For the first time in its 25-year history, the Mountain West is sending six teams to the NCAA Tournament. But what should've been a banner Selection Sunday for the conference was given a bittersweet taste by the sentiment that the tournament selection committee slighted the Mountain West with its seeding.
Chief among those seeding controversies was both Colorado State and Boise State being included in the First Four and needing to get a win just to become a part of the 64-team field when the first round kicks off later this week.
The spurned Rams and Broncos are the headline story when this year's First Four takes place at its customary home of the University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Ohio on Tuesday, March 19 and Wednesday, March 20.
(16) Howard Bison vs. (16) Wagner Seahawks – Tuesday, 5:40 p.m. CT (truTV)
A pair of teams seeking their first NCAA Tournament wins in school history will kick off this year's edition of March Madness Tuesday evening in Dayton, with the winner advancing to face West Region No. 1 seed North Carolina.
MEAC tournament champion Howard (18-16) finds itself back in the NCAA Tournament for a second straight season under fifth-year head coach Kenny Blakeney, who was a team captain and won two national championships while playing for Mike Krzyzewski's Duke Blue Devils in the early 1990s.
Per KenPom, the Bison rank 12th in the country in free throw rate (42.2 percent), 19th in 3-point percentage (37.5 percent), 39th in offensive rebounding percentage (33.9 percent) and 65th in free-throw percentage (75.0 percent). However, they turn the ball over 21.7 times per 100 possessions, the ninth-worst mark in Division I. The Bison's adjusted defensive efficiency rating of 113.8 is 334th in the country.
Howard junior guard Bryce Harris is a first-team All-MEAC selection who averages 16.6 points and 7.6 rebounds per game while shooting 39.1 percent from 3-point range. Fellow junior guard Marcus Dockery is a second-team all-conference pick who puts up 13.7 points per game and converts on 41.2 percent of his 3-point attempts. Howard forward Seth Towns is an eighth-year senior (you read that correctly) who previously played at both Harvard and Ohio State.
Wagner (16-15) ended a two-decade wait for its fans by winning the Northeast Conference tournament to return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2003. The Seahawks are coached by Donald Copeland, who played at Seton Hall from 2002 to 2006.
The Seahawks play at the second-slowest tempo in all of the country and are solid on the defensive end. They rank 10th in both opponent 3-point percentage (29.8 percent) and opponent free-throw percentage (67.7 percent), and are 70th in opponent effective field goal percentage (48.4 percent). Wagner's adjusted offensive efficiency rating (95.8) is 334th out of 362 Division I teams.
Wagner junior guard Melvin Council Jr. was the team's lone All-NEC selection, earning first-team honors while putting up 14.6 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game.
(10) Virginia Cavaliers vs. (10) Colorado State Rams – Tuesday, 8:10 p.m. CT (truTV)
The nightcap on the first day of March Madness features two teams that were a part of a couple of this year's biggest Selection Sunday controversies.
While the Rams weren't the bracketology community's most notable seeding miss among Mountain West teams, the Bracket Matrix composite had them as a projected No. 9 seed. Meanwhile, the Cavaliers were perhaps the committee's most controversial inclusion among the bubble teams. Of the 226 bracketologists included in the Bracket Matrix composite, only 23 had Virginia in the field in their final projections.
Nevertheless, the Cavaliers are into the NCAA Tournament field for the 10th time in 15 seasons under head coach Tony Bennett with one of the most stereotypical Bennettball teams of his whole tenure.
According to KenPom, the Hoos rank 194th in the nation in adjusted offensive efficiency (105.4) and seventh in adjusted defensive efficiency (93.3). That's the second-largest discrepancy of the Bennett era, behind only the 2019-20 team that ranked 234th on offense and first on defense. And if you watch the first game of Tuesday's session and are alarmed by the blistering pace at which Wagner plays, have no fear. Virginia plays at the slowest tempo of all 362 teams in Division I.
The Cavaliers are led by senior guard Reece Beekman, a two-time ACC Defensive Player of the Year who is averaging 14.3 points, 6.3 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game this season.
Colorado State returns to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in the last three seasons. All four of the Rams' tournament bids in the last 20 years have come during Niko Medved's time in Fort Collins as either the head coach (2022, 2024) or an assistant (2012, 2013).
This year's Colorado State team strikes a strong balance on both ends of the floor. The Rams are 42nd in the country in KenPom's adjusted offensive efficiency (1115.4) and 38th in adjusted defensive efficiency (98.8).
A senior-laden frontcourt that features Nique Clifford, Joel Scott and Patrick Cartier helps lead the Rams to a 2-point shooting percentage of 57.6 percent that ranks ninth in the whole country. Colorado State guard Isaiah Stevens is a three-time All-Mountain West first-team selection and the program's all-time leading scorer (2,335 points), who this year is averaging 16.5 points and 7.0 assists per game.
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