NEWS AND NOTES:
-We will start with a SURVIVAL BOARD update. Columbia has been mathematically eliminated from qualifying for the Ivy League Tournament after their loss to Yale, and has been the first team to be eliminated. We now have 349 teams remaining!!
-For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day – CLICK HERE
Saturday was another insanely busy and eventful day…
-Alabama picked up yet another road win as they held off Auburn 77-69. By #1 seed standards it’s a win that’s pretty much par for the course, but it was against a heated rival, and a rival that really needed the win for their own resume purposes, and a rival who had played exceptionally well at home this year, so for Bama to come out of there with a win (after actually being behind for most of the game) I think at the very least meets the expectations of a #1 seed.
-Arizona, another team that is being floated around for a #1 seed, did not look like it yesterday. They fell on the road to Stanford 88-79. This is NOT par for the course for a #1 seed. It’s their second loss to a team with a losing record this season. I don’t have the encyclopedia level of knowledge when it comes to NCAA Basketball trivia that our colleague John Stalica has, but I can feel very safe in saying that losing two games to teams with losing records and ending up with a #1 seed is not a common thing. Has it even ever happened before?
-Tennessee has had a 2pt lead and been on the freethrow line with less than ten seconds to go in their last two games. THEY’VE LOST BOTH THOSE GAMES!! Missouri hit a near half court shot after a missed Tennessee freethrow to escape with a much needed 86-85 win. Mizzou had nothing anywhere close to this caliber of win before yesterday, so this does a ton to improve their standings. As for Tennessee, they’ve suffered two very swift and very hard kicks to the stomach, and a #1 seed is probably out the window. But…they’re actually okay. They’ll be a protected seed, and while this is a huge ego bruising experience at this point in time, it’s February 12th, not March 12th. They’ll safely make it into the field, and this is not indicative of what they’ll be like a month from now. They’re just as dangerous today as they were a week ago.
-I’ve been hard on Duke this year for not winning on the road. Well, while they didn’t get the win at Virginia yesterday, they probably should have. A foul at the end of regulation was not called, but should have been. Time had expired, but the ball was released and still in flight, and by rule the game isn’t over until the ball hits the rim or backboard. It was as if the referees didn’t know the rule. Even the ACC League Office has stated the referees got the call wrong. Virginia got the win in overtime, and Duke missed out on what would have been a season defining and resume defining win.
-UCLA got a 70-63 road win at Oregon, and it’s a game that they should probably get more credit for than what most will probably give them. Oregon is outside the bubble, but they’ve been playing well lately, especially at home, and for the Bruins to come out of there with a win is pretty impressive.
-Oklahoma State keeps stringing together big wins, and they got another one yesterday at Iowa State 64-56. Iowa State has now lost four out of five, but we still feel they are within reach of a protected seed, and Oklahoma State should (and will) get a TON of credit for this. They’re now 7-5 in Big 12 play, and the conference is an absolute meat grinder. They’ve also won seven of their last eight. Their start to the season was a little slow, but they’re playing like a top 25 caliber team right now, and I expect their resume to keep getting better and better. They’re at home against Kansas on Tuesday and that is gonna be a show!!
-Kansas State, who for a while I was touting as a #1 seed…is a team that I am no longer touting as a #1 seed. They lost at Texas Tech yesterday 71-63. I know Texas Tech isn’t exactly the worst team out there, and I know that every team has bad games, but when you’re talking about a #1 seed I feel K State has exceeded (and surpassed) the ‘bad day limit’ that 1-seeds are allowed. They’re still a good team with some great wins, and should still be a solid protected seed, but probably not a #1 seed. But as for Baylor…
-The Baylor Bears have now won nine of their last ten, and are doing it against Big 12 teams. That is as good as anyone in the country right now, and with a road win at TCU you almost have to start asking whether or not they should be in the discussion for a #2 seed, or perhaps even a #1 seed. Their only loss during that stretch was a very close game at Texas. They go on the road to face Kansas and Kansas State in the next couple of weeks. If they win both of those then we could be discussing them for the #1 line.
-Indiana, who had been playing very well, held on to beat Michigan 62-61, but barely! Still, at the end of the day, it was another road win for the Hoosiers and their resume continues to look very strong.
-Providence could not get it done against Saint John’s yesterday and fell 73-68. It’s not the easiest game to win, but it’s the kind of game you would expect a solid first ballot team to be able to win more times than not.
-Creighton continues to roll as they knocked off a pretty good UConn team (that had been starting to play better again) 56-53. The Bluejays have now won eight straight and are playing as well as anyone else in the Big East right now.
-Rutgers vs Illinois was a hard fought game, but the Illini finally got control of it in the last few minutes and held on for a 69-60 win. I think both teams are solidly in the field, and Illinois is continuing to climb the seedlist.
-Kentucky, who I was starting to believe in again, has now given me another reason to question whether or not they belong in the field at all. They fell at Georgia 75-68. I know it’s hard to win on the road…BUT THAT’S THE WHOLE POINT!!! In order to make the NCAA Tournament and be inside the bubble, teams must win games that are hard to win! Kentucky, with the exception of their win at Tennessee (which IS a legit huge win) has not. They routinely come up short. And yesterday they did so again.
-Clemson could have really used a nice road win at North Carolina yesterday, and came up about 20pts short. North Carolina is not a team that I’m big on at all, but they have been very strong at home this year, and our Selection Committee guessing expert Jon Teitel seems to think the committee values them…and he’s probably right. I personally don’t agree, but I always disagree with something that the committee does, and this year it will probably be North Carolina. Clemson, on the other hand, is now hanging on to the bubble by their fingernails and needs a strong finish just to make the field at all.
-Wisconsin…OUCH!! They had a nice win earlier in the week against Penn State on the road, and one would think that they were finally getting things turned around. Well, they’re once again facing the complete wrong way. They are NOT turned around! They lost to a bad Nebraska team 73-63 in overtime, and that might sink them all the way outside the bubble.
-USC….OUCH!!! A team that was stringing together wins, and building their resume, and climbing the seedlist, totally shot themselves in the foot yesterday with a 61-58 loss to a really bad Oregon State team.
-Arkansas, who finally won a big road game, followed that up with a home loss to Mississsippi State, which was a game they really should have won. It’s actually the fifth straight win for Mississippi State, and it looks like they’re heading in the right direction after being in a complete nose dive just a few weeks ago.
-Seton Hall, who had been on a streak where they appeared to be playing really well, could not get the win at Villanova yesterday and fell 58-54. Nova has been playing better, but for a team that’s hovering around the bubble like Seton Hall was it was a game that the Pirates really needed to win.
-Florida, who I thought was playing their way inside the bubble, is now a team that I no longer think is playing their way inside the bubble. They lost at home to Vanderbilt 88-80 yesterday. Vandy has had themselves one hell of a week! But they are still so far from the bubble that they need high powered binoculars to see it.
A few quic Under the Radar notes…
-Keep an eye on the Drake Bulldogs. They were a team that back in October many of us (myself included) expected to see in the top 25 at some point this season. That’s not going to happen because it simply took them too long to get rolling and they lost a lot of games they shouldn’t have, but for the last couple of weeks they’ve been playing like the caliber of team we thought they would be, and they absolutely blasted a pretty good Southern Illinois team yesterday 82-59.
-Oral Roberts has now clinched at least a share of first place in the Summit League with their 82-73 win against Western Illinois yesterday. One more win and they win it outright.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-TEMPLE AT MEMPHIS (American). It simply took Temple far too long to get their motor started this season, and even after they started playing at a higher level they’ve still dropped some winnable games, but they are definitely good enough to beat Memphis on the road if Memphis overlooks them. Memphis is squarely on the bubble. Memphis BETTER NOT overlook them.
-IOWA AT MINNESOTA (Big Ten). Iowa has been through steep peaks and valleys this year, but all and all they appear to be very safely inside the bubble, and will remain there so long as they avoid bad losses the rest of the way. A loss today would absolutely be a bad loss.
-MICHIGAN STATE AT OHIO STATE (Big Ten). Michigan State is pretty solid and should end up in the top half of the bracket with a strong finish. It’s never easy to win on the road, but Ohio State has now lost ten of their last eleven and this is a game that the Spartans should win handily.
-PURDUE AT NORTHWESTERN (Big Ten). This is the kind of game that’s always fun. A #1 seed caliber team on the road against a solid NCAA Tournament team that’s looking to become even more solid and who’s fans should be jacked way up for this one!
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