NCAA Tournament March Madness

#218 Howard

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Projected seed: 16 (automatic qualifier, play-in game) (automatic qualifier)

Howard lands in a low play-in spot because its résumé features a handful of signature moments — true road wins at Drexel and at UNC Wilmington and decisive conference home wins over NC Central and Norfolk State — but those highlights are overwhelmed by damaging setbacks, most notably a blowout at Duke and road losses at Missouri and Northwestern that expose a lack of quality wins outside the conference. The profile reads like a team that can beat its peers but struggles against high-majors, so the committee sees upside inside the league but not enough high-end résumé building to earn a safe at-large path. That reality makes the conference tournament the clear route to the NCAA field, and upcoming chances at Morgan State, a home date with Coppin State, and a trip to Norfolk State are the last opportunities to gain momentum before the league tournament.

Date Opponent Ranking Outcome
11/3Missouri52L88-67
11/9Grambling284L73-70
11/13Alcorn St340W72-64
11/19@Stetson323L64-60
11/22(N)Niagara344W80-70
11/23@Duke2L93-56
11/29@Mt St Mary's289L79-75
12/9(N)NC A&T274W73-69
12/13(N)Hampton269W61-57
12/16@Drexel224W74-66
12/20@UNC Wilmington103W67-66
12/30@Northwestern70L80-60
1/3@S Carolina St358L58-57
1/10@MD E Shore346L69-57
1/12Delaware St361W84-58
1/17@NC Central353W83-69
1/24Morgan St351L78-77
1/31Norfolk St309W88-60
2/2@Coppin St364W72-53
2/7S Carolina St358W85-57
2/9Yale77L87-81
2/14MD E Shore346W79-53
2/16@Delaware St361W91-59
2/21NC Central353W100-67
2/28@Morgan St35178%
3/2Coppin St36496%
3/5@Norfolk St30962%