Week 5 Field of 68 Projection & A Delicious Saturday of College Hoops Ahead

SelectionSunday

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ROAD TO SELECTION SUNDAY -- Take a look below (bottom) at the veritable potpourri of delicious college hoops matchups we have to look forward to Saturday. Wake up, load up on your favorite snacks & beverages, grab a recliner (or couch), and no need to get up for anything other than potty breaks. Saturday will be "Feast Week" without the Thanksgiving turkey and leftovers.

But before that, here's our look back at Week 5 of the college basketball season, as always starting with the weekly “Field of 68” projection. Projected automatic qualifiers in multiple-bid conferences (noted with *) are the conference leader or -- in the case of a tie -- the team with the best NET ranking; NET rankings are in parentheses.

FIELD OF 68 PROJECTION (through games played 12/8/24)
America East (1): Bryant (167)

American (1): Memphis (48)

ACC (4): *Duke (4), Clemson (11), Pitt (16), North Carolina (42)

ASUN (1): Lipscomb (95)

Atlantic 10 (2): *Dayton (37), Rhode Island (54)

Big East (4): *Marquette (7), UConn (24), Saint John's (38), Creighton (75)

Big Sky (1): Montana State (102)

Big South (1): Radford (122)

Big Ten (10): Illinois (12), Maryland (13), *UCLA (14), Oregon (15), Penn State (18), Ohio State (21), Michigan (23), Purdue (26), Michigan State (27), Wisconsin (36)

Big XII (8): *Houston (8), Iowa State (9), Kansas (17), Baylor (28), Cincinnati (30), Texas Tech (31), Arizona State (34), West Virginia (39)

Big West (2): UC-Irvine (25), *UC-San Diego (72)

Coastal (1): Hampton (233)

Conference USA (1): Liberty (60)

Horizon (1): Youngstown State (239)

Ivy (1): Princeton (107)

MAAC (1): Merrimack (193)

MAC (1): Kent State (103)

MEAC (1): Norfolk State (112)

Missouri Valley (1): Drake (43)

Mountain West (2): *Utah State (19), San Diego State (41)

NEC (1): Central Connecticut (141)

OVC (1): SIU-Edwardsville (214)

Patriot (1): American (227)

SEC (12): *Tennessee (1), Auburn (2), Kentucky (5), Florida (7), Alabama (10), Mississippi State (20), Georgia (22), Ole Miss (29), Texas A&M (32), Missouri (35), Oklahoma (44), Vanderbilt (52)

SoCon (1): Furman (78)

Southland (1): Lamar (187)

SWAC (1): Southern U (180)

Summit (1): South Dakota State (97)

Sun Belt (1): Texas State (108)

WCC (2): *Gonzaga (3), Saint Mary’s (33)

WAC (1): Grand Canyon (114)
-------------------------------------
Last 4 In: UC-Irvine (25), Cincinnati (30), North Carolina (42), Creighton (75)

First 4 Out: LSU (56), Butler (59), Texas (64), Loyola-Chicago (74)

Next 4 Out: Iowa (47), Arkansas (49), San Francisco (50), Washington State (65)

Non-Power 5 At-Large Bids (4): UC-Irvine (25), Saint Mary's (33), San Diego State (41), Rhode Island (54)
-----------------------------------------
RANDOM RAMBLIN’ MUSINGS
Tommies Hit Their Stride vs. Big Sky Foes

In the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge, St. Thomas, North Dakota State, and Denver led the Summit League to an 11-7 win with two victories apiece. The Tommies defeated Northern Colorado on the road Wednesday, then beat Big Sky preseason favorite Montana 88-81 on Saturday in a thriller at Schoenecker Arena. UST has established itself as one of the favorites for the Summit League regular season championship.

While SEC Continues Domination, ACC Has Become the Punching Bag
The ACC/SEC Challenge was not quite as competitive. The SEC thrashed the ACC, 14-2. The ACC's only wins came from Clemson (over Kentucky) and Duke (over Auburn). While the SEC has been dominating the hoops landscape in the early season by winning just under 75% of its games vs. Power 5 opponents, the ACC has been the sad sack. The hoops tradition-laden conference is a paltry 14-43 vs. Power 5 opponents. Ouch.

The 9 Unconquered (still without a blemish)
Drake, Florida, Loyola-Chicago, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, UC-Irvine, Utah State

POWER 5 HEAD-TO-HEAD (+ Gonzaga/Saint Mary’s/San Diego State)
1 SEC (47-16, 74.6%)
2 Gonzaga/Saint Mary’s/San Diego State (9-5, 64.3%)
3 Big Ten (22-18, 55%)
4 Big East (17-19, 47.2%)
5 Big XII (22-30, 42.3%)
6 ACC (14-43, 24.6%)

(Team) Record vs. Power 5
4-0: Oklahoma, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
3-0: Florida, Oregon
2-0: Clemson, Missouri, Oklahoma State
4-1: Marquette
5-2: Texas A&M
3-1: Auburn, Butler, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Mississippi State, Purdue, Saint Mary's, Wisconsin
4-2: Alabama, Gonzaga
2-1: Iowa State, Kentucky, Michigan State, Ole Miss, Texas Tech, UConn
3-2: Kansas, Pitt, West Virginia
2-2: Duke, Indiana, Saint John's, San Diego State, South Carolina, Texas, Xavier
1-1: Arizona State, Cincinnati, Illinois, Maryland, Nebraska, Penn State
2-3: Baylor, Creighton, Houston, Louisville, Wake Forest
1-2: Arkansas, BYU, Cal, Colorado, Ohio State, Providence, Rutgers, TCU, UCF, Villanova
1-3: Virginia
1-4: Notre Dame
0-1: Boston College, DePaul, Minnesota, Northwestern
0-2: Florida State, Georgetown, Kansas State, Miami, Seton Hall, SMU, USC, Utah
0-3: Georgia Tech, NC State, Syracuse
0-4: Arizona, North Carolina, Virginia Tech

(Team) Non-Power 5 Wins vs. Power 5 (38)
3
– Memphis
2 – Drake, Nevada, New Mexico, North Florida, Saint Joseph’s, VCU
1 -- Austin Peay, Boise State, Cal Poly, Charleston Southern, Colorado State, Columbia, Dartmouth, Davidson, Dayton, Elon, FAU, Fordham, Grand Canyon, Hofstra, Jacksonville, Kennesaw State, Liberty, Monmouth, North Texas, Rhode Island, Santa Clara, Utah State, Wichita State

The Local Lads (NET rankings)
#113 St. Thomas Tommies (7-4)
#163 Minnesota Gophers (6-4)

Tommies Stat Leaders
Miles Barnstable (13.5 ppg), Kendall Blue (4.3 rpg), Drake Dobbs (3.5 apg), Ryan Dufault (1.3 spg), Dobbs (56 3PFG%)

Gophers Stat Leaders
Dawson Garcia (19 ppg), Garcia (7.4 rpg), Lu’Cye Patterson (3.9 apg), Femi Odukale (2.3 spg), Mike Mitchell Jr. (44.4 3PFG%)

Gophers Non-Conference Opponents
Bethune-Cookman (2-6)
Central Michigan (2-3)
Cleveland State (4-6)
Fairleigh Dickinson (1-7)
Morgan State (1-7)
North Texas (4-3)
Omaha (3-7)
Oral Roberts (1-6)
Wake Forest (8-3)
Wichita State (8-1)
Yale (4-5)
Totals: (38-54, 41.3%)

Tommies (D1) Non-Conference Opponents

Arizona State (8-1)
Bowling Green (3-5)
Chicago State (0-11)
Green Bay (2-8)
Milwaukee (5-4)
Montana (4-4)
Northern Colorado (3-5)
Oklahoma State (6-2)
Portland State (3-5)
UC-Riverside (5-4)
Western Michigan (2-5)
Wofford (3-6)
Totals: (44-60, 42.3%)

The Tenuous Trio
– Big Ten squads hoping to make it to Weakling Wednesday
My weekly opine on the 3 Big Ten teams tracking toward an early end to their 2024-25 season (no invitation to Indianapolis & the Big Ten Tournament).

#16 Rutgers (0-1)
#17 Minnesota (0-1)
#18 Washington (0-2)

NET Kings
#1 Tennessee (8-0)

Kinda’ Tournament Cutline
#68 VCU (6-2)

Stuck in the Middle with You
#182 Winthrop (6-3)

Bottom Dweller
#364 Mississippi Valley State (0-8)

Week 6 Power 5 Head-to-Head
Tuesday

Miami vs. Tennessee
Arkansas vs. Michigan

Thursday
Iowa State @ Iowa

Saturday
Purdue vs. Texas A&M
Auburn vs. Ohio State
Xavier @ Cincinnati
Butler vs. Wisconsin
Georgetown @ Syracuse
Seton Hall @ Rutgers
Arizona vs. UCLA
NC State @ Kansas
Arizona State vs. Florida
LSU vs. SMU
Louisville @ Kentucky
Tennessee @ Illinois
Gonzaga vs. UConn
Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State
Creighton @ Alabama

December 15
Georgia Tech @ Northwestern

Next (planned) Field of 68: December 15
 
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