NCAA Tournament March Madness

#139 Mercer

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Projection: need to automatically qualify

Mercer looks like a team that must win its conference tournament to reach the NCAA field because its résumé lacks a true signature victory while a handful of damaging defeats have undercut any at-large case. The high points are clear: dominant offensive nights in home wins over Citadel and Wofford and road victories at Eastern Kentucky and Elon that show the team can score outside its building. The low points are just as obvious, from the brutal trip to Winthrop to setbacks at Tennessee, Clemson, UCF and Washington State that expose struggles away from power-conference environments. The coming Southern Conference run and tournament present plenty of chances to alter the narrative with meaningful wins at Wofford, Chattanooga and Samford or a sweep of the league’s better opponents, but until Mercer produces a resume-altering road or neutral victory the safest route to the Big Dance is automatic qualification.

Date Opponent Ranking Outcome
11/3@Tennessee23L76-61
11/9Lipscomb160W92-77
11/15@Winthrop126L105-69
11/22@E Kentucky254W95-83
11/26Appalachian St218W75-67
11/29@Elon153W91-84
12/2Georgia St277W78-67
12/13@Clemson28L70-63
12/17@UCF46L81-63
12/20@Washington St151L84-78
12/31@Furman174L74-72
1/3@ETSU134L77-71
1/7Citadel352W101-63
1/10Wofford223W109-97
1/15@VMI350W77-67
1/17@UNC Greensboro295W102-92
1/21W Carolina283W88-76
1/24@Wofford22357%
1/29UNC Greensboro29587%
1/31VMI35095%
2/5@Chattanooga26065%
2/7@Samford25764%
2/11Furman17469%
2/14@Citadel35287%
2/19Chattanooga26083%
2/21Samford25782%
2/25@W Carolina28369%
2/28ETSU13460%