It might not seem like much on its face, but Richmond’s 67-54 victory over Dayton that gave the Spiders the Atlantic 10’s automatic NCAA Tournament berth is the most consequential result of Selection Sunday so far.
Selection Sunday 2011: Richmond’s Win Has Bubble Teams Like Virginia Tech Breathing Easier
That’s because while the Spiders had compiled a resume worthy of an at-large NCAA Tournament selection, Dayton had decidedly not. And with the win, Richmond prevented Dayton from sneaking into the 2011 NCAA Tournament as a bid thief and preserved one more at-large spot for a mid-level BCS league team like Virginia Tech or USC.
Specifically, Chris Dobbertean’s most recent NCAA Tournament bracketology has Virginia Tech as the last team in. Had Richmond been felled today, it’s likely that Seth Greenberg’s often star-crossed Hokies would have been relegated to the NIT once more.
For Richmond itself, though, the win is more about confirming previously held suspicions than making a statement. Dobbertean projected the Spiders as a No. 11 seed in the West entering today’s play, and it’s unlikely that their win boosts them to the No. 10 line.
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