It was a crazy weekend with 11 top 25 teams losing, including some incredible upsets and surprising results with Kansas State blowing out Iowa State, Texas Tech getting a big win at Houston despite a key player and their head coach getting ejected in the first four minutes, Arkansas getting a win at Kentucky in John Calipari’s first game back, Louisville falling at Georgia Tech, and much more. Chad and the panel run through all of the major conferences, recap a busy week, and look ahead to all of the upcoming actions.
And for all the radio lovers, below is an audio only version of the show…
Jackson State (6-15, 6-2) at Southern (13-8, 8-0) – 7:30 PM ET (Jaguar Sports Network)
Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day goes to Baton Rouge, Louisiana for a matchup in the SWAC between the Southern Jaguars and the Jackson State Tigers. Southern comes in to tonight on an 8-game winning streak to take sole possession of first place in the conference. Two days ago, Southern beat Alcorn State 74-69 and were led by a double-double from Damairee Jones (12 points, 11 rebounds).
Jackson State won their first four games in conference play before going on a 2-2 split in their last four games. Their only losses in conference play came against Texas Southern on the road and Florida A&M at home; their best win came against Bethune-Cookman at home. DeShaun Ruffin had 20 points in JSU’s win on Saturday against Grambling – their first game in the Louisiana road trip in conference play.
All our experts agree (and we actually do have quite a few). We’ve actually locked our first team into the field on our HOOPS HD SURVIVAL BOARD, which is the earliest we have ever done it. This means that even if this team loses all their remaining games, they are still guaranteed to make the NCAA Tournament. Check out the whole Survival Board by CLICKING HERE
-Oregon continues to be a mystery team. Some nights they look like they may make the Final Four, and on other nights they lose at home to fringe bubble teams like Nebraska. Last night was an example of the latter. The Huskers won at Oregon 77-71, which probably moves Nebraska inside the bubble and Oregon outside of a protected seed. For now.
-VIRGINIA AT PITTSBURGH (ACC). Pitt is right on the bubble and needs to hold serve at home tonight. Given the strength of the ACC (or lack thereof) their margin for error is actually kind of small.
-CHARLESTON AT WILLIAM & MARY (Coastal Athletic). This game won’t effect the bracket, but it is a good UTR game. It’s an interesting matchup between two conference frontrunners, and on a slow night it’s actually one of the more compelling games.
-IOWA STATE AT KANSAS (Big 12). Both teams are probable protected seeds. Kansas has lost two in the last week or so where they appeared to be in complete control, but then couldn’t hold on. After blowing a 19pt lead to Baylor in their last game, they will be looking to bounce back. Iowa State is also coming off a rather surprising and decisive loss to Kansas State and will be looking to bounce back from that.
PROGRAM NOTE: This was recorded Sunday, Feb 2nd at 9pm, est, and the seedlist was built before the show was recorded. None of the games that were played later in the day, particularly Nebraska @ Oregon, were factored in
A full Hoops HD panel have all submitted their own individual seedlists. They were then cross country scored by Chad to form a master seedlist, and it is revealed to the panel Selection Sunday style team by team and line by line. They discuss, assess, and debate each team as they are revealed. See who the #1 seeds are, who the rest of the protected seeds are, who is on the bubble, and who just missed it.
Below is the final bracket, but don’t look at it until you’ve watched the show!!
And, for all you radio lovers, below is an audio only version of the show…
We are only 6 weeks away from Selection Sunday as we begin to make our NCAA tourney predictions. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel correctly picked 67 of the 68 teams that made the 2024 tourney: 62 of his 67 were within 1 spot of their actual seed and 41 were right on the money. He will spend the upcoming months predicting which 68 teams will hear their names called on March 16th. See below for his list of who would make the cut if they picked the field today and if you agree or disagree then feel free to tweet us. To see how he stacks up with other websites (ranked 7th out of 179 bracket veterans over the past 5 years), check out: www.bracketmatrix.com
SEED: TEAM (CONFERENCE) 1: Auburn (SEC) 1: Duke (ACC) 1: Alabama (SEC) 1: Iowa State (Big 12)
-Auburn got a battle from Ole Miss, but picked up another high level win away from home as they held them off 92-82. Auburn seems to be cruising toward a #1 seed.
-Duke v UNC usually lives up, but didn’t yesterday. Most of the game looked like an OOC buy game as Duke totally dominated. The final score was 87-70, but it never even felt like it was that close. Duke remains a likely #1 seed, and UNC remains squarely on the bubble and in need of some big wins.
There were MANY surprises yesterday!
-Kansas State went into Iowa State, and didn’t just win, but blew it completely open late in the game and ended up winning 80-61. K State was a team that was so far outside the bubble that we weren’t paying attention at all. At 10-11 they still aren’t near the field, but they’ve now won three straight and when you look at the rest of their schedule you start to feel that many of those are winnable considering how they’ve been playing. This will make for an interesting finish to the season. Is K State this year’s team that comes out of nowhere and somehow makes the field??
-Another shocker was Texas Tech’s 82-81 win at Houston. Very early in the game, Texas Tech’s JT Toppin was ejected for a call that was questionable. Head Coach Grant McCasland then went ballistic and got himself ejected as well. The fact that both of them were unavailable for a road game at Houston, and Texas Tech won anyway, is quite remarkable, and it may be the singler most impressive win that any team has managed this season. A true road win at Houston.
-Michigan State’s long winning streak is over. They went to USC and lost 70-64. This is not an easy game to win, but given how well Michigan State had been playing, and given the fact that USC probably isn’t a team that will make the field, it was a bit of a surprising result.
-UConn went into Marquette and basically controlled that game from tip to buzzer, and came out with what is probably their biggest win of the year as they won 77-69. This is one that UConn really needed to stabilize their resume. As for Marquette, it is a bit of a setback, but they’re still well within range of a protected seed.
-Arkansas, who had been having a rather unspectacular and perhaps disappointing year, got a massive win yesterday as they went into Rupp Arena. They led for most of the game and were in complete control down the stretch as they won 89-79. It’s their biggest win of the year by far, and it may give them the momentum they need to go on a run and end up making the NCAA Tournament after all.
-Kansas was blowing Baylor off the court and looking as good as they’ve looked all year. They had a 40-21 lead at the half. In the second half, Baylor came back so quickly that it was shocking, and after outscoring Kansas 60-30 in the second half, it actually looked like Baylor won rather comfortably 80-71. Kansas is not in trouble, but they are starting to look like they may not deserve a protected seed.
-Missouri, who some of us were really starting to like, absolutely blew Mississippi State off the floor yesterday 88-61. It was hands down their best performance of the year, and I think they are now very high on everyone’s radar.
-New Mexico, who we all thought was good but not capable of blowing a team like Utah State off the floor on the road, blew Utah State off the floor on the road yesterday. The final score was 82-63, and it was the biggest win of the season for New Mexico, and should give their resume a huge boost.
-Louisville, who had been looking as hot and as exciting as anyone in the country, could not get it done at Georgia Tech yesterday. They fell 77-70 in what was a fairly surprising loss.
-Florida and Tennessee are both great teams, but the two games they’ve played against each other have been snoozers. Florida won the first game in Gainesville in a blowout, and Tennessee finished them off in Knoxville yesterday 64-44.
-Saint Mary’s held off Gonzaga in a 62-58 thriller. I know it was a home win, but when you look at how the two teams have been playing just on the court, Saint Mary’s looks better. When you look at the two teams on paper, Saint Mary’s may not be better yet, but they’re getting better. If they can continue to string together wins we may see SMC end up with a protected seed.
-Oklahoma blew Vanderbilt off the court 97-67, and after struggling at the start of SEC play, the Sooners have now won three straight and have themselves back in the picture.
-Pittsburgh and Wake are both squarely on the bubble, and both really needed the win yesterday. Wake ended up getting it at home 76-74. Both teams still have work to do, but yesterday was a pivotal game for both of them, and one Wake really needed.
-Arizona continues to roll. They got a big win against rival Arizona State. After the game Arizona State Coach Bobby Hurley made it a point to get his players and coaches off the court and not shake hands, and then in the postgame presser said that he won’t be voting for Caleb Love for all conference. Love is devastated, I’m sure. After a sluggish start, Arizona is now 11-1 since December 18th.
-Clemson continues to win. They got another one on the road as they held off NC State 68-58 and are now 18-4 on the year and 10-1 in the ACC.
-BYU has now won five out of six, and got a really big one yesterday against UCF on the road 81-75. BYU is now getting closer and closer to the bubble. As for UCF, they lead the nation in close losses to really good teams. They are now 13-8 on the year and are 2-5 in their last seven games, but three of those losses were by six points or less to really strong teams. They need to finish strong if they want to make it into the field.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-OHIO STATE AT ILLINOIS (Big Ten). Both teams have been schizophrenic this year. By that I mean they’ve both won some really big games, but then also lost several gams you would have expected them to win rather easily. Ohio State has won three straight and they need to keep winning games to end up on the right side of the bubble. Illinois is safely in the field, and can still get a protected seed, but they haven’t always held serve and won the games you would expect them to.
-WEST VIRGINIA AT CINCINNATI (Big 12). West Virginia has lost five of their last seven, which includes three straight coming into this one. They are in a bit of a tailspin and need to turn things back around. A road win like this would be a huge step in the right direction, and this is one that they can/should win.
-MEMPHIS AT RICE (American). This is another conference road game that Memphis should be able to win. This would get them to 18-4 on the year and perhaps keep them within reach of a protected seed.
-BRADLEY AT NORTHERN IOWA (Missouri Valley). Bradley may be out of strikes, but if they can run the table through the rest of the regular season they may at least get a look from the committee.
-NEBRASKA AT OREGON (Big Ten). Nebraska finally snapped their losing streak a few days ago with a surprise home win against Illinois, but this is an even tougher test considering it’s on the road against an Oregon team that has a path to a protected seed. This is a big opportunity for the Huskers. They’re right on the bubble and a win like this could make the difference. But…it won’t be easy.
