The first ticket to the 2017 NCAA Tournament has been punched

By Aaron Torres
Published

We have our first automatic qualifier for this year's NCAA Tournament. And in true March form, it's a bit of a Cinderella story.

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Welcome to the Big Dance, Jacksonville State. The Gamecocks beat UT-Martin, 66-55, in the Ohio Valley Conference championship game Saturday night to clinch their first-ever NCAA Tournament bid. They also became the first team to qualify for the 2017 Big Dance.

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It was a balanced effort across the board, with three players scoring in double figures in the title game win. Senior Erik Durham led the way with 17 points, while Greg Tucker added 14.

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The win cemented the tournament berth for Jacksonville State and gives us our first true underdog story this March. The Gamecocks — led by first-year coach Ray Harper — finished tied for third in the OVC East standings during the regular season, and actually haven't even qualified for the conference tournament the last four years, finishing outside the top eight in the standings. This year they had to beat top seed Belmont in the semifinals just to get to the title game, where they upset the No. 2 seed UT-Martin to win it all.

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But while this is Jacksonville State's first tourney berth, don't sleep on the Gamecocks as a legitimate threat to put fear into a higher seed. Harper himself is a decorated coach who has won four national championships at both the DII and NAIA level. In his previous stop at Western Kentucky he led the Hilltoppers to NCAA Tournament berths in 2012 and 2013, and nearly pulled off an upset over top-seed Kansas back in 2013.

In addition to Jacksonville State, three other NCAA Tournament bids will be handed out this weekend: The Big South (Campbell vs. Winthrop), Missouri Valley (Wichita State vs. Illinois State), Atlantic Sun (Florida Gulf Coast vs. North Florida) will all crown winners on Sunday.