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Published February 8, 2008
This week in college hoops No. 2Some big movers this week both forward and backward. What a game the UNC Duke game would have been with Ty Lawson. Note: All teams are in my order of ranking. ACC: Best team- Duke (120-1, 8-0). The win over UNC solidifies its return to dominance. Team of the week- Maryland (15-8, 5-3). Two road wins over fellow bubblers gets the Terps on the inside of the bubble. NCAA teams: Duke, UNC (20-1, 5-1) and Maryland. Bubble teams: Clemson (17-5, 5-3), N.C. State (15-7, 4-4), Virginia Tech (14-9, 5-4), Wake Forest (13-8, 3-5), Miami (15-7, 2-6). Things sure did clear up in just a week. Maryland is in great shape, while it looks like the conference will get five teams at best. N.C. State escaped for a pair of wins, but needs to be more impressive. Miami and Wake are on life support, while Boston College is toast as of now. Big East: Best team- Georgetown (19-2, 9-1). The Hoyas are on cruise control heading to Louisville Team of the week- Connecticut (17-5, 7-3).Perhaps the hottest team in the country right now. NCAA teams: G'Town, UCONN, Notre Dame (17-4, 7-2), Pittsburgh (18-5, 6-4), Marquette (16-5, 6-4) and Louisville (17-6, 7-3). Bubble Teams: Seton Hall (15-8, 5-5), Syracuse (16-8, 6-5), West Virginia (16-7, 5-5) and Villanova (13-8, 3-6). Eight teams is the likely outcome now with the Hall struggling. Nova is on here because I am nice. Big 10: Best team- Wisconsin (19-3, 9-1). The Badgers are the only consistent team in the conference. Team of the week- Penn State (11-11, 3-7). Hey, at least it got an upset win. NCAA teams: Wisconsin, MSU (19-3, 7-2), Indiana (19-3, 8-1), and Ohio State (16-7, 7-3). Bubble Team: Purdue (18-5, 9-1). Purdue will probably get in with the UW win and a soft conference slate, while the rest of the teams are garbage, just look at their records. Big 12: Best team- Kansas (22-1, 7-1). Probably the best team in the country. Team of the week- Texas A&M (19-4, 5-3). After the early slide the Aggies have caught fire. NCAA teams: KU, KSU (16-5, 6-1), Texas (18-4, 5-2), Texas A&M (19-4, 5-3) and Baylor (17-4, 5-2). Bubble Team: Oklahoma (15-7, 3-4). It is still up to OU to get the sixth bid from the conference. It is starting to look dicey though. Pac 10: Best team- UCLA (21-2, 9-1). Two solid wins over Arizona and at WSU. Team of the week- Stanford (19-3, 8-2). What a quiet run the Cardinal has been on after winning at WSU and crushing Oregon. NCAA teams: UCLA, Stanford (19-3, 8-2), WSU (17-5, 5-5), Arizona (15-7, 5-4) and USC (15-7, 6-4). Bubble Teams: ASU (14-7, 4-5), Oregon (13-9, 4-6), Cal (14-7, 4-5). Six teams should make it, but a seventh isn't looking good with both Oregon and ASU struggling. Cal's run could steal that bid if it can keep it going. Wazzu is in some trouble with three straight home losses. SEC: Best team- Tennessee (20-2, 7-1). Chris Lofton and Jajuan Smith are making a difference. Team of the week- Tennessee. Wins at MSU and against Florida makes this club legit. NCAA teams: UT, Florida (18-5, 5-3), Arkansas (16-5, 5-2), Vanderbilt (19-4, 4-4). Bubble Teams: MSU (15-7, 6-2) and Mississippi (16-4, 3-4). Vandy got back up off the dirt, as did Arkansas. The Mississippi schools are struggling right now. and need a big win. Other NCAA teams: Memphis (22-0, 8-0), Xavier (19-4, 7-1), Butler (20-2, 9-2), Drake (21-1, 12-0) and South Alabama (19-4, 11-1). Drake just keeps findin a way to win, somehow. It has almost clinched a berth, same as Butler. Xavier is well in, USA needs to keep winning. Bubble Teams: St. Mary's (19-3, 6-1), Gonzaga (17-6, 6-1), BYU (18-5, 7-1), UNLV (17-5, 6-2), San Diego St. (16-6, 6-2), Davidson (16-6, 14-0), Western Kentucky (19-5, 11-1), Illinois State (16-7, 8-4), Creighton (16-6, 7-5), Kent St. (18-5, 7-2), Houston (17-4, 6-1), UAB (15-7, 5-2), CSU Northridge (15-5, 7-1), VCU (17-5, 10-2), George Mason (17-6, 9-3), St. Joes (15-6, 6-2), Rhode Island (19-4, 5-3), Dayton (16-5, 4-4), UMASS (15-7, 4-4), Utah St. (17-6, 7-1), Oral Roberts (16-5, 11-0), UNC Ashville (18-4, 7-0). As you can see there are a lot of bubble teams in the non-BCS conferences, but only a couple will make it as an at-large. It will be in their best bet to win their conference tournament, or take a share of the regular season title. It also depends on the at-large gimmies above to win their conference tournament. At least three from the A-10 should make it, maybe even four. I don't think five will make it, despite what the experts say. WKU will be fighting with USA for a possible berth in the Sun Belt. The CAA winner should get an at-large and it is still hard not to see two from the Valley. The Mountain West should get two, and watch out for the three undefeates in conference.
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Seems like the Bucks are more of a bubble than the Boilers . . . Good breakdown on a lot of teams I didn't really know about, though.
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