NCAA Tournament March Madness

#347 NJIT

Bubble Watch | Bracketology

Chat with the Bracketologist | How does this work?


Projection: need to automatically qualify

NJIT’s path to the big dance runs through the America East because its résumé contains a few respectable road wins at Fordham and Loyola Maryland and a high-scoring home victory over Dickinson but otherwise is defined by heavy setbacks at Louisville, Cincinnati, Drexel and Navy that undercut any claim to a signature nonconference victory. The team has shown it can win away from home in midlevel settings yet has not beaten a recognized power on a neutral or true road stage, so even a string of conference victories will mainly serve to secure seeding rather than change national perception. Upcoming chances against the likes of Butler and Eastern Michigan are the only realistic opportunities to alter that view outside conference play but both come on the road and look uphill. With the remainder of the slate filled with America East opponents such as Vermont, UMBC, Albany, Bryant, New Hampshire, Binghamton, Maine and Merrimack that will shape conference standing, the only clean way for NJIT to guarantee an NCAA berth is to claim the automatic qualifier.

Date Opponent Ranking Outcome
11/4@Fordham233W72-61
11/8Fairfield283L74-53
11/11@Loyola MD297W66-64
11/15F Dickinson360W93-81
11/18@Drexel271L75-43
11/22@Navy146L86-70
11/24@Cincinnati72L94-67
11/26@Louisville7L104-47
11/28@E Michigan19612%
12/5@High Point812%
12/10New Haven35162%
12/13Sacred Heart27339%
12/22@Butler481%
12/31@Penn21114%
1/3@Binghamton35441%
1/8New Hampshire35564%
1/10Maine31847%
1/15@MA Lowell30625%
1/19Bryant32248%
1/22@UMBC29423%
1/29@SUNY Albany30725%
1/31@Vermont18211%
2/5MA Lowell30645%
2/7Binghamton35463%
2/12@New Hampshire35542%
2/14@Maine31827%
2/19SUNY Albany30745%
2/21Vermont18225%
2/28@Bryant32227%
3/3UMBC29443%