The Providence Friars are in the NCAA Tournament for the third straight season and 18th time overall in school history. Ed Cooley has accomplished this streak for the first time since Dave Gavitt took Providence teams with Ernie DiGregorio and Marvin Barnes to three straight Big Dances between 1972-74. This is the third streak of three consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament with the first being 1964-66. Those previous runs included trips to Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight and Final Four. The current streak has yet to yield a single win.
Week 19 of the college basketball polls — the final poll until after the NCAA Tournament concludes — have been released and Providence remains outside the Top 25, but receiving votes in both polls. Providence went 1-1 last week in the Big East Tournament with a win over Butler in the quarterfinals on Thursday and a loss to top-seeded Villanova on Friday in the semifinals. The Friars enter the NCAA Tournament at 23-10 as a 9 seed in the East Region. They play 8 seed USC on Thursday night in Raleigh. The Friars moved from t-31st last week in the AP Poll to 36th and from 27th to 28th in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll this week.
Providence is in the NCAA Tournament for the third straight season. They are a 9 seed in the East Region and will face 8th seeded USC in Raleigh on March 17th at 9:50pm ET. The Friars are 18-14 ATS this season and the Trojans are 18-15 ATS this season. Providence opened as a 1.5 point favorite against USC.
Providence is making their 3rd straight trip to the NCAA Tournament and Ed Cooley’s bunch will be in the 8/9 game as the 9th seed against 8th-seeded Southern California. This is part of the East Region and the game will be in Raleigh. Much more on this to come.
Ben Bentil was named a finalist for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award on Friday. He joins teammate Kris Dunn who is a finalist for another positional award presented by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame — the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award. Frank Kaminsky won the inaugural Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award. The other finalists are Domantas Sabonis (Gonzaga), A.J. Hammons (Purdue), Jakob Poeltl (Utah) and Joel Bolomboy (Weber State).
pcbb1917.com - Providence College Basketball 