By Skip Coopersmith

Raiders Earn No. 14 Seed, Face Baylor on Friday in Memphis

HAMILTON – The NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Committee released its 68-team tournament bracket and pits No. 14 Colgate versus No. 3 Baylor in the West Region on Friday in Memphis, Tenn. Tip-time from FedExForum is set for 12:40 p.m. ET on truTV. 

Colgate is making its fifth consecutive and seventh overall NCAA tournament appearance. The Raiders are coming off their fourth straight Patriot League championship and fifth in six years after defeating Lehigh 74-55 in the title game last Wednesday at Cotterell Court. 

This is the third time Colgate has been a No. 14 seed in the NCAA tournament (2020-21, 2021-22). The Raiders have also been a No. 15 seed twice (2018-19, 2022-23) and No. 16 seed twice (1994-95, 1995-96).

Five-time Patriot League Coach of the Year Matt Langel in his 13th season has guided Colgate to a 25-9 overall record, one win shy of last year’s program-record 26-win team. The Raiders secured their fifth consecutive regular season title with a 16-2 league record. 

Colgate boasts one of the top defensive teams in the country, ranking 11th in scoring defense (63.2), 13th in three-point field goal defense (29.8), 24th in defensive rebounds per game (27.8), and 29th in field goal percentage defense (40.8). The Raiders also rank among the national leaders in field goal percentage, assists, assists per game, and fouls per game. 

Sophomore guard Braeden Smith, the Patriot League Player of the Year, ranks inside the top 25 nationally in assists (196) and assists per game (5.8). He averages 12.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.8 assists, and 1.9 steals per game. He was named PL Tournament MVP after averaging 16.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and 1.7 steals per game in three postseason victories. 

COACH LANGEL’S COMMENTS

“Tremendous athleticism on Baylor’s team. They play fast and can get after it defensively. So much respect for Coach Drew and the program he’s built there. This is a great opportunity for us as we prepare for Friday’s game. These games are really hard when you’re a No. 14 seed, you’re playing against one of the best teams in the country. We’ll do everything we can to be as prepared as we can for Friday. There will be a lot of energy and excitement this week. 

“We’ve already started the work to be the best version of ourselves by the end of the week. When we step between the lines on the court, we need to be focused, determined, and prepared. Our messaging and our process does not change. We are enjoying every second of this opportunity but we’re also working as hard as we possibly can.”

COURTESY COLGATE ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

The Bears are the only team in the nation to be a top-3 seed in four-straight tournaments

BAYLOR GAME NOTES

https://baylorbears.com/documents/2024/3/20/BU_MBB_Game_Notes_34_COLGATE_23-24.pdf

COLGATE GAME NOTES

https://baylorbears.com/documents/2024/3/20/Game_35_vs_Baylor__NCAA_Tournament_.pdf

Story lines

• No. 3 seed Baylor takes on No. 14 seed Colgate in an 11:40 a.m. tilt on TruTV in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

• The Bears are the only team in the country to be a No. 3 seed or higher in each of the last four NCAA Tournaments.

• The No. 9 overall seed this season, BU is the only school in the country to be a top-10 overall seed in each of the last four NCAA Tournaments. No other school has been better than a 14 in that span.

• The Bears enter the tournament as one of four teams to win at least one NCAA Tournament game in each of the last four tournaments (Gonzaga, Houston, Kansas).

• BU is appearing in the NCAA Tournament for the ninth time in the last 10 tournaments.

• Baylor is 1 of 9 teams to appear in nine of the last 10 tournaments, joining Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan State, North Carolina, Purdue, and Virginia.

• The Bears are 22-16 in 14 NCAA Championship appearances and 19-10 under Scott Drew.

• Baylor is 43-27 in postseason tournaments (conference, national) over the last 16 seasons.

• BU is 8-4 in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament including five-straight first-round wins.

• BU is 9-7 all-time when playing as a No. 3 seed.

• The Bears are ninth in the nation in 3-point FG% (38.8), rank sixth in nation in offensive efficiency (122.5) and second among Big 12 in points per game (80.5).

• Baylor finished the season with the No. 1 strength of schedule and faced the best defenses in the nation according to KenPom.

• Baylor is the only Big 12 team to win 11+ conference games in each of the last five seasons.

• BU is 12-5 in its last 17 games against AP top-10 teams.

• BU is 1 of 4 programs ranked No. 1 nationally in four of the last eight seasons (Gonzaga, Duke and Kansas).

• BU is 127-34 over the last five seasons, the nation’s best winning percentage among Power-6 teams in that span (.789%).

• The Bears are the only team in the nation with six active players averaging double-digit points.

• Baylor has now been ranked in the top-10 for a fifth-straight year, one of just five programs (Duke, Kentucky, Kansas and Gonzaga) to accomplish that feat.

• Baylor had five players garner All-Big 12 honors this past week (tied for second-most in the league), headlined by Big 12 Freshman of the Year Ja’Kobe Walter.

• Walter gave BU The preseason and postseason Freshman of the Year for the second-straight season (Keyonte George), joining Oklahoma State as the only Big 12 school to accomplish that in back-to-back seasons.

• RayJ Dennis continued his strong season for the Bears with a All-Big 12 Second Team selection by the coaches and media, while also being a unanimous All-Newcomer team selection.

• Dennis is etching his name in the Baylor history books climbing to third on Baylor’s single-season assist chart. His 225 assists are 30 shy of the second-best season in program history (Pierre Jackson 255, 2012-13.)

• Thirteen of Baylor’s 14 starting point guards under Drew have earned All-Big recognition (17 of last 18 seasons).

• Dennis’ 6.8 assists per game would rank as the fifth-best single-season average in program history.

• Jalen Bridges was voted to the All-Big 12 Third Team, his second All-Big 12 selection after he made the 2020-21 Big 12 All-Freshman Team while at West Virginia.

• In the absence of guard Langston Love, Bridges and Jayden Nunn have helped shoulder the scoring load averaging 14.4 and 12.1 points, respectively.

• Yves Missi was voted to the Big 12 All-Freshman and All-Defensive Teams, in addition to being an All-Big 12 Honorable mention, alongside with Love.

COURTESY BAYLOR ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS