Towson Tigers - SECU Arena

What a year for the gritty little program off York Road. Or what I like to call Stanford East.

First it was the Towson Mens Baseball team that was on the verge of going extinct last March to winning the CAA tournament as the #4 seed and earned it first NCAA Regional Tournament berth since 1991. But not only did they earn the berth, but beat Florida Atlantic in the opener before eventually losing to North Carolina in the Regional Finals with a trip to Omaha on the line.

Next up was the amazing run the football program gave the area this past fall/winter as they made it to the program’s first FCS Championship game under the guidance of friend of BSR Podcast, head coach Rob Ambrose.

And although they lost to the eventual  3-Time FCS Champion North Dakota State, Ambrose and future NFL RB Terrance West made Towson alums everywhere pull out their old, misfitting Towson State T-Shirts once again with pride.

And now its the red-hot basketball program’s turn to make a magical run. And what a better time to be Cinderella in yoga pants and Ugg boots but in March on the the Towson Campus?

That’s because head basketball Coach Pat Skerry has his squad 21-9 overall (12-3 in CAA) and on the verge of an NCAA March Madness automatic bid. With a winnable game this Saturday at home over a mediocre William & Mary team (who they just smashed by 15 down there 2 weeks ago) and a loss by Delaware would give the Tigers the #1 seed overall in the upcoming CAA Conference Tournament being held at the “glorious” Baltimore Arena (March 7th-10th). You can get your tickets here.

And not to go all Bracketology on your ass, but here’s how I think the Tigers chances are if they somehow don’t win the CAA Tournament (which gives an automatic Madness bid).

At print time, their all important RPI (don’t ask) stands at 105, which isn’t good. The main reason for this is the Tigers haven’t exactly beat anyone of significance except conference rival Delaware (whose RPI is 74). Add in their 256 ranked strength of schedule and you can see why this Tiger koolaid server thinks they need to hoist that CAA trophy to get a dance card invite.

Coach Skerry did his best to schedule the likes of Kansas, Villanova and North Dakota St (yeah them again), but the Tigers were no match for those top 50 RPI teams at the time.

A lot has changed since those match ups as the Tigers have won 14 of their last 17  and have rattled off their last 5 in a row (soon to be 6 after Saturday).

The at large selecting committee does take into account how you are playing late in the season and with All Conference forward Jerrelle Benimon (18.9 PPG, 11.6 RPG, 3.7 APG) leading the way, the Tigers are playing better than anyone in the conference. Benimon (Georgetown transfer) is even on some short lists for the Wooden Player of the Year ballots as he has been the best player in the CAA all season and has had many pro scouts in attendance at the new SECU Arena.

Towson Tigers - Katy Perry

So with all the local hoops squads (Maryland, Coppin, Morgan, Georgetown) to name a few having less of a chance than me of dating newly single Katy Perry at making the big dance, climb abroad the USS Tiger. It’s been quite a ride so far with more to come….?