NCAA Tournament March Madness

#331 Jackson St

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Projection: need to automatically qualify

Heavy road defeats at Illinois, Louisville, Auburn, Arkansas, Houston, TCU and Northwestern have stripped the résumé of any marquee nonconference quality, while the best moments—a road win at Louisiana and home victories over Alcorn State and Alabama State—are the kind of results that rarely sway a selection committee on their own. Neutral-site setbacks to Hampton and Norfolk State and a home loss to Winthrop further clutter the profile with damaging losses instead of resume-building wins. That pattern leaves the rest of the season’s slate, loaded with league matchups against the likes of TX Southern, Bethune-Cookman, Florida A&M, Grambling, Southern Univ, MS Valley St and Ark Pine Bluff, as the only workable avenue to change the team’s standing. Because there are few quality nonconference wins and several lopsided defeats away from home, the most realistic path to the NCAA field is to win the conference tournament and take the automatic bid.

Date Opponent Ranking Outcome
11/3@Illinois7L113-55
11/6@Louisville16L106-70
11/15@Louisiana Tech248L68-51
11/19@Auburn33L112-66
11/21@Arkansas23L115-61
11/23Winthrop124L80-62
11/28@Louisiana322W51-45
12/2@Kennesaw158L88-73
12/10@Houston5L80-38
12/13@Northwestern69L93-53
12/18(N)Hampton254L84-77
12/19(N)Norfolk St300L82-72
12/29@TCU52L115-64
1/3Alcorn St343W89-86
1/10@Alabama St297W75-64
1/12@Alabama A&M304L100-91
1/17Prairie View299W82-78
1/19TX Southern33763%
1/24@Bethune-Cookman26723%
1/26@Florida A&M31233%
1/28@Florida A&M31233%
1/31Grambling27846%
2/2Southern Univ25239%
2/7@MS Valley St36580%
2/9@Ark Pine Bluff31735%
2/14Florida A&M31255%
2/16Bethune-Cookman26743%
2/21@Alcorn St34344%
2/26@Prairie View29930%
2/28@TX Southern33741%
3/3Ark Pine Bluff31757%
3/5MS Valley St36592%