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The Breakfast Buffet — March Madness Edition

Who’s hungry for college basketball?

Here’s today’s installment of “The Breakfast Buffet”, a daily column that can be found here every single morning getting you caught up to date on everything that’s happened from the day/night before and everything that’s going to happen in the next 24 hours.

Mangia!

Things To Sample

Armando Bacot is dominating the NCAA Tournament
Bacot made headlines with his 20-point, 22-rebound effort in Sunday’s Elite Eight win over St. Peter’s, but the totality of his work in the NCAA Tournament has been equally as impressive. The 6-10 big man is averaging 16.5 points and 15.8 rebounds in four NCAA Tournament games while shooting a blistering 50 percent from the field. It’s still hard to believe that Wake Forest’s Alondes Williams — who had a terrific season — beat out Bacot for ACC Player of the Year.

Hubert Davis has been to the Final Four in different roles
North Carolina’s first-year head coach is entering his first trip to college basketball’s most fabled showcase in his current position, but it’s not his first Final Four experience. Davis was a key player on the 1991 North Carolina team that reached the Final Four under Dean Smith and also went to the Final Four as an assistant under Roy Williams in 2016 and 2017.

Only a small amount of freshmen will likely have a major role in the Final Four
The four teams who advanced to the Final Four — Duke, North Carolina, Villanova, and Kansas — had 25 players log double figure minutes in the Elite Eight. Only three of them — Paolo Banchero, Trevor Keels, and A.J. Griffin — were freshmen and all of them came from Duke. College basketball is getting older and the lack of representation by freshmen during the upcoming Final Four reiterates just that.

The Atlantic 10 has improved its caliber of head coaches
This was lost in the shuffle a bit last week, but it’s a storyline that’s worth visiting. Rhode Island’s hiring of Archie Miller and UMass’ hiring of Frank Martin adds massive cache to a conference that’s in desperate need of an image makeover. Miller led Dayton to the Elite Eight in 2014 and was also the head coach of Indiana while Martin led South Carolina to the Final Four in 2017 and Kansas State to the Elite Eight in 2010. The Atlantic 10 needs coaches and figures that are going to raise the bar —- it has two in Miller and Martin. Remember: This league would have only had one team in this year’s NCAA Tournament if Davidson beat Richmond in the finals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament.

The Postseason NIT could serve as a springboard for certain teams in 22-23
Anything can happen in today’s day and age of immediate eligibility, but three of the four teams — Xavier, Washington State, and Texas A&M — who will play in tonight’s Postseason NIT doubleheader at Madison Square Garden should all have the majority of their personnel back next season. Don’t be shocked if all three of these teams wind up in the 2023 NCAA Tournament. It’s never too early to start thinking about next year!

Leftovers