Every season, the NCAA Tournament has one team that qualifies and gets you right in the feels, and that team this year comes from the Northeast Conference. The St. Francis (PA) Red Flash claimed the 8th automatic bid into the NCAA tournament when they beat the overwhelming favorite in the Northeast conference, the Central Connecticut Blue Devils.
St. Francis is the first team to qualify for the NCAA tournament with an overall losing record. The Red Flash entered the tournament with a 16-17 overall record and were an even 8-8 in the NEC. St. Francis makes just their second NCAA Tournament appearance in school history, and the first one in 35 years. The last time the Red Flash made the tournament was in the 1990-1991 season.
St. Francis is not going to be able to avoid the first four games in Dayton. Teams from the Northeast conference tend to head there as the conference is usually one of the weakest in the country. The Red Flash will likely be seeded number 68 in the tournament, but they have earned their spot, and they can win a game in the first four. Here are the reasons why they can win.
Coach and City
This is going to sound like I am grasping at straws but I am a firm believer in playing for your coach and winning games for your city. Not everyone is, and that’s okay, but if you need some evidence, just look at Indiana and their surge after their coach announced he was retiring. St. Francis is located in Loretto, PA which has a population of a little over 1,300 people. The entire town is behind the Red Flash as they make their way to the NCAA Tournament. Head coach Rob Krimmel is a St. Fran-cis lifer.
He played there, where he was never able to make the NCAA tournament, and now he is the coach there, where he finally was able to get his team over the hump and into the NCAA tournament. The Red Flash players know how important this game is to the town of Loretto and their head coach. The most impressive thing about the run for the Red Flash is they have done this all without a single NIL dollar. A motivated team is a dangerous team.
Battle Tested
It’s no secret that when you get into the NCAA tournament you are going to get a team that is going to likely play you in a close game, especially in the First Four. St. Francis isn’t ever going to have more talent than their opponents. That is just the reality of the situation but what they do have is the ability to make the right plays that lead to winning. Every team has to learn how to win at some point in a season. The Red Flash learned at the start of February and, since that point, have played great basketball. In that span, they are 8-2 and have five single-digit wins. The best sign for a team that knows how to win was in the Northeast Conference title game. The shots were not falling for St. Francis, and the game was very low-scoring; on the road, they blew a late lead and were still able to make enough plays on both ends of the floor to win the game and qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
Efficiency
One of the biggest advantages that St. Francis is likely going to have against their opponent in the First Four games is their ability to run a very efficient offense. The Red Flash currently shoots 55% from inside the three-point line and shoot 34% from deep. They don’t shoot the ball from deep overly well, but when you throw that in with their ability to get inside the paint and get easy baskets, that is an advantage. It is one of their only advantages, considering they are undersized, young, and don’t have great depth. If they can shoot their averages, they will have a great chance of advancing to the round of 64. The Red Flash is going to be the story of the NCAA Tournament. It isn’t often that a team like St. Francis makes the NCAA Tournament, and there is a good chance they may not make it again for a long time. Watch there game and learn about them, they are good for college basketball.