How many bids this year?
Posted: Sat Jan 04, 2025 12:08 amNot sure if I'm talking to myself at this point, but here goes. The majority of bracket projections have three BE teams getting in the NCAA's this year, Marquette, UConn, and St. John's. Barring something miraculous, Seton Hall, Providence, DePaul, and Butler have virtually no shot. That leaves Creighton, Xavier, Georgetown and Nova as possibilities, although a couple of those are clearly on life support. Will any of them make it? Is there some remote shot that two could sneak in? Personally I think one will find their way in, Creighton being my guess.
And although it's been beat to death, I'll say it one more time. The league needs to expand. With other leagues at eighteen teams and still considering expansion, we're shooting ourselves in the foot standing pat at eleven. It doesn't matter what percentage of teams make the tournament, if we get three and the ACC gets four, the public perception is they have a deeper more competitive league, even though our percentage would be higher. Our stature is hurt by not getting more bids for the NCAA tournament. It also hurts the TV ratings being represented in so few markets. This year there are simply not that many compelling TV matchups, and again, that's not doing us any good. To me the three obvious choices are St Louis, for the market, even though they consistently disappoint on the court. VCU also to bring us a new market. And finally Dayton, who has beaten our two best teams by a combined 26 points this year (Marquette 8, UConn 18) and seems destined for a bid this year. Not to mention we immediately get some good TV content, Xavier/ UD, and Georgetown/VCU for example. If we don't address this issue, we're leaving ourselves vulnerable to being picked over, once the buzzards start circling again.
Finally, I hope the board somehow survives, but if not, good luck to everyone, and thanks to all for making it a fun place to visit these past ten years.
And although it's been beat to death, I'll say it one more time. The league needs to expand. With other leagues at eighteen teams and still considering expansion, we're shooting ourselves in the foot standing pat at eleven. It doesn't matter what percentage of teams make the tournament, if we get three and the ACC gets four, the public perception is they have a deeper more competitive league, even though our percentage would be higher. Our stature is hurt by not getting more bids for the NCAA tournament. It also hurts the TV ratings being represented in so few markets. This year there are simply not that many compelling TV matchups, and again, that's not doing us any good. To me the three obvious choices are St Louis, for the market, even though they consistently disappoint on the court. VCU also to bring us a new market. And finally Dayton, who has beaten our two best teams by a combined 26 points this year (Marquette 8, UConn 18) and seems destined for a bid this year. Not to mention we immediately get some good TV content, Xavier/ UD, and Georgetown/VCU for example. If we don't address this issue, we're leaving ourselves vulnerable to being picked over, once the buzzards start circling again.
Finally, I hope the board somehow survives, but if not, good luck to everyone, and thanks to all for making it a fun place to visit these past ten years.
