This is part 13 of a 32-part series covering each conference and conference tournament. These previews are meant to provide every bracketologist with the information they need to make informed projections about the teams of the conference.
The final standings:
North Dakota St 12-2
IPFW 10-4
South Dakota St 10-4
Denver 8-6
South Dakota 6-8
Nebraska-Omaha 5-9
Western Illinois 4-10
IUPUI 1-13
Tournament format:
Nebraska-Omaha is eligible as they are still in the D1 transitional period. The remaining 7 teams are headed to Sioux Falls, as South Dakota St is hosting the tournament. NDSU gets the courtesy 1st round bye with 7 teams there. They play from March 8 to March 11. 8th/9th for the quarterfinals (2/7 seeds play on the 8th, 4/5 and 3/6 games on the 9th), 10th for the semis. Weird.
The matchups:
2) IPFW (22-9) vs. 7) IUPUI (6-25)
4) Denver (15-14) vs. 5) South Dakota (12-17)
3) South Dakota St (18-11) vs. 6) Western Illinois (10-19)
1) North Dakota St (23-6) vs. 4/5 winner
The stakes:
It's not the worst idea in the world to drag NDSU into bubble talk. RPI of 41, won at Notre Dame, beat Delaware, Towson, @Utah Valley, WMU, @Bryant, all teams in the upper part of their conferences. Alas they whiffed @St Mary's and home to Southern Miss, so a couple missed chances too many. There's a very good OOC SoS here, so just make sure they're on your radar on Selection Sunday. It's small, but there's a chance...
No one else has a NIT chance, but with RPIs ranging from 125-140, IPFW, SDSU, and Denver are all very likely to get CBI/CIT bids if they want them.
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