March Madness is fully wrapped up and there is a New England champion crowned in Connecticut. It was a fun month full of games for many fans of basketball and Massachusetts sports betting to enjoy.
However, there were some fanbases sitting on their couches longing for meaningful games in March. Two of those reside in the state of Massachusetts: Boston College and the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.
Utilizing CollegeBasketballReference.com, BetMassachusetts.com created a point system to determine the saddest college basketball programs in March since 2010. The point system awarded 1 point per NCAA Tournament appearance and 1 point for each round made (i.e. 7 points for winning Championship to 0 points for First Four).
For research purposes, we used the pool of NCAA men’s teams from Power 5 conferences as well as the American Athletic, Big East, Atlantic 10 and Mountain West.
You won’t find this on Massachusetts betting apps, so enjoy, or be sad, at the results.
Here are how both schools panned out:
Teams Experiencing March Sadness
Rough Times at BC
Tied with eight schools, Boston College tops the list with zero points.
Coming off a 16-17 overall and 9-11 Atlantic Coast Conference record last year, third-year head coach Earl Grant is establishing a winning culture and a new attitude in Chestnut Hill. So much so that the school's administration signed Grant to a two-year contract extension through the 2028-29 season in mid-March.
Boston College won four of its last six games, but dropped two of its last three, including an 85-61 season-ending loss to North Carolina in the second round of the ACC Tournament. The Eagles are looking for their first NCAA appearance since 2009. They last made an NIT appearance in 2018.
The Eagles, a Big East member before bolting to the ACC in 2005, are 22-19 in 18 NCAA Tournament appearances.
Been a Long Time Since UMass Glory Days
The University of Massachusetts tied with Central Florida and George Washington for third on the chart with two points.
Just two hours west (88 miles) of Boston College, the Minutemen are looking to reestablish the winning ways set forth by former head coach John Calipari (1988-96). Cal had the school in five consecutive NCAA Tournaments, including an Elite Eight and Final Four appearance in his last two years in Amherst.
Calipari's first year at UMass was 1988-89 and resulted in a record of 10-18.
Fast forward to last season. First-year head coach Frank Martin, formerly of South Carolina, took over the reins and immediately started building.
Martin's first year at UMass: 15-16, 6-12 Atlantic 10. The Minutemen dropped three of their last four games, including a 71-38 setback as a 13th seed to 12th-seeded Richmond in the first round of the Atlantic 10 tournament.
Having already built the South Carolina program that went to its first Final Four in 2017, Martin is establishing and re-energizing a winning mentality in Amherst. The fanbase, along with the administration, are all in.
UMass is looking for its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2014 and last made the NIT in 2013. In nine NCAA appearances, the Minutemen are 11-9.
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