NCAA Tournament March Madness

#285 Valparaiso

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Projection: need to automatically qualify

Valparaiso's season has been hammered with rough patches, and the team's performance has been underwhelming in both non-conference and conference play. Squaring off against a high-caliber opponent like Illinois, they were overpowered, illustrating the gap between them and top-tier teams. While they did snag a victory against a middling Belmont, it's clear that this was more of an outlier than a reliable indicator of potential tournament success. Losses to teams like Chicago State and IUPUI, both of whom have had their own struggles, do little to inspire confidence. Taking serious beatings from Drake and Indiana State, both prominent in the Missouri Valley, shows they aren't ready to compete with the conference's best. The Crusaders' inconsistency and inability to pull off significant upsets or go on substantial winning streaks imply that their only viable path to the NCAA tournament is through an automatic bid, which would require an exceptional showing and triumph in the conference tournament.

Date Opponent Ranking Outcome
11/10IUPUI361L66-56
11/14WI Green Bay223W64-59
11/17@Illinois8L87-64
11/21W Illinois243W73-66
11/25Southern Univ286W71-59
11/29Drake35L83-65
12/2@Belmont113L77-68
12/6@C Michigan240L71-67
12/9@Virginia Tech64L71-50
12/16Chicago St310L63-62
12/19Samford74L79-61
12/29@Elon312L82-78
1/3Bradley69L86-61
1/6@IL Chicago193L70-64
1/10S Illinois118L77-68
1/14@Illinois St179W59-50
1/17@Evansville184L78-75
1/20IL Chicago193W84-77
1/24@S Illinois118L75-69
1/27Missouri St134L81-70
1/31@Drake35L81-70
2/3Evansville184L63-62
2/7@Indiana St32L101-61
2/10Belmont113L96-78
2/14Northern Iowa101L86-67
2/17@Missouri St134L82-74
2/21Indiana St32L83-64
2/24@Murray St158L80-68
2/27@Northern Iowa101L68-54
3/3Illinois St179W75-72
3/7(N)Belmont113L86-61