Creighton’s men’s basketball team has had a successful year and is looking to make the NCAA Tournament. Their record currently stands at 15-7, with impressive wins over top teams such as Seton Hall, Villanova, and Butler.
Analyzing their performance throughout the season can help us determine if Creighton has what it takes to make the tournament. Let’s take a look.
Analysis of Creighton’s Current Record
Creighton University Men’s Basketball is currently sitting at a 13-9 record for the 2020-21 season. In terms of conference play the Bluejays have started 6-6, beginning with a three game winning streak against Seton Hall, Villanova, and UConn. Following their streak, Creighton lost four games in a row against DePaul, Xavier, Marquette, and Providence however they have bounced back with two consecutive wins against St. John’s and Georgetown.
Since then Creighton has shown inconsistencies in both their wins and losses. Most recently they were edged by Butler on the road before responding with a home win over Villanova in triple overtime. They also managed to hold off Providence in double overtime at home when they travelled to DePaul they dropped the game by twelve points during the final few minutes giving them their ninth loss of the season. They then ended their stretch away from Omaha on a high note with an impressive twenty point win against St. John’s at Madison Square Garden.
Despite having an overall record below .500 Creighton still holds an important element going forward: quality wins over marquee opponents like Villanova (twice), Texas Tech and Seton Hall as well as close games against ranked programs such as Butler (twice). As well as having four “Quad 1” wins (which look favorable towards NCAA Tournament consideration). Despite suffering from injuries early on throughout the season that saw star point guard Marcus Zegarowski sidelined for seven games due to knee troubles, Zegarowski has remained relatively healthy since his return in December – averaging 14 points during this stretch while providing extra support to key offensive contributors Denzel Mahoney and Christian Bishop who are averaging 20 points per game between them this season so far proving equal parts efficient and consistent production when needed most for this team going forward into March Madness 2020-21 tournament hopes where it remains unclear whether or not Creighton will make it based off current performances however excitement is certain about these Bluejay’s chances moving forward.
Analysis of Creighton’s Record Against Top Teams
Analyzing Creighton’s performance against top 25 teams is an important factor in determining if they will make the NCAA Tournament. This season, Creighton has had mixed success against ranked teams, including wins against #5 Villanova, #13 Seton Hall, and #23 Butler. Additionally, they have had several close calls with top teams, where the game was decided by single digit margins.
Conversely, the Bluejays have lost games to a host of highly-ranked opponents. These include losses to #4 Kansas and #14 Texas Tech as well as two losses to their conference rival and current #17 ranked team- Marquette. Overall, Creighton’s notched some impressive wins against highly ranked opponents this season. But with losses to ranked opponents looming large on its resume, it’s difficult to determine what kind of effect this will have on their chances for an NCAA tournament bid. Only time will tell if the results of these games are enough for them to secure an at-large berth for March Madness.
NCAA Tournament Selection Process
Making it to the NCAA tournament is a highly sought-after achievement for college basketball teams, and the process to determine which teams earn a spot is a lengthy and complicated one. In order to determine if Creighton will make the NCAA tournament, we must first understand the tournament selection process. This section will explore how the NCAA selects teams for the tournament.
Overview of The Selection Process
The NCAA tournament selection process begins in earnest each year around the start of the men’s basketball season. During this time, a 10-member NCAA selection committee is tasked with evaluating teams and determining which schools will be selected to make the tournament.
In order to evaluate teams, the selection committee uses several criteria including strength of schedule, record in conference and non-conference play, quality wins and losses, rankings from various polls, metrics from advanced analytics tools and input from regional advisory committees.
Additionally, all Division I men’s basketball conferences are required to conduct a postseason conference tournament with an automatic bid to the Men’s Championships awarded to the winner of each respective championship game.
The NCAA selection committee then meets during Selection Sunday, when they reveal which 68 teams have been invited to compete in the Championship Tournament. The field is also expanded every four years in order ensure that all 32 Division I men’s basketball conferences have at least one automatic qualifier for each edition of their respective tournaments.
This year’s NCAA tournament will certainly be an exciting one! While it remains unclear if Creighton will receive an invitation despite losing out on their conference championship bid this year, they still have a fighting chance – with plenty of exciting games between now & Selection Sunday!
Overview of the Criteria Used for Selection
The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament selection process is used to choose and seed the 68 teams that will participate in the annual tournament. The selection committee meets for two days to evaluate teams, going over statistics, records, strength of schedule, key wins/losses and other related criteria. Teams are assigned a ranking from 1-68 based on their performance up until that point in the season.
The Committee first uses quality metrics, including RPI (Ratings Percentage Index), Strength of Schedule (SOS), Non-Conference Strength of Schedule (NCSOS) and conference standings to evaluate teams under consideration for selection. From that pool, the Committee selects at-large teams based on team accomplishments throughout the entire regular season, then assigns seed lines to those respective teams.
Next, the NCAA sends out automatic bids to any team winning a conference championship with an RPI rank inside of 40; all other champions have an RPI rank within 25. During this process it is important that conferences remain diverse within seed range since no more than one seed line increase between the champions of two different leagues is allowed when assigning matching bids from different conferences together in the same pod.
Once all remaining seeds have been assigned and allocated pods have been formed, any necessary adjustments — balance/geography — can be finalized before seeding each region with bracket integrity being considered at all times.
At this time it is unclear if Creighton will make the NCAA Tournament based on these criteria due to other factors such as player availability due to COVID-19 or future performance during this current season. Ultimately, it will be up to the members of the NCAA Selection committee come Selection Sunday in March 2021 to decide if Creighton has done enough during this unique 2020-2021 college basketball season to merit a spot into March Madness 2021.
Will Creighton Make the NCAA Tournament
With the college basketball season in full swing, Creighton finds itself in the mix to make the NCAA tournament. This season has been an up-and-down affair for the Bluejays and the team has yet to put together a consistent stretch of play. However, the team has still managed to put together an impressive resume with some marquee wins. Let’s take a look at Creighton’s chances of making the tournament.
Evaluation of Creighton’s Performance Against the Criteria
The NCAA selection committee takes several criteria into account when selecting teams for the NCAA tournament. It is important to evaluate Creighton’s performance against these criteria in order to assess their chances of making the tournament.
One key factor that the committee evaluates is a team’s overall record, which includes both wins and losses, as well as the quality of opponents faced during the season. Likewise, Creighton’s performance against top 25 teams indicates how they may fare against top-level competition during the tournament. The committee also evaluates a team’s regular season conference record and their performances in any post-season tournaments such as conference championships or other NCAA-sanctioned tournaments.
Strength of schedule also plays an important role in evaluation; simply put, teams that face tougher opposition are given greater weight than those with weaker opponents. Other aspects assessed include a team’s most recent performances over several consecutive games (such as last 10 games won/lost) and any key injuries or absences which could hinder or help a team’s chances. Finally, non-statistical factors such as geography are also taken into account when building brackets for regional play within each division.
Overall it can be seen that Creighton’s numbers have been encouraging across many categories so far this year; however, with so much at stake when it comes to post-season play and NCAA tournament spots on the line, what really counts is strong play down the stretch of conference and postseason tournaments leading up to Selection Sunday. Only then will we know if Creighton has what it takes to make it into March Madness!
Analysis of Creighton’s Chances of Making the Tournament
Creighton has traditionally performed well in the NCAA tournament. The school has made the tournament in all but three of the past eighteen years, a testament to its consistent performance. This year, Creighton finds itself squarely on the bubble with a record of 19-9 and 9-7 in Big East conference play. If they decide to enter the tournament, can Creighton make a deep run?
To determine an answer to this question, one must analyze Creighton’s performance over the course of their season. Though they finished with a .500 record in Big East play, their overall win percentage excluding non-conference games is .722 (13-5). In addition, their wins against power five opponents accounts for nearly 40% of their total wins. All signs point to real danger for opponents who face off against them.
With all this taken into consideration, it appears that Creighton has both: 1) an improved body of work compared from previous season and 2) an effective balance between high quality non-conference wins and solid performances against power five opponents. This combination is especially difficult for other teams ahead of them on the bubble to match. When combined with Creighton’s stellar recent track record in the NCAA tournament (all but three appearances over eighteen years), it appears likely that they have what it takes to make another deep run if they chose to enter into this year’s tourney.
