Our quick thoughts on Friday's results:The first night of BracketBuster weekend couldn't have gone much worse for the Colonial. Old Dominion - the league's best chance at an at-large bid - lost 71-62 at Northern Iowa, and William & Mary laid a huge egg on the road against Iona, getting blown out 83-69 by the relatively unknown but pretty underrated Gaels. The Tribe's loss is a critical blow to their already fleeting at-large hopes and it puts them in a position where they would have to make the final of the CAA tourney to have even a sliver of hope for a bid. ODU, meanwhile, is still very much alive for an at-large, but they will have to win their final two conference games (at Georgia State, vs. VCU) and get to at least the CAA semis to get a bid. A trip to the final should be enough for them to sneak in, but a lot will depend on what happens around the bubble during Championship Week.
The team that doesn't have to worry very much anymore is UNI, who is now all but assured an at-large bid after its performance Friday night. The sharpshooting Panthers didn't seem to miss Jordan Eglseder much against the Monarchs, as they made 10 threes (five by Ali Farokmanesh) and hit 17 of their 21 free throws in what was a very efficient offensive performance. The Panthers will be a solid 6 seed in our bracket on Monday, and even if they lose in the MVC tourney, they probably won't fall further than the 8 line on Selection Sunday.
Of note: Cornell won at Harvard (Ryan Wittman had 27 points and eight boards for the Big Red); Princeton beat Yale at home (the Tigers trail Cornell by a half game in the Ivy).
17 comments:
Northern Iowa is a very impressive team. They have guards who can really shoot it and length and size inside. They were even without their starting center last night. Northern Iowa should not be considered a cinderella. They are a really good team not Cinderella.
Butler and Siena are both very good teams. I sure hope they both make the tournament.
who does everyone like in the big Florida-Ole Miss matchup? I think Florida will pull out the tough road win and cement their spot in the bracket. The Gators have nice wins over Florida State, Michigan State, and Mississippi State.
Why on earth is CBS showing a battle for 10th place over a big bubble battle?
Does Greg Anthony know something nobody else does? He just said he thinks North Carolina still has a really good chance to make the NCAA tournament.
North Carolina does have a really good chance to make the NCAA tournament. All they have to do is somebody knocks off Duke and then they just have to beat the other overrated teams in the league tournament.
Does Utah State or Old Dominion have a better resume in your opinion?
The Bracket Busters games should involve bubble teams from all conferences. Here are some matchups I would like to see in this years Bracket busters.
Florida vs Dayton
Mississippi vs Utep
Utah State vs Oklahoma State
Seton Hall vs Siena
Louisiana Tech vs Mississippi State
St Marys vs Cal
Washington vs San Diego State
Wichita State vs Marquette
Virginia Tech vs Old Dominion
Minnesota vs Kent State
Rhode Island vs Cincinnati
South Florida vs Florida State
Butler and Northern Iowa have already locked at large bids and should not have to play in Bracket Busters. Bubble teams should have to play in Bracket Busters.
St. Johns is leading South Florida by double digits. Does St. Johns have a chance to get in?
anonymous...the one who thinks UNC can make the dance and that the ACC is overrated:
get a clue about what you are talking about...they will get the most teams in the dance than any other conference in the country. overrated my ass, you make about as much sense as Glockner and Lunardi
ODU has the better at-large resume because they have two good wins (Georgetown and Charlotte) compared to Utah State's one (BYU).
I disagree with Jay Bilas. The Big East is stronger than the ACC and will get more teams in. The top tier teams in the Big Ten are stronger than the top 5 of the ACC as well. The ACC is not as strong as past years. Even though Duke Vitale may not believe you. He thinks the ACC and his "Dukies" are number 1 every year baby!
Leave it to W&M to choke whenever they have a chance of getting back into at-large discussion. Have to give Iona credit though as they shot lights out (especially first half when they shot like 65% from field). Just have to start praying that W&M can somehow when the CAA tourney, which going to be tough because we will probably have to play VCU first then either NE, ODU in semis.
Question... UF will likely be the underdog in their 3 remaining games, if they lose all 3 are they out?
49ers fan -- I love those matchups, but big conferences would have to consent to it prior to the season.
I've said this for years ... BracketBusters should include the TV-caliber games and should include no more than 4 teams from a single conference.
CAA - You're killin' me.
It was a bad week for Wake Forest. How far will their seed fall? Did Oklahoma State and Florida clinch spots today with good wins?
A 9-7 record in the strong SEC East should be enough to put Florida in. But they do have a very tough schedule left. That game at Georgia is not going to be easy either.
After Wakes loss at NC State, do they fall off the 3 line this week?
Xavier should be moving up the seed lines. They are playing great ball right now and have picked up nice road wins the last two weekends.
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