Bracketology comes after the weekend where bubble teams did themselves a disservice. There’s always that one weekend where none of the bubble teams want to help their resumes and we just had that. It was weird because the chatter Friday on Twitter was how good the bubble teams looked. It was a jinx. Saint Louis kicked off Friday with a loss to Dayton. That’s its second loss to the Flyers this season. It’s a bad loss. Some may want to say, Dayton is back on the bubble. No. It is not. Yes, it does have some good talent, but it’s too late for Dayton.
One of the worst was probably St. John’s losing to DePaul. I would like to make a case that the Blue Demons have good talent, but it’s a horrible loss for the Johnnies and their resume. Utah State got swept by Boise State. The Aggies’ adjusted winning percentage is now below eight and are clearly sitting behind the other four Mountain West teams. Indiana lost at home to Michigan State. Minnesota got dismantled at home to Illinois, which puts the Gophers in a very deep hole. Stanford lost a triple overtime game to Washington State. UConn couldn’t secure its signature win over Villanova. VCU lost a heartbreaker to George Mason and also lost its best player. Bone Hyland went down with a major leg injury. Turns out to be just a sprained foot, but it looked ugly.
Louisville got picked apart by North Carolina. That certainly helps the Tar Heels tremendously but puts the Cardinals square on the bubble. Another game like that was Maryland beating Rutgers. The Terps were as bubbly as any team in the country and beating the Scarlet Knights on the road is huge. And the Knights fell like a ton of bricks. Seton Hall decided to lose to Georgetown to make it even more confusing.
There was the thriller in Columbus. I didn’t lead with the game because it had no impact on the bracket. But it was super exciting to watch and Michigan really showed why it is clearly the third best team in the country. Houston destroyed Cincinnati by 38 but announced it will be playing Western Kentucky this week. Truly a Goat Rodeo and that will be a major resume booster for both.
The Horizon League and America East are entering conference tournament play this week. Cleveland State clinched the one seed in the Horizon and UMBC has the top-spot in the AEC. Three other teams have already clinched a top spot in their conference tournament, Gonzaga, Winthrop and Belmont.
No, Duke, I did not forget about you. I was cooking the Blue Devils last week. They decided to go ahead and beat Virginia and then Syracuse. The Orange were actually a bubble team that helped themselves over the weekend but then got destroyed by Duke that pushed did a lot of harm. Hate to say it, but Duke deserves almost all of where I have it now. The other reason for having Duke so high is because you know if it is anywhere near the bubble come Selection Sunday, the Blue Devils are getting in.
Be happy that conference tournaments are starting this week. More will be starting next week. Soon Champ week will be here. I don’t care if there are a couple thousand fans, couple hundred or just a couple, as long as we get all the conference tournaments in with full participants.
As always, check us all out on the Bracket Matrix as the season is just starting to get good.
Pod 1
1 Gonzaga
16 Texas-Rio Grande Valley/NC A&T
8 Rutgers
9 Seton Hall
5 Virginia Tech
12 Boise State
4 Kansas
13 Colgate
6 Missouri
11 Loyola-Chicago/Stanford
3 Florida State
14 Liberty
7 San Diego State
10 VCU
2 Iowa
15 South Dakota State
Pod 4
1 Ohio State
16 Texas State
8 LSU
9 North Carolina
5 Tennessee
12 UCSB
4 Purdue
13 Akron
6 Texas Tech
11 Drake
3 Houston
14 UMBC
7 Colorado
10 Louisville
2 Alabama
15 Eastern Washington
Pod 2
1 Baylor
16 James Madison/PV A&M
8 BYU
9 UCLA
5 Creighton
12 Western Kentucky
4 Oklahoma
13 Winthrop
6 Wisconsin
11 UConn
3 Virginia
14 UNCG
7 OK State
10 St. Bonaventure
2 Illinois
15 Siena
Pod 3
1 Michigan
16 Bryant
8 Arkansas
9 Oregon
5 Texas
12 Xavier/Colorado State
4 USC
13 Belmont
6 Clemson
11 Wichita State
3 West Virginia
14 Abilene Christian
7 Florida
10 Maryland
2 Villanova
15 Cleveland State
Last four byes
Louisville
VCU
Maryland
UConn
Last four in
Loyola-Chicago
Stanford
Xavier
Colorado State
First four out
Minnesota
Indiana
Duke
Utah State
Next four out
Georgia Tech
Syracuse
SMU
St. John’s
Four more
Saint Louis
Memphis
Richmond
Michigan State