Busting Brackets
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St. Bonaventure Basketball: Keys for the Bonnies against UCLA

By Lukas Harkins

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 15: The St. Bonaventure Bonnies cheerleaders perform in the game against the Saint Joseph's Hawks during the Semifinals of the 2014 Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Tournament at Barclays Center on March 15, 2014 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Mike Lawrie/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 15: The St. Bonaventure Bonnies cheerleaders perform in the game against the Saint Joseph's Hawks during the Semifinals of the 2014 Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Tournament at Barclays Center on March 15, 2014 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Mike Lawrie/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 15: The St. Bonaventure Bonnies cheerleaders perform in the game against the Saint Joseph’s Hawks during the Semifinals of the 2014 Atlantic 10 Men’s Basketball Tournament at Barclays Center on March 15, 2014 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Mike Lawrie/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 15: The St. Bonaventure Bonnies cheerleaders perform in the game against the Saint Joseph’s Hawks during the Semifinals of the 2014 Atlantic 10 Men’s Basketball Tournament at Barclays Center on March 15, 2014 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Mike Lawrie/Getty Images) /

In the First Four of the NCAA Tournament, St. Bonaventure basketball will be facing off against UCLA in Dayton. What do the Bonnies need to do to succeed?

Welcome back to the NCAA Tournament, St. Bonaventure! After missing out on the Big Dance in each of the past five seasons, it is good to see the Bonnies competing in the tournament once again, even if they are in the First Four. In order for St. Bonaventure to reach the true field of 64, one team stands in their way, the UCLA Bruins.

Before jumping into their matchup with the Bruins, though, I want to mention how much of a shame it is that the Bonnies are being forced to play in the First Four. With a 25-7 (14-4) record on the season, St. Bonaventure deserved better than a play-in game. After slip-ups at the beginning of conference play, the team clearly showed that they turned a corner when they won 13 consecutive games in conference play.

As a bracketologist myself, I understand how the “total body of work” goes into the selection of teams. With that being said, though, when St. Bonaventure (who finished winning 13 of 14) is forced into a play-in while Oklahoma (who finished losing 11 of 15) is not, something is wrong with the system. The Sooners may have deserved to get into the Big Dance based on their sensational play during the non-conference schedule but they did not deserve a better placement than the Bonnies.

Okay, with that rant over, here are a few things that St. Bonaventure needs to do to knock off UCLA on March 13.

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