mountain West after UNM lost.
Bubble teams trying to play their way into the NCAA Tournament:
Texas A&M: The Aggies have been struggling somewhat lately, but their win over Iowa State in the first-round of the Big 12 Tournament put them in good shape to get a bid.
Villanova: The Wildcats had a decent two days, with their win over Syracuse but then a disappointing loss to Georgetown. They will be left sweating on Sunday.
Temple: Although the Owls might still be a long shot to get an at-large bid, they kept their hopes alive with yet another conference win, this time over La Salle in the quarterfinals.
Saint Joseph’s: The Hawks struggled early against Richmond, but they bounced back well and pulled out a key victory. This sets up a must-win game against Xavier.
Florida State: Will all these bubble teams falling, can the Seminoles get into the mix? After their win over Wake Forest Thursday, they have a huge chance against North Carolina.
Bubble teams playing themselves out of the NCAA Tournament:
Arizona: A win over Stanford on Thursday night might have clinched a bid, but the Wildcats fell in the second half. However, their win over Oregon State did pad the conf. win total.
Syracuse: Through one half against Villanova, the Orange looked like an NCAA Tournament team – then the second half began. ‘Cuse has basically no shot after the loss.
Maryland: The Terrapins needed to do a lot of work heading into the ACC Tournament; well, after their loss to Boston College in the first-round, they are completely done.
Dayton: The Flyers could have really used a win over Xavier in the A-10 Tournament, but they barely escaped in the first-round and then didn’t look impressive against XU.
Massachusetts: Do any A-10 teams want at-large bids? The Minutemen blew a lead against Charlotte and fell in the quarterfinals of the tourney. A win would have clinched a bid.
New Mexico: The Lobos needed to get to at least the semifinals to have a chance at an-large bid, but they fell in overtime to Utah in the quarterfinals. They are most likely out of the discussion.
Rhode Island: Whatever hope the Rams had heading into the A-10 Tournament disappeared with their two-point loss to Charlotte in the first-round. Disappointing finish for URI.
Baylor: The Bears just needed to beat Colorado and then play well in the quarterfinals; well, now they will have to sweat it out after falling to Colorado in double-overtime.
Mississippi: The Rebels probably needed two wins to make a run at an at-large bid; well, they didn’t even get one, falling to Georgia in overtime in the quarterfinals.
UAB: Looks like one bid for Conference-USA after the Blazers fell in overtime to Tulsa in the quarterfinals of the tourney. UAB needed to make a deep run, and it didn’t happen.
Arizona State: The Sun Devils had a major chance to pick-up a big win and potentially an at-large bid against USC today, but they couldn’t make plays down the stretch and lost.
Oregon: Like Arizona State, the Ducks could have possibly clinched an at-large bid with a win over Washington State today, but they couldn’t step up when it counted and lost.
South Alabama: The Jaguars are going to be one of the most interesting stories of Selection Sunday; they had a great conference campaign but fell in the semifinals.
Houston: If the Cougars thought they had any sort of hope heading into the Conference-USA Tournament, it doesn’t matter anymore now that they lost to UTEP in the quarterfinals.
Florida: If anyone thought the Gators were still in the mix for an at-large bid, those people are certainly off the bandwagon now. They were dominated by Alabama Thursday.
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