JBL | The Quadaily 25, 2028 Season (Day 45): We Are!
So, the past few days have been quite uneventful.
In the terms of The Quad, they have been the most uneventful of the season.
There was not any movement among the top seventeen teams in the nation. Ohio State, ranked 18th, fell to 21st after squandering a win against Cincinnati in overtime. After Patrick Cuadra made two free throws, with two seconds left, to put the Buckeyes up, 77-76, Tanveer Ekekazee inexplicably fouled Connor Seymour trying to beat him to a loose ball (Seymour dove into the moving Ekekazee to draw the foul). Seymour hit both free throws with no time left, giving the Bearcats the ridiculous 78-77 win.
After that, there was little movement. San Diego State moved up. Utah fell after losing to Pitt, 67-57, on the road. But outside of that, there's a whole bunch of nothing going on.
So, let's dab around, shall we?
- There have been a lot of WCC fans crowing lately about our failure to include San Diego and St. Mary's into our rankings. And, truth be told, there can be some explanation that needs to be told. Both teams have some signature wins (San Diego beat Memphis, St. Mary's beat Washington), and while St. Mary's was expected to be a decent contender for Gonzaga this season in the conference, San Diego is a surprise.
(By the way, how good is it to be a fan of college basketball in San Diego right now? The combined record of San Diego State (9-0), San Diego (7-2) and newly-constituted UC-San Diego (3-2) is 19-4. That's a hell of a basketball haven right now.)
However, let's not get ahead of ourselves. St. Mary's still ranks below schools like Alabama, LSU, Cal, Oregon, and Arizona State, just to name a few. They also sit behind Illinois State, who is 6-1 and has a RPI-SOS that rivals the Gaels. Illinois State is not getting a sniff of our poll right now.
San Diego still has an overall rank (if this is a thing to be believed) that sits behind Missouri State (80), Loyola-Chicago (103), and Kent State (123rd). The Golden Flashes are 7-1, and while their SOS is low (.450), they have a better Net than San Diego.
In short, there are only thirty schools to get mention in our poll. While we are adding a new team for this poll, because Rhode Island was not able to hold off Montana at home, there are a lot of schools to consider. We fully understand (and encourage) the attitude of Down With Power Five for the middies, and both of these schools are worthy of mention in this piece.
But in the poll? Not yet.
Today, we are adding Penn State.
- The Nittany Lions are 6-2, with both losses one-possession setbacks to Pitt (60-58) and Louisville (84-82). They own Colorado's only loss, and own a win over a solid Boston College team.
Now, let us not make any mistake about Penn State; they are not a national title contender. They are not a contender within the Big Ten. They are, however, a team that could make a sneaky Sweet Sixteen appearance (along with about thirty other schools, of which the aforementioned San Diego and St. Mary's reside in right now). Sure, it would be all about their seeding in the CJBL Tournament (in our bracket, they would get the play-in game, then Oklahoma, then NC State, presumably...so, tall order there, but beating Oklahoma is certainly possible).
Led by UConn transfer Tyrell Riley (13.9 PPG, 5.3 RPG), the Nits are a conquer-by-numbers team. Riley is the only one averaging double figures; nobody on this team takes more than Riley's 9.8 shots a game. There are nine players averaging double-digit minutes. Six players are posting at least seven points per game. Outside of Matt Stackhouse's 6.5 assists per game (with just a half-turnover per game, which is outstanding), nobody does anything on this team that really stands out.
That is what makes PSU's offensive rating, 118.4, all the more remarkable. That is second in the nation. They also rank third in the nation in free throws made, seventh in FT% (82.8%), and 11th in attempts. This is a team that knows it's strengths. They are not a defensive team by any stretch (301st in DRtg); that will be what prevents them from going further than they could.
But, given that their SOS is 18th, and their RPI is 14th, you could say their methods have held up pretty well so far this year. It is also possible...a tall order, but possible, that Penn State could finish top-four in the conference. Certainly, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan are not head and shoulders above them.
For a school not typically known as a basketball school, things are looking good in Happy Valley.
The Quad 25
Day 45, 2028
1. Indiana (8-1, 1)
2. Southern Cal (8-1, 2)
3. North Carolina (9-1, 3)
4. Duke (8-2, 4)
5. Connecticut (8-2, 5)
6. Kentucky (9-0, 6)
7. NC State (9-0, 7)
8. Arizona (8-2, 8)
9. Kansas (8-3, 9)
10. Virginia (9-0, 10)
11. Washington (7-2, 11)
12. Colorado (8-1, 12)
13. Michigan State (5-4, 13)
14. Missouri (8-1, 14)
15. Illinois (8-1, 15)
16. Pittsburgh (9-0, 16)
17. Florida (6-2, 17)
18. San Diego State (9-0, 20)
19. Purdue (6-3, 19)
20. Georgia Tech (7-1, 21)
21. Ohio State (9-2, 18)
22. Arkansas (6-4, 23)
23. Texas (5-4, 24)
25. Michigan (5-4, 25)
Next: Oklahoma State, Stanford, UNLV, Georgetown, Penn State