Meep Meep:365 to 1, February 23rd Update
Four more teams eliminated as we approach conference tournament season.
Previously on 365 to 1:
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It's been a week. We've seen four more eliminations across college basketball as teams jockey for position in their conference standings.
There are also two corrections to be made from last week's article: 1) following an in-season announcement, the ASUN will be allowing all teams to participate in their conference tournament, 2) Conference USA has 20 conference games not 18. I'll go into further detail regarding the ASUN below, but before we get into the teams eliminated this week I want to provide an update related to Utah Valley.
As previously mentioned the WAC has declared Utah Valley a member institution not in good standing following the Wolverines refusal to not pay their $1 million exit fee. As a result, the WAC has announced that Utah Valley will be ineligible to participate in the WAC conference tournament and has banned the program from airing their home television games as part of the WAC's television rights (ESPN+ streaming). This week, Utah Valley struck back. They've filed a request for a legal injunction to force the WAC to allow Utah Valley to participate in their postseason. The request was filed in the 4th District Court in Utah and now opposes the WAC's lawsuit against Utah Valley for the exit fee that was filed in Texas. All this to say, we may not get a resolution on Utah Valley until the WAC tournament tips off.
Enough legal mumble jumble. On to the eliminations.
Texas San Antonio was eliminated on February 18 to become team number 356. The Roadrunners had just won their first conference game three days prior, but fell to Florida Atlantic at home 52-60. The loss dropped them to 5-21 (1-13) and left UTSA five games back in the American standings with four games to play. UTSA hasn't made the NCAA tournament since 2011 when they defeated Alabama State in the First Four before getting run over by The Ohio State Buckeyes 75-46. UTSA is 1-4 in NCAA tournament play.
California State Bakersfield because team number 355 on the 19th after a blowout loss to UC Riverside. The Roadrunners - good week for Wile E. Coyote - were the first team eliminated from Big West contention. Bakersfield started the Big West strong (2-3) but following the loss to Riverside had lost 10 straight (now 11 after Saturday). At 8-19 (2-13) Bakersfield was eliminated not by their own loss, but by Cal Poly's late night upset of Hawai'i. Cal Poly's victory took them to 8-8 leaving Bakersfield six games back with five to play. These Roadrunners have made just 1 NCAA Tournament: the 2016 version in which they lost to 2 seed Oklahoma 68-82.
Team 354 is the Niagara Purple Eagles. The third and final team out of the MAAC to be eliminated prior to the postseason, Niagara lost on Friday to Mount St. Mary's 76-63. The Purple Eagles (7-20, 4-13) were chasing Iona but with the loss found themselves three games behind the Gaels with three to play and with Iona in possession of the tiebreaker (Iona would win the same day to put Niagara four games back). Niagara hasn't made the NCAA tournament since 2007. There three appearances have resulted in a 2-4 record. Their first tournament saw them make the Sweet 16 in 1970 (25 teams with regional third place games) following a victory over Penn but they also defeated Florida A&M in the 2007 opening round game.
Our final elimination of this week and team 353 is California Riverside. The Highlanders (9-20, 4-13) trailed UC Davis for almost the entire game on Saturday and couldn't get the win as they fell 73-78. The loss leaves them four games back in the win column with just three to play. UC Riverside is a member of the Never Made the Tournament Club having moved up to Division I for the 2002 season. They have yet to make a conference tournament championship game while in Division I either. Riverside did make the 1995 Division II title game but in recent years, athletics haven't been a priority for the university. In 2020, university leadership considering cutting athletics entirely before announcing in May 2021 that they had decided against it.
352 Teams Remain!
13 Teams Eliminated
Conference Races
America East Conference
Conference games: 16
Teams participating in tournament: 8 of 9
6th - Maine Black Bears (5-9) - safe
7th - Bryant Bulldogs (4-9)
8th - New Hampshire Wildcats (4-9) - safe
9th - Binghamton Bearcats (2-12)
Binghamton won on Thursday over Bryant before losing to UMass Lowell on Saturday. The win gives Binghamton a path to the America East tournament.
Maine defeated New Hampshire over the weekend. The victory sees the Black Bears into the America East tournament field, but New Hampshire shouldn't feel too bad - they are safely in the field following Binghamton's loss to UMass Lowell.
Most America East teams have three games remaining, but not the Binghamton Bearcats. They play New Hampshire on Thursday and Maine on Saturday to bring their regular season to a close. The rest of the conference wraps up on March 3.
Binghamton has just one scenario in which they make the America East conference. They need to win their two homes games this week and watch Bryant lose out. The Bulldogs play UMBC (road, 2/26), UMBC (home, 2/28), and New Hampshire (3/3). Thanks to sweeping the season series over Bryant, Binghamton would take the two team tiebreaker. Binghamton could theoretically tie New Hampshire for 8th, but they would split the season series in that scenario and New Hampshire would win the next tiebreaker having wins over UMass Lowell and Albany that are going to be higher in the standings than anybody Binghamton defeats this regular season.
Never Made the Tournament Club Members: Maine, New Hampshire, UMass Lowell, NJIT
American Conference
Conference games: 18
Teams participating in tournament: 10 of 13
7th - Memphis Tigers (7-7)
8th - Temple Owls (7-7)
9th - North Texas Mean Green (7-8)
10th - Florida Atlantic Owls (7-8)
11th - Rice Owls (5-9)
12th - East Carolina Pirates (4-10)
13th - UTSA Roadrunners (1-14) - eliminated 2/18
UTSA led at halftime against FAU but lost the second half and as mentioned above have been eliminated.
East Carolina and Rice both lost twice this week while North Texas scrapped together a one point victory over FAU yesterday. The Mean Green have won four of five and now have a 1.5 game lead over Rice in the standings. FAU is headed in the other direction. The Owls started American conference play at 6-1 but have now lost seven of eight with the sole victory coming over UTSA.
Wednesday, East Carolina play UTSA in a must win game. On Thursday, Temple travels to FAU in a battle of the Owls. The winner gets to 8 wins which should be enough to secure an American conference tournament berth.
Next weekend's games are all on Sunday for the conference. Rice plays at Temple while East Carolina hosts Memphis.
Never Made the Tournament Club Members: None
Atlantic Sun
Conference games: 18
Teams participating in tournament: 12 of 12+
9th - West Georgia Wolves (6-10)*
10th - Jacksonville Dolphins (5-11)
11th - North Florida Ospreys (4-12)
12th - North Alabama Lions (3-13)
*ineligible for NCAAT
+While I was sleeping, the Atlantic Sun changed their conference tournament format this year. I don't feel terrible about missing this news because the conference didn't announce the change until January 22, literally a day after I did my preliminary research to determine which conferences wouldn't be allowing every team to participate.
Two additional thoughts here: 1) It is wrong to change the rules mid-season. Maybe that's not what happened and the ASUN just didn't publish their press release until mid-season, but this is how you create narratives that your conference is showing favoritism to certain programs - see Ohio State football in 2020. Make your announcement about going to a 12 team format at the preseason ASUN media day. 2) The change in format extends the life of North Alabama who would have been eliminated on Saturday under last year's rules.
Atlantic Coast Conference
Conference games: 18
Teams participating in tournament: 15 of 18
13th - Stanford Cardinal (5-9)
14th - Wake Forest Demon Deacons (5-9)
15th - Pittsburgh Panthers (3-11)
16th - Notre Dame Fighting Irish (3-11)
17th - Boston College Eagles (2-12)
18th - Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (2-13)
The entire ACC remains alive with most teams having four games left (offer not valid to Georgia Tech who has three). Wake Forest upset Clemson midweek to put some distance between themselves and the cutline. They've caught Stanford, but with just four games remaining both teams appear relatively safe. Pittsburgh won over the Irish 73-68 on Saturday to claim 15th place in the ACC standings. I know Shrewsberry has had injury woes this season, but I'm not sure missing out on the ACC tournament gets him a fourth season.
This week Notre Dame plays the titan killing Duke and Duke's weaker in-state brethren North Carolina State. Pittsburgh meanwhile travels to the west coast to visit Stanford and Cal.
Boston College has lost 8 in a row and hosts Wake Forest before traveling to Miami. The Yellow Jackets have lost 9 in a row but get the week off to regroup before facing Florida State at home over the weekend.
Never Made the Tournament Club Members: None
Big West
Conference games: 20
Teams participating in tournament: 8 of 11
8th - Cal Poly Mustangs (8-8)
9th - Long Beach State Beach (4-12)
10th - UC Riverside Highlanders (4-13) - eliminated 2/21
11th - Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners (2-14) - eliminated 2/19
Both Bakersfield and Riverside were eliminated this week.
Long Beach State can still catch Cal Poly but it's a tough road ahead. They need to win out with the Mustangs losing out. That seems unlikely but the Beach face Cal Poly on the road Thursday night. Should they win that one, Long Beach plays cellar dweller Bakersfield while Cal Poly gets 7th place UC San Diego. This week is the easy part of the post-season path for Long Beach State. Let's see what they do with it.
Never Made the Tournament Club Members: UC Riverside (eliminated)
Conference USA
Conference games: 20++
Teams participating in tournament: 10 of 12
9th - Florida International Panthers (6-10)
10th - New Mexico State Aggies (6-10)
11th - UTEP Miners (6-10)
12th - Delaware Blue Hens (5-11)
++Apparently I can't do math and previously miscounted the number of CUSA regular season games.
There's still four games left in the CUSA regular season and things are tight. After getting the week off New Mexico State defeated UTEP in an important head to head battle Saturday. Delaware lost twice this week including in overtime to Western Kentucky. FIU split the week with an overtime road loss to Liberty and a win over Missouri State.
This week, all four of these teams play two road games against teams higher in the standings. Can anyone get an upset road victory?
Never Made the Tournament Club Members: None
Ivy League
Conference games: 14
Teams participating in tournament: 4 of 8
4th - Dartmouth Big Green (5-6)
5th - Cornell Big Red (5-6)
6th - Princeton Tigers (4-7)
7th - Columbia Lions (4-7)
8th - Brown Bears (3-8)
Brown defeated Princeton Friday evening to stay alive. They were helped out by Harvard defeating Cornell on Saturday.
Dartmouth survived Columbia 64-63 on Saturday. For a second I thought that might eliminate Brown, but the Bears can finish 4th overall in a theoretical six-team tie for third place at 6-8. There might be some other scenarios that see Brown make the Ivy tournament, but I couldn't find them at first glance.
This Friday Brown hosts Columbia, Cornell visits Yale, Dartmouth entertains our old buddy Fran, and Princeton takes on Harvard in Boston.
Never Made the Tournament Club Members: None
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
Conference games: 20
Teams participating in tournament: 10 of 13
8th - Iona Gaels (8-10)
9th - Manhattan Jaspers (8-10)
10th - Sacred Heart Pioneers (8-11)
11th - Niagara Purple Eagles (4-14) - eliminated 2/20
12th - Canisius Golden Griffins (4-14) - eliminated 2/15
13th - Rider Broncs (3-15) - eliminated 2/15
Niagara lost to Mount St. Mary's on Friday 63-76 making Iona's game against St. Peter's a moot point. The Gaels did manage to upset the Peacocks in overtime to put a stamp on their conference tournament bid.
The MAAC tournament contenders are set, but the exact bracket matchups are yet to be finalized.
Never Made the Tournament Club Members: Quinnipiac, Merrimack, Sacred Heart
Mid-American Conference
Conference games: 18
Teams participating in tournament: 8 of 13
7th - Buffalo Bulls (6-8)
8th - UMass Minutemen (6-9)
9th - Central Michigan Chippewas (5-9)
10th - Northern Illinois Huskies (4-10)
11th - Eastern Michigan Eagles (4-10)
12th - Ball State Cardinals (3-11)
13th - Western Michigan Broncos (3-11)
Northern Illinois defeated Buffalo on Tuesday to keep things interesting in the MAC race for 8th, but the Bulls defeated the Minutemen in overtime on Saturday to keep the pack at bay. EMU defeated CMU Tuesday before CMU beat WMU on Saturday. Everyone remains alive with two weeks to play.
Big games this week include Ball State at UMass Tuesday, Buffalo at Central Michigan Saturday and Ball State at Northern Illinois that same day.
Never Made the Tournament Club Members: None
Northeast Conference
Conference games: 18
Teams participating in tournament: 8 of 10
T3rd - Le Moyne Dolphins (9-7)*
T3rd - Mercyhurst Lakers (9-7)*
5th - New Haven Chargers (8-7)*^
7th - Stonehill Skyhawks (7-8)
8th - Wagner Seahawks (6-10)
9th - Chicago State Cougars (5-11)
10th - Saint Francis (4-11)
^ineligible for NEC tournament
*ineligible for NCAA tournament
Saint Francis is falling apart as their time in Division I comes to a close. They lost to Long Island and Wagner (in their last DI home game) this week to run their losing streak to 8. The Seahawks also upset Mercyhurst in overtime midweek.
Chicago State lost a heartbreaker to Fairleigh Dickinson 59-60 on Thursday before rebounding with a massacre of Central Connecticut State. Go Cougars!
Saint Francis plays three games this week: at New Haven (Tuesday), at Stonehill (Thursday) and at Central Connecticut (Saturday). Wagner hosts Chicago State on Saturday in the season finale.
Never Made the Tournament Club Members: Stonehill, Chicago State, Le Moyne, Mercyhurst, New Haven
Ohio Valley Conference
Conference games: 20
Teams participating in tournament: 8 of 11
7th - Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles (8-10)
8th - Little Rock Trojans (8-10)
9th - Eastern Illinois Panthers (7-11)
10th - Southern Indiana Screamin' Eagles (4-14) - eliminated
11th - Western Illinois Leathernecks (1-17) - eliminated
Big week for the Golden Eagles of Tennessee Tech as they defeated SIUE and Lindenwood to move into 7th place. Little Rock had a more mixed week with a victory over Tennessee Martin followed by a loss to SEMO. Two painful losses for the Panthers who fell by three to Morehead State and two to Southern Indiana.
This week Eastern Illinois plays Lindenwood on Thursday followed by Edwardsville on Saturday. The Trojans get Morehead and the Screamin' Eagles this week while Tech has Tennessee Martin and Southeast Missouri.
Tiebreakers are as follows as we head into the final two games of the OVC season:
Tennessee Tech loses a three way tiebreaker.
Eastern Illinois beats Tennessee Tech in a two way-tiebreaker.
A two team Eastern Illinois/Little Rock or Little Rock/Tennessee Tech tie comes down to what other teams do this week.
Never Made the Tournament Club Members: Lindenwood, Tennessee Martin, Western Illinois (eliminated), and Southern Indiana (eliminated)
Southland Conference
Conference games: 22
Teams participating in tournament: 8 of 12
7th - Lamar Cardinals (7-12)
8th - Northwestern State Demons (7-12)
9th - Houston Christian Huskies (6-13)
10th - Incarnate Word Cardinals (6-13)
11th - East Texas A&M Lions (6-13)
12th - Southeastern Louisiana Lions (5-14)
The Southland is a chaotic mess. After losing five in a row, Lamar finds themselves uncomfortably close to the cutline. Northwestern State is headed in the opposite direction. Winners of three out of four (the loss coming against McNeese), the Demons find themselves above the chaos for now.
Houston Christian, Incarnate Word, and East Texas A&M all split the week while SELA lost twice.
We may see an elimination as soon as tonight since the Southland is a Monday/Saturday league. East Texas A&M plays Houston Christian tonight. Incarnate Word gets both Northwestern State and Lamar this week.
Never Made the Tournament Club Members: Incarnate Word, Texas Rio Grande Valley, East Texas A&M
The List
365 - New Haven Chargers (transitioning)
364 - West Georgia Wolves (transitioning)
363 - Mercyhurst Lakers (transitioning)
362 - Le Moyne Dolphins (transitioning)
361 - Coppin State Eagles (APR)
360 - Western Illinois Leathernecks (eliminated from OVC contention 2/12)
359 - Southern Indiana Screamin' Eagles (eliminated from OVC contention 2/14)
358 - Rider Broncs (eliminated from MAAC contention 2/15)
357 - Canisius Golden Griffins (eliminated from MAAC contention 2/15)
356 - Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners (eliminated from American contention 2/18)
355 - Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners (eliminated from Big West contention 2/19)
354 - Niagara Purple Eagles (eliminated from MAAC contention 2/20)
353 - UC Riverside Highlanders (eliminated from Big West contention 2/21)
