$5 Reasons Why Tulsa Golden Hurricane Won\'t Make the 2015 NCAA Tournament$

5 Reasons Why Tulsa Golden Hurricane Won't Make the 2015 NCAA Tournament

By Kelly Anderson

5 Reasons Why Tulsa Golden Hurricane Won't Make the 2015 NCAA Tournament

Frank Haith Tulsa Golden Hurricane — The American Athletic Conference may not be one the Power 5, but that doesn’t mean it’s a mid-major conference either with the likes of UConn, Memphis and Cincinnati as a part of it. So finishing in the top two should guarantee you entry into the NCAA Tournament, right? Well, that’s not the case for the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, and here are five reasons why.

5. The Perception of Their Conference

Kevin Ollie UCONN Huskies

5. The Perception of Their Conference

Kevin Ollie UCONN Huskies — Despite the fact that the conference has the defending national champion in UConn in it, the national media still refuses to see the AAC as a top conference. The Louisville Cardinals were clearly one of the best teams in the country last year, yet they received a No. 4 seed in the tournament. This year, SMU, the best team in the conference, is slated to get a No. 6 seed, so once again this conference is not getting the respect it deserves.

4. Weak Strength of Schedule

Travis Ford Oklahoma St Cowboys

4. Weak Strength of Schedule

Travis Ford Oklahoma St Cowboys — When you only schedule three tough non-conference games and they come against the likes of the Oklahoma State Cowboys, Oklahoma Sooners and Wichita State Shockers, that’s a good start but it’s not enough to impress the committee. Wins over SE Oklahoma State, Incarnate Word and Abilene Christian and a loss to Oral Roberts will only get you one thing: a trip to the NIT.

3. No Signature Win

Auburn Tigers Basketball

3. No Signature Win

Auburn Tigers Basketball — When everyone on the team says that they really needed that quality win after defeating Memphis in overtime on the road, that tells you everything you need to know about their tournament resume. The fact that one of their best wins has come against an NIT bound Tigers team means that they still have some work to do. They need a signature win to improve their BPI rating of 78, a rating that will put most if not all teams on the bubble.

2. Margin of Defeat Against Quality Competition

James Woodard Tulsa Golden Hurricane

2. Margin of Defeat Against Quality Competition

James Woodard Tulsa Golden Hurricane — When they do play quality competition, they don’t just lose, they lose by a wide margin. Losses by 15, 22, 19 and 11 to Oklahoma State, Wichita State, Oklahoma and SMU at home show that even if they do make the tournament, chances of them being competitive are pretty low.

1. They Will Not Have a Championship Under Their Belt

Yanick Moreira SMU Mustangs

1. They Will Not Have a Championship Under Their Belt

Yanick Moreira SMU Mustangs — If Tulsa has any hope of getting into the tournament they will need to either win the regular season AAC championship or the AAC tournament to do so. And seeing as how they have to beat SMU in Dallas on senior night, a team they lost to by 11 at home, or ultimately beat UConn at home in the tournament, things are not looking too good for the Golden Hurricane.

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