ACC Basketball Power Rankings: Tournament Edition
Champ Week. There are no two better words in the English language. Honestly for as good as the Big Dance is, Champ week offers more drama and amazing play. Players who have fought all season have one last chance to make their impression of the committee. So in honor of this great week, I am forgoing my usual day by day headlines for five headlines from this past championship weekend.
The Princess and Austin Peay. The Princess here is Cinderella and her relationship with the Governors is a classic one. Austin Peay had to win their last two regular season games to even be eligible for the Ohio Valley Tournament (not all conferences let every team play, something to consider ACC). They followed that up by winning four games in four days becoming the first ever eight seed to win the tournament. That included wins over power house Belmont in an OT thriller and crushing a UT Martin team that had never made the dance.
Look the Govs will at best make it to round one (they are surely going to be a play in 16 seed). However this is what makes champ week so great and why the conference tournaments are the best two weeks of the college season.
Yale ends a 54 year drought. The Yale Bulldogs clinched the Ivy leagues automatic bid this weekend (the Ivy does not hold a tournament) . They did this in part thanks to what they have done all season, dominate other teams. They also did it in part thanks to the most unlikely source, Harvard.
If you didn’t know Harvard and Yale are rivals. Last season, Harvard ended the Bulldogs season in a playoff game by two points. This season Harvard helped Yale avoid that dreaded playoff game when they beat Princeton on Friday night. Yale still needed to win their last game, but they probably sent a present to their rivals for lending a helping hand.
The Bubble shrinks, twice? The bubble is known around the college basketball world as the place no team truly wants to be. If a team is on the bubble then that means games outside of their control could cause said bubble to shrink and leave them out of the big dance. This past weekend, the bubble shrank one if not two times. The first time came Saturday when Northern Iowa upset Wichita State. The Shockers, despite some ridiculous claims otherwise, are going dancing. That means that by not winning their automatic bid, the Missouri Valley conference will send two teams and another conference will send one less.
The bubble might have shrunk again Monday night when Monmouth lost to Iona in the MAAC championship. Monmouth did what mid majors are suppose to do, they scheduled tough and they won. The big question is whether the committee will reward it or not? Bid thieves are common this time of year, which is why most teams want to avoid the bubble before their season ends more abruptly than intended.
The Blocked shot that saved the Atlantic Sun. Due to a last minute decision by the NCAA, Stetson a seven seed in their tournament, was declared ineligible for the NCAA. That didn’t stop the Hatters from making a run to their championship game. If Stetson had beaten Florida Gulf Coast (aka Dunk City), they would’ve given the automatic bid to North Florida, who lost the day before to FGCU. However, a blocked shot by Zack Johnson not only saved the Eagles season, but the conference some embarrassment as well. Things like this are why teams like Louisville and SMU had their seasons end this past weekend.
The Hail Mary that Failed. Monday night had another amazing game played. With 2.1 seconds left, Valparaiso trailed Green Bay by two with the ball out of bounds 90 feet away from the basket. In most situations the Crusaders would be heaving a half court shot to win the game. But on this night, Jubril Adekoya threw a 90 foot pass, that tipped off a Green Bay players fingers and into the hands of Valpo Junior Alec Peters who laid in the game tying basket. Head Coach Bryce Drew had a similar shot 18 years early for Valpo on a hook and ladder play that is still shown during the NCAA tournament today.
Despite all that, Valpo still lost in OT. Unfortunately for the Horizon league, their second best team, Oakland, also lost. Stories like this is why most people think the Ivy has it right in regards to mid majors. Valparaiso is a good school and should be representing their league in the NCAA. They have a legitimate chance to actually beat someone in the tournament. Instead some lesser school will get crushed in the first round. As great as Austin Peay’s story is, the truth is that Mid Majors need to eliminate their tourneys and let the season decide the champion.
Starting Tuesday in ACC country champ week will be real. Some teams seasons ended weeks ago. Of course one solid run by any team could change all that. So with that in mind, I am ranking the teams by their potential to not just win the ACC tourney but the National one as well.
Next: Season ends this week