“The March Toward March” is a column by Curran Rastogi about men’s college basketball teams and their journeys to March Madness.
In NINE days, the culmination of the college basketball season will be realized, with Selection Sunday and the release of the NCAA tournament bracket. After an incredibly entertaining season, we move into the best tournament American sports has to offer. Roughly 25 teams in college basketball should feel comfortable that they’ll receive an at-large bid and hear Greg Gumbel calmly list off their name come Sunday. For fans of teams on the ‘bubble,’ it’s a different story.
Obviously, doing well in a competitive conference should be a sure-fire way for a team on the bubble to clinch their spot in the NCAA tournament. Enter bid-stealers. There are 36 teams who will receive at-large bids into the NCAA tournament, the first of which will go to teams locked in the tournament. The rest will go to teams on the bubble. But what happens when a team not close to the tournament wins their conference and goes to the NCAA tournament? They steal a bid from a ‘bubble’ team and only add to the stress everyone feels come Selection Sunday. Here are some teams that can steal a bid and create further anxiety on the bubble this year.
Villanova Wildcats (17-15)
Saying Villanova basketball is a potential bid-stealer to someone who’s intently paid attention to college basketball this year is one of the more obvious statements I can make. Villanova is +850 to win the whole tournament, according to FanDuel. The Wildcats have had what can only be described as a weird season in their first year post-Jay Wright. Coaching inconsistencies and injuries to senior guard Justin Moore and freshman forward Cam Whitmore have caused a team projected to finish third in Big East to finish sixth. However, since getting Moore back in the lineup, the Wildcats are 7-5, including wins at home against No. 24 Creighton and on the road against No. 15 Xavier. Added to this is the fact that since 2014 Villanova is 27-3 at Madison Square Garden, where the Big East tournament will take place. Expect a strong run for the Wildcats as they attempt to keep their streak of making nine consecutive tournaments alive.
Fordham Rams (24-7)
Despite losing their head coach to Villanova in the offseason, Fordham is currently undergoing one of the best seasons in program history. The Rams are led by head coach Keith Urgo, the Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year. Key to their success this year has been their home dominance; the Rams are 18-2 at home. The tournament will be played at Barclays Center, 20 miles from Fordham’s home gym, meaning fans can travel in droves to the A-10 tournament. The Rams are currently the No. 3 seed in the tournament, meaning they’ll avoid VCU, the conference leader, and likely have a favorable road to the finals. If the dynamic duo of graduate students, forward Khalid Moore and guard Darius Quisenberry, can play at their peak, the Rams can win the entire tournament.
Temple Owls (16-15)
The No. 1 Houston Cougars have only lost to two teams this season: No. 4 Alabama and the Temple Owls. Surprisingly, Temple has many good wins this year for a team not close to NCAA tournament contention. They have beaten Villanova, Rutgers, VCU and, of course, Houston — all on the road. If they can beat No. 4 seed Cincinnati in the first round of the tournament, they’ll face Houston again, where they could hand the Cougars their third loss. The program is full of scorers, but redshirt sophomore guards Khalif Battle and Damian Dunn lead the line. It might be a stretch, but if there was a team to be able to beat Houston and steal a bid from a bubble team in the American Athletic Conference, it’s the Temple Owls.
Colorado Buffaloes (17-15)
The Buffaloes are in a similar situation to the Temple Owls. They’ve had some horrible losses, including ones to Massachusetts and Grambling State. Still, they’ve beat No. 17 Tennessee and No. 18 Texas A&M. Looking at teams I’ve written about thus far, Colorado is probably the least likely team to steal a bid from an at-large team. However, Colorado has proven they have the upside that can upset the best the Pac-12 has to offer. The Buffaloes play UCLA in the second round of the Pac-12 tournament, and while they’re a great team, the Bruins just lost their best defender, junior guard Jaylen Clark. Junior forward Tristan da Silva will need some help from his supporting cast following the loss of sophomore guard KJ Simpson, but they can definitely make a run in this tournament.
“The March Toward March” runs every Thursday.