It’s time for the Gophers to get their swagger back!
LIL’ RICKY, Minn. — The only significant development over the weekend with regards to the Field of 68 was Middle Tennessee State’s semifinal loss to Richard Pitino’s FIU squad in the semifinals of the Sun Belt Tournament. MTSU finishes the regular season with a #28 RPI and a 28-5 record. The loss puts the Blue Raiders squarely on the bubble. They currently are 0-2 vs. the RPI top 50 and 2-3 vs. the RPI top 100. The top-100 wins came against #56 Ole Miss (a bubble team) and at #100 UCF. MTSU’s strength of schedule numbers are solid for a mid-major. … an overall SOS of 128 and a nonconference SOS of 11.
Otherwise, Championship Week went smoothly for bubble teams. Belmont won the Ohio Valley Tournament, and Creighton/Wichita State finished 1-2 as expected at Arch Madness in Saint Louis. On the “lock” front, only Temple sealed a bid. The Owls accomplished that with a win over VCU. We’re still sitting at 13 available at-large bids heading into the meat of Championship Week. Teams that have already earned their conference’s automatic bid are noted in ALL CAPS bold.
Automatic Bid/Highest Remaining Seed in Conference Tournament (31)
#2 New Mexico (Mountain West)
#4 Miami-Florida (ACC)
#5 Indiana (B1G)
#6 Florida (SEC)
#7 Kansas (Big 12)
#9 Georgetown (Big East)
#10 Gonzaga (West Coast)
#16 Memphis (Conference USA)
#18 BELMONT (Ohio Valley)
#25 CREIGHTON (Missouri Valley)
#27 Saint Louis (Atlantic 10)
#31 UCLA (Pac 12)
#46 Louisiana Tech (WAC)
#51 Bucknell (Patriot)
#53 Akron (MAC)
#60 Valparaiso (Horizon)
#63 Stephen F. Austin (Southland)
#68 Davidson (Southern)
#76 South Dakota State (Summit)
#89 Montana (Big Sky)
#91 FLORIDA GULF COAST (Atlantic Sun)
#93 HARVARD (Ivy)
#100 Iona (MAAC)
#111 FIU (Sun Belt)
#112 Long Beach State (Big West)
#123 Vermont (America East)
#154 Northeastern (Colonial)
#168 Norfolk State (MEAC)
#184 Long Island (Northeast)
#188 Southern U (SWAC)
#286 LIBERTY (Big South)
Locks (24)
#1 Duke
#3 Louisville
#8 Michigan State
#11 Marquette
#12 Michigan
#13 Arizona
#14 Ohio State
#15 Colorado State
#17 Syracuse
#19 North Carolina
#20 Kansas State
#21 Butler
#22 UNLV
#23 Oklahoma State
#24 GOPHERS
#26 VCU
#29 NC State
#34 Missouri
#38 Temple
#39 Wichita State
#40 Pitt
#42 Wisconsin
#43 Illinois
#44 Notre Dame
In, But Require 1 More Win to Seal a Bid (7)
#32 San Diego State
#33 Oklahoma
#36 Colorado
#37 Boise State
#47 Iowa State
#48 Cal
#49 Cincinnati
On the Bubble (18)
#28 Middle Tennessee (out)
#30 Saint Mary’s (in)
#35 Southern Miss (out)
#41 LaSalle (in)
#50 Kentucky (out)
#52 Villanova (in)
#54 Oregon (in)
#55 Tennessee (in)
#56 Ole Miss (out)
#57 Denver (out)
#58 UMass (out)
#61 Baylor (out)
#62 Alabama (out)
#64 Stanford (out)
#66 Virginia (in)
#75 Iowa (out)
#77 Xavier (out)
#80 Arkansas (out)
My “last 4 in” and “first 4 out” as of Monday morning:
Last 4 In: Saint Mary’s (#30), LaSalle (#41), Oregon (#54), Virginia (#66)
First 4 Out: Kentucky (#50), Ole Miss (#56), Baylor (#61), Alabama (#62)
Championship Week Tidbits
(1) University of Maine head coach Ted Woodward lost his 8th straight conference tournament game when his Black Bears lost 50-49 to host Albany in the quarterfinals of the America East Tournament. Maine hasn’t won a conference tournament game since 2005. That has to be some kind of record for a head coach, losing 8 consecutive tourney games without losing your job.
(2) At least one of the eight spots in the First Four was locked up when Liberty (12-20 vs. D-I competition) earned the Big South’s automatic bid.