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Monday, December 23, 2024
Boston University won its first Patriot League championship, and the long haul for their coach has the desired result at last. Plus many tournaments get going, one postseason event won’t happen at all, and a coach takes ill during a season-ending loss.
We conclude our extensive year-by-year looks at NCAA Tournament and Selection Sunday bubbles over the last 35 years by revisiting recent history, the last five years of tournament selection 2015-19.
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.
There’s little separation throughout the Big East, and Wednesday reminded us of that. Plus one team stays undefeated, a dubious record in the SEC, and twice the bad news in Madison.
Not many results were all that surprising on Wednesday night, but one in the American Athletic Conference was a big surprise. Plus little separation remains in a couple of conferences, suspensions are handed out, and a powerhouse in one conference takes a big injury hit.
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.
A great season to date had a day with two unfortunate events, one on and one off the court, that one can only hope won’t sap all the joy from the season. Plus a legendary coach passes on, another incident in a big road win, and one team stays undefeated while another rebounds from a bad loss.
West Virginia is having the kind of year many expect of Bob Huggins’ teams, and they got the kind of win most figured they would get at some point last year but never did. Plus the Flames go down for the first time, the Jayhawks get a win and then a scare, and a Spartan misses a game due to injury.
With many teams still on a holiday break but conference play ready to start in earnest, we begin a quick three-day look at some of the biggest surprises and storylines in each conference through the season’s first two months.
For the first time in 15 years, the Big 12 champion was not Kansas. The league was once again atop conference rankings, though, led by a program whose rise the past couple years very nearly resulted in a national title.
