New Jersey bracketology, Part V: Enough chatter, who’s making the tournament?
There are no sure things with 12 days remaining till Selection Sunday.
After all this time, all these games and all this bracketology… what if no teams from New Jersey make the NCAA Tournament?
Look down the rest of today’s newsletter and you’ll see that there are no sure things with 12 days remaining till Selection Sunday. If forced, I would bet on Princeton and Seton Hall winding up in the tournament, and three Jersey entries are realistic when you look at how both Saint Peter’s and Rider are playing in the MAAC right now.
But depending on what transpires in the next two weeks, we also must face the possibility that none of these teams qualify.
The last time New Jersey didn’t send at least one team to the tournament was almost a decade ago, in 2015. That was the year Seton Hall welcomed the likes of Angel Delgado and Isaiah Whitehead but lost nine of its final 10 games to collapse. Rutgers wasn’t any good yet, Princeton finished third in the Ivy race and Rider, the No. 2 seed in the MAAC tournament, lost to Saint Peter’s in the quarterfinals.
Anyway! Let’s not think about that anymore. Here’s where things stand for my fifth and final bracketology update of the season.
Seton Hall
NET: 68; KenPom: 60; strength of record: 41
Quad 1: 5-7; Quad 2: 3-3; Quad 3: 2-1; Quad 4: 8-0
Feel free to have a chuckle over the trajectory of my last three Seton Hall headlines in this here newsletter: “In praise of Dre Davis, Seton Hall’s Mr. Consistency”; “‘Game by game,’ Seton Hall is getting stronger in time for March”; “Column: Seton Hall has a blowout problem.” Instead of up, up and away, with this team it’s up, up and kersplat.
I could wring my hands over Seton Hall’s lopsided losses at Creighton and UConn for a few more paragraphs, but I think Bryan DeNovellis summed it up best: “In their 5 Big East road losses, the Pirates lost by 20, 18, 26, 21 & 30. Last 2 games are at home: vs Villanova and DePaul. Win them both, and they’re IN the NCAA Tournament. The narrative hasn’t changed.” No more road games for the Pirates, just two chances to look their best on their home court and then (most likely) a first-round bye at Madison Square Garden.
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