NCAA Bracketology: Buy or sell mid-major bubble teams in 2019

By TJ Miller | Feb 5, 2019

CHARLOTTE, NC - MARCH 16: The Lipscomb Bisons bench reacts at the start of their game against the North Carolina Tar Heels during the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Spectrum Center on March 16, 2018 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) /

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HONOLULU, HI – DECEMBER 23: Frankie Ferrari #2 of the San Francisco Dons slashes between Paris Lee #1 and MiKyle McIntosh #11 of the Illinois State Redbirds to take a shot during the second half of the Diamond Head Classic NCAA college basketball game at Stan Sheriff Center on December 23, 2016 in Honolulu, Hawaii. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images) /

San Francisco – SELL

Record: 17-5 (5-3 WCC)

NET: 49

Best wins: vs. Standford, vs. Saint Mary’s

You can’t tell me this team isn’t likable. Senior point guard Frankie Ferrari actually plays as good as his name. This team plays solid defense without boring viewers and the Dons is a great a mascot to have. On top of all this, San Francisco probably had the most hype surrounding it for an at-large campaign just a couple weeks ago. Not so much anymore.

Back to back losses at San Diego and then at Saint Mary’s really hurt the Dons NCAA tournament at-large hopes. Although we’re still in early February, the trip this Thursday to Spokane to play Gonzaga is a moment of reckoning. Pull off this upset and I think the perception of this team changes a lot. Without it, this resume appears lacking.

Wins over Cal and Stanford sound okay until you check out the Pac-12 standings. And losing a close one to Buffalo in Belfast and then a heartbreaking 73-71 loss at UC Santa Barbara were huge missed opportunities in non-conference play. The Dons are 0-3 against teams in the NET Quadrant 1 which is the kind of stat the committee would love to parrot off to deny this team a bid.

Plus, historically the committee hasn’t been kind to bubble teams from the WCC, namely Saint Mary’s. The Gaels were excluded last season despite a 28-5 (16-2) record and also were left out in 2016 with a 27-5 (15-3) mark. San Francisco did play a stronger non-conference slate, but both of those Saint Mary’s squads took down Gonzaga at least once.

As I said earlier, the Dons are fun to watch and can really play, but I don’t feel confident about buying into them.

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