First Four Wednesday Night Postgame Tidbits

James Madison won their first tournament game since 1983 when they defeated West Virginia in the Round of 64.

James Madison's 68 points is the most that they have scored in 8 tournament games.  Their previous high was 62 vs. Florida in the 1994 Round of 64.

The win by James Madison is the 15th for the Colonial since 2002.  The Colonial is 15-15 during that time frame.

Long Island-Brooklyn and Boise State joins Eastern Kentucky, Louisiana-Monroe and Nebraska as the only teams that have lost at least 6 tournament games without a win. 

• Eastern Kentucky 0-7
• Louisiana-Monroe 0-7
• Boise State 0-6
• Long Island-Brooklyn 0-6
• Nebraska 0-6

Long Island-Brooklyn's 55 points is the fewest they have scored in 6 tournament games.  Their previous low was 67 vs. Michigan State in the 2012 Round of 64.

The 68 points that James Madison scored is also the fewest that Long-Island Brooklyn has allowed.  Their previous low was 85 vs. VCU in the 1981 First Round.

The loss by Long Island-Brooklyn marks the 5th consecutive year that the Northeast Conference failed to win a tournament game.
 
The win by La Salle marks the 8th consecutive year that an Atlantic Ten team has won a tournament game.  Since the field expanded in 1985, the only years that the Atlantic Ten failed to win a game was 1990 and 2005.

La Salle wins their first tournament game since 1990 when they defeated Southern Mississippi 79-63 in Round of 64.  They were members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference then.

La Salle's win marks the 15th consecutive year that a team from Pennsylvania has won a tournament game.  Number of wins by each team during that timeframe:

• Pittsburgh 15
• Villanova 12
• Temple 8
• St. Joseph's 4
• Bucknell 2
• Penn State 2
• La Salle 1
• Lehigh 1 

With Boise State's loss, a team it is now 31 years (1982) since a team from Idaho has won a tournament game when Idaho defeated Iowa 69-67 in the Round of 32.  Since then teams from Idaho are 0-9.

La Salle - Boise St Tournament Facts

Here are some NCAA Tournament facts about La Salle and Boise State:

This is the third time that teams from the Atlantic Ten and Mountain West have faced each other.  They split the other two games.

• Xavier defeated Brigham Young in 2007 Round of 64
• San Diego State defeated Temple in 2011Round of 32

La Salle
La Salle is 11-10 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.

This is La Salle's first tournament appearance as a member of the Atlantic Ten.  They had previous appearances as an Independent and as a member of the ECAC Metro and Metro Atlantic.

La Salle appeared in the Opening Round in 1983

La Salle is 0-2 as a #13 seed.

This is La Salle's first ever at-large bid.

Boise State
Boise State is 0-5 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.

This is Boise State's first appearance as a member of the Mountain West.  They had previous appearances as a member of the Big Sky and Western Athletic.

Boise State was a #14 seed in each of their 4 previous appearances.

This is Boise State's first ever at-large bid.

Long Island - James Madison Tournament Facts

Here are some NCAA Tournament facts about Long Island-Brooklyn and James Madison:

Long Island-Brooklyn
Long Island is 0-5 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.

Long Island is 0-4 as a member of the Northeast Conference.

They have played in the opening round one time before losing in 1984.

This is the second time they have been a #16 seed.  They were a #16 seed last year also and lost to Michigan State in the Round of 64.

They are 0-2 when playing in Ohio and 0-1 in Dayton.

James Madison
James Madison is 3-4 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.

All of James Madison's previous 7 games were against teams that are currently members of one of the six power conferences.

James Madison is 1-2 as a member of the Colonial.

This is the first time they have been a #16 seed.  Their previous low seed was #14.

First Four Tuesday Night Postgame Tidbits

North Carolina A&T wins their first tournament game in school history.  With their victory, Eastern Kentucky and Louisiana-Monroe now have the most tournament games without a victory with 7.

North Carolina A&T's victory is the 5th all-time for the MEAC.  It is also the first time that the MEAC has won a tournament game in consecutive years.  Norfolk State defeated Missouri in the Round of 64 last year.

Since 2001, at least one school has recorded their first tournament win each year except 2009.  North Carolina A&T is the 25th school in that time frame to capture their first tournament win.

Liberty's 72 points is their most in 3 tournament games.

Middle Tennessee State's 54 points is the fewest that St. Mary's has allowed in 10 tournament games.  The previous low was 66 vs. California in the 1959 Elite Eight.

With Middle Tennessee State losing,  Western Kentucky remains the only Sun Belt team to win a tournament game since 1993.  They have won 7 tournament games over that time frame while no other conference team has won a game.

The Sun Belt is now 1-6 as a #11 Seed.  The West Coast is 6-5 as #11 Seed.

The West Coast has now won at least one tournament game in each of the last 6 tournaments.  The longest streak in conference history is 10 from 1967 to 1976.

St. Mary's - Middle Tennessee Tournament Facts

Here are some NCAA Tournament facts about St. Mary's and Middle Tennessee State:

St. Mary's
St. Mary's is 3-7 all-time in the NCAA tournament.

This is Randy Bennett's 5th appearance as a coach for St. Mary's.  He is 2-4.

St. Mary's is 0-3 as an at-large.  Only Nebraska (0-5), Air Force (0-4) and Yale (0-4) have a worse record as an at-large.

Middle Tennessee State
Middle Tennessee State is 2-6 all-time in the NCAA tournament.  This is their first appearance as a member of the Sun Belt.  All of their previous appearances were when they were in the Ohio Valley.

This is Kermit Davis, Jr.'s first appearance as a coach for Middle Tennessee State.  He previously coached in the tournament at Idaho.  He is 0-2 in the tournament.

This is Middle Tennessee State's second appearance as an at-large.  Their only other at-large bid was in 1987.  That year they were a #12 seed and lost to #5 Notre Dame 84-71 in the Round of 64.

Middle Tennessee State has been an #11 seed one other time (1982).  In that tournament, they defeated Kentucky 50-44 in the First Round for their first ever tournament win, but lost to Louisville 81-56 in the Second Round.

North Carolina A&T - Liberty Tournament Facts

Here are some NCAA Tournament facts about North Carolina A&T and Liberty:

Neither team has a tournament victory.  The last time that two teams met when neither has won a tournament game was the 2011 Round of 64 when San Diego State defeated Northern Colorado.

North Carolina A&T
North Carolina A&T is 0-9 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.  They hold the record for the most losses in the tournament without winning a game.

North Carolina A&T is 0-2 in Opening Round ("Play-In") Games.  They tie Alcorn State playing in their 3rd Opening Round game.

This is the 5th time that North Carolina A&T has been a #16 seed.  They are 0-4 as a #16 seed.

North Carolina A&T is 0-1 when playing in the State of Ohio.

North Carolina A&T is 0-2 on Tuesdays.

Liberty
Liberty is 0-2 all time in the NCAA Tournament.

This is the first time Liberty has played in an Opening Round game.

Liberty is #287 in the RPI which is the worst RPI ranking in the history of the tournament.  The previous worst was #284 by Hampton in 2006.

Liberty ties a tournament records with 20 regular season losses.  Coppin State in 2008 also had 20 regular season losses.

Opening Round History

Tonight the tournament begins.  This round is know by many names:  "Play-in Game", "Opening Round", "First Four", "First Round".  Whatever it is called, it is the round before the round of 64.  Many people believe that it started in 2001 when the field expanded to 65.  However, there were actually opening round games in 1983 and 1984 before the field expanded to 64.

In 1983, the field expanded to 52 games, but they #4 seed to have a bye, so they created the extra round with two #12 teams in each regional for a total of 4 opening round games.  In 1984, the field was expanded to 53 games and their were 5 opening round games with one of them being between #11 seeds.

With the field expanded to 64, there was no need for an extra round until 2001 when the Mountain West Conference began.  The NCAA did not want to reduce the number of at-large teams, so they expanded the field to 65.  This created the need for an extra game between #16 seeds.  In 2011, the field once again expanded to 68 and the First Four was born.

Alcorn State has played in the most opening round games having played in 3.  North Carolina A&T will tie them with their third opening round game this year.  Here is the history of opening round games for this year's participants:

North Carolina A&T
1983 - Lost to Princeton 53-41
1984 - Lost to Morehead State 70-69

Liberty - Never played an Opening Round game

St. Mary's - Never played an Opening Round game

Middle Tennessee State - Never played an Opening Round game

Long Island-Brooklyn
1984 - Lost to Northeastern 90-87

James Madison - Never played an Opening Round game

La Salle
1983 - Defeated Boston 70-58

Boise State - Never played an Opening Round game