For the third consecutive season, a controversial NCAA regulation prevented a university’s basketball team from reaching the ‘Big Dance.’
Just a few days ago, the Merrimack College men’s basketball team won the Northeast Conference tournament. Winning a Division I conference tournament usually guarantees the team a spot in March Madness.
However, the school from North Andover, Mass. will have to wait at least another season before they get that opportunity. And sports gamblers in Ma will have to wait longer to place some action on a local men’s basketball team.
The NCAA’ s ‘ transition rule’ strikes once more
The NCAA’s ‘transition rule’ strikes again.
Thanks to what the NCAA calls the ‘transition rule,’ the Warriors will have to watch the tournament on TV instead of participating in it.
The rule states that if a school makes the jump from Division II to Division I, the teams cannot play in a postseason tournament for the team’s first four years at the highest level of college athletes.
It’s not just the NCAA tournament. These teams aren’t even eligible to play in the NIT.
Merrimack accepted an invitation from NEC to join the conference and moved its athletic programs from Division II ranks after the 2018-2019 season to join the smaller Division I conference. Therefore, this is their final year transitioning to Division I. They will be eligible to participate in postseason play starting next year.
This year, Merrimack dominated the NEC. The Warriors went 12-4 in regular-season conference play and secured the top seed in the conference tournament. The season concluded with a 67-66 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson in the championship game.
However, thanks to the transition rule, this year’s March Chaos will not have a school right from Massachusetts.
Instead, it will be Fairleigh Dickinson representing the biggest dreams of the season. Not the team that earned the title.
Last year, Bellarmine achieved the ASUN tournament in their second season at the Division I level. In 2021, the same thing happened to the women’s team at California Baptist after winning the WAC tournament.
With terrible timing, control hurts Ma sports gamblers
Massachusetts wagering launched the same year that Merrimack should’ve earned a spot in the tournament. The brick-and-mortar industry launched with the Bay State’s three casinos in late January. However, the state introduced online wagering on Friday.
Most of the time, it wouldn’t matter. Massachusetts has an in-state collegiate sports betting ban. Anyone wagering with a sportsbook licensed by the Ma Gaming Pay Commission can’t wager on a Massachusetts college. MA retail sportsbooks have already been fined for violating this rule.
That is, unless the team plays in a tournament with four or more teams. The 68-team NCAA Tournament field would easily surpass that benchmark, and March Chaos betting betting could’ve been a chance to have some local action.
Schools like Merrimack are often filled with local students. Those local students become local alumni. And it could’ve been a bit of fun for alumni still in the state to place a small bet on their alma mater.
Furthermore, Merrimack would’ve been the only school from the state in the mix. The University of Massachusetts at Lowell lost to Vermont on Saturday for the America East conference tournament title and a second NCAA Tournament automatic bid.
Now, Massachusetts won’t have a single team in the men’s tournament. And no one who went to school in Massachusetts will have the opportunity to bet on a hometown team.
Not any local measures coming of men’ ring March Chaos tournament
To be clear, I’m more sympathetic to the student-athletes who won’t get to fulfill what was likely a lifelong dream. However, Merrimack’s total enrollment this year was 4,121. I went to a small Division I school with a similar-sized student body.
When your athletic programs reach a national tournament, it’s exciting.
If Marist College pulls off a few more upsets and wins the MAAC tournament, I’ll probably place a couple of bets on the game. And I’m sure some Merrimack alumni would’ve loved to do the same.
Charlie stays up-to-date on all things relevant to the national gaming community. He is also a veteran in the gambling industry. The native New Yorker began covering high-stakes tournaments in 2009 for several of poker’s biggest media outlets before expanding his beat to the broader U.S. gaming industry in 2018.
