4/5 Seed travel
If your team falls on the 4 seed or 5 seed line it may not be a good thing. With the Midwest and Eastern United States compiling the vast majority of the 1-4 seeds(all but Arizona and San Diego St. at this point) that means that location will be a big issue for the 4 and 5 seed East Coast teams in particular. With Arizona obviously going to play in San Diego and San Diego St. most likely playing in Spokane that leaves each of those sites sitting there when the 4 seed line come around. What this means is more than likely some East coast team, if not two, is going to have to be shipped all the way to the West coast to play in the first couple of rounds of the tournament. The top 4 seed lines are location protected, which means they play as close to home as possible, but with the majority of the West coast teams being in the middle of the bracket the 4 and 5 seed lines are not a fun place to be.
BYU
They may have the hardest resume of anyone in the country to figure out. BYU has a tidy RPI of 35 and wins over Stanford, Texas, and Gonzaga but they also have the worst losses of any bubble team. They have lost to Loyola Marymount, Pepperdine, Portland, and Pacific which all can be characterized as bad losses. Even worse Loyola, Pepperdine, and Portland are all outside of the top 150 which means BYU has stunningly lost to 3 really bad teams but that seems to be overlooked. I think the determining factor is that not only does BYU have the worst losses of any bubble team but their three best wins are not extraordinary by any means. I may stand alone in this thought but I think BYU needs to win the WCC tournament to get into the big dance.
Arkansas
The national pundits have been glowing about Arkansas as of late and they have good reason to because they have been playing tremendous. Arkansas has beaten 8 of it's last 9 opponents and that 1 loss came to Missouri by one. The problem with the national media is they often do not remember to take into account the entire season and instead focus on the here and now when they claim that teams are now "locks for the tournament." I would like to say I do have Arkansas in the field as of now but only as an 11 in the play-in game. If they keep winning they will certainly receive a bid but at this point they most certainly need to keep winning because they may not be as close to a lock as some suggest.
Showing posts with label St. Louis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label St. Louis. Show all posts
Friday, March 7, 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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