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)