Bracket Roundown: Feb 12th

Posted on February 13, 2014 by David Griggs

On this episode, Chad is joined by David and Kyle as they talk about the new rules for building the bracket, particularly how conference match-ups no longer have to be avoided until the Elite Eight.

Instead of ranking the teams as he felt they should be, David and Chad changed things up this week as he tried to guess what he felt the committee would do if the season ended today. Topics that were discussed was whether or not Wichita State would get a #1 seed despite a weak schedule, whether or not Kansas would get a #1 seed despite six losses, where a team like Louisville would land who is high in the rankings, but doesn’t have much of a profile, and whether or not there is room in the field for teams with poor records in conference play, but good profiles other than that.

All that, and more…

Here is Chad Sherwood’s SCGD:  https://hoopshd.com/2014/02/13/small-conference-game-of-the-day-february-13-2/

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Small Conference Game of the Day – February 13

Posted on February 13, 2014 by Chad

SOUTHERN MISS at UAB, 9:00 PM Eastern, CSS

Assuming that Birmingham melts enough after yesterday’s snowstorm, tonight’s SCGD will be heading there for one of Southern Mississippi’s toughest remaining tests in Conference USA regular season play tonight.  The Golden Eagles enter tonight’s game at 21-3 overall and 8-1 in conference, tied with UTEP for first place.  Our latest bracket projections (check out this week’s Bracket Rundown show which David Griggs will be posting later today) have them at a seed high enough to be in serious at-large consideration should they fail to win the automatic bid.  However, if they want to stay in at-large range they cannot afford any bad losses.  Given their remaining C-USA schedule, pretty much any loss would be arguably a bad one.

On the other side of things, the UAB Blazers at one point this season looked like a serious at-large bid contender.  They had solid wins over Nebraska and North Carolina and a heart-breaking double overtime loss to New Mexico.  Then the calendar flipped to 2014 and the bottom fell out.  Since January 1, UAB has suffered losses to Florida Atlantic, Florida International, North Texas and East Carolina, among others.  Bad loss upon bad loss has destroyed any NCAA tournament chances other than a championship in the C-USA tournament.  The Blazers sit at 14-9 overall but are only 3-6 in conference, all the way down in 11th place.  Finishing below 9th in the conference regular season standings would require UAB to win 5 games in 5 days in the C-USA tournament, a daunting feat that they do not want to be facing.  That makes tonight’s game and every game after it even more important as we head towards March.

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Highlighted Games For Wednesday, Feb 12th

Posted on February 12, 2014 by David Griggs

-SYRACUSE AT PITTSBURGH (ACC). Pitt has not beaten a team that appears to be solidly in the field, and has had to sweat out some games against weaker teams. Syracuse is unbeaten, but this would still be one of their better road wins.

-SOUTH FLORIDA AT UCONN (American). UConn should be able to finish the season strong and hold serve on their profile.

-RICHMOND AT DUQUESNE (Atlantic Ten). I don’t think Richmond can overcome the injury and make the dance, but if they do it will mean being able to win games like this.

-GEORGE MASON AT UMASS (Atlantic Ten). UMass’s stock has gone down some, but they’re still a strong team and should be able to win at home tonight.

-GEORGE WASHINGTON AT VCU (Atlantic Ten). This is a great match up between two regional opponents that are both solidly in the field, but who can also still improve their profile. It means something both on and off paper.

BAYLOR AT TCU (Big Twelve). Baylor is just 2-8 in league play. If they can’t finish 8-10 in conference play I think they’re in real trouble.

-OHIO AT TOLEDO (MAC). Chad Sherwood’s SCGD.  See here:  https://hoopshd.com/2014/02/12/small-conference-game-of-the-day-february-12-2/

-PENN STATE AT INDIANA (Big Ten). Indiana simply cannot afford to lose this one.

-VILLANOVA AT DEPAUL (Big East). Nova shouldn’t have any trouble picking up another big conference road win.

-KENTUCKY AT AUBURN (SEC). Kentucky shouldn’t have too much trouble.

-TEXAS TECH AT OKLAHOMA (Big Twelve). Texas Tech has been playing great lately, but they still have a long way to go to even be close to the bubble. Oklahoma has been very tough to beat at home this season and should pick up another conference win tonight.

-DUKE AT NORTH CAROLINA (ACC). This is the biggest rivalry in college basketball, but it means something on paper as well. North Carolina seems to have pulled out of their tailspin and the could make a huge statement with a win tonight.

-UCF AT MEMPHIS (American). Memphis is in great shape and should hold serve tonight.

-LSU AT TEXAS A&M (SEC). LSU needs a solid finish if they want to be considered. They have some bad losses on their profile, and have a very small margin for error.

-STANFORD AT WASHINGTON (Pac Twelve). Stanford could use a solid road win, and a conference win. So, it’s a big game for them.

-NEW MEXICO AT BOISE STATE (Mountain West). New Mexico has been somewhat of a disappointment this year, but they’re still in good shape, and this would be a notable road win on their profile.

-CALIFORNIA AT WASHINGTON STATE (Pac Twelve). Cal simply cannot afford to lose this one

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Small Conference Game of the Day – February 12

Posted on February 12, 2014 by Chad

OHIO UNIVERSITY at TOLEDO, 7:00 PM Eastern, Time Warner Sports/espn3

Less than two weeks after the game of the year to date in the MAC, the same two teams matchup again tonight in Toledo.  Ohio pulled off at 95-90 overtime win at home back on February 1, and tonight’s rematch has a chance to be just as exciting of a game as that one was.

Ohio presently sits at 17-6 overall and 7-3 in conference, one game behind Akron and tied with Buffalo in the MAC’s East Division standings.  Toledo is 20-3 overall and 8-2 in conference, one game up on Western Michigan in the West Division.  While tonight’s game will not decide the regular season championship, it will certainly go a long way towards it.  Finishing with one of the top two records in the MAC is extra important as it gets the two teams byes into the conference tournament semifinals.  The third and fourth best records bye into the quarterfinals, while everyone else would have to play five games to win the automatic bid.  As there are five teams currently in the hunt for the conference championship, one of them will be relegated to having to do just that to win it.

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Small Conference Game of the Day – February 11

Posted on February 11, 2014 by Chad

GARDNER-WEBB at LIBERTY, 7:00 PM Eastern, Liberty Sports Network/espn3

Tonight’s college basketball schedule is on the light side with only 12 games.  Ten of those games involve “power conference” teams (assuming we are still calling the Mountain West a power conference).  Of the two remaining games, one is Wichita State’s home game against southern Illinois.  That pretty much leaves one and only one option for the SCGD.  Gardner-Webb at Liberty.

The Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs are part of the complete jumble of standings in the Big South conference.  They are presently 6-4 in conference, tied for second place in the South Division one game behind Coastal Carolina and UNC-Asheville.  The North Division is just as jumbled with four teams withing 2 games of first place, resulting in 8 of the 12 Big South members still in the battle for the two regular season division titles.  GWU is 13-12 overall as they travel to Liberty tonight.

Liberty is one of the few teams inn the Big South that appears to be out of the title hunt.  They are 3-7 in conference and 9-16 overall, fifth in the North Division.  However, it was out of the North Division 5 seed spot that Liberty made a run last season and ended up winning the Big South tournament and advancing to the NCAA.  Liberty has won 7 of its last 8 games against Gardner-Webb, including a Big South tournament semifinal victory last season.  The Flames are 5-0 against GWU under current head coach Dale Layer.  They are also currently on a four game losing streak, so something will have to give tonight.  The one thing the Big South has shown us all season is that the games should be close and competitive…as this may be the conference with the most top to bottom parity of any in the country.

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Bracket Racket: Feb 9th

Posted on February 10, 2014 by David Griggs

Much to check out this morning.

For a look at Chad Sherwood’s Monday Morning Bracketology, click here:

https://hoopshd.com/2014/02/10/monday-morning-bracketology-february-10-2014/

 

If you missed our most recent special edition podcast, the Rivalry Show, click here:

https://hoopshd.com/2014/02/09/the-rivalry-show/

 

On this week’s edition of the Bracket Racket, Kyle is joined by David, and later Lee, as they look at the Marcus Smart situation, and talk about what the suspension means to Oklahoma State as they go into their next three big games without him.  We look at the rest of the Big Twelve, along with the Big Ten, Big East, ACC, and Pac Twelve.  We look at SMU and how they’ve gone from being below mediocre to being relevant in a very short amount of time, and we even talk a little Ivy League hoops.

All that, and more!!

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