*** Official Selection Sunday Thread ***

I was really hoping New Mexico would get in but they kinda sh*t the bed at the end of the regular season.

I'm a little worried about Kentucky because they do have talent and it's the tournament. Virginia doesn't scare me at all. I think this is probably the best I have felt about making a run in a long time. Hopefully Tamin is good to go.
Kentucky by Kenpom rating is about as offensively efficient as UCF, who only scored 57 and we beat by 30, and as defensively efficient as Iowa, who was able to hold us to 67 points. Of course, Iowa plays exceedingly slow, so the comparison is not that good. But I bet we would be 8-10 point favorites if matched up agains UK.
 
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Consecutive Tournament Appearances (5 or more)

Kansas 36
Michigan State 28
Gonzaga 27
Purdue 11
Houston 8
Tennessee 8
Alabama 6
UConn 6
Illinois 6
Texas 6
Arizona 5
Duke 5
Iowa State 5
Kentucky 5
Saint Mary's 5
Not many bs programs on that list.
 
By Kenpom efficiency rating, Tennessee State is the fourth worst defensive team in the tournament, behind only Queens U, Lehigh, and Prairie View. We didn't really play anyone with their offensive ability, they would be significant downgrade offensively from Mississippi State, but better than Long Beach State.
 
Kentucky by Kenpom rating is about as offensively efficient as UCF, who only scored 57 and we beat by 30, and as defensively efficient as Iowa, who was able to hold us to 67 points. Of course, Iowa plays exceedingly slow, so the comparison is not that good. But I bet we would be 8-10 point favorites if matched up agains UK.
I have watched some Kentucky games this year. They have some nice wins and have hung with Florida, it's just a matter of which Kentucky team shows up. And which ISU team shows up as well.

Tennessee State is actually capable of beating us if we come out flat. They have some really good guards.

We just have to keep the momentum going from the conference tourney and we will be fine.
 
Sweet Sixteen appearances since 2000

Iowa State 5
Iowa 0

Sweet Sixteen appearances since 2019

Iowa State 2
Kansas 1

Yes, these are cherry-picked stats
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Longest Droughts Snapped

Queens - First Appearance
Cal Baptist - First Appearance
Idaho - 1990
Tennessee State - 1994
Santa Clara - 1996
Hofstra - 2001
Miami (Oh) - 2007
Siena - 2010
Lehigh - 2012
South Florida - 2012
Hawaii - 2016
Northern Iowa - 2016
And the coach for Siena the last time it made the tourney in 2010 was none other than Mad Fran himself. He was also the last coach to take Iowa to the NCAAs before now.

You have to admire his play-in game chops even if the Sweet 16 will never be his.
 
Every tournament since 2016, at least one team has won its first-ever tournament game.

Here are the teams in this year's tournament that have never won a tournament game and their opponents:
  • #16 Howard - vs #16 UMBC in First Four
  • #16 Prairie View - vs #16 Lehigh in First Four
  • #16 LIU - vs #1 Arizona
  • #15 Tennessee State - vs #2 Iowa State
  • #15 Queens - vs #2 Purdue
  • #14 Kennesaw State - vs #3 Gonzaga
  • #13 Hofstra - vs #4 Alabama
  • #13 Cal Baptist - vs #4 Kansas
  • #12 High Point - vs #5 Wisconsin
  • #12 Akron - vs #5 Texas Tech
  • #4 Nebraska and #13 Troy (facing each other)
 
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