March 12, 2022

Grambling and Quinnipiac were eliminated in MAAC and SWAC action. They were the final two remaining with a chance to qualify for their first tournament.

This means that the Longwood Lancers and Bryant Bulldogs are the two new teams for 2021-22 tournament.

There are 37 teams (of 350) that have never appeared in a NCAA basketball tournament. The 8 reclassifying members are not yet eligible and are excluded from the list. The odds are from teamrankings.com, which are based on 1000s of simulations and include factors such as tournament seedings, future opponents, etc. Longwood and Bryant have qualified for the NCAA Tournament. The other 35 are waiting until next year. They will be joined by California Baptist and North Alabama that are completing reclassification next year.

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Longwood University Lancers

The Longwood University Lancers first began DI play as an independent in 2008 after completing their reclassification process (they were one of the last schools to reclassify without a conference invitation). They had some success in lower classifications, reaching a DIII final four in 1980. Jerome Kersey graduated from DII Longwood in 1984. He is one of six former DII players who played more than 1000 games in the NBA.

Longwood had a winning record (17-14) as an independent in 2009, their only DI winning record prior to this season.

Longwood joined the Big South in 2013, and generally finished near the bottom of the table. During their first seven seasons they were 28-92 (0.304). This began to turn around in 2020 and 2021, when they were 9-9 and 10-10 in conference play. This season they were 15-1 and received the #1 seed in the conference tournament.

They got a scare from NCA&T in the quarterfinal being forced into overtime, and might have lost if an NCA&T player had been able to make his free throw with 13 seconds remaining. Longwood then outscore NCA&T 16-2 in overtime for a seemingly easy 79-65 victory.

They were down 27-11 to SC Upstate midway through the first half of the semifinal. They closed to within 3 at half time. The score was last tied at 63 with 3:34 remaining, before Longwood finished off Upstate with a 79-70 win.

Their easiest game in the tournament was a surprisingly easy win over Winthrop in the championship opening up to a 45-27 margin at half and cruising to a 79-58 win.

Longwood University is a public school in Farmville, Virginia, roughly midway between Richmond and Lynchburg, and a similar distance south of Charlottesville. Longwood was originally a normal school, then a teacher's college for women, being known as State Female Normal School, State Normal School for Women, and State Teachers College. In 1948 it became Longwood College, named after the nearby Longwood Estate which serves as the presidential residence. The school did not become fully coeducational until 1976. Undergraduate enrollment is still 69% female, which along with university's remote location may be disincentives for starting an FCS football program.

Longwood College became Longwood University in 2002, roughly coincident with its move to DI.

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Bryant University Bulldogs

The Bryant University Bulldogs began DI play in 2012-13 in the Northeast Conference after they completed their reclassification process. They had some success in their final five seasons (2004-2008) in DII, reaching 3 sweet sixteens, losing the final in 2005.

Their first three season in the NEC, they finished 4th, 3rd, and 3rd, but struggled in the tournament despite having home court advantage, going 1-3. The next five seasons they fell near the bottom of the league, missing out entirely from an 8-team bracket in 2016 and 2018.

2021 saw a 10-4 conference record before losing the tournament final 73-68 to Mount St. Mary's (the tournament had been reduced to 4 teams because of COVID). This season Bryant was 16-2 in conference play to secure the top seed and home court advantage throughout the tournament.

After an easy win over Central Connecticut in the quarterfinal, Bryant struggled against Mount St. Mary's in the semifinal. Down by seven with 5:46 remaining, the Bulldogs fought back. After the Mountaineers tied the score at 69 with 10 seconds on the clock, Bryant missed a layup with two seconds left, but got the offensive rebound and were fouled as time expired. They hit one of two for a 70-69 victory.

In the final against Wagner, Bryant held a 38-12 halftime lead, and were up 68-32 with 4:37 remaining when a fight broke out in the crowd. After a half hour delay the game finished with a 70-43 Bryant victory.

Bryant University has its origin after the Civil War as a proprietary business school in Providence. It was not until 1949 that it became governed by a not-for-profit board and 1964 when it was accredited as a 4-year secondary school. In 1971 it moved to Smithfield, RI on land donated by Earl Tupper, the inventor of Tupperware.

In the 1990s, Bryant facing declining enrollment, empty dormitories, deficits, and possible closure hired Ronald Machtley as president. He engineered a turnaround that saw the endowment grow from $2 million to $171 million, renaming to Bryant University in 2001, and the move to DI in 2013. True to its origins as a business school, the emphasis is still on business education. All business administration majors are required to have a liberal arts minor, while all arts and science majors are required to have a business minor. The university is 62% male, with 47% of undergraduates from Massachusetts, 17% from Connecticut, and 12% from Rhode Island.

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The following 35 will try again next year.

1939 Army (Patriot) (EQF)
1939 St. Francis Brooklyn (NEC) (EQF)
1939 The Citadel (SoCon) (EQF)
1939 William & Mary (CAA) (1939) (E1R)
1939* Denver (Summit) (EQF)
1962 Maine (Am E) (DNQ)
1962 New Hampshire (Am E) (EQF)
1969 UTRGV (WAC) (EF10)
1972 Stetson (ASUN) (E1R)
1978 Grambling (SWAC) (EQF)
1981 Bethune-Cookman (SWAC) (DNQ)
1982 Maryland-Eastern Shore (MEAC) (EQF)
1982 Western Illinois (Summit) (EQF)
1982 Youngstown State (Horizon) (E1R)
1985 Chicago State (WAC) (EF10)
1990 Kansas City (Summit) (EQF)
1992 Sacramento State (Big Sky) (EQF)
1993 UT-Martin (OVC) (DNQ)
1999 Quinnipiac (MAAC) (ESF)
2000 Elon (CAA) (EQF)
2000 High Point (Big South) (2000) (EQF)
2000 Sacred Heart (NEC) (EQF)
2002 UC Riverside (Big West) (EQF)
2003 Fort Wayne (Horizon) (ESF)
2010 Kennesaw State (ASUN) (EQF)
2010 NJIT (Am E) (EQF)
2010 Utah Valley (WAC) (EF8)
2011 Central Arkansas (ASUN) (EQF)
2012 SC Upstate (Big South) (ESF)
2013 Presbyterian (Big South) (E1R)
2013 SIUE (OVC) (E1R)
2013 South Dakota (Summit) (ESF)
2015 Omaha (Summit) (EQF)
2018 Incarnate Word (Southland) (2018) (EF8)
2018 UMass Lowell (Am E) (EQF)

California Baptist (WAC) and North Alabama (ASUN) will become full members next season and have an opportunity to reach the NCAAT for the first time. With Hartford dropping down to DIII, that will result in 351 DI teams, with 37 (10.5%) seeking their first NCAA Tournament.

*1939 Denver had a gap from 1980-1998 when they competed in NAIA and NCAA DII competion. They did have tournament appearances in both,

Codes:

(CF) Conference finalist.
(SF) Semifinalist.
(QF) Quarterfinalist.
(1R) First Round.
(F8) Final 8, Ladder Style.
(F10) Final 10, Ladder Style.
(ESF) Eliminated semifinal.
(EQF) Eliminated quarterfinal.
(E1R) Eliminated 1st Round.
(RS) Regular Season Not Completed.
(DNQ) Did not qualify.


Honorable(?) Mention:

Centenary 1960-2011 No Appearances
Savannah State 2003-2019 No Appearances

David St Award

West Texas A&M (as West Texas State) 1951-1986: One Appearance

NCAAT Long Time No See

March 12, 2022

In conference tournament games of March 11, Fordham, Nicholls State, Rider, Seattle, and Toledo were eliminated.

Montana State and Louisiana Tech play for conference championships on Saturday. Tulane advances to the semifinal.

San Francisco remains likely to get an at-large berth.

There are 52 teams (of 350) who have missed 20 or more tournaments since their last appearance.The odds are from teamrankings.com, which are based on 1000s of simulations and include factors such as tournament seedings, future opponents, etc. 49 of the 52 have missed out at winning an AQ this year. San Francisco is still likely to get an at-large berth.

3 still have a shot at AQ, while USF is almost certain as an at-large.

80.9%* USF (WCC) (1998, last tournament) (ESF, AL?)

USF is still likely to get an at-large berth despite losing to Gonzaga in the WCC semifinal.

53.1% Montana State (Big Sky) (1996) (CF)

Montana State faces Northern Colorado in the Big Sky championship.

31.2% Louisiana Tech (CUSA) (1991) (CF)

Louisiana Tech faces UAB in the CUSA championship. The Lady Techsters have been to 17 NCAA tournaments, including 11 Sweet 16's since that time.

2.5% Tulane (AAC) (1995) (SF)

The good news is that Tulane only has to beat one of Memphis or SMU to qualify. The bad news is that they have to first beat Houston to have that opportunity.


(48) Schools are out for this year.

1959 Dartmouth (Ivy) (DNQ) (81, 18 YO freshmen then are now 81)
1963 Tennessee Tech (OVC) (EF6) (77)
1968 Bowling Green (MAC) (DNQ) (72)
1968 Columbia (Ivy) (DNQ) (72)
1969* Seattle (WAC) (ESF) (71)
1970 Rice (CUSA) (EQF) (70)
1977 Duquesne (A10) (E1RC) (63)
1977 VMI (SoCon) (EQF) (63)
1980 Furman (SoCan) (ECF) (60)
1980 Toledo (MAC) (ESF) (60)
1984*Houston Baptist (Southland) (EF6) (56)
1986 Brown (Ivy) (DNQ) (54)
1986 Jacksonville (ASUN) (ECF) (54)
1987 Idaho State (Big Sky) (E1R) (53)
1987 Marist (MAAC) (E1R) (53)
1990 Idaho (Big Sky) (E1R) (50)
1990* Loyola Marymount (WCC) (EF8) (50)
1991 St. Francis(PA) (NEC) (EQF) (49)
1991 Towson (CAA) (ESF) (49)
1992 Campbell (Big South) (EQF) (48)
1992 Fordham (A10) (EQF) (48)
1992 Georgia Southern (Sun Belt) (EQF) (48)
1992 Howard (MEAC) (EQF) (48)
1993 East Carolina (AAC) (E1R) (47)
1994 Rider (MAAC) (1994) (ESF) (46)
1994 Tennessee State (OVC) (EF6) (46)
1995 Florida International (CUSA) (E1RC) (45)
1996 Canisius (MAAC) (E1R) (44)
1996 Louisiana-Monroe (Sun Belt) (E1R) (44)
1996 Northern Illinois (MAC) (DNQ) (44)
1996 Portland (WCC) (EF6) (44)
1996 San Jose State (MtW) (E1R) (44)
1996 Santa Clara (WCC) (ESF) (44)
1996 West Carolina (SoCon) (E1R) (44)
1997 Fairfield (MAAC) (EQF) (43)
1997 Texas State (Sun Belt) (EQF) (43)
1998 Eastern Michigan (MAC) (DNQ) (42)
1998 Illinois State (MVC) (EQF) (42)
1998 Navy (Patriot) (ECF) (42)
1998 Nicholls State (Southland) (ESF) (42)
1999 Arkansas State (Sun Belt) (EQF) (41)
1999 Charleston Southern (Big South) (EQF) (41)
1999 Evansville (MVC) (E1R) (41)
1999 Missouri State (MVC) (ESF) (41)
2000 Ball State (MAC) (EQF) (40)
2000 Northern Arizona (Big Sky) (E1R) (40)
2000 Samford (SoCon) (ESF) (40)
2000 SE Missouri (OVC) (ESF) (40)

Three schools have failed in their efforts to avoid missing the NCAAT for 20 seasons and will join the list next year.

2001 Eastern Illinois (OVC) (DNQ) (39)
2001 Hofstra (CAA) (EQF) (39)
2001 Southern Utah (Big Sky -> WAC) (EQF) (39)

80.9%* According to teamrankings.com USF has a 80.9% chance of getting an at-large berth. I don't know how they estimate this. It might be based on won-loss record, since you can't simulate the process of awarding at-large bids beyond simulating bid thieves for other conferences.

1990* Loyola Marymount. This was the season that Hank Gaithers died during the WCC tournament. The remainder of the tournament was cancelled, and Loyola Marymount as regular season champion was awarded the AQ into the NCAA Tournament, where led by Bo Kimble they reached the Elite 8.

Codes

(CF) Conference final.
(SF) Semifinal.
(QF) Quarterfinals.
(1R) First round.
(2RC*) Second round cascade-style tournament.
(F6*) Final 6 in ladder-type tournament used in WCC and OVC.
(F8) Final 8 in ladder-type tournament.
(F10) Final 10 in ladder-type tournament.
(ECF) Eliminated in final.
(ESF) Eliminated in semifinal.
(EQF) Eliminated in quarterfinal.
(E1R) Eliminated in first round.
(EF6) Eliminated in final 6, ladder style.
(RS) Regular season not completed.
(DNQ) Did not qualify for conference tournament.

(2RC, 2 round cascade). CUSA is playing a cascade-style tournament where the bottom four seeds (#11 to #14) play in the first round, to advance to a second round where they are joined by the next six seeds (#5 to #10) . The winners in this round advance to the quarterfinal joining the top four seeds (#1 to #4). Thus the bottom four seeds have to win five games to win the conference title, while the top four seeds only need three wins.

(F6, Final 6*) The WCC (and OVC) are using a ladder-type tournament where two games are played each night, with the winners surviving to the next night. The first night has the 7th through 10th seeds, San Diego, Loyola Marymount, and Pacific, and would be shown as F10 (Final 10). The winners advance to play the 5th and 6th seeds, BYU and Portland and would be shown as F8.

The winners of that round face the 3rd and 4th seeds, Santa Clara and USF and are indicated as F6. Those winners advance to play the 1st and 2nd seeds, Gonzaga and St. Mary's, in the semifinals, with the winners playing in the championship.

Seattle (1969*) Seattle had a 22 year gap from 1981-2012 where they were not DI.

Houston Baptist (1984*) HBU had a 22 year gap from 1990-2011 where they were not DI.

NCAAT Long Time No See

March 13, 2022

In conference tournament games of March 12, Louisiana Tech and Tulane were eliminated. Montana State won the Big Sky Tournament to qualify for its first NCAAT since 1996.

San Francisco remains likely to get an at-large berth.

There are 52 teams (of 350) who have missed 20 or more tournaments since their last appearance.The odds are from teamrankings.com, which are based on 1000s of simulations and include factors such as tournament seedings, future opponents, etc. 51 of the 52 have missed out at winning an AQ this year. San Francisco is still likely to get an at-large berth.

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Montana State Bobcats

Montana State qualified for the NCAAT for the first time since 1996, 26 years ago. In 1996 as a #13 seed they were blown out 55-88 by a #4 seed Syracuse who would go on to finish 2nd to Kentucky (Antoine Walker, Tony Delk, Walter McCarty).

The Bobcats closest attempts since 1996 were:

2002 Montana State was the regular season champion with a 12-2 record, but lost the semifinal (first game) to arch-rival Montana 68-70. Until 2013, the Big Sky tournament would consist of six teams playing at the arena of the regular season champion, with the top two teams seeded into the semifinal.

2009 Montana State was the #6 seed with a 7-9 record, apparently entering the tournament by virtue of a tie-breaker with a tie for 6th/7th in the regular season. In the tournament held at Weber State (Ogden, UT), the Bobcats beat #3 seed Montana, host and #1 seed Weber State, before losing the final to #2 seed Portland State.

Since 2016, all Big Sky teams qualified for the tournament which was now played at neutral site. From 2016-2018 it was played in Reno, NV, and since 2019 in Boise (the 2020 tournament was cancelled after the first round).

2021 Montana State was the #5 seed with a 8-6 record. They beat the #4 seed Idaho State, and #1 seed Southern Utah, before losing to the #2 seed Eastern Washington in the final.

2022 Montana State was the regular season champion with a 16-4 record earning them the #1 seed. After easily dispatching #9 seed Sacramento State in the quarterfinal, the Bobcats faced #4 seed in the semifinal. After going down by as many as 8 points in the first half, Montana State did not take their first lead until 7:34 in the second half. The score was tied at 64 with 2:00 remaining, before the Bobcats went on to a 69-66 victory in a game in which they never led by more than four.

In the final against #3 seed Northern Colorado, Montana State was never challenged as they opened up a 25-point lead before going on to win 87-66, in a game which they outshot the Bears 52% to 30% from the field.

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79.3%* USF (WCC) (1998, last tournament) (ESF, AL?)

USF is still likely to get an at-large berth despite losing to Gonzaga in the WCC semifinal.

According to teamrankings.com USF has a 79.3% chance of getting an at-large berth. I don't know how they estimate this. It might be based on won-loss record, since you can't simulate the process of awarding at-large bids beyond simulating bid thieves for other conferences.

(50) Schools are out for this year.

1959 Dartmouth (Ivy) (DNQ) (81, 18 YO freshmen then are now 81)
1963 Tennessee Tech (OVC) (EF6) (77)
1968 Bowling Green (MAC) (DNQ) (72)
1968 Columbia (Ivy) (DNQ) (72)
1969* Seattle (WAC) (ESF) (71)
1970 Rice (CUSA) (EQF) (70)
1977 Duquesne (A10) (E1RC) (63)
1977 VMI (SoCon) (EQF) (63)
1980 Furman (SoCan) (ECF) (60)
1980 Toledo (MAC) (ESF) (60)
1984*Houston Baptist (Southland) (EF6) (56)
1986 Brown (Ivy) (DNQ) (54)
1986 Jacksonville (ASUN) (ECF) (54)
1987 Idaho State (Big Sky) (E1R) (53)
1987 Marist (MAAC) (E1R) (53)
1990 Idaho (Big Sky) (E1R) (50)
1990 Loyola Marymount (WCC) (EF8) (50)
1991 Louisiana Tech (CUSA) (ECF) (49)
1991 St. Francis(PA) (NEC) (EQF) (49)
1991 Towson (CAA) (ESF) (49)
1992 Campbell (Big South) (EQF) (48)
1992 Fordham (A10) (EQF) (48)
1992 Georgia Southern (Sun Belt) (EQF) (48)
1992 Howard (MEAC) (EQF) (48)
1993 East Carolina (AAC) (E1R) (47)
1994 Rider (MAAC) (1994) (ESF) (46)
1994 Tennessee State (OVC) (EF6) (46)
1995 Florida International (CUSA) (E1RC) (45)
1995 Tulane (AAC) (ESF) (45)
1996 Canisius (MAAC) (E1R) (44)
1996 Louisiana-Monroe (Sun Belt) (E1R) (44)
1996 Northern Illinois (MAC) (DNQ) (44)
1996 Portland (WCC) (EF6) (44)
1996 San Jose State (MtW) (E1R) (44)
1996 Santa Clara (WCC) (ESF) (44)
1996 West Carolina (SoCon) (E1R) (44)
1997 Fairfield (MAAC) (EQF) (43)
1997 Texas State (Sun Belt) (EQF) (43)
1998 Eastern Michigan (MAC) (DNQ) (42)
1998 Illinois State (MVC) (EQF) (42)
1998 Navy (Patriot) (ECF) (42)
1998 Nicholls State (Southland) (ESF) (42)
1999 Arkansas State (Sun Belt) (EQF) (41)
1999 Charleston Southern (Big South) (EQF) (41)
1999 Evansville (MVC) (E1R) (41)
1999 Missouri State (MVC) (ESF) (41)
2000 Ball State (MAC) (EQF) (40)
2000 Northern Arizona (Big Sky) (E1R) (40)
2000 Samford (SoCon) (ESF) (40)
2000 SE Missouri (OVC) (ESF) (40)

Three schools have failed in their efforts to avoid missing the NCAAT for 20 seasons and will join the list next year.

2001 Eastern Illinois (OVC) (DNQ) (39)
2001 Hofstra (CAA) (EQF) (39)
2001 Southern Utah (Big Sky -> WAC) (EQF) (39)

Codes

(CF) Conference final.
(SF) Semifinal.
(QF) Quarterfinals.
(1R) First round.
(2RC*) Second round cascade-style tournament.
(F6*) Final 6 in ladder-type tournament used in WCC and OVC.
(F8) Final 8 in ladder-type tournament.
(F10) Final 10 in ladder-type tournament.
(ECF) Eliminated in final.
(ESF) Eliminated in semifinal.
(EQF) Eliminated in quarterfinal.
(E1R) Eliminated in first round.
(EF6) Eliminated in final 6, ladder style.
(RS) Regular season not completed.
(DNQ) Did not qualify for conference tournament.

(2RC, 2 round cascade). CUSA is playing a cascade-style tournament where the bottom four seeds (#11 to #14) play in the first round, to advance to a second round where they are joined by the next six seeds (#5 to #10) . The winners in this round advance to the quarterfinal joining the top four seeds (#1 to #4). Thus the bottom four seeds have to win five games to win the conference title, while the top four seeds only need three wins.

(F6, Final 6*) The WCC (and OVC) are using a ladder-type tournament where two games are played each night, with the winners surviving to the next night. The first night has the 7th through 10th seeds, San Diego, Loyola Marymount, and Pacific, and would be shown as F10 (Final 10). The winners advance to play the 5th and 6th seeds, BYU and Portland and would be shown as F8.

The winners of that round face the 3rd and 4th seeds, Santa Clara and USF and are indicated as F6. Those winners advance to play the 1st and 2nd seeds, Gonzaga and St. Mary's, in the semifinals, with the winners playing in the championship.

Seattle (1969*) Seattle switched to the NAIA after the 1980 season. After rejoining the NCAA as DIII in 2001, and competed in DII from 2002-2008. They began the transition to DI in 2009, and became eligible for the NCAAT in 2013. Excluding the 33-year gap, Seattle has failed to qualify for the last 20 tournaments they were eligible, 11 tournaments prior to dropping out of DI, and 9 tournaments since their return.

Houston Baptist (1984*) HBU dropped athletics altogether after the 1989 season. They rebooted in NAIA after a one-year hiatus, and began the process of returning to the NCAA in 2009, becoming eligible for the NCAAT in 2013. Excluding the 24-year gap, HBU has failed to qualify for the last 14 tournaments they were eligible, 5 tournaments prior to dropping out of DI, and 9 tournaments since their return.