NCAA Tournament March Madness

#261 East Carolina

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Projection: need to automatically qualify

East Carolina’s profile lacks the kind of marquee victories that sell a tournament case and it is hampered by several lop-sided defeats to premier programs, so the clearest path onto the NCAA bracket runs through winning the American Athletic Conference tournament. The resume’s best moments are gritty road wins at North Texas and Florida Atlantic, a victory at Rice and a solid home result against UT San Antonio, but those wins come against modest opposition and do little to erase heavy losses at a neutral site to Michigan State and on the road to North Carolina as well as an unexpected setback to UNC Greensboro. With meaningful chances still ahead against Wichita State and Memphis at home and road tests at Charlotte, UT San Antonio and UAB plus further meetings with Tulsa, East Carolina can still alter the narrative, yet without a signature nonconference win or an eye-catching head-to-head résumé a deep run in the league tournament is the most realistic way to punch a ticket.

Date Opponent Ranking Outcome
11/4Ga Southern264W92-89
11/8@Richmond135L87-72
11/18@UNC Wilmington107L85-60
11/21Charleston So246L77-65
11/25(N)Michigan St13L89-56
11/27(N)St Bonaventure144L67-58
12/2MD E Shore339W68-56
12/6UNC Greensboro299L82-78
12/11Appalachian St175L67-54
12/14Buffalo189W73-70
12/17Presbyterian285W74-53
12/22@North Carolina28L99-51
12/31Tulane191L79-70
1/7@Temple157L75-67
1/11UAB121L87-85
1/14@South Florida59L82-71
1/18Charlotte178L73-70
1/21@Wichita St92L77-60
1/23@North Texas142W63-59
1/28Rice232L83-77
2/1@FL Atlantic116W76-75
2/7Temple157L81-73
2/11UT San Antonio348W88-72
2/14@Rice232W85-75
2/18Wichita St9223%
2/21@Charlotte17824%
2/25@UT San Antonio34868%
3/1Memphis10126%
3/4Tulsa6016%
3/5Tulsa6016%
3/8@UAB12115%