Getty Belmont guard Dylan Windler
The Belmont Bruins came up short in their push for the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament title and in turn, find themselves on the NCAA tournament bubble. After being unable to hold off Murray State and a potential top-three pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, Ja Morant, the Bruins now need to hope the selection committee walked away impressed with their season.
Belmont posted a superb 26-4 record this season while going 16-2 in conference play, but fell 77-65 in the final behind a superb performance from Morant. It’s an interesting scenario, as ESPN’s Joe Lunardi had Murray State in the “next four out” previously under the expectation that Belmont would win the title.
Belmont’s NCAA Tournament Outlook After Loss
In theory, you’d have to imagine the Bruins could be higher up than the “next four out,” possibly positioning them for a better outlook after the loss than Murray State would have had. After all, Belmont was the No. 1 seed in the tournament and had a great year – Lunardi also had them as a No. 12 seed before the loss.
Jerry Palm of CBS Sports had Belmont as a 12-seed as well, but in his bracketology breakdown had the Bruins listed among the bubble teams. They were grouped in with teams such as the Washington Huskies, Ohio State Buckeyes, Arizona State Sun Devils, Clemson Tigers and a number of others.
Evaluating Bruins’ NCAA Tournament Resume
The good news is that Belmont doesn’t have any “bad” losses, and they did defeat the UCLA Bruins, who will finish roughly around the .500 mark, so that win isn’t overly impressive. A regular-season win over Morant and Murray State will also help. On the opposite side, two losses to the third-best team in the conference in Jacksonville State were spots that could have helped the Bruins’ overall chances.
How their tournament hopes shape up with come down to the selection committee’s opinion on a few of Belmont’s victories. Beyond that, fans should be hoping to see as many fellow bubble teams avoid making runs in conference tournaments to help their chances of going dancing this season.
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