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Sunday, December 22, 2024
Part 3 of our reflection, research and review of Selection Sundays and the NCAA Tournament bubble over the last 35 years looks year-by-year at 1995-99. The stretch saw conference champions like Manhattan and Miami (Ohio) rewarded in 1995, a shift towards mid-pack majors as the 90s drew to a close but also surges by a trio of Midwestern leagues.
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.
The first day of action in the Maui Invitational didn’t quite start off as expected, but that might help in a year where it may be surpassed in terms of having the best field. Plus more tournament action includes one championship, a program first in Richmond, and a Hawkeye is done for the season.
Few may have known it, but the Mid-American Conference was a top-10 league in 2018-19. Most were plenty familiar with the team leading it, though, as Buffalo continued an historic run with one of the finest seasons in league history.
As the early season tournaments get going, impressions are made, especially the one made by Iowa in New York. Plus a number of other tournaments get going or have later action, and wildfires in California continue to impact games.
As consistently balanced as it is, the MAC has rarely had a program that is a true bully, but Buffalo may be nearing that stage.
The Southeastern Conference is almost certainly on the precipice of a banner year for NCAA Tournament berths. Just which of those teams will receive them, though, and what might happen with them when they get there, will continue to be a mystery of the wildest proportions.
A hometown hero has Providence poised to continue to even greater heights never before seen. Plus more tournament action gets going, and another 20-20 game is in the books but in a losing effort.
The first three days of the college basketball season have been largely uneventful, not surprising when schedules are littered with endless guarantee games and schools seemingly have little interest in even playing at all so early in November. Here are some quick-hit notes looking around the country after the first weekend of regular season hoops:
The Mid-American Conference in 2016-17 looked a lot like the Mid-American Conference in 2015-16, with big men, Akron, and a conference tourney upset among the storylines.
