Marquette @ Providence
Tuesday March 3, 9:00 P.M. ET
This is a massive game for both teams as they head into the final week of the season. Providence after a good week last week sits in the Last Four In category of yesterdays bracket while Marquette continues to hang around just outside of the bracket. With these two teams tied at 9-7 in Big East play on Selection Sunday the loser could look to this game as the reason they were left out while their counterpart was just inside the tournament. It will be interesting to see if Providence can keep up their rise into the bracket or if Marquette can finally get over the hump and put themselves on the right side of the bubble.
Prediction: Providence wins at home and begins to completely solidify their bid while Marquette misses out on another opportunity to push themselves into the dance.
Nebraska @ Indiana
Wednesday March 4, 7:00 P.M. ET
The winner of this game will move closer to the field but more importantly whomever loses this game will most likely be eliminated from any chance at an at large birth. That makes this matchup really intriguing because you have to imagine both teams will know how much is at stake. Both teams have been trending up as of late. Indiana has seemingly came out of no where to get into contention for a bid, but they can not afford another loss during the regular season. Nebraska sits in slightly better shape(Next Four Out Category) but with the bubble shrinking every loss could be a death blow.
Prediction: Indiana holds serve at home once again and comes within reach of a bid with an extremely difficult game @Michigan that would give them a bid. Nebraska with this loss falls to the point where they may need to win the BTT to receive a bid especially with their potential 2-9 road record.
Utah @ California
Wednesday March 4, 11:00 P.M. ET
California slowly but surely has been slipping in the field and they appear to be now floating right around the play-in game or just above. With that said Utah appears to finally be rising up the ranks into at least the conversation for a bid if they can keep winning. This point may be null and void because Utah may have to win their conference tournament in order to get in but their resume does have some meat on it.
Prediction: California holds serve at home and pretty much eliminates Utah from an at large berth. It is particularly hard to see Utah winning this game because they are just 1-7 on the road with that win coming at lowly USC. If Utah does not win this game they have no chance at all because the committee values road wins very highly.
Missouri @ Tennessee
Saturday March 8, 4:00 P.M. ET
This matchup will basically decide if and who will be the fourth team from the SEC. As long as Arkansas does not collapse it appears that they will find themselves in the field but the question all along was will there be a fourth SEC team? Well this matchup came at a perfect time to leave an impression in the committees mind between two teams that essentially have the same resume. Missouri in my projections is slightly ahead of Tennessee but without a doubt the winner of this game would jump the other.
Prediction: Missouri comes into Tennessee and finally secures the SEC 4 bids in the dance. Tennessee whose profile is slightly weaker than Missouri's falls well back with this loss and more than likely needs an SEC tournament title to make the field.
Showing posts with label California. Show all posts
Showing posts with label California. Show all posts
Monday, March 3, 2014
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Wednesday Night Recap(2/19)
Boston College 62 Syracuse 59 OT
Syracuse lost a mind boggling game to 7-19 Boston College. It was apparent that this was coming with how they have been playing but it was hard to imagine it would be at home to Boston College. Nonetheless, despite probably the biggest upset of the season, Syracuse remains a #1 seed.
Outcome: Syracuse remains a #1 seed but Arizona takes over as the #1 overall.
Creighton 85 Marquette 70
This game is mostly about what Marquette didn't get done as much as the win for Creighton. This is just another example of a bubble team on the outside looking in not getting it done against a good opponent. This does not hurt Marquette but eventually one of the many bubble teams will get a huge win and everyone else will not have much to complain about given everyones opportunities.
Outcome:Creighton continues to move up the bracket and solidify their place as a 3-4 seed.
Marquette remains outside of the bracket, but within a stones throw.
West Coast Madness
The night's biggest movers and shakers certainly were going to occur out West with a slew of big matchups.
Arizona 67 Utah 63 OT
Arizona faced a scare against a solid Utah team on the road but was able to survive and maintain their place in the bracket. Utah missed a huge chance to get back into the discussion for a bid.
UCLA 86 California 66
UCLA improved their resume in a rout at Cal and will most certainly move up in the bracket after collecting a top 50 win on the road. Cal remains the same due to the quality of UCLA.
Oregon 78 Washington 71
Oregon collected a top 100 win at home and all of the sudden the ducks are back to 5-8 in conference play along with their stellar non-conference schedule they are back in the discussion for a bid.
Colorado 61 Arizona St. 52
In a matchup of two teams that appear to be in the 6-10 range of the tournament picture Colorado collected another big win at home. Colorado has proven that they are still a solid team without Dinwiddie going 6-4 in their 10 games without him. Both teams appear to be in good shape for tournament bids.
New Mexico 68 UNLV 56
New Mexico continued to build their already solid tournament resume tonight at UNLV. This game didn't help them as much as it would have hurt them but nonetheless on a day where many failed to help themselves New Mexico continues to press forward.
Other Games of Note:
Florida 71 Auburn 66; St. Louis 89 George Mason 85 OT
On a night when the #1 team went down to an inferior opponent credit has to be given to Florida and St. Louis for holding on and not suffering a similar loss as Syracuse. Both were given a scare but were able to find a way to win.
Illinois 62 Minnesota 49
Minnesota took a big hit at home losing to an Illinois team that had lost 10 of 11 coming into the game. Illinois was an rpi top 100 team so the loss is not as devastating as some believe but with such a huge mash up of teams at the end of the bracket that are deserving it is a body blow. Minneosta now has a three game stretch of @Ohio St., Iowa, and @Michigan that will make or break their season.
A new bracket prediction will be released tomorrow so until then last nights can hold you over. There should be a decent amount of change given the volume and importance of games that were played today and that will be played tomorrow.
Syracuse lost a mind boggling game to 7-19 Boston College. It was apparent that this was coming with how they have been playing but it was hard to imagine it would be at home to Boston College. Nonetheless, despite probably the biggest upset of the season, Syracuse remains a #1 seed.
Outcome: Syracuse remains a #1 seed but Arizona takes over as the #1 overall.
Creighton 85 Marquette 70
This game is mostly about what Marquette didn't get done as much as the win for Creighton. This is just another example of a bubble team on the outside looking in not getting it done against a good opponent. This does not hurt Marquette but eventually one of the many bubble teams will get a huge win and everyone else will not have much to complain about given everyones opportunities.
Outcome:Creighton continues to move up the bracket and solidify their place as a 3-4 seed.
Marquette remains outside of the bracket, but within a stones throw.
West Coast Madness
The night's biggest movers and shakers certainly were going to occur out West with a slew of big matchups.
Arizona 67 Utah 63 OT
Arizona faced a scare against a solid Utah team on the road but was able to survive and maintain their place in the bracket. Utah missed a huge chance to get back into the discussion for a bid.
UCLA 86 California 66
UCLA improved their resume in a rout at Cal and will most certainly move up in the bracket after collecting a top 50 win on the road. Cal remains the same due to the quality of UCLA.
Oregon 78 Washington 71
Oregon collected a top 100 win at home and all of the sudden the ducks are back to 5-8 in conference play along with their stellar non-conference schedule they are back in the discussion for a bid.
Colorado 61 Arizona St. 52
In a matchup of two teams that appear to be in the 6-10 range of the tournament picture Colorado collected another big win at home. Colorado has proven that they are still a solid team without Dinwiddie going 6-4 in their 10 games without him. Both teams appear to be in good shape for tournament bids.
New Mexico 68 UNLV 56
New Mexico continued to build their already solid tournament resume tonight at UNLV. This game didn't help them as much as it would have hurt them but nonetheless on a day where many failed to help themselves New Mexico continues to press forward.
Other Games of Note:
Florida 71 Auburn 66; St. Louis 89 George Mason 85 OT
On a night when the #1 team went down to an inferior opponent credit has to be given to Florida and St. Louis for holding on and not suffering a similar loss as Syracuse. Both were given a scare but were able to find a way to win.
Illinois 62 Minnesota 49
Minnesota took a big hit at home losing to an Illinois team that had lost 10 of 11 coming into the game. Illinois was an rpi top 100 team so the loss is not as devastating as some believe but with such a huge mash up of teams at the end of the bracket that are deserving it is a body blow. Minneosta now has a three game stretch of @Ohio St., Iowa, and @Michigan that will make or break their season.
A new bracket prediction will be released tomorrow so until then last nights can hold you over. There should be a decent amount of change given the volume and importance of games that were played today and that will be played tomorrow.
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