Jan. 30-Feb. 5, 2017
No feature games this week, so we'll jump right into the weekly recap:
Hartford (David Ginsberg) -- 11-14, 6-6 5th America East.
2/3/17 at Stony Brook (L 57-49).
2/5/17 vs. Binghamton (W 57-39).
Another split for the Hawks, but they put in a great effort against a 17 win Stony Brook team.
ECU (Al Hutt) -- 6-15, 4-6 8th American.
2/1/17 vs. Houston (L 55-44).
2/4/17 at Temple (L 75-57).
Not a good week for the Pirates who lose 2 games pretty convincingly.
Davidson (Randolph Childress) -- 12-10, 7-3 T-3rd Atlantic 10.
2/1/17 vs. Rhode Island (W 76-61).
2/4/17 at Richmond (W 80-74).
2 solid wins for the Wildcats this week as they get a revenge win over Rhode Island.
TCU (Bee Mighty) -- 9-14, 3-8 9th Big 12.
1/30/17 at #14 Oklahoma (W 84-71).
2/4/17 at Texas Tech (W 87-79).
Great week for the Horned Frogs who pull a huge upset and get 2 big road wins in the same week.
Michigan (Cillian Tribble) -- 13-9, 6-4 T-6th Big Ten.
2/1/17 vs. Penn State (W 77-56).
2/4/17 at Rutgers (W 76-71).
It didn't come as easy as expected for the Wolverines this week, but they got 2 important wins to get back on the right track.
#3 Michigan State (Al Mighty) -- 19-4, 7-3 T-2nd Big Ten.
2/1/17 at Northwestern (L 75-73).
2/4/17 at #21 Ohio State (L 75-73).
2 losses for the Spartans this week, both on the road, and ironically by the same score. We'll see if this hurts them at all.
Hawaii (B.B. Gunn) -- 11-11, 6-3 T-3rd Big West.
1/31/17 at UC Davis (L 66-53).
2/4/17 vs. Cal Poly (W 81-64).
Another split for the Warriors, who are definitely struggling a bit right now.
Charlotte (Timmy Tribble) -- 10-11, 6-4 T-5th Conference USA.
2/2/17 at UAB (W 61-60, OT).
2/4/17 vs. Louisiana Tech (L 80-71).
A split for the 49ers this week, but the competition was good so they can be happy with a split.
Rice (Charlie Shocker) -- 9-12, 4-6 T-8th Conference USA.
2/2/17 vs. UTEP (L 59-56).
2/4/17 at UTSA (W 72-46).
A split for the Owls this week, but a gallant effort at home against a UTEP team that has only lost 4 games this season.
Monmouth (Thomas Carrano) -- 12-13, 9-7 T-4th MAAC.
2/3/17 vs. Rider (L 65-57).
2/5/17 at Rider (L 80-54).
1 of those rare weeks for the Hawks in which they played the same team twice, home and away. Both were losses, but the point differential was much less at home.
Norfolk State (Payten Carrano) -- 10-13, 5-4 4th MEAC.
1/30/17 at Coppin State (W 56-55).
2/4/17 vs. Hampton (W 54-38).
A sweep for the Spartans this week, and they've now won 3 in a row.
Colorado (Rob Nielsen) -- 10-12, 5-5 6th Pac 12.
2/2/17 vs. USC (W 66-39).
2/4/17 at Utah (W 77-58).
A nice feel good week for the Buffaloes who won both games this week, by an average of 23 points.
Stanford (Benito Sanchez) -- 15-7, 6-4 T-3rd Pac 12.
2/2/17 vs. #20 Arizona (W 81-78).
2/4/17 at California (L 74-51).
Interesting split for the Cardinal, who upset Arizona but had a letdown against a much worse California team.
#1 UCLA (Tim Shepard) -- 21-1, 10-0 1st Pac 12.
2/2/17 vs. Washington (W 88-84).
2/4/17 vs. Oregon (W 71-68).
In what might be the tightest week the Bruins have had, they survived to stay undefeated in conference play, but only by a combined 7 points.
Washington State (DeShawn St. John) -- 9-13, 4-6 T-7th Pac 12.
2/2/17 at Utah (L 66-52).
2/4/17 at Oregon State (L 57-52).
Another step back for the Cougars this week, who lost both games. Both were on the road though, but it would have been nice to get 1 of them.
Alabama (Roy Rogers) -- 7-15, 5-5 T-6th SEC.
2/1/17 at Ole Miss (L 74-60).
2/4/17 vs. LSU (W 63-61).
The conventional split for the Crimson Tide as they lost on the road, won at home. Unfortunately the team they lost on the road to is just an 8 win team. Ugh!
#17 Florida (Noah Oppenheimer) -- 18-4, 8-2 T-1st SEC.
2/1/17 vs. Vanderbilt (W 83-72).
2/4/17 at Ole Miss (W 64-63).
That same 8 win team that beat Alabama almost upset the Gators, if not for a buzzer beater. So Florida wins twice, but neither one was really convincing.
#19 Kentucky (Patrick Hutt) -- 17-5, 8-2 T-1st SEC.
2/1/17 vs. Arkansas (W 92-48).
2/4/17 at Texas A&M (W 83-57).
Holy moly, the Wildcats have woke up. 2 very impressive victories, and 1 of them against a 15 win team.
Troy (Brett Hawkins) -- 10-12, 6-7 6th Sun Belt.
2/2/17 vs. Louisiana Lafayette (L 81-72).
2/4/17 vs. UT Arlington (L 63-59).
The Trojans are stumbling right now, losers of 4 in a row. It's time for Coach Hawkins to right the ship.
Here's a look at the national top 25 going into next week:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference
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1. UCLA (68) 21-1 1796 1 Pacific-12 Conference
2. Cincinnati (4) 23-0 1732 2 American Athletic Conference
3. Kansas 20-3 1655 4 Big 12 Conference
4. Michigan State 19-4 1578 3 Big Ten Conference
5. Baylor 20-4 1488 5 Big 12 Conference
6. La Salle 20-2 1431 6 Atlantic 10 Conference
7. Georgetown 20-3 1321 10 Big East Conference
8. VCU 19-3 1272 12 Atlantic 10 Conference
9. North Carolina 19-4 1254 7 Atlantic Coast Conference
10. Wichita State 21-3 1128 11 Missouri Valley Conference
11. Iowa 18-4 1062 9 Big Ten Conference
12. Virginia 18-5 1019 8 Atlantic Coast Conference
13. Florida 18-4 919 17 Southeastern Conference
14. Villanova 19-4 835 16 Big East Conference
15. Kentucky 17-5 811 19 Southeastern Conference
16. Oklahoma 17-6 698 14 Big 12 Conference
17. Miami 17-5 688 13 Atlantic Coast Conference
18. Marquette 18-5 480 18 Big East Conference
19. San Diego State 18-5 479 15 Mountain West Conference
20. Wisconsin 17-6 420 22 Big Ten Conference
21. Gonzaga 22-3 317 24 West Coast Conference
22. Duke 16-6 314 25 Atlantic Coast Conference
23. Stephen F. Austin 20-2 298 23 Southland Conference
24. Ohio State 17-6 164 21 Big Ten Conference
25. BYU 19-4 116 NR West Coast Conference
Others Receiving Votes:
Murray State 22-2 78 Ohio Valley Conference
Syracuse 16-6 24 Atlantic Coast Conference
New Mexico State 19-3 17 Western Athletic Conference
Arizona 16-6 3 Pacific-12 Conference
Pittsburgh 17-6 3 Atlantic Coast Conference
UCLA stays #1, no surprise there. Michigan State only moves down 1 spot after a pair of 2 point losses this week. Both Florida and Kentucky move up 4 spots and seem to be the class of the SEC. Sadly, they only play each other once thanks to an unbalanced SEC schedule.
Now for the mid-major top 25, although I'm not sure why I bother:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Cincinnati (72) 23-0 1800 1 American Athletic Conference
2. La Salle 20-2 1702 2 Atlantic 10 Conference
3. Wichita State 21-3 1654 3 Missouri Valley Conference
4. VCU 19-3 1570 5 Atlantic 10 Conference
5. San Diego State 18-5 1554 4 Mountain West Conference
6. BYU 19-4 1421 6 West Coast Conference
7. Gonzaga 22-3 1357 7 West Coast Conference
8. Stephen F. Austin 20-2 1301 8 Southland Conference
9. Harvard 18-5 1191 11 Ivy League
10. New Mexico State 19-3 1127 12 Western Athletic Conference
11. Valparaiso 19-5 978 10 Horizon League
12. Murray State 22-2 956 15 Ohio Valley Conference
13. Boise State 17-5 889 19 Mountain West Conference
14. SMU 17-5 816 14 American Athletic Conference
15. Cleveland State 17-7 792 17 Horizon League
16. Memphis 18-4 723 13 American Athletic Conference
17. Akron 18-4 686 9 Mid-American Conference
18. Georgia State 16-7 670 16 Horizon League
19. Northern Iowa 19-5 508 20 Missouri Valley Conference
20. North Dakota State 21-3 390 21 Summit League
21. UTEP 16-4 323 23 Conference USA
22. Mercer 19-4 282 22 Southern Conference
23. Eastern Kentucky 20-4 180 NR Ohio Valley Conference
24. Illinois State 16-7 167 NR Missouri Valley Conference
25. New Mexico 17-5 140 NR Mountain West Conference
Others Receiving Votes:
Vermont 19-4 60 America East Conference
Portland 19-5 47 West Coast Conference
Green Bay 16-6 32 Horizon League
Richmond 15-7 31 Atlantic 10 Conference
North Florida 19-4 16 Atlantic Sun Conference
Massachusetts 15-7 12 Atlantic 10 Conference
Stony Brook 17-5 9 America East Conference
UC Irvine 16-6 9 Big West Conference
Southern Miss 16-5 4 Conference USA
Louisiana Tech 16-6 2 Conference USA
Hofstra 17-8 1 Colonial Athletic Association
Surprise surprise! No FOFC representatives.
And it's that time of year again. February, which means the bubble watch. None of our FOFC teams are on the overall bubble watch, and like last year, I'm only going to list the teams that are projects as locks or in. Every other team will obviously be projected out, and I'm only going to update it every week if there are changes. So for this first edition, here's what we have.
Locks: Michigan State, UCLA, Florida, Kentucky
In: Stanford
The other 14 teams are projected out. Remember this is for the NCAA tournament only.