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Sunday, December 22, 2024
Sometimes, our best-laid plans just flop. In March, this writer rolled out a historical series looking at NCAA Tournament at-large selection and the proverbial ‘bubble’, examining teams just above and below the cutline in the tourney every year from 1985 through 2019. The series ran in early March, five years […]
The first two NCAA Tournament bids went out after dramatic finishes in championship games to set the stage. Plus a long day of tournaments ends with a thrilling back-and-forth between two star guards, a surprise champion in the ACC and a three-way tie atop the Big East.
Part 4 of our look back at Selection Sundays and NCAA Tournament bubbles over the last 35 years moves into a new decade with our review of 2000-04. Strength of schedule becomes king, Barry Hinson has his first notable snub, and Butler in 2002 and Utah State in 2004 beg the question of just how much do teams like them need to win to get a bid.
Notre Dame may have already lost any slim hope of an at-large bid, but a loss like Wednesday night’s is tough to stomach all the same. Plus the Flyers cruise on the road, the Wildcats can still win again, and some Tigers are going in the wrong direction as the regular season winds down.
In the Big East, one coach who just continues to win also continues to not get a lot of pub about the job he’s done. Plus a surprise in the ACC, more overtime success for an SEC school, and good news coming out of a scary moment from a night earlier.
Another long losing streak has come to an end, and against an unlikely opponent as well. Plus a tale of two halves in the ACC, some big shooting in the Big East and one Big Ten game, and a Big 12 team is finally on the board as well.
Can the ACC picture for the NCAA Tournament get any more murky? Plus no surprises in the Big Ten despite one team without key players, rallies in the SEC and a health concern postpones a couple of games.
On a light night of action, a Big East battle that tipped a little later was everything we could have hoped for, and a big win for a team that had lost three in a row. Plus there’s no doubt who’s on top in one league, two teams have a reversal of fortune in the Big Ten, and a Wildcat is moving on.
In our latest podcast, we talk about how Tuesday was not the finest day of what’s been an otherwise fun season, as well as a new-look poll, the ups and downs of a number of teams, as well as one team having to bounce back from blowing an eminently winnable game.
In a game that served as a real opportunity for the home team, Butler went on the road and took care of business in impressive fashion. Plus the Big Ten gets more interesting, an Ivy League rivalry has a similar result, and a few other results of note from a light night of action.
