We’ll be doing NCAA Tournament profiles for all automatic bid conference winners leading up to Selection Sunday, for links to others, see bottom of this post.

Conference: Horizon League (22-13)

Location: Detroit, Michigan

Famous Alums: Dave DeBusschere

They’re Back! Detroit (also known as Detroit Mercy) has played in five previous tournaments, advancing to the Regional Semifinals with Dick Vitale at coach back in 1977. They were last in the tournament in 1998 and 1999, when they advanced to the second round both times with wins over St. John’s and UCLA, respectively.

Resume: Detroit’s biggest wins came in the conference tournament, when they beat Cleveland State and Valparaiso in consecutive games. They also swept Butler, beat St. John’s, and lost to Notre Dame, Alabama, and Mississippi State in competitive games.

Notable Player(s): Ray McCallum, Jr., the coach’s son and starting point guard, could have played for bigger programs but will go to the tournament with his father in reviving the program.

Team Style/Strengths: Detroit is athletic, but will be one of the worst outside shooting teams in the tournament. They will need to rely on their defense and creating easy opportunities, and on McCallum to create on offense.

All-Important Rankings: 126 (RPI), 115 (Pomeroy)

Projected Outlook/Seed: Could get a 16 seed based on the RPI, outside shot at a 15 seed.

[photo via US Presswire]

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