Drexel could give NCAA tourney selectors big headaches

If Drexel, now tied for first place in the Colonial Athletic Association, keeps winning basketball games but doesn't win the conference tournament, the NCAA selection committee will have a big job on its hands.

The gap between Drexel's schedule on paper and its ability on the court could be the widest in college basketball.

Ultimately, the committee will have to choose between the schedule and the team itself - and that could be bad news for the Dragons.

No doubt, Drexel's Bracket Buster game at Cleveland State on Saturday is a must-not-lose. (Don't call it a must-win. A win may not do that much for the Dragons.) For weeks, every Drexel game has been a potential Bracket Buster. That's true even if the Dragons run the table through the CAA semis, have a gaudy 27-5 record, a 19-game winning streak, and only one loss in 23 games since Dec. 3.

Anyone who saw Drexel in November or December and has seen the Dragons lately realizes they are a markedly better team now. But the improvement came quickly, not shocking given that Drexel's two top scorers are a sophomore and a freshman. The Dragons are (correctly) ranked No. 2 in the city in this week's Inquirer staff rankings and also by a fan vote.

What about barely getting by struggling William and Mary Tuesday at home? Even that shouldn't be a negative given the stakes. Drexel was behind by a point with four minutes left.

"You're dead, stick a fork in you," Drexel coach Bruiser Flint said of at-large hopes had the Dragons lost that gut-check. "I get it."

Drexel's schedule will not be ignored in the selection-committee room. In retrospect, Flint should have made some deal with the devil to get another big boy or two on the schedule. Drexel has only played two games against teams in the top 50 of the RPI computer rankings, and lost both, to Virginia and at St. Joseph's, both in November.

Flint talked this week about the games he tried to line up with schools such as St. Bonaventure and Akron, which almost but didn't happen, as well as the phone calls that didn't get returned, and the home-and-homes that have been dropped in recent years.

"Once we beat a team twice, they never play us again," Flint said.

And trying to get home games is torture, Flint said, talking about making calls to coaches from schools in BCS leagues, including friends. What about a home-and-home?

"They're like, 'We'll play you at the Palestra,' " Flint said. "I said, 'That's not our home court.' "