UCF basketball NCAA Tournament résumé for March Madness: Feb. 17

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UCF’s ongoing six-game losing streak has all but ended any chance for an at-large NCAA Tournament bid. Instead, the Knights will have to earn their way as an automatic qualifier by running a five-game gauntlet in the Big 12 Conference Tournament.

The Knights fell twice last week — at home to top-10 Iowa State and on the road against last-place Colorado — to drop to 13-12 overall with a 4-10 mark in conference play. It’s the longest skid UCF has undergone since the 2015-16 season, prior to Johnny Dawkins’ arrival as head coach.

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As of Sunday, UCF would open the Big 12 Tournament as the No. 13 seed, setting up a neutral-site rematch with Cincinnati on March 11 in Kansas City, Missouri. The winner of that game would be paired with the No. 5 seed, BYU, for a second-round game the following day.

The Knights can still improve their standing with a turnaround over the final three weeks of the regular season. They are three games back of TCU for a top-half league finish, which would assure a first-round bye.

UCF NET rankings: No. 75 (Last week: No. 72)

Feb 15, 2025; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Colorado Buffaloes forward Bangot Dak (8) defends UCF Knights guard Keyshawn Hall (4) in the first half at the CU Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

All rankings as of Monday

Quad 1 record: 3-8

Wins: Texas A&M, at Texas Tech, at Arizona State

Losses: Wisconsin (neutral site), Kansas, at Arizona, Houston, at Iowa State, at Kansas, at Baylor, Iowa State

Quad 2 record: 0-4

Wins: None

Losses: LSU (neutral site), BYU, Cincinnati, at Colorado

Quad 3 record: 5-0

Quad 4 record: 5-0

Even with its 13-game slide entering Saturday, Colorado still would have counted as a Quad 2 win for the Knights as a top-135 NET opponent. Those swing games, more so than the eight Quad 1 losses, have cost UCF dearly and offset the high-end victories over projected top-four seeds Texas A&M and Texas Tech.

UCF KenPom…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/ucf-basketball-ncaa-tournament-sume-152340847.html

Author : Daytona Beach News-Journal

Publish date : 2025-02-17 15:23:00

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