The five most important games — strictly in terms of NCAA
Tournament qualification and seeding — among the BracketBusters matchups
announced Monday night. The games are scheduled between Feb. 17-19.
SAINT MARY'S at MURRAY STATE
The runaway choice as the marquee BracketBuster game is the biggest game in
terms of NCAA seeding implications. Saint Mary's leads the always-tough West
Coast Conference and has ranked atop the FOXSports.com mid-major rankings the
last two weeks. Murray State is the nation's last unbeaten team and is eager to
show off Isaiah Canaan on a national stage. He'll have an outstanding
individual matchup with Gaels point guard Matthew Dellavedova in this matchup.
Murray State is 3-0 against top-35 RPI teams, beating Dayton, Southern Miss and
Memphis. None of those three are guaranteed a tournament berth, though, so this
is the Racers' best (and last) chance at a quality win that could help them
earn a top-five seed.
LONG BEACH STATE at CREIGHTON
This should be a fast-paced game featuring teams that not only have NCAA
Tournaments hopes, but plan to win once there. Creighton is led by All-American
Doug McDermott and leads the always-tough Missouri Valley Conference. The Blue
Jays rank highly in the national polls and need a win here to eventually land
the kind of tournament seed they'd like. Barring a late-season collapse, you'd
think the committee would reward Long Beach's ambitious road scheduling if the
49ers don't end up with an automatic bid; winning in front of a sellout crowd
on a Saturday night at Creighton would assure it. Because it starts four
seniors and has already played at Pitt, Kansas, Louisville and North Carolina,
Long Beach won't be intimidated.
AKRON at ORAL ROBERTS
Oral Roberts is 20-4 and hasn't lost since a 67-61 setback at Gonzaga. ORU is
on a 13-game winning streak, which started with a win over a depleted Xavier in
mid-December. ORU very well could win out in the Summit League, but that won't
get the committee's attention. Akron is certainly on the wrong side of the
tournament bubble if the Zips can't win the Mid-American Conference’s automatic
bid. The Zips do have some glimmer of an at-large hope based on road wins at
Mississippi State and Marshall and leading a conference that's better than it's
been in recent years. Realistically, both teams will welcome the step up from
their in-conference competition and hope a win can eventually provide a seed
boost should they win their respective conference tournaments. Most of Akron's
seven losses came at less than full strength, and the Zips won a close one on their
home floor over Oral Roberts a year ago. Two of Oral Roberts' four losses are
to tournament teams Gonzaga and West Virginia. This is a better — and bigger — game than most might think.
NEVADA at IONA
It really doesn't get any more cross-country than this — not on the mainland,
anyway — and it doesn't get any more important for two talented and intriguing
teams, which own thin tournament resumes. Nevada has won 15 in a row, but the
Wolfpack's biggest win is against an inconsistent Washington team. Iona scores
like crazy and has one of the nation's best point guards in Scott Machado, but
the Gaels have already dropped two MAAC games and its best win would be chosen
from a rather mediocre group that includes Maryland, Saint Joseph’s and Richmond. The loser here definitely won't
get an at-large bid. The winner gets a chance to hang its hat on a quality win
and try to ride that momentum out.
WICHITA STATE at DAVIDSON
The Shockers probably deserved a better opponent; they probably wanted one,
too. Wichita State seems an NCAA Tournament lock in its current form but will
need to finish strong. The Shockers figure to give their full concentration to
this BracketBusters contest after losing by one point to VCU in last season’s
event. Wichita ended up going to the NIT; VCU to the Final Four. Davidson is
having a nice year but doesn't have a tournament resume. The Wildcats will
welcome the challenge of hosting Wichita and playing on national television.
