The 65 teams who will participate in the NCAA Tournament were revealed today, and there were a couple of surprises in the teams who were selected and the teams who weren't. The Atlantic 10 conference, who has a reputation as a soft conference that doesn't want the mid major recognition, got three teams in the NCAA Tournament with Xavier, conference champions Temple, and St. Joseph's. St. Joseph's was on the bubble because they lost the conference championship game to Temple. It seems as if their resume was enough to get them into the tournament, as they will play Oklahoma in the East region on Friday in Alabama. Another surprise was Villanova. Villanova made it to the tournament, despite bad losses to Rutgers and Depaul. They did win one game in the Big East tournament, which was a rout of Syracuse in the first round. Syracuse previously defeated Villanova in Philadelphia earlier this season. They will play Clemson in the Midwest region on Friday in Tampa. Baylor was another team not expected to receive a bid. They started off strong in the season, but lost a lot of games down the stretch and then lost to Colorado in the Big 12 tournament opener. They will play Purdue in the West region on Thursday in Washington D.C. Teams that may have snubbed from a tournament bid was Virginia Commonwealth. They had a good record at 24-7 but their soft schedule may have cost them a bid. They also lost to George Mason in their conference tournament, costing them a sure bid. The four teams who received #1's were North Carolina, Memphis, Kansas and UCLA. All of these teams made it beyond the Sweet 16 in last season's tournament. North Carolina received the overall #1 spot. Which team will win the tournament? Which teams will upset a good team?
No comments:
Post a Comment