NCAA Tournament Thread

[Polito]

Thanks Jojo, and that is EXACTLY why I harp on NCAAT appearances - it's VITAL to the lifeblood of a program like ours. We need to make the dance every few years, and once in awhile get a run of back to backs. The dollars marketing recognition etc are imperative.

Wags and I have gone back and forth on the seeding. He's standing firm on 14, and I am VERY confident we are at least a 13.

What's interesting right now is, a LOT of mid major #1's in their conf are going down in their conf tourney's - this is going to have a big impact on seeding. I think a 12 is a long shot, but the more 1's that don't make it the better those odds get.

As far as location, baby give me Philly or give me death!! It just makes TOO much sense - the story lines write themselves - Speedy's home, Jay Wright in the crowd, Joe Mihalic ties, it's pure GOLD in my book no matter who the opponent is.

Prob have to snag that 12 spot though to have a chance of that - if it's not there, I'd be thrilled with Greenville - fantastic location, beautiful with an awesome downtown and tremendous food scene, and easy flight from NY. Tampa is my 3rd, great city / location, easy NY flight, plenty of hotels, restaurants, and a great for some beach time!

Kinda meh on St Louis or Oklahoma - not against them, but not ideal.

San Diego is of course gorgeous, but man a west coast trip for round 1 is heavy commitment for fans - I'll be there no matter what, but desire a much closer location for us all. I'm staunchly in the anywhere but Portland camp - won't take us down that topic road to respect the board, let's just say it's not a city I ever plan to return to.

[Wags]

I like Mike DeCourcy's projection - beat Purdue and then potentially face St. John's. Or face Yale and go further than St. John's in the same pod!

https://x.com/CBBonFOX/status/203173988 ... 27/photo/4

[The Shadow]

CBS Sports has HU as a #12 seed playing against #5 seed Texas Tech in an East Bracket. The winner would face the Yale versus St. John's victor.

[JoeyBagODonuts1]

The problem with Hofstra playing in Philly is that I think the committee goes out of their way to make the lower seeds travel far to give even more of an advantage to the major conferences.
Since I live 15-20 minutes from Xfinity Mobile Arena I hope I'm wrong!

[JoeyBagODonuts1]

Not that there is any relevance to today, but just as a point of reference we were a 14 seed in 2000 and a 13 seed in 2001.

[triplec2195]

CBS Sports has HU as a #12 seed playing against #5 seed Texas Tech in an East Bracket. The winner would face the Yale versus St. John's victor.

This I can sign up for at least it would give us a chance to get at least 1 win.

[Polito]

These next few days will make all the difference - HU has done their part, now we see who gets it done and who gets knocked out to determine how high we rise. Watched 7 seed Idaho take the Big Sky last night, so another #1 mid out. With each one that falls HU's chances get a little better.

The Philly deal and any potential matchup with SJU just makes so much sense it's crazy. The drama would epitomize the greatness that is March Madness. I do agree with JBOD that historically it does seem like the committee does all it can to send small schools halfway to guam instead of keeping things regional like they should for more fan engagement, more localized media coverage, and supreme matchup story lines.

I'm holding out hope here - we've got a chance for something really special.

[Wags]

These next few days will make all the difference - HU has done their part, now we see who gets it done and who gets knocked out to determine how high we rise. Watched 7 seed Idaho take the Big Sky last night, so another #1 mid out. With each one that falls HU's chances get a little better.

Idaho beat the 4 seed, so those chances were already the same either way. But yeah, a lot of top mids aren't winning their tourneys, which is probably going to decrease odds of upsets in the tourney (except for ones that 3 seed from the CAA will pull off!).

[Wags]

Buffalo would be ironic for Speedy's first NCAAT as a head coach. That's where his team lost to Oklahoma State.

[Flying Dutchmen]

I think we are looking good for a 13 seed. Liberty lost last night. Miami went down today, as long as Akron does not win the MAC we will have a higher seed than their champion. 12 is probably out of reach, but the way these conference tournaments are shaking out, we might be one of the top 50 teams in the field.

As for location, obviously hopefully Philly. The flight to Tampa is not bad either. Hopefully not west coast, we have such a limited time frame to get everything booked, the longer flight out west would almost definitely demand getting in the night before. Great things to be concerned about though!!

[Hof_Judge99]

Just food for thought from 2013 onward (after VCU left) only two CAA teams got 12 seeds, UNCW in 2017 and CoC in 2023. Both finished first in CAA regular season and Charleston was 31-3 and ranked in the top 25 at one point. I'd be very happily surprised if we got a 12 but 13 seems like the most likely scenario. I think we'd all be disappointed if we were on the 14 line.

[Jojogunne]

Kind of an aside:

Miami (Ohio) won all 31 of its games during the regular season and was projected as an 11 seed in the NCAAT. But today, the RedHawks lost in the Mid-American Conference tournament by 4 points to UMass and now face possible elimination from the Big Dance:

https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-me ... rterfinals

With $2 million per game at stake, do you think the NCAA Selection Committee will award one of its precious 37 at-large slots to a mid-major program that has achieved what very few schools have accomplished? Or will the committee go strictly by the numbers and award the spot to yet another team from one of the power conferences?

[Wags]

https://x.com/HofstraMBB/status/2031902662409519330

[The Shadow]

Latest Lunardi Bracketology on ESPN now has #13 HU versus #4 Virginia in Tampa. The winner plays the victor of #12 High Point versus #5 Vanderbilt. The latest Athletic bracket still has #13 HU versus #4 Virginia in San Diego. The winner plays the victor of #12 South Florida versus #5 Tennessee.

[dan10]

Just food for thought from 2013 onward (after VCU left) only two CAA teams got 12 seeds, UNCW in 2017 and CoC in 2023. Both finished first in CAA regular season and Charleston was 31-3 and ranked in the top 25 at one point. I'd be very happily surprised if we got a 12 but 13 seems like the most likely scenario. I think we'd all be disappointed if we were on the 14 line.

This is true, however the 12 seed line is more similar to the old 13 seed line. Keep in mind the field expanded and the 11 seed became a play in game that pulled the field up some. Some teams that were falling into the 12 seeds or 11 seeds are now exclusively 11 or 10s

[HUSID74]

Sign me up for Lunardi's bracket for us in Tampa. I'm currently in Florida. Would be an easy drive over to the West Coast. San Diego is a No Go.

[Wags]

Here's a piece on Speedy and Edmead for anyone interested:

https://www.midmajormadness.com/coastal ... cle-moment

[The Shadow]

The latest bracket from the Athletic has #13 HU versus #4 Kansas in Philadelphia. The winner plays the victor between #5 St. John's versus #12 Yale.

[Polito]

Miami OH and Liberty were massive 1 seeds to go down in the mid majors - Miami OH may still get in with that record, just a lower seed than before. But the more upsets that happen the better for HU.

Again, I think at least a 13 is a near lock, and 12 remains a long shot but odds improving with each mid major upset - never know. And one won't necessarily be better than the other per say, it's all about the matchup as we know. Doubt we jump High Point, they're a repeat qualifier with a strong record starting to develop a little recognition for themselves ... but there are others we could edge over

All still speculation across these different brackets - easier to get the teams right than the seeding - that's harder to get down

I want no part of Kansas to be honest, although getting to face their pedigree is always cool - TT, Purdue, even my other rival UVA would likely be better for us. The SJU path is certainly a cool possibility with story lines galore. Location wise, lots of east coast options, would be a shame not to land in any one of them... If we can land in Philly, Buffalo, Greenville, or Tampa we should all be thrilled and making plans!

If I had to pick between opponent and location, the most important thing is the matchup over where we play - I'm looking for that Cinderella slipper baby, give me the best shot for HU to be the next mid major giant killer story in the great NCAAT!!

[HofstraPride1]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4wP29r8PrQ&t=677s

Hofstra alum Katie Nolan gives a good eight minutes of attention to Hofstra making big dance in her latest Sirius podcast you can find in the above Youube link starting at the 9:33 mark