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Thursday, November 21, 2024
The beauty of the NCAA Tournament is not just the upsets, the near-upsets and the close games. Of course, they certainly are a big part of it, and we saw at least two of those categories tapped in games Thursday such as those between Yale and Baylor, Arkansas-Little Rock and […]
With the way this season has played out from the first night, it’s no surprise whatsoever that it has taken just three days of conference tournaments to see complete destruction in some brackets.
Arkansas-Little Rock, San Diego State, Tennessee-Chattanooga, Valparaiso, Wichita State. All five share a lot in common as teams who are highly questionable to receive bids to this year’s NCAA tourney if they don’t win their conference tournaments. Those five also share something else in common, though: all will finish the season as sole, undisputed champions of conferences that play a double round-robin schedule.
Tuesday night was a moment New Jersey Institute of Technology awaited for 10 years. Unfortunately for the Highlanders, it didn’t last nearly as long as they hoped.
We’re on the doorstep of March now, so there isn’t much that has been left uncovered in a season, but the question must be asked: is there a better secret in college basketball this year than Fresno State?
In a college basketball year that has been defined by unpredictability, we dare say that the host of downright thrilling conference races is a story developing late that is also becoming a signature mark of this season.
Is it possible Minnesota found a way to beat not just one team but two on Thursday? The Golden Gophers’ 68-63 triumph over Maryland will go down as one of the very biggest “how’d that happen?” results in a season that has had plenty of them, but did it also hurt Wisconsin?
Temple has been one of the more schizophrenic teams in the country this year that of late has been giving us a taste of just how good it can be when right. Thus, it was only fitting that the Owls’ game against Connecticut on Thursday was a microcosm of their season.
For the best-kept secret among conferences in college basketball this season, look no further than the Colonial Athletic Association, which also just so happens to be the league with the very best conference race this year.
We’ve written a few times this year about Texas-Arlington and Arkansas-Little Rock, two of the most surprising teams in the country and squads that could be legitimate NCAA tourney at-large contenders in March based on their stellar non-conference performances. Alas, their first meeting of the season on Saturday was muted, and it wasn’t because of a snowstorm.
