Feb. 5-11, 2024
28 games on the schedule again this week, with 1 feature game, and we head to the Pac 12.
2/10/24-
#18 UCLA (Tim Shepard) @
Washington State (DeShawn St. John) -- Not much to say in this one, as UCLA shot 56.9% for the game, while Washington State shot just 36.1%. The result was a very, very easy UCLA victory.
Final Score: #18 UCLA- 105, Washington State- 74
Now for the rest of the weekly recap:
Hartford (David Ginsberg) -- 15-11, 7-6 4th America East.
2/7/24 at Albany (W 81-72).
2/11/24 vs. Binghamton (L 69-52).
It could have been a great week for the Hawks, but it turned ugly quick with a bad home loss to Binghamton, so they stay just 1 game over .500 in conference.
UConn (Randolph Childress) -- 9-14, 5-8 T-7th American.
2/7/24 vs. Temple (W 62-45).
2/10/24 at South Florida (W 73-65).
A couple solid wins for the Huskies this week as they are fighting to at least get to .500 in conference play and salvage something from this season.
Tulsa (Will Brown) -- 8-16, 4-8 T-9th American.
2/7/24 at Cincinnati (L 71-63).
2/10/24 at Temple (W 87-73).
A split for the Golden Hurricane who break a 4 game losing streak with the win at Temple.
Notre Dame (Al Mighty) -- 12-13, 5-8 8th ACC.
2/7/24 vs. Duke (L 65-55).
2/10/24 at Virginia Tech (W 78-67).
A split for the Fighting Irish who break a 5 game losing streak with the win at Virginia Tech. If they can steal 1 game next week, they'll be doing good.
TCU (Bee Mighty) -- 14-10, 7-6 5th Big 12.
2/5/24 vs. Oklahoma State (W 79-74).
2/10/24 vs. Texas (W 83-74).
Very important week for the Horned Frogs who get 2 much needed wins after a 5 game losing streak. Next week on the road for 2, but both winnable.
#10 St. John's (Dean Hoo) -- 19-5, 8-4 3rd Big East.
2/10/24 at Villanova (L 83-74).
The losses keep on coming for the Red Storm, who have now lost 3 in a row. Time to right the ship now, they are playing themselves out of a top seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Northwestern (Ess Vee) -- 12-12, 5-7 T-8th Big Ten.
2/7/24 vs. #8 Ohio State (L 88-77).
2/10/24 at Michigan State (L 75-68).
2 more losses for the Wildcats, and that's 4 in a row, with several more games against ranked teams coming up.
Hawaii (B.B. Gunn) -- 9-13, 6-5 T-4th Big West.
2/6/24 vs. UC Riverside (W 91-88).
2/10/24 vs. Cal State Northridge (W 78-70).
The Warriors just have to find some consistency, as they are back over .500 in conference. The way things are going, next week they'll lose their games. Coach Gunn remains on the hot seat, but if he can lead his team to a nice winning streak, it would go a long way.
FIU (Brett Hawkins) -- 11-13, 6-6 8th Conference USA.
2/8/24 at Western Kentucky (L 81-69).
2/10/24 vs. Charlotte (W 71-62).
A split for the Golden Panthers, who really can't be losing to 7 win teams like Western Kentucky. The road has been tough, but they have 3 straight games to figure it out.
Rice (Charlie Shocker) -- 15-8, 7-5 T-3rd Conference USA.
2/8/24 at #25 North Texas (L 80-57).
2/10/24 vs. UTEP (W 63-62).
A split this week for the Owls, who should feel very fortunate to beat UTEP. They are still in good position to have an overall winning record at the end of the season, but still work to do.
Colorado (Rob Nielsen) -- 13-11, 7-5 5th Pac 12.
2/8/24 vs. Washington (W 59-50).
2/10/24 vs. #1 Arizona (W 71-63).
A huge week for the Buffaloes, who shock Arizona, handing them just their second loss all season. Hopefully they can use that, as aside from a home game against UCLA next week, the rest of their schedule is pretty light. They could run the table, but only if the same team that beat Zona shows up the rest of the season.
Stanford (Benito Sanchez) -- 16-8, 6-6 6th Pac 12.
2/8/24 vs. Oregon (W 65-53).
2/10/24 at Gonzaga (L 83-70).
A split for the Cardinal, who aren't helping their NCAA Tournament chances by splitting all the time, or losing 2 of their last 3. Their schedule is also favorable down the stretch, if they can take care of business.
#18 UCLA (Tim Shepard) -- 19-6, 9-3 2nd Pac 12.
2/8/24 vs. Arizona State (W 91-67).
2/10/24 at Washington State- feature game, highlighted above.
2 more wins for the Bruins, and it's 8 in a row. Next week is huge however, as they are on the road for 2 games, and they just happen to be against Arizona, and Colorado, both looking for big wins, yet for different reasons.
Washington State (DeShawn St. John) -- 15-8, 4-8 T-8th Pac 12.
2/8/24 at Oregon State (W 84-70).
2/10/24 vs. #18 UCLA- feature game, highlighted above.
A split for the Cougars, and any win is important at this point. Next week will be tough to get one though, with Arizona and Stanford coming to town.
Alabama (Roy Rogers) -- 15-8, 9-3 T-1st SEC.
2/7/24 at Georgia (W 54-50).
2/10/24 at Tennessee (W 78-50).
The Crimson Tide win 2 on the road and move into a 3 way tie for first in the SEC. Next week will be challenging though, with 1 of the co-leaders coming to town.
Here's a look at the national top 25 going into the week of Feb. 12-18:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference test test test test
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1. Arizona (65) 22-2 1792 1 Pacific-12 Conference
2. Georgetown (3) 21-4 1686 2 Big East Conference
3. Virginia (3) 23-1 1652 3 Atlantic Coast Conference
4. Baylor 22-2 1596 4 Big 12 Conference
5. Syracuse (1) 24-1 1554 5 Atlantic Coast Conference
6. Louisville 22-3 1439 6 Atlantic Coast Conference
7. Wisconsin 21-4 1346 9 Big Ten Conference
8. Providence 20-5 1298 7 Big East Conference
9. Ohio State 17-5 1189 8 Big Ten Conference
10. St. Bonaventure 19-4 1090 13 Atlantic 10 Conference
11. St. John's 19-5 1058 10 Big East Conference
12. Iowa State 18-6 1056 14 Big 12 Conference
13. Oklahoma 17-7 946 11 Big 12 Conference
14. Creighton 18-7 772 17 Big East Conference
15. Iowa 18-6 737 12 Big Ten Conference
16. Xavier 18-6 721 15 Big East Conference
17. UCLA 19-6 694 18 Pacific-12 Conference
18. Indiana 18-6 437 20 Big Ten Conference
19. Texas A&M 18-6 367 NR Southeastern Conference
20. Memphis 19-5 334 NR American Athletic Conference
21. California 16-8 333 23 Pacific-12 Conference
22. North Texas 21-4 305 25 Conference USA
23. Vanderbilt 17-7 248 NR Southeastern Conference
24. Villanova 15-9 245 NR Big East Conference
25. Yale 20-4 177 22 Ivy League
Others Receiving Votes:
BYU 19-7 109 West Coast Conference
DePaul 17-7 75 Big East Conference
UAB 18-5 54 Atlantic 10 Conference
LSU 17-6 26 Southeastern Conference
Oakland 19-5 24 Horizon League
George Washington 18-6 23 Atlantic 10 Conference
Florida Gulf Coast 19-5 9 Sun Belt Conference
UC Irvine 18-6 4 Big West Conference
North Carolina 17-7 2 Atlantic Coast Conference
Richmond 18-6 2 Atlantic 10 Conference
Despite losing their 3rd game in a row, St. John's only drops 1 more spot in the polls. Meanwhile, UCLA only rises 1 spot. They really need to win both next week to have a chance to move up big. Stanford loses their votes.
Now for the mid-major top 25 going into the week of Feb. 12-18:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference test test test test
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1. St. Bonaventure (66) 19-4 1794 1 Atlantic 10 Conference
2. BYU (5) 19-7 1697 2 West Coast Conference
3. Memphis (1) 19-5 1639 5 American Athletic Conference
4. North Texas 21-4 1541 9 Conference USA
5. George Washington 18-6 1424 3 Atlantic 10 Conference
6. Yale 20-4 1398 6 Ivy League
7. UAB 18-5 1370 4 Atlantic 10 Conference
8. Oakland 19-5 1331 10 Horizon League
9. Wichita State 19-8 1140 8 Missouri Valley Conference
10. UC Irvine 18-6 1104 12 Big West Conference
11. Tulane 18-7 1085 11 American Athletic Conference
12. Richmond 18-6 1023 15 Atlantic 10 Conference
13. Florida Gulf Coast 19-5 998 7 Sun Belt Conference
14. Illinois State 17-8 892 20 Missouri Valley Conference
15. Kent State 17-8 756 17 Mid-American Conference
16. Drexel 18-6 755 18 Colonial Athletic Association
17. Bradley 17-7 637 13 Missouri Valley Conference
18. La Salle 17-7 624 14 Atlantic 10 Conference
19. Robert Morris 21-5 487 21 Northeast Conference
20. Western Carolina 18-6 416 16 Southern Conference
21. Akron 18-7 315 NR Mid-American Conference
22. San Diego State 16-9 291 22 Mountain West Conference
23. Mercer 19-8 227 NR Southern Conference
24. Houston 16-7 115 19 American Athletic Conference
25. Massachusetts 16-8 84 24 Atlantic 10 Conference
Others Receiving Votes:
Loyola Marymount 17-10 59 West Coast Conference
Old Dominion 16-8 53 Conference USA
North Dakota State 18-8 30 Summit League
American 19-7 29 Patriot League
Arkansas State 17-7 28 Sun Belt Conference
Colorado State 15-9 20 Mountain West Conference
UC Santa Barbara 16-9 9 Big West Conference
Detroit 16-9 8 Horizon League
Georgia Southern 16-8 8 Sun Belt Conference
Manhattan 17-9 3 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
Northwestern State 17-7 3 Southland Conference
Indiana State 16-10 2 Missouri Valley Conference
San Diego 15-10 2 West Coast Conference
UNLV 13-9 2 Mountain West Conference
Rider 18-8 1 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
No surprise here, another shutout for our FOFC mid-major teams.
Now a look at the bubble watch going into the week of Feb. 12-18, and again we have 2 teams in it:
Code:
Team Record RPI vs. 1-50 vs. 51-100 vs. 101-200 vs. 200+ SOS Projected
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Rice 15-8 .561 (54) 2-2 1-4 5-2 7-0 144 In
Alabama 15-8 .555 (63) 0-4 5-3 7-0 3-1 79 In
Tennessee 15-9 .558 (60) 3-2 3-2 6-4 3-1 86 In
Loyola Marymount 17-10 .569 (46) 1-3 3-2 9-4 4-1 55 In
UT Arlington 15-8 .571 (43) 2-1 4-2 2-1 7-4 91 In
Detroit 16-9 .570 (44) 2-3 1-0 7-2 6-4 68 In
San Diego State 16-9 .551 (69) 2-1 5-4 1-3 8-1 114 In
Old Dominion 16-8 .552 (67) 1-0 3-6 3-1 9-1 129 In
Mercer 19-8 .553 (66) 0-1 0-5 8-0 11-2 179 Out
Texas 15-10 .564 (50) 4-7 1-2 5-1 5-0 56 Out
Georgia Southern 16-8 .547 (74) 0-3 5-1 1-2 10-2 156 Out
Michigan State 15-8 .531 (101) 4-1 2-2 3-4 6-1 154 Out
Vanderbilt 17-7 .521 (127) 0-1 4-2 9-3 4-1 244 Out
Missouri 15-8 .539 (86) 0-4 2-1 9-3 4-0 140 Out
Massachusetts 16-8 .528 (111) 1-5 1-2 5-1 9-0 223 Out
Rice had a massive jump this week going from essentially the last team in, to being at the very, very top of the bubble. And that's after a 1-1 week. Pretty encouraging, but they still need to take care of business.
Meanwhile, Alabama is right behind them. After barely finishing .500 in non-conference play, the Crimson Tide have picked it up in conference. Unfortunately, their 5-7 record against the RPI top 100 is not looking good, especially the 0-4 against the top 50.
Now for the rest of the teams:
Locks: St. John's, UCLA, Stanford
The only change from last week is that Washington State is off the bubble and solidly projected out.