As Championship Week (are we really calling it Champ Week) in college basketball begins, let’s check in on those schools who have never before made the second weekend of the NCAA tournament since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985, not made the Sweet Sixteen, the Never Been Kissed (NBK).
Who had the worst week? Plenty of contenders for that crown of thorns. Let’s start with the Saint Louis University Billikens. The team once ranked #10 in the NET saw their NCAA chances go up in a COVIDy cloud of smoke as they lost a semifinal showdown Saturday night against St. Bonaventure. I firmly believe a SLU-VCU final in the A-10 would have led the committe to convince themselves to just take both regardless of the outcome next Sunday. We’ll never know. Instead of playing their way in or to the cusp of in, the Bills bowed to the Bonnies in a game that was never close.
Maybe Creighton had the worst week? Not so much on the court — close loss to #10 Villanova followed by a win against Butler — as off the court. Coach Greg McDermott was suspended for insensitivity and stupidity. Overwhelming Horizon tournament favorite Wright St. was eliminated, and Furman and Belmont followed them and SLU to the ignominous conference tourney exit. North Texas is not dead yet but they are sinking like a stone, with three straight losses this week, one to Marshall and a pair to UAB. Perhaps new NBK contenders will rise in these voids.
But enough doom and gloom. Whose bright side is shining brighter this week? The aforementioned Bonnies of St. Bonaventure are solidly in the NCAAs and might add an A-10 tournament title to go with their regular season belt. They are a slight favorite over VCU next Sunday.
Love the Drake in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament final against Loyola Chicago today. The Bulldogs are underdogs vs the Ramblers but should be in the field of 68 even with a loss.
Liberty is an overwhelming favorite in the Atlanic Sun final against North Alabama, and little Winthrop is feeling good billie ray against Campbell.
Data courtesy Kenpom.com , NCAA.org, and ESPN Bracketology. For “Conf Tourney Odds” Ken Pomeroy’s conference tourney forecasts are used until the team advances to the conference tournament final, in which case the heavy-bordered cell contains the KenPom odds of winning the final itself.