The bracket below was put together by David Dorman. His comments are below that, as well as some comments from the staff.
COMMENTS FROM DAVID DORMAN:
-Right off the bat let’s look at my last few teams in the field and first ones left out because I expect to take heat on those selections.
IN – Vanderbilt, BYU, U.C.- SD and VCU.
LEFT OUT – Texas, San Francisco, Arkansas and Wake Forest.
-My philosophy on including UC-SD and VCU over the power conference teams is team success in conference play. UC-SD (10-2) and VCU (10-2) are having great seasons outside the power conferences. Texas, Arkansas and Wake Forest get many opportunities to accumulate tier 1 wins and have come up short time after time. I want to see teams in the tournament that have had exceptional seasons, we don’t always need to include power conference schools that are .500 (or below) in their conference because they played a tough conference schedule. I truly believe these UTR teams would have done better than .500 in power conferences. These UTR teams have been winning all year long and many times take that winning mindset and momentum right into the NCAA Tournament and put a run together.
-I have nothing against Texas, Arkansas and Wake, I just believe their body of work at this point in time does not justify an at-large bid.
-I have 3 SEC schools on the 1 line and Duke. Florida jumped Tennessee this week with the Vols loss at Kentucky while Florida went on the road to Auburn and Mississippi State and came away with 2 victories.
-As far as bracketing goes it will be very interesting to see how/if the NCAA Selection Committee can get the SEC and BIG TEN teams away from each other in the bracket. It gets very tricky with those two conferences and the BIG 12 getting more than 90% of the at-large bids. I believe we will be seeing conference matchups as soon as the second round.
-Keep an eye out this weekend as the actual NCAA Tournament Committee has gathered together putting the top 16 teams in the country in a bracket. The committee will put together the top 4 seeds in each region. I do enjoy this exercise every February, I just wish they went a little farther into the bracket ( give us the top 6-7 seed lines) and then give us the top 4-5 teams just outside their bracket.
-These next 2-3 weeks in college hoops are critical for so many teams as they fight for seeding in their conference tournaments. Conference seeding is so important because many conferences have byes and double byes in their tournaments that keep players fresh. Also around the country other teams are fighting just to be included in their conference tournaments because many conferences this year are not inviting all members.
-BUCKLE UP, this is the best 6 week stretch on the sports calendar every year! Make sure to follow along daily at HOOPSHD.com
STAFF COMMENTS: (coming soon)
Posted inBracketology|Comments Off on Hoops HD Staff Bracket – David Dorman – Feb 13th
-Saint John’s winning streak was finally snapped as they fell at Villanova yesterday 73-71. All four of the Johnnies’ losses this season have been by 3pts or less, and while Nova is nowhere near the bubble the loss won’t hurt them that badly.
A few teams had close calls last night
-Texas Tech had all kinds of trouble with Arizona State, but held on to win in overtime 111-106 sidestepping what wouldn’t have been a huge landmine, but it’s still a loss that would have set them back.
-Ole Miss also struggled last night against an inferior South Carolina team, but did manage the road win 72-68.
-New Mexico really struggled with Wyoming and avoided a loss that would have knocked them pretty far down the seedlist, but held on to win at home 71-67
-Wake Forest, who was squarely on the bubble and could not afford a home loss to a team that was nowhere near the field, lost last night to Florida State, who was nowhere near the field. Not only did they lose, but they lost stupidly. They threw up a halfcourt shot with 12 seocnds to go, and then waited to foul FSU after failing to make the shot and not getting the rebound. The final was 72-70.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-MARYLAND AT NEBRASKA (Big Ten). Maryland continues to string together wins, boost their metrics, and climb the seedlist. They’ve got another tough one tonight against a Nebraska team that has been playing really well lately, and who is right on the bubble, and who needs this one themselves.
-MEMPHIS AT SOUTH FLORIDA (American). Memphis is good enough to win out, and if they do they should be very close to a protected seed.
-UC SANTA BARBARA AT UC IRVINE (Big West). UC Irvine is coming off a rare loss, but if they can win out, which they are good enough to do, they will still be right on the bubble and I think they can still get in. They’re still one of the best defensive teams in the country.
-SAN FRANCISCO AT GONZAGA (West Coast). This is a hugely important game. Gonzaga is trying to improve their profile and climb the seedlist, whereas San Francisco is squarely on the bubble and a win like this would likely put them inside of it.
UC-Santa Barbara (16-8, 8-5) at UC-Irvine (20-4, 10-2) – 11:00 PM ET (ESPNU)
Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day is one of the highlights of the UTR Calendar – this will be the first leg of the Gauch Eater Cup where the UC-Santa Barbara Gauchos travel south to take on the UC-Irvine Anteaters. Irvine is coming off of a tough 18-point loss at home against UC-San Diego that knocked the Anteaters down into a first-place tie for the Big West conference lead. It was also a serious blow for their at-large NCAA Tournament hopes, but they will still be one of the favorites to win the Big West Tournament coming up in March. Bent Leuchten averages 16 points a game and 9.1 rebounds a game for the Anteaters.
UC-Santa Barbara got off to a rough start in conference play with losses against UC-San Diego and UC-Davis back in December, but since have gone a very respectable 8-3 in conference play. They are one game back of Northridge and UC-Riverside for 3rd place in the conference. Deuce Turner had 23 points off the bench to lead the Gauchos to a 76-72 win over Hawai’i in their previous game on Saturday.
Tonight’s feature conference is the MAC, and we discuss how Akron has the longest winning streak in all of D1 and is unbeaten in conference play. They have some tough games remaining, including their second game against rival Kent State, but they’re good enough to run the table, make the NCAA Tournament, and potentially be a very dangerous opponent in the Round of 64.
After that, we run through the other 21 UTR conferences. Maine is still just one game behind Bryant as the two battle it out for home court advantage. UC San Diego got a very impressive win at UC Irvine, but both teams have incredible profiles and both look like they belong inside the bubble. Drake continues to run through the Missouri Valley and could also end up inside the bubble. Chattanooga is suddenly in 1st place in the SoCon, the Sun Belt is still a tight race, Jacksonville State now has a two game lead in Conference USA, and several conferences are into the final stretch. We discuss all that, and more! And, as we do every week, we close with this week’s UTR Top Ten.
And, for all you radio lovers, below is an audio only version of the show…
Robert Morris (18-8, 10-5) at Cleveland State (18-7, 12-2) – 7:00 PM ET (ESPN+)
Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day heads to Cleveland as the hometown Cleveland State Vikings host the Robert Morris Colonials in a matchup of Horizon League heavyweights. For the first time since Dennis Gates was the Vikings’ head coach, Cleveland State finds themselves back at the top of the league standings. Although Northern Kentucky did snap a 13-game winning streak last week, CSU has a 1.5 game lead over Purdue-Fort Wayne and a 2.5 game lead over both RMU and Youngstown State. Tevin Smith averages 14.3 points a game for the Vikings.
Morris Robert, err, Robert Morris is having their best season since joining the Horizon League earlier this decade. The Colonials have won eight of their last nine games to work their way up to a 3rd-place tie in the Horizon and an inside track to potentially making the semifinals in Indianapolis for the first time since leaving the NEC. In their last outing, Alvaro Folguerias scored 35 points for RMU in their 81-76 win at Northern Kentucky.
-Auburn and Alabama both got by their trap games, which really weren’t easy games to win. Auburn took care of Vanderbilt 80-68 on the road, and Alabama won at Texas 103-80. Let the buildup begin!!
-Florida, who I had been critical of for lacking in road wins, picked up another huge road win at Mississippi State last night 81-68. I now think Florida is a #1 seed caliber team. I can’t say that I’ve been thinking that all along, but I am definitely thinking it now.
-Tennessee had a bad shooting night from the outside, largely due to Kentucky’s defense, and while they kept it close until the final couple of minutes Kentucky ended up with a 75-64 win, which completes their season sweep of Tennessee.
-Purdue, who had been as hot as anyone in the country, came up just short on the road at Michigan 75-73. They had a chance to win it late, but the Wolverines survived, and for what it’s worth in the new bloated conference era, they’ve jumped over Purdue in the Big Ten standings.
-Indiana, who we’ve been beating up on pretty hard lately, has actually played some close games against top teams, and last night finally won one as they went into Michigan State and knocked off the Spartans 71-67. Indiana would need a Herculean type of finish to end up making the field, but they played well on the road against a team that had been looking like a protected seed. As for the Spartans, they have come back down to Earth somewhat as they’ve now lost three of their last four.
-Kansas State just keeps winning, and keeps doing it against good teams. They’ve now won six in a row after holding off Arizona 73-70. It was a home win, but Arizona had been as hot as anyone in the country, so it’s still a big win for the Wildcats. K State’s next two games are on the road. If they can win both of those, they’ll most likely start being projected into our brackets.
-Connecticut, who had been struggling somewhat lately, went on the road to Creighton and got what may be their biggest win of the season so far as they held off the Bluejays 70-66. This should move UConn up a seedline or two, and while it’s a bit of a setback for Creighton, they still have a path to a protected seed.
-George Mason needed overtime, but they did get by Saint Louis 76-74 to keep their dreams of landing inside the bubble alive.
-UCLA had their winning streak snapped as they went on the road to Illinois and lost 83-78. The Bruins made a run late, and the game really did come down to the final seconds with the margin not being extended to 5 until some late freethrows, so I still think UCLA has a lot of fight in them and could make quite a bit of noise between now and the end.
-Utah State, San Diego State, Oregon, and Saint Mary’s all got battles in the late tips last night, but also all held on to win.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
SAINT JOHN’S AT VILLANOVA (Big East). The Johnnies are now atop the Big East, they are one of the hottest teams in the country, and while Nova is not the easiest team to beat at home Saint John’s has shown they can win tough games. Nova just got a good win against Xavier, but they still have a lot of work to do to even reach the bubble.
-OLE MISS AT SOUTH CAROLINA (SEC). There really aren’t very many easy games in the SEC, much less any easy road games, but this one is perhaps easier than most. Ole Miss has now own three out of four and can continue that stretch of wins tonight.
-LOUISVILLE AT NC STATE (ACC). Louisville is having a great season and shouldn’t have too much trouble going on the road and getting this one. They should easily end up in the top half of the bracket.
-FLORIDA STATE AT WAKE FOREST (ACC). Wake is still right on the bubble and needs to hold serve at home against a Florida State team that recently just snapped a four game losing streak and is nowhere near the bubble.
-STANFORD AT GEORGIA TECH (ACC). I don’t think Stanford is anywhere close, but they are on our radar and a strong finish may get them there. They’ll need to win this one against a Georgia Tech team that’s managed a few big wins lately.
-VCU AT GEORGE WASHINGTON (Atlantic 10). VCU is on the bubble and I think they’ll need to win out to get any sort of a serious look.
-CHATTANOOGA AT SAMFORD (SoCon). This game doesn’t impact the bracket, but both teams are in a 3-way tie for 1st place in the SoCon.
-XAVIER AT PROVIDENCE (Big East). Xavier is a good ways outside the bubble after a stretch where they had been looking pretty good. They pretty much need to win out to have any sort of a chance.
-WASHINGTON AT OHIO STATE (Big Ten). Ohio State continues to hang around the bubble, and even though they did lose to Nebraska their last time out they have been a lot more consistent and if they can hold serve in games like this they should keep themselves in the discussion.
-CALIFORNIA AT DUKE (ACC). This is a conference game, but it may end up looking like a buy game. Duke is still solidly within reach of earning a 1-seed and should hold serve in this one.
-ARIZONA STATE AT TEXAS TECH (Big 12). I believe Arizona State has fallen out of the picture, but they’re still not a team that you can just overlook. Having said that, this should be a game where Texas Tech holds serve.
-OKLAHOMA AT MISSOURI (SEC). This is a big game for the Sooners who have struggled in SEC play, but are still within reach of making the field and who can really strengthen their case with a win like this. Having said that, games like this are not easy to win. Mizzou is very tough to beat at home and is looking to bounce back from a close loss in their last game.
-DRAKE AT ILLINOIS STATE (Missouri Valley). It’s what we always say about Drake. If they win out then they will likely get selected.
-LSU AT ARKANSAS (SEC). Arkansas is playing much better, and while they didn’t beat Alabama in their last game they have at least looked like an NCAA Tournament team the last several times they have taken the floor. They need all the wins they can get, and this is perhaps one of the more winnable games they have on their schedule.
-WYOMING AT NEW MEXICO (Mountain West). New Mexico is solidly inside the bubble and will remain there so long as they win their hold-serve-games.
