Xavier gets No. 1 in NCAA Tournament West Region

Arizona State (7-7 road/neutral) provided an excellent litmus test.

Jim Christian wasn’t necessarily a hire that “won a press conference” when he was tabbed to succeed Steve Donahue at Boston College, but the move by the Eagles to tab Christian as their head coach is paying major dividends.

That season, the Pac-12 was ranked as the 10th best conference in the country by RPI. The ninth-place team in the Pac-12, a once-trendy Final Four pick, has trended toward the brink of the NCAA Tournament bubble. But Elon (25-7) regrouped and scored the final six points of the game to extend its winning streak to 13 games and gain an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

To be fair, the Big 12 is not the only conference to do this. Nevada won exactly one game against an at-large qualifier, beating Rhode Island at home on November 13.

Here is the complete schedule for the First Four games and the entire Round of 64. “But we are an NCAA Tournament team, if you want to know my opinion”.

In the Big 12, Oklahoma remains one of the more interesting teams on the bubble.

ESPN: West Bracket playing in Dallas, FSU is a No. 11 seed taking on No. 6 seed Houston. Coaches do this more than anyone, some to save their jobs, some to promote their teams for higher NCAA seeds, some for boasts, some for a combination of all three.

Second-seeded UMBC (24-10) had lost 23 straight times to the Catamounts over the last 10 years, including twice this season by a combined 45 points.

“I don’t know that he can be 100 percent”, Self said after learning the Jayhawks’ seed, “but there are a lot of guys who sprain an ankle and they’re not 100 percent and you still play because there’s not a risk of hurting it more”.

Below you’ll find the tip times, TV channel and commentating team that will be on each of the first round games (all times Eastern). The money passed around between agents, shoe company executives and coaches trying to get their hands on top recruits might be different if high school players could go directly to the National Basketball Association.

Both teams fought through adversity to reach the title game. The Tigers entered the poll at No. 17 after a 17-0 start. Their resume is highlighted with victories against top tier teams such as Kentucky and Arizona, but they lost three of their final five games to conclude the season.

Start: 17-0, ranked No. 1 in January 18 AP poll.

Former Western Dubuque standouts Megan Maahs and Rose Simon-Ressler combined to score seven points for the Panthers (19-12), who play in-state rival Drake (25-7) in today’s championship game.

Facing lofty expectations as the preseason No. 3 team, Texas fell well short. Virginia and Villanova are tight for the overall No. 1 – I’d give the edge to the Cavaliers based on more high-quality road victories, five against the top 50 teams – and Kansas, with 20 Quadrant 1 and 2 victories, will be the third top seed.

Start: 15-0, ranked No. 3 in the AP poll on January 6.