Teams You Want To See in the NCAA Tournament

Creighton-Doug McDermott
South Dakota State- Nate Wolters
San Diego State-Jamaal Franklin
California-Allen Crabbe
Detroit-Ray McCallum
Murray State-Isaiah Canaan

Three teams that I am pulling for to make the tournament.

La Salle- They have a really talented group, and one of the best sixth men in the country in Tyrone Garland. Ramon Galloway is huge in the clutch, and they have EXTREMELY talented back court players in Sam Mills and Tyreek Duren. Also, their freshman Jerell Wright has been a key contributor as a starter. I think they will be able to make it because they have two easier games against URI, and duquesne, but i think even if they lose to Saint Louis, a 21-8 record could get them in, if they win a game or two in the conf. tournament.

Akron: They have a 17 game win streak, and if they win tonight against NDSU in BracketBusters, and win out, I honestly don’t understand why they couldn’t be an at-large team. If Akron were to lose in the MAC tournament, I still think they should make it. If you look at their resume, it’s not that impressive non-conference, but an undefeated conference record should indicate how the Zips have progressed during the season. Bottom line, i think they are like Drexel from last year. Drexel was 27-5, but didn’t win the conference tournament and went to the NIT, i’m certainly not saying they will lose at all the rest of the regular season, but a loss in the conf. tournament could put them on the outside looking in.

Middle Tennessee- Kind of like Akron because they have a 13 game win streak, and just one conference loss, but the blue raiders boast non conference wins over Ole Miss, and a decent UCF team. I definetly believe that if MTU wins out, then they could be an at-large team, but that shouldn’t matter, because i fully expect them to win the conf. tournament.

St. Louis- I know they’re leading the conference right now but ranking wise VCU and Butler are ahead of them. I think they’re a strong strong team that unfortunately could get left out of the tourney somehow. However, imo they do have a strong enough resume. I think they could pull an upset or two!

UNC-They have been a massive disappointment this year but they could still make a run to the sweet 16 if they get matched up against the right teams.

USM-Basically just to make Memphis look better, selfish pick on my part.

Boise State deserves to be in the tournament.

First off, I am incredibly excited to see the Oregon Ducks back in the NCAA Tournament (hopefully, with a solid close to the season and the eventual return of Dominic Artis). The past few years have been pretty rough on the Pac-12, with CBS and ESPN even referring to it being outside the "Power 6" (typically the Pac with the ACC, Big East, SEC, Big 10 and Big 12). Their was even early talk of us not being great once again, though I think that has died down significantly.

Last year, the Pac-12 only had Colorado and Cal as representatives, with Cal being in a play-in game nonetheless. Washington didn’t make it even with going 13-3 and having the best conference record. Flash forward to this season, looks like the Pac-12 is on the heels of its return. Was hoping for 4 schools to make the tournament as I told someone the other day with Oregon, Arizona, UCLA and Colorado claiming those spots. However, Joe Lunardi currently has 6 teams, the previous 4 with Cal and Arizona State.

Think all of those teams have incredibly intriguing prospects and would be fantastic additions to the tournament. I truly did not believe the Pac-12 would have that many teams be competitive, not to mention at least felt like one would be Stanford if anything. Will say that Cal perservered and really turned their season around. Crabbe is absolutely near the top of Pac-12 POY conversation and should have a shot at going first round this year. Very nice scoring wing who has added a bit to his frame, though still has a ways to go.

The other teams have some star power as well and us Ducks are just a team full of grinders. Kazemi is the ultimate hustle player and I am telling people, the fact that we have been as competitive as we have without Artis should make us pretty dangerous when (or if) he comes back. Man, Jon Loyd guarding Cobbs on that last shot was a disaster in the making. I digress, just if Joe Lunardi is near right here (and sadly enough, with tournament dealings, he is pretty solid), will be pretty cool to see the Pac-12 triple or double up on last years bids.

I want to see Jake Odum and Indiana St. make it but after 3 straight losses they most likely need to win the MVC conference tournament to get in

As a Philly hoops fan I would like to see La Salle, Nova and Temple make it as well.

a few im looking forward to:
Miami – haven’t fully bought into them for a big run but definitely are capable. love their coach Larranaga or however its spelled and their experience is unmatched. I think we’ll get a much better idea of how they’ll do after their conference tourney.

Ohio – love watching D.J. Cooper dude has serious game, would be like damian lillard if he was 6’3

UNLV – have a feeling bennett is prime to take over the tournament he’s been ballin all year

Oklahoma State – how far can marcus smart take em? as far as he wants if markel brown stays on his streak and lebryan nash realizes he can make a name for himself in the tourney

Georgetown – usually a disappointment in recent years as they’ve been knocked out before the sweet 16 for multiple years in a row but i think this group is different. their length/height is very unique and can cause real matchup problems with certain teams. Their bracket will be a big factor

VCU/Butler – i group these 2 together because their coaches simply don’t lose in tournament play. Smart and Stevens are always a threat no matter how much you wanna doubt them. Both have already proven they can hang this year so we’ll see if they still sneak up on people

sorry did not see in the initial comment that you were looking for mid major or bubble teams. i got a couple in there anyways

I hope Iowa State finishes strong, they’re freaking good and a lot of people are sleeping on Will Clyburn, who I think could be a 2nd round pick this season and Tyrus McGee has the potential to get hot and is shooting 45% from 3 this season. Hoiberg encourages his players to shoot a lot of 3’s , big surprise, and they have really good offensive spacing and are a smart team as a whole.

They get in and, they could be a sweet 16 or elite 8 team. If I were a top seed and had to go through ISU, I would be pretty bummed about that matchup.

I’d rather say who I wouldn’t want to see in the tourney: Kentucky, UNLV, Baylor, Cincinnati, Mississippi.
All of those teams play ugly, ugly basketball.

I’d kinda like to see Florida Gulf Coast make the tournament:

1) They convincingly beat Miami (somehow).

2) They’ve only been in existence for three years.

3) Others have already named the team I was going to say.

UNT. Because I went to UNT. If Jordan Williams would stop getting in Tony Mitchell’s way, we might even be a good team (not a good good team, a Sunbelt Conference good team), but that isn’t happening.

Kentucky-Even though their play has been erratic this season,they have 3 lottery picks and a tournment tested head coach, that might be capable of beating anyone or losing on the 1st night….

Memphis-It seems they have finally gotten their chemistry 2gether at the right time…….

UNLV- Bennett needs a stage to boost his stock and his fame before the NBA
Detroit- I’ve been a Ray Mccallum since his mcdonalds days but I don’t get to watch him play much
ASU- Jahii Carson is something special

NC state
Georgia
Michigan