Sunday came with a short calendar but still managed to give us five bracket-shuffling upsets.
Wisconsin 75, @Michigan 62: Early Sunday, we had our first upset, when Wisconsin won at Michigan. Honestly, back in early January, this wouldn't have seemed like that much of an upset, if at all. But Wisconsin lost five of six and looked lost. Winning its last four games, however, makes it look like Wisconsin is back on track. Michigan is still in first place in the Big Ten thanks to Michigan State's loss, but Wisconsin and Iowa are only two wins back. The Big Ten keeps beating itself up, but this was not the upset of the day in the conference.
@Temple 71, SMU 64: I am only highlighting this game to signify that it was a fairly large upset, but it shouldn't hurt SMU too much. A road loss here and there is acceptable, but SMU has lost to Temple and South Florida, each pretty bad teams. And in terms of bracket positioning, SMU needed this one, considering among its last five games are games at Connecticut and Memphis and at home against Louisville.
Nebraska 60, @Michigan State 51: So if you thought Wisconsin winning at Michigan was impressive, how about this one? Nebraska is in no position to make it to the tournament, and yet they were able to pull off the upset. We're at a point where we have to start questioning what we really think about Michigan State as it is, not as the team it could have been without so many injuries after the season started. MSU has now lost four of its last seven games, including tonight's game and the game at Georgetown, each unexpected losses. The Spartans simply don't look like a team that can do much damage in March.
@Creighton 101, Villanova 80: There's something about Villanova that just gets Creighton going. In their two games this year, Creighton has won by a combined 49 points (and would have won by more in each game if it hadn't taken its foot off the gas). Yes, these losses hurt Nova, but remember, they've only lost three games all year: two to Creighton (obviously a bad matchup) and one at Syracuse (who is the #1 team). Should Villanova finish as they are capable of, a #1 seed is in the cards. As for Creighton, apparently, they just need to hope for a seed that allows them to be placed in Villanova's region.
@St. John's 82, Georgetown 60: On January 16, St. John's looked all but dead, sitting at 9-8 overall and 0-5 in the Big East. But SJU's remarkable run to the tournament continues. SJU is 8-1 since, losing only at Creighton. SJU still has some tough games left, including a trip to Villanova, but a 3-2 finish followed by a decent showing in the Big East Tournament should put the Red Storm in the tournament.
On this day of upsets, these 6 teams remarkably kept their positions by winning games they were supposed to win.
@Mercer 89, Northern Kentucky 67
@Oregon 93, Oregon State 83
Wichita State 84, @Evansville 68
@Louisville 102, Rutgers 54
Minnesota 54, @Northwestern 48
Colorado 83, @USC 74
In one of Monday's only two games involving teams in the bracket, we'll see if Florida State can strengthen its bracket position by beating North Carolina at home. The other game, though, is far more interesting. Baylor is out, but it is on the borderline for getting back into the bracket. A win over Oklahoma State would likely do it. And Oklahoma State desperately needs a win, but it will likely find a win hard to come by with Marcus Smart serving the last of his three-game suspension. While OK State still has computer numbers that are good enough, almost no one gets in the tournament when suffering a seven-game losing streak this late in the season.
#8 North Carolina at (LFI) #12 Florida State
#13 Delaware at Towson
#16 Davidson at The Citadel
Texas State at #15 Georgia State
#14 North Carolina Central at Savannah State
#9 Oklahoma State at (FFO) Baylor
Mississippi Valley State at #16 Southern
#16 Weber State at Idaho State
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