Trip to Dayton doesn’t always mean quick exit from tournament (+video)
Wichita State has a blueprint for advancing in the NCAA Tournament from the bottom rung. Several blueprints, actually.
Virginia Commonwealth’s journey from the First Four to the Final Four in 2011 is the most memorable example of turning a tenuous spot in the tournament into a deep March run, but several schools followed with smaller-scale success.
Since 2011, when the tournament field expanded to 68 teams and put four at-large teams in must-win games to reach the round of 64, at least one play-in team has reached the round of 32 every year. La Salle advanced to the Sweet 16 in 2013 – before losing to WSU – and Tennessee won two additional games the following season.
The Shockers meet Vanderbilt in a Tuesday play-in game in Dayton as both teams earned at-large bids and No. 11 seeds.
“The play-in game is a pretty serious game,” WSU senior Ron Baker said. “I don’t think it’s any different than any other game going on a couple days after ours. Tennessee had a decent run a couple years ago, they made the Sweet 16.
“These games are not taken lightly. Everybody’s opportunity to make a run is pretty much the same as everybody else’s.”
VCU reached the Final Four as a No. 11 seed, the same as WSU this year, and followed its play-in victory over Southern California with wins over Georgetown, Purdue, Florida State, then Kansas in the regional final.
Until last year, No. 11 was a rare seed for an at-large play-in. Those games were more typically played to decide Nos. 12, 13 or 14.
The lone No. 14, BYU, rallied from a 25-point deficit to defeat Iona in 2012 before losing to Marquette. Also that year, South Florida defeated California, then Temple to reach the round of 32.
In 2013, La Salle defeated Boise State in a play-in game to hold a No. 13 seed, then beat Kansas State and Mississippi to reach the Sweet 16 in Los Angeles. There, La Salle was stopped by another Cinderella, No. 9-seed WSU, which beat La Salle and Ohio State to reach the Final Four.
Two years ago, Tennessee advanced to the second weekend by beating Massachusetts and Mercer, and last year Dayton won a play-in game on its own court before beating No. 6 Providence.
The Shockers, with a win on Tuesday, would be entering the round of 64 with something its opponent, Arizona, and most of the other teams in the tournament won’t have – momentum.
“Vandy is a good team, so anytime you get a good win like that, I think it helps your team,” WSU senior Evan Wessel said. “Obviously it’s going to be a quick turnaround, so we’re going to have to feed off it.
“Right now I think all our guys are just ready to play. We’ve been practicing for a week with a bad taste in our mouths (after losing in the Missouri Valley Conference semifinals to Northern Iowa), so we’re just ready to play someone else.”
This story was originally published March 14, 2016 at 10:12 AM with the headline "Trip to Dayton doesn’t always mean quick exit from tournament (+video)."