The Oakland Golden Grizzlies are the No. 13 seed in the West Region of the NCAA Tournament, where they’ll take on the fourth seed, Texas, in the first round. It’s the second consecutive year and the third time in school history that Oakland landed a spot on the NCAA Tournament bracket. Oakland won the Summit League tournament by beating Oral Roberts, 90-76, to clinch its ticket to the Big Dance. The Grizzlies were dominant in the Summit League tourney, winning three games by a combined 50 points. They went through the regular season with a 17-1 in-conference record and finished with an overall record of 25-9.
NCAA Bracket Preview: Complete Oakland Golden Grizzlies Tournament Primer
A year ago, coach Greg Kampe led the Grizzlies to the NCAA tournament as a 14 seed and the Grizzlies faced Pittsburgh in the first round and lost by 23 points. This year they are back in the tournament as one of the potential upset picks. Despite being a 14 seed a year ago many had Oakland set to pull an upset, and this year will probably be no different. The Grizzlies already showed they can beat a team from one of the big six conferences by upsetting Tennessee on the road back in December, and now they will look to pull off an upset as part of March Madness.
Record: 25-9, 17-1 in the Summit League
RPI: 53
Key wins: Dec. 14 at Tennessee (89-82), March 8 vs. Oral Roberts (90-76) in Summit League tournament championship game.
Key losses: Nov. 23 at Wright State (82-79), Dec. 21 vs. Valparaiso (103-102), Feb. 2 at IUPUI (100-88)
Players to watch: G Reggie Hamilton, F Will Hudson, C Keith Benson
Oakland profile by Jeremy Mauss of Mountain West Connection. For more NCAA Tournament coverage of the Oakland Golden Grizzlies, please visit SB Nation Detroit.
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