NCAA Tournament March Madness

#214 James Madison

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Projection: need to automatically qualify

James Madison looks like a team that needs the Sun Belt automatic bid because its résumé contains scattered highlights but lacks the kind of neutral-site or true road scalps that sell a committee, and it is marred by a handful of ugly losses away from home and at a power-conference opponent. The best moments — a tight home win over Old Dominion, a gritty road victory at Arkansas State, and a neutral-court triumph over Louisiana — show the ceiling, but those wins do not erase the damage of a blowout at Arkansas or the string of setbacks at Akron, Longwood, LIU Brooklyn, George Mason and Marshall that expose inconsistency in hostile environments. Conference play produced wins against quality Sun Belt peers but also frustrating losses against the same group, leaving few marquee resume builders outside the conference tournament. With limited signature wins and clear road blemishes, the simplest path to the NCAA field runs through winning the league’s postseason title.

Date Opponent Ranking Outcome
11/3@Akron60L85-71
11/9Coppin St363W84-70
11/12@Longwood273L82-72
11/15@LIU Brooklyn215L88-79
11/18Towson174W81-75
11/24@Florida Intl208W80-72
11/25(N)NE Omaha254W88-77
11/29@George Mason109L82-66
12/3NC Central353W67-62
12/6Norfolk St321W68-67
12/17@Old Dominion248L77-68
12/20@Ga Southern250L96-92
12/29@Arkansas17L103-74
1/3@Arkansas St153W78-74
1/7Marshall196L66-64
1/10Old Dominion248W70-69
1/15@Appalachian St181L80-65
1/17@Marshall196L77-72
1/22South Alabama206L90-83
1/24Texas St244W82-57
1/29@Troy159W73-64
1/31@Southern Miss221L73-65
2/4Louisiana315L64-61
2/7Toledo136W73-71
2/12Georgia St310W81-79
2/14Appalachian St181W69-58
2/18@Coastal Car229W67-65
2/21@Georgia St310W80-65
2/25Ga Southern250W82-66
2/27Coastal Car229L69-68
3/4(N)Louisiana315W87-72
3/5(N)Southern Miss221L86-80