Jan. 29 College Hoops Summit: Last team (North Dakota) to beat St. Thomas in Saint Paul eyes ending Tommies' nation-best home winning streak

[SelectionSunday]

(all rankings NET, all times Central)
Tommie Talk and the NET/Torvik Gospel
St. Thomas (17-5, 9-10 ATS)
NET: Tommies sit tight at #113
Torvik (T-Rank): Tommies drop 2 spots to #120

#269 North Dakota (12-12, 6-2 Summit) @ #113 St. Thomas (17-5, 6-1 Summit)
Time (TV): 7 p.m. (SLN)
Place: Lee and Penny Anderson Arena, Saint Paul, MN
Series Record since St. Thomas move to Division 1: St. Thomas leads 7-3 (Tommies have won last 4)
The Spread: St. Thomas favored by 12.5
The Skinny: The Fighting Sioux have won three straight since losing to the Tommies 91-80 in Grand Forks. They are the last opponent to beat the Tommies, in Saint Paul, just over two years ago. UST has won a nation-best 28 consecutive home games since then.

Wednesday Summit League Results/Highlights
@ #256 Omaha 80, #190 South Dakota State 71: Paul Djobet paced the Mavericks (11-12, 4-4 Summit) with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Damon Wilkinson and Kalen Garry (5 treys) led the Jackrabbits (10-12, 3-4 Summit) with 24 and 22 points, respectively.

#260 Denver 69, @ #349 Kansas City 61: Carson Johnson scored 22 points (4 treys) and Logan Kinsey notched a double-double with 14 points and 13 boards as the Pioneers (10-13, 3-5 Summit) recorded their first league road win. Kasheem Grady II led the 'Roos (4-18, 1-7 Summit) with 17 points and seven rebounds.

Thursday Summit League Slate
#269 North Dakota @ #113 St. Thomas, 7 (SLN)
#326 Oral Roberts @ #285 South Dakota, 7 (SLN)

Wednesday Reach the Summit Selections (24-8, 75%, 1 exacta)
St. Thomas over North Dakota by 8
South Dakota over Oral Roberts 6

Current Top 5 (NDSU/UST/UND/Omaha/USD) Head-to-Head
Let's keep tabs on how the current top five teams are faring head-to-head. The league's regular season champion(s) likely finishes with the best record in this group.
Head-to-Head
1. North Dakota State (3-0)
2. St. Thomas (3-1)
3. Omaha (1-2)
4. North Dakota (1-2)
5. South Dakota (1-4)

Summit League Leader (North Dakota State) Resume Snapshot
NET: #117
Torvik (T-Rank): #118
Record vs. DI Opponents: 15-5, 8-0 Summit
True Road Record: 7-4
Projected NCAA Tournament Seed: #14
Strength of Record: #104
Wins Above Bubble: #108
Overall SOS: #359
Non-Conference SOS: #345
Record/Winning% vs. Quad 1: 0-0
Record/Winning% vs. Quads 1 & 2 Combined: 0-0
Record/Winning % vs. Quads 1-3 Combined: 4-4 (50%)
Quad 4 (Awful) Losses: 1 (@ #288 UTEP)
Record vs. Projected NCAA Qualifiers: 0-0

Dribbles & Scribbles
-- There's likely only one path for #44 Santa Clara to the NCAA Tournament as an at-large selection. The Broncos need to beat Gonzaga on Feb. 14 (Zags won the first meeting 89-77) and have no additional slipups in games they're "supposed to" win. The huge stain on their resume -- an inexplicable neutral-court loss to #325 Loyola-Chicago -- will be difficult to ignore if the Broncos end up squarely on the bubble possessing no wins vs. the Zags.

-- #77 Stanford falls to Miami-Florida and drops off the Bubblicious board, as its NET ranking falls below #75 threshold.

-- I hope Minnesota gets a third chance at Wisconsin in the Big Ten Tournament. The first two matchups have been great theater but pure agony for Gopher fans. If the Gophers (knock on wood) can get/keep their seven-man rotation healthy heading to Chicago, they have a good chance to be a pain in the (butt) to higher seeds, especially those residing on the bubble.

Wednesday Bubblicious Results (bubble teams underlined)
Auburn 88, #41 Texas 82
#42 UCLA 73, Oregon 57
#44 Santa Clara 88, San Francisco 73
Houston 79, #46 TCU 70
Iowa 73, #48 USC 72
#50 Seton Hall 86, Xavier 68
Florida State 63, #56 Cal 61
Saint John's 92, #57 Butler 70
#66 George Mason 60, Davidson 52
Miami-Florida 79, #77 Stanford 70 (Cardinal drop off)

Thursday Bubblicious Tracker (conference leaders are not considered bubble teams)
No games

Bubblicious Snapshots (#41, #50, #52, #68)
A daily look at the bubble and watching it evolve & shrink leading up to Selection Sunday:

#41 (Texas) NCAA Tournament Resume (best NET# left out of '25 field)
NET: #41
Torvik (T-Rank): #37
Record vs. DI Opponents: 11-9, 3-5 SEC
True Road Record: 1-4
Strength of Record: #59
Wins Above Bubble: #55
Overall SOS: #4
Non-Conference SOS: #63
Record/Winning% vs. Quad 1: 3-6 (33.3%)
Record/Winning% vs. Quads 1 & 2 Combined: 4-8 (33.3%)
Record/Winning% vs. Quads 1-3 Combined: 4-9 (30.8%)
Quad 4 (Awful) Losses: 0
Record vs. Projected NCAA Qualifiers: 5-7 (wins #13 Vanderbilt, @ #20 Alabama, vs. #27 NC State, #34 Georgia, #321 UMES)

#50 (Seton Hall) NCAA Tournament Resume (mythical Bubble cutline)
NET: #50
Torvik (T-Rank): #50
Record vs. DI Opponents: 15-6, 5-5 Big East
True Road Record: 4-2
Strength of Record: #48
Wins Above Bubble: #52
Overall SOS: #80
Non-Conference SOS: #244
Record/Winning% vs. Quad 1: 1-3 (25%)
Record/Winning% vs. Quads 1 & 2 Combined: 6-6 (50%)
Record/Winning% vs. Quads 1-3 Combined: 8-6 (57.1%)
Quad 4 (Awful) Losses: 0
Record vs. Projected NCAA Qualifiers: 1-4 (win vs. #27 NC State)

#52 (Akron) NCAA Tournament Resume (worst at-large NET# to make '25 field)
NET: #52
Torvik (T-Rank): #55
Record vs. DI Opponents: 15-4, 8-1 MAC
True Road Record: 4-2
Strength of Record: #67
Wins Above Bubble: #64
Overall SOS: #210
Non-Conference SOS: #211
Record/Winning% vs. Quad 1: 0-2 (0%)
Record/Winning% vs. Quads 1 & 2 Combined: 1-4 (20%)
Record/Winning% vs. Quads 1-3 Combined: 4-4 (50%)
Quad 4 (Awful) Losses: 0
Record vs. Projected NCAA Qualifiers: 0-3

#68 (George Washington) NCAA Tournament Resume (if the field was best 68 NET)
NET: #68
Torvik (T-Rank): #64
Record vs. DI Opponents: 12-8, 4-4 Atlantic 10
True Road Record: 2-3
Strength of Record: #103
Wins Above Bubble: #107
Overall SOS: #114
Non-Conference SOS: #197
Record/Winning% vs. Quad 1: 0-3 (0%)
Record/Winning% vs. Quads 1 & 2 Combined: 2-6 (25%)
Record/Winning% vs. Quads 1-3 Combined: 5-7 (41.7%)
Quad 4 (Awful) Losses: 1 (#286 Delaware)
Record vs. Projected NCAA Qualifiers: 0-2

Other Games to Watch
Colorado @ Iowa State, 6 (FS1)
Le Moyne @ LIU, 6
UMBC @ Vermont, 6 (ESPN+)
North Dakota @ St. Thomas, 7 (SLN)
Washington @ Illinois, 8 (FS1)
Montana @ Portland State, 9 (ESPN+)
Hawaii @ UC-Irvine, 10 (ESPNU)

Thursday Pick to Click (49-34, 59%, L-3 streak)
Liberty -1.5 @ Middle Tennessee

Thursday Outright +7 or More ‘Dog (17-65, 20.7%, W-1)
Le Moyne (+7.5) outright @ LIU

Deep Thoughts, by Buzz Studley
There's never been a better time for the Big Ten to win its first national championship since 2000. Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska, and Purdue are a top-heavy top five all on track to get protected NCAA Tournament seeds. But right now, if I had to pick the conference that will cut down the nets, I'd go with the Big XII. I'd ride with Arizona and Houston.

 

[Roland Brooks]

Bad L … gave that one away… UND battled the whole game… some poor possessions in crunch time a couple turnovers and some poor shot selection… too much dribbling.

 

[SelectionSunday]

Bad L … gave that one away… UND battled the whole game… some poor possessions in crunch time a couple turnovers and some poor shot selection… too much dribbling.

Nick’s 3 attempt after an offensive board up 3 with under a minute to go not the best decision. And Herro, who’s improving with every game, would probably like back that pass in too much traffic. That one really hurt.

Need to find ways to get Bjerke more shots. He’s their X factor, I think. He only had 2 shots (3s) and made both. If he doesn’t get many looks, they’re much easier to defend.

 

[Roland Brooks]

Agree. Minnesale took some bad shots that were forced… off balanced runners and a couple of his half hooks… scouting report is out on him… those hooks and push shots are 2-3 feet farther than usual… Too bad for Hero about his only mistake of the game was that pass… Team D needs to get better as well… on to the next round ne!

 

[SelectionSunday]

Agree. Minnesale took some bad shots that were forced… off balanced runners and a couple of his half hooks… scouting report is out on him… those hooks and push shots are 2-3 feet farther than usual… Too bad for Hero about his only mistake of the game was that pass… Team D needs to get better as well… on to the next round ne!

Have to be honest, the Summit has been tougher than I anticipated. There are more decent to good teams than I thought there'd be. If the right teams win, the Summit semifinals have a chance to be hellacious. Feel crazy for saying this, but currently sixth-place South Dakota State is still the one team I'd prefer UST avoid as long as possible in Sioux Falls. Any game involving SDSU is like a home game for them.