Gophers, Tommies Rest Mid-Week, Follow With Key Saturday Wins

SelectionSunday

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By Buzz King (@Fieldof68Freak)

ROAD TO SELECTION SUNDAY – As always, we start with a weekly “Field of 68” projection. In multiple-bid conferences, projected automatic qualifiers are noted with a *.

FIELD OF 68 PROJECTION (through games played 2/16/25)
America East (1): Bryant (153)

American (1): Memphis (49)

ACC (4): Clemson, *Duke, Louisville, Wake Forest

ASUN (1): Lipscomb (87)

Atlantic 10 (1): George Mason (63)

Big East (4): Creighton, Marquette, *Saint John’s, UConn

Big Sky (1): Montana (161)

Big South (1): High Point (89)

Big Ten (10): Illinois, Maryland, *Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oregon, Purdue, UCLA, Wisconsin

Big XII (8): Arizona, Baylor, BYU, *Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, Texas Tech, West Virginia

Big West (2): UC-Irvine, *UC-San Diego

Coastal (1): Towson (150)

Conference USA (1): Jacksonville State (112)

Horizon (1): Cleveland State (179)

Ivy (1): Yale (67)

MAAC (1): Quinnipiac (188)

MAC (1): Akron (90)

MEAC (1): Norfolk State (178)

Missouri Valley (1): Drake (59)

Mountain West (3): *New Mexico, San Diego State, Utah State

NEC (1): Central Connecticut (160)

OVC (1): Southeast Missouri State (185)

Patriot (1): American (230)

SEC (12): Alabama, Arkansas, *Auburn, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Missouri, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt

SoCon (1): Chattanooga (113)

Southland (1): McNeese (71)

SWAC (1): Southern U (217)

Summit (1): Omaha (203) – replaces ineligible St. Thomas (111)

Sun Belt (1): Arkansas State (92)

WCC (2): Gonzaga, *Saint Mary’s

WAC (1): Utah Valley (119)
--------------------------------------
Last 4 In: BYU (36), Arkansas (42), Vanderbilt (41), (last team in) UC-Irvine (62)

First 4 Out: (first team out) VCU (34), Xavier (54), Oklahoma (52), Indiana (57)

Next 4 Out:
North Carolina (47), SMU (40), Boise State (48), Santa Clara (55)

On the Radar O’Reilly (4): Georgia (38), Kansas State (73), San Francisco (60), Cincinnati (45)

Last 4 Automatic Qualifiers: Quinnipiac (188), Omaha (203), Southern U (217), American (230)

Non-Power 5 At-Large Bids (4): Gonzaga (10), Utah State (38), San Diego State (50), UC-Irvine (62)
-----------------------------------------
At-Larges (Record vs. Teams in the Field with Top 75 NET)
Alabama (10-4, .714)
Florida (7-3, .700)
Texas A&M (9-4, .692)
Tennessee (9-5, .643)
Michigan State (5-3, .625)
UConn (5-3, .625)
Clemson (3-2, .600)
Maryland (6-4, .600)
Texas Tech (4-3, .571)
Marquette (5-4, .556)
UCLA (6-5, .545)
Purdue (7-6, .538)
Kentucky (8-7, .533)
Illinois (6-6, .500)
Iowa State (4-4, .500)
UC-Irvine (1-1, .500) – LAST 4 IN
Arizona (5-6, .455)
Mississippi State (4-5, .444)
Nebraska (4-5, .444)
Wisconsin (4-5, .444)
Louisville (3-4, .429)
San Diego State (3-4, .429)
Missouri (5-7, .417)
Oregon (5-7, .417)
Ole Miss (4-6, .400)
Utah State (2-3, .400)
West Virginia (4-6, .400)
Creighton (4-7, .364)
Baylor (4-8, .333)
BYU (2-4, .333) – LAST 4 IN
Kansas (3-6, .333)
Ohio State (4-9, .308)
Vanderbilt (3-7, .300) – LAST 4 IN
Gonzaga (2-5, .286)
Arkansas (3-8, .273) – LAST 4 IN
Texas (3-10, .231)
Wake Forest (1-5, .167)

Received Consideration
Santa Clara (2-2, .500)
Oklahoma (5-7, .417) – FIRST 4 OUT
Kansas State (4-7, .364)
Boise State (2-4, .333)
Xavier (3-6, .333) – FIRST 4 OUT
San Francisco (1-4, .200)
Indiana (2-9, 182) – FIRST 4 OUT
Georgia (2-10, .167)
Cincinnati (1-7, .125)
North Carolina (1-9, .100)
VCU (0-1, .000) – FIRST 4 OUT
SMU (0-4, .000)

Heart of Bubblicious (NET #45-55)
45 Cincinnati (OUT)
46 Nebraska (IN)
47 North Carolina (OUT)
48 Boise State (OUT)
49 Memphis (IN)
50 San Diego State (IN)
51 Pitt (OUT)
52 Oklahoma (OUT)
53 Villanova (OUT)
54 Xavier (OUT)
55 Santa Clara (OUT)

6-Pack That Had a Good Week. …
Clemson – Tigers remain on the tail of ACC leader Duke
Florida – Gators a #1 seed in the top 16 mid-February bracket reveal
George Mason – Patriots have won 11 straight, big one ahead Saturday @ VCU
Houston – Cougars pick up wins vs. projected tourney teams Baylor & @ Arizona
Michigan – Big Ten leader beat Purdue, then picks up a win @ rival Ohio State
New Mexico – Lobos complete sweep of Utah State to take firm control of Mountain West

6-Pack That Had a Bad Week. …
Arizona – Wildcats lose to K-State & Houston
Creighton – on heels of 9-game winning streak, Jays lose to UConn & Saint John’s.
Oklahoma – Sooners drop to 3-9 in SEC, wasting great non-conference performance
Omaha – Mavericks drop pair to SDSU & St. Thomas, fall out of 1st in Summit League
Purdue – Boilers fall @ Michigan, follow with rare loss at Mackey to Wisconsin
West Virginia – Mountaineers lose to BYU & Baylor, getting awfully close to the bubble

Gophers, Tommies Chill Mid-Week Before Delivering Important Weekend Wins
Both the Gophers and Tommies took advantage of their mid-week bye last week. The Gophers on Saturday earned a gritty 69-66 come-from-behind win over USC in Los Angeles. The win was the Gophers’ fifth in the Big Ten and with six games remaining put them in good position to secure a spot in the 15-team Big Ten Tournament. A win over UCLA on Tuesday to wrap up the L.A. trip would be gravy, but even with a loss the Gophers return home to play the bottom two teams in the standings, Penn State (Saturday) followed by injury-ravaged Northwestern (Feb. 25). It’s a big nine days ahead for the Maroon & Gold.

In St. Paul, St. Thomas (also Saturday) won the battle for first place in the Summit League, 95-84 over Omaha. The Tommies (10-2 Summit League) now lead the Mavericks (10-3) by half game and South Dakota State (9-3) by a game. Next up for the Tommies is a Wednesday night date with South Dakota in Vermillion. As a Division 1 program, UST in regular-season play has never won in South Dakota. The Tommies are 0-7 on the road vs. the Yotes and South Dakota State. No time like the present for the Purple & Gray.

B1G Weakling Wednesday Dropouts B1G Tournament no-shows?
** The 3 Big Ten teams tracking toward an early end to their 2024-25 season with no invitation to Indianapolis:
#16 Washington (4-10)
#17 Northwestern (4-11)
#18 Penn State (3-12)

The Local NETters
#94 Minnesota (13-12, 5-9 Big Ten)
#111 St. Thomas (20-7, 10-2 Summit League)

Big Ten +/- Power Rankings (Road Wins – Home Losses)
1 Michigan (+6)
2 Wisconsin (+4)
3 Michigan State (+4)
4 Purdue (+3)
5 Maryland (+3)
6 UCLA (+3)
7 Illinois (+1)
8 Nebraska (even)
9 Indiana (-1)
10 Oregon (-1)
11 Ohio State (-1)
12 Minnesota (-2)
13 USC (-2)
14 Iowa (-2)
15 Washington (-3)
16 Rutgers (-3)
17 Northwestern (-4) – no road wins
18 Penn State (-5) – no road wins

Summit League +/- Power Rankings (Road Wins – Home Losses)
1 St. Thomas (+4)
2 Omaha (+4)
3 South Dakota State (+3)
4 North Dakota State (+1)
5 South Dakota (+1)
6 North Dakota (-3)
7 Denver (-3)
8 Kansas City (-3) – no road wins
9 Oral Roberts (-4) – no road wins

Gophers Week Ahead
Tuesday -- @ #23 UCLA
Saturday -- #78 Penn State

Tommies Week Ahead
Wednesday -- @ #236 South Dakota
Saturday -- @ #330 Oral Roberts

Gophers Stat Leaders
Dawson Garcia (19.2 points per game), Garcia (7.4 rebounds per game), Lu’Cye Patterson (3.5 assists per game), Femi Odukale (1.5 steals per game), Isaac Asuma (39% 3PFG), Parker Fox (1.2 blocks per game)

Tommies Stat Leaders
Miles Barnstable (14.8 points per game), Kendall Blue (4.2 rebounds per game), Drake Dobbs (3.7 assists per game), Nolan Minessale (1.1 steals per game), Ben Oosterbaan (50% 3PFG), Minessale (1.1 blocks per game)

NET Kings
#1 Auburn (23-2)

Kinda’ Bubble Cutline
#50 San Diego State (16-6)

Stuck in the Middle with You
#182 Eastern Kentucky (14-11)

Bottom of the Barrel
#364 Mississippi Valley State (1-22)

Deep (College Hoops) Thoughts, by Buzz Studley
Seriously, good for Doug Gottlieb. He’s taking a lot of crap for being a combo head Division 1 basketball coach/radio talk show host, but glad to see Sunday he finally got his first Horizon League win. Losing sucks, so a hearty congrats to Gottlieb and his Green Bay Phoenix for getting off the schneid.

Next Road to Selection Sunday/Field of 68: Sunday, February 23
 
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Of all the great data here, the most burning question for me is whether Gottlieb returns to Green Bay next year. Any ideas? Recently talked to a Phoenix fan who was okay with the hire since it couldn’t be any worse than it was before.
 

Of all the great data here, the most burning question for me is whether Gottlieb returns to Green Bay next year. Any ideas? Recently talked to a Phoenix fan who was okay with the hire since it couldn’t be any worse than it was before.
I hope he does. Want to see how it plays out over 2-3 year period.
 

Of all the great data here, the most burning question for me is whether Gottlieb returns to Green Bay next year. Any ideas? Recently talked to a Phoenix fan who was okay with the hire since it couldn’t be any worse than it was before.
They were well over .500 in league, and overall, just last year. Won 13 Horizon League games. Did this Phoenix fan not like that?
 



They were well over .500 in league, and overall, just last year. Won 13 Horizon League games. Did this Phoenix fan not like that?
Sunny D can coach circles around Gottlieb. Must be bitter that he left for Wyoming.
 



Bubble games are getting real, and they're spectacular. (Seinfeld/Teri Hatcher reference). Bubble impact games for the rest of the week:

Thursday
San Francisco (Pacific)
Santa Clara (Loyola Marymount)
UC-Irvine (Cal State Northridge)
UC-San Diego (@ Cal Poly)

Saturday
Arkansas (Mizzou)
Boise State (@ Nevada)
BYU (@ Arizona)
Cincinnati (TCU)
Drake (@ Northern Iowa)
Georgia (@ Auburn)
North Carolina (Virginia)
Oklahoma (Mississippi State)
San Diego State (@ Utah State)
Santa Clara (@ Wazzu)
SMU (Clemson)
Texas (@ South Carolina)
UC-Irvine (@ Cal State Bakersfield)
UC-San Diego (Hawaii)
Vandy (Ole Miss)
VCU (George Mason)
Wake Forest (@ NC State)
West Virginia (@ Texas Tech)

Sunday
Indiana (Purdue)
Xavier (@ Seton Hall)
 






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