18 Mar 5 - "If This Town Is Just An Apple ..." (PRETOURNAMENT)
Volume XXII, No. 18 - 18 Mar 5: PRETOURNAMENT - [] Top 25 Ballot
"If This Town Is Just An Apple ..."
Xavier went 2-0 to claim its first-ever BIG EAST title since joining in 2013. Elsewhere, Creighton tripped at Marquette (81-@85 in a multi-star shootout). Butler dropped two: first, tripping in double-overtime at lowly St. John's (68-@75[2OT] as xJustin Simon[24p10r4a6to] starred); then, falling at Seton Hall (70-@77 despite 35p6r from bKelan Martin). Villanova escaped in overtime on the road at SETON (69-@68[OT] as xMikal Bridges[23p10r] countered 23p7a7r from pKhadeen Carrington).
In the SEC, Arkansas outran Auburn (@91-82 despite 28p8r from tMustapha Heron). The loss meant AUB had to share the regular season title with Tennessee. (It's the first title in 10 years for TENN, the first in nearly 20 years for AUB). Elsewhere, Florida won twice: first, handling Kentucky (@80-67);
then, dumping Alabama on the road (73-@52 as Jalen Hudson[27p0a] led the way). Also, Missouri handled ARK (@77-67 sinking 27-for-33 free throws) while Texas A&M edged BAMA (@68-66).
The showdown for the AMERICAN title went down to the wire with Cincinnati escaping on the road with a 62-@61 win over Wichita State.
Arizona's 2-0 week clinched the PACIFIC-12 title for the second-straight year (and FOURTH TIME IN FIVE YEARS). Elsewhere, Stanford edged on the road at Arizona State (84-@83 dominating the boards 45-23). UCLA completed the sweep of arch-rival USC with a solid road win (83-@72 on pAaron Holiday[34p7a5r]'s star turn).
Having already clinched the BIG 12 title, Kansas tanked on the road at Oklahoma State (64-@82 as gKendall Smith[25p3a] starred). West Virginia handled Texas Tech (@84-74 despite 26p12r5to from xJarrett Culver) but tripped in overtime at Texas (79-@87[OT]). TXT edged TCU (@79-75) to end a FOUR-GAME SKID but only after TCU had beaten Kansas State (@66-59). Oklahoma tanked at Baylor (64-@87). Kansas beat Texas (@80-70 shooting 60 percent as fUdoka Azubuike[20p8r5b] led the way).
In the ACC, Miami(Florida) won twice: first, edging on the road at North Carolina (91-@88 as six players posted double-figures despite 31p from gJoel Berry II); then, edging Virginia Tech at home (@69-68). Duke handed UNC its second loss on the week with a payback win (@74-64 as cMarvin Bagley III[21p15r] starred). Virginia Tech earlier edged Duke (@64-63). Clemson beat Florida State (@76-63 led by pMarcquise Reed[22p5a7r]) but then tripped at Syracuse (52-@55). North Carolina State tripped at lowly Georgia Tech (75-@78). Louisville fell twice: first, tripping at home against Virginia; then, falling at NCST (69-@76 led by pAllerik Freeman[16p6a6r]).
In the MOUNTAIN WEST, San Diego State won a couple of Desperation Trail home wins: first, beating Boise State (@72-64); then, edging Nevada (@79-74 despite 29p6r from fJordan Caroline).
In the ATLANTIC 10, Rhode Island phone it in, tanking at home against mediocre St. Joseph's (@48-78 shooting 28 percent [including 3-for-29 on threes]) and then tripped up in a DT loss at Davidson (61-@63 as xPeyton Aldridge[18p12r] led the way). Earlier, St. Bonaventure edged Davidson in a spectacular shootout in triple-overtime (@117-113[3OT]).
Buffalo closed the regular season 2-0 to wrap up the MID-AMERICAN East/Overall title; Toledo won the West, (two games back of BUFF overall).
In the the CONFERENCE USA showdown, Middle Tennessee thumped Western Kentucky (@82-64) to clinch its second-straight title.
In the BIG WEST, UC-Santa Barbara tripped at home against Long Beach State (@69-70 on bDeishaun Booker's game-winner) to fall out of first place. That left the showdown for the regular season title to UC-Davis, who edged on the road in double-overtime at UC-Irvine (90-@84[2OT] as pT.J. Shorts[21p5a7r] led the way).
In the SOUTHLAND showdown, Southeast Louisiana earned a share of the regular season title by beating Nicholls (@69-57). (It's the first title in over 10 years for SELA, the first in 20 years for NICHLS.)
Penn tripped on the road at Yale (79-@80 as xMiye Oni[23p12r] countered 21p7a5r from pDarnell Foreman). The loss meant the Quakers had to share the regular season IVY title with Harvard. (First in over 10 years for PENN.)
Grambling did just enough to claim the SWAC regular season title (its FIRST CONFERENCE TITLE IN NEARLY 30 YEARS!!!). (Unfortunately, GRAMB is ineligible for the postseason due to an NCAA ban.)
The MEAC race went down to the wire among several teams. North Carolina A&T pulled Bethune-Cookman back to the pack with a road win (86-@80 despite 25p from gBrandon Tabb); but NCAT fell out of contention with a road loss at North Carolina Central (59-@70). That provided a showdown game for Hampton, who edged on the road at Norfolk State (74-@71). Savannah State earned its share of the title thanks to a win over NCCU (@85-75 as bAlante Fenner[25p6r] starred).
- - - - - -
The BIG 10 moved up its regular season schedule by a week (including two conference games played in December) in order to book MADISON SQUARE GARDEN in New York City for its tournament (and give itself the exclusive spotlight among B-Majors). [2a]Ohio State tripped in the quarterfinals against [6b]Penn State (68-69 as pTony Carr[25p5a6r] dueled 25p5r from bKeita Bates-Diop). Last year, a near-deadly plane incident spurred Michigan to the tourney crown. This year, the Wolverines didn't need any outside motivation to win it again. [4b]MICH thumped [4a]Nebraska (77-58) in the quarters, handled [1]Michigan State (75-64 sinking 24-for-33 free throws) in the semis, and then beat [2b]Purdue (75-66 only committing 5 turnovers) in the final.
[1]Loyola(Illinois) took matters into its own hands and cruised through the MISSOURI VALLEY tournament to earn its first trip to the NCAAs in 33 years!
[1]Murray State dumped [2]Belmont in the OHIO VALLEY final (68-51 led by pJ Morant[15p5a5r) to claim the TiTo crown.
In the METRO ATLANTIC tournament, both [1a]Rider and [1b]Canisius lost right away in the quarters: RIDER fell to [9]St Peter's (55-66 thanks to 3-for-21 shooting on threes) while CANIS tripped against [7]Quinnipiac (@69-72).
In the HORIZON, [1]Northern Kentucky fell right away to lowly [8a]Cleveland State (80-89).
In the BIG SOUTH tournament, [1]UNC-Asheville tripped in the semis at home against [5a]Liberty (@69-71). That left the door open for [2a]Radford, who got by [2b]Winthrop (61-52) and then escaped at home past [5a]LIBTY (@55-52 on Carlik Jones' game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer).
[1]Florida Gulf Coast and [2]Lipscomb traded road wins during the regular season of ATLANTIC SUN play; so what to expect in the final? How about a 32-point lead on the road (60-@31 at the half) for the 2-seed Bisons who had to stave off a furious second-half comeback by the host 1-seed before winning (108-@96 as 65 percent shooting won out over 16-for-40 from three in a multiplayer shootout [including tGarrison Mathews{33p9r}]). (It's the first-ever trip to the NCAAs for LIPS!)
- - - - - -
No one managed to go undefeated in conference play this season (and only ACC/Virginia, WCC/Gonzaga, AMERE/Vermont and SUMMIT/South Dakota State even managed one-loss campaigns) ... that's one way to measure the strength of teams this year (i.e., no "unbeatable juggernauts" at any level). There was team that was winless in conference play: ACC/Pittsburgh(0-18) ... Ugh.
Unfortunately, Duke's gGrayson Allen had yet another asshole dirty play incident. This time it was a hip check on North Carolina's bCameron Johnson. It was rightfully called a flagrant foul; it was deliberate and absolutely "not a basketball play". He had done so well this season being on a team where he was by far outpaced talent-wise. With cMarvin Bagley III missing a few games with a sore knee, gAllen had come to the forefront once again (and maybe began feeling himself like he used to). Now that cBagley is back, here came that dark aspect of his persona once again. (Get some therapy, Dude. At least, he's a senior and will be gone from the college basketball scene soon enough.)
- - - - - -
With 36 at-large bids, we're no longer arguing about quality teams that don't get into the NCAAs. Now, it's a question of how many poor-quality teams get in anyway. There are nearly a dozen 1BC teams who appear to be splashworthy, but it's based more on how solidly they've dominated in conference moreso than any big wins out-of-conference in the preseason. The way the NCAA Seeding Committee has leaned in the past, none of them should expect an At-Large bid if they don't win their conference tourneys. So expect all of the bids to go to B-Major also-rans (deserving or not).
Here are the locks (and nots) for this year's at-large bids among the B-Major and MM leagues:
- - - - - -
Three weeks later, the top four of the official "PRESIXTEEN" look pretty good. Virginia and Villanova/Xavier are in; Purdue is now behind Cincinnati and Kansas; and Duke has a shot to move up to the top line if it can win the ACC tourney. Texas Tech and Rhode Island have fallen back; Gonzaga can't move up just by beating St. Mary's again. Nevada has no one to beat; the SEC teams have beaten each other down too much for a No.1-seed to emerge from there.
The BIG 12 has been the strongest overall league again (but not everyone is playing that well lately). The BIG EAST hadtwo elite teams (followed by a mad scramble of decent ones). The Mega-ACC was as deep as it's ever been (but maybe only two real Final Four contenders). The SEC's depth has improved dramatically this year (with maybe a half-dozen teams capable of making the Sweet 16). The BIG 10 had three quality teams for most of the year (with one late-surging squad who ran through the whole lot to claim their tourney crown) all of whom look just short of Final Four-calibre. The AMERICAN's top three could all make Sweet 16. The MISSOURI VALLEY was great overall (but only its champ is NCAA-quality). The PACIFIC-12 was so bad at the bottom that the entire league only rates as a Mid-Major; but that's par-for-the-course for the WEST COAST and MOUNTAIN WEST.
[1]@Kansas was a gap-champ in the BIG 12 regular season; but [2a]Texas Tech and [2b]West Virginia are capable of coming through if the Jayhawks don't take the tourney seriously. [2]Villanova will play with a chip on its shoulder in the BIG EAST tourney after handing the regular season title to [1]Xavier. Tournament play has been a challenge for [1]Virginia in the Tony Bennett Era; [2]Duke's talent may even make it the favorite to win the ACC tourney; [3d]North Carolina and [3b]Clemson have been more consistent than the pack of spoilers below them (but neither looks like it could beat both top teams on the way to the crown). [1a]Auburn, [1b]Tennessee, [3]Florida and [4c]Arkansas all have had solid seasons; but none of them appear strong enough to deal with the home-away-from-home phenomenon that is [4a]Kentucky in the postseason. Any one of [1]Cincinnati, [2a]Wichita State or [2b]Houston could squeak or roll to the AMERICAN tourney crown.
[1]Arizona's physical talent will be free to flourish in tournament play; so expect the AU/Wildcats to roll through the PAC-12 draw. [1]Gonzaga and [2]St. Mary's still appear headed for a rubber-match showdown in the WEST COAST final. [1]Nevada is head-and-shoulders above the rest of the MOUNTAIN WEST (but it's a deep league with several talented teams capable of spoiling if they don't focus on the task). Didn't like the way [1]Rhode Island took the final week off after clinching; they're good but not good enough to turn it off and on any time they want; [2]St. Bonaventure and [3]Davidson could well pull the upset. Star-less [1]Louisiana dominated the SUN BELT regular season (but the bigger individual stars reside on the rosters of the top three contenders).
It's all to play for in the SOUTHERN final with neither [1]UNC-Greensboro nor [2]East Tennessee State a clear favorite. [1]New Mexico State has no business not cruising through the WAC draw. [1]Buffalo handled all the MID-AMERICAN top contenders comfortably in the regular season; so no reason to expect the tourney to be any different. [1]Middle Tennessee handled its top rivals in CONFERENCE USA for the most part; so a TiTo result should be expected. [1]Montana is head-and-shoulders better than the rest of the field in the BIG SKY draw. [1]Bucknell at home is a no-brainer in the PATRIOT final. [1]Vermont has thoroughly dominated the AMERICA EAST for two years running; can't see a way they won't cruise into the NCAAs playing at home. Rival [2]South Dakota may have outplayed [1]South Dakota State(xMike Daum) on balance in splitting their regular season games; so their expected rubber-game final at the SANFORD PENTAGON is anyone's guess. A regular-season sweep plus home-court advantage should be enough for [1a]College of Charleston to complete the deal in the expected COLONIAL final against [1b]Northeastern. Absolutely anything could happen among four teams when the BIG WEST Wars spill into the conference tourney. Oddly, [3]Stephen F. Austin could well be the favorite ahead of co-titlists [1a]Southeast Louisiana and [1b]Nicholls in the SOUTHLAND tourney.
It's a Jack Dawson champ either way, but [4]Iona should prevail in the METRO ATLANTIC final. The path has already been cleared for [2]Wright State to cruise to the HORIZON crown. Home court in The should be more than enough for [1b]Penn to prevail over [1a]Harvard in the second-annual IVY tourney. [1]Wagner should cruise at home in the NORTHEAST final. With [1]Grambling State ineligible, the SWAC tourney is up for grabs among three pretenders. The MEAC Wars should spill into the conference tourney with no clear favorite among five squads.
-- Ron
P.S. Look for the official Hoops Contest invite Sunday overnight. (And don't forget the deadline is TUESDAY 6:30P because of the FIRST FOUR games.)
Top 25 - 18 Mar 5: PRETOURNAMENT - [] Column
"If This Town Is Just An Apple ..."
Xavier went 2-0 to claim its first-ever BIG EAST title since joining in 2013. Elsewhere, Creighton tripped at Marquette (81-@85 in a multi-star shootout). Butler dropped two: first, tripping in double-overtime at lowly St. John's (68-@75[2OT] as xJustin Simon[24p10r4a6to] starred); then, falling at Seton Hall (70-@77 despite 35p6r from bKelan Martin). Villanova escaped in overtime on the road at SETON (69-@68[OT] as xMikal Bridges[23p10r] countered 23p7a7r from pKhadeen Carrington).
In the SEC, Arkansas outran Auburn (@91-82 despite 28p8r from tMustapha Heron). The loss meant AUB had to share the regular season title with Tennessee. (It's the first title in 10 years for TENN, the first in nearly 20 years for AUB). Elsewhere, Florida won twice: first, handling Kentucky (@80-67);
then, dumping Alabama on the road (73-@52 as Jalen Hudson[27p0a] led the way). Also, Missouri handled ARK (@77-67 sinking 27-for-33 free throws) while Texas A&M edged BAMA (@68-66).
The showdown for the AMERICAN title went down to the wire with Cincinnati escaping on the road with a 62-@61 win over Wichita State.
Arizona's 2-0 week clinched the PACIFIC-12 title for the second-straight year (and FOURTH TIME IN FIVE YEARS). Elsewhere, Stanford edged on the road at Arizona State (84-@83 dominating the boards 45-23). UCLA completed the sweep of arch-rival USC with a solid road win (83-@72 on pAaron Holiday[34p7a5r]'s star turn).
Having already clinched the BIG 12 title, Kansas tanked on the road at Oklahoma State (64-@82 as gKendall Smith[25p3a] starred). West Virginia handled Texas Tech (@84-74 despite 26p12r5to from xJarrett Culver) but tripped in overtime at Texas (79-@87[OT]). TXT edged TCU (@79-75) to end a FOUR-GAME SKID but only after TCU had beaten Kansas State (@66-59). Oklahoma tanked at Baylor (64-@87). Kansas beat Texas (@80-70 shooting 60 percent as fUdoka Azubuike[20p8r5b] led the way).
In the ACC, Miami(Florida) won twice: first, edging on the road at North Carolina (91-@88 as six players posted double-figures despite 31p from gJoel Berry II); then, edging Virginia Tech at home (@69-68). Duke handed UNC its second loss on the week with a payback win (@74-64 as cMarvin Bagley III[21p15r] starred). Virginia Tech earlier edged Duke (@64-63). Clemson beat Florida State (@76-63 led by pMarcquise Reed[22p5a7r]) but then tripped at Syracuse (52-@55). North Carolina State tripped at lowly Georgia Tech (75-@78). Louisville fell twice: first, tripping at home against Virginia; then, falling at NCST (69-@76 led by pAllerik Freeman[16p6a6r]).
In the MOUNTAIN WEST, San Diego State won a couple of Desperation Trail home wins: first, beating Boise State (@72-64); then, edging Nevada (@79-74 despite 29p6r from fJordan Caroline).
In the ATLANTIC 10, Rhode Island phone it in, tanking at home against mediocre St. Joseph's (@48-78 shooting 28 percent [including 3-for-29 on threes]) and then tripped up in a DT loss at Davidson (61-@63 as xPeyton Aldridge[18p12r] led the way). Earlier, St. Bonaventure edged Davidson in a spectacular shootout in triple-overtime (@117-113[3OT]).
Buffalo closed the regular season 2-0 to wrap up the MID-AMERICAN East/Overall title; Toledo won the West, (two games back of BUFF overall).
In the the CONFERENCE USA showdown, Middle Tennessee thumped Western Kentucky (@82-64) to clinch its second-straight title.
In the BIG WEST, UC-Santa Barbara tripped at home against Long Beach State (@69-70 on bDeishaun Booker's game-winner) to fall out of first place. That left the showdown for the regular season title to UC-Davis, who edged on the road in double-overtime at UC-Irvine (90-@84[2OT] as pT.J. Shorts[21p5a7r] led the way).
In the SOUTHLAND showdown, Southeast Louisiana earned a share of the regular season title by beating Nicholls (@69-57). (It's the first title in over 10 years for SELA, the first in 20 years for NICHLS.)
Penn tripped on the road at Yale (79-@80 as xMiye Oni[23p12r] countered 21p7a5r from pDarnell Foreman). The loss meant the Quakers had to share the regular season IVY title with Harvard. (First in over 10 years for PENN.)
Grambling did just enough to claim the SWAC regular season title (its FIRST CONFERENCE TITLE IN NEARLY 30 YEARS!!!). (Unfortunately, GRAMB is ineligible for the postseason due to an NCAA ban.)
The MEAC race went down to the wire among several teams. North Carolina A&T pulled Bethune-Cookman back to the pack with a road win (86-@80 despite 25p from gBrandon Tabb); but NCAT fell out of contention with a road loss at North Carolina Central (59-@70). That provided a showdown game for Hampton, who edged on the road at Norfolk State (74-@71). Savannah State earned its share of the title thanks to a win over NCCU (@85-75 as bAlante Fenner[25p6r] starred).
- - - - - -
The BIG 10 moved up its regular season schedule by a week (including two conference games played in December) in order to book MADISON SQUARE GARDEN in New York City for its tournament (and give itself the exclusive spotlight among B-Majors). [2a]Ohio State tripped in the quarterfinals against [6b]Penn State (68-69 as pTony Carr[25p5a6r] dueled 25p5r from bKeita Bates-Diop). Last year, a near-deadly plane incident spurred Michigan to the tourney crown. This year, the Wolverines didn't need any outside motivation to win it again. [4b]MICH thumped [4a]Nebraska (77-58) in the quarters, handled [1]Michigan State (75-64 sinking 24-for-33 free throws) in the semis, and then beat [2b]Purdue (75-66 only committing 5 turnovers) in the final.
[1]Loyola(Illinois) took matters into its own hands and cruised through the MISSOURI VALLEY tournament to earn its first trip to the NCAAs in 33 years!
[1]Murray State dumped [2]Belmont in the OHIO VALLEY final (68-51 led by pJ Morant[15p5a5r) to claim the TiTo crown.
In the METRO ATLANTIC tournament, both [1a]Rider and [1b]Canisius lost right away in the quarters: RIDER fell to [9]St Peter's (55-66 thanks to 3-for-21 shooting on threes) while CANIS tripped against [7]Quinnipiac (@69-72).
In the HORIZON, [1]Northern Kentucky fell right away to lowly [8a]Cleveland State (80-89).
In the BIG SOUTH tournament, [1]UNC-Asheville tripped in the semis at home against [5a]Liberty (@69-71). That left the door open for [2a]Radford, who got by [2b]Winthrop (61-52) and then escaped at home past [5a]LIBTY (@55-52 on Carlik Jones' game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer).
[1]Florida Gulf Coast and [2]Lipscomb traded road wins during the regular season of ATLANTIC SUN play; so what to expect in the final? How about a 32-point lead on the road (60-@31 at the half) for the 2-seed Bisons who had to stave off a furious second-half comeback by the host 1-seed before winning (108-@96 as 65 percent shooting won out over 16-for-40 from three in a multiplayer shootout [including tGarrison Mathews{33p9r}]). (It's the first-ever trip to the NCAAs for LIPS!)
- - - - - -
No one managed to go undefeated in conference play this season (and only ACC/Virginia, WCC/Gonzaga, AMERE/Vermont and SUMMIT/South Dakota State even managed one-loss campaigns) ... that's one way to measure the strength of teams this year (i.e., no "unbeatable juggernauts" at any level). There was team that was winless in conference play: ACC/Pittsburgh(0-18) ... Ugh.
Unfortunately, Duke's gGrayson Allen had yet another asshole dirty play incident. This time it was a hip check on North Carolina's bCameron Johnson. It was rightfully called a flagrant foul; it was deliberate and absolutely "not a basketball play". He had done so well this season being on a team where he was by far outpaced talent-wise. With cMarvin Bagley III missing a few games with a sore knee, gAllen had come to the forefront once again (and maybe began feeling himself like he used to). Now that cBagley is back, here came that dark aspect of his persona once again. (Get some therapy, Dude. At least, he's a senior and will be gone from the college basketball scene soon enough.)
- - - - - -
With 36 at-large bids, we're no longer arguing about quality teams that don't get into the NCAAs. Now, it's a question of how many poor-quality teams get in anyway. There are nearly a dozen 1BC teams who appear to be splashworthy, but it's based more on how solidly they've dominated in conference moreso than any big wins out-of-conference in the preseason. The way the NCAA Seeding Committee has leaned in the past, none of them should expect an At-Large bid if they don't win their conference tourneys. So expect all of the bids to go to B-Major also-rans (deserving or not).
Here are the locks (and nots) for this year's at-large bids among the B-Major and MM leagues:
- BIG 12 (4/3) - Kansas + (lock: West Virginia, Texas Tech, TCU, Kansas State;
not: Oklahoma, Texas, Oklahoma State)
- BIG EAST (4/2) - Xavier + (lock: Villanova, Creighton, Seton Hall, Butler;
not: Providence, Marquette)
- ACC (6/4) - Virginia + (lock: Duke, North Carolina, Clemson, Virginia Tech, Miami[Florida], N.C. State;
not: Florida State, Louisville, Syracuse, Notre Dame)
- SEC (5/4) - Auburn/Tennessee + (lock: Florida, Texas A&M, Kentucky, Arkansas;
not: Missouri, Alabama, Mississippi State, LSU)
- BIG 10 (3/3) - *Michigan + (lock: Michigan State, Purdue, Ohio State;
not: Nebraska, Penn State, Maryland)
- AMERICAN (2/1) - Cincinnati + (lock: Wichita State, Houston;
not: Tulsa)
- MVC (0/1) - *Loyola(Illinois) + (lock: NONE
not: Southern Illinois)
- PAC-12 (3/2) - Arizona + (lock: Arizona State, USC, UCLA;
not: Utah, Stanford)
- WCC (1/1) - Gonzaga + (lock: St. Mary's;
not: BYU)
- MWC (0/2) - Nevada + (lock: NONE;
not: Boise State, San Diego State)
- A-10 (0/2) - Rhode Island + (lock: NONE;
not: St. Bonaventure, Davidson)
- - - - - -
Three weeks later, the top four of the official "PRESIXTEEN" look pretty good. Virginia and Villanova/Xavier are in; Purdue is now behind Cincinnati and Kansas; and Duke has a shot to move up to the top line if it can win the ACC tourney. Texas Tech and Rhode Island have fallen back; Gonzaga can't move up just by beating St. Mary's again. Nevada has no one to beat; the SEC teams have beaten each other down too much for a No.1-seed to emerge from there.
The BIG 12 has been the strongest overall league again (but not everyone is playing that well lately). The BIG EAST hadtwo elite teams (followed by a mad scramble of decent ones). The Mega-ACC was as deep as it's ever been (but maybe only two real Final Four contenders). The SEC's depth has improved dramatically this year (with maybe a half-dozen teams capable of making the Sweet 16). The BIG 10 had three quality teams for most of the year (with one late-surging squad who ran through the whole lot to claim their tourney crown) all of whom look just short of Final Four-calibre. The AMERICAN's top three could all make Sweet 16. The MISSOURI VALLEY was great overall (but only its champ is NCAA-quality). The PACIFIC-12 was so bad at the bottom that the entire league only rates as a Mid-Major; but that's par-for-the-course for the WEST COAST and MOUNTAIN WEST.
[1]@Kansas was a gap-champ in the BIG 12 regular season; but [2a]Texas Tech and [2b]West Virginia are capable of coming through if the Jayhawks don't take the tourney seriously. [2]Villanova will play with a chip on its shoulder in the BIG EAST tourney after handing the regular season title to [1]Xavier. Tournament play has been a challenge for [1]Virginia in the Tony Bennett Era; [2]Duke's talent may even make it the favorite to win the ACC tourney; [3d]North Carolina and [3b]Clemson have been more consistent than the pack of spoilers below them (but neither looks like it could beat both top teams on the way to the crown). [1a]Auburn, [1b]Tennessee, [3]Florida and [4c]Arkansas all have had solid seasons; but none of them appear strong enough to deal with the home-away-from-home phenomenon that is [4a]Kentucky in the postseason. Any one of [1]Cincinnati, [2a]Wichita State or [2b]Houston could squeak or roll to the AMERICAN tourney crown.
[1]Arizona's physical talent will be free to flourish in tournament play; so expect the AU/Wildcats to roll through the PAC-12 draw. [1]Gonzaga and [2]St. Mary's still appear headed for a rubber-match showdown in the WEST COAST final. [1]Nevada is head-and-shoulders above the rest of the MOUNTAIN WEST (but it's a deep league with several talented teams capable of spoiling if they don't focus on the task). Didn't like the way [1]Rhode Island took the final week off after clinching; they're good but not good enough to turn it off and on any time they want; [2]St. Bonaventure and [3]Davidson could well pull the upset. Star-less [1]Louisiana dominated the SUN BELT regular season (but the bigger individual stars reside on the rosters of the top three contenders).
It's all to play for in the SOUTHERN final with neither [1]UNC-Greensboro nor [2]East Tennessee State a clear favorite. [1]New Mexico State has no business not cruising through the WAC draw. [1]Buffalo handled all the MID-AMERICAN top contenders comfortably in the regular season; so no reason to expect the tourney to be any different. [1]Middle Tennessee handled its top rivals in CONFERENCE USA for the most part; so a TiTo result should be expected. [1]Montana is head-and-shoulders better than the rest of the field in the BIG SKY draw. [1]Bucknell at home is a no-brainer in the PATRIOT final. [1]Vermont has thoroughly dominated the AMERICA EAST for two years running; can't see a way they won't cruise into the NCAAs playing at home. Rival [2]South Dakota may have outplayed [1]South Dakota State(xMike Daum) on balance in splitting their regular season games; so their expected rubber-game final at the SANFORD PENTAGON is anyone's guess. A regular-season sweep plus home-court advantage should be enough for [1a]College of Charleston to complete the deal in the expected COLONIAL final against [1b]Northeastern. Absolutely anything could happen among four teams when the BIG WEST Wars spill into the conference tourney. Oddly, [3]Stephen F. Austin could well be the favorite ahead of co-titlists [1a]Southeast Louisiana and [1b]Nicholls in the SOUTHLAND tourney.
It's a Jack Dawson champ either way, but [4]Iona should prevail in the METRO ATLANTIC final. The path has already been cleared for [2]Wright State to cruise to the HORIZON crown. Home court in The should be more than enough for [1b]Penn to prevail over [1a]Harvard in the second-annual IVY tourney. [1]Wagner should cruise at home in the NORTHEAST final. With [1]Grambling State ineligible, the SWAC tourney is up for grabs among three pretenders. The MEAC Wars should spill into the conference tourney with no clear favorite among five squads.
-- Ron
P.S. Look for the official Hoops Contest invite Sunday overnight. (And don't forget the deadline is TUESDAY 6:30P because of the FIRST FOUR games.)
- Key games this week:
- Monday:
- SOCON TOURNAMENT Final @AshevilleNC
-([1]@UNCGreensboro-[2]ETennesseeSt),
MAAC TOURNAMENT Final @AlbanyNY/Siena/
-([4]@Iona-[5b]Fairfield),
- Monday-Tuesday:
- WCC TOURNAMENT Semis,Final @LasVegasNV/ORLEANS/
-([1]Gonzaga-[4a]SanFrancisco, [2]StMarys-[3]BYU),
SUMMIT TOURNAMENT Semis,Final @SiouxFallSD/PENTAGON/
-([1]@SDState-[5a]NDState, [2]@SDakota-[3]Denver),
COLONIAL TOURNAMENT Semis,Final @CharlestonSC/ColofCharleston/
-(@[1a]ColofCharleston-[4]William&Mary, [1b]Northeastern-[6]UNCWilmington),
HORIZON TOURNAMENT Semis,Final @DetroitMI/Detroit/
-([2]WrightSt-[5b]Milwaukee, [4]@Oakland-[8a]ClevelandSt),
- Monday, Thursday-Saturday:
- MAC TOURNAMENT on-campus, @ClevelandOH
-([1/E1]Buffalo, [2/W1]@Toledo, [3]EaMichigan, [4]BallSt),
- Monday-Saturday:
- MEAC TOURNAMENT @NorfolkVA/NorfolkSt/
-([1a]@Hampton, [1b]BethuneCookman, [1c]SavannahSt, [4a]NCA&T, @[4b]NorfolkSt),
- Tuesday:
- NORTHEAST TOURNAMENT Final on-campus
-(@[1]Wagner-[4a]LongIsland[NewYorkNY]),
- Tuesday-Saturday:
- ACC TOURNAMENT @BrooklynNY/BARCLAYS/
-(Tue Open/32s: [10a]NotreDame-[15]Pittsburgh, [10b]@Syracuse-[14]WakeForest, [12]BostonCol-[13]GeorgiaTech;
Wed 1st/16s: [3c]NCState-[12]/[13], [3d]NCarolina-[10b]/[14], [7]VirginiaTech-[10a]/[15], [8a]FloridaSt-[8b]Louisville;
Thu 2nd/Qtrs: [1]Virginia-[8a]/[8b], [2]Duke-[7]//[10a]/[15], [3a]MiamiFL-[3d]//[10b]/[14], [3b]Clemson-[3c]//[12]/[13]),
- Tuesday, Saturday:
- AMERICA EAST TOURNAMENT Semis,Final on-campus
-(@[1]Vermont-[5]StonyBrook, @[2]MDBaltimoreCo-[3]Hartford),
- Tuesday, Thursday-Saturday:
- BIG SKY TOURNAMENT @RenoNV
-([1]Montana, [2]Idaho, [3a]EaWashington, [3b]WeberSt, [5]NoColorado),
- Tuesday, Friday-Saturday:
- SWAC TOURNAMENT on-campus, @HoustonTX/TOYOTA//PrairieViewA&M,TexasSo/
-([1]GramblingStineligible; [2a]ARPineBluff, [2b]PrairieViewA&M, [2c]TexasSo),
- Wednesday:
- PATRIOT TOURNAMENT Final on-campus
-(@[1]Bucknell-[2]Colgate),
- Wednesday-Saturday:
- BIG 12 TOURNAMENT @KansasCityMO
-(Wed 1st/16s: [6b]Texas-[10]IowaSt, [6c]OklahomaSt-[6d]Oklahoma[OK];
Thu 2nd/Qtrs: [1]@Kansas-[6c]/[6d], [2a]TexasTech-[6b]/[10], [2b]WVirginia-[6a]Baylor, [4]@KansasSt-[5]TCU),
BIG EAST TOURNAMENT @NewYorkNY/MSG/
-(Wed 1st/16s: [6b]Marquette-[9b]DePaul, @[9a]StJohns-[8]Georgetown;
Thu 2nd/Qtrs: [1]Xavier-[8]/[9a], [2]Villanova-[6b]/[9b], [3a]SetonHall-[6a]Butler, [3b]Creighton-[3c]Providence;
PAC-12 TOURNAMENT @LasVegasNV/T-MOBILE/
-(Wed 1st/16s: [3c]Stanford-[12]California[CA], [6a]Oregon-[11]WashingtonSt, [6b]Washington-[10]OregonSt, [8a]Colorado-[8b]ArizonaSt;
Thu 2nd/Qtrs: [1]Arizona-[8a]/[8b], [2]USC-[6b]/[10], [3a]Utah-[6a]/[11], [3b]UCLA-[3c]/[12]),
MWC TOURNAMENT @LasVegasNV/UNLV/
-(Wed 1st/16s: [6]Wyoming-[11]SanJoseSt, [7a]UtahSt-[10]ColoradoSt, @[7b]UNLV-[9]AirForce;
Thu 2nd/Qtrs: [1]@Nevada-[7b]/[9], [2]BoiseSt-[7a]/[10], [3]NewMexico-[6]/[11], [4a]FresnoSt-[4b]SanDiegoSt[CA]),
C-USA TOURNAMENT @FriscoTX/NTexas/
-([1]MidTennessee [2]OldDominion, [3]WeKentucky, [4]Marshall, [5]TXSanAntonio),
SOUTHLAND TOURNAMENT @KatyTX
-([1a]SELouisiana, [1b]Nicholls, [3]@StephenFAustin, [4]@SamHoustonSt, [5a]NewOrleans, [5b]@Lamar),
- Wednesday-Sunday:
- SEC TOURNAMENT @StLouisMO
-(Wed Open/32s: [11a]SCarolina-[14]Mississippi, [11b]Georgia-[13]Vanderbilt;
Thu 1st/16s: [4b]@Missouri-[11b]/[13], [4c]Arkansas-[11a]/[14], [7a]MississippiSt-[9b]LSU, [7b]TexasA&M-[9a]Alabama;
Fri 2nd/Qtrs:[1a]Auburn-[7b]/[9a], [1b]Tennessee-[7a]/[9b], [3]Florida-[4c]//[11a]/[14], [4a]@Kentucky-[4b]//[11b]/[13]),
A-10 TOURNAMENT @WashingtonDC/C1//GeoWashington/
-(Wed Open/32s: @[10b]GeoWashington-[14]Fordham, [10c]LaSalle-[13]Massachusetts;
Thu 1st/16s: [5a]GeoMason-[10c]/[13], [5b]StLouis-[10b]/[14], [5c]Richmond-[10a]Duquesne, [5d]VCU-[9]Dayton;
Fri 2nd/Qtrs: [1]Rhode Island-[5d]/[9], [2]StBonaventure-[5c]/[10a], [3]Davidson-[5b]//[10b]/[14], [4]StJosephs-[5a]//[10c]/[13]),
- Wednesday, Friday-Sunday:
- SUN BELT TOURNAMENT @NewOrleansLA
-([1]Louisiana, [2]GeorgiaSt, [3]GeorgiaSo, [4]TXArlington),
- Thursday-Saturday:
- WAC TOURNAMENT @LasVegasNV/ORLEANS/
-([1]NewMexicoSt, [2]UTValley, [3]GrandCanyon),
BIG WEST TOURNAMENT @AnaheimCA/HONDA/
-([1]@UCDavis, [2a]@UCSantaBarabara, [2b]@UCIrvine, [4]@CalStFullterton),
- Thursday-Sunday:
- AMERICAN TOURNAMENT @OrlandoFL/UCF/
-(Thu 1st/16s: [5]Memphis-[12]@SFlorida, @[6]UCF-[11]ECarolina, [7]Temple-[10]Tulane, [8]Connecticut-[9]SMU;
Fri 2nd/Qtrs: [1]Cincinnati-[8]/[9], [2a]WichitaSt-[7]/[10], [2b]Houston-[6]/[11], [4]Tulsa-[5]Memphis),
- Saturday-Sunday:
- IVY TOURNAMENT @PhiladelphiaPA/PALESTRA//Penn/
-([1a]Harvard-[4]Cornell, @[1b]Penn-[3]Yale),
- Sunday:
- (NCAA BRACKET SELECTION),
(NIT BRACKET SELECTION),
(CBI [COLLEGE BASKETBALL INVITATIONAL] BRACKET SELECTION),
(CIT [COLLEGEINSIDER.COM TOURNAMENT] BRACKET SELECTION).
Top 25 - 18 Mar 5: PRETOURNAMENT - [] Column
- Virginia (28-2) ACC+4
- Kansas (24-7) 14-PEAT BIG12+2
- Villanova (27-4) 5-PEAT BIG5u
- Xavier (27-4) BIG.E
- Michigan State (29-4) BIG10
- Duke (25-6)
- Gonzaga (28-4) 6-PEAT;17TH/18 WCC
- Cincinnati (27-4) AMER+2
- Michigan (27-7) [BIG10t]
- Arizona (24-7) repeat;4TH/5 PAC12+2
- Purdue (28-6)
- West Virginia (22-9)
- Texas Tech (23-8)
- North Carolina (22-9)
- Wichita State (24-6)
- Ohio State (24-8)
- Nevada (26-6) repeat MWC+2
- Auburn (25-6) .5SEC+2
- Tennessee (23-7) .5SEC+2
- TCU (21-10)
- Clemson (22-8)
- Loyola(Illinois) (27-5) MVC+4 [MVCt]
- Rhode Island (23-6) A10+2
- St. Mary's (28-4)
- Miami(Florida) (22-8)
- Honorable Mention:
Oklahoma State(18-13), Virginia Tech (21-10), Penn State (21-13),San Diego State(18-10), St. Joseph's (15-15), Davidson (18-11), Texas (18-13), Arkansas (21-10), Syracuse (19-12).
Murray State (24-5) OVC [OVCt].
Buffalo (22-8) MAC+2,
Middle Tennessee (23-6) repeat OVC,
UC-Davis(19-9) BIG.W,
Nicholls(17-10)/Southeast Louisiana(18-10) SLAND.
Pennsylvania(21-8)/Harvard(16-12) IVY+3,
Radford(20-12) [vBIG.St],
Lipscomb(20-9) [@A-SUNt],
Grambling State(16-14) SWAC,
Bethune-Cookman(16-13)/Hampton(14-14)/Savannah State(13-16) MEAC.
posted by Ron @ Tuesday, September 25, 2018
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