NCAA Basketball: Butler, Gonzaga among teams under most pressure to win this week

Dayton Flyers - 21-5 (11-3 Atlantic 10)

This article isn’t solely about teams on the bubble, as other teams must get wins for other reasons. Dayton is safely in the NCAA Tournament field, thanks to a great non-conference performance and metrics that keep them off the bubble conversation. However, with previous wins over Cincy and St. John’s aging like milk, they don’t have signature wins to rely upon on Selection Sunday.

And with the Atlantic 10 potentially being a one-bid league again, the Flyers need to be careful not to continue losing, or risk sliding to an unwanted 8-9 seed. They’ve struggled on the road in league play, losing to three of the top teams in the league (Richmond, VCU, George Mason). This has them currently in third place in the conference standings behind both Richmond and Loyola-Chicago.

That’s why Friday’s matchup with the Ramblers is so important. They’ve won the last seven games, including a 21-point win over the same George Mason squad that beat Dayton before. While they don’t have a real NCAA Tournament resume, Loyola has looked like the best team in the league in the past month.

If Dayton can’t beat Loyola, they would have lost all of its top games before the conference tournament. That’s going to be a tough sell for them and their prospects of advancing in March, along with remaining a decent seed. Of course, they also need to beat Davidson at home first, a team that’s been feisty in league play as of late.