Boise State lost to Colorado State on Feb. Colorado State beat New Mexico which beat Wyoming the week before, but then Colorado State lost at UNLV by 21 points. The Mountain West is another delicious mess.This team has lost four of its last five games, and things won’t get any easier this week with Iowa (away) and Purdue (home) on the docket. The Spartans are a good team playing in a great league, and that is taking its toll. Also not rank-worthy is Michigan State, which lost at Penn State and then fell behind by 16 points at home to Illinois on Saturday before rallying to lose by five.The Golden Eagles’ metrics are in the 24-46 range. That was the Golden Eagles’ fourth loss in six games, and it gave the Bluejays a season sweep. 19 before it lost at Creighton on Sunday. Scrapping and fighting can only take you so far in the bracket. It’s very impressive that Providence keeps winning so many close games, but at some point that has to make you wonder about how deep this team can go in the NCAA Tournament. I had to ding them for losing to Villanova because the game was at home, but I wouldn’t qualify that as a bad loss by any stretch. I was prepared to drop Providence quite a bit when they were down big at Butler, but I give the Friars credit for coming back from 19 points down early in the second half to win in overtime.The Blue Devils could win their remaining four games plus the ACC tournament and still not be in my top 10 come Selection Sunday. In this space, however, that is an important consideration. Duke has neutral-court wins over Kentucky and Gonzaga, and the fact that they came early in the season has no bearing on their value to Duke’s NCAA Tournament resume. 2 seed in its bracket preview reveal Saturday. I’ve also explained the difference between my AP ballot and the job of the men’s basketball tournament selection committee, which properly assigned Duke a No. They just got pushed down a notch by other teams that play in better leagues and were therefore able to get quality wins. I didn’t penalize the Blue Devils for only beating Wake Forest by two points at home. Because of the unusual weakness of the ACC, Duke is in the odd position of having its losses make a greater impact than its wins.Besides, Baylor has been dealing with multiple injuries for several weeks now. Injuries are an important factor when it comes to ranking teams, but the actual results matter more. Both those guys sat out Saturday’s home game against TCU, which Baylor won by 10. The Bears finally had guards LJ Cryer and Adam Flagler back on Wednesday, but they lost at Texas Tech. Baylor continues to be bedeviling because of all its injuries.I don’t remember anyone calling those high-quality wins at the time, but they sure look that way now.
The Red Raiders’ continued success also bolsters the case of two teams it lost to before the start of conference play, Providence (road) and Gonzaga (neutral). I continue to be amazed at the job Mark Adams is doing with this group. Texas Tech moves to the highest spot on my ballot this season by virtue of its wins at home over Baylor and at Texas.Tennessee shouldn’t get punished for that, but the Razorbacks deserved to be rewarded. Again, it was a road loss to a ranked team. So instead of moving Kentucky down because of the loss in Knoxville, I bumped the Vols up two spots, even though they lost at Arkansas on Saturday. Plus, over the last month, Auburn barely beat Missouri and Georgia on the road, while Kentucky thumped Kansas by 18 points in Allen Fieldhouse. Auburn beat Kentucky head-to-head, but that game was in Auburn, and once again Washington got hurt midway through the half with his team leading by nine.
Auburn lost at Florida, but the Gators were unranked, and it was the Tigers’ second loss in four games.
18 last week in this space, and the Wildcats did not have one of their most important players, TyTy Washington, at full strength. Kentucky lost at Tennessee, but the Volunteers were ranked No. Dropped out: Michigan State (15), Marquette (16), Wyoming (25)Īlmost famous: Rutgers, Michigan, San Francisco, Seton Hall, Alabama, San Diego State, North Texas, Wake Forest, Notre Dame, Colorado State, Miami Notes on the votes
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