March madness:
Projecting the winners of conference tournaments.
Allow Wichita State to reintroduce itself.
The program that went to the Final Four in 2013, went 35-1 in 2014 and went to the Sweet 16 in 2015 is back dancing. Of the four teams that have punched their tickets to the NCAA tournament, the Shockers (30-4) undoubtedly are the most polarizing.
Just how good is Wichita State? Ask Illinois State, which got throttled by the Shockers by 20 points in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament final, and you’ll hear this might be coach Gregg Marshall’s “best team.”
“They’re really, really, really good,” Muller said after his Redbirds lost the automatic bid and will be waiting as one of the hotbutton bubble teams all week while power conference tournaments could make or break their at-large bid chances.
Three reallys? After All-Americans Fred VanVleet and Ron Baker bid adieu and left Marshall with a rebuilding project? Well, it’s built here in March. The formula hasn’t been about star power with this group but rather the sum of all parts. Marshall had used a deep lineup all season to wear teams down. And now the defensive-minded team — which ranks 15th in the country in points allowed — has hit its offensive groove from the inside-out scoring of Markis McDuffie and Conner Frankamp to the stylish play of freshman point guard Landry Shamet.
“I think we can win several games in the NCAA tournament,” said Marshall, who was being bullish but serious.
If Wichita notches a No. 11 seed and avoids a play-in game as it currently has in USA TODAY Sports’ bracket, it could mean a trip to the Elite Eight.
The tournament is all about matchups, sure. But if there’s such a thing as a double-digit seed in contention to reach the Final Four, this is it.
Wichita State was a No. 9 seed when it went to the Final Four in 2013. This team is better, much better, although Marshall will tell you his best team ever never reached the NCAAs but won the NIT in 2011. Which is why he didn’t want to chance it by not winning the auto bid.
That brings us to Illinois State, the true definition of a bubble team that will be sweating it out until Selection Sunday and is currently hanging on the first four out of today’s bracket. The Redbirds (27-6), in spite of a schoolrecord season and sporting an RPI in the 30s, have two résumé-staining losses — to Tulsa and Murray State. And most notably, they have only one top-50 win. Against Wichita State.
If Illinois State avoids a snub and squeaks in the field of 68, don’t look for any metrics or marquee wins. It will be because the selection committee thinks Wichita State, whose résumé isn’t dazzled with signature wins either, is damn good in March.
“I hope Illinois State gets in,” Marshall said on CBS on Sunday. Not a bad referral for a team that could use it.
No. 1 seeds: Kansas, Villanova, North Carolina, Oregon
Last four in: Illinois, Wake Forest, Syracuse, Southern California
First four out: Iowa, Georgia, Illinois State, Rhode Island
Moving in: Iona
Moving out: Monmouth
Others considered for at-large bids (in no particular order): Clemson, Ohio State, Kansas State
On life support: Indiana, Houston
No longer considered for at-large: Connecticut, Texas, Charleston, New Mexico, Boise State, LaSalle, Davidson, Chattanooga, Saint Bonaventure, Saint Joseph’s, BYU, Oklahoma, Charleston, Nebraska, Temple, North Carolina State, Stanford, Nevada, Texas A&M, Memphis, Utah, Auburn, Texas Tech, Georgetown, Penn State, Tennessee, Mississippi, TCU, Ala- bama, Pittsburgh, California, Georgia Tech
Note: All RPI and statistical data is used from WarrenNolan.com. About our bracketologist: Shelby Mast has been projecting the field since 2005 and has finished as one of the top 5 national bracketologists for his website, Bracket W.A.G. He has predicted for “The Indianapolis Star,” collegeinsider.com and is an inaugural member of the Super 10 Selection Committee.