Monday, March 7, 2022

Post-Scouting Combine / Start of Championship Week bracket


Last Four Byes: Creighton, San Francisco, Michigan, Wyoming
Last Four In: Xavier, Wake Forest, Rutgers, SMU
First Four Out: BYU, Indiana, Dayton, VCU
Next Four Out: Florida, Virginia Tech, Oregon, St. Bonaventure

Fresh off my trip to Indianapolis for the NFL Scouting Combine, I'm quickly turning around and getting back into the bracket game as we are just six days away from Selection Sunday, as crazy as that is to believe. It's Championship Week and the last chance for bubble teams to make their case to get into the tournament. 

Three teams have officially punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament: 

  • Longwood (Big South) - 26-6 (15-1)
  • Loyola Chicago (Missouri Valley) - 25-7 (13-5)
  • Murray State (Ohio Valley) - 30-2 (18-0)
Two more teams will join them tonight. Chattanooga takes on Furman for the Southern Conference championship (7:00, ESPN) and Louisiana, the No. 8 seed, takes on Georgia State for the Sun Belt title (7:00, ESPN2).

Here's the full rundown tonight in what's a fairly quiet night, but still plenty of highlights, including the No. 1 team in the country taking the floor for a West Coast semifinal.

Southern Conference Championship (Asheville, NC)

No. 2 Furman vs. No. 1 Chattanooga, 7:00, ESPN

Sun Belt Championship (Pensacola, FL)

No. 8 Louisiana vs. No. 3 Georgia State, 7:00, ESPN

Colonial Semifinals (Washington, DC)

No. 5 Delaware vs. No. 1 Towson, 6:00, CBSSN
No. 6 College of Charleston vs. No. 2 UNC Wilmington, 8:30, CBSSN

Horizon League Semifinals (Indianapolis, IN)

No. 4 Wright State vs. No. 1 Cleveland State, 7:00, ESPNU
No. 3 Northern Kentucky vs. No. 2 Purdue Fort Wayne, 9:30, ESPNU

Summit League Semifinals (Sioux Falls, SD)

No. 5 South Dakota vs. No. 1 South Dakota State, 7:00, ESPN+
No. 3 Oral Roberts vs. No. 2 North Dakota State, 9:30, ESPN+

West Coast Semifinals (Las Vegas, NV)

No. 4 San Francisco vs. No. 1 Gonzaga, 9:00, ESPN
No. 3 Santa Clara vs. No. 2 Saint Mary's, 11:30, ESPN2

The highlight of tonight, outside of the two championship games, is in Vegas, where San Francisco will try to solidify their spot above the First Four cutline by upsetting No. 1 Gonzaga. The Dons are probably in the field, regardless, but a loss could send them to Dayton to begin the tournament.

In the other semifinal, Saint Mary's looks to get past a sneaky-good Santa Clara team. The Gaels have a chance to potentially get as high as a No. 6 seed in the NCAAs.

San Francisco's win over BYU in the quarterfinals all but assured the West Coast's dreams of getting four bids are over. BYU is the first team out but now cannot help their own cause and have a long wait until Sunday. They did beat San Francisco on the road and Saint Mary's at home. Unfortunately, they don't have much else to hang their hat on, as the Oregon win from November lost a lot of value. Road losses to Utah Valley and Pacific also bring down their resume. It's going to be very interesting to see how the committee deals with the Cougars.

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