Teams That Can Still Win a National Championship (Championship Week Day 2)

There are 351 teams in Division I basketball. Generally speaking, at the beginning of the year all of them are eligible to win a National Championship. Whether or not a championship is practical is not the point of this exercise; instead we are seeing who, in theory, could still win a title.

For the duration of Championship Week, teams will be sorted by conference. Teams that win their conference tournament will be placed in Bold. Teams that don't win their conference tournament, but are expected to be an at-large team will be in Italics. Teams considered safe will be a 9 seed or higher on Bracket Matrix. Teams on the bubble will have (?). The italics and (?) will only be used on teams that have already been eliminated from their conference tournament. Teams eliminated from national title contention will be shown will have their names crossed out for the night that they are eliminated only to show the difference from night to night.

Once the field of 68 teams is announced, the teams that can still win a national title will be sorted by NCAA region and be whittled down from there until on April 3rd when a champion is crowned.

America East
Vermont
Stony Brook
Albany
New Hampshire
UMBC
Hartford
Binghamton
Maine

American
Southern Methodist
Cincinnati
Houston
UCF
Connecticut
Memphis
Tulsa
Temple
East Carolina
Tulane
South Florida

Atlantic 10
Dayton
Virginia Commonwealth
Rhode Island
Richmond
Saint Bonaventure
George Mason
George Washington
La Salle
Davidson
Fordham
Saint Louis
Massachusetts
Saint Joseph's
Duquesne

ACC
North Carolina
Florida State
Louisville
Notre Dame
Duke
Virginia Tech
Miami
Virginia
Syracuse
Wake Forest
Georgia Tech
Pittsburgh
Clemson
North Carolina State
Boston College

Atlantic Sun
Florida Gulf Coast
Lipscomb
North Florida
Kennesaw State

Big XII
Kansas
Iowa State
Baylor
West Virginia
Oklahoma State
Kansas State
TCU
Texas Tech
Texas
Oklahoma

Big East
Villanova
Butler
Creighton
Seton Hall
Providence
Xavier
Marquette
St. John's
Georgetown
DePaul

Big Sky
North Dakota
Eastern Washington
Weber State
Idaho
Montana State
Montana
Sacramento State
Portland State
Northern Arizona
Idaho State
Southern Utah

Big South
Winthrop
UNC Asheville
Liberty
Gardner-Webb
High Point
Radford
Campbell
Charleston Southern
Longwood
Presbyterian

Big Ten
Purdue
Wisconsin
Maryland
Minnesota
Michigan State
Northwestern
Michigan
Iowa
Illinois
Indiana
Ohio State
Penn State
Nebraska
Rutgers

Big West
UC Davis
UC Irvine
CS Fullerton
Hawaii
Long Beach State
CSU Northridge
Cal Poly
UC Riverside
UC Santa Barbara

Colonial
UNC Wilmington
Charleston
Towson
Elon
William and Mary
Northeastern
Hofstra
James Madison
Delaware
Drexel

Conference USA
Middle Tennessee
Louisiana Tech
Old Dominion
UTEP
Rice
Marshall
UAB
Western Kentucky
UT San Antonio
Charlotte
Florida Atlantic
Southern Miss

Horizon
Oakland
Valparaiso
Northern Kentucky
Green Bay
Wright State
UIC
Detroit Mercy
Youngstown State
Cleveland State
Milwaukee

Ivy League
Princeton
Harvard
Yale
Penn
Columbia
Brown
Cornell
Dartmouth

MAAC
Monmouth
Saint Peter's
Iona
Siena
Fairfield
Canisius
Rider
Quinnipiac
Niagara
Manhattan
Marist

MAC
Akron
Ohio
Kent State
Buffalo
Ball State
Western Michigan
Toledo
Northern Illinois
Bowling Green
Central Michigan
Eastern Michigan
Miami (OH)

MEAC
North Carolina Central
Norfolk State
Morgan State
Hampton
Maryland-Eastern Shore
South Carolina State
Coppin State
Delaware State
Bethune-Cookman
Howard
Florida A&M
North Carolina A&T

Missouri Valley
Wichita State
Illinois State
Northern Iowa
Southern Illinois
Loyola-Chicago
Missouri State
Bradley
Evansville
Indiana State
Drake

Mountain West
Nevada
Colorado State
Boise State
Fresno State
New Mexico
San Diego State
Wyoming
San Jose State
Utah State
Air Force
UNLV

Northeast
Mount Saint Mary's
LIU Brooklyn
Wagner
Saint Francis (PA)
Robert Morris
Bryant
Fairleigh Dickinson
Sacred Heart

Ohio Valley
Belmont
UT Martin
Morehead State
Jacksonville State
Southeast Missouri State
Tennessee Tech
Murray State
Tennessee State

Pac-12
Arizona
Oregon
UCLA
California
Utah
USC
Arizona State
Colorado
Stanford
Washington State
Washington
Oregon State

Patriot
Bucknell
Lehigh
Boston University
Navy
Holy Cross
Loyola (MD)
Colgate
Army
Lafayette
American

SEC
Kentucky
Florida
Arkansas
South Carolina
Ole Miss
Alabama
Vanderbilt
Georgia
Texas A&M
Tennessee
Auburn
Mississippi State
Missouri
LSU

Southern
UNC Greensboro
Furman
East Tennessee State
Chattanooga
Wofford
Mercer
Samford
The Citadel
Western Carolina
VMI

Southland
New Orleans
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Stephen F. Austin
Houston Baptist
Sam Houston State
Lamar
Southeast Louisiana
Nicholls State
Central Arkansas
Northwestern State

SWAC
Texas Southern
Southern
Grambling
Jackson State
Prairie View A&M
Alabama State
Arkansas-Pine Bluff
Mississippi Valley State

Summit League
South Dakota
North Dakota State
Omaha
South Dakota State
Denver Fort Wayne
IUPUI
Western Illinois

Sun Belt
UT Arlington
Arkansas State
Georgia State
Georgia Southern
Texas State
Coastal Carolina
UL Lafayette
Troy
South Alabama
Arkansas-Little Rock
Appalachian State
Louisiana-Monroe

WAC
CSU Bakersfield
New Mexico State
UMKC
Seattle
Utah Valley
UT Rio Grande Valley
Chicago State

West Coast
Gonzaga
Saint Mary's
BYU
Santa Clara
San Francisco
Loyola Marymount
San Diego
Pepperdine
Pacific
Portland

2017 Championship Week Primer: Northeast

The Northeast Conference has not won a game in the Round of 64 in at least the last 20 years and that drought probably goes further than that. Since 2013, the representative from the Northeast conference has been relegated to the First Four game and has gone 2-2 in that span. It's not looking good for the conference this year either.

Mount St. Mary's won the conference by a game over LIU Brooklyn. The Mountaineers have almost universally been projected as a 16 seed and more often than not, in the First Four as well. Still though, as mentioned before it's just important to make the NCAA Tournament, regardless of the results once there.

The top eight teams made it into the tournament. The games will all be on campus sites at the higher seed, with the seeds reorganized for the semifinals. The games will be on March 1st, 4th, and 7th.

Quarterfinals-Wednesday, March 1st
#8 Sacred Heart at #1 Mount St. Mary's
#5 Bryant at #4 Saint Francis (PA)
#7 Robert Morris at #2 LIU Brooklyn
#6 Fairleigh Dickinson at #3 Wagner

Semifinals-Saturday, March 4th
#4 Saint Francis (PA) at #1 Mount St. Mary's 
#3 Wagner at #2 LIU Brooklyn

Championship-Tuesday, March 7th
The hottest team in the conference right now is LIU Brooklyn, having won six in a row. Five of those were decide by single digits and that includes a win at Mount St. Mary's. The Mountaineers, on the other hand, skidded down the stretch some, finishing 4-3 after having previously had a commanding lead in the conference. It will be a close game, but I think that the Mountaineers will have the edge in the end.

LIU Brooklyn 62, Mount St. Mary's 64

2017 Championship Week Primer: Ohio Valley

The Ohio Valley is more capable of winning in the NCAA Tournament than your average low major conference, although they have had some lean years of late. The Ohio Valley representative won at least one game in every tournament from 2009 to 2012, with Murray State reaching a 6 seed in the 2012 tournament. In the five years since though, no Ohio Valley team has won a tournament game. Last year's representative was Austin Peay and was bounced in the first round as a #16 seed.

This year, Belmont won the conference by a staggering five games. Despite this, most bracket projections have them pegged as a 14 seed in the upcoming tournament, should they win the Ohio Valley Tournament.

The top 8 teams in the conference advanced to the tournament. The Ohio Valley is split up into two divisions, with the two division winners (Belmont, UT Martin) received a bye to the semifinals. The third and fourth seeds, Morehead State and Jacksonville State, received a bye to the quarterfinals, and the fifth through eighth seeds will play in the first round. The tournament will take place from March 1st to March 4th at Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee.

First Round-Wednesday, March 1st
#8 Tennessee State vs. #5 Southeast Missouri State
#7 Murray State vs. #6 Tennessee State

Quaterfinals-Thursday, March 2nd
#5 Southeast Missouri State vs. #4 Jacksonville State
#7 Murray State vs. #3 Morehead State

Semifinals-Friday, March 3rd
#4 Jacksonville State vs. #1 Belmont
#7 Murray State vs. #2 UT Martin

Championship-Saturday, March 4th
Matchups are key when it comes to tournament time, and Murray State has what it takes to get to the finals. With the exception of Belmont, the Ohio Valley conference was tight, with the two through eight seeds finishing within two games of each other. However, there was that massive gulf between Belmont and the rest of the conference. Belmont mostly ran roughshod over the conference, including a convincing double digit win at Murray State. Having played two less games than the Racers, Belmont should punch its ticket to the NCAA Tournament handily.

Murray State 65, Belmont 76

2017 Championship Week Primer: Patriot League

The Patriot League is another conference that sends out lower seeded teams to often be shown the exit in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The conference has had two teams win a tournament game since 2010. One was Holy Cross last year winning a First Four game and the other was the legendary upset by #15 Lehigh over #2 Duke in 2012. Other than that, tournament wins are few and far between for this conference.

Bucknell won the conference this year for the third year in a row. Despite this, the Bison have exited the Patriot League tournament early in 2015 and 2016 and were relegated to the NIT. As conference champion, they are the team that shows up in the bracket projections, currently as a 14 or a 15 seed.

All 10 teams in the conference will participate in the tournament, with the top six teams receiving a bye to the quarterfinals. The games will be held on campus sites at the higher seed. The tournament runs from today to Wednesday, March 8th.

First Round-Tuesday, February 28th
#10 Lafayette at #7 Loyola (MD)
#9 American at #8 Army

Quarterfinals-Thursday, March 2nd
#9 American at #1 Bucknell
#5 Holy Cross at #4 Navy
#10 Lafayette at #2 Boston University
#6 Colgate at #3 Lehigh

Semifinals-Friday, March 5th
#4 Navy at #1 Bucknell
#3 Lehigh at #2 Boston University 

Championship-Sunday, March 8th
 
The Bison will be glad not to see Lehigh in the final, as Bucknell lost handily to Hawks...twice. On the other hand, Bucknell handily defeated Boston twice, most recently by 20 in Boston. Bucknell should be able to get past the enigma that is this tournament and make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013

Boston 65, Bucknell 78

2017 Championship Week Primer: Big South

The Big South is another conference that constantly churns out teams that are 14, 15, or 16 seeds and don't usually make a lot of noise in the NCAA Tournament. That last time that a Big South team won an NCAA Tournament game was UNC Asheville in 2011, when they defeated Arkansas-Little Rock in the First Four. The last time a Big South team won in the main bracket was in 2007 when #11 seed Winthrop advanced to the Round of 32. For one of these teams though, the goal is to make the NCAA Tournament and get onto that national stage. One of these 10 teams will do so, regardless of how short their stay is.

In bracket projections, Winthrop has shown up in about half of the brackets averaging a 14 or a 15 seed, while UNC Asheville has turned up in the other half at the same seed line. The two schools tied for the regular season championship.

The Big South has 10 teams as mentioned. The top six teams received a bye to the quarterfinals and the other four teams will play for the two remaining spots. The tournament will take place from today to Sunday, March 5th. The first round games will be at campus sites, then the remaining games will be at Winthrop Coliseum.

First Round-Tuesday, February 28th
#10 Presbyterian vs #7 Campbell
#9 Longwood vs #8 Charleston Southern

Quarterfinals-Thursday, March 2nd
#8 Charleston Southern vs. #1 Winthrop
#5 High Point vs. #4 Gardner-Webb
#7 Campbell vs #2 UNC-Asheville 
#6 Radford vs. #3 Liberty 

Semifinals-Friday, March 3rd
#4 Gardner-Webb vs. #1 Winthrop
#3 Liberty vs. #2 UNC Asheville 

Championship-Sunday, March 5th

These two teams, along with Liberty, had a sizable lead over the rest of Big South, so it is not the difficult to foresee both of them being in the final. If this championship game is anything like the two games they previously played, it would be well worth the price of admission. In the first matchup at Winthrop, the Eagles defended their home court in a back and forth game that they won 76-73. The second game at UNC Asheville was won by the Bulldogs in double overtime 107-104. Given that this game will be at Winthrop, I'm going to give the edge to the Eagles, though an Asheville victory would not be surprising.

UNC Asheville 70, Winthrop 75

Teams That Can Still Win a National Championship (Championship Week Day 1)

There are 351 teams in Division I basketball. Generally speaking, at the beginning of the year all of them are eligible to win a National Championship. Whether or not a championship is practical is not the point of this exercise; instead we are seeing who, in theory, could still win a title.

For the duration of Championship Week, teams will be sorted by conference. Teams that win their conference tournament will be placed in Bold. Teams that don't win their conference tournament, but are expected to be an at-large team will be in Italics. Teams considered safe will be a 9 seed or higher on Bracket Matrix. Teams on the bubble will have (?). The italics and (?) will only be used on teams that have already been eliminated from their conference tournament. Teams eliminated from national title contention will be shown will have their names crossed out for the night that they are eliminated only to show the difference from night to night.

Once the field of 68 teams is announced, the teams that can still win a national title will be sorted by NCAA region and be whittled down from there until on April 3rd when a champion is crowned.

America East
Vermont
Stony Brook
Albany
New Hampshire
UMBC
Hartford
Binghamton
Maine

American
Southern Methodist
Cincinnati
Houston
UCF
Connecticut
Memphis
Tulsa
Temple
East Carolina
Tulane
South Florida

Atlantic 10
Dayton
Virginia Commonwealth
Rhode Island
Richmond
Saint Bonaventure
George Mason
George Washington
La Salle
Davidson
Fordham
Saint Louis
Massachusetts
Saint Joseph's
Duquesne

ACC
North Carolina
Florida State
Louisville
Notre Dame
Duke
Virginia Tech
Miami
Virginia
Syracuse
Wake Forest
Georgia Tech
Pittsburgh
Clemson
North Carolina State
Boston College

Atlantic Sun
Florida Gulf Coast
Lipscomb
North Florida
Kennesaw State
USC Upstate
Jacksonville
NJIT
Stetson

Big XII
Kansas
Iowa State
Baylor
West Virginia
Oklahoma State
Kansas State
TCU
Texas Tech
Texas
Oklahoma

Big East
Villanova
Butler
Creighton
Seton Hall
Providence
Xavier
Marquette
St. John's
Georgetown
DePaul

Big Sky
North Dakota
Eastern Washington
Weber State
Idaho
Montana State
Montana
Sacramento State
Portland State
Northern Arizona
Idaho State
Southern Utah

Big South
Winthrop
UNC Asheville
Liberty
Gardner-Webb
High Point
Radford
Campbell
Charleston Southern
Longwood
Presbyterian

Big Ten
Purdue
Wisconsin
Maryland
Minnesota
Michigan State
Northwestern
Michigan
Iowa
Illinois
Indiana
Ohio State
Penn State
Nebraska
Rutgers

Big West
UC Davis
UC Irvine
CS Fullerton
Hawaii
Long Beach State
CSU Northridge
Cal Poly
UC Riverside
UC Santa Barbara

Colonial
UNC Wilmington
Charleston
Towson
Elon
William and Mary
Northeastern
Hofstra
James Madison
Delaware
Drexel

Conference USA
Middle Tennessee
Louisiana Tech
Old Dominion
UTEP
Rice
Marshall
UAB
Western Kentucky
UT San Antonio
Charlotte
Florida Atlantic
Southern Miss

Horizon
Oakland
Valparaiso
Northern Kentucky
Green Bay
Wright State
UIC
Detroit Mercy
Youngstown State
Cleveland State
Milwaukee

Ivy League
Princeton
Harvard
Yale
Penn
Columbia
Brown
Cornell
Dartmouth

MAAC
Monmouth
Saint Peter's
Iona
Siena
Fairfield
Canisius
Rider
Quinnipiac
Niagara
Manhattan
Marist

MAC
Akron
Ohio
Kent State
Buffalo
Ball State
Western Michigan
Toledo
Northern Illinois
Bowling Green
Central Michigan
Eastern Michigan
Miami (OH)

MEAC
North Carolina Central
Norfolk State
Morgan State
Hampton
Maryland-Eastern Shore
South Carolina State
Coppin State
Delaware State
Bethune-Cookman
Howard
Florida A&M
North Carolina A&T

Missouri Valley
Wichita State
Illinois State
Northern Iowa
Southern Illinois
Loyola-Chicago
Missouri State
Bradley
Evansville
Indiana State
Drake

Mountain West
Nevada
Colorado State
Boise State
Fresno State
New Mexico
San Diego State
Wyoming
San Jose State
Utah State
Air Force
UNLV

Northeast
Mount Saint Mary's
LIU Brooklyn
Wagner
Saint Francis (PA)
Robert Morris
Bryant
Fairleigh Dickinson
Sacred Heart

Ohio Valley
Belmont
UT Martin
Morehead State
Jacksonville State
Southeast Missouri State
Tennessee Tech
Murray State
Tennessee State

Pac-12
Arizona
Oregon
UCLA
California
Utah
USC
Arizona State
Colorado
Stanford
Washington State
Washington
Oregon State

Patriot
Bucknell
Lehigh
Boston University
Navy
Holy Cross
Loyola (MD)
Colgate
Army
Lafayette
American

SEC
Kentucky
Florida
Arkansas
South Carolina
Ole Miss
Alabama
Vanderbilt
Georgia
Texas A&M
Tennessee
Auburn
Mississippi State
Missouri
LSU

Southern
UNC Greensboro
Furman
East Tennessee State
Chattanooga
Wofford
Mercer
Samford
The Citadel
Western Carolina
VMI

Southland
New Orleans
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Stephen F. Austin
Houston Baptist
Sam Houston State
Lamar
Southeast Louisiana
Nicholls State
Central Arkansas
Northwestern State

SWAC
Texas Southern
Southern
Grambling
Jackson State
Prairie View A&M
Alabama State
Arkansas-Pine Bluff
Mississippi Valley State

Summit League
South Dakota
North Dakota State
Omaha
South Dakota State
Denver Fort Wayne
IUPUI
Western Illinois

Sun Belt
UT Arlington
Arkansas State
Georgia State
Georgia Southern
Texas State
Coastal Carolina
UL Lafayette
Troy
South Alabama
Arkansas-Little Rock
Appalachian State
Louisiana-Monroe

WAC
CSU Bakersfield
New Mexico State
UMKC
Seattle
Utah Valley
UT Rio Grande Valley
Chicago State

West Coast
Gonzaga
Saint Mary's
BYU
Santa Clara
San Francisco
Loyola Marymount
San Diego
Pepperdine
Pacific
Portland

2017 Championship Week Primer: Atlantic Sun

In recent years, the Atlantic Sun has made some waves in the NCAA Tournament. Two of these occurrences were due to the efforts of this year's conference champion, Florida Gulf Coast. The Eagles went to the Sweet Sixteen as a 15 seed in 2013, which is still the only time a 15 seed has advanced that far. Florida Gulf Coast also went to the NCAA Tournament in 2016, though this time as a 16 seed. They trailed 1 seed North Carolina by a point at the half before falling behind during the second half.

As it stands, Florida Gulf Coast has been trending between mostly a 14 or a 15 seed in bracket projections this year. They would still need to win the Atlantic Sun tournament to advance to the NCAA Tournament though as the conference is a one bid league.

All eight teams are allowed to participate in the tournament and can potentially advance to the NCAA Tournament. All games will be on campus sites at the higher seed.

Quarterfinals-Monday, February 27th

#8 Stetson at #1 Florida Gulf Coast 
#5 Kennesaw State at #4 USC Upstate
#6 Jacksonville at #3 North Florida
#7 NJIT at #2 Lipscomb 

Semifinals-Thursday, March 2nd

#5 Kennesaw State at #1 Florida Gulf Coast
#3 North Florida at #2 Lipscomb

Championship-Sunday, March 5th

In a strange situation last year, North Florida won the regular season title but lost in the tournament to Florida Gulf Coast. The Eagles then played Stetson, who was ineligible for the NCAA Tournament. If Stetson had won, North Florida would have gone to the NCAA Tournament. As it was, Florida Gulf Coast beat Stetson and advanced instead.

This year, Florida Gulf Coast beat the Ospreys twice, once in a close game 86-82 at North Florida and then in more convincing fashion 74-59 in Fort Myers. The key for Florida Gulf Coast will be to contain Dallas Moore, the top scorer and assists leader for North Florida. In the close game, Moore scored 29 points and was held to just 17 points in the game that the Eagles won more handily. If they do this, and I expect them to, Florida Gulf Coast will go the NCAA Tournament for the third time in five years.

North Florida 62, Florida Gulf Coast 72

Election 2018 Approaches

I'm noticing as gubernatorial candidates are starting to pop up in Kansas that it is still a good long way to the next round of elections. Well, given my love for elections and watching all of the nuances of campaigns and especially watching results trickle in, I'm not one to wait.

I'm starting a new series here on Writer's Block: The Permanent Campaign Trail. I'm going to give updates on important elections nationwide and given a higher level of attention to statewide elections in Kansas as well.

The first few posts will be about elections that will be held this year as the 2018 races start to warm up. I won't get full on into 2018 news until, well, 2018. I will make note when a candidate declares they are running for some office though.