The drubbing the USF women’s lacrosse team endured in the American Conference should not be a factor in whether the Bulls receive an NCAA tournament bid.
The selection committee should not let a single one-sided loss outweigh everything the Bulls accomplished this season. Even after the 17-7 loss to an excellent James Madison team, USF only fell two spots to No. 16 in the NCAA’s RPI ranking. That alone should make the Bulls’ inclusion in the field a no-brainer.
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The field will be announced Sunday at 9 p.m. on ESPNU
But if the committee needs more information, USF made an excellent argument why it deserves to be in the field.
It starts with this: In the years since the tournament was expanded to 29 teams, no team with the ranking the Bulls have failed to make the tournament.
USF is the only Division I team to ever compete for its conference title in its first two. Let’s also not forget that the Bulls won the regular-season conference title with a perfect 6-0 record. Included in that was a win over James Madison.
Oh, you want to talk strength of schedule?
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OK. The Bulls played a challenging non-conference schedule — Michigan, Florida, and Navy were all in the top 10 RPI,
“This USF team is my most complete team from top to bottom that I’ve ever coached. The improvement we have made this season alone, along with our overall growth in just two years, is incredible,” head coach Mindy McCord said.
“Despite health impacts to the majority of the team over two weeks this season – including a two-game, three-day trip at ODU and Richmond – we fought super hard. With the team 100 percent healthy now, this is a team that can compete with anyone in the top 10 and push them to their limit. This group is more than deserving of an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.”
Even with these and other strong arguments the Bulls have for a bid, it’s fair to wonder how the politics will play out in the committee room. After all, USF doesn’t have the history of some teams that also need an at-large bid.
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Maryland, which topped the rankings for much of the season, was upset in the Big Ten final. Florida lost to Colorado in the Big 12 tournament. Penn State was knocked out of the Big Ten tournament 13-12 by Michigan. The Wolverines beat USF earlier this year.
But the Bulls also beat Temple twice, and the Owls roasted Penn State by five goals.
We can play these numbers games all day.
But it keeps coming back to this: USF has one of the best women’s lacrosse teams in the country. The Bulls belong in the NCAA tournament.
This article was originally published on www.greengoldandbold.com as Let them in! USF lacrosse deserves a spot in the NCAA tournament.
