Thursday, February 11, 2010

About Last Night - Can you figure this out?

Can you figure out why bracketologists keep insisting on putting Northwestern in their projected(or predictive) brackets? I've no idea why, except to say that I've resisted putting them in. Last night in Iowa City was the perfect example of my prudentialistic attitude to the Wildcats. They fell behind Iowa early and trailed pretty much the whole game, ending up a 78-65 loser. Now at 5-6 in Big Ten play, the Wildcats need to score a few scalps along the way if they want to even have a chance at an at-large.

Can anyone help out Florida State? No? Well, me neither. Not after the Seminoles went up to Clemson and left it with a 77-67 defeat. They did not look impressive either, thus a likely spot near the cut line for Tomorrow's projections(Yes, I'm going to twice-a-week brackets for the rest of the month). Elsewhere in the ACC, Duke officially buried North Carolina's NCAA hopes in a 64-54 victory. What made it even sweeter for Blue Devil fanatics, was that it occured on Tyler Hansbrough Night.

Where have you gone, Jimmy Calhoun, our lonely nation turns it's eyes to you, whoo-hoo-hoo? I'll admit that UConn can make big comebacks, but can't finish them off. After trailing by 16 late in the 2nd half, the Huskies proceeded to let Syracuse off the mat and then found themselves on it. Result: the Orange 72, the Huskies 67, with the Huskies limping along with a deflated resume.

Can you guess who makes it out of the A-10? Charlotte had their chances heavily damaged by Dayton, who's own chances improved significantly in the 75-47 rout of the 49ers, while Richmond scored a 69-67 win over Rhode Island in Kingston. Right now, it looks as if the league could have 5 of it's teams represented in the NCAA's with a 6th possible, but who will play the sixth? The last month will prove telling.

Elsewhere, Northern Iowa escaped Drake and wrapped up part of the Missouri Valley crown; Miami(FL) edged Georgia Tech on a game winner at the horn; New Mexico dumped UNLV in Las Vegas(which only was seen nationally in the 2nd half, due to a TCU-Utah women's thriller which took 4 overtimes); Old Dominion handled James Madison with sang froid; and Baylor beat Nebraska by 2 in Lincoln.

3 comments:

  1. I think the reason Northwestern was projected as a tournament team was their "easy" remaining schedule. They still aren't dead, but that Iowa loss really hurts them. I still like their chances better than Minnesota, but the Big Ten seems to be settling in at 5 bids.

    It is very likely that 6 Atlantic 10 teams will hear their name called on selection sunday. These 6 teams are deserving at the moment.
    Temple, Richmond, Dayton, Xavier, Rhode Island, Charlotte.

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  2. Did that loss last night take Florida State out of the bracket? How does their resume compare with that of Virginia Tech or Georgia Tech? How many ACC teams do you see makingg it after the dust settles?

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  3. Is it possible had no teams from the SEC West make the tournament? Arkansas has become the best team but their non-conference resume is poor.

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