Bracket Banter is our daily open thread to discuss all things bracket. Readers can post comments and questions during the night's games, and we will answer those questions as the night goes on.Thursday's Games
There are some very intruiging games featuring bubble teams tonight. In the Pac-10, Washington State plays at Cal and USC plays at Oregon. Despite a slew of bad losses to start the season, the Trojans are still very alive in the bubble mix thanks to OOC wins over Texas and Tennessee and a home win over Wazzu last weekend. If they can sweep the Oregon schools, and if Wazzu slips up against Cal or Stanford over the weekend, USC would likely snag the Pac-10's third bid in our next bracket.
Elsewhere, Virginia Tech gets a chance to pick up a huge road win at North Carolina, and Minnesota, who is still dealing with the Trevor Mbakwe mess, hosts Purdue. In the Colonial, Old Dominion kicks off a huge week with a game at Drexel. If the Monarchs want to solidify their at-large status, they are going to have to win games like this (and the game they play at Hofstra on Saturday.)
Also keep an eye on: Washington at Stanford, UCLA at Oregon State, Rhode Island at Richmond, Providence at West Virginia, Utah State at Boise State.
11 comments:
If Penn State can finish with a record simiar to 2008-2009, do they get in?
So, Missouri State has now beaten UNI, CU and WSU all on the road, are now 7-0 in the MVC. Even with one or two losses, they are at least an at large bid?
If the zags sweep the WCC and get that extra win vs. memphis, both plausible, how high can they rise?
Comparing a team's at-large resume year-to-year is tough, and it's even tougher now with the expanded field, but here goes:
Penn State finished 22-11 overall and 10-8 in the Big Ten in '08-'09. They had six RPI top 50 wins (all in the Big Ten), had a 70 RPI, and lost in the quarters of the Big Ten tournament. What killed the Nittany Lions that year was a brutal double OT loss in their regular season finale to a sub-.500 Iowa team. They were one of the last teams left out that year, but we have to think that with the expanded field this year, they would probably sneak in and be in a First Four game.
If Missouri State loses just one or two games in the MVC, they'll get an at-large.
If Gonzaga sweeps the WCC and beats Memphis, they would probably be a 4 or 5 seed.
Will beating Duke be good enough for FSU to overcome losing to Auburn? I'm thrilled they won, but I'm dubious the committee will look past that loss.
Mike,
I feel pretty confident that the Auburn loss should be minimized(or even ignored), but the comittee doesn't feel that way.
Looking at an entire season based on just 2 games is impossible. The win over duke is huge for FSU and should keep them in the bracket for awhile.
Traditionally a year with a weak bubble means more opportunities for mid-majors to grab at larges. Is that the case this year or could we see some BCS schools with losing conference records? I haven't seen too many mid-majors making waves thus far. The top of the A-10 has been mediocre, Memphis isn't ready for prime time, and New Mexico is slipping. The WCC seems good for 2 bids, but I still can't make heads or tails out of Butler.
With a weak bubble and an expanded field, mid-majors have a great opportunity to earn bids this season. Unfortunately, they just aren't earning those spots right now. The A-10 is barely a three bid league at the moment, Memphis' struggles might lead to a one-bid C-USA, and the MVC, Colonial, and Horizon might only get one bid each. Those scenarios could lead to an 8-10 Big East team or several .500 teams from the Big Ten or Big XII getting in.
Pac-10 looks like a 3 bid league at best, and possibly a 2 bid league after last night. USC has got to be done at this point after another horrible loss. Wazzou is probably just hanging on. With the ACC and SEC down as well, I really think we're going to see 10 Big East teams.
Contrasting a Buy RS Goldcrew's at-large application year-to-year is, and it is actually harder with Buy WOW Goldthe widened discipline, but here will go:
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