By Tim Gardner
Despite having the credentials to qualify for the 2024 National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Men’s Basketball Tournament, Appalachian State was not one of the 68 teams picked by its selection committee Sunday to play in it.
And while the Mountaineers would have been a definite long, long shot to win the tournament and bring the national championship to Boone, they would have been generally considered a dark horse to advance far in the tournament. They possess the over-all talent, combined offensive and defensive power, and needed depth that would have given them a chance to make a good showing in the tournament.
Many teams in this 2023-2024 season, including those chosen to play in the tournament and others that were not selected to play in it, meet that or similar criteria as parity seems as prevalent as ever in major college basketball. There is not any team that has established that it is far and away the one to beat in the tournament. And there’s not any particularly dominant like many were in past eras when several schools such as traditional powers UCLA, Duke, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Louisville were often among the teams to beat each year in the NCAA Tournament. While some teams still are obviously better than others and have a better chance to win the national title, it would not be a major surprise if an underdog or upstart team captured it this year. And Appalachian State would definitely have been one of the underdog or upstart teams in it.
Although not making “The Big Dance,” the Mountaineers were chosen for the National Invitation Tournament (NIT), the consolation of the NCAA Tournament, still giving them a post-season berth. They will be considered to have a far better chance to claim the NIT Championship than an NCAA one.
First round play in the NIT is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, March 19 and 20, with the second round playing March 23 and 24. Quarterfinals will be held March 26 and 27 with four teams advancing to the Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana for the semifinals on Tuesday, April 2. The NIT will conclude with its championship game there on Thursday, April 4.
For the third-straight season, the NIT seeded only the top half of its 32-team field. The bottom 16 unseeded teams were placed into the bracket by the NIT Committee as close to their area of natural interest as possible.
As a result, Appalachian State will travel to Winston-Salem, North Carolina to play Atlantic Coast Conference foe, area rival, and top regional seed Wake Forest University at the Lawrence Joel Coliseum in the NIT’s opening round on Wednesday March 20. Tipoff is scheduled for 8:00 p.m.
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons have a 20-13 record.
Seton Hall, Indiana State, and Villanova join Wake Forest as the other 2024 NIT’s top seeds.
The winner of the Appalachian State-Wake Forest game would then play the winner of Tuesday’s Georgia-Xavier game in the NIT’s second round.
This Appalachian State team of fifth-year head coach Dustin Kerns is celebrating one of the best seasons in school history. The 2023-2024 Mountaineers have enjoyed a record-breaking campaign. Currently, Appalachian State has won a school-record 27 games and has only has six losses this season. The Mountaineers suffered just five regular season losses, marking their fewest number since the 1978-1979 season, when they compiled a 23-6 over-all record. They also won the Sun Belt Conference Regular Season Championship for the first-time ever as Kerns was named the league’s Coach of The Year. And it marked the first conference title Appalachian State won since that 1978-1979 season when the Mountaineers took the outright Southern Conference regular season crown with a 11-3 record and secured an NCAA Tournament bid while the legendary Bobby Cremins was their head coach.
Among their wins this season,16 came in Sun Belt regular season play, which is the school’s most conference wins ever in a single season. With a 16-2 record in regular season conference play, the Mountaineers also broke the program record for the best winning percentage in such ever–89 percent.
Their last game was a 66-67 upset loss to Arkansas State in the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament on March 10. Ironically, the Mountaineers defeated Arkansas State 80-57 in Boone in the regular season finale that clinched the school’s first outright regular season conference title in the 45 years (1978-1979). And when Appalachian State won that game, only James Madison had more wins of any major school in the entire country.
That victory also secured an undefeated 15-0 record at the Holmes Center, marking Appalachian State’s first unblemished season at home in the Division I era. It was also a program record for number of wins in the arena, which also included thrilling victories against Southeastern Conference Regular Season Runner-Up (in a four-way tie with Kentucky, South Carolina, and Alabama) and Tournament Champion Auburn, Sun Belt Conference Regular Season Runner-Up and Tournament Champion James Madison, and Mid-American Conference Regular Season Champion Toledo (in two overtimes).
Appalachian State also was the only Sun Belt Conference team unbeaten at home this season.
Additionally, it was Appalachian State’s first undefeated season at home in 58 years (1966-1967).
And the Mountaineers also set a regular season home attendance record this season (60,784).
Four Mountaineers garnered All-Sun Belt Conference honors in 2023-2024, the most for Appalachian State as a member of the league. Forwards Donovan Gregory (6-5, senior) and Tre’Von Spillers (6-7, junior) were named All-Sun Belt first team, marking the first time that Appalachian State has had two all-conference first-team selections since the 1999-2000 season.
Complete game-by-game results and team and individual player statistics of the 2023-2024 Appalachian State Men’s Basketball Season and related data can be found by clicking a computer mouse on the following link (courtesy of the Appalachian State University Athletics Department):
https://appstatesports.com/documents/2024/3/10/G33_Season_Stats.pdf
A complete 2024 NIT Schedule Bracket can also be accessed at this link: https://www.ncaa.com/_flysystem/public-s3/images/2024/03/17/2024-men’s-NIT-Bracket.png
-Some details used in this article provided courtesy of Appalachian State University Athletics Strategic Communications-
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