TAAC Title Spells NCAA Berth for 11-18 Florida International

Sometimes it doesn’t matter how many games a team wins, but which ones it wins.

That was the case for Florida International, which won the Trans America Athletic Conference tournament on Saturday and will enter the NCAA tournament with an 11-18 record, the worst since 1961.

Matt Tchir scored 17 points and James Mazyck had 11 points and 10 rebounds to lead Florida International over Mercer, 68-57, in the championship game of the conference tournament.

That earned Florida International an automatic NCAA berth and made the Golden Panthers the team with the worst winning percentage (38%) in the tournament since George Washington got in in 1961 with a record of 9-16 (36%). The last team with a losing record in the tournament was East Carolina (13-16) in 1993.

“Two years ago, we won the TAAC outright and had a 20-10 record,” said Florida International Coach Bob Weltlich, whose team lost to Mercer twice during regular season, “and we didn’t even get invited to the NIT, let alone the NCAAs. So maybe there’s a little bit of poetic justice in getting in this way this year.”