Tag: Bracketology

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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Texas upperclassmen earn senior day victory over No. 3 Kansas, 75-59

The victory over Kansas means Texas has a solid chance to earn a No. 2 seed.

Texas flipped a switch on Saturday. The Longhorns (23-8) rebounded from a frustrating road defeat against TCU with a win over the Big 12 regular season champion Kansas Jayhawks (25-6).

Neither team played the entire 40 minute game with urgency, but Texas clearly wanted the game more. Rodney Terry and company willed the Longhorns to victory in the team’s signature resume win of the season.

Sir’Jabari Rice led the charge as he completed perhaps the best sixth man season in school history. Rice put up a remarkable 23-point performance hitting impressive shot after shot.

The win all but locks the Longhorns into a No. 2 NCAA Tournament seed despite two road losses to ranked Baylor and TCU teams. Should the team look respectable in the Big 12 Tournament, look for Texas to make it on the No. 2 line of the bracket.

Texas finishes the regular season on a high note despite a handful of distractions. Give Rodney Terry credit for keeping the team in contention heading into the Big 12 Tournament.

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UNC basketball named a loser for weekend by USA TODAY Sports

The UNC basketball program was named a big loser from the weekend after dropping another game to Duke.

The UNC Basketball team entered Saturday’s game with the goal of beating Duke and keeping its NCAA Tournament hopes alive. They left that game with another loss and now needing to win four games in four days to make the tournament.

It’s been a disappointing year for the preseason No. 1 team, as now they are in danger of becoming the first team to miss the tournament after earning that ranking. There’s still a chance UNC could get in but as mentioned above, it’s going to take a big run this week to do so.

After Saturday’s games, the USA TODAY Sports released its early winners and losers from the games and right there in the losers section is UNC:

What a difference a year makes. We’re nearing the anniversary of UNC’s national semifinal win over its hated rival, which not only vaulted the Tar Heels to the national championship game but ended the Hall of Fame career of one Mike Krzyzewski.

But that magic was nowhere to be found Saturday against the current Duke team. UNC lost 62-57 in a game that was gritty but definitely not pretty – and keeps the Tar Heels squarely on the bubble.

The loss was obviously a big blow to the Tar Heels chances. Those chances that were slim are now hanging on by a thread and they are going to need a lot of help on the bubble to get in.

And I mean a lot.

Let’s hope for a miracle run this week.

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USA TODAY Sports’ latest bracketology as regular season draws to a close

Take a look at USA TODAY Sports’ latest bracketology.

As the regular season draws to a close, Florida basketball remains well outside of the USA TODAY Sports bracketology update put together by writers Paul Myerberg Erick Smith and Eddie Timanus. This should come as no surprise to the Gator Nation, given that its team currently holds a 15-15 mark overall along with an 8-9 record in Southeastern Conference competition.

Next up for Florida is their final regular-season opponent, the LSU Tigers, who they host inside the O’Connell Center on Saturday, March 4. LSU currently sits in the bottom spot in the SEC standings and is also nowhere to be found on any bracket predictions. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. EST and the game can be watched on the SEC Network or heard on the Gator Sports Network.

Take a look below at USA TODAY Sports’ complete bracket seedings and bubble teams for the final weekend of the regular season.

Last four in

Southern California, Wisconsin, Auburn, Arizona State.

First four out

North Carolina, Michigan, Penn State, Oklahoma State.

Next four out

Utah State, Texas Tech, Clemson, New Mexico.

Conference breakdown

Multi-bid leagues: Big Ten (9), SEC (8), Big 12 (7), ACC (5), Big East (5), Pac-12 (4), Mountain West (3), American Athletic (2).

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Following their Thursday loss, what are the ESPN projections for Rutgers basketball in the NCAA Tournament?

ESPN’s projections for Rutgers basketball and their NCAA Tournament outlook? Not too bad.

Rutgers basketball has had a pair of disappointing losses over the past week, but the impact on their NCAA Tournament projections remain relatively unchanged.

That’s the outlook from ESPN’s Joe Lunardi in his Friday update to his ‘Bracketology’ projections. The update comes following Rutgers’ 75-74 loss at Minnesota, who are at the bottom.

Despite losing at Minnesota, Rutgers basketball’s seeding remains unchanged according to Lunardi although their location in the bracket moves a bit.

The Scarlet Knights are the No. 9 seed in the Southeast (Louisville, KY). They are projected to play No. 8 Providence. In the midweek update from Lunardi, Rutgers was projected as a No. 9 seed in the West bracket where they would play No. 8 Mississippi State.

The winner of that game would play the winner of No. 1 Alabama, who are projected to play the winner of Howard and FDU.

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Not everyone is quite as positive in their projections for Rutgers basketball as Lunardi. In his own Friday update, Jerry Palm of CBS Sports has Rutgers as a No. 11 seed and part of the ‘First Four’ play-in to enter the NCAA Tournament bracket proper.

Rutgers is one of three Big Ten teams in the ‘First Four’ according to Palm’s projections.

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Where UNC basketball stands in bracketology going into Duke game

Here is where the UNC Basketball program lands in the latest updated mock brackets going into the Duke game.

All eyes are on the UNC-Duke matchup this Saturday in Chapel Hill. The North Carolina Tar Heels are looking for payback for a loss in early February in Durham.

More importantly, UNC needs a win to help its NCAA Tournament resume as the regular season concludes.

Going into the week, North Carolina was on the wrong side of the bubble before beating Florida State. The win didn’t do much. The Tar Heels are still on the wrong side going into this Duke game, but the consensus is that they are team No. 69 or No. 70 in most mocks right now.

A win over Duke would go a long way toward getting UNC in the tournament for a few days. They probably still need to win a game in the ACC Tournament, and they want to avoid having to win it all in Greensboro to make the tournament.

With the game just a day away, let’s take a look at where UNC stands in the updated mock brackets going into the matchup with Duke.

Texas might need to rest guard Marcus Carr for more minutes

It wouldn’t hurt to give Marcus Carr three or four more minutes of rest in Big 12 tournament games.

Texas guard Marcus Carr is exhausted. As the Longhorns reach the stretch run, that much is evident to one former professional athlete.

Former pro baseball player Mike Hardge discussed the topic on Ball Don’t Lie, his radio show with Rod Babers on 104.9 The Horn.

Marcus Carr is tired … I can tell your legs are gone because your lateral movement (is diminished), your vertical movement is not there. You’re shooting the ball now on your way down when before you were shooting it on your way up.

Those are tangible signs that Marcus Carr needs to recover. And frankly, the perfect time to recover could be after the Kansas game in the Big 12 Tournament.

There’s an argument to be made that the Big 12 tournament matters more than the SEC and Big Ten tournament simply because it ends before Sunday. Certainly, the Longhorns could climb up a seed by winning it. But at what cost?

Texas needs Carr at full strength for the NCAA Tournament. Cutting his playing time down from 31 minutes to 27 minutes could help him get his legs back and allow other players clutch opportunities to prepare for the Big Dance.

Getting Carr to full strength could be the difference between a tournament run and another first weekend exit.

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CBS Sports Jerry Palm has Rutgers basketball in the First Four

Rutgers basketball makes a move down in CBS Sports projections from Jerry Palm.

In the latest NCAA Tournament projections from Jerry Palm of CBS Sports, Rutgers basketball is in the NCAA Tournament but still has to prove something.

In his update on Friday morning, Palm has Rutgers basketball as a No. 11 seed but playing in the ‘First Four’ against fellow No. 11 Mississippi State. Last year, Rutgers lost to Notre Dame in the ‘First Four.’

On Thursday night, Rutgers lost 75-74 at Minnesota. Rutgers led by eight points with 54 seconds left in the game. With the loss, Rutgers is now 18-12 (10-9 Big Ten).

Now, there is some outrage from Rutgers and Big Ten fans about this projection. But, the uncomfortable truth right now is that the projection from Palm makes some sense and assumes that:

  • Rutgers loses on Sunday against Northwestern
  • Rutgers doesn’t make much noise in the Big Ten Tournament and is an early out

Both scenarios, given how the Scarlet Knights are playing right now, are certainly plausible. Rutgers fans may not want to hear it, but it is true.

Since beating Michigan State at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 4, Rutgers has hit the skids and lost five of their last seven games. Two of those losses, to Nebraska and Thursday night at Minnesota, are disappointing losses that stain an otherwise solid Big Ten regular season.

Now, were Rutgers to right the ship and beat Northwestern on Sunday at Jersey Mike’s Arena or win at least one Big Ten Tournament game (or do both), then it is likely that Palm and other bracket projections wouldn’t have Rutgers being in the ‘First Four.’

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Three Big Ten teams are in the ‘First Four,’ an interesting move from Palm that also makes a certain amount of sense. Michigan has shaken off a rough start to the season to put together some solid performances in recent weeks (including beating Rutgers at Jersey Mike’s Arena on Feb. 23). Penn State, who lost to Rutgers over the weekend, have had some big wins this month as well including a Thursday night win at Northwestern.

Basically, Palm is saying that the credentials for these three Big Ten teams is solid but as things stand right now, the trio of Michigan, Penn State and Rutgers still have something to prove.

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Michigan State basketball: bracketology update as calendar turns to March

March is here! Lets take a look at where MSU is projected to land in the NCAA Tournament field according to Bracket Matrix’s top bracketologists:

The calendar has turned to March and that means the NCAA tournament is right around the corner. It is an exciting time of year for college basketball fans and we are one step closer to getting an NCAA Tournament bracket.

By all accounts, it appears that Michigan State has punched its ticket to the big dance. Now, it is time to see where the Spartans may be seeded and what matchups MSU could have.

Using the Bracket Matrix, and taking some of the top ranked braketologists from the website, we took a look at where MSU is being predicted to fall inside of the NCAA Tournament bracket:

*brackets are updated through 3/1