Basketball was invented in Massachusetts. The Celtics are both the most successful franchise in NBA history and the league’s defending champions. A.J. Dybantsa, the No. 1 boys high school prospect in the nation, grew up in Brockton.
Basketball is thriving in Massachusetts — except in college.
More than likely, when the NCAA Men’s Tournament bracket is unveiled on Sunday night, there won’t be a Massachusetts team among those getting bids for the sixth straight year. No team from the state has reached the field of 68 since Northeastern in 2019. No team has won a game since Harvard beat Cincinnati in 2014.
There won’t be any suspense. None of the state’s nine programs were close to good enough for an at-large bid. Only Merrimack, which is still alive in the semifinals of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Association Tournament, has a chance to end the Commonwealth’s drought. Merrimack plays Mount St. Mary’s in the MAAC Seminfinals on Friday at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. The final is on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
In all, Massachusetts teams are a combined 132-150 in 2024-25.
Unsuccessful coaching hires, ill-advised conference moves, bad luck and the lack of commitment from their administrations and diminishing interest among casual fans have all contributed to the woes across the state.
Boston College was an NCAA Tournament regular under Jim O’Brien and then Al Skinner. But for the upper administration, that wasn’t enough. BC last reached the NCAA Tournament in 2009 and fired Skinner after the Eagles went 15-16 a year later. They haven’t back since under three different coaching staffs. This year, BC didn’t even reach the ACC Tournamament finishing 17th out of 18.
The Eagles have always been miscast in the ACC, after leaving the Big East in 2005. They don’t have nearly the commitment from their administration or fan base that many of their conference rivals enjoy.
As the gap continues to widen between the haves and have-nots in the power conferences, the hill to climb gets higher for BC, who is far behind Clemson, Florida. State and North Carolina.
UMass hasn’t reached the field since 2014 when they lost in the first round. Not including the COVID season in 2020-21, the Minutemen have had just one winning season since Derek Kellogg was fired.
It’ll get even tougher for the Minutemen going forward. They’re leaving the Atlantic 10, the seventh-best league in the NET rating (which is used to fill and seed the field) for the Mid American Conference, the 23rd best league, beginning next year in a desperate attempt to find any modicum of football success.
The move will make scheduling good non-conference games, especially at home, difficult and getting an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament almost impossible.
The A-10 has earned multiple NCAA bids 37 times, including 19 of the last 20 years. The MAC hasn’t had an at-leage bid since 1999.
Harvard, which had been the best of the Ivy for a four-year stretch from 2011-15, never regained its status after the league shut down for two years during COVID.
Holy Cross was the surprise winner of the Patriot League title in 2016 despite going 15-20. They haven’t actually had a winning season since 2014 and finished last in the league this season.
Boston University hasn’t faced much better. Terriers have never reached the NCAA Tournament since joining the Patriot League in 2013.
Northeastern has been to the NCAA Tournament twice (2015, 2019) since joining the CAA (after leaving America East), but needed a 17-15 mark this year to end a streak of threes seasons with 20 or more losses.
UMass-Lowell, Merrimack and Stonehill, who are all relatively new members of Division I, have never made it to the NCAA tournament.
So far, so good
Lost in all the Bruins selling seems to be a pretty good buy. Boston got Henri Jokiharju, who played for Finland in the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off, for just a 2026 fourth-round pick.
RIP to a sports writing legend
Top-notch author
John Feinstein authored 44 books throughout his career, including "A Season on the Brink,'' which chronicled Indiana University's men's basketball team and fiery coach Bob Knight during the 1985-86 season. (AP/Caleb Jones)AP/Caleb Jones
I was saddened to hear of the unexpected death of John Feinstein on Thursday. As a college basketball reporter early in my career, I read just about every word he wrote for the early internet version of the Washington Post as well as several of his books. “A Civil War” his book about the Army-Navy football rivalry, sparked my fascination with the annual game.
You didn’t have to care about the sports he was writing about to appreciate his ability to capture the story of the people playing them.
The year of Maine basketball?
There are only two states that have never had a team in the Division I NCAA men’s basketball tournament. The first is Alaska, which has no Division I teams. The other is Maine. The Black Bears are the only team in the state and they’ve never made the field.
That can change on Saturday morning if the No. 3-seeded Black Bears upset No. 1 Bryant in the America East Tournament.
Cooper Flagg
Duke's Cooper Flagg (2) reacts after hitting a three-pointer during an NCAA college basketball game against Stanford in Durham, N.C., Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025.AP Photo/Ben McKeown
It’s possible if they get there, they could face Duke, which is led by Cooper Flagg, the consensus No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft and a Mainer.
Flagg, who injured his ankle on Thursday, will miss the rest of the ACC Tournament, but Duke, not to mention CBS, is hoping he’ll be back for the NCAA Tournament.
Real Jeopardy! Clue
Sports clues from actual editions of America’s favorite quiz show. As always, mind the date:
CATEGORY: Islands $600 - May 17, 1990:
“Between 1921-51 the Cubs held spring training on this island owned by Wrigley near L.A.″
— Answer below
Fake Tough
There are actual tough guys and fake hardos who try to portray themselves as tough. There are a lot of college football coaches who fall into Column B.
West Virginia’s Rich Rodriguez is among the faux tough and proved it by banning his players from dancing on TikTok, as if that’s something a coach should care about.
Rodriguez, a coach who managed to go 15-22 in three seasons at Michigan had this to say in the Athletic:
“We try to have a hard edge, whatever. And you’re in there in your tights, dancing on TikTok. It ain’t quite the image of our program I want.”
Was Richard Dent not tough enough? Gary Fencik? Dancing the Super Bowl Shuffle didn’t seem to hurt the 1985 Bears' ability to play with a hard edge.
What did mom say?
From Bleacher Reports Open Ice, not only did Utica Comets general manager Dan MacKinnon trade his son Will MacKinnon to the Cleveland Monsters, but he traded him for future considerations.
He sent his son packing (to Cleveland of all places) for nothing in return. That’s rough.
The Top 5
Top 5 Irish Beers (available locally)
5 - Harp
4 - Sullivan’s
3 - Murphy’s
2 - Smithwicks
1 - Guinness - Duh.
Public service announcement: Green beer is not Irish.
Real Jeopardy! Question:
What is Catalina Island?
Headline Crystal Ball:
Monday:
This is a fake headline
This is not a real headline. At least not yet.Matt Vautour
This would work on just about any day, but I’ll go with Monday.
Last week: Ronnie Stanley re-signs with Ravens. BOOM— A+.
Finally...
If you need me, I’ll be quietly mourning the loss of Yahoo’s College Football Enquirer podcast.