Sunday's college basketball slate included only a handful of games, but several, at least four, had a major impact on the bracket and bubble landscape. From the East Coast to the West Coast, it was a Sunday worth mentioning, especially since Selection Sunday is now a mere 3 weeks away.
@Michigan 79, Michigan State 70: With the way that the Big Ten's teams have been beating up on each other, we really didn't know what was going to happen when the two teams who have been sitting atop the conference met. Not so surprisingly, Michigan won at home, taking control in the second half as home teams so often do. It is hard to say who is the better team, although Michigan swept the regular season series. Michigan State is still trying to find itself after a season and a half full of injuries, but the Spartans are running out of time, having gone 5-5 in its last 10 games (and recent record is something the committee looks at). Michigan is a far-better 7-3, and with an easy schedule remaining, Michigan is in the driver's seat for the #1 seed at the Big Ten tourney.
SMU 64, @Connecticut 55: Go back to when the American Athletic Conference was announced, and you assumed that in its first year the best teams would be Louisville, Cinci, Memphis, and UConn, and that the trio minus Louisville, heading to the ACC, would be at the top going forward. But here is SMU, sitting in 3rd place. Sure, the Mustangs have had some trouble down the stretch with losses at South Florida and Temple, but it also has good wins through January and February (UConn, Memphis, Cinci, at UConn). With two of its last three games very difficult, three weeks from Selection Sunday, SMU is a lock to make the tournament even if it loses out. That's something that would have been nearly impossible to predict at the beginning of the season. The Mustangs are a team that could lose in the first round or make it to the Elite 8 where all bets would be off. We know it will be fun to watch either way.
Florida State 71, @Pittsburgh 66: Florida State is in major trouble, but this major road win might have been the shot in the arm that FSU needed. FSU has been quite bad since the middle of January, its low point being a 5-game stretch where it played 5 ACC teams that won't make the Big Dance and lost to 4 of them, including 2 at home. Before today, the Seminoles had lost 6 of its last 8 games with no impressive wins. If, and it is a huge if, Florida State can somehow win its last 3 games, which includes a home game against Syracuse, they might have a Top 50 RPI again, which is bubble material. But any losses, especially to Georgia Tech or at Boston College, may knock FSU out for good. There are just too many teams in line which could take that at-large berth.
Arizona State 86, @Utah 63: Surprisingly, Utah is not dead. If Utah can find a way to win its last 3 games, Colorado and at Cal and Stanford, Utah will have an RPI of 60 heading into the Pac-12 tournament. Two wins from that point might be just enough to sneak the Utes back into the bracket. And while the season has been disappointing, the Utes certainly are capable. ASU leaves the mountain region with two losses, hurting their seed and giving hope to both Colorado (for a better seed) and Utah (for an at-large berth) going forward.
Providence scored a major season-continuing win at Butler today. Elsewhere, a couple of mid-major top seeds fell at home, and a couple of Pac-12 schools gave themselves a boost.
Bucknell 63, @Boston U 53 - Boston now has only 1-game lead over American in Patriot
Mercer 73, @Stetson 52
Iona 86, @Marist 67
@Vermont 72, Hartford 47
Drexel 69, @Delaware 65 - Delaware's Colonial lead down to 1 game
@Creighton 72, Seton Hall 71
Providence 87, @Butler 81 - necessary win for Providence to stay on bubble
@Toledo 85, Ball State 74
@California 77, USC 64
@Oregon 67, Washington State 53
The one big upset chance for Monday night's action is Syracuse at Maryland. Syracuse, though, on a two-game losing streak, should be expected to find their bearings by the time they hit Maryland's floor. Then again, Syracuse shouldn't have lost at Boston College, so you never know. Oklahoma winning at Kansas would be an upset, but it wouldn't hurt Kansas much, and KU is so strong lately that an upset in Lawrence seems unlikely.
#1 Syracuse at (LFO) Maryland
#11 Oklahoma State at TCU
#16 Southern at Alabama State
#8 Oklahoma at #2 Kansas
No comments:
Post a Comment