Analyzing the Friars 9 Seed
Tuesday, March 15, 2016
The Providence College Friars were given a 9 seed by the NCAA selection committee and will play the University of Southern California (USC) out of the Pac-12 on Thursday in Raleigh, North Carolina.
A Bad Draw?
The only real gripe that the Friars and fans could make, and it's a legitimate one, is that they are the same seed as Butler.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe Friars beat Butler three times this season and have a better RPI ranking, 40, then Butler, 56. If the committee wanted to give Butler a 9 seed, you could argue PC should have been an 8 seed, which is where they were projected the entire week leading up to Sunday.
Either way, whether PC was an 8 or 9 seed, the game was going to be tough and the road going forward is going to be tough.
Potentially Playing North Carolina in North Carolina
If the Friars win they would most likely play North Carolina in the second round and that game would be played in Raleigh.
Number one seeds in the tournament always play at home or pretty close to home in the first couple of rounds of the tournament, so this is not a huge surprise.
This is not the same as last year when PC ended up having to play Dayton in Ohio after Dayton got a First Four game in Ohio.
Assuming the Friars were selected as an 8 or 9 seed all the way around, other options would have likely been playing Kansas in Iowa, Oregon all the way across the country in Spokane, or Virginia in Raleigh.
All of those scenarios would be as tough as playing UNC in North Carolina.
The reality is that the Friars are in this spot after finishing the season with a record of 6-6 and losing one game to DePaul
Teams With Bad Draws
The most obvious is Monmouth who won 17 road games, played one non-conference home game and did not get into the tournament.
Another team, although no one is going to feel bad for them, that got a tough draw is Kentucky. The Wild Cats won the SEC Championship over Texas A&M on Sunday afternoon, yet A&M is a 3 seed and Kentucky is a 4 seed.
Both Vanderbilt and Wichita State got a bad break as they will be playing in a play in game on Tuesday night to determine the 11 seed that will face Arizona in Providence on Thursday.
"This might be the greatest First Four game ever," Charles Barkley said on the CBS Selection Show broadcast.
Both teams are capable of making deep runs in the tournament and yet one will be eliminated before it begins.
Tourney Time
The NCAA tournament is set to kick off on Thursday, with the Friars game against USC coming at 9:50 p.m. on TBS.
Providence will be looking for their first tournament game win in 19 years.
Related Slideshow: Providence College Friars 2015-16 Projected Starting Lineup
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