Top seeds beware: Maryland-Baltimore County is back in the NCAA Tournament.
UMBC is headed to the Big Dance for the first time since 2018, when the Retrievers beat Virginia to become the first No. 16 seed to beat a No. 1 in the history of the men’s tournament. UMBC beat Vermont 74-59 to win the America East Tournament on Saturday.
Ten other automatic bids were at also stake for the men’s tournament Saturday, including some in top conferences. St. John’s won the Big East Tournament with a 20-point victory over UConn, and Arizona held off Houston for the title in the Big 12. Florida lost in the SEC semifinals but may hold on to a No. 1 seed thanks to the losses by UConn and Houston.
Duke made its bid for the No. 1 overall seed with a four-point win over Virginia in the ACC Tournament final.
Bubble watch
One possible bid thief is still out there — Dayton in the Atlantic 10. The Flyers beat Saint Louis, which is expected to receive an at-large slot, and now Dayton takes on Virginia Commonwealth in the conference tournament final. Bubble teams will hope that VCU wins — or that a loss to Dayton becomes enough to knock the Rams out of the NCAA field.
Two other potential bid thieves went by the wayside when Arkansas beat Mississippi in overtime in the SEC semifinals and Utah State beat San Diego State to win the Mountain West Tournament.
The experts say
Last four in according to …
ESPN: Missouri, Miami (Ohio), SMU, Texas.
The Athletic: VCU, Miami (Ohio), Texas, Auburn.
Fox Sports: Missouri, VCU, SMU, Texas.
First four out according to …
ESPN: Oklahoma, Auburn, San Diego State, New Mexico.
The Athletic: SMU, San Diego State, New Mexico, Oklahoma.
Fox Sports: San Diego State, Auburn, Oklahoma, New Mexico.
Automatic bids
Here’s who has claimed an automatic bid to this year’s men’s NCAA Tournament: Long Island University (NEC), Tennessee State (OVC), Northern Iowa (MVC), High Point (Big South), Queens (ASUN), North Dakota State (Summit), Troy (Sun Belt), Furman (SoCon), Wright State (Horizon), Hofstra (CAA), Siena (MAAC), Gonzaga (WCC), McNeese (Southland), Lehigh (Patriot), Idaho (Big Sky), UMBC (America East), Howard (MEAC), Utah State (Mountain West), Arizona (Big 12), St. John’s (Big East), Prairie View A&M (SWAC), Akron (MAC), Kennesaw State (Conference USA), Duke (ACC), Hawaii (Big West), Cal Baptist (WAC).
Shammah Scott’s 3-pointer for Akron with 6 seconds left gave the Zips a 79-76 win over Toledo, denying the Rockets their first NCAA appearance since 1980.
Cal Baptist beat Utah Valley 63-61 when Dominique Daniels made a 3-pointer and then UVU’s Isaac Davis missed a dunk on the receiving end of an alley-oop in the final seconds.
Up next
The last five automatic bids will be determined Sunday:
Ivy (Yale vs. Penn)
SEC (Arkansas vs. Vanderbilt)
Atlantic 10 (VCU vs. Dayton)
American Athletic (South Florida vs. Wichita State)
Big Ten (Michigan vs. Purdue)
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