Friday, March 14, 2008

Does Anyone Want To Make The Tourney?

Apparently the answer is no. Let's take a look at how teams playing must-win games fared yesterday:

Miami FL - Won 63-50 against NC State.
Dayton - Lost 74-65 to Xavier.
Baylor - Lost 91-84 2OT to Colorado.
Arizona - Lost 75-64 to Stanford.
Ole Miss - Lost 97-95 OT to Georgia.
UMass - Lost 69-65 to Charlotte.
UAB - Lost 78-68 OT to Tulsa.
St. Joseph's - Won 61-47 against Richmond.
Villanova - Lost 82-63 to Georgetown.
New Mexico - Lost 82-80 OT to Utah.
Oregon - Lost 75-70 to Washington St.
Florida - Lost 80-69 to Alabama.
Maryland - Lost 71-68 to Boston College.
Arizona State - Lost 59-55 to USC.
Houston - Lost 80-77 to UTEP.
Temple - Won 84-75 against LaSalle.

For those of you counting, that means bubble teams went 3-13 yesterday. What does it all mean? Not only do the teams that lost have no chance to improve their overall profile anymore, but it opens the door for teams like Temple, Virginia Tech and Ohio State. If these teams can keep winning games, then teams like Villanova, Arizona State, and Oregon, that are sitting squarely on the bubble, can get forced out.

This year's bubble is very weak, and those teams that can play their way into the dance are not very good. What does this mean? Don't expect too many double digit seeds advancing this year.

No comments: