March Madness 2013: Bucknell Bison are in the NCAA Tournament

We’ll be doing NCAA Tournament profiles for all automatic bid conference winners leading into the NCAA Tournament. See below for previous team profiles.

Conference/Record: Patriot League (28-5)

Location: Lewisburg, PA

Famous Alums/Attendees: Sunil Gulati, President of US Soccer, Jay Wright, Men’s Basketball Coach at Villanova, and MLB Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson.

Social Media: The official twitter account for Bucknell Men’s Basketball is @BisonSports.

Random Fun Fact: Bucknell’s football team shares their stadium with the local high school, and they won the very first Orange Bowl, defeating Miami 26-0 in 1935.

Tournament History/Most Recent: The Bison, and the Patriot League,  have had some recent successes in the NCAA Tournament. Bucknell upset #3 Kansas in 2005, and followed that up with a win over #8 Arkansas the next year. However, they lost 81-52 as to #3 Connecticut in 2011. The Patriot League’s champ last year, Lehigh, beat Duke in the 15-2 game.

Good Wins/Bad Losses: Bucknell has two solid road wins (@Purdue, @New Mexico St) and also has wins over La Salle and Kent St to their name. They lost by 2 to Missouri (25% CWP), but their bad losses include a home loss to Lehigh and road losses to Penn State and Lafayette.

Notable Player(s): This Bison are lead by two-time Patriot League Player of the Year Mike Muscala. Muscala is remarkably consistent, scoring double figures in every game but one, and recording 23 double-doubles. He isn’t much of an outside threat (only attempt 15 3’s all year), but he manages to draw nearly 7 fouls per game, and is an 82% free throw shooter for his career.

All-Important Rankings: 52 (RPI), 61 (Pomeroy), 51 (Seven Overtimes)

Outlook/Seed: Bucknell, like many of other low-majors to already secure bids, is a dangerous team with an experienced roster. They’ve played well enough to earn a bid that will give them a good chance to win another game in the tournament. Look for them to be slotted as #12 or #13 seed, and give their opponent – no matter who it is – tons of trouble.

Previous Team Profiles:

James Madison
Florida Gulf Coast
Harvard
Liberty
Creighton
Belmont