WEDNESDAY RECAP
Coming into an action packed Thursday, the Big Board gets a fresh update. Wednesday gave us some subtle moves. Specifically, Seton Hall dropping to UConn to fall to 12-11 overall. With the loss, the Pirates also dropped to 2-7 against teams in the field and just 6-10 against all of Quadrant 2. As much as I like the Pirates on the court, that is simply too high of a rate of losing without enough marquee wins to warrant an invite to the dance. Hall needs to win Saturday at St. John’s and likely a deep run next week at MSG in the Big East Tournament in order to get back over the hump. UConn continues to ascend up the board, the main reason they are not “In Safely” yet is due to their schedule. A home loss to Georgetown this weekend would put them back under the microscope, but if the Huskies get that win they’re getting in almost certainly.
Mizzou may have had the most impactful win of the day for seeding. They moved back safely into 5-seed territory after the win in Gainesville. Tigers have a list of marquee wins that are difficult for anyone to match, however the three bad losses still do damage to the seed position. Transitive property from this result and the improved Mizzou profile notably helps Ole Miss a nudge. The Rebels are still on the outside looking in, but the Ole Miss sweep over Mizzou looks a bit better this morning. Rebels currently have only won nine out of 19 games against the top three quadrants, a win this weekend vs. Vanderbilt gets them to .500. We will be taking a long look at the Rebels on Saturday night should they get the win, the Q3 poor record is the primary remaining outlier for exclusion. Rebels have stronger wins than both Xavier and Boise State.
Villanova played very well over Creighton. Best wishes to Wildcats star and future legend Collin Gillespie, who went down with a knee injury. MRI is coming today. The Cats went with a bigger lineup with Gillespie out and it did create some improved defense down the stretch to secure the win. Creighton will still be the two-seed at the Big East Tournament, but gets passed up by Mizzou now on the Big Board and find themselves in the six-seed area.
Oregon controls their own destiny for the Pac-12 top seed. Knocking off UCLA last night got them one step closer and they are really turning it on and finally healthy. In-state rival Oregon State is next this weekend. Beavers have been playing well lately themselves, we should witness a highly emotional battle on Sunday. Beavers have a chance to earn the important fifth seed with a win. With no Arizona in the Pac-12 Tournament, the 5-seed recieves a bye. Great Civil War storylines for all.
In Conference Tournament play, Belmont held serve and so did the second-seeded Morehead State. The format also provides a day of rest today for the top two teams, while seeds three through six battle it out tonight. That could be important for Belmont’s Nick Muszynski who played just 18 minutes in the game last night. Bruins will have a much stiffer test in the semifinals against either Jacksonville State (last meeting was a one-point win) or Murray State (long-time arch rivals now in OVC).
New Conference leaders today represented below as Automatic Bids:
Big Sky - Southern Utah
Pac-12 - Oregon
Southland - Sam Houston State
The Bracketology Big Board is current thru all games played on March 3rd, 2021.
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