NCAA Basketball: Sunday Preview

Duke at Maryland - Maryland got back into consideration for an at-large bid with their win over North Carolina. A win against Duke would go along ways to solidifying the Terps' tourney resume

Vanderbilt at Florida - Florida is still looking for that signature win to complete their tourney resume.

Xavier at UMass - Xavier is most likely playing for a high seed at this point. With Dayton's losing streak, second place in the A-10 is up for grabs and UMass could put themselves in great shape with a win over Xavier.

Clemson at Miami (FL) - Miami is in danger of falling completely off the bubble and may need this win to stay in contention for an at-large bid.

Cincinnati at Seton Hall - These two teams are off the bubble right now, but have each picked up some nice wins in the Big East to at least keep them in the discussion for an at-large bid.

Providence at Syracuse - Eventually some of the teams in the middle of the Big East will separate themselves from the pack and demonstrate they deserve an at-large bid. However, a loss here by Syracuse will drop them to 3-5 in conference and may prove that they will be on the wrong side of that separation come March.

NCAA Bubble Saturday Preview

As always the weekend is full of games that will likely have impact come Selection Sunday

Washington State at Arizona State - Arizona State was looking to be in great shape prior to their loss at home to Washington. A win against Washington State would definitely help to erase that bad loss. Meanwhile, Washington State is in great shape despite their loss at Arizona. Yet, if they want to continue to be in consideration for a high seed they should win this game.

UConn at Indiana - UConn picked up a nice win over Marquette a week ago to keep themselves on the bubble. A win at Indiana would help to further solidify their tournament resume.

Georgetown at West Virginia - Georgetown may not be deserving of the high seed that many were predicting at this point, but they aren't in any danger to miss the tourney at this point. West Virginia has only one win against the RPI top-50 and could use another good win to strenghten their resume.

Wisconsin at Purdue - This is a great opportunity for Purdue to pick up another quality victory. They also have only one legitimate win against at RPI top-50 team (I'm not counting their win vs. Louisville since the Cardinal were without Padgett). A win here would put Purdue in position for a top 4 finish in the Big 10.

Texas Tech at Texas - Texas Tech needs to do a lot of work to get back onto the bubble. A win at Texas would be a good start.

Mississippi at MIssissippi State - Mississippi State's best win thus far is a win over Missouri. They are 4-0 in the SEC but will need a few nice wins to be in serious contention for an at-large bid

Texas A&M at Oklahoma State - A&M needs to get back on track before they fall off the bubble completely. They are also in search for their first road win of the year. Gallagher-Iba is traditionally a tough place to win, but A&M should be able to beat a team the caliber of Oklahoma state.

Notre Dame at Villanova - The loser of this game will fall towards the back of the pack in the Big East. The good new for Villanova is this will be a home game, where they have been good this year and the Irish have yet to win a game on the road.

Stanford at Cal - Stanford is in great shape, but Cal is in danger of falling off the bubble.

Virginia Tech at Boston College - After the top 3 teams in the ACC, it is tough separate rest of the pack. So all of these head to head games are huge.

UNLV at San Diego State - For a Mountain West team to have a legitimate chance for an at-large bid, they most likely can't afford more than 2 or 3 conference losses. Both of these teams have a chance to achieve this with a win.

Minnesota at Ohio State - The chances for Minnesota to pick up a good win are diminishing. Meanwhile, OSU is likely on the right side of the bubble at this point, but a loss at home to Minnesota might change that.

Creighton at Southern Illinois - Creighton can't afford a loss here if they want to stay in consideration for an at-large.

N.C. State at Florida State - see Virginia Tech at Boston College

Oklahoma at Baylor - The Sooners picked up a decent win over Texas Tech considering they were without Blake Griffin. Another win at Baylor would put them in a great position to weather the storm until Griffin returns.

A reaction to Storming the Floor's superlatives

I’m not going to claim to be the most creative guy in the world. That’s why you tend to see posts on here reviewing what Lunardi does and basically copying Andy Glockner’s bubble watch. Well, you can actually find great and insightful stuff outside of the mainstream (and it can be hard to find great insightful stuff IN the mainstream). I recently poked my head over to Storming the Floor (while you’re busy bookmarking www.bizarrojoelunardi.com you should bookmark www.stormingthefloor.com too) and found their take on NCAA Tournament superlatives. Read their post here and then come back here for a bit of reaction.

Their candidates of teams to be this year’s Florida or Oregon (that had hot starts, cooled down, and then reheated) included Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, and Arizona State. They ended up picking the Rebels due to Kennedy and I can’t blame them for that. The fabulous freshmen at Vanderbilt (A.J. Ogilvy) and Arizona State (James Harden) have given boosts to their respective teams and make them great candidates as well. Another team that I’d throw into that list that is cheating a little bit is Dayton. With injuries to Chris Wright and Charles Little it makes sense that we’d see a fall from that great start the Flyers had. Provided they can return healthy the Flyers are still a team I’d want nothing to do with in March.

Storming the Floor didn’t take too much of a leap when they considered South Alabama, Saint Mary’s (their final prediction), Butler, and Drake as candidates to be this year’s Cinderella. Those are certainly safe picks but let me throw two more into the mix. Kent State boasts pretty good balance (with four players averaging over 9 points per game) while playing pretty good defense and forcing a decent number of turnovers. In addition, the team this award could be named for deserves a mention; that is, of course, George Mason. While the Patriots still sit behind VCU (by the way, another candidate for this list) they still have talented players with Final Four experience in Will Thomas and Folarin Campbell as well as players that can go 10/10 from three point range in Dre Smith.

Indiana was chosen as the not top seed that everyone says will go to the Final Four. That’s probably a great pick because I can see that too (and in a talk with Chad yesterday I said they were the only team that I thought had a chance to do anything from the Big 10 because I would never want to face Gordon or White). So, Indiana was a great choice. My problem with coming up with another pick here is that I’m not sure who all will be the top seeds (or what “top seeds” entails; 1s and 2s?). On this one I’ll take the easy way out and agree with Storming the Floor.

The next pick was the team most likely to destroy your bracket. Storming the Floor’s winner of Arizona was a solid one, partly because they’re always difficult to seed. The last couple of years they have been a solid team that plays a brutal schedule and then I’m not sure if they’re more like a 5 seed or a 12 seed or anywhere in between. USC is another great pick for this but I’ll toss Kansas State into the mix. I know we get a decent amount of Wildcat fans on our blog because of Chad (hey guys, thanks for visiting!). Of course this is all contingent on them even getting in. The thing about Kansas State is that against the vast majority of teams they will have the best two players on the floor. However, they are both freshmen and it’ll be tough to predict how they will respond.

Minnesota was taken as this year’s slide-in team that no one really knows was any good. My guess is that Minnesota will not end up with enough quality wins to get in. I think Purdue is likely the better Big 10 choice for this award. Also keep an eye on Mississippi State. The Bulldogs are off to a 4-0 conference start and the SEC is bad enough that they could rack up a pretty big conference record.

Stanford was the pick for the team most likely to be picked against in an upset. That’s a great pick actually. The other picks of Georgetown and Texas A&M are solid. The Hoyas really haven’t done much this year other than beat bad teams. The only problem with the Aggie pick is that if they win zero conference games the rest of the year they’re not getting in (or at least not getting a seed that can result in an upset). I think other teams that could fit in here are the teams that were mentioned on the first superlative. Teams like Vanderbilt and Ole Miss might still pick up decent seeds despite slip-ups. Those slip-ups, however, may lead everyone to pick an upset.

NCAA Basketball: Bubble Watch

Much like the Bubble Watch put together on espn.com by Andy Glockner, we here at Bizarro Joe Lunardi have put together a list of which teams are locks, should be in, or have work to do.

ACC:

Locks – UNC, Duke

Still both no doubters.

Should be in – Clemson

My assumption that Clemson would fade away is starting to fade away. I’m more confident that they’ll be the third best-seeded team in the conference. By the way, and this will come as a surprise to no one outside of Durham, it’s tough to win at Cameron when you’re facing more than just a good Blue Devil team. I’ll leave that at that.

Work left to do – Boston College, Miami, Florida State, Wake Forest, Maryland, NC State, Virginia

I was ready to say Boston College was the fourth best team in the conference and that’s probably still true but they were beaten impressively at a not great Virginia team. It’s probably still true for BC but I’m less confident and none of these teams have separated. The only teams I don’t have listed here are Georgia Tech (due to a poor out overall record) and Virginia Tech (due to just not being very good). Analyzing these teams further at this point is a pretty pointless exercise; it’s too early. However, at this point only 3 teams are looking solid in this conference and for the purposes of increasing number of bids separation would be advisable.



Big East:

Locks – Pittsburgh, Marquette, Georgetown

Pittsburgh and Georgetown will be getting in (although I think Georgetown is in danger of a pretty poor seed based on their quality of play). Marquette I’ll leave here but that’s under the assumption that they beat DePaul and South Florida at home.

Should be in – West Virginia

West Virginia barely stayed on this level after almost losing at home to Marshall.

Work left to do – Connecticut, Louisville, Providence, Villanova, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Seton Hall

Connecticut is almost on the “should be in” line but they still lack the quality wins. I think Louisville will be OK too as they’re starting to play better as they get their team back. Providence had a stunning home loss to Seton Hall. The rest of the teams have not separated themselves much, but Seton Hall joins this list (likely temporarily) after winning at Providence.

Big 10:

Locks – Michigan State, Wisconsin, Indiana

I can’t make an argument against any of these teams. It would take some bad losses (and they’ll have opportunities in the Big 10) to get off this line.

Should be in – Ohio State

Ohio State will likely be fine as long as they beat most of the poor teams in the conference.

Work left to do – Purdue

Purdue has a poor RPI (and a stunning loss to Wofford at home) but they’re sporting a good conference record and they play enough poor teams in the Big 10 that I think they’ll end up with a gaudy record. Minnesota got kicked off this list after losing two chances for a solid home win over Indiana and Michigan State.

Big 12:

Locks – Kansas, Texas

They will both be fine.

Should be in – Baylor

With Baylor’s ridiculous (and ridiculously non-televised) win over Texas A&M they join the “should be in” line.

Work left to do – Kansas State, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Texas Tech

Not only does Texas A&M fall off the “should be in” line but they fall behind Kansas State and Oklahoma after their last three games. I think 6 teams would be pushing it in the Big 12 so Texas Tech still has a lot of work still left to do (if they’re even still on the bubble).

Pac 10:

Locks – UCLA, Washington State

Despite UCLA’s loss to USC they could still end up with a one seed. Washington State was looking at a high seed, and they still are, despite the loss at Arizona.

Should be in – Arizona, Stanford

The main complaint against Arizona was their conference record but with back-to-back wins at Cal and then at home against Washington State there are no more legitimate complaints. They should be in. Back to back wins over the Arizona schools puts Stanford on this line too.

Work left to do – Oregon, USC, Arizona State

Oregon had a tough loss at home to UCLA and now has lost 3 straight games. Regarding USC, although one of the games on their road trip was Oregon State and that’s not a frightening trip, but when the other game so far was at UCLA starting the trip at 2-0 was great and put the Trojans from clearly off the bubble to likely in the tournament. Arizona State simply needed to avoid bad losses to stay in good shape. Losing at home to Washington is about as bad as it gets.



SEC:

Locks – Tennessee, Mississippi, Vanderbilt

Tennessee is certainly still a lock and you could argue against Mississippi and Vanderbilt staying on this line but I’m leaving them on there for now.

Should be in – no one

This is not a great conference

Work left to do – Florida, Mississippi State, Arkansas

Florida’s record is still nice and none of their three losses are embarrassing. Their RPI is getting less horrible too. Mississippi State is in good shape in conference at 4-0 and that’s keeping them on this line despite the poor computer numbers. Arkansas is sitting on two straight bad losses and they have to be off the bubble now but their RPI of 40 is good enough to keep them in contention.



Atlantic 10:

Locks – Xavier, Dayton

Xavier beat up on Dayton and Dayton is injured right now. Provided Dayton can get healthy again and pick up some win they’ll be fine.

Should be in – no one

This isn’t fair right now to the conference as a whole but the problem is at 2-2 in the A-10 UMass and Rhode Island need to keep winning games to avoid giving the committee a reason to exclude them.

Work left to do – Massachusetts, Rhode Island, St. Joseph’s, Charlotte

Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and St. Joe’s should all be in if the tournament was right now. Charlotte stays on here due to 7 wins against the top 100 despite some bad losses.

Other:

Locks – Memphis, Butler, St. Mary’s

Memphis is still obviously in and it would still take a catastrophic collapse for Butler or St. Mary’s to fall out.

Should be in – Gonzaga, Drake

Gonzaga would be in right now and I’m close to putting them on the “locks” line. Drake’s wins over Illinois State and at Creighton are huge, especially considering Josh Young just came back against Creighton and still isn’t totally back.

Work left to do – South Alabama, Kent State, George Mason, Virginia Commonwealth, Illinois State, Creighton, Cleveland State, The top 4 in the Mountain West

South Alabama is still not facing any top 100 RPI competition but if they never lose they’ll still be OK. Kent State had a big win over Akron to keep themselves in good contention for an at large bid if needed. George Mason had a hot start to the season and looked like a strong tournament team but has since lost some troubling games but they sit in pretty good shape in conference.. VCU has no quality wins but they have a one game lead in a pretty good conference. Illinois State blew a double-digit second half lead in Des Moines and then had a devastating one point loss at rival Bradley, who just so happened to get star guard Daniel Ruffin back from injury. Creighton lost one of their few opportunities for a good win by losing at home in overtime to Drake after blowing free throws down the stretch in regulation. They need quite a run. The main thing Cleveland State had going for them was their undefeated record in this Horizon. Losing in conference is OK but they should have tried that against Butler, Wright State, or Valparaiso. Wisconsin Green Bay was a bad idea. San Diego State, UNLV, BYU, and New Mexico still don’t have much to separate them right now but as the season progresses separation should occur (and must occur if the conference wants an at large). Already Utah has been separated out of contention.

NCAA Basketball: Thursday Recap

In my opinion two teams picked up much needed wins on Thursday. One of those wins is rather obvious with Arizona defeating Washington State. This win marked the Wildcats' first win over an RPI top-50 team. The other big win was Seton Hall's win over Providence. Seton Hall has flown under the radar so far this year. In fact, the only mention of Seton Hall that we have made was in reference to Louisville's loss to Seton Hall and Joe Lunardi doesn't even include the Pirates in his "Also Considered" category in his latest bracket scroll. But with this win, Seton Hall now owns consecutive wins over RPI top-50 teams and own a top-50 RPI themselves. The Pirates don't quite own a tournament resume at this point, but they've done enough to enter the discussion.

A second ramification of the Seton Hall win is the fact Providence lost a very winnable game at home against a team that they will be in competition with for an at-large bid. But Providence's loss wasn't the worst suffered by a bubble team, that honor would go to Arizona State, who dropped a home game against Washington. Other teams that suffered losses were Virginia Tech, who falls further off the bubble with a loss to Duke; Dayton, whose loss to Xavier won't hurt their tournament chances but with a 2-2 record in the A-10, the Flyers have a little less room for error; and Oregon, who shouldn't be hurt by their loss to UCLA, but they could use a few more good wins to balance out the bad losses they've had.

Thursday's Bubble Preview

Thursday is a fairly slow in college basketball, but there is a handful of games that could have NCAA tournament significance.

Duke at Virginia Tech - Virginia Tech has a lot of work they need to do if they want to earn an at-large bid. A win over Duke would be a step in the right direction.

Washington State at Arizona - Arizona has an RPI ranking of #9, but has gone winless against RPI top-50 teams. A lot of their losses came in the absence of Jerryd Bayless, but the Wildcats need to prove that they can beat a quality opponent.

UCLA at Oregon - UCLA is looking to rebound from their loss to USC and stay in contention for a #1 seed. Oregon likely needs a couple big wins to make up for losses against Oakland, Nebraska and Washington. The good news for the Ducks is that all of those losses have come on the road and this match-up with the Bruins is at home.

Dayton at Xavier - These two teams are still in very good shape to earn at-large bids and that isn't likely to change with the outcome of this game. However, the winner of this game will have a little more room for error down the stretch.

NCAA Basketball: Wednesday Bubble Recap

In the A-10 St. Joe’s got a big win over UMass. Both teams combined for 45 points as St. Joe’s took a 13 point lead into the half. Somehow both teams outscored that total (by 7 and an incredible 16 points) by themselves in the second half. This was a huge win for St. Joe’s as they now own a season sweep over UMass. UMass is still in pretty good shape but they probably lost some of what they gained in their win at Dayton. Also in the A-10 Rhode Island avoided a poor home loss to George Washington and Charlotte picked up a road win at La Salle to improve to 3-1 in the conference.

Purdue took care of business on the road, dominating Penn State. The Boilermakers still have a lousy RPI but their record is nice and their conference record is an excellent 5-1. They’ll likely have a gaudy record with poor computer numbers thanks to being in the Big 10. They’re like the Florida of the Big 10.

Speaking of Florida they picked up a road win at a pretty weak South Carolina team.

Kent State worked on getting a bit of separation from Ohio with a 6-point home win over the Bobcats. A MAC team getting an at large might still be a long shot but Kent State would be the favorite right now.

In the CAA Virginia Commonwealth and George Mason kept their slim hopes alive with victories.

NC State had a bad home loss to Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets are not out of the picture for an at large bid, but they wouldn’t be in if the season ended now. NC State cannot afford these kinds of losses. Miami also lost an opportunity for a big win by losing at home to UNC.

Louisville and Connecticut picked up road wins at South Florida and Cincinnati respectively improving their resumes in the Big East. West Virginia narrowly avoided an embarrassing loss at home against Marshall. Villanova had a bad loss at Rutgers. They now have road losses in the Big East at Rutgers, DePaul and Cincinnati. Although they did get a win at Syracuse, losing the road games at the weaker teams in the conference does not bode well for the rest of their year in conference. Villanova re-enters the bubble after tonight.

Texas Tech avoided a potentially devastating home loss to Missouri. Despite their win over Texas, Missouri appears as though they may not even make it onto the bubble, let alone the NCAA tournament. Elsewhere in the Big 12, Baylor picked up a win over Texas A&M in an epic 5-OT battle. Baylor has solidifies their resume with this win and the Aggies are in trouble after three straight conference losses. Even worse news is that playing an extra 25-minutes of basketball and losing may be physically and mentally detrimental going forward. Kansas State picked up their second conference road game with a win over Colorado. This win won't do much for the Wildcat's post-season resume but does move them one step closer to a big game next week against Kansas.

In the Mountain West BYU beat San Diego State in a battle of bubble teams that are currently clearly on the wrong side of the bubble, while UNLV kept their slim at-large hopes alive with a win over Wyoming.

Wednesday's NCAA Bubble Preview

North Carolina at Miami (FL) - Miami will need a win this week to avoid dropping to 1-4 in the ACC. The good news is both games are will be at home, the bad news is that the games are against UNC and Clemson.

Baylor at Texas A&M - A&M is looking to rebound after back-to-back road losses and have dropped from being a high seed to being on the bubble, while Baylor is looking to move to 4-0 in the Big 12. Who would have guessed a couple of weeks ago that A&M would need this win more than Baylor?

UMass at St. Joe's - UMass looks to be in position to pick up the 3rd bid out of the A-10. St. Joe's is a formidable opponent but one that the Minutemen should beat to keep their resume strong.

Purdue at Penn State - Purdue is squarely on the bubble at this point and can't afford a bad loss here to Penn State if they want to remain there.

UConn at Cincinnati - Big East teams have had trouble winning in Cincinnati but this is what UConn needs to do if they want to keep the momentum they gained with the win over Marquette.

Illinois State at Bradley - With Creighton's loss last night, Illinois State is firmly in second place in the Missouri Valley. If they take care of business against the teams they should beat, like Bradley, they will earn an at-large bid.

Kansas State at Colorado - K-State helped their tournament resume tremendously with wins over Oklahoma and Texas A&M. If they avoid a setback in their next two games (at Colorado and vs. Iowa State) it will set up a huge game next Wednesday against Kansas.

Virginia at Florida State - The Seminoles have lost three straight and need a win here to remain on the bubble.

Georgia Tech at N.C. State - Both of these teams would likely be left off the bracket if they tournament started today. A win here will keep one team's hopes alive.

Florida at South Carolina - A win at South Carolina won't do much to improve Florida's tournament resume, but a loss would be devastating.

Missouri at Texas Tech - Missouri followed up a nice win vs Texas with losses against Iowa State and Kansas. In addition, the Tigers have not won a game on the road this year. That will need to change soon if they hope to keep their tourney hopes alive. Similarly, Texas Tech seems to be a different team at home compared to on the road. Luckily for the Red Raiders this game is being played in Lubbock.

College basketball Tuesday recap

Clemson defeated Wake Forest in overtime. Clemson should be happy to avoid a loss at home and they continue to sit in good shape. Wake Forest really needed this win as you’d figure an overtime loss is about as good a shot as they’ll have against one of the better ACC teams on the road.

Tennessee’s loss to Kentucky likely doesn’t mean much other than hurt Tennessee’s seeding. Kentucky is still going to need more of these wins to get back in the picture.

CSU Northridge likely crushed any slim hopes they had with a bad loss at Chicago State.

New Mexico avoided the home loss to Utah to stay alive in the Mountain West but they have little margin for error.

Finally, Drake pulled off a big overtime win at Creighton. It was a tough loss for Creighton as they blew two late free throws in regulation that likely would have won the game for them but Drake took advantage to force overtime and dominate the overtime session. Creighton is sliding further off the bubble. Drake was impressive. The Bulldogs remind me of the ping-pong player that never tries to do anything cool and they just wait for the other team to mess up. But in not doing anything cool they never make mistakes. It’s not too surprising that they were not highly regarded in preseason MVC polls but they are extremely well coached by Keno Davis. They are not a team I would want to play in March; if they play a team prone to mistakes that team will be extremely frustrated by this Bulldog team. (By the way, some of those comments may not seem complimentary, but they are meant as compliments.)

College Basketball: Monday Recap and Tuesday Preview

Monday featured only one game that has bubble implications. In the Big East, Georgetown defeated Syracuse 64-62 in overtime. I was beginning to think that Georgetown was going to start playing like the potential high seed that most were expecting them to be after their 19-point win over Notre Dame on Saturday, but this game kept my doubts about Georgetown in tact. The win over Syracuse was only their third win over an RPI top-50 teams, all of those wins have come at home, and beside the Notre Dame game, the wins have been in very close games (the other win being a 3-point win over UConn). Syracuse, on the other hand, has lost four of their last five and seem to be falling off the bubble.

On to Tuesday's bubble match-ups.

Wake Forest at Clemson - Wake Forest is doing just enough to remain on the bubble, however they have only one road win this year (at Iowa). Clemson is in good shape at this point, but a loss at home to Wake Forest would likely move the Tigers onto the bubble.

Drake at Creighton - Drake is 14-1 on the year, 7-0 in conference and have an RPI of 15. If there is any knock on Drake at this point it is that they haven't beaten a quality opponent on the road. They can change that with a win at Creighton. Creighton, on the other hand, is hoping to prove that they deserve to be the third team out of the Valley to receive a tourney bid.

Illinois at Ohio State - Ohio State is squarely on the bubble and cannot afford a loss at home to a mediocre Illinois team.

Reaction to Joe Lunardi's Latest Bracketology Update

As always there are some interesting inclusions/exclusions in Lunardi's latest bracket. First, let's look at the teams that have moved into the bracket.

Boston College - BC picked up a decent win at home Tuesday against Miami (FL), but followed that up with an 18-point loss on the road to an average Virginia team. I'm not sure how the results of last week are enough to improved BC's standings.

Providence - picked up a good road win at UConn.

Purdue -This week Purdue picked up wins over Iowa and Illinois, Neither of those wins is enough to improve the Boilermakers' tournament resume. In addition, I'm usually not overly concerned with a team's RPI, but an RPI of 87 is too low for a team to get an at-large bid. And for them to enter the bracket as a #9 seed is absolutely ridiculous. Overall, the Big 10 is looking more like a 3-bid conference that a 5-bid conference.

Mississippi St. - By far this is the worst inclusion in the latest bracket. Mississippi St. wons games against Kentucky and Alabama this week. On top of how unimpressive that is, the Bulldogs' overall tournament resume is seriously lacking. Their only win vs. an RPI top 100 team came against #89 Missouri. At this point Mississippit St isn't even close to being a tournament team. They will have a great chance to iimprove their resume with their upcoming games against Mississippi, Arkansas and Tennessee.

So with those new teams in, four teams needed to fall off the board.

Florida - Lunardi took the Gators off the board apparently because of a 2 point loss on the road at Mississippi. Now, I wasn't exactly keen on having the Gators in the bracket last week, but punishing a team for a road loss to the RPI #15 team is ridiculous.

Oklahoma - This is another team that Lunardi unfairly punished. The Sooners lost at Kansas while also suffering the loss of Blake Griffin. They followed that up with a win over Texas Tech. Did Lunardi really expect OU to beat Kansas????

Arkansas - The Razorbacks fall off the board after two bad losses to South Carolina and Georgia.

Florida St - The Seminoles have lost 3 straight, but their fall from the bracket may be temporary. Wins at thome vs Virginia and NC State might be enough for them to get back next week.

Other questionable teams included in this week's bracket:
Miami (FL) - lost back-to-back road games vs Boston College and NC State. They probably need a win this week vs. North Carolina or Clemson to reamain in the bracket next week.

Ohio State - The Buckeyes missed a huge opportunity against Tennessee and have lost 3 straight. Saturday's game with Minnesota will be big for both teams.

Lunardi's next eight out is also questionable. How is Missouri included in following their loss to Iowa State? Creighton is not included in this list, but a win over Drake on Tuesday will likely move the Bluejays in to the bracket. Minnesota should probably also be listed here as well, however the Gophers need to pick up a couple good wins soon or they will be hoping for an NIT bid come March.

College basketball bubble weekend in review

With all of the upsets this weekend to top 25 teams, it seems like many of them were to teams still off the bubble (UNC losing to Maryland, Pitt losing to Cincinnati, Ole Miss losing to Auburn, UCLA losing to USC although USC is the closest of the upsetters of the weekend to getting in). Still, there was plenty of bubble action to get into.

Mississippi State brought themselves into contention while effectively killing off Alabama. Also in the SEC, Florida avoided a bad loss by beating Kentucky in Gainesville. Florida’s record continues to look impressive albeit hollow. Arkansas still has OK computer numbers but after losing to Georgia they have lost two SEC games to sub-par competition. They’re 2-2 in conference but have not played a decent team yet.

Arizona put a large damper on Cal’s at large hopes. If Cal hopes to get into the tournament they need to win their home games and steal a few on the road. Stanford beat up on Arizona State. Stanford is in great shape but Arizona State had already picked up a win on their road trip and has to feel OK about ending the Cal-Stanford swing at 1-1 (even if they completely blew it in the second half in Palo Alto).

Cleveland State stayed undefeated in the Horizon. If they get through the regular season with 0-1 losses it’ll be tough to keep them out. In beating Valparaiso they likely killed any hopes Valpo still had.

Creighton beat up on Indiana State setting up a big match-up Tuesday with first place Drake. Drake knocked off Illinois State and is sitting in fantastic shape. Illinois State’s loss at Drake is not a resume killer with the terrific conference start of both teams but it would be a nice feather in the cap for a bubble team.

Duquesne had a poor loss at Fordham. Road losses in the A-10 are acceptable but they shouldn’t be to Fordham. Duquesne will likely need to end up stealing a road game at one (or two) of the good A-10 teams now. UMass knocked off Charlotte at home, as expected. Umass sits in good shape. Charlotte needs to win some games like this to be in real contention.

Notre Dame lost an opportunity for a big road win by losing at Georgetown. It’s obviously not a killer loss but getting blown out was unfortunate. Louisville had a tough road loss at Seton Hall, just as the Cardinals looked like they were putting it togther. Syracuse lost a home game to Villanova. It was a key win for Villanova to avoid dropping below .500 in conference, but Syracuse now stands at 3-3 and hit a difficult stretch of Big East games. Connecticut picked up a huge win over Marquette to keep their hat in the ring. West Virginia did what they needed to do by picking up a road win at one of the not so good Big East teams in South Florida.

Houston beat UTEP and now needs to be kept an eye on. They still need a lot (maybe even an upset win over Memphis) but they’re in the ballpark.

Nevada may have killed any slim chance they had with a home loss to Boise State.

George Mason (at James Madison) and VCU (at Old Dominion) each won big road games to keep at large hopes alive.

Kansas State picked up a big win by destroying Texas A&M. The Aggies are getting close to the bubble themselves. The losses to Texas Tech and Kansas State are not so bad by themselves, but they came by a combined 36 points, and that’s unfortunate. Missouri, on the other hand, lost an opportunity for a huge win by dropping a close decision to Kansas. Baylor got a win at Nebraska, improving their road resume. Oklahoma knocked off Texas Tech to get a much needed conference win and avoid starting the season at 0-3. Texas Tech is likely still off the bubble and their win over TAMU lost some luster after the Aggie loss to KState.

In a huge bubble game NC State held off Miami at home in overtime. Miami was still ranked at the time but their resume still speaks like a bubble team. NC State was coming off terrible road performances at UNC and Clemson. NC State might still need to show the ability to win on the road and not lose by 80 billion points. It looked like Boston College could start to separate themselves from some of the bubble teams in the ACC until they lost handily to Virginia, who now stays alive in the race for a bid. Wake Forest used a big second half to enter the at large picture (although they’re still clearly on the outside) while striking a pretty big blow to fellow wrong side of the bubble team, Florida State.

In MAC action, Kent State lost at Ohio. Ohio now sits at 39 in the RPI and has to be watched. Kent State is still at a respectable 44 but, like Ohio, will need a gaudy MAC record. Akron killed Bowling Green to stay undefeated in conference and thus, stay alive. Obviously all MAC teams have little margin for error.

Purdue stayed alive with a win over Illinois. Ohio State lost an opportunity for perhaps a bid-clinching win at Tennessee. Minnesota continues to lose opportunities for quality wins, this time at home to Michigan State.