I tried to get DePaul to upset Villanova, but they blew it in the final seconds. It's a long week for Indiana State, but I sure hope they get in.
That's an understatement! DePaul really needs to go to the Horizon lol
I tried to get DePaul to upset Villanova, but they blew it in the final seconds. It's a long week for Indiana State, but I sure hope they get in.
So Lunardi this morning now has Indiana State in the First Four Out category, with New Mexico -- the 7th place finisher in the Mountain West -- ahead of them in that category. His four "on the bubble" categories are filled with power conference also-rans -- no mid-major Cinderella in sight. How boring!
It is truly March "madness" to leave out a team with 28 wins, conference champions, and a NET of 28. Hopefully the committee will get it right. If not . . . then NET means nothing, conference championship means nothing, and the name on the front of the jersey means everything. I can only imagine how we Bradley fans would be squawking if we had won 28 and the conference title and had a NET of 28 . . . and were overlooked because we lost in the tournament title game to the second place team by a few points.
Might this be the record low year for mid-majors in the tournament? If so, how sad. Drake could advance to the Sweet 16 and I bet they'd still ignore the Valley again next year.
I don’t think the non power 5 have as much power as you think. This is not a democracy where every team has one vote. The changes came to the NIT because the power 5 were talking to Fox about their own tourney to replace the NIT. I think every time the NCAA talks about leveling the playing field the power 5 talk about leaving the NCAA and the NCAA blinks.
So Lunardi this morning now has Indiana State in the First Four Out category, with New Mexico -- the 7th place finisher in the Mountain West -- ahead of them in that category. His four "on the bubble" categories are filled with power conference also-rans -- no mid-major Cinderella in sight. How boring!
It is truly March "madness" to leave out a team with 28 wins, conference champions, and a NET of 28. Hopefully the committee will get it right. If not . . . then NET means nothing, conference championship means nothing, and the name on the front of the jersey means everything. I can only imagine how we Bradley fans would be squawking if we had won 28 and the conference title and had a NET of 28 . . . and were overlooked because we lost in the tournament title game to the second place team by a few points.
Might this be the record low year for mid-majors in the tournament? If so, how sad. Drake could advance to the Sweet 16 and I bet they'd still ignore the Valley again next year.
As a side note after reading NCAA and NIT Bracketology projections: it still appears Indiana State has at least a fair shot at playing in the first 4 no pun intended play in tournament and/ or could end up a 12th seed in NCAA tourney! Personally if I was an Indiana State fan after reading possible NIT projections saying Indiana St.would be a top seed maybe playing Indiana at home as lower seed, wouldn't that be great for the Hoosier State? Honestly instead of a dreaded first 4 play in NCAA, I'd rather have an NIT home game against Indiana or at least a decent good NCAA team! Will see what the NCAA and NIT committee decide. Of course I would still like to see Indiana State as a 12th seed and no play in game!
First Four games still count as a unit and pays the same (to be split among conference members) as any other round. That's one of the reasons I would much rather see Indiana State in the tourney. I think they can win a game. I think Drake can win a couple of games. That would be a huge windfall for the Valley. 2023 units were worth about $2 million.
Good point. And this is why it's absurd when people say "what does it matter if mid-majors are screwed by the NCAA and don't get teams in the NCAA Tournament. They don't stand a chance to win it".
It's true they may not stand a chance to win the tournament (although the 2017 Loyola team from the NCAA was 1 game away from playing for the title). It's not just about winning the tournament. The more important factor is that each game they play in the tournament is worth close to $2 million in revenue for their conference. That money is divided between the conference schools, and can play a huge part in improving facilities, funding the recruiting budgets, paying to hire and retain good coaches, and ultimately making programs better. That can't happen if the MVC only gets 1 team in each year, then they get a poor seed and get matched against a top team that makes it hard to win a game. The big conferences want the money all to themselves.
With all the upsets of top seeded teams in the last couple days, it has pushed Indiana State's chances for an at-large bid down.
Their NET rank has dropped a couple spots since yesterday, and is now # 30- https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/basketball-men/d1/ncaa-mens-basketball-net-rankings
Joe Lunardi (ESPN) now has them among the first four out- https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/s...logy-2024-march-madness-men-field-predictions
Jerry Palm (CBS Sports) also has Indiana State in his first four out- https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/bracketology/
In fact, I am not finding anyone's bracket predictions today that have Indiana State in as an at-large.
Speaking of at-large, Rienk Mast and the Nebraska Cornhuskers beat Indiana last night to reach the Big Ten Semifinal round. They will play Illinois today. Every Bracket prediction has Nebraska solidly in the tournament as an at-large team. Congratulations to Rienk!
And another former Bradley guy is one win away from an automatic bid. Jim Les' UC Davis team won last night, beating Hawaii to set up a Big West championship match tonight with Long Beach State. One more win and Jim Les is back to the NCAA Tournament. Go Aggies! - https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/game/_/gameId/401625536/hawaii-uc-davis
The only other former Bradley player I can find whose team is still alive for the NCAA Tournament is in Division II. Jamir Price was a 2019 Bradley commit who enrolled for a couple summer semesters at Bradley in 2019, then left and since has spent time at Mineral Area College, where he played with Malevy Leons, Cleveland State, and now Division II Minnesota Moorhead. Jamir is in the 5th year (Covid year) and was the team's 2nd leading scorer (14.3 ppg). The Moorhead State Dragons had a great season and are currently 24-5 and play Pittsburg State (Kansas) tonight in the D2 NCAA Tournament at 7:30 pm for a berth in the Elite 8 - https://www.msumdragons.com/news/20...-clash-in-ncaa-central-region-tournament.aspx