Despite HBCU Division I basketball teams collectively experiencing success against Power Five and non-conference opponents, NCAA tournament seeding projections are not favorable.
Joe Lunardi, the ESPN college basketball analyst, released his latest NCAA tournament projections and two HBCUs are projected to make the field of 68.
But Grambling State and Norfolk State — predicted favorites in the SWAC and MEAC, respectively — are positioned either in First Four or as a No. 16 seed playing a No. 1 when the tournament begins in March.
According to the bracket, the Spartans and Tigers are slotted as No. 16 seeds in the Midwest and West regions. Lunardi has Norfolk State playing No. 1 Arizona out of the Pac-12 in Las Vegas. Grambling is expected to play Nicholls State in the First Four for the right to take on projected No. 1 seed Kansas in Des Monies, Iowa.
Norfolk State won the MEAC championship a year ago before losing in the opening round to Baylor. Prior to the tournament, head coach Robert Jones implored the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee to not place the Spartans on the 16-line. Doing so, he said, “would be disrespectful.”
Lunardi’s bracket would seemingly counter what have been good showings by HBCU basketball teams.
Grambling (7-5) has wins over Colorado and Vanderbilt The SWAC as a whole went 3-2 against the Pac-12 in the Pac-12/SWAC Legacy Series. But the Tigers are 0-3 against Quad 1 opponents, 2-1 versus Quad 2 teams and 3-1 in games involving Quad 4 foes.
As for Norfolk State (9-5), it has non-conference wins over William & Mary and Bowling Green. The Spartans are 0-4 against Quad 1 teams and a combined 6-1 against Quad 3 and Quad 4 opponents.
As NCAA current SWAC Commissioner and Division I Men’s Basketball Committee member Charles McClelland explained to HBCU Sports in 2021, the number of Quad 1 and Quad 2 wins will often determine how high or low teams are slotted in the field tournament.
As conference play begins, HBCU basketball teams in position to make the NCAA tournament can’t afford a letdown.
