Bracketology Bubble Watch: Could WCC get more bids than the ACC?
By Bryan Mauro
Atlantic 10
Locks: None
On the Bubble
Davidson Wildcats
Davidson has the best and honestly the only chance of any Atlantic 10 to reasonably be given an at large. They have two quad 1 wins and they are beating the teams they are supposed to beat and some that they are not supposed to beat. The NET is in the Mid 40’s which is where you want it for an at-large, but if Davidson wins out in the regular season which is a real possibility that should all take care of itself.
The Wildcats lost a lot of talent from last season’s team so it was tough to know what to expect but once the Wildcats were able to figure themselves out and come together to beat Alabama they were ready to go. Davidson may enter the tournament with five losses or fewer and that should give them a lock status, but with mid-major conferences, especially one that has underperformed as bad as the Atlantic 10 has you can never be too sure.
Dayton Flyers
The Flyers are officially on the bubble as they are finally starting to catch their stride after a tough start to the year. The Flyers have an interesting resume as they have some fantastic wins but also some bad losses. Some are going to say the Dayton doesn’t belong anywhere near the bubble given the November they had, but they have put that behind them are playing some of their best basketball.
Dayton has wins over Miami, Kansas, Belmont, Virginia Tech, and the crushed VCU on the road. That should offset the losses over Austin Peay, Lipscomb, and UMass Lowell that they took in early November. All of a sudden the Atlantic 10 looks like a multi-bid league.
Work Left to Do
VCU Rams
The Rams are going to head into Selection Sunday likely on the outside looking in. They are a team who had they been fully healthy all year long they would have made the NCAA tournament. VCU has had so many missed opportunities early in the year, and they are such a different team now than when they played those games.
Early in the year they took losses to Wagner and Chattanooga, both of those teams will likely be tournament teams but VCU should have won those games. The Rams do have a win over Davidson on the resume but that is about it, provided they don’t lose many more games in the Atlantic 10 and they make a good run in the tournament they may be enough. The Net is currently in the mid 70’s and they have two more quad 1 game on the schedule.
Saint Louis Billikens
Saint Louis has a better shot at getting into the tournament than some might think. They do not yet have their signature win, but they are able to elevate their resume given they do not have many bad losses and they look to be a top-tier Atlantic 10 team.
Saint Louis lost their star Javonte Perkins before the year even started and many were writing them off, as a non-contender but as the season wore on it was clear that the Billikens were a real contender. The Net is good and right where you want it to be for at large consideration. They do have a quad one win over Boise State in November. They have also beaten Iona who is also likely going to be in the tournament.
The Billikens played Auburn tough and even held a late lead in that game. Honestly, they probably should have won the game against the Tigers. Saint Louis is trending up and with another good three weeks, they will be firmly on the bubble and likely in the tournament.