Bracket Notes- 1/29
Wisconsin solidifies themselves as the top overall seed by beating Michigan and Iowa. They are also the only team with one loss. UCLA which was the top seed last week beat Cal but lost @Stanford. The Bruins gave up 50 second half points and blew a 12 point halftime lead. They are still a one seed but hopefully that second half was just an aberration for them. The Tar Heels handed Arizona their worst home loss of the Lute Olsen era. Ty Lawson emerged as UNC’s go to guy so look for Lawson to emerge as more of a playmaker as the Heels go back into ACC play. These 3 teams along with Florida are the clear cut one seeds at the point and no other team really has a strong case at all.
Oregon gave Washington new life when they dropped a game there last Thursday but that was without Aaron Brooks who was suspended from the game. With Brooks back, they beat Washington St. by 3. The Ducks remind me a lot of last year’s Villanova team in that they employ a four guard lineup and had been underachieving the last few years. I expect them to make a run to the Sweet 16 and maybe the Elite 8.
Virginia Tech flew to the head of the ACC this week. They finally seem to be playing at high level regardless of their opponent. For the past few years and even earlier this year, they were playing to the level of their opponent and more often than not losing to inferior teams. This week they picked up two roads wins. One was against Miami who isn’t very good and another against underachieving Georgia Tech. Their days of just being a thorn in Duke’s side are over.
Even though Arizona got destroyed by UNC, they are still safely in the bracket since they have no bad losses as well as a win against Memphis and several other quality teams. Alabama is in much the same boat as Arizona. They only have one bad loss a 24-point home loss to Auburn. They also have several quality victories but don’t have a resume headlining win yet. The Crimson Tide are injury-prone but too talented to not make the tournament. LSU is my last team in because they are another team with no bad losses although some might become suspect as the season plays out. Their win over Uconn has lost a lot of its luster and just beating Texas A&M won’t be enough.
Vandy continued their recent SEC domination by taking out LSU and Ole Miss. The LSU win coupled with wins over Tennessee, Alabama, and Kentucky vault the Commodores into the bracket. If they can split with Florida, they would be near lock status. Texas Tech picked up another huge win against Texas A&M to put them into the bracket but they also lost at Missouri. They have enough talent to stay in the bracket but they can’t be losing to the bottom of their conference. Stanford also charged into this week’s bracket by beating #1 UCLA and #25 USC. Georgia also moved into the bracket. They beat Kentucky and LSU this week and have another win against Gonzaga. In addition all of their losses have come to teams currently in the field.
East Tennessee St., Cal State Fullerton, and Weber St. move into automatic bid slots replace Belmont, Long Beach, and Idaho St. East Tennessee won at Belmont this week and Weber St. won at Idaho St.
Most of the teams on my also considered list lack a big win or have bad losses. BC is out because of Sean Williams's dismissal and I don’t like the makeup of their roster to put them in. Louisville lacks that resume topping win but if they keep beating bubble teams as they have been doing then they will be in soon.
Oregon gave Washington new life when they dropped a game there last Thursday but that was without Aaron Brooks who was suspended from the game. With Brooks back, they beat Washington St. by 3. The Ducks remind me a lot of last year’s Villanova team in that they employ a four guard lineup and had been underachieving the last few years. I expect them to make a run to the Sweet 16 and maybe the Elite 8.
Virginia Tech flew to the head of the ACC this week. They finally seem to be playing at high level regardless of their opponent. For the past few years and even earlier this year, they were playing to the level of their opponent and more often than not losing to inferior teams. This week they picked up two roads wins. One was against Miami who isn’t very good and another against underachieving Georgia Tech. Their days of just being a thorn in Duke’s side are over.
Even though Arizona got destroyed by UNC, they are still safely in the bracket since they have no bad losses as well as a win against Memphis and several other quality teams. Alabama is in much the same boat as Arizona. They only have one bad loss a 24-point home loss to Auburn. They also have several quality victories but don’t have a resume headlining win yet. The Crimson Tide are injury-prone but too talented to not make the tournament. LSU is my last team in because they are another team with no bad losses although some might become suspect as the season plays out. Their win over Uconn has lost a lot of its luster and just beating Texas A&M won’t be enough.
Vandy continued their recent SEC domination by taking out LSU and Ole Miss. The LSU win coupled with wins over Tennessee, Alabama, and Kentucky vault the Commodores into the bracket. If they can split with Florida, they would be near lock status. Texas Tech picked up another huge win against Texas A&M to put them into the bracket but they also lost at Missouri. They have enough talent to stay in the bracket but they can’t be losing to the bottom of their conference. Stanford also charged into this week’s bracket by beating #1 UCLA and #25 USC. Georgia also moved into the bracket. They beat Kentucky and LSU this week and have another win against Gonzaga. In addition all of their losses have come to teams currently in the field.
East Tennessee St., Cal State Fullerton, and Weber St. move into automatic bid slots replace Belmont, Long Beach, and Idaho St. East Tennessee won at Belmont this week and Weber St. won at Idaho St.
Most of the teams on my also considered list lack a big win or have bad losses. BC is out because of Sean Williams's dismissal and I don’t like the makeup of their roster to put them in. Louisville lacks that resume topping win but if they keep beating bubble teams as they have been doing then they will be in soon.
posted by Andrew at 2:09 AM
0 comments
