Big Monday saw two Big 12 powers, Kansas and Iowa State, falling rather dramatically, though each in different ways. West Virginia may have played itself onto the bubble. And in the ACC, Florida State may have played itself off.
@West Virginia 102, Iowa State 77: It is almost impossible that this game could have gone as badly as it did for Iowa State, but there you have it. I don't know that there was a formula, exactly, but things just kept going south for ISU as the game proceeded.
More importantly, West Virginia inches even closer to the bubble. Although I don't think they've been in any of my out-lines, they've been close for a while, and I'd bet that this at least makes WVU appear in those lines, if not make it all the way into the tourney. This last run, with wins over Iowa State, Oklahoma, Kansas State, and Baylor have erased a lot of the bad that WVU did to itself earlier in the year. The Mountaineers are now sitting at 5th in the Big 12, ahead of Iowa State and Oklahoma State, which seemed highly unlikely a few weeks ago in the extremely deep Big 12.
Miami (FL) 77, @Florida State 73: Florida State continues to confuse everyone, having had a good run in early January but playing terrible since. Florida State has gone 2-6 in its last 8 games, and it hasn't exactly faced a tough schedule (at NC State, Clemson, at Maryland, Miami (FL), all losses). My guess is that the committee's focus on recent games would put the Seminoles out of the bracket now, all the goodwill done earlier in the season gone.
The game of the night, which I didn't talk above above, might have been Kansas at Kansas State, which saw K-State get one of its few precious wins in the series. I didn't talk about it above because it didn't really do a whole lot for either team. It might actually punish Kansas State, as being a #10 seed (which they were in the last Bracket Brief) is generally better than being an #8 or a #9. And Kansas won't drop for losing in OT on the road.
@Georgetown 83, Providence 71 - G'Town improving rapidly, while Friars falling back
@North Carolina Central 92, Florida A&M 49
@Virginia 61, Maryland 53
Southern 68, @Jackson State 63
@Kansas State 85, Kansas 82 (OT) - KState gets important win that helps them, unlikely to hurt KU
Tuesday is a short calendar, but there are a lot of gems. Florida is facing two of its last tests of the season coming up, with back-to-back games at Tennessee and at Kentucky. We'll see what Oklahoma State can do on the road without Marcus Smart. And Michigan and Ohio State continue in the crazy Big Ten regular season.
#2 Florida at #10 Tennessee
#8 Oklahoma State at #8 Texas
(FFO) Clemson at Notre Dame
Southern Illinois at #1 Wichita State
#4 Michigan at #5 Ohio State
#8 Xavier at Butler
#2 San Diego State at Wyoming
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