Selection Sunday 2017 has arrived! This evening fans will see the full NCAA field revealed. Could the Sun Belt’s UT-Arlington be a surprise inclusion?
There are only a few days as exciting as Selection Sunday in America. 68 teams will be rewarded for their hard work and dedication to the sport over the last four months. Much of the field is locked in, but plenty of lower power schools and mid-majors are sweating out their tournament resumes. One of those programs always sneaks in the field and I think the Sun Belt’s Texas-Arlington Mavericks could be that team this year.
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UTA had a tremendous 2016-2017 campaign. The Mavs largely dominated the Sun Belt Conference with a 14-4 record. They won the conference by two full games and ultimately went 25-8 overall. A late regular season loss at UL-Lafayette and a huge upset to Texas State in the Sun Belt Tournament are the only blemishes on the schedule. The team has beaten three NCAA-bound teams in Texas Southern, Florida Gulf Coast and Mt St. Mary’s. They also have huge wins over Saint Mary’s and in-state titan Texas.
Arlington should get an at-large bid this season. Their numbers are solid across the board. They are 76th on KenPom, 44th in RPI and 68th in BPI. They played one of the toughest schedules in the country with Minnesota and Arkansas among their other non-conference opponents. The Mavericks look more capable of winning a tournament game than a Syracuse going into Selection Sunday.
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The Texas State loss is a big negative, but UTA has some big boosts from early this year. Head coach Scott Cross earned a record-setting number of wins this year. The selection committee should show the Sun Belt and the Texas-Arlington Mavericks some love.