ESPN's Joe Lunardi released his updated forecast for the 2017 NCAA tournament on Thursday, and he likes the Dayton Flyers. Lunardi predicted they'll receive a No. 7 seed, which is what they got last season, and will play No. 10 Oklahoma in Buffalo. That would be a familiar opponent and location. Dayton played Oklahoma in the second round in 2015 and played in Buffalo in 2014 on the way to the Elite Eight.
RELATED: Explore UD’s NCAA tournament history
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Of course, these predictions, even when they come days before Selection Sunday, are nothing more than fun exercises. So many things will happen between Friday, when Dayton plays an exhibition game against Findlay, and March, when it’ll head to Pittsburgh for the Atlantic 10 tournament, it’s impossible to know where UD will end up in the tournament or whether it’ll get there at all.
However, the fact that Dayton is once again being looked at as a favorite to play in the big dance is news because the program has never played in the tournament four seasons in a row. That’s the goal of this year’s team. Here are a few facts to put that in perspective.
1. Last time: Prior to last season, Dayton had played in three straight NCAA tournaments once (1965-67). Only 23 teams played in the 1968 NCAA tournament.
Dayton was 17-9 in 1967-68 and finished the season with 10 straight victories but didn’t play in the NCAA tournament. It did win the NIT that season.
2. Conference history: Virginia Commonwealth owns the longest current streak of NCAA tournament appearances in the Atlantic 10. It has played in six straight. It has been a member of the A-10 for the last four of those seasons after moving from the Colonial Athletic Association.
Massachusetts owns the A-10’s longest streak of tournament appearances: seven in a row from 1992-1998.
Saint Louis appeared in three straight tournaments from 2012-14. Rhode Island played in three in a row from 1997-99. La Salle played in three straight from 1988-90. Davidson played in three straight from 2006-2008 as members of the Southern Conference.
3. State streaks: Like Dayton, Xavier has played in the last three tournaments. Its streak of seven straight appearances ended in 2013.
Cincinnati has played in six straight tournaments since missing five in a row. Ohio State’s streak of seven straight appearances ended last season.
4. Most appearances: No Dayton player has appeared in more NCAA tournament games than Gene Klaus, who played in all 11 games during UD's run of three straight tournament appearances from 1965-67.
Klaus, a 6-foot guard from Delphos, Ohio, was a sophomore in 1964-65 and played in all three games that season against Ohio University, Michigan and DePaul. He played in three more games in the 1966 tournament against Miami, Kentucky and Western Kentucky. In 1967, when Dayton made its run to the national championship game, he played in five more against Western Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia Tech, North Carolina and UCLA.
Freshman couldn’t play in those years, so Dayton’s current seniors have an advantage. Scoochie Smith, Kendall Pollard and Kyle Davis have each appeared in eight games the last three seasons. The Flyers are 5-3 in those games. It would take another Elite Eight run for those three to pass Klaus.
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