Pizza Parlor Madness: Bucknell

Nickname: Bison
Colors: Orange and Blue
Location: Lewisburg, PA
Enrollment: 3,400
Conference: Patriot League
Distinguished Alumni: Villanova Coach Jay Wright, CEO of CBS Television, Pat Moonves, and Bertucci’s Corporation Controller and my boss Dan Shea

Head Coach: Pat Flannery
Record (Conference Record): 26-4 (14-0)
Advanced by: Beat Holy Cross 74-59 to win Patriot League Tournament
RPI: 44
SOS: 192
Best Performance: Beat Syracuse 74-69 (Road)
Best Player: G Kevin Bettencourt
No. of Seniors: 4
NCAA Tournament Appearances (in four years): 3 (2)
Likely Seed: 9

After upsetting No. 2 overall RPI Kansas in the first round of last year’s tournament, the Bison are a trendy pick to win their first round game again. The Bison played high profile teams Syracuse, Villanova, Duke, and St. Joseph’s but the dismal Patriot League dropped their Strength of Schedule to 192. I like them to make a deeper run as a 11 or 12 seed than a 8 or 9 where they are more likely to face a 1 seed sooner but there’s no reason why the Bison can’t duplicate their 2005 performance.