Conventional wisdom a week or so ago had it that if Old Dominion did not beat Rice and win the Conference USA women's basketball regular season title, the Monarchs likely would have to win this week's C-USA tournament in Frisco, Texas in order to make the NCAA tournament.
But Charlie Crème, ESPN's premiere women's basketball bracketologist, thinks ODU has a great shot even though the Monarchs fell at Rice Saturday in a nail-biting, 73-70 loss not decided until the final seconds.
Creme has three C-USA teams in the field of 64, including ODU as an at-large pick.