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| NC Central beat NC State, who knocked out Syracuse in the NCAA Tournament. |
In the world of college basketball, the few hours between Championship Saturday and Selection Sunday can seem like forever to the 68 teams slated to play in the NCAA Tournament. Texas Southern and North Carolina Central are two of those teams who will be waiting to find out their fate after winning their respective conference titles.
The most likely destination for Texas Southern is probably a “First Round” aka Play-In Game. The Tigers finished third in the SWAC, and enter the tournament with a 19-14 record. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has them playing against Cal State Northridge for the right to face projected no. 1 seed Witchita State in the Midwest Bracket.
With a 28-5 record, North Carolina Central has legitimately higher hopes. Heading into Sunday, Lunardi had NCCU as a no. 14 seed, slated to play no. 3 Syracuse in the South Bracket. If NCCU were to achieve that, they would be the highest seeded team in MEAC history.
North Carolina Central could be a potential upset pick in the NCAA Tournament: http://t.co/VAxrSPeH6n
– Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) March 16, 2014
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js The way NC Central dominated the MEAC and held their own against quality out of conference competition, a number 14 seed would be ideal. NCCU has won 20 consecutive games, and their average margin of victory is 13 points. A matchup against Syracuse would be an interesting one due to the fact that NCCU beat North Carolina State, the team that knocked Syracuse out of the ACC Championship.
Honestly, anything less than a 14 seed would be an outrage. But then again, a 15 seed could be a blessing. Of the seven times a 15 seed has beat a 2 seed, three of those have been MEAC teams. And NCCU definitely has the talent to pull it off…it just shouldn’t have to.