After beating SMU, 66-65, in dramatic fashion, add the USC Trojans to an interesting list of teams with a distinction of not succumbing to what could be seen as an impediment.
USC’s the latest in a streak of First Four teams to advance in March Madness
You thought a play-in game was supposed to be a detriment, didn’t you?
Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
USC overcame a 12-point deficit to tie the game initially, then went down nine in the second half yet still came back to win. That’s in addition to the 17-point hole they dug out of to beat Providence. But it’s the second NCAA tournament game they’ve played in the last 48 hours after the First Four win over the Friars.
A list of teams to win their First Four and first round games:
- 2011: No. 11 VCU beat USC in the First Four, then Georgetown in the first round before advancing all the way to the Final Four.
- 2012: No. 12 USF beat Cal in the First Four before beating Temple in the first round and being knocked out in the second round.
- 2013: No. 13 La Salle beat Boise State in the first Four before beating Kansas State in the first round and advancing to the Sweet 16.
- 2014: No. 11 Tennessee beat Iowa in the First Four before beating UMass in the first round and advancing to the Sweet 16.
- 2015: No. 11 Dayton beat Boise State in the First Four before beating Providence in the first round but were eliminated in the round of 32.
- 2016: No. 11 Wichita State beat Vanderbilt in the First Four before beating Arizona in the first round and being eliminated in the round of 32.
The First Four was devised out of a tournament expansion in 2011 that took the field of 65 to 68, with four play-in games on the Tuesday and Wednesday of the tourney week that would feed into the first rounds. Since 2001, there had only been one play-in game for a 16-seed. Throughout the years since the format has changed, besides Nos. 10 and 15 every other double-digit seed line has featured a First Four game to determine at least one of the main tournament’s participants.
As far as the First Four teams that learn their fate on Selection Sunday, only to have to play on Tuesday or Wednesday against an unfamiliar foe, you just have to saddle up and play. That’s how La Salle coach John Gianni described it when talking about his team’s First Four game.
“I hadn’t seen a second of Boise State,” Giannini told Sports on Earth on Monday. “In the NCAA tournament, the challenge isn’t the chronological turnaround, but the familiarity turnaround. In-season game preparation is like getting ready for a dinner with an old friend. An NCAA Tournament matchup is like a blind date.”
That Explorers squad would go on to a Sweet 16 berth.
The thing to consider is the lower-seeded team a First Four squad would be playing in the actual first round of the tournament doesn’t know much about the opponent. either.
In an interview with CBS during the selection show, Villanova’s Jay Wright said that for higher-seeded teams that have to wait on the play-in game, they don’t have as much time to prep because they don’t know who they’ll play. So everyone’s on a relatively quick turnaround here, and it’s a way to level the playing field for the lower seed. Now, that ain’t helping a 16-seed against a Goliath No. 1, but it isn’t a giant detriment to teams closer in seed.
The higher seed, especially if they’re from a one-bid league, has now played as many as four games that are do-or-die by the time they make it to the First Four, and being able to deal with tourney pressure is a big part of March (see: Vanderbilt).
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