The Billikens have had a rough go of the 2023-2024 season. After going 5-8 during the first half of their season, they have gone 6-8 in conference play. At the time of writing, they rest in the exact middle of the A-10 standings, eighth out of fifteen. With four games left to play, the Bills can at best finish 15-16 on the year with a 10-8 conference record. A losing record reduces their chances of an at-large National Tournament bid to zero, but the season is not yet lost.
Three of SLU’s remaining opponents have worse conference records than the Bills, the outlier being 8-6 Davidson. The Wildcats will be playing the Billikens at Chaifetz Arena on Saturday, March 2. The first opponent in this last leg of the season is Fordham, who boast a 5-9 A-10 record but are currently on a three-game winning streak. After facing the Rams in New York, the Bills will host the St. Bonaventure Bonnies. The Bonnies have one win against A-10 competition and have since lost thirteen games in a row. For their final regular season away game, the Billikens will be in Philadelphia, against the 4-10 La Salle Explorers. The Explorers are only 3-9 in games played in Philadelphia.
Supposing SLU wins even three of these matchups, and all other A-10 matchups for the season play out without any upsets, the standings will have SLU at ninth, just behind Loyola Chicago. Ninth is by no means the worst position in the seedings, considering the conference tournament includes all fifteen programs. The Bills would receive a first-round bye but so would their opponent. Even if SLU wins all four of their next games, there would be a low chance of earning the seventh seed and therefore benefiting from the first-round bye. They would need Rhode Island to lose two of their last three games, which include matchups against conference toppers Saint Joseph’s in Philadelphia and four-seeded Virginia Commonwealth four days later.
Alternatively, SLU could rise to the seventh seed if Davidson loses at least three of its last four matches. Davidson’s schedule concludes with games against Dayton, Fordham, George Washington and SLU. None of those teams wave winning records against conference opponents. SLU’s best-case scenario involves both of these happening, which would place SLU at the sixth seed in the tournament. The sixth seed receives a first round bye and then plays the winner of the preceding day’s 11 vs 14 matchup. The extra day of rest against an opponent who played the day before is a massive advantage and is why gaining the sixth or even seventh seed would be huge for the Bills.
Last year, the Bills excelled come tournament time, taking home the championship in an overtime match against Massachusetts. Coach Rebecca Tillett proved her doubters wrong and became the second coach in NCAA Division 1 history to win conference championships in back-to-back years in separate conferences, after Lisa Bluder’s efforts with Drake and Iowa in 2000 and 2001. Tillett coached SLU to their first ever A-10 women’s basketball championship, and over the next two weeks will do everything she can to put her team in the best position possible to win their second.
