(St. Louis, MO) – Can the Ohio Valley Conference land two teams in next Spring’s NCAA Tournament? Three games will be the answer to that question. After Belmont’s win over UCLA the Bruins and Murray State find themselves in the top 43 in the NCAA’s NET rankings.
Heady stuff for these OVC teams.
Kevin McClain – belmontbruins.com
Belmont’s win over UCLA gave them their second quadrant one victory and their fourth true road win. A 39 in the latest NET announces the Bruins as a legitimate at-large bid team. Judging by the ‘old fashioned’ RPI, the Bruins are ranked 11th.
Murray State’s schedule hasn’t been as difficult, but the Racers are taking care of business. Wins over Wright State, Middle Tennessee and two Missouri Valley schools have announced the Racers’ potential. They are 43rd in the NET and just 115 in the RPI, but rank 62nd in KenPom.com’s latest numbers.
Three crucial games will determine their fate.
December 22 – Murray State @ Auburn
With three games left before their OVC opener, the Racers have to hold serve with Evansville and Bethel and then need to upset eighth ranked Auburn on December 22nd. MSU’s only loss was last month’s six point defeat at Alabama. If the Racers could gain the split of Alabama-based Southeastern Conference, pencil them in for March Madness.
December 19 – Western Kentucky @ Belmont
The Bruins have two non-conference games left and neither is easy. Western Kentucky is off to a slow start, but great things were expected from the Hilltoppers and if they make a run through Conference USA, a Belmont victory would fortify Rick Byrd’s team’s reputation.
December 29 – Belmont @ Purdue
Belmont travels to West Lafayette, Indiana for another huge upset opportunity for the Bruins. Purdue’s current 37 NET rating will make this another first quadrant game and if the Bruins could do the unthinkable and defeat two ‘power five’ teams in the same season, nothing short of a total OVC collapse could keep the Bruins from dancing.
Will it be difficult for Murray to win AT Alabama and Belmont to win AT Purdue? Of course, but if either of those upsets occur, other ‘money conference’ teams need to be nervous about their annual free pass to Mark Emmert’s private party.
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