Saturday brought pure, unbridaled chaos to the college basketball world, in the best way possible!
At-Large Hopefuls:
In one of the more consequential results of the day, TCU falls at Utah 82-79. This Utah team is quite frankly not great, and this is a really bad loss for TCU, who already had a bad loss on their resume.
NC State falls to Georgia Tech in Raleigh. This is as bad, if not a little worse than TCU’s loss to Utah. The Wolfpack is suddenly in terrible shape for an at-large bid.
Cincinnati with the win of the day! They beat Iowa State and stormed the court! The Bearcats are still relatively far from the tournament at this time. ISU’s horrible week continues, falling down to the 3 line.
Kentucky comes back from down 11 at the half to beat Tennessee in Knoxville! Whatever Pope did at halftime worked, and UK looks like an 8/9. Tennessee is falling, quick, now looking more like a 7-8 seed.
Grand Canyon upsets Utah State in a fun game in Phoenix. USU will fall down to the 7-8 range.
Nebraska beats Northwestern by 19. They improved to 18-0 and look to be pushing to the 1 line!
The push for a protected seed Clemson is officially ON! The Tigers are now 16-3 and just beat Miami (FL) who is also in a really good spot to make the dance.
Alabama comes back from a 11 point halftime deficit to beat Oklahoma in Norman. Fun Fact: Oklahoma is winless when they do a halftime baby race… Might be time to retire that one! Bama is 1 win from a lock.
Virginia beats SMU in Dallas. UVA is probably capped as a 3/4 seed, but they’re making a push quickly to do just that! SMU is still in a good spot, but this game hurt their ceiling.
Illinois avoids a feisty Gopher squad, beating them by 10 at home. Illini are a 3.
Florida goes into Nashville and beats Vanderbilt! What a rough week for the ‘Dores, Florida is suddenly figuring it out and is VERY close to being a tournament lock.
UConn messed around and almost lost to Georgetown, however, they pulled it out by just 2 points. Survive and advance, I guess?
LSU beats Missouri in Baton Rouge. LSU gets their first SEC win of the year, and keep their surprisingly solid year ongoing. Missouri, on the other hand, is still barely on the bubble and kind of clinging to tournament hopes.
Virginia Tech avoids a bad home loss, beating Notre Dame by 13. Quietly, the Hokies are making some noise and look to be primed to make a bubble push.
Butler beats Seton Hall. I called it a “very poor loss” for SHU. To be clear, Butler isn’t very poor, however, a tournament team should’ve beaten a 10-7 (1-5) team, and the Pirates lost it. Pirates a 10/11.
Wisconsin avoids a landmine, beating Rutgers 96-87.
Iowa beats Indiana behind 27 from Stirtz and 26 from Banks. This result will significantly help Iowa’s metrics, and it will be devastating to IU.
Boston College cripples Syracuse’s tournament hopes, beating the Orange in Boston.
Miami (OH) hts TWO buzzer-beaters, one to send it to OT and one to win the game. This result is massive for the RedHawks, who should be ranked this week.
Ohio State uses a three headed attack to beat UCLA. UCLA has fallen well out of the tournament, while Ohio State has likely jumped up and in for now.
Arizona beats UCF to keep their standing on the 1 line. UCF is an 8/9 seed.
Michigan goes to Oregon to beat the Ducks in Eugene. Michigan remains a 1.
California beats UNC in Berkley! UNC is falling down to a 6 seed after this week. Cal is back in the bubble picture, but still needs a couple more wins.
Georgia gets a huge win over Arkansas! UGA will move up to a 7, while Arkansas falls back to a 6.
Saint Louis continues to win the games they need to, after beating Richmond today. They’re a 7 seed.
Purdue does just enough to get past USC in a fun game out in LA. Purdue is a 2, while USC is a 10/11.
Auburn survives a scare from Southh Carolina to get a steadying victory. Auburn will be between the 7-10 lines.
Duke dominates Stanford by a huge margin, which will hurt Stanford’s metrics. Stanford will be either last in or first out.
Michigan State beats Washington in Seattle. The Spartans are inching closer to lock status.
Texas A&M goes into Austin and beats Texas to pick up a huge bubble win! A&M a 9/10, while Texas is going to be a 11 seed, or might be out.
Santa Clara beats Saint Mary’s to keep their at-large hopes alive. However, they still have a long road ahead. Saint Mary’s is an 8/9.
BYU collapses late allowing Texas Tech to come back and beat them. Texas Tech moves to a 3 seed, while BYU is a 3/4.
Louisville dominates Pitt in Pittsburgh. The Cardinals needed a big win. They’re going to stay around the 6 line.
San Diego State beats New Mexico to take the lead in the MWC. The Aztecs will be the AQ on Monday’s bracket, but are also in as an at-large.
Ole Miss wins the Egg bowl by 1 point in a really fun matchup. Neither team is in right now, but this week has been very helpful for the Rebels hopes!
Sunday’s Slate:
Per usual, Sunday slows things down some, but there are still some really fun matchups!
FAU @ Temple | Noon, ESPNU
FAU is favored by 1.5, but they are one of the leaders in the American right now. A win might get them in my projected field tomorrow.
Penn State @ Maryland | Noon, BTN
No tournament implications, but someone will no longer be 0-6 on the year in Big ten play.
Wichita State @ South Florida | 2:00, ESPNU
Oakland @ Green Bay | 2:00, ESPN+
This is suddenly a battle for the top of the Horizon league! Oakland is 4.5 point favorites at home, but this should be a fun, high scoring affair.
Milwaukee @ Purdue Fort Wayne | 2:00, ESPN+
Both Milwaukee and PFW are falling behind in the Horizon race. However, this is a huge opportunity for both of these guys to keep up!
Tulsa @ UAB | 5:00, ESPN2
Really important matchup within the American race. UNT has been disappointing, and Tulane is towards the top of the league. This game will help shape the race down the stretch.
Arizona State @ Houston | 6:30, ESPN
Houston should dominate here and I don’t expect for there to be any concern for the Cougs at home.
Washington State @ San Francisco | 7:00, ESPN+
USF comes in as the favorite here, but Wazzu is a tough opponent, and this should be fun!
Content Corner:
This was my bid watch coming into the year. Yes, I know “Birth” was wrong. I Blane my OBGYN wife.
Early tips:
UK/SHU games:
Mid Afternoon Updates:
Florida:
Grand Canyon:
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