A full panel has been assembled this week. We start off in the Big Ten where Michigan, Michigan State, and Nebraska are all ranked in the top ten and Nebraska is one of the more amazing stories of the season. The Big 12 is also stacked with teams like Iowa State, Arizona, and BYU also being ranked solidly in the top ten. UCF has also catapulted themselves into the spotlight with their big win over Kansas. The ACC is a deep league with a lot of Parity, Saint John’s is struggling in the Big East, Seattle U had a tough week in the WCC but has a promising future, and the Atlantic 10 and American continue to struggle overall. We discuss all that, and more.
And for all you radio lovers, below is an audio only version of the show…
-Seton Hall had another crazy late game comeback, this time against Creighton, and picked up a 56-54 win. Seton Hall was squarely in our field last night, but it is fair to start to wonder how many games like this they can continue to pull out.
-Tulsa suffered just their second loss of the season as they fell at North Texas 72-67. The game was close all throughout, and it is not easy to win at North Texas, but I’d still say this was a damaging loss for Tulsa. In order to land inside the bubble a team must win games that are hard to win. Tulsa just hasn’t played that tough of a schedule and they needed this win yesterday to show they can win at a place like North Texas, which is legit hard to win at.
-Belmont has now lost two of their last three games and each of those losses was by a single point. Still, these were the kinds of games they needed to win in order to land inside the bubble. Yesterday’s 68-67 home loss to Southern Illinois may sink them.
-Indiana held serve at home against Washington with a 90-80 win and improved to 11-3 on the year. I’m still not sold on the Hoosiers, but I’m not ready to sell them off myself yet either.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-NEBRASKA AT OHIO STATE (Big Ten). It’s another tough road test for Nebraska, who is having an amazing year, but who we are still learning about. If they really are one of the 15 best teams in the country then they should be able to win a game like this. Ohio State was outside of our bubble last night, but they are definitely close enough to it to reach it if they can start stringing together wins. This is a big opportunity for them tonight.
-USC AT MICHIGAN STATE (Big Ten). USC really got their noses bloodied by Michigan in thier last game, but that seemingly happens to everyone Michigan faces. Michigan State is also coming off a tough lost to Nebraska and is looking to bounce back, so both these teams should be hungry tonight
-STEPHEN F AUSTIN AT MCNEESE (Southland). These are probably the two best teams in the Southland and if McNeese can win out (which they are good enough to do) we could see them inside the bubble.
-Yale @ Brown (Ivy League) – in order for Yale to have any shot at all of landing inside the bubble they pretty much need to run the table in the Ivy League, which they are certainly good enough to do
-William & Mary @ Charleston (CAA) – these are potentially two favorites to win the CAA, so it should be a fun one tonight
It is our first Bracket Rundown Show of the regular season!!
A full panel has been assembled for the season premier and they build this week’s seedlist line by line! They debate, discuss, assess, and argue about each team as they go. Find out who they have on the #1 lines so far, who is safely in, who still has work to do, and who on the bubble just made it in and just missed it.
Below is a final copy of The 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 10 weeks away from Selection Sunday as we begin to make our NCAA tourney predictions. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel correctly picked 66 of the 68 teams that made the 2025 tourney: 62 of his 66 were within 1 spot of their actual seed and 52 were right on the money. He will spend the upcoming months predicting which 68 teams will hear their names called on March 15th. 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 186 bracket veterans over the past 5 years), check out: www.bracketmatrix.com
SEED: TEAM (CONFERENCE) 1: Michigan (Big 10) 1: Arizona (Big 12) 1: Connecticut (Big East) 1: Iowa State (Big 12)
-UCF pulled off a big 81-75 win against Kansas, which helps boost their resume and pushes them further into the national spotlight. It was a home win, but it’s still their biggest of the season and one that they kind of needed given how weak their schedule was up until yesterday.
-SMU ran away from North Carolina in the second half for a 97-83 win. North Carolina still has just one road win on the season and will need more if they want to climb the seedlist, but they’re still in relatively good shape. It was an important win for an SMU team that needed an important win.
-Arkansas held serve and beat Tennessee 86-75 at home. Tennessee is a really good team and a road loss like this won’t really set them back all that much, if at all.
-Alabama ran away from Kentucky in the first half and cruised to an 89-74 win. Kentucky’s resume is rather underwhelming up to this point. They still have a lot of time to get to where they want to, but they’re sure as hell aren’t there yet.
-Virginia jumped all over NC State in the first half and while the Wolfpack made a few runs at them, they never really got back into it. It’s a very impressive road win for the Hoos not just because of the win itself, but because of how dominant it was. We expected NC State to have a big season this year, and so far they just haven’t.
-Missouri knocked of Florida 73-71 in a game they almost blew. After appearing to have it wrapped up, Florida actually fought their way back in it via a sequence of made and missed freethrows, and got a shot up at the buzzer that would have won them the game, but it just didn’t go down. Mizzou ended up escaping with a win they really needed.
-Auburn took Georgia to overtime and nearly pulled off a massive road win which would have made their profile look a lot better, but the Dawgs held on 104-100. Still, it was one of the better games Auburn has played all season despite the loss and they’ll get more than enough chances at big wins between now and the end.
-Villanova ran away from a pretty good Butler team on the road 85-67. Nova is now 12-2 on the season, perfect in the Big East, and 3-1 on the road. One of their losses was the season opener against BYU. This team is very good and should be getting much more attention than they are. On the flip side of that…
-Saint John’s lost at home to Providence 77-71. The Johnnies simply are not very good and should not be getting as much attention as they are.
-Wake Forest was in another close game!! And this time they actually won it!! They knocked off a fairly solid Virginia Tech team 81-78, and while it was a home win, it was still one that they really needed.
-Miami OH remains unbeaten after knocking off a really solid Akron team 76-73. This was probably the toughest game Miami has played all year even though it was a home game. Their schedule has been rather weak, but their team isn’t weak at all and they showed that they can beat the best teams in the MAC yesterday (albeit at home).
-Texas A&M helf off a really good LSU team 75-72 for a win they really needed. They still have some work to do, but this is a step in the right direction. For LSU, it was a missed opportunity at what appeared to be a winnable conference road game.
-Colorado bounced back from back-to-back losses to Stanford and Northern Colorado and picked up their first true road win of the year against a decent Arizona State team 95-89.
-Northern Colorado seems to be going in the other direction. They’ve lost two straight games since their upset win at Colorado, which included losing to both Montana and Montana State. They’ve now lost four of their last five and don’t look like they’re going to dominate the Big Sky like we thought they would a week ago.
-We need to keep an eye on New Mexico. They beat a fairly decent Wyoming team rather handily 78-58 to improve to a solid 11-3 overall.
-Hawaii played what will likely be their toughest remaining game of the season yesterday and fell at UC San Diego 83-73. I still think they can win the Big West, but unless they run the table I don’t think they can get inside the bubble. They really needed a road win like this on their profile for that to happen.
-Duke, Houston, and BYU all had battles on the road, but all managed to pull out wins.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-CREIGHTON AT SETON HALL (Big East). Seton Hall has been one of the biggest surprises of the year up to this point. Creighton has been one of the biggest busts of the year up to this point. Having said that, things may be changing. Creighton has now won four straight, including three straight Big East games, and is looking noticeably better. If they can get this one on the road then it’s big for their resume and a sign that they are turning things around.
-SEATTLE AT SAINT MARY’S (West Coast). After nearly knocking off Gonzaga, Seattle has another chance to add a big win to their resume, which is something they are going to need in order to land inside the bubble. Saint Mary’s has won five straight and has knocked off some decent teams during that stretch. They will likely be tested again tonight even though they are at home.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:
-Marquette @ Connecticut (Big East) – if this weren’t a conference game we’d be dismissing it as a buy game
-Jacksonville State @ Liberty (Conference USA) – Liberty may still have a remote shot at landing inside the bubble, but they’ll pretty much need to win out in order to do it
-Tulsa @ North Texas (American) – Tulsa is good enough to land inside the bubble, but this is perhaps one of Tulsa’s most challenging remaining games. North Texas is 5-1 at home and is one of the better teams in the American
-Bradley @ Murray State (Missouri Valley) – a win for Murray State gets them to 13-3 overall on the year and a solid 5-0 in MVC play
-Southern Illinois @ Belmont (Missouri Valley) – Belmont can land inside the bubble, but they pretty much need to win out in order to do it. They should be able to hold serve at home in this one
-San Diego @ Santa Clara (West Coast) – Santa Clara needs to hold serve and pick up some notable wins against either Saint Mary’s or Gonzaga in order to land inside the bubble
-Washington @ Indiana (Big Ten) – Neither team is inside the bubble. Both need to start stringing together wins in order to get there, and both could really use this win tonight
-LMU @ Gonzaga (West Coast) – The Zags got a scare the other night from Seattle. They should be able to hold serve tonight and remain in the hunt for a protected seed.
Jon Teitel is HANDING OUT THE HARDWARE!!! See all of his Midseason Awards by clicking HERE FOR PART 1, and HERE FOR PART 2
NEWS AND NOTES:
-What Michigan has been doing since Thanksgiving is just plane crazy. I don’t think a team has been this dominant this regularly since the early 1990s UNLV teams. I’m serious. Not the Kentucky team that went undefeated all the way up to the Final Four, or the North Carolina team that made the 2009 NCAA Tournament look like the Tarheel Invitational, not ANYONE EVER! They beat USC, a legit top 25 team, 96-66 last night. In their last nine games, they’ve won eight of them by 28pts or more. The one exception was a mere 18pt road win at Maryland. The teams they have beaten during that stretch include San Diego State, Auburn, Gonzaga, Villinova, McNeese, and now USC.
-Gonzaga trailed Seattle U for pretty much the entire game last night, and for much of that time they were down by double digits, but they made some big plays down the stretch and came up with some big stops and were able to force OT. They then pulled it out 80-72. This was a big missed opportunity at what would have perhaps been a season defining win for Seattle. It certainly would have been a great looking win on their tournament resume.
-Nebraska remains unbeaten after knocking off Michigan State 58-56 at home. The Spartans had a chance to tie or win on their final possession, and even got to the foul line with less than a second to go on a play where the ref really must have used his imagination, but they were unable to convert.
-After a decisive win at California a couple of nights ago, Louisville could not get it done at Stanford and fell 80-76. Stanford held a lead for most of the game and this should give their resume a bit of a boost. As for Louisville, they’re a rather meh 1-3 in true road games so far, but are otherwise very solid.
-Notre Dame v California was a close battle all throughout and the end was amazing. ND was up 3, Cal had the ball, and ND opted to foul while up 3. Due to the new continuation rules (I guess) Cal was able to hit a 3 as they were being fouled, and then sink the game winning freethrow which capped off the 4pt play and gave them a 72-71 win. The 3-pointer they hit was initially counted, then waived off, then counted again, and if you go back and watch it there does not appear to be a foul committed on the shooter at all. ND once again loses a game at the buzzer to a solid opponent that could have really helped their resume. After the game, Irish fans took to social media and were ranting about how they should have been selected for the College Football Playoff and how the results of this game some how proves that. I’m kidding, of course, and to be fair the officiating in the final few seconds was comedically awful.
-An Under the Radar note, Manhattan came from behind in the second half to beat the Hoops HD MAAC preseason favorite Quinnipiac 80-79. I thought Quinnipiac was cruising, so I turned the game over and missed all the fun. There was a hard foul, both coaches got ejected in the ruckus that followed, and somehow Manhattan was able to come back and win.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-VIRGINIA AT NC STATE (ACC). This has the feeling of an important and almost pivotal, game for both teams. Both are good, but both have profiles that could stand to be improved upon. UVA is looking to bounce back from a tough loss to rival Virginia Tech and NC State is just looking to solidify themselves as a top 25 caliber team.
-KENTUCKY AT ALABAMA (SEC). Kentucky is starting to play better, but while they clearly have the potential to end up as a strong top 25 caliber team, they’ve still not lived up to it yet. This is a tough road game against an Alabama team that probably also feels they have room to improve and who will be looking for a big feel good win of their own.
-VILLANOVA AT BUTLER (Big East). This game has a bit of a bubblicous feel to it. Even though Nova is a very solid 11-2, they’ve still got a lot of work to do and a road win against a Butler team that seems to currently be hovering right about the bubble would be a good boost to their resume. Butler, like all other bubble teams, could use all the wins they can get.
-VIRGINIA TECH AT WAKE FOREST (ACC). VA Tech is 12-2 and just won a big overtime game against rival Virginia, but they have just one true road win, so if they can get this one then their resume will look a lot better. Wake just needs wins in conference to help build up their profile. They’ve lost several close games to good teams and need to start actually winning some of them.
-OKLAHOMA STATE AT TEXAS TECH (Big 12). Oklahoma State’s record is an impressive 12-1, but their overall schedule has been a little less than impressive and this would be by far their biggest win of the year if they can pull it off. Texas Tech is ranked in the teens and appears to be getting better as the season progresses.
-KANSAS AT UCF (Big 12). UCF is 11-1 against a weak schedule. They get a shot at a very good team that’s also a blue blood at home and can thrust themselves into the spotlight if they’re able to pull it off. Kansas only has one true road win so far, so it’s a test for them as well and a chance to give their profile a bit of a boost.
-BAYLOR AT TCU (Big 12). This is another game that has a bubblicious feel to it. It’s also a rivalry game. Both teams are good, but both have work to do and both could really use this one.
-NORTH CAROLINA AT SMU (ACC). SMU is a very respectable 12-2 overall and is positioned to land inside the bubble if they can can pick up some wins in the ACC. But, that’s easier said than done. UNC has had a great year, but this is just their second true road game of the season so they will be tested.
-TENNESSEE AT ARKANSAS (SEC). Both teams are solidly in the rankings, both have won big games, and both have the chance to pick up another resume-building win. Tennessee is still looking for their first true road win of the season, so to get it against a ranked Arkansas team would make their resume look a ton better.
-AKRON AT MIAMI OH (MAC). This is getting featured because Miami OH is unbeaten on the season and while this is a home game Akron I think is (by far) the best team will have played up to this point. This is as much a litmus test as it is a big game on paper.
-LSU @ TEXAS A&M (SEC). I don’t know how you can be in the SEC, be 12-1, and have it be a quiet 12-1, but that is seemingly what LSU has done. Having said that, this will perhaps be one of their toughest tests of the season so far and it comes on the road against a TAMU team that could really use the win themselves. Neither team played a very tough OOC Schedule, so both kind of need this to help boost their profile.
-UCLA AT IOWA (Big Ten). Both teams could really use this one because both need to build up their profiles. UCLA is good, but this is just their second true road game of the season. Iowa’s record is good, but their profile seems void of any notable wins and they could really use this one.
-WYOMING AT NEW MEXICO (Mountain West). I don’t think I’d have either of these teams inside the bubble, but I would say that both are (perhaps) good enough to reach it. Having said that, in order to do that, they have a small margin for error and will probably need a win today.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:
-VCU @ Duquesne (Atlantic 10) – if VCU is going to get themselves into The Dance they need to blow through the A10
-Clemson @ Pittsburgh (ACC) – Clemson should hold serve in this one, pick up another road win, and stay safely inside the bubble
-Auburn @ Georgia (SEC) – Georgia is an impressive 12-1 and Auburn has been kind of disappointing this year. Having said that, Auburn can fix a lot of what’s wrong if they can somehow pull off the win against a ranked conference rival on the road. Wins against ranked conference rivals tend to do the trick!
-Northern Illinois @ Kent State (MAC) – Kent State is one of the better teams in the MAC and should hold serve at home
-BYU @ Kansas State (Big 12) – a lot of people are saying K State has a path to the NCAA Tournament. I have not been all that impressed with them at any point this year, but they can change my mind today if they can beat what I believe is a very good BYU team at home
-Houston @ Cincinnati (Big 12) – should be a rather routine conference road win for the Cougars
-Vanderbilt @ South Carolina (SEC) – Vandy is undefeated and is one of the better teams in the SEC. This should be a winnable road win for them
-Ole Miss @ Oklahoma (SEC) – this is the conference opener for Oklahoma and they should be able to hold serve at home
-Duke @ Florida State (ACC) – Duke has not played many true road games, but this is one that they should be able to win
-Arizona @ Utah (Big 12) – Arizona is ranked #1 and is richly deserving of that ranking. Utah is nowhere near our bubble and is richly deserving of the NIT.
-Rhode Island @ George Mason (Atlantic 10) – Mason got a scare in their last game, but they should be able to hold serve against Rhody at home
-San Jose State @ Utah State (Mountain West) – Utah State clearly looks to be the best team in the MWC, they may get into the rankings in the next week or two, and they should be able to hold serve at home
-South Alabama @ Troy (Sun Belt) – I just wanted to mention this because it’s two of the better teams in the Sun Belt and it’s a bit of a rivalry game
-Colorado @ Arizona State (Big 12) – both these teams have shown promise OOC, but both need to get right, and a win today would be a big step toward doing that for whoever pulls it off
-Mississippi State @ Texas (SEC) – not much to say about this one other than Texas needs to hold serve
-Illinois @ Penn State (Big Ten) – Penn State can be tough to beat at home, but Illinois should be good enough to win a game like this
-Nevada @ Fresno State (Mountain West) – Nevada can improve to 3-0 in MWC play and in order to be anywhere near the bubble discussion they need to blow through this league
-Purdue @ Wisconsin (Big Ten) – Purdue is a likely #1 seed and Wisconsin is a possible tournament team. Wisky has struggled, but if they can win a game like this it could give them the jumpstart they need. Having said that, it won’t be easy even though they’re at home
-Florida @ Missouri (SEC) – it’s a tough road test for the Gators, but it’s one that they should be good enough to win
-Boise State @ San Diego State (Mountain West) – in order for either team to land inside the bubble they need to start stringing together wins
-Hawaii @ UC San Diego (Big West) – these are two of the best teams in the Big West and this is a massive road test for Hawaii. UCSD is looking to bounce back from a somewhat surprising loss earlier in the week
