Tag: Bracketology

Texas HC Rodney Terry named Sporting News National Coach of the Year

National recognition of Rodney Terry makes for a big decision for Chris Del Conte this offseason.

Rodney Terry is once again receiving national accolades after leading an impressive 2022-23 campaign. Following a 23-8 regular season, Sporting News named Terry its National Coach of the Year.

The honor is well deserved as Terry captained a sinking ship all the way to a likely No. 2 seed. Since 1985, Texas has only twice earned a No. 2 seed (2006, 2008) and just once been slated as a No. 1 seed in 2003.

There’s more than enough to like about Terry, but should he enjoy a strong NCAA Tournament, the Longhorns would be wise to make him the permanent head basketball coach in Austin.

The former Rick Barnes assistant is having a season scarcely paralleled on the Forty Acres. Texas has spent 16 consecutive weeks in the Top 10, many of which occurred with Terry at the helm.

Let’s be clear. In less than a season, Terry’s team has far surpassed the quality of basketball that Shaka Smart produced at any time in Smart’s six seasons at Texas. In addition, Terry has represented The University of Texas with nothing but class following the Chris Beard debacle.

The college basketball world is recognizing what Texas has accomplished under its current head coach. Now it’s up to the athletic department to do the same.

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ESPN, CBS differ on Hawkeyes’ seeding in latest Bracketology prior to Big Ten Tournament

The latest Bracketology from ESPN, CBS Sports, and others has the Hawkeyes fluctuating amongst seed lines. Their predictions and matchups.

With the Big Ten Tournament as the only thing looming between now and Selection Sunday on March 12, the Iowa Hawkeyes still see themselves floating between three to four different seed lines based on the latest Bracketology updates.

The loss to Nebraska in the final regular season game has left a strong impression on a handful of predictions and sees the Hawkeyes sliding down the seed lines a bit while some others appear to be dismissing it as a fluke.

Either way, the Hawkeyes head to Chicago looking to pick up some quality wins in an effort to improve their seeding even more and climb up the seed lines.

A lot could change regarding these updates if the Hawkeyes can make a run. An early exit from the conference tournament could also spell some slippage in their seeding. Here are some of the latest updates from ESPN, CBS Sports, USA TODAY Sports, and others prior to the Big Ten Tournament tipping off.

USA TODAY updates bracketology. Where Penn State sits before Big Ten tournament

USA TODAY Sports has updated its bracketology. Where Penn State sits before the Big Ten tournament.

Penn State could be sitting in a favorable position as far as its NCAA Tournament odds are concerned before playing in its first Big Ten tournament game on Thursday. After a strong finish to the regular season highlighted by back-to-back wins against Northwestern and Maryland, two teams essentially locked into a tournament bid at this point, the Nittany Lions may be able to get away with not even winning its Big Ten tournament opener against Illinois, although it would certainly be good to win the game just to be sure.

USA TODAY Sports’ updated bracketology published on Tuesday has Penn State getting into the tournament, although it would be as one of the participants in the opening round games as an 11-seed. According to the most recent update to the bracket forecast from USA TODAY, Penn State would be paired up with Mississippi State to give the Big Ten a total of 10 teams in the big dance. The other Big Ten teams include Purdue, Indiana, Northwestern, Iowa, Michigan State, Maryland, Illinois, Rutgers, and Wisconsin (who also would be in an opening round matchup).

A victory over Mississippi State in the opening round would send the Nittany Lions to the 11-seed in the West region, where future Big Ten member UCLA is the top seed. Penn State would take on six-seed Creighton out of the Big East in the first round, with a possible shot at 3-seed Kansas State in the second round on the line. The Big Ten’s regular-season champion, Purdue, is the second seed in the West and could be waiting for a Sweet 16 matchup if things were to go Penn State’s way. Purdue would have to get out of the first round that includes a first-round matchup with UNC Ashville and the winner of a Duke-MEmphis matchup in the first round.

Penn State is sitting in a slightly more comfortable spot in the updated bracket from Joe Lunardi of ESPN. Lunardi has Penn State in as one of the last four teams not having to play in the opening round games.

Either way, Penn State knows it still has some work to do to ensure they end their NCAA Tournament drought. A win against Illinois on Thursday, a team they have beaten twice already this regular season, would help in a big way, and a second win against Northwestern on Friday would likely be more than enough to wrap up a tournament invite.

But of course, four wins would ensure Penn State doesn’t have to worry about any at-large scenarios.

The Big Ten men’s basketball tournament gets underway on Wednesday with a pair of games. Penn State will face Illinois on Thursday evening. Here is the full Big Ten tournament schedule and updated tracker.

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Bracketology big board: the teams immediately next to USC on the seed list

Bracketology is a projection, not a guarantee, but here are the teams surrounding #USC in the push for the final few at-large bids.

The NCAA Tournament is days away, and Selection Sunday will be on March 12 as the final teams are revealed for the Big Dance.

The USC Trojans are hanging around in the conversation, and Joe Lunardi of ESPN has them as a 10 seed once again in his latest update on March 7. This time, USC faces Duke in the first round.

The Pac-12 Tournament begins on Wednesday and USC plays Thursday, but this is the time when a lot can change depending on the results of conference tournaments from across the country.

Here are the teams right around the same range as USC in the latest bracketology update. These are the teams fighting the Trojans for one of the last several at-large bids.

Yes, if USC wins one game at the Pac-12 Tournament, it is good to go for the NCAA Tournament and the bubble questions disappear. However, if USC doesn’t win its Pac-12 quarterfinal on Thursday, the Trojans might need at least a few of their bubble competitors to stumble, just to make sure the Men of Troy don’t fall all the way out of the field.

Consult our complete bubble guide for the next several days. Meanwhile, get a look at the teams next to USC on the projected seed list:

The complete 2023 bubble guide for Championship Week

Need to know which teams to root for so that #USC safely makes the field? We have a full guide. Keep it handy during the games.

Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble! It’s bubble season, bubble week, bubble mania, whatever you want to call it. This is the week when “Who’s in or out?” is the central question in not just college basketball, but American sports. This is the week when “first four in” and “last four out” are the words everyone is interested in.

It all leads up to the unveiling of the brackets on Selection Sunday, one of the most special times of the year in American culture. Brackets then get printed out on Monday and Tuesday. The office pools begin. The 15-over-2 upset picks are made. People make their Final Four selections. Then the games begin and brackets get busted. We all know the drill.

This is the true lead-in to Selection Sunday. USC has an excellent chance of making the NCAA Tournament. The Trojans will make a lot of bubble discussions a moot point if they win one game at the Pac-12 Tournament. That will be enough to seal a bid. However, if USC does lose its first game — Thursday night’s quarterfinal — it will be important for other bubble teams to not play their way into the field.

It’s very unlikely USC will be left out, but crazy things can and do happen in March. The Trojans might need a little bit of insurance if they lose on Thursday night. To that end, we give you this extensive bubble guide for all bubble teams competing with USC for one of the final at-large bids in the 2023 NCAA Tournament. We’ll go through the bubble matchups at the various conference tournaments.

NOTE: If you see an asterisk in the title/heading for a listicle slide, that means it is a projected matchup, not a confirmed matchup. Example: Wisconsin has to beat Ohio State in the Big Ten Tournament before it can play Iowa, so when we refer to “Wisconsin vs. Iowa,” we include an asterisk to indicate that it is a projected matchup which hasn’t been officially created yet.

Joe Lunardi moves UNC basketball to first four out in bracketology

THe UNC basketball program enters the week as one of the ‘last four out’ teams in Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology.

The UNC basketball program is likely facing a four-day, do-or-die situation beginning Wednesday night in Greensboro. After a disappointing loss to Duke, the Tar Heels are on the wrong side of the bubble.

Basically, North Carolina needs to win at least three games during the ACC Tournament to get considered. The easiest path to get into the NCAA Tournament is to win four games and capture the ACC title.

But where does Joe Lunardi have the Tar Heels going into the tournament?

He updated his bracketology on Monday. After the Tar Heels moved down to the next four out section over the weekend, they were back up a little.

Going into the ACC Tournament, the Tar Heels are in the first four out category as team No. 72. UNC is behind Oklahoma State, Wisconsin and Arizona State in that section.

In the last four in category are No. 65 Mississippi State, No. 66 Utah State, No. 67 Rutgers and No. 68 Nevada. All of these teams play this week in conference tournaments, so this is a big opportunity for the Tar Heels.

UNC can do that by winning Wednesday and then taking down Virginia on Thursday night. It’s certainly going to be an uphill battle.

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Joe Lunardi’s bracket for ESPN has been updated. Is Penn State in?

Joe Lunardi’s updated bracket for ESPN has been updated. Where Penn State stands leading into the Big Ten tournament.

Penn State reshaped its tournament profile in the final week of the regular season with momentum-shifting wins at Northwestern and at home against Maryland, but the Nittany Lions are still not quite a given to make the tournament NCAA tournament just yet. Penn State will head to the Big Ten tournament in Chicago knowing there is still some work to so to lock down an at-large bid in the tournament, but EPSN bracketologist Joe Lunardi feels the Nittany Lions have a slight margin for error.

Lunardi’s updated bracket for the 2023 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament was updated Tuesday, and the Nittany Lions are one of his last four teams in not having to play in the opening round. But they are the last team to get in before being slotted into one of the tournament’s opening round games.

Penn State gets Lunardi’s 11-seed in the South region, which would deliver a first-round matchup with San Diego State, the six-seed and the champions of the Mountain West Conference getting an automatic qualifier. That would send Penn State to Denver for the first round. If Penn State was to pull the upset of the Aztecs, Penn State would face the winner of the Kansas State-UC Irvine matchup with a potential shot at Duke or Purdue coming after that in the Sweet 16.

The other three teams in Lunardi’s last four in without having to play an opening-round game include (in order) Boise State, NC State, and Pittsburgh. The last four teams in Lunardi’s bracket are Mississippi State, Utah State, Rutgers, and Nevada. Rutgers is interesting because the Scarlet Knights were 2-0 against Penn State and finished one game ahead of Penn State in the Big Ten standings. Rutgers will also play one of Lunardi’s teams sitting just outside the bracket, Michigan, in their first Big Ten tournament game. Michigan is among Lunardi’s next four teams out, while Wisconsin is one of his first four teams out. Wisconsin faces Ohio State in the first game of the Big Ten tournament on Wednesday. Penn State went 1-5 against Rutgers, Michigan, and Wisconsin during the regular season.

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One win in the Big Ten tournament could potentially be enough to get Penn State into the NCAA Tournament. The Nittany Lions face Illinois on Thursday evening in their first game of the tournament. Penn State was 2-0 against Illinois during the regular season. A third win would send Penn State on to face Northwestern in the quarterfinals. Penn State won an overtime thriller in Evanston last week.

Of course, if Penn State were to just win four more games, it wouldn’t have to worry about any of the at-large conversations.

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Follow Nittany Lions Wire on Twitter and like us on Facebook for continuing Penn State coverage and discussion. Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.

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Where did Rutgers basketball land in the latest ESPN bracket projections?

Rutgers basketball took another drop in the latest ESPN ‘BRacketology’ update.

It isn’t surprising but there isn’t good news for Rutgers basketball this week when it comes to NCAA Tournament projections. For a team that has lost three of their last four games, the Scarlet Knights are seeing their once upbeat postseason outlook suddenly turning dour.

According to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, Rutgers basketball is now a No. 11 seed in his NCAA Tournament projections. This isn’t horrible news, but the worrisome part is that for the first time, Lunardi has Rutgers as one of his ‘Last Four In’ selections and part of the play-in games.

They would face No. 11 Nevada in the ‘First Four.’ Were they to win, Rutgers would advance to play No. 6 Creighton in Greensboro, NC in the East bracket.

Rutgers has lost three of their last four games, including a discouraging 65-53 loss to Northwestern on Sunday at Jersey Mike’s Arena. The Scarlet Knights finished the regular season 18-13 (10-10 Big Ten).

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All of this makes the Big Ten Tournament crucially important for Rutgers. On Thursday, No. 9 Rutgers plays No. 8 Michigan. A win in the Big Ten Tournament would likely solidify a spot in the tournament’s field for Rutgers.

The latest KenPom update on Monday was also not good news for Rutgers, seeing the Scarlet Knights drop in the rankings.

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USC women’s an 8 seed in latest bracketology

The #USC women’s basketball team is an 8-seed in the latest bracketology by ESPN’s Charlie Creme. They will be in the bracket.

This year, both the USC men’s and women’s teams could end up in the NCAA Tournament. The women’s team lost in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament, but they are still in Charlie Creme’s latest bracketology as an 8-seed.

Even with an early Pac-12 Tournament exit, Lindsay Gottlieb’s team is comfortably in the field and facing Miami (Florida) in the Round of 64, which is the team the men faced last year in the NCAA Tournament first round.

The Trojans would then face 1-seed Indiana in the second round, but Miami would be a difficult matchup for them.

Creme has a total of seven Pac-12 teams making the NCAA Tournament with UCLA, USC, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Stanford, and Pac-12 Tournament champions Washington State.

The Oregon Ducks are the first team out, so there’s a chance that eight Pac-12 teams get bids. Washington is in the next four out category, and the Cougars’ stunning Pac-12 win might have forced both teams out of the field.

The Trojan women’s team has enjoyed a terrific year, and the win against Stanford was the best of the season. Gottlieb can now feel pretty comfortable about getting into the field despite an early exit in the Pac-12 Tournament.

This will be USC’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2014.

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Trojans men’s team a 10 seed in ESPN bracketology for Monday, March 6

Bracketology updates will begin to matter Wednesday night and then Thursday and Friday. We’ll keep you posted. #USC

The USC Trojans are beginning an important week with the Pac-12 Tournament kicking off on Wednesday night, although USC is off until Thursday.

With Selection Sunday just days away, Joe Lunardi of ESPN dropped another edition of bracketology. The Trojans are a 10-seed. Lunardi has USC facing Northwestern in the Round of 64.

USC is on the very good side of the bubble for now, which is terrific news, although the Trojans still need to likely win at least one game to feel 100-percent comfortable with their chances going into Sunday. Lunardi also has USC potentially facing Arizona in the second round, as Arizona is the 2 seed in the region and playing 15-seed Eastern Washington.

Lunardi has just three Pac-12 teams making the field of 68, and UCLA is a 1-seed. Three bids seems like reality unless Arizona State or Oregon make a run at the Pac-12 Tournament. ASU might need to make the final. Oregon has to win the whole tournament.

USC facing Northwestern would be a tough matchup, although the Wildcats have struggled down the stretch heading into the Big Ten Tournament and USC has been on the rise with Boogie Ellis playing at an unreal level.

Nonetheless, there is one week left for USC to improve — or hurt — its seeding, and it all begins on Thursday night with the winner of Arizona State-Oregon State.

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