SelectionSunday
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What's happened and what's ahead in the world of college basketball, including a weekly "Field of 65" projection. All RPI rankings are courtesy of CollegeRPI.com.
The Unbeatables (4)
We're down to 4 & shockingly North Carolina isn't one of 'em. Here's where they sit in the RPI, and who they play next.
1. Pitt (Sunday: St. John's)
5. Clemson (Tuesday: Alabama)
33. Wake Forest (Sunday: North Carolina)
35. Illinois State (Tuesday: at Bradley)
Tracking My Preseason Final Four
3. Duke (12-1)
12. North Carolina (12-1)
18. Arizona State (12-2)
42. Louisville (9-3)
Gophers in Joe Lunardi's Most Recent Bracketology (Dec. 23)
#10 seed in South (Memphis) Region vs. #7 Miami-Florida (in Portland)
BCS Conferences Head to Head
1. ACC (24-18, 57.1%)
2. Big East (21-19, 52.5%)
3. Big 10 (18-17, 51.4%)
4. Big 12 (19-19, 50%)
5. Pac 10 (13-17, 43.3%)
6. SEC (14-19, 42.4%)
Tracking the Gophers' Nonconference Opponents
42. Louisville (9-3)
81. Virginia (6-5, 1-0 ACC)
93. Cornell (6-6)
135. Eastern Washington (7-7, 2-1 Big Sky)
157. Colorado State (5-9, 0-1 Mountain West)
171. Bowling Green (5-6)
185. North Dakota State (6-5, 3-1 Summit)
239. Southeastern Louisiana (2-7)
270. South Dakota State (4-10, 1-3 Summit)
283. Georgia State (2-9, 2-0 Colonial)
337. High Point (1-9, 0-3 Big South)
Gophers' Nonconference SOS = 255 of 343 (bottom 25.7%)
Worth Watching This Week
Georgetown at Notre Dame (Monday)
Illinois State at Bradley (Tuesday)
LSU at Utah (Tuesday)
Ohio State at Michigan State (Tuesday)
Purdue at Penn State (Tuesday)
Siena at Kansas (Tuesday)
Texas at Arkansas (Tuesday)
UConn at West Virginia (Tuesday)
Davidson at Duke (Wednesday)
Gonzaga at Tennessee (Wednesday)
Long Beach State at Pacific (Thursday)
Stanford at Washington (Thursday)
UW-Green Bay at UW-Milwaukee (Friday)
Cal at Washington (Saturday)
Duke at Florida State (Saturday)
Kansas at Michigan State (Saturday)
Louisville at Villanova (Saturday)
Miami-Florida at Boston College (Saturday)
Texas A&M at Oklahoma State (Saturday)
Utah at San Diego State (Saturday)
Vandy at Kentucky (Saturday)
West Virginia at Marquette (Saturday)
Western Illinois at North Dakota State (Saturday)
North Carolina at Wake Forest (Sunday)
Penn State at GOPHERS (Sunday)
Wisconsin at Purdue (Sunday)
Quick-Hitters
**Allow me to say "I told you so" (until the Badgers prove otherwise) while borrowing from Tubby in the BTN commerical. ... "Never, ever, ever, (count out a Wisconsin team coached by Bo Ryan). ... never." Those of you wanting to bury the Badgers after nonconference losses to UConn, Marquette and Texas haven't been paying attention to the Badger program. Bucky still will be one of the top teams in the Big 10. That said, it's time to beat their rear end at least once this season (as well as Illinois). Four years is too long to go without beating UW. The Gophers have made major strides under Tubby in such a short time, but beating the Badgers is an important step the Gophers need to make sooner rather than later.
**Conference USA still stinks. Unless Memphis gets upset in the conference tournament, it looks like another 1-bid season for C-USA. Perhaps UAB, but that's probably a longshot.
**Congrats to President-elect Obama's brother-in-law Craig Robinson, who earned his first Pac 10 win yesterday with an OT win over disappointing USC. The Beavers hadn't won a Pac 10 game since Feb. 22, 2007, a string of 21 games. It's a long climb, but that's a start.
**Dan Monson's Long Beach State squad leads the Big West with a 2-0 mark. It's early, but based on nonconference results the Niners are as good a guess as any to win the conference's automatic berth.
**Evan Turner is a stud. Very impressed after watching him do a little bit of everything for the Buckeyes on Saturday. Don't know a whole lot about NBA talent evaluation, but the 6-6 Turner has "The League" written all over him.
**Jim Molinari has his Western Illinois squad atop the Summit League with a surprising 3-0 start. It likely won't last, but it's good to see Mo off to a good conference start in his first season in Macomb.
**Michigan State gains the early advantage for the Big 10 crown with its two road wins to open the season. Illinois could have done the same, but lost at Michigan yesterday. Also working to Sparty's advantage is they don't have to travel to Madison this season. The fact that there are only two unbeaten teams in the Big 10 after two games certainly shows it's going to be a wild and wacky (and a lot of fun) rollercoaster ride in the Big 10.
**Purdue's gotta' be likin' Boston College's upset of seemingly unbeatable North Carolina. Makes the Boilers' neutral-court win over the Eagles look all the better.
**So far it's not been a good year for several coaches who were highly touted on this board to replace Dan Monson at Minnesota. Tony Bennett (Wazzu), Chris Lowery (Southern Illinois) and Rick Majerus (Saint Louis) all are having their share of struggles, especially Lowery. After missing last year's NCAA Tournament, Lowery's Salukis are an uncharacteristic 4-9 overall & 0-3 in the Missouri Valley with a RPI hovering around #200. All the more reason to be thankful for who Joel Maturi was able to hire away from Kentucky.
**Think the folks in the Bay area are pleased with the results Mike Montgomery (13-2, 2-0 at Cal) and Johnny Dawkins (11-1, 1-1 at Stanford) are producing in their first seasons at their respective schools?
**To this point I'm having trouble finding three SEC teams worthy of a NCAA bid. I suspect that total will rise by March, but I can't envision any scenario where the SEC will get more than 4-5 bids this season. If things fall right in conference play, the Big 10 has a chance to be in the mix for the 2-3 bids that last year were reserved for the SEC. ... and Pac 10, too.
FIELD OF 65 PROJECTION (1/5/09)
America East (1): Binghamton (117)
ACC (7): Duke (3), Clemson (5), North Carolina (12), Florida State (17), Boston College (28), Wake Forest (33), Maryland (49)
Atlantic Sun (1): East Tennessee State (111)
Atlantic 10 (2): Xavier (4), Dayton (44)
Big East (9): Pitt (1), UConn (8), West Virginia (9), Georgetown (10), Syracuse (15), Villanova (29), Marquette (30), Louisville (42), Notre Dame (75)
Big Sky (1): Portland State (107)
Big South (1): VMI (92)
Big 10 (7): Michigan State (7), Wisconsin (13), Ohio State (16), Illinois (19), GOPHERS (37), Michigan (39), Purdue (77)
Big 12 (5): Oklahoma (6), Texas (26), Texas A&M (55), Baylor (66), Kansas (71)
Big West (1): Long Beach State (145)
Colonial (1): George Mason (59)
Conference USA (1): Memphis (22)
Horizon (2): Butler (2), UW-Milwaukee (72)
Ivy (1): Cornell (93)
Metro Atlantic (1): Siena (43)
MAC (1): Miami-Ohio (11)
MEAC (1): Morgan State (160)
Missouri Valley (1): Illinois State (35)
Mountain West (3): Utah (27), BYU (38), UNLV (54)
Northeast (1): Robert Morris (200)
Ohio Valley (1): Morehead State (158)
Pac 10 (4): Cal (14), Arizona State (18), Stanford (36), UCLA (50)
Patriot (1): American (80)
SEC (3): Tennessee (21), Florida (47), Arkansas (65)
Southern (1): Davidson (20)
Southland (1): Stephen F. Austin (68)
SWAC (1): Arkansas-Pine Bluff (179)
Summit (1): Western Illinois (299)
Sun Belt (1): Western Kentucky (45)
West Coast (2): St. Mary's (25), Gonzaga (34)
WAC (1): Boise State (60)
Non-BCS At-Larges (5): Butler (2), Gonzaga (34), BYU (38), Dayton (44), UNLV (54)
Last 4 In: BYU (38), Louisville (42), Texas A&M (55), Notre Dame (75)
First 4 Out: Oklahoma State (31), Washington (46), Mizzou (51), Miami-Florida (53)
10 to Watch: UAB (32), Rhode Island (40), Arizona (56), Creighton (61), San Diego State (64), Utah State (67), Kentucky (74), Vandy (76), South Carolina (108), LSU (118)
##Conference leaders determined by best conference record (i.e., 4-0 better than 3-0, or in the event of a tie, the team with best RPI ranking).
The SS Mailbag
Dear Selection Sunday,
With the calendar turning to the new year, which under-the-radar non-BCS team do you think has a chance to make some noise in the NCAA Tournament?
-- Mark F, Spokane, Wash. --
Dear Mark,
Though not currently in my Field of 65, I'd point to the Utah State Aggies out of the WAC. The schedule hasn't been very taxing for Stew Morrill's squad (nonconference SOS of #292), but the Aggies have a nice win over a solid Utah squad, and their only loss was by 5 points to BYU. Look for the Aggies to pile up a lot of wins in the weak WAC, but still be good enough to be a factor in the NCAA tourney.
The Unbeatables (4)
We're down to 4 & shockingly North Carolina isn't one of 'em. Here's where they sit in the RPI, and who they play next.
1. Pitt (Sunday: St. John's)
5. Clemson (Tuesday: Alabama)
33. Wake Forest (Sunday: North Carolina)
35. Illinois State (Tuesday: at Bradley)
Tracking My Preseason Final Four
3. Duke (12-1)
12. North Carolina (12-1)
18. Arizona State (12-2)
42. Louisville (9-3)
Gophers in Joe Lunardi's Most Recent Bracketology (Dec. 23)
#10 seed in South (Memphis) Region vs. #7 Miami-Florida (in Portland)
BCS Conferences Head to Head
1. ACC (24-18, 57.1%)
2. Big East (21-19, 52.5%)
3. Big 10 (18-17, 51.4%)
4. Big 12 (19-19, 50%)
5. Pac 10 (13-17, 43.3%)
6. SEC (14-19, 42.4%)
Tracking the Gophers' Nonconference Opponents
42. Louisville (9-3)
81. Virginia (6-5, 1-0 ACC)
93. Cornell (6-6)
135. Eastern Washington (7-7, 2-1 Big Sky)
157. Colorado State (5-9, 0-1 Mountain West)
171. Bowling Green (5-6)
185. North Dakota State (6-5, 3-1 Summit)
239. Southeastern Louisiana (2-7)
270. South Dakota State (4-10, 1-3 Summit)
283. Georgia State (2-9, 2-0 Colonial)
337. High Point (1-9, 0-3 Big South)
Gophers' Nonconference SOS = 255 of 343 (bottom 25.7%)
Worth Watching This Week
Georgetown at Notre Dame (Monday)
Illinois State at Bradley (Tuesday)
LSU at Utah (Tuesday)
Ohio State at Michigan State (Tuesday)
Purdue at Penn State (Tuesday)
Siena at Kansas (Tuesday)
Texas at Arkansas (Tuesday)
UConn at West Virginia (Tuesday)
Davidson at Duke (Wednesday)
Gonzaga at Tennessee (Wednesday)
Long Beach State at Pacific (Thursday)
Stanford at Washington (Thursday)
UW-Green Bay at UW-Milwaukee (Friday)
Cal at Washington (Saturday)
Duke at Florida State (Saturday)
Kansas at Michigan State (Saturday)
Louisville at Villanova (Saturday)
Miami-Florida at Boston College (Saturday)
Texas A&M at Oklahoma State (Saturday)
Utah at San Diego State (Saturday)
Vandy at Kentucky (Saturday)
West Virginia at Marquette (Saturday)
Western Illinois at North Dakota State (Saturday)
North Carolina at Wake Forest (Sunday)
Penn State at GOPHERS (Sunday)
Wisconsin at Purdue (Sunday)
Quick-Hitters
**Allow me to say "I told you so" (until the Badgers prove otherwise) while borrowing from Tubby in the BTN commerical. ... "Never, ever, ever, (count out a Wisconsin team coached by Bo Ryan). ... never." Those of you wanting to bury the Badgers after nonconference losses to UConn, Marquette and Texas haven't been paying attention to the Badger program. Bucky still will be one of the top teams in the Big 10. That said, it's time to beat their rear end at least once this season (as well as Illinois). Four years is too long to go without beating UW. The Gophers have made major strides under Tubby in such a short time, but beating the Badgers is an important step the Gophers need to make sooner rather than later.
**Conference USA still stinks. Unless Memphis gets upset in the conference tournament, it looks like another 1-bid season for C-USA. Perhaps UAB, but that's probably a longshot.
**Congrats to President-elect Obama's brother-in-law Craig Robinson, who earned his first Pac 10 win yesterday with an OT win over disappointing USC. The Beavers hadn't won a Pac 10 game since Feb. 22, 2007, a string of 21 games. It's a long climb, but that's a start.
**Dan Monson's Long Beach State squad leads the Big West with a 2-0 mark. It's early, but based on nonconference results the Niners are as good a guess as any to win the conference's automatic berth.
**Evan Turner is a stud. Very impressed after watching him do a little bit of everything for the Buckeyes on Saturday. Don't know a whole lot about NBA talent evaluation, but the 6-6 Turner has "The League" written all over him.
**Jim Molinari has his Western Illinois squad atop the Summit League with a surprising 3-0 start. It likely won't last, but it's good to see Mo off to a good conference start in his first season in Macomb.
**Michigan State gains the early advantage for the Big 10 crown with its two road wins to open the season. Illinois could have done the same, but lost at Michigan yesterday. Also working to Sparty's advantage is they don't have to travel to Madison this season. The fact that there are only two unbeaten teams in the Big 10 after two games certainly shows it's going to be a wild and wacky (and a lot of fun) rollercoaster ride in the Big 10.
**Purdue's gotta' be likin' Boston College's upset of seemingly unbeatable North Carolina. Makes the Boilers' neutral-court win over the Eagles look all the better.
**So far it's not been a good year for several coaches who were highly touted on this board to replace Dan Monson at Minnesota. Tony Bennett (Wazzu), Chris Lowery (Southern Illinois) and Rick Majerus (Saint Louis) all are having their share of struggles, especially Lowery. After missing last year's NCAA Tournament, Lowery's Salukis are an uncharacteristic 4-9 overall & 0-3 in the Missouri Valley with a RPI hovering around #200. All the more reason to be thankful for who Joel Maturi was able to hire away from Kentucky.
**Think the folks in the Bay area are pleased with the results Mike Montgomery (13-2, 2-0 at Cal) and Johnny Dawkins (11-1, 1-1 at Stanford) are producing in their first seasons at their respective schools?
**To this point I'm having trouble finding three SEC teams worthy of a NCAA bid. I suspect that total will rise by March, but I can't envision any scenario where the SEC will get more than 4-5 bids this season. If things fall right in conference play, the Big 10 has a chance to be in the mix for the 2-3 bids that last year were reserved for the SEC. ... and Pac 10, too.
FIELD OF 65 PROJECTION (1/5/09)
America East (1): Binghamton (117)
ACC (7): Duke (3), Clemson (5), North Carolina (12), Florida State (17), Boston College (28), Wake Forest (33), Maryland (49)
Atlantic Sun (1): East Tennessee State (111)
Atlantic 10 (2): Xavier (4), Dayton (44)
Big East (9): Pitt (1), UConn (8), West Virginia (9), Georgetown (10), Syracuse (15), Villanova (29), Marquette (30), Louisville (42), Notre Dame (75)
Big Sky (1): Portland State (107)
Big South (1): VMI (92)
Big 10 (7): Michigan State (7), Wisconsin (13), Ohio State (16), Illinois (19), GOPHERS (37), Michigan (39), Purdue (77)
Big 12 (5): Oklahoma (6), Texas (26), Texas A&M (55), Baylor (66), Kansas (71)
Big West (1): Long Beach State (145)
Colonial (1): George Mason (59)
Conference USA (1): Memphis (22)
Horizon (2): Butler (2), UW-Milwaukee (72)
Ivy (1): Cornell (93)
Metro Atlantic (1): Siena (43)
MAC (1): Miami-Ohio (11)
MEAC (1): Morgan State (160)
Missouri Valley (1): Illinois State (35)
Mountain West (3): Utah (27), BYU (38), UNLV (54)
Northeast (1): Robert Morris (200)
Ohio Valley (1): Morehead State (158)
Pac 10 (4): Cal (14), Arizona State (18), Stanford (36), UCLA (50)
Patriot (1): American (80)
SEC (3): Tennessee (21), Florida (47), Arkansas (65)
Southern (1): Davidson (20)
Southland (1): Stephen F. Austin (68)
SWAC (1): Arkansas-Pine Bluff (179)
Summit (1): Western Illinois (299)
Sun Belt (1): Western Kentucky (45)
West Coast (2): St. Mary's (25), Gonzaga (34)
WAC (1): Boise State (60)
Non-BCS At-Larges (5): Butler (2), Gonzaga (34), BYU (38), Dayton (44), UNLV (54)
Last 4 In: BYU (38), Louisville (42), Texas A&M (55), Notre Dame (75)
First 4 Out: Oklahoma State (31), Washington (46), Mizzou (51), Miami-Florida (53)
10 to Watch: UAB (32), Rhode Island (40), Arizona (56), Creighton (61), San Diego State (64), Utah State (67), Kentucky (74), Vandy (76), South Carolina (108), LSU (118)
##Conference leaders determined by best conference record (i.e., 4-0 better than 3-0, or in the event of a tie, the team with best RPI ranking).
The SS Mailbag
Dear Selection Sunday,
With the calendar turning to the new year, which under-the-radar non-BCS team do you think has a chance to make some noise in the NCAA Tournament?
-- Mark F, Spokane, Wash. --
Dear Mark,
Though not currently in my Field of 65, I'd point to the Utah State Aggies out of the WAC. The schedule hasn't been very taxing for Stew Morrill's squad (nonconference SOS of #292), but the Aggies have a nice win over a solid Utah squad, and their only loss was by 5 points to BYU. Look for the Aggies to pile up a lot of wins in the weak WAC, but still be good enough to be a factor in the NCAA tourney.