These Selection Sunday games will decide Xavier’s NCAA Tournament fate

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WATCH: Xavier’s Sean Miller, Ryan Conwell on loss to Marquette

Xavier’s Big East Tournament ended in Thursday’s quarterfinals after an 89-87 loss to Marquette at Madison Square Garden.

The wait is nearly over.

Xavier, which has spent the last six weeks on the NCAA Tournament bubble, will find out Sunday if it will go dancing or be left out of March Madness for the sixth time in seven seasons.

More: Selection Sunday: The case for, against Xavier Musketeers making NCAA Tournament

The 68-team field is far from decided, though, and Xavier’s chances of securing an at-large bid will be altered by a pair of conference championships Sunday afternoon just a few hours before the selection show.

More: ‘We desperately want to be a part of the tournament.’ What’s next for Xavier Musketeers?

More: Has anyone ever had a perfect March Madness bracket? The odds are staggering

Beware of the bid-stealer

There’s a lot of talk about bid-stealers during conference tournament week. A bid-stealer is a team that does not have the resume for an at-large bid to March Madness but punches an automatic ticket to the dance by winning its conference tournament.

When that happens, a conference that was projected to have a certain number of teams in the NCAA Tournament suddenly has an additional bid, thus taking a spot away from the bubble.

Colorado State was on the outside looking in before winning the Mountain West Championship on Saturday over Boise State, 69-56. That sends the Broncos to the bubble. There was a chance at another bid-stealer late Saturday night in the Big West Championship in Henderson, Nevada. However, No. 1 seed UC San Diego pulled away from UC Irvine, 75-61.

Xavier will keep its eye on the Atlantic 10 and American Athletic Conference championship games Sunday.

VCU vs. George Mason − 1 p.m. CBS

The Musketeers would like top-seeded VCU to secure the automatic bid. If George Mason wins, VCU heads to the bubble and has an at-large case. VCU is an 8.5-point favorite, and the total (over/under) is…

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Publish date : 2025-03-16 13:52:00

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