NCAA Basketball: Top 16 breakdown, belief in Maryland, and more weekly takeaways
By Brian Rauf
7) Overrated Saint Mary’s
Saint Mary’s is widely considered to be an NCAA Tournament lock even if they don’t beat Gonzaga or win the WCC Tournament like they did last year. They’re 20-6 and have one of the nation’s better players in Jordan Ford.
That said, nothing the Gaels have done this year warrants the kind of respect this team gets.
Their best wins, according to KenPom, are over BYU, Utah State, and Wisconsin – all teams that are on the NCAA Tournament bubble at best. They also have three losses against teams ranked outside the KenPom top 110 (Winthrop, Pacific, Santa Clara).
Saint Mary’s has only played two games against teams that are surefire NCAA Tournament locks and was blown out by both. They lost to Dayton by 10 (after trailing by 21 at halftime and a considerable margin most of the second half) and they lost to Gonzaga by 30.
Much of the respect Saint Mary’s gets comes from last season’s NCAA Tournament appearance, but it’s worth noting that team wasn’t very good against top competition, either, and only got in by earning the WCC’s automatic bid.
On Selection Sunday, you’ll probably hear a lot about why teams like Gonzaga and San Diego State are overrated – but the most overrated mid-major on the West Coast is Saint Mary’s. They simply haven’t proven themselves at all against top-level competition the way you’d like for them to.