by Bulldog2323 » March 7th, 2021, 8:20 pm
Based off Lunardi's Bracketology, key things to watch this week for a Drake bid:
ACC Tournament: Louisville & Georgia Tech are on opposite sides of the bracket. Georgia Tech has a double bye to Thursday, Louisville & Syracuse will play Wednesday.
Mountain West Tournament. The Mountain West has three teams (Colorado State, Boise State, and Utah State) all on the bubble in one way or another. All three will play starting on Thursday. Boise State plays Nevada in a 4/5 matchup that has the first appearances of a possible defeat in Drake's favor.
BIG EAST Tournament: Xavier has a 7/10 matchup against Butler on Wednesday night. A loss would put Xavier out. If Xavier wins they'll play Creighton on Thursday which seems like could be looked at similar to today's Drake-Loyola game. Seton Hall will have a 4/5 matchup on Thursday as well against St. John's.
Atlantic 10 Tournament: Good news is Saint Louis is out and won't have the opportunity to raise their chances. Bad news is VCU gets a FULL WEEK to prepare for their championship game next Sunday to make their final case.
Looking like Thursday will be a big day in determining Drake's hopes for an at-large. Obviously it's in Drake's interest to root for 1 seeds in conference tournaments, no upsets, no bid steals, or other "madness" this week.
Also, Missouri State is now on the NIT bubble as 4th team out. The Bears are going to need A LOT of help but it's possible especially with no autobids this year.