Q: What many teams from the CAA will make the WNIT?
A: Here's how it looks to us at this point.
Delaware will make the NCAA Tournament no matter what the Blue Hens do the rest of the season. If they win out we think they could be as high as a No. 2 seed, and barring a complete collapse it's hard to see where they would be anything lower than a No. 4 even if they don't win the CAA Tournament.
JMU and Hofstra should receive serious consideration for at-large NCAA bids, although our sense is that neither team is on particularly strong footing in this regard right now. The good news is that if either of these teams could beat Delaware in the CAA Tournament, they would change their outlook dramatically.
UNC Wilmington, VCU, and Towson all appear to be in excellent shape for WNIT bids. Teams must have at least a .500 record to accept a WNIT at-large bid, so Drexel (13-12) needs to be careful in its final regular-season games. Otherwise, the Dragons' overall resume appears to be comfortably inside the traditional WNIT cut-off.
George Mason (13-13) is the only other CAA team that will be considered for either of these tournaments. The Patriots' RPI, which was in the 190s at last check, is a lot higher than is characteristic of WNIT teams in the past. But the first order of business is to make sure that record doesn't dip below .500.
The CAA's other teams will have to play their way into the NCAAs by winning the CAA Tournament.
So at this stage, we'd expect the CAA to have seven teams playing in the postseason, with Mason having a shot to make it eight.
