Non Power 6 teams remaining in NCAA Tournament

[gorvy]

Since my bracket is busted, these are the teams I will be rooting for in the NCAA round of 32:

VCU
Butler
Temple
St. Louis
LaSalle
Creighton
Wichita State
Colorado State
San Diego State
Florida Gulf Coast
Memphis
Harvard
Gonzaga

13 teams out of 32 remaining-- not bad.

[gorvy]

Well, the ranks thinned, but it was still quite a year for mid majors and non power 6 conference teams.

Florida Gulf Coast, a school that didn't even exist 20 years ago, is in to the sweet 16. Granted, this is a fairly large public school, but it is still fun. They are throwbacks to an era when teams didn't just settle into the halfcourt--- tough matchup to follow against Florida.

LaSalle --- All the years of frustration in the A10 are worth it now, as they have finally cracked the sweet 16, first time since 1955. I still remember the last time they had a chance in 1990; they blew a 20 point lead in that one. Not this time, the game was pretty much in control the whole way. They will be playing:

Wichita State---No strangers to the Sweet 16, this will be the fourth time for the Shockers, the last coming in 2006. They have a dynamite coach in Gregg Marshall. I expect them to advance past LaSalle into the Elite Eight for their third time in school history.

We know one thing-- there will at least one non power six conference team in the elite eight for the third consecutive season.

[section2]

The ranks thin because the committee seeds them to have to play each other. Some of them have to lose. If they just seeded teams 1-68 and let them play, more mid majors would be left now.

[gorvy]

Only Wichita State left standing. Wichita State, as the NINE seed, will have a tall order in front of them. Do they have the ONIONS? We shall see. Wichita has made the final four once, in 1965. They lost to UCLA that season.

This season proves how the elite mid majors make no excuses and just reload, as the top 5 scorers from last year's team are not playing this season.

[DelmartianEd]

Rock the Shocker.

[MTS]

Wichita State in the final four! I was rooting for Ohio State as now I can only finish second in my pool!

Fifth mid-major since 2006 to make the Final Four ... George Mason, VCU, Wichita State and Butler twice... if Siena ever wants to dream about that we need to get into the A10! But make no mistake it CAN be done with the right coach and team in place...the talent gap has closed greatly! If we held on against Louisville who knows might have been us too...that one still hurts!

Wichita State is a very good program but really got elite (for Gorvy) when Gregg Marshall took over. This is only their third NCAA trip since 1988. They also made the sweet 16 in 2006 and lost to George Mason who went to the Final Four.

[Papi]

Marshall loads his teams with bcs transfers and juco studs, guy knows what he is doing. Go look at their roster.

[siena77]

Ever notice how Ohio State seems to always fall short in the Tournament? Loved that the Shockers held on to win it yesterday.

[mrsiena]

Agree. And they can't get past all GOOD mid-majors no matter how many times the committee gives them basically a home game every year in Dayton.

[gorvy]

So it will be Wichita State versus Louisville in the Final Four. Tough matchup. In case you haven't noticed, that's my code for they don't have a prayer. But hey, that's why they play the games! A fun fact for Siena fans, Wichita State, a 9 seed, beat Ohio State, and then plays their next game against #1 Louisville. Sound familiar? A final tidbit, Wichita State has a chance at history (if winning a championship is not historical enough). Not only has a non power 6 team ever won an NCAA championship since 1990 (UNLV out of the WAC), no team seeded lower than 8 (Villanova, 1985) has ever won the national championship.

If Wichita State wins, and it is a big if at this point, I think it would provide enough justification to increase the tournament field size to 72 teams. My rationale has always been to take the lowest seeded champion, multiply by 4 for the four regions, and then again by 2 to make sure that you are selecting the right teams. (9X4X2=72 team field). This would add a few more elite mid majors and struggling BCS teams capable of getting hot and making a run.