The conference tournaments are over, the RPI has been analyzed, the quality wins added up and it appears that both Villanova and Penn State will join Temple in the NCAA Tournament. While Penn State lost the Big Ten tournament final, the most important game of the day for them just might have been the Atlantic 10 final. Richmond, who was already expected to get an at large bid, defeated Dayton, who would have gotten an at large bid. Had Dayton won that game and gotten the A-10's automatic bid, they would have knocked out a bubble team like Penn State.
↵That said, the Nittany Lions' strong run in the Big 10 tournament was probably enough to raise them above other bubble squads like Virginia Tech and USC. Our SBNation bracketology expert Chris Dobbertean has both Penn State and Villanova in the tournament as #11 and #9 seeds respectively. For Penn State, he projects a first round matchup with A-10 regular season champ Xavier, while he has Villanova slated to face UNLV.
↵He's got Temple as a#7 seed facing Horizon league champs Butler.
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