Is it ever too early to start making projections about the NCAA Tournament field? Of course not. A loyal reader, (thank you Tom) sent me this link and I wanted to share it with everyone. Brad Evans from Yahoo Sports prepares the the Bracket Big Board throughout the season. Evans lists Duquesne as "On the Bubble."
Evans has 4 teams from the A10 going to the big dance, Dayton, Rhode Island, Xavier, and Umass. I do not see more than 4 teams from the conference going to the NCAAs so that makes things pretty simple for the Dukes, they must beat Umass when they play them at the Palumbo on January 30th, (they also must take care of business against teams like Fordham, GW, Saint Louis, etc). The Umass game is by far the biggest game of the season for Duquesne.
The Bracket Big Board has two teams the Dukes have defeated going to the NCAA Tournament: (11-4) Niagara and (12-3) Cal State Northridge. A lot of people say the Dukes haven't defeated anyone this year, but clearly the wins over Niagara and Cal State Northridge were significant.
6 comments:
Not sure beating UMASS at home is going to be enough. I think they are going to need to beat XU or UD on the road (along with beatign UMASS at home.) Although, last night the A-10 had some upsets, which may confuse the picture a bit. XU was blown out at Temple, and Dayton lost at home to UMASS.
You make a great point Scoville, we don't really know what it will take to get the Dukes into the Big Dance.
Here is my theory:
1. Duquesne must defeat Umass at home on January 30th
2. The Dukes can only lose 3 other games on their remaining regular season schedule. They can lose to Dayton, Xavier, and I will allow them to lose to one other A10 team.
If 1 and 2 happen the Dukes will be 21-8 and in my opinion in a good spot to be the 4th team from the A10 to go to the NCAAs. My only concern at that point would be what the Dukes do in the A10 tournament, and if they would get bumped because they lack a signature win.
21-8 definitely puts the Dukes on the bubble. Good record, no bad losses, and no great wins. Some good wins though. It wouldn't be unprecedented for a team in a conference that finishes with a higher spot, and even head to head wins get passed over for a team in the same conference. (It happened in the CAA the year GMU made their run.) They'd still have a good RPI, but I think that the A-10 tourney would make or break them at that point. How awesome would it be to watch a Selection Sunday with some much suspense about your favorite team? Crossing fingers and looking forward to it.
2 years ago we had 3 wins now we are talking about watching the NCAA selection show, thank goodness for Ron Everhart.
I admit, it's been many, many years since I filled out my brackets and it used to be fun.
I don't know that I'm really into it anymore - but I am looking forward to watching you break it down here so that should be fun.
Go Dukes!
I really hope they can get in!!
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