Busting Brackets
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NCAA Basketball: Bellarmine, Big Ten, and hot seat in roundtable questions

By Tristan Freeman

AUSTIN, TEXAS - FEBRUARY 24: (L to R) Sean McNeil #22, Miles McBride #4, Chase Harler #14 and Derek Culver #1 of the West Virginia Mountaineers walks on the court after a timeout during the game with the Texas Longhorns at The Frank Erwin Center on February 24, 2020 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Chris Covatta/Getty Images)
AUSTIN, TEXAS - FEBRUARY 24: (L to R) Sean McNeil #22, Miles McBride #4, Chase Harler #14 and Derek Culver #1 of the West Virginia Mountaineers walks on the court after a timeout during the game with the Texas Longhorns at The Frank Erwin Center on February 24, 2020 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Chris Covatta/Getty Images) /
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Bellarmine’s CJ Fleming Bellarmine Mizzstlouis13 Sam
Bellarmine’s CJ Fleming Bellarmine Mizzstlouis13 Sam /

We’re officially less than a month away from Selection Sunday for the 2021 NCAA Basketball Tournament. The Committee put out an early top-16 overall seedlines last Saturday, with Gonzaga, Baylor, Michigan, and Ohio State at the top.

There are plenty of questions regarding who’ll have the top seeds a month from now, as well as the current action going on now. In this week’s NCAA Basketball roundtable, we’ll take a look at both the future and the present of the sport. Here are this week’s contributors for the piece.

Jacob Stevenson – @stevejac002

Andrew Tineo – @D_Tineo4

Benjamin Zacher – @beezacher

Jacob Zinkula – @1PerfectBracket

1. Should the Bellarmine Knights be allowed to play in the 2021 NCAA Tournament?

Stevenson

Yeah, I think they should. I don’t really like the rule where if you opt up to D1 there’s the four-year transition period. Let them play.

Tineo

I’ve truly never understood the reasoning behind a transition period within the NCAA, especially when it penalizes a team from their success.

The Knights are the best out of the four teams that transitioned from the D-II level and are currently have a one-game lead in the Atlantic Sun. The pivotal series in the season will be the finale, against second-place Liberty, on the road. If Bellarmine wins, that puts the NCAA in an uncomfortable position.

I believe that they should be allowed to play and not be penalized for rules that are out of their control.

Zacher

They absolutely should be.  There is no rhyme or reason for why transitioning Div. III/Div. II schools should be forced to sit out at all – let alone for a four-year period.  There is also no reason to punish those players and coaches for competing – and doing incredibly well – against Div. I schools.

Bellarmine was picked to finish last in the Atlantic Sun – and is currently sitting first in the conference standings in their first-ever year as a Div. I school.  Merrimack – in their first go-around in Div. I last year – was picked to finish last in the NEC in 2019-20, and they won the conference’s regular-season title.  This year, they were selected to finish seventh – and again, they’re sitting first.

It’s no fluke, either – they’re all legitimately good teams who would give quality teams fits.  Merrimack picked up their first win as a Div. I school at Northwestern last year – by 10 points.  Bellarmine lost to Notre Dame by 11 this year – and lost to both Louisville and the Irish last year in exhibition games by lesser margins.  The University of North Alabama women – back in 2018-19 – took down Vanderbilt in their first-ever game as a Div. I school.

That’s no knock against schools like Liberty and Mount St. Mary’s, who are sitting second in their respective conferences – and are, subsequently, in line for their regular-season crowns.  But it just feels wrong to bar competitive, winning schools from the NCAA Tournament for literally NO reason.

Zinkula

I’m not an expert on why every NCAA rule is the way it is, but it seems like Bellarmine should be allowed to participate (if the team qualifies of course). Based on my limited research, the current rule is in place to help athletic departments manage the transition to Division I. This doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me, but perhaps there is another explanation I’m unaware of.

Until I hear a better argument…Free Bellarmine! To be fair to the NCAA, I understand not wanting to make this “last-minute” change. At the very least, however, the rule should be revised in the offseason

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