Bubble Teams 2012: Why Selection Committee Must Include Drexel in Tourney

Before we go crazy with RPI and SOS and all of the other abbreviations that dominate Selection Sunday, I've got one little stat that should tell you exactly why I feel the Drexel Dragons have earned an NCAA tournament bid:

They've won 25 of their past 27 games, and before they lost the CAA championship to Virginia Commonwealth, 59-56, Drexel had won 19 straight.

If how a team is playing heading into a tournament is taken into consideration, Drexel absolutely should make it in.

You can point out a lot of reasons why Drexel shouldn't make it, of course—the team's strength of schedule is 248th in the nation, its only win against a top-50 RPI school came against VCU in January and they only have three wins against RPI top-100 schools (Princeton, George Mason and Cleveland State).

But at what point does a team do enough to look past its conference strength or the strength of its schedule? At what point do you reward a team for dominating the schedule put in front of them?

I say you do so with Drexel, who was 27-6 this year.

And Drexel is the sort of mid-major that could really thrive in the tournament. For one, they play excellent defense—the Dragons held opponents to 55.4 points per game this year, fifth best in the nation.

They are also dangerous from beyond the arc, shooting 37.6 percent on three-point shots this year.

The ability to play solid defense and shoot effectively from outside is always a dangerous combination for opponents come tournament time.

So yes, I think the Drexel Dragons deserve a bid over schools like Mississippi State, Iona, Miami, even Seton Hall. Whether the Selection Committee agrees with me or not remains to be seen.

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