WASHINGTON — The NCAA does a great job making multiple people mad each March when it announces its tournament field. Not only does it break hearts of bubble teams by shutting the door in their faces (“sorry– but there’s room next door at the NIT”), but the selection committee always infuriates at least a few schools with seeding. Strength of schedule, top 50 wins, and the famed “eye-test” will even come into play. We’ll be shocked by at least one of the #1’s…and perplexed when one school is sent to the far reaches of the globe despite deserving to stay closer to campus or the first weekend. And somehow, Duke will get the last #1.
No more Futile Five: In the last week, the ranks of the winless in league play crew shrunk by two. We all know Minnesota beat Maryland for their first Big Ten victory of the season, but St John’s also notched a Big East win (even though it was against DePaul). That leaves Boston College (0-14 in the ACC), Rutgers (0-14 in the Big Ten) and Chicago State (0-12 in the WAC) as the only teams remaining without a conference victory.
#9 Maryland (23-5, 11-4 Big Ten) bounced back from a tough loss at Minnesota in fine fashion, beating Michigan Sunday 86-82. Even though Melo Trimble shot just 3-10 (bringing his three game total to 7-35), the Terps got a nice return to form from Robert Carter Jr. The forward notched 17 points after being held to single digits in his previous three games. The Big Ten regular season title is still within reach, with trips to Purdue and Indiana sandwiching the home finale against Illinois (the only conference team to draw Rutgers and Minnesota twice this winter). Both bracket models have the Terps headed to Providence as a #3 seed: ESPN.com’s Joe Lunardi has them in the Midwest Regional facing UNC Wilmington while CBSSports.com’s Jerry Palm has them playing IPFW in the West. Our own model (which will be released prior to the conference tournaments) has the Terps hanging onto the 2 line for now.
Georgetown (14-14, 7-8 Big East) continued to slide out of NCAA at-large contention by falling at home to #8 Xavier 88-70. The Hoyas were outshot (53% to 41%) and outrebounded (33-30) by a Musketeers team many are saying is in the mix for a #1 seed (including our model). While there’s no shame in being outclassed by one of the nation’s best, the defeat was the sixth in seven games, with the only victory coming against last place St. John’s. When the stretch began, the Hoyas were trying to stay on the NCAA bubble. Now they’re wondering if they’d get an NIT bid. D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera plays his final regular season home game Saturday…one can only imagine how this winter would have turned had he stayed in the NBA draft last spring.
#3 Virginia (21-6, 10-5 ACC) had six days off before facing #12 Miami Monday night, but it did them no good. A 64-61 loss drops the Cavaliers into fourth place in the ACC (although fifth-place Duke has 5 losses as well and owns the tiebreaker). Virginia more than held its own on the road, but the Achilles heel away from John Paul Jones Arena last month resurfaced, as coach Jim Larranaga’s team hit 10-19 from three-point range. In the conference carousel, the Hurricanes played angry Monday after getting routed by North Carolina Saturday. The Tar Heels were angry Saturday after losing by 1 to Duke the previous Wednesday. If the bounce back chain continues it means a UVa win Saturday over UNC and a Tar Heel victory two days later against Syracuse…leading to an Orange rout of Florida State March 5. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the transitive property of college hoops. Both models had Virginia going into Monday night as a #1 seed playing in Raleigh (though our model already had them as a #2, right below Miami, conveniently enough).
Virginia Tech (14-13, 6-8 ACC) plays just two games at home in February, but the Hokies completed a sweep in Cassell Coliseum for the month with an 83-73 win over Florida State. Seth Allen scored 17 of his 23 in the second half as they erased an eight-point deficit at intermission. The Hokies tore it up from outside as a team, hitting 11 of 19 three-pointers. Right now, the team would earn the 9th seed in the upcoming conference tournament…and with games against Boston College and Wake Forest (combined 2-27 in league play) there’s an outside chance that Buzz Williams’ bunch could finish .500 in the ACC. Sorry, my cold medication is getting the better of me. Did I just write .500 in the ACC in the same paragraph as Virginia Tech?
George Washington (20-7, 9-5 Atlantic 10) played like you’d want a bubble team to — the Colonials left no doubt in a 90-50 drubbing of last place La Salle. From ball movement (21 assists on 29 made baskets) to toughness (43-21 rebounding advantage), GW made the game irrelevant early, going up 31 at the half. The triumph also means 20 victories for the third straight season for just the second time in school history. This week’s double dip at Richmond on Wednesday and at home against VCU Saturday features return engagements where the road team won the January game in the series. ESPN has GW among the First Four out, CBS has the Colonials playing Wisconsin in the First Four as a co-#10 in the South (the winner facing Notre Dame in Oklahoma City). We’ve got GW in, but just barely, as a First Four play-in team.
George Mason (9-18, 3-11 Atlantic 10) had hopes of getting out of playing the first day of the A-10 Tournament, but consecutive losses to St Louis and UMass drop the Patriots to 13th in the league. They say disasters come in threes — that was the case Sunday against the Minutemen when GMU shot 1-18 from outside the arc. The best-rebounding, worst-shooting team in the league wraps up conference play with games against GW and VCU (two bubble teams that can ill afford a bad loss) plus Richmond (they beat the Spiders on the road) and last place La Salle. Who’s ready for Wednesday in Brooklyn?
American (9-18, 7-9 Patriot League) might no longer be the hottest team inside the beltway…but instead you can call them the most exciting. Back-to-back overtime wins means they can still finish .500 in the conference after starting 0-6. Jesse Reed’s making his final trip though the conference count, scoring 15 points against Lafayette and 18 at Holy Cross. AU needs Reed to produce: they’re 0-4 in league play when he’s held to single digits. Home games with Navy and Loyola (MD) conclude the regular season…expect to stay for the final buzzer.
Howard (11-17, 5-8 MEAC) continues its winter descent down the league standings. Monday’s 71-63 loss to second place South Carolina State was the team’s seventh defeat in eight games. Lately they’ve been tormented by turnovers (25 against Savannah State, 22 against Maryland Eastern Shore). After a midweek matchup with Florida A&M, the Bison visit league-leading Hampton and third place Norfolk State.
