Bracketology 101's Field of 65 - Jan. 28

The Breakdown
Another barrage of upsets, coupled with the overall inconsistency of almost every major conference bubble team, made this week’s Field of 65 particularly difficult to put together. As was the case last week, the changes started at the top, where Tennessee was replaced on the one line by North Carolina, and on the two line, where Texas jumped up to replace Washington State. The other big movers on the positive side this week were Drake (up to a season-high four seed), Arizona (up from a nine to a six seed), Purdue (up to a nine seed after its upset of Wisconsin), and UConn, which moves back into the field as an eight seed after their huge road win at Indiana on Saturday.

In the lower part of the bracket, six teams that had been on the 9-12 lines dropped out, including some teams, like Oregon and Virginia, that had been in our field for a while. The slumping Ducks lost two games last week and were replaced by resurgent USC, which swept the Oregon schools. Virginia, meanwhile, fell to Florida State on the road and Georgia Tech at home to drop to 1-4 in conference and leave the ACC with just four bids this week. That’s two bids fewer than the suddenly-relevant SEC, which saw members Mississippi State and Arkansas re-enter the field. We understand that it is tough to defend the SEC getting two more bids than the ACC, but at this point, none of the ACC bubble teams (North Carolina State, Boston College, Maryland, Florida State, etc.) have distinguished themselves, and none can seem to put together even a two-game winning streak. Their up-and-down play made it possible for another big conference bubble team, like Arkansas, to get into the field this week by not doing much (the Razorbacks won their only game last week at LSU). The other bubble dropouts this week were Providence (which lost twice), and Cleveland State, which couldn’t find a way to get a victory in either of its winnable road games. In the process, the Vikings gave back the two game lead they had built over Butler in the Horizon and are therefore no longer bid-worthy.

And finally, in the A-10, St. Joseph’s completed a season sweep of UMass to replace the Minutemen as the league’s fourth bid. We still like UMass as a potential at-large down the road because of their good OOC resume, but the fact that they are now two games behind the Hawks in conference makes it impossible to keep them in. The only other potential head-scratcher this week is the fact that Illinois State is still in the field off a loss at Bradley, but remember, we are keeping the Redbirds in the field as a placeholder out of the MVC. The MVC is the 8th rated conference in RPI so we like their chances to get 2 bids. Illinois State doesn't have a tourney resume at this point but they do have a solid RPI and have some opportunities to pick up some big wins (Drake, and their Bracket Buster game). That, combined with a second place finish and a deep run in the conference tourney, should get them a bid (assuming Drake wins the conference tourney).

Out This Bracket
Oregon, Massachusetts, Providence, San Diego State, Virginia, Cleveland State, Bucknell

In This Bracket
Connecticut, USC, Mississippi State, UNLV, Arkansas, St. Joseph’s, Lafayette

Last Four In
Arkansas, Villanova, Illinois State, St. Joseph’s

Last Four Out
Massachusetts, Oregon, Seton Hall, North Carolina State

Next Four Out
Houston, Boston College, Syracuse, Providence

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Conference Breakdown
Big East (8), Big XII (6), Pac-10 (6), SEC (6), Big Ten (5), ACC (4), A-10 (4), MVC (2), WCC (2)

America East - UMBC

ACC - Duke, North Carolina, Clemson, Miami-FL

Atlantic Sun - Jacksonville

A-10 - Xavier, Dayton, Rhode Island, St. Joseph’s

Big East - Georgetown, Pittsburgh, Marquette, Notre Dame, Connecticut, West Virginia, Louisville, Villanova

Big Sky - Northern Arizona

Big South - Winthrop

Big Ten - Michigan State, Wisconsin, Indiana, Purdue, Ohio State

Big 12 - Kansas, Texas, Kansas State, Baylor, Texas A&M, Oklahoma

Big West - Cal State Northridge

Colonial - VCU

C-USA - Memphis

Horizon - Butler

Ivy - Cornell

MAAC - Siena

MAC - Kent State

MEAC - Hampton

MVC - Drake, Illinois State

MWC - UNLV

Northeast - Wagner

Ohio Valley - Austin Peay

Pac-10 - UCLA, Washington State, Stanford, Arizona, USC, Arizona State

Patriot - Lafayette

SEC - Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Mississippi, Florida, Mississippi State, Arkansas

Southern - Davidson

Southland - Stephen F. Austin

Summit - Oral Roberts

Sun Belt - South Alabama

SWAC - Alabama State

WAC - Utah State

WCC - St. Mary's, Gonzaga

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The Seeds
The 1s
Memphis, Kansas, Duke, North Carolina

The 2s
UCLA, Tennessee, Michigan State, Texas

The 3s
Washington State, Georgetown, Wisconsin, Xavier

The 4s
Stanford, Indiana, St. Mary’s, Drake

The 5s
Butler, Vanderbilt, Pittsburgh, Marquette

The 6s
Dayton, Mississippi, Kansas State, Arizona

The 7s
Oklahoma, Baylor, Gonzaga, Notre Dame

The 8s
Clemson, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Texas A&M

The 9s
Florida, West Virginia, USC, Purdue

The 10s
Louisville, Arizona State, Ohio State, Miami-FL

The 11s
Mississippi State, UNLV, Arkansas, Villanova

The 12s
Illinois State, St. Joseph’s, Kent State, South Alabama

The 13s
VCU, Davidson, Utah State, Cal State Northridge

The 14s
Oral Roberts, Stephen F. Austin, Siena, Winthrop

The 15s
Cornell, Northern Arizona, Lafayette, Hampton

The 16s
Wagner, UMBC, Jacksonville, Austin Peay (Play-In Game), Alabama State (Play-In Game)

The Bracket
(Bracket courtesy Matt Reeves)

Questions? Comments? E-mail Bracketology 101 at bracketologyblog@yahoo.com

B101's Dean's List-Academic Probation - Week of Jan. 21-27

Dean's List-Academic Probation is a weekly column that analyzes all of the highlights and lowlights from the previous week's games. The teams, players, conferences, etc. that deserve praise for what they accomplished over the past week make our Dean's List; those deserving ridicule are put on Academic Probation.

Here are this week's honorees:

Dean’s List
UConn
Jim Calhoun isn’t usually the lovey-dovey type, but after the shorthanded Huskies shocked Indiana in Bloomington on Saturday, Calhoun made sure to give a giant bear hug to every single one of his players. Calhoun said he couldn’t have been prouder of how his team played without suspended guards Jerome Dyson and Doug Wiggins, and he went on to call UConn’s 68-63 win over the 7th-ranked Hoosiers his most enjoyable victory since the Huskies beat Georgia Tech to win the national title in 2004. Calhoun will also be happy to know that the win – along with UConn’s one-point victory at Cincinnati on Tuesday – helped the Huskies leap back into our Field of 65 this week as an eight seed.

Kevin Love
Love’s homecoming tour certainly brought out the worst in Oregon fans – but it also brought out the best in UCLA’s all-world freshman. He scored 26 points and pulled down 18 rebounds to silence the Pit Crew and lead the Bruins to an 80-75 win on Thursday, and followed up that performance with a 16-point, 21-rebound explosion against Oregon State on Saturday. UCLA coach Ben Howland praised Love after the OSU game for how well he handled all of the distractions surrounding him over the weekend, calling his center “so poised” and his play “unbelievable.”

Curtis Jerrells
The Baylor-Texas A&M game might have gone five more overtimes had it not been for the play of Jerrells. The junior scored 11 of his career-high 36 points in the fifth and final overtime, and had 11 more points in the previous four OTs, to lead the Bears to a huge road win. Jerrells played 53 minutes in the game, made 20 of 24 free throws and added eight assists for Baylor, which picked up its first win over a ranked team since February 2003.

Rutgers
If the first few weeks of the Big East taught us anything, it was that anyone (except Rutgers) could beat anyone. This week, though, even the last-place Scarlet Knights got into the act. Fred Hill’s squad, which came into the week winless in conference play, upset Villanova at home on Wednesday, and then pulled off the biggest shocker in the Big East this season by crushing No. 17 Pitt at the Peterson Events Center on Saturday. Rutgers outscored the Panthers 45-25 in the second half of that game to erase a seven-point halftime deficit and to lift the Scarlet Knights, temporarily at least, out of the Big East basement.

IUPUI coach Ron Hunter
Hunter had hoped that by coaching barefoot in his team’s game against Oakland on Tuesday he could raise awareness – and 40,000 pairs of shoes – for Samaritan’s Feet, a charity that collects and distributes athletic shoes to needy children in Africa. In the end, Hunter’s efforts resulted a whole lot more than that. By tip-off, over 110,000 shoes had already been collected, and an emotional Hunter said after the game that he heard there are more on the way. For more on Hunter’s gesture, or to donate shoes yourself, check out the official website for Samaritan’s Feet here.

Also receiving votes: Kentucky (the Wildcats held the high-octane Tennessee offense to a season-low 66 points in a six-point upset win at Rupp Arena on Tuesday), Drake (the Bulldogs showed that they were worthy of their first Top 25 ranking in 33 years by winning twice last week, including an overtime victory at Creighton), Purdue (we showed faith in the Boilers by putting them in the bracket last week, and they rewarded us with a rush-worthy 60-56 win over No. 11 Wisconsin on Saturday), Mississippi State (led by Charles Rhodes’ 26 points and a stifling defense, the Bulldogs routed Mississippi at home on Saturday to stay unbeaten in the SEC and earn a spot on this week’s Field of 65), D.J. Augustin (the sophomore scored Texas’ last 10 points and finished with 26 for the game in a 63-61 win at Oklahoma State on Monday), Chris Lofton (the Vols’ sharp-shooting senior had five three pointers against Kentucky on Tuesday to set the SEC record for career threes with 367), Tyler Hansbrough (the All-American scored 27 of his season-high 35 points in the second half as North Carolina beat Miami 98-82 on Wednesday), Derrick Rose (the super-frosh had 19 points, nine assists and eight blocks in Memphis’ win over Gonzaga on Saturday), Blake Griffin (in his earlier-than-expected return to the lineup, Oklahoma’s star freshman had 17 points and 15 rebounds in 22 minutes as the Sooners won at Baylor 77-71 on Saturday), Patrick Ewing, Jr. and Jesse Sapp (Sapp’s step-back three with six seconds left and Ewing’s acrobatic block at the buzzer capped a furious Georgetown comeback and gave the Hoyas a crazy 58-57 win at West Virginia on Saturday), Jerryd Bayless and Chase Budinger (Arizona’s dynamic duo combined for 45 points in the Wildcats’ upset of Washington State on Thursday, and then combined for 51 points in a win over Washington on Saturday), Michael Beasley (the nation’s leading rebounder and fourth-leading scorer had 29 points and 13 rebounds in Kansas State’s win at Colorado on Wednesday and 33 points and 15 boards in the Wildcats’ blowout of Iowa State on Saturday), DeMarcus Nelson (the senior guard scored 19 of his 27 points in the second half as Duke rallied to beat Maryland on the road on Sunday night)

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Academic Probation
Villanova
The Wildcats are a prime example of why polls and brackets are two totally different things. Until this week, Villanova was ranked somewhere in the teens in both the AP and ESPN polls. But after bad losses at Rutgers and at home against Notre Dame this week, ‘Nova is now barely clinging to a bid, and an argument could be made that they don’t belong in the field at all. They have no OOC wins, they are the lowest ranked Big East team in our field this week, and with games at Pittsburgh and at home against Syracuse coming up, their days in the bracket could be numbered.

Oregon
The Pac-10 has been a seven-bid league for most of the year, but if Oregon doesn’t right itself in a hurry, the conference may end up not doing any better than six. The Ducks’ mini-freefall continued last week with home losses to UCLA and USC, extending their losing streak to four games, and dropping them out of the bracket for the first time all season (they had been as high as a four seed in early December). Their loss to the Trojans on Saturday was especially painful – the Ducks forced overtime on a buzzer beater by Bryce Taylor, but then proceeded to give up 21 points in the extra session in a 95-86 loss.

Dayton
Dayton might have the best OOC resume of anyone in the A-10, but so far, their performance in league play has left a lot to be desired. The slumping Flyers extended their A-10 losing streak to three last week by falling at Xavier and at Richmond. Neither of the games were close: Xavier’s defense held Brian Roberts to a season-low five points in a 26-point win on Thursday, and Richmond led by as many as 25 points early in the second half in an 80-63 win on Saturday.

Cleveland State
It sure didn’t take long for Cleveland State to give back the two game lead it had built over Butler in the Horizon standings. The Vikings lost games at Wisconsin-Green Bay and Wisconsin-Milwaukee last week (the first two games of a four-game road trip) to fall to 12-7 overall and 7-2 in the league. Butler, meanwhile, won both of its games to move back into first place – and back in the driver’s seat for home court advantage in the Horizon conference tournament.

Jerome Dyson and Doug Wiggins
Dyson and Wiggins certainly aren’t the first underage college basketball players to enjoy a little cognac and vodka, but they might be the first to get caught doing so by campus police – in a random parking lot – on the eve of their team’s biggest game of the year. The sophomore guards, who were immediately suspended by UConn coach Jim Calhoun, have already missed two games, and they remain on indefinite suspension until the results of drug tests taken at the scene are determined. If you’re Wiggins, you’re probably pretty nervous right now…

Also receiving votes: Boston College (the Eagles probably would have snuck into the bracket this week if they could have just beaten Virginia Tech at home on Saturday; instead, they shot just 37 percent from the floor in an 81-73 overtime loss), Virginia (the Cavaliers dropped out of the bracket – and into the ACC’s basement – by losing at Florida State and at home to Georgia Tech last week), Providence (the up-and-down Friars reappeared in our bracket last week, and then went out and lost to Seton Hall at home and Syracuse on the road this week to fall back to the Next Four Out list), Arizona State (the Sun Devils – with a three-game road trip looming – got swept by Washington and Washington State at home last week and fell to a 10 seed in this week’s bracket), the Mayo family bank account (USC’s star freshman – or more than likely his family – had to donate $460 to charity last week after Mayo received and used two Nuggets-Lakers tickets that were given to him by Nuggets’ star Carmelo Anthony; by repaying the money, Mayo avoided any potential punishment or suspension by the NCAA), C.J. Giles’ college career (two years after Kansas coach Bill Self gave Giles the boot, Oregon State interim coach Kevin Mouton did the same; while no official for the dismissal was given, Giles had previously been benched for a Jan. 3 game against Arizona because he was late more than once for practice)

Bracketology 101's Field of 65 - Jan. 21

The Breakdown
After one of the craziest, upset-filled weeks in a long, long time, there were a ton of changes in terms of teams and seeds in this week’s bracket. In all, 15 teams in the AP Top 25 lost at least one game last week, and the 48 teams previously seeded on our 1-12 lines lost an incredible 37 games combined. As we seeded teams this week, it became very apparent that, thanks to all of those losses, there wasn’t a whole lot of difference in some cases between teams on the four line and others way down on the 10 line.

In the end, though, several key changes were made throughout the bracket. Stunning home losses by UCLA and North Carolina, who looks very out-of-snyc right now, finally knocked both of them down to the two line and bumped up Tennessee and Duke, who were both able to do the impossible and put together two quality wins this week. UCLA and UNC were joined on the two line by Michigan State, who replaced struggling Texas A&M.

The 11 and 12 lines of the bracket proved to be just as fluid. The most notable change was the addition of Cleveland State who, fresh off its home upset of Butler, makes its debut this week. Not only were we impressed with the Vikings’ performance against the Bulldogs on Thursday, but we love the fact that it gave CSU a two-game lead over Butler in conference, and thus gave them a huge leg up in the race to get home court advantage in the Horizon conference tourney. The other fresh face to the Field of 65 is Purdue, who won at Iowa and home against Illinois this week to improve to 13-5 overall and 4-1 in conference. It took us a while to decide between Purdue and suddenly relevant Mississippi State for this final at-large spot, but in the end we went with the Boilermakers for several reasons. Purdue has better wins overall (Louisville, Ohio State), plus the Boilers have a better OOC resume. Mississippi State, who hosts Mississippi in a ginormous game this week, has only beaten five teams with an above-.500 record so far and still has no wins over teams currently in our bracket. Considering where the rest of the teams in each conference are seeded, we also like the Big Ten as a five-bid league more than we like the SEC as a five-bid league at this point.

Purdue ended up taking the place of UConn, who despite a nice win at home against Marquette on Sunday, also lost big at home last week to Providence. That loss left the Huskies’ as the ninth best team resume-wise out of the Big East, which has them for the moment on the outside looking in. Joining UConn on the wrong side of the bubble are bracket dropouts Arkansas, California, and Nebraska (remember them?), who all lost two games last week.

Out This Bracket
Arkansas, California, Connecticut, BYU, Nebraska, Sam Houston State, Holy Cross, IUPUI, Arkansas-Pine Bluff

In This Bracket
Massachusetts, Providence, Purdue, San Diego State, Cleveland State, Stephen F. Austin, Oral Roberts, Bucknell, Alabama State

Last Four In
Florida, Virginia, Illinois State, Purdue

Last Four Out
Connecticut, Mississippi State, Boston College, North Carolina State

Next Four Out
USC, Arkansas, Creighton, California

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Conference Breakdown
Big East (8), Big XII (6), Pac-10 (6), ACC (5), Big Ten (5), A-10 (4), SEC (4), Horizon (2), MVC (2), WCC (2)

America East - UMBC

ACC - Duke, North Carolina, Clemson, Miami-FL, Virginia

Atlantic Sun - Jacksonville

A-10 - Xavier, Dayton, Rhode Island, Massachusetts

Big East - Georgetown, Pittsburgh, Marquette, Villanova, West Virginia, Notre Dame, Louisville, Providence

Big Sky - Northern Arizona

Big South - Winthrop

Big Ten - Michigan State, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio State, Purdue

Big 12 - Kansas, Texas, Texas A&M, Baylor, Kansas State, Oklahoma

Big West - Cal State Northridge

Colonial - VCU

C-USA - Memphis

Horizon - Cleveland State, Butler

Ivy - Cornell

MAAC - Siena

MAC - Kent State

MEAC - Hampton

MVC - Drake, Illinois State

MWC - San Diego State

Northeast - Wagner

Ohio Valley - Austin Peay

Pac-10 - UCLA, Washington State, Stanford, Arizona State, Arizona, Oregon

Patriot - Bucknell

SEC - Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Mississippi, Florida

Southern - Davidson

Southland - Stephen F. Austin

Summit - Oral Roberts

Sun Belt - South Alabama

SWAC - Alabama State

WAC - Utah State

WCC - St. Mary's, Gonzaga

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The Seeds
The 1s
Memphis, Kansas, Tennessee, Duke

The 2s
North Carolina, Washington State, UCLA, Michigan State

The 3s
Wisconsin, Texas, Indiana, Georgetown

The 4s
Pittsburgh, Xavier, Dayton, Vanderbilt

The 5s
Texas A&M, Mississippi, St. Mary’s, Butler

The 6s
Clemson, Marquette, Stanford, Drake

The 7s
Villanova, Gonzaga, Arizona State, Kansas State

The 8s
West Virginia, Rhode Island, Baylor, Oklahoma

The 9s
Arizona, Notre Dame, Louisville, Oregon

The 10s
Massachusetts, Miami-FL, Ohio State, Providence

The 11s
Florida, San Diego State, Virginia, Illinois State

The 12s
Purdue, Cleveland State, Kent State, South Alabama

The 13s
VCU, Cal State Northridge, Davidson, Utah State

The 14s
Siena, Stephen F. Austin, Oral Roberts, Winthrop

The 15s
Cornell, Northern Arizona, Bucknell, Hampton

The 16s
UMBC, Wagner, Jacksonville, Austin Peay (Play-In Game), Alabama State (Play-In Game)

The Bracket
(Bracket courtesy Matt Reeves)

Questions? Comments? E-mail Bracketology 101 at bracketologyblog@yahoo.com

B101's Dean's List-Academic Probation - Week of Jan. 14-20

Dean's List-Academic Probation is a weekly column that analyzes all of the highlights and lowlights from the previous week's games. The teams, players, conferences, etc. that deserve praise for what they accomplished over the past week make our Dean's List; those deserving ridicule are put on Academic Probation.

Here are this week's honorees:

Dean’s List
Davon Jefferson & James Gist
It’s a rare week when two number one seeds get upset at home, but that was case last week thanks to some big-time performances by a pair of unheralded players. USC freshman Davon Jefferson, who has played all season in the huge shadow of fellow rookie O.J. Mayo, was the best player on the floor against UCLA on Saturday, scoring 25 points and grabbing nine rebounds in the Trojans’ stunning 72-63 win. As that game was winding down, Maryland was putting the finishing touches on its upset of top-ranked North Carolina. Led by senior forward James Gist’s 22 points and 13 boards, the Terps toppled the Tar Heels 82-80 in Chapel Hill. It was the fourth double-double of the year for Gist, an underrated post player who has quietly had a very solid season for Gary Williams’ young and steadily improving squad.

Kansas
Memphis may be the new No. 1 team in the country, but the loaded Jayhawks proved against this week that they are just as worthy of that top spot. KU walloped Oklahoma (a Blake Griffin-less Oklahoma, but still) by 30 at home on Monday and then shook off a poor shooting night to win a tough road game at Missouri on Saturday. On both nights, Kansas had four starters in double figures, headlined by Brandon Rush’s 16 points and nine rebounds against Oklahoma and Mario Chalmers’ 18 points, five boards, and three steals against the Tigers. The Jayhawks, who improved to 18-0 with the two wins, have two easy home games this week before traveling to Kansas State next Wednesday for what should be a great game.

Tennessee
The Vols didn’t get a No. 1 seed in this week’s bracket by default; they earned it by adding two more quality wins to their extremely impressive resume. Led by Wayne Chism’s 18 points and 18 rebounds, Tennessee crushed Vandy by 20 at home on Thursday, and then followed up that win with a five-point victory over Ohio State at home on Saturday. Those victories, paired with the Vols’ earlier defeats of West Virginia, Xavier, Gonzaga, and Mississippi, already gives Tennessee six wins over tournament teams - one more than fellow one seeds and Memphis and Duke, and three more than Kansas.

Drake
Of all the unexpected storylines of this college basketball season, the fact that Drake has one loss in late January has to be near – if not at the top – of the list. The Bulldogs’ dream season continued this week, as they stunned Bradley on the road on Wednesday and then won their first-place battle with Illinois State on Saturday to improve to 7-0 in the MVC. The Illinois State win also extended Drake’s winning streak to 15 games, helped move the Bulldogs up to a six seed in this week’s bracket, and earned the program its first Top 25 ranking in 33 years.

Cleveland State
Just how big was Cleveland State's win over Butler last week? It was the program’s first regular season victory ever (yup, ever) over a ranked opponent, it earned CSU a 12 seed in our latest Field of 65, and most importantly, it put the Vikings - who finished 10-21 last season - in the driver’s seat to win the Horizon regular season title (and the home court advantage in the conference tournament that goes along with it). At 7-0, Cleveland State now has a two game lead over Bulter in the loss column - which is doubly huge considering the Vikings are about to embark on a four-game road trip.

Also receiving votes: Duke (the Blue Devils won a pair of tough games this week – at FSU and at home against Clemson – to stay unbeaten in ACC play and earn a 1 seed in this week's bracket), Michigan State (the Spartans also picked up two quality Ws this week, beating Ohio State at home and winning at pesky Minnesota), Mississippi State (thanks to a pair of 24-point games by Jamont Gordon, the Bulldogs beat Kentucky and Alabama to improve to 4-0 in the SEC), Providence (the Friars beat UConn in Hartford for the second straight year on Thursday and, as a result, jumped back into the Field of 65), Texas Tech (the Red Raiders crushed Texas A&M on Wednesday night to give Bobby Knight – whether he likes it or not – his 900th career win), Canisius (the 3-14 Golden Griffins pulled off arguably the biggest upset of the week, beating – and rushing on – then-MAAC co-leader Niagara 70-62 on Friday night), Brook Lopez (Stanford’s star forward had 19 points and six rebounds in a win over Arizona on Thursday and then bounced back from a terrible first half to finish with 19 points and 16 rebounds in a 67-52 win over Arizona State on Saturday), Michael Beasley and Bill Walker (Kansas State’s dynamic duo combined for 40 point in the Wildcats’ upset of Texas A&M on Saturday), Dre Smith (George Mason’s sharp-shooting guard set an NCAA record by going a ridiculous 10-for-10 from beyond the arc in a win over James Madison on Saturday night), Ricky Harris (the sophomore guard had 22 points in UMass’ win at Dayton on Wednesday, and had 24 points in a win at home against Charlotte on Saturday), Tyler Hansbrough (the All-American had 27 points and 12 boards as Carolina squeaked by Georgia Tech on Wednesday), Sean Singletary (Virginia’s heartbreaking loss to Virginia Tech on Thursday certainly wasn’t Singletary’s fault – he scored a season-high 34 points and added a season-high 10 rebounds), Jon Brockman (the junior forward had 21 points and 16 rebounds in Washington’s 78-70 upset of Oregon on Thursday and had 26 points and 14 boards in the Huskies’ win over Oregon State on Saturday), Stephen Curry (Davidson’s star sophomore had 37 points in the Wildcats’ win over Chattanooga on Saturday), Deron Washington (the senior’s driving lay-in at the buzzer gave Virginia Tech a 70-69 overtime win at Virginia on Wednesday), Hasheem Thabeet (UConn’s sophomore center had 15 points, seven rebounds, and six blocks in the Huskies’ win over Marquette on Saturday), Dionte Christmas (the junior guard scored 19 of his 21 points in the second half to lead Temple in its upset win over Xavier on Wednesday)

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Academic Probation
The Top 25
When the dust finally cleared on a crazy week of games, 15 teams in the AP Top 25 had lost at least one game, and if you factor in teams “also receiving votes,” 26 of the top 44 teams in the country went down at least once. These results obviously speak to the parity that exists in college basketball, and to the fact that it is becoming increasingly difficult for teams to win on the road (which are both good things), but selfishly, it makes putting a bracket together that much harder. So, come on, ranked teams, help your favorite bracketologists out: Win two games next week. Please?

Texas A&M
After a ridiculously soft OOC schedule, Texas A&M came into the Big XII season with something to prove. This week, all they proved is that they aren’t very good away from home. First, the Aggies were blown out at Texas Tech on Wednesday, managing just 17 first half points and committing 20 turnovers in a 68-53 loss. Then they played even worse in a 21-point defeat at Kansas State on Saturday. Those losses knocked A&M down to a five seed in this week’s bracket and caused coach Mark Turgeon to bluntly say that his team “doesn’t have a lot of guys playing very well right now.”

Miami-FL
Life on the road has not been too kind to Miami, either. The Hurricanes lost games at Boston College and at N.C. State last week to fall to 1-2 in conference and to drop from the top six seed down to a 10 seed in this week’s Field of 65. Against the Eagles on Monday, Miami shot just 31 percent from the field (star guard Jack McClinton went 6-for-26) and lost 76-66. Four days later, the sloppy ‘Canes literally handed the Wolfpack a win, giving up four points in the last two seconds of overtime in a heartbreaking 79-77 loss.

Arkansas
The SEC is down to a four-bid league right now thanks to Arkansas’s inability to get even a split in its two games last week. The Razorbacks inexplicably lost at home to South Carolina on Wednesday and then lost a decently tough, but certainly winnable, game at Georgia on Saturday to drop out of our Field of 65. Terrible outside shooting ultimately did in Arkansas in both games – they went a combined 5-for-25 from three-point-range against the Gamecocks and Bulldogs.

Nebraska
We stuck our necks out for the Huskers (and their astronomical RPI) last week in the hopes that they could win a road game at Colorado and beat Baylor at home to stay in the bracket. Our reward for that loyalty? Two terrible losses that dropped Nebraska to 0-3 in conference and dropped their aforementioned RPI down to a cool 167. Can we all agree that this pick never happened? Nice…thanks.

Also receiving votes: The A-10’s Big Three (Xavier, Dayton, and Rhode Island all lost conference games this week, the most shocking of the three being the Rams’ loss on the road Thursday against offensively-challenged Saint Louis), Marquette (the Golden Eagles still haven’t won a conference road game yet; they lost at Louisville and at UConn by a combined 36 points this week), Oregon (after moving up to a six seed in last week’s bracket, the Ducks promptly got swept by Washington and Washington State on the road this week), California (the Bears wasted two brilliant 30-point efforts from Ryan Anderson and got swept by Arizona State and Arizona at home to fall out of this week’s bracket), Louisville (the finally-healthy Cardinals were getting a lot of national love for winning eight of nine games – and then they went out and laid an egg against Seton Hall on Saturday, blowing a 14-point second half lead and losing 92-82), Holy Cross (the Crusaders – everyone’s preseason pick to win the Patriot league – fell to 0-3 in conference this week after losses at perennial doormat Army and at home to rival Bucknell), Geary Claxton (the senior guard’s season – and career – is done after he tore the ACL in his left knee in Penn State’s loss to Wisconsin on Tuesday), Blake Griffin (Oklahoma’s star freshman could miss as much as four weeks after spraining the MCL in his left knee in the Sooners’ loss to Kansas on Monday), fans who want to get John Wooden’s autograph at Pauley Pavilion (UCLA issued a “friendly request” to fans last week to let the 97-year-old legend watch and enjoy Bruins games in peace), the side of Rick Majerus we never knew (according to a story by S.L. Price in Sports Illustrated this past week, Majerus apparently has a slight public nudity problem, routinely calls his players the c-word, likes to whip out “Rick Jr.” to try to prove a point, and…well, you can read the rest for yourself…the highlights are on pages 4 and 5)

B101's Bracket Bag - Jan. 15

Some of the best questions we get each week aren't from people posting in the comments section, but from those who send us questions via e-mail. In a new semi-weekly feature to B101, we will some of these questions posed by our readers.

Matt writes:
First off I just wanna say I love the work you guys do and enjoy reading your site every time it's updated.

As an FSU alum, I do have a gripe with this week's selections. I know you took out the Noles recently with the loss of our 3 big men. While Alabi (3.9 pts, 2.2 rebs) is still out for the year, Ryan Reid is set to come back from his academic suspension tomorrow night against Duke, and Julian Vaughn was just cleared by doctors to play the rest of the season.

If those injuries/suspension aren't factored into the equation I cannot fathom the Noles not being at least in the last 8 teams left out. There are numerous teams in your field (and in the last 8 out) that don't have anything close to the resume FSU has.

While we don't have GREAT wins there are solid wins against (RPI) Minnesota, @GT, and @Florida in a game that wasn't even close from start to finish. As for the losses, 3 are @Butler, @Providence, and @Clemson in a 2 OT thriller Saturday night. The other 2 sound bad (Cleveland St. and USF in Daytona) on the surface but both are top 80 RPI teams and both came in the first week and a half of the season.

Some teams I have a gripe with...

First... Nebraska! Their RPI is at #136, they have no road wins, and their SOS is literally one of the worst in NCAA history! Sure they have decent home wins against Oregon and Arizona St., but if there's anything the Noles know from experience is the committee doesn't seem to care too much about quality home wins. The Huskers would need to go AT LEAST 11-5 in the Big 12 to even be considered, and I'd bet a large amount that's not gonna happen.

Villanova (a 7 seed?) They have 1 good home win against Pitt, and 3 semi-bad losses. I can see them barely being in the field, but a 7-seed is kinda ridiculous.

Louisville....what on their resume puts them so far ahead of FSU that makes them a 10 seed and FSU not even in the last 8 out? Their wins are comparable to the Noles and their losses are worse.

There are quite a few other teams that I have questions about, but I'll stop there. I look forward to your response.

B101: Yeah, about that Nebraska pick…..

In all seriousness, though, Matt, you make a decent case for Florida State, but right now, the Noles are simply not worthy of a bid. FSU has two awful losses (regardless of RPI, losses to Cleveland State, and South Florida especially, won't help a resume come Selection Sunday), only one really impressive win (Minnesota and Georgia Tech are decent wins at best), and they are still somewhat banged up.

Your Nebraska argument is a no-brainer after the Huskers’ loss tonight at Colorado. We kept them in the bracket because we thought they could beat the Buffaloes and then beat Baylor at home this week. A split in our minds meant they would be out, so next week they’ll be out.

With all due respect, you are being a little harsh on Louisville, whose losses are in no way worse than FSU’s losses. Louisville’s losses are to BYU (who could win the MWC), Dayton (a four seed this week), Purdue (the fifth best team in the Big Ten), and Cincinnati (3-1 in the Big East so far). Only the Cincinnati loss came at full strength; they played BYU and Dayton without David Padgett and Juan Palacios and played Purdue without Padgett, Palacios, and a suspended Derrick Caracter.

We agree that FSU has the best win of the two teams with their victory over Florida, but Louisville’s wins over West Virginia and at UNLV are pretty solid as well. Plus, the Cardinals are now back to full strength and are playing their best ball of the year, winning seven of their last eight. We will keep an eye on FSU over the next week or so to see how they do as they start to get healthier as well and, if the ‘Noles can put together a couple of wins, they will make it onto a “Last Four” list at the very least in the near future. It won’t be easy for them though – as I’m sure you’re well aware, they host Duke and play at Wake Forest this week.

The Villanova point you made is good one as well. We admit that the Wildcats are pretty high at a seven. A couple of things went into that decision. First and foremost, we couldn’t put 'Nova on the 8 or 9 lines (where they probably belong) because we would have had too many Big East teams on the 1-4-5-8-9-12 line. We do think that they are better than a 10 seed (where we could have moved them to keep the numbers right) based on their win over Pitt, which looks even better now after the Panthers’ win vs. Georgetown on Monday night. Looking ahead, 'Nova also has a good chance of winning its next three games (home vs. DePaul, at struggling Syracuse, and at Rutgers). If they do that, they’ll be 4-2 in conference and a little more respectable seven seed.

Do you have a question for a future Bracket Bag? E-mail us at bracketologyblog@yahoo.com

Bracketology 101's Field of 65 - Jan. 14

The Breakdown
The continuation, or in some cases the start, of conference play brought about a ton of upsets this week. It also resulted in a slew of changes in this week’s bracket. Twenty-three of the 44 teams we had seeded on the 2-12 lines in our last bracket lost at least one game this week, including seven of the eight teams we had on the seven and eight lines. All of these losses made us review some teams extra closely, and in the end it caused us to cut ties with a couple that we've had in the field for a while.

The two most notable dropouts this week turned out to be North Carolina State and Massachusetts. N.C. State’s loss at North Carolina obviously wasn’t a bad loss, but the Wolfpack certainly didn’t look like a tournament team in scoring 13 first half points and losing by 31. N.C. State also has a tough stretch of games coming up, beginning with a road game at Clemson Tuesday night, and we feel that that stretch will knock them down the ACC standings and keep them out of the bracket for a while. UMass’ upcoming schedule is also brutal (at Dayton, Charlotte, and at St. Joseph’s over the next nine days), which makes their home loss to St. Joe’s this past week that much worse. We still think the A-10 could be a four bid league come March, but we just aren’t sure right now that that fourth team is going to be the Minutemen.

N.C. State and UMass were replaced in the bracket by Florida and Connecticut. The Gators won two more games this week to move to 15-2 on the year, and while they don’t have a marquee win yet, we have come around on the idea that they can get to double digit wins in the weak SEC and earn a bid. We like UConn now as well (yes, we are putting them in off a loss) because the Huskies are improving game by game and they proved on the road against Georgetown that they are certainly a tournament-caliber team. UConn's remaining Big East schedule also shapes up very nicely in terms of home and away games, and we think that they too have the talent to get 10 or 11 wins in conference and earn a bid.

The only other noteworthy development in the bracket this week was the downgrade of the MWC from a two-bid to a one-bid league. Last week, in our Bracket Breakdown, we argued for the MWC being a two-bid league, but our thinking has changed based on the results of the past week. Over the last six days, BYU and San Diego State suffered bad OOC losses, UNLV lost at Air Force and New Mexico lost at home to SDSU. Those results make it impossible to conclude that one team in the MWC is markedly better than the rest and thus is worthy of an at-large bid. We kept BYU in as our lone Mountain West team this week, and took the Lobos out.

Out This Bracket
North Carolina State, Massachusetts, Syracuse, New Mexico, George Mason, UC-Santa Barbara, East Tennessee State

In This Bracket
Louisville, Florida, Kansas State, Connecticut, VCU, Cal State Northridge, Jacksonville

Last Four In
Illinois State, Kansas State, Connecticut, Nebraska

Last Four Out
North Carolina State, Massachusetts, Syracuse, Providence

Next Four Out
St. Joseph’s, Missouri, Boston College, San Diego State

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Conference Breakdown
Big East (8), Big XII (7), Pac-10 (7), ACC (5), SEC (5), Big Ten (4), A-10 (3), MVC (2), WCC (2)

America East - UMBC

ACC - North Carolina, Duke, Miami-FL, Clemson, Virginia

Atlantic Sun - Jacksonville

A-10 - Dayton, Xavier, Rhode Island

Big East - Georgetown, Marquette, Pittsburgh, Villanova, Notre Dame, West Virginia, Louisville, Connecticut

Big Sky - Northern Arizona

Big South - Winthrop

Big Ten - Wisconsin, Michigan State, Indiana, Ohio State

Big 12 - Kansas, Texas A&M, Texas, Oklahoma, Baylor, Kansas State, Nebraska

Big West - Cal State Northridge

Colonial - VCU

C-USA - Memphis

Horizon - Butler

Ivy - Cornell

MAAC - Siena

MAC - Kent State

MEAC - Hampton

MVC - Drake, Illinois State

MWC - BYU

Northeast - Wagner

Ohio Valley - Austin Peay

Pac-10 - UCLA, Washington State, Oregon, Arizona, Arizona State, Stanford, California

Patriot - Holy Cross

SEC - Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Mississippi, Arkansas, Florida

Southern - Davidson

Southland - Sam Houston State

Summit - IUPUI

Sun Belt - South Alabama

SWAC - Arkansas-Pine Bluff

WAC - Utah State

WCC - St. Mary's, Gonzaga

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The Seeds
The 1s
North Carolina, Memphis, Kansas, UCLA

The 2s
Duke, Tennessee, Washington State, Texas A&M

The 3s
Georgetown, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Texas

The 4s
Indiana, Marquette, Butler, Dayton

The 5s
Vanderbilt, Xavier, Pittsburgh, Mississippi

The 6s
Miami-FL, St. Mary’s, Clemson, Oregon

The 7s
Rhode Island, Arizona, Gonzaga, Villanova

The 8s
Arizona State, Drake, Oklahoma, Notre Dame

The 9s
Ohio State, Arkansas, West Virginia, Stanford

The 10s
Baylor, Louisville, California, Florida

The 11s
Virginia, Illinois State, Kansas State, Connecticut

The 12s
BYU, Nebraska, Kent State, South Alabama

The 13s
VCU, Sam Houston State, Davidson, Utah State

The 14s
Siena, Cal State Northridge, Holy Cross, Winthrop

The 15s
IUPUI, Cornell, Northern Arizona, Hampton

The 16s
UMBC, Wagner, Jacksonville, Austin Peay (Play-In Game), Arkansas-Pine Bluff (Play-In Game)

The Bracket
(Bracket courtesy Matt Reeves)










Questions? Comments? E-mail Bracketology 101 at bracketologyblog@yahoo.com

B101's Dean's List-Academic Probation - Week of Jan. 7-13

Dean's List-Academic Probation is a weekly column that analyzes all of the highlights and lowlights from the previous week's games. The teams, players, conferences, etc. that deserve praise for what they accomplished over the past week make our Dean's List; those deserving ridicule are put on Academic Probation.

Here are this week's honorees:

Dean’s List
Kevin Love, UCLA
The Bruins’ super-frosh has put together plenty of impressive stat lines this season, but even Love himself admitted his performance against Washington State on Saturday was his “best game overall.” He scored 27 points and grabbed 14 rebounds (his eighth double-double of the year) as fifth-ranked UCLA held off a late-game three-point barrage by the fourth-ranked Cougars to win 81-74. Love also added four assists and two blocks – and (surprise!) two three pointers – to lead the Bruins to victory.

Roy Hibbert, Georgetown
Hibbert didn’t hit as many threes as Love did over the weekend, but the senior’s let-him-shoot-it trifecta with less than five seconds left gave the Hoyas a thrilling, come-from-behind 72-69 win over a pesky, Jim Calhoun-less UConn team on Saturday. Hibbert finished with 20 points and eight rebounds, as Georgetown erased a six-point second half deficit to improve to 13-1 overall and 3-0 in the Big East. They’ll face Pittsburgh on the road Monday night in what will be by their toughest conference test of the season to date.

Oregon
What a difference a week and a half has made for Oregon. The Ducks were on very shaky ground after losing at Arizona State on Jan. 3, but since then, they’ve strung together a trio of very nice Pac-10 wins. They won at Arizona last Saturday to stay in the bracket, and then went out this week and, led by two strong performances by Maarty Leunen, downed Cal and Stanford at home to improve to 3-1 in conference play. Those wins also moved Oregon from a 10 seed all the way up to the last six seed in our Field of 65 this week.

Cincinnati
The Bearcats have come a long way since famously losing their season opener to Belmont. After enduring a brutal non-conference schedule, Cincinnati has been at its best over the first two weeks of Big East play. Last week, they beat Syracuse and 17th-ranked Villanova at home to improve to .500 overall and a very surprising 3-1 in conference. The Bearcats’ next stretch of six games is extremely rough, but three of those games (Pitt, UConn, Marquette) are at home, where Cincinnati has already proven its toughness.

Arizona State
UCLA and Oregon weren’t the only Pac-10 teams to have Dean’s List-worthy weeks. Arizona State not only knocked off Arizona for just the second time in its last 26 tries on Wednesday to improve to 3-0 in the Pac-10, they put together a very nice, complete-court-coverage rush afterwards. The win bumped the Sun Devils from an 11 seed up to an eight seed in this week’s bracket, and they’ll have a chance to move up even higher if they can pick up a road win or two this weekend as they visit Cal and Stanford.

Also receiving votes: Jerryd Bayless (Arizona’s stud frosh had 33 points and nine assists against Houston in his return to the lineup on Saturday), Michael Beasley (not to be outdone, Kansas State’s all-world freshman scored 32 points, including the game winner with 2.3 seconds left, as the Wildcats upset Oklahoma in Norman on Saturday), Patrick Patterson (the freshman forward had 23 points and 12 boards in Kentucky’s upset of Vanderbilt on Saturday), Pitt’s frontcourt (junior Sam Young and freshman DeJuan Blair combined for 32 points and 13 rebounds in a win against South Florida on Wednesday and 48 points and 22 boards in a win over Seton Hall on Saturday), Tyler Smith (the sophomore forward had the game-winning lay-in with 4.2 seconds left to help Tennessee knock off previously-unbeaten Mississippi on Wednesday), Missouri (the Tigers shot 70 percent in the second half en route to a 97-84 upset of Texas on Saturday), Dayton (led by Brian Roberts’ 23 points, the Flyers won their showdown with Rhode Island 92-83 on Wednesday), Charlotte (the 49ers picked up a huge OOC win at Clemson on Wednesday), Delaware (the Blue Hens knocked off George Mason and ODU at home to improve to 4-0 in the Colonial), Purdue (the Boilers beat Ohio State 78-75 at home on Saturday), Dick Vitale’s vocal cords (after missing more than a month, Dickie V has been cleared to return to broadcasting, and he’ll do so – guess when? – at the Duke-North Carolina game on Feb. 6)

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Academic Probation
Teams that can’t score more than 25 points in a game
Several college basketball teams were determined to set the sport back a few decades this week, but only Saint Louis and Savannah State were able to do so on a historically awful level. Savannah State kicked off the brick-laying on Monday, as they shot a record-low 4.3 percent (1-for-23) and scored a record-low four points in the second half of an 85-25 loss at Kansas State. Fortunately for the Tigers, though, their ineptitude was overshadowed by an every more amazing performance by the Bilikens just three days later. That’s when Saint Louis set a now well-documented shot-clock record by scoring just 20 points in a 29-point loss at George Washington, leading Rick Majerus to comically conclude that his team “seems to have some issues in terms of its offensive efficiency.”

Top-10 teams that can’t score more than 40 points in a game
Offensive inefficiency didn’t just infect sub-.500 teams this week – even Big Ten favorite and 6th-ranked Michigan State decided to put up a middle school point total. After taking an 18-9 lead against Iowa on Saturday, the Spartans fell apart at the seams, scoring just 18 more points in the final 28:08 in a 43-36 loss. It was Michigan State’s lowest scoring effort since they had just 36 points in a loss to Michigan in 1952, and it prompted Tom Izzo to rip into his players afterward. He called the result “embarrassing” and said that the game was a “total breakdown by every player on the team.” Ouch...

Syracuse
So this is how the Orange reward us for putting them back in the bracket. A week after returning to the Field of 65, Sryacuse lost road games at Cincinnati and West Virginia to drop back to the Last Four Out list. Neither game last week was close; the Orange trailed the Bearcats by 12 at the half and lost 74-66, and they were down 15 at the break against the Mountaineers before eventually losing by 20. Freshman point guard Jonny Flynn, who has played well of late, struggled mightily in both defeats, going a combined 6-of-25 over the two games and dishing out just five assists while committing nine turnovers.

Boston College
Usually when a team needs one more quality win to make the next week’s Field of 65, and then goes out and drops 112 points on a good conference opponent, they earn themselves a bid. The Eagles, thanks to a complete no-show against Robert Morris on Monday night, instead earned themselves a spot on the AcPro list. BC was down seven at the half and trailed by as many as nine in the second half in a 57-51 home loss to Colonials, who celebrated their upset by losing by 13 at home to 6-10 Sacred Heart on Sunday.

The Mountain West & The A-10
The Big East, the Big XII, and the SEC were all able to pick up extra bids this week, and they did so in large part because of the shaky play of some bubble teams in the MWC and the A-10. The MWC is back to a one-bid league in this week’s bracket after BYU and SDSU lost bad OOC games and New Mexico lost at home to the visiting Aztecs. The A-10, which had looked like a solid four-bid league for weeks, is now down to just three bids after UMass fell to St. Joe’s. UMass’ upcoming schedule is too brutal to keep them in, and neither St. Joes’ nor Charlotte (even with a W at Clemson this week) has done enough yet to be bid-worthy.

Also receiving votes: Vanderbilt (the Commodores were feisty and forced overtime, but ultimately lost to Kentucky on Saturday to fall from the ranks of the unbeaten), North Carolina State (the Wolfpack was embarrassing bad against North Carolina; they were outscored 32-2 in one stretch in the first half and lost by 31), Houston (the Cougars lost out on their last shot at an OOC win by getting blitzed at home by Arizona on Saturday), Josh Young’s ankle (Drake’s sophomore guard, the MVC’s leading scorer at over 16 ppg, is out indefinitely after spraining his ankle in the Bulldogs’ win Wednesday over Indiana State), Roy Williams’ scalp (Williams needed five stitches in his head after he tripped over a cord in his cluttered office and hit his head on a door), coaches who want to text message recruits (a group of assembled delegates upheld the existing ban on texting at the NCAA Convention in Nashville on Saturday)

B101's Bracket Bag - Jan. 9

Some of the best questions we get each week aren't from people posting in the comments section, but from those who send us questions via e-mail. In a new semi-weekly feature to B101, we will some of these questions posed by our readers.

Ben writes:
I am a huge Husker fan from Lincoln. You have Nebraska as one of the last four in, but are you at all worried about Nebraska's RPI being in the 130's? Obviously it will rise during conference play, but I see NU's out of conference schedule as being too weak to garner an at-large unless they go 10-6 and probably get one win in the conference tourney? What is your thinking on Nebraska? Are Nebraska's two quality Pac-10 wins enough justification right now?

B101: Nebraska’s RPI is certainly troubling (it’s at 128 as of Wednesday night), but as you mentioned, it will get a big bump when the Huskers open conference play Saturday (at home against Kansas). We have Nebraska in the bracket right now because we like what they were able to do out of conference. Their win over Arizona State is looking better and better, as is their victory over Oregon, thanks to the Ducks’ win last week at Arizona. One thing the Huskers still need to do, though, is pick up a signature road win. They’ve only played two road games – against Creighton and Western Kentucky – and lost them both. Not only would a conference road win over a Texas or a Texas A&M, or even a Kansas State, help them to get to 10 wins in conference (which should get them in) but it will help the team’s aforementioned RPI.

David writes:
Indiana a FOUR seed?????? Keep drinking that UNC & Memphis Kool-Aid. Indiana will win the Big 10 by 3 games. Final Four at a minimum…write it down.

B101: First off, we’ll take a large pitcher of UNC and Memphis Kool-Aid, thank you. The Tar Heels and Tigers have been the best two teams in the country all year (with Kansas a close third) and it would be a shock if both weren’t playing in San Antonio. It also wouldn’t be shocking if your Hoosiers were there, too. The duo of Eric Gordon and D.J. White is as good as any 1-2 punch in the country, and their supporting cast isn’t shabby either. We’re not quite sure they’ll win the Big Ten by three games (Michigan State is still in the Big Ten, right?) but they probably won’t finish any worse than second, which should earn them no worse than a four seed. As far as Indiana’s current seed goes, it’s a four because the Hoosiers only have one win so far against a tournament team (Illinois State), and their only OOC road win was against Southern Illinois. Once they get some more quality wins, their seed will get a bump.

Do you have a question for a future Bracket Bag? E-mail us at bracketologyblog@yahoo.com

Bracketology 101's Field of 65 - Jan. 7

The Breakdown
The start of conference play brought its typical craziness to the bracket, as a total of six major or mid-major bids changed hands this week. The Pac-10 and the Big East continue to be extremely tough conferences to figure out and to seed. Losses by USC, Providence, and Louisville knocked them out of the field, and they were replaced by Arizona State, Notre Dame, and Syracuse. We had removed the Orange from the bracket a few weeks ago after Eric Devendorf was lost for the year, but the continued improvement of the team’s talented freshmen (albeit against weak competition) and the fact that the Big East really has no better options at this point, gave Syracuse an opportunity to grab a bid. The other major development since our last Field of 65 is the upside-down world of the MVC, where bracket mainstays Southern Illinois and Creighton have been bumped (Southern Illinois maybe for good) and replaced by surprise conference leaders Drake and Illinois State. While we don’t have a ton of confidence in Illinois State at the moment, the Redbirds are 3-0 in the league and the MVC is worthy of two bids. The same could be said of the MWC, which earned a second bid this week with the addition of New Mexico to the field. We still like BYU to win the league’s regular season title, but we do not think the Cougars are a lock to win what will be a very competitive MWC tournament. We’re going with the upstart Lobos, who will bring a lot of OOC momentum into the MWC season, over UNLV and San Diego State as the conference’s second bid.

Out This Bracket
USC, Creighton, Providence, Louisville, Kansas State, Southern Illinois, Western Kentucky, Alabama A&M

In This Bracket
Notre Dame, Drake, Arizona State, Syracuse, New Mexico, Illinois State, South Alabama, Arkansas-Pine Bluff

Last Four In
Nebraska, Syracuse, New Mexico, Illinois State

Last Four Out
Louisville, Florida, Boston College, USC

Next Four Out
Kansas State, Providence, Connecticut, UNLV

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Conference Breakdown
Big East (7), Pac-10 (7), ACC (6), Big XII (6), A-10 (4), Big Ten (4), SEC (4), MVC (2), MWC (2), WCC (2)

America East - UMBC

ACC - North Carolina, Duke, Clemson, Miami-FL, North Carolina State, Virginia

Atlantic Sun - East Tennessee State

A-10 - Xavier, Dayton, Rhode Island, Massachusetts

Big East - Georgetown, Marquette, Pittsburgh, Villanova, Notre Dame, West Virginia, Syracuse

Big Sky - Northern Arizona

Big South - Winthrop

Big Ten - Michigan State, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio State

Big 12 - Kansas, Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Baylor, Nebraska

Big West - UC-Santa Barbara

Colonial - George Mason

C-USA - Memphis

Horizon - Butler

Ivy - Cornell

MAAC - Siena

MAC - Kent State

MEAC - Hampton

MVC - Drake, Illinois State

MWC - BYU, New Mexico

Northeast - Wagner

Ohio Valley - Austin Peay

Pac-10 - UCLA, Washington State, Arizona, Stanford, California, Oregon, Arizona State

Patriot - Holy Cross

SEC - Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Mississippi, Arkansas

Southern - Davidson

Southland - Sam Houston State

Summit - IUPUI

Sun Belt - South Alabama

SWAC - Arkansas-Pine Bluff

WAC - Utah State

WCC - St. Mary's, Gonzaga

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The Seeds
The 1s
North Carolina, Memphis, Kansas, UCLA

The 2s
Washington State, Duke, Michigan State, Tennessee

The 3s
Texas, Texas A&M, Georgetown, Vanderbilt

The 4s
Wisconsin, Indiana, Butler, Marquette

The 5s
Mississippi, Xavier, Clemson, Dayton

The 6s
Pittsburgh, Miami-FL, St. Mary’s, Villanova

The 7s
Arizona, Rhode Island, Oklahoma, Ohio State

The 8s
Notre Dame, West Virginia, Stanford, Gonzaga

The 9s
California, Drake, North Carolina State, Baylor

The 10s
Arkansas, Massachusetts, Oregon, Virginia

The 11s
BYU, Arizona State, Nebraska, Syracuse

The 12s
New Mexico, Illinois State, Kent State, George Mason

The 13s
South Alabama, Sam Houston State, Davidson, Utah State

The 14s
UC-Santa Barbara, Winthrop, Siena, Holy Cross

The 15s
Cornell, IUPUI, Hampton, Northern Arizona

The 16s
East Tennessee State, UMBC, Wagner, Austin Peay (Play-In Game), Arkansas-Pine Bluff (Play-In Game)

The Bracket
(Bracket courtesy Matt Reeves)

Questions? Comments? E-mail Bracketology 101 at bracketologyblog@yahoo.com

B101's Dean's List-Academic Probation - Week of Dec. 31 - Jan. 6

Dean's List-Academic Probation is a weekly column that analyzes all of the highlights and lowlights from the previous week's games. The teams, players, conferences, etc. that deserve praise for what they accomplished over the past week make our Dean's List; those deserving ridicule are put on Academic Probation.

Here are this week's honorees:

Dean’s List
Wayne Ellington, North Carolina
Tyler Hansbrough may be the unofficial “face” of college basketball, but quicker than a Ty Lawson drive to the hoop, Wayne Ellington is emerging as North Carolina’s most dangerous player. His performance against Clemson on Sunday night was nothing short of incredible, as he hit huge shot after huge shot throughout the second half – including the game-winning, defender-lunging-at-him three-pointer with 0.4 seconds left. The sophomore finished 11-of-19 from the floor and 9-of-9 from the free throw line en route to a career-high 36 points. His performance not only kept the Tar Heels atop the polls and on the one line in our bracket, it also earned Ellington the top spot on this week’s Dean’s List.

Xavier
Maybe Dayton isn’t the best team in the A-10 after all. A week after the Flyers got all the national love for crushing Pitt, the Musketeers let it be known that they can blow people out too. Xavier destroyed Kansas State (by 26), Virginia (by 38), and Auburn (by 23 on the road) and cracked the 100-point mark twice over a seven day stretch to pad an OOC resume that already boasts a win over Indiana. On the strength of these latest dominant wins, the Musketeers shot up to a five seed in our latest Field of 65 – up from an eight seed prior to New Year’s.

Drake & Illinois State
This isn’t your father’s Missouri Valley, folks. Drake and Illinois State may have finished a combined 12-24 in the MVC last season, but as of now, they are the best the two-bid worthy conference has to offer. This past week, Drake’s stunning start continued with wins over Southern Illinois and Evansville, and even more surprising Illinois State won at Wichita State and at home against the Salukis to add to a conference resume that already included a win at Creighton. At 3-0, both the Bulldogs and the Redbirds are in our field for the first time this week. And with the way the rest of the league has performed thus far (especially Southern Illinois), it may be a little while before either Drake or Illinois State fade away.

Arizona State
The Pac-10 has been hyped as a seven-bid league for months. Rarely in any of those discussions, however, was there any mention of Arizona State – until now. With an Oregon-Oregon State sweep last week, the streaking Sun Devils (who have now won eight in a row, including a quality resume builder against Xavier back on Dec. 15) are tied atop the conference standings and look like a serious threat to go dancing. Skeptics may argue that all of ASU’s big wins have come at home, and they’re right, but at this point the Pac-10 is still so unpredictable that a Sun Devil bid in March certainly can’t be dismissed.

D.J. Augustin and Damion James, Texas
The Longhorns’ phenomenal duo engaged in a little game of anything-you-can-do this past week, and the results included eye-popping stat lines and a pair of Texas wins. James stole the show early in the week, scoring 29 points, grabbing 14 rebounds, and blocking five shots in a 67-59 victory over TCU. Augustin countered with a dazzling 30-point, four assist performance against St. Mary’s on Saturday in a 19-point Texas rout.

Also receiving votes: Kansas (the oft-ignored Jayhawks reminded everyone just how talented they are in a 25-point win at Boston College on Saturday), DePaul (the Blue Demons are a surprising 2-0 in conference after home wins over Villanova and Providence last week), Notre Dame (the Fighting Irish notched home wins over West Virginia and Connecticut to jump back into our Field of 65 this week), Shan Foster (the senior swingman scored a total of 76 points in three Vanderbilt wins last week), Gary Johnson (Texas’ highly touted freshman, back on the court after sitting out the first part of the year to deal with a heart condition, had 15 points and six rebounds in his season debut Saturday against St. Mary’s), London Warren (the light-scoring sophomore guard made two clutch FTs in OT to help Dayton hold off Akron on Wednesday), Jamar Butler (the senior guard scored 32 points in Ohio State’s 74-58 win at Illinois on Thursday), Raymar Morgan (the sophomore forward had 31 points and 10 boards as Michigan State beat Minnesota 65-59 on Saturday), Malcolm Grant (the freshman had a season-high 22 points for Villanova in the Wildcats’ one-point home upset of Pittsburgh on Sunday)

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Academic Probation
One-game winning streaks
Winning two straight games is apparently soooooooo 2007. Just ask the Big East and Pac-10. This week alone, Oregon lost at Arizona State and then won at Arizona, Stanford lost to UCLA and then beat USC, Cal beat USC and then lost to UCLA, UConn beat Seton Hall and then lost to Notre Dame, Villanova lost at DePaul and then beat Pitt at home, and West Virginia lost at Notre Dame and then beat Marquette at home. Is this “good parity” or “bad parity” – or simply two conferences full of inconsistent teams? Time will tell, but for now, the final standings of these leagues are anyone’s guess.

Pittsburgh
Losing to a ranked conference opponent on the road usually doesn’t earn you a spot on the AcPro list, but Pitt’s case last week is kind of the exception to the rule. The Panthers’ one-point loss to Villanova wasn’t shocking but it was certainly telling. Thanks to their rash of recent injuries, Pitt was forced to use only seven players, and six of them went at least 23 minutes. Several players denied being fatigued afterwards, but their sloppy and sluggish last few minutes of the game and the fact that they finished with 22 turnovers speaks to the reality that, without Levance Fields and Mike Cook, Pitt is a flawed and troubled team right now.

Houston
With major conference teams losing left and right this week, the Cougars had a golden chance to finally pick up a bid in this week’s Field of 65 if they could have beaten Massachusetts in a decently-tough road game. For a half, that looked like it would happen – and then Houston blew an 11-point first half lead and gave up 58 second half points to the Minutemen in a six-point loss. The Cougars are now in a spot where they might have to beat Arizona at home on Saturday – and plan on knocking off Memphis in conference play – if they have any hopes at an at-large bid on Selection Sunday.

Creighton & Southern Illinois
It took a couple of months, but the two preseason heavyweights in the MVC have both now officially been knocked to the mat. The Salukis’ tailspin continued last week as they dropped road games at Drake and Illinois State to fall to 6-8 overall. The Bluejays, meanwhile, lost at Indiana State to fall out of the bracket after being as high as a nine seed for one two-week stretch earlier in December.

Bobby Knight
First, the General gave us a fantastic neighbor battle. Then, last week, after winning career game No. 899 and with his grandson on his knee, he gave us this.

Also receiving votes: Louisville (the Cardinals finally welcomed David Padgett back to the lineup on Tuesday…and then promptly lost at home to Cincinnati in their Big East opener), USC (the young Trojans are off to an 0-2 start in the Pac-10 after road losses at Cal and Stanford), North Carolina State (the Wolfpack managed just 17 first half points in an underwhelming 50-43 win over 1-18 Presbyterian on Saturday), Baylor (the Bears missed out on their last opportunity at a nice OOC win by losing to Arkansas in Dallas on Saturday), Providence (the Friars have some nice OOC wins, but their 0-2 start in the Big East knocked them out of this week’s Field of 65)