The absurdity commences in a week. Most teams know their destiny and are preparing for their possible matchups, but a few teams still need to take care of business in this final week of the regular season. The bracket includes some first-time qualifiers, and some post-season regulars. This is our final look at how the brackets may look next week:
*= Clinched regional playoff berth.
Great Lakes Regional:
1 Central Michigan* (North Champion) VS 8 Butler (South Runner-Up)
4 Indiana* (South Champion) VS 5 Ohio State* (East Runner-Up)
3 WUSTL* (West Champion) VS 6 DePaul* (South Runner-up)
DePaul makes the tournament in consecutive years finishing as GL-North runner-up again. They saw good competition early on, winning two games at the SO-CAL Classic against Purdue and Cal Poly and falling to UCLA and UCONN. The Blue Demons gave Central Michigan their lone loss of the year as well back in week 11 to open the second semester. Last year they came within 1 point of knocking off national champion Purdue in the 1st round and look to play Cinderella against one of the region’s ranked conference champions this year.
2 Xavier* (East Champion) VS 7 Iowa State* (West Runner-up)
Iowa State will be making their 6th regional tournament appearance, including making it back-to-back years after finishing as conference runner-up. Last year they even won a tournament game before running into eventual national champion Purdue. The Cyclones are 15-3 on the year losing to WUSTL twice and splitting with Creighton. They are 6-0 out of conference and have a variety of wings with size to throw fits at any opponent.
Mid-Atlantic Regional:
1 Virginia Tech (South Champion) VS 8 Maryland* (West Runner-Up)
4 Loyola MD* (East Champion) VS 5 St. Joes* (North Runner-Up)
St Joes will make their 3rd NCBBA regional appearance and first since the 2017 season with a 12-2 campaign. They split with conference champion Villanova on the road giving the Wildcats their lone loss on the year. They will likely earn the 5 seed after receiving some top 20 votes in the most recent poll. The Hawks have plenty of experience with 6 seniors and 4 juniors that could propel them to be a popular upset pick.
3 Georgetown* (West Champion) VS 6 James Madison (South Runner-Up)
2 Villanova* (North Champion) VS 7 Salisbury* (East Runner-Up)
Villanova is currently ranked #60 in CBT's Domination Rankings of all teams from all divisions of college hoops.
New England Regional:
1 Boston College (East Champion) VS 8 TUFTS (North Runner-Up)
TUFTS will make their first ever regional appearance barring a SNHU sweep of undefeated Vermont. The Jumbos find themselves in the most difficult region in the league, but they will be familiar with some teams. Both Fairfield and UCONN were in their pool at the Happy Valley Invitational, although they fell to the Stags by 11 and Huskies by 2. After that 0-3 start they bounced back to win 8 conference games, and anything is possible in April.
4 Fairfield* (West Champion) VS 5 UCONN (East Runner-Up)
3 Vermont* (North Champion) VS 6 Northeastern* (East Runner-Up)
2 Brown (East Champion) VS 7 Sacred Heart* (West Runner-Up)
North Atlantic Regional:
1 Penn State* (South Champion) VS 8 Rochester (West Runner-Up)
4 Montclair State* (East Champion) VS 5 Robert Morris* (South Runner-Up)
3 Albany (North Champion) VS 6 TCNJ* (East Runner-Up)
2 Syracuse* (West Champion) VS 7 Binghamton-Green (North Runner-Up)
Binghamton will be represented in the NCBBA regional either by their White or Green team after their conference series this weekend. If Green can split with their campus counterparts, they will make their 2nd consecutive regional appearance. Star big man Sean Moran will be sidelined though, after a pre-season injury. The Bearcats have still had an impressive year going 11-3 overall. They hold wins over Syracuse, Montclair State, and Albany all of which are NA conference champions. They beat a conference champion in Northeastern last season in the 1st round so don’t count this team out yet.
Pacific Regional:
1 UCLA* (South Champion) VS 3 Cal Poly* (North Champion)
Cal Poly clinched the PAC-North after consecutive forfeits by Pacific and Stanford. The Mustangs are 14-4 overall but are just 6-4 on the road. They will need to right those woes if they want to take down one of the top ranked LA teams. A game with UCLA would be a rematch from week 2 at the SO-CAL Classic.
2 GCU-Purple* (East Champion) VS 4 USC-Cardinal (At-Large Bid)
South-Atlantic Regional:
1 Wake Forest* (North Champion) VS 4 Auburn (South Runner-Up)
2 Florida State* (South Champion) VS 3 Coastal Carolina* (North Runner-Up)
Florida State cruised to a 7-1 record in the SA-South but have yet to receive any national attention in the polls. The Seminoles will have the opportunity to prove they belong against #7 Coastal Carolina at the regional tournament. After making the regional last year and falling to Eastern Carolina, and not playing the regional in 2020 due to the pandemic, they look to earn their first ever playoff win in the NCBBA.
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