NCAA Basketball: A one-bid Pac-12, overrated Oklahoma and more takeaways
By Brian Rauf
7) Buffalo is still a quality at-large candidate
Howard’s 40-point second half sunk Buffalo’s quest for an undefeated season and another win over a legitimate non-conference opponent, but it didn’t sink their quest for a potential at-large bid.
KenPom projects the Bulls to win the rest of their regular season games and, should that happen, they would claim the MAC’s auto-bid and walk into the NCAA Tournament with a 33-1 record. Even if they were to somehow trip up in the MAC Tournament, they’d be 32-2 win non-conference road wins over West Virginia and Syracuse – they’re getting in every time.
Of course, it’s much more likely that Buffalo loses a game or two (or even three) during conference play. That has been enough to keep teams in similar positions from earning at-large bids but it won’t in Buffalo’s case.
There are those non-conference wins we discussed obviously play a big part but the MAC is also much better than it has been in years past. Both Toledo and Ball State are ranked in the top 85 in KenPom’s rankings and each would either be considered a quality win or good loss by the selection committee.
The Bulls have already built up a lot of equity this season and have more room for error than we expected them to have. They’re going to have to struggle in MAC play for them not to make the NCAA Tournament, especially considering how weak the bubble is projected to be this year.