Where will Wichita State go this March Madness? Here’s what the bracketologists say
So how important to its NCAA Tournament hopes was Wichita State’s 24-point comeback to win 66-62 at SMU on Sunday?
The largest come-from-behind victory in program history has seemingly kept the Shockers safely in the field by almost every bracketologist. According to Bracket Matrix, WSU was dancing in 70 of the 72 brackets that updated on Monday with an average seed of 10.6.
Five of the largest outlets in the country all had the Shockers in their fields as of Monday afternoon. Here’s a recap:
- ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has the Shockers as a No. 12 seed playing Utah State in a First Four game in Dayton with the winner headed to the West Regional to play No. 5 Iowa in Cleveland. Lunardi has WSU as one of the final two teams in the field.
- Fox Sports’ Michael Decourcy has Wichita State pegged as a First Four team as well with the 12th-seeded Shockers playing Rutgers in Dayton with the winner headed to the Midwest Regional to play No. 5 BYU. Decourcy has WSU as one of the final two teams in the field.
- CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm has WSU as a No. 10 seed in the Midwest Regional playing No. 7 Michigan in Albany. Palm has seven teams between WSU and the cut line.
- Yahoo Sports’ Michael Lazarus also has the Shockers as a No. 10 seed but in the West Regional playing No. 7 Wisconsin. Lazarus also has seven teams between WSU and the cut line.
- The Sporting News’ Ryan Fagan didn’t sort his projections into regionals, but has WSU as a No. 11 seed with four teams in between the Shockers and the cut line.
While those outlets may be the most visible nationally, a blog named Bracketville has actually been the most accurate over the last five years. Bracketville currently has the Shockers as a No. 12 seed playing a First Four game in Dayton against Texas with the winner playing No. 5 BYU in Tampa in the Midwest Regional.
Entering the final week of the regular season, WSU has a 22-7 overall record and sits in fourth place in the American Athletic Conference. The Shockers rank No. 45 in the NET, No. 41 on KenPom, No. 36 on T-Rank and No. 37 on Haslametrics.
The strength of WSU’s resume is a 9-7 record against the top two quadrants without a loss against teams in the bottom two quadrants. The weakness is that WSU has only beaten one projected NCAA Tournament team, Oklahoma, and is 2-4 in Quadrant 1 games.
The Shockers will have one final chance in the regular season at a Quadrant 1 win, at Memphis on Thursday. WSU closes the season at home Sunday against Tulsa, which will count as a Quadrant 3 game for WSU.
This story was originally published March 2, 2020 at 7:45 PM.
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