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Team: Davidson Wildcats
Conference: Atlantic 10
NCAA Tournament Berths: 14
Regular Season Conference Titles: 24
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'Davidson has long been known as one of the most dangerous mid-major squads that nobody wants to see in their bracket when it comes time for the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats play an up-tempo brand of basketball, and many top powers find themselves barely able to keep up with the racehorse style late in the season. It seems that the Wildcats never need to rebuild their roster. Instead, the team simply reloads every year. Even though Davidson doesn't always win its conference tournament, the team is usually in the discussion to secure an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. All told, the Wildcats have won eight games in the NCAA Tournament in school history, which is an impressive total for a team that is not in one of the power conferences. In 2019-20, Davidson has an experienced team that may be poised for another deep tournament run. Grab your Davidson Wildcats' basketball tickets at StubHub today.'
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For most of the team's existence, the Wildcats played in the Southern Conference, and the team was a dominant presence in the conference along with
UT Chattanooga
. Davidson went searching for a bigger stage as its national profile grew, and in 2014, the Wildcats switched to the Atlantic 10 Conference. The Wildcats' team was at home immediately in its new conference and won the conference tournament in 2015.
''NBA fans will certainly recognize the name of the most accomplished Wildcat in team history. Stephen Curry played his college ball here and was the team's catalyst when it reached the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight in 2008. Curry played three seasons at Davidson and holds the school's all-time scoring mark even though he left school after his junior year to go professional. Curry was the school's second first-team All-American and the first since Fred Hetzel in 1965.'
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Bob McKillop is entering his 29th season as coach of the Wildcats and has been synonymous with the program. Entering the 2019-20 season, McKillop has notched 578 wins as the team's coach. McKillop has established a reputation as an effective recruiter and has recently begun to land a bevy of international players. College basketball coaching legend Lefty Driesell also coached the school before his star turn as the head coach at the
University of Maryland
.
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The Wildcats play in the
John M. Belk Arena
. The playing court is named in honor of McKillop. The Belk Arena seats 5,223 spectators. The Wildcats team has a pronounced home-court advantage and has had several seasons where it has gone undefeated at home. Students will show up to the games clad in red and black and completely fill the student section. One interesting tradition is that members of the swim team will strip down to their Speedos while an opposing team is shooting free throws in an attempt to distract the shooter.
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In 2008, Davidson knocked off national powers such as
Georgetown
and
Wisconsin
, powered by Curry's hot outside shooting. The team made it all the way to the Elite Eight, where it gave the favored
Kansas Jayhawks
all they could handle before losing 59-57. Under coach Driesell, the Wildcats also made the Elite Eight in 1968 and 1969. Both of those tournaments resulted in heartbreaking losses to in-state rival the
University of North Carolina
.
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