Feb. 21-27, 2022
1 feature games this week, and it's in the American:
Tulsa (Will Brown) @
ECU (Al Hutt) -- Very poor shooting doomed the Golden Hurricane, who shot just 28.8% for the game. After holding a 2 point halftime lead, they couldn't hit anything in the 2nd half and it helped ECU to a home victory.
Final Score: ECU- 54, Tulsa- 46
Now for the rest of the weekly recap:
Hartford (David Ginsberg) -- 15-14, 9-7 T-4th America East.
2/25/22 at Binghamton (L 75-66).
The Hawks lose their final game of conference play, and that drops them all the way to a tie for 4th place. They won the tiebreaker and will be the 4th seed in the America East Tournament, opening up against 5th seed Maine.
UConn (Randolph Childress) -- 16-12, 11-5 2nd American.
2/23/22 vs. Temple (W 81-71).
2/26/22 vs. SMU (W 87-75).
2 more wins for the Huskies, who have rolled off 3 in a row, and 5 of the last 6. They even got a quality win against SMU. They can still win the AAC regular season title, but they must beat conference leaders Memphis next week, and still get help.
ECU (Al Hutt) -- 16-13, 9-7 T-5th American.
2/23/22 vs. Tulsa- feature game, highlighted above.
Just 1 game for the Pirates this weekend, but they took advantage of bad Tulsa shooting. UConn will be their biggest fans early next week as they take on Memphis a game before UConn does.
Tulsa (Will Brown) -- 14-14, 9-7 T-5th American.
2/23/22 at ECU- feature game, highlighted above.
2/26/22 vs. #17 Memphis (L 77-56).
The Golden Hurricane had a rough week, forgetting how to shot at ECU, and then of course, Memphis is just tough. They can still finish over .500 in conference play, but next week won't be easy either.
#12 Duke (Dean Hoo) -- 22-7, 12-5 T-4th ACC.
2/23/22 vs. #6 Virginia (L 75-45).
2/26/22 at #14 Notre Dame (L 70-61).
Not a good week for the Blue Devils, who take a major drop in the standings. They fell apart against Virginia, and couldn't get over the hump at Notre Dame.
TCU (Bee Mighty) -- 14-13, 8-8 T-4th Big 12.
2/21/22 vs. Kansas (W 82-60).
2/26/22 vs. #20 Kansas State (W 60-48).
The Horned Frogs welcomed both Big 12 Kansas teams this week, and sent them both home with frowns on their faces. This puts them back over .500, and with next week being 2 games against teams that are in the same position, it puts a lot of importance on taking care of business.
#19 Michigan State (Al Mighty) -- 21-6, 13-3 T-2nd Big Ten.
2/23/22 at Minnesota (W 84-80).
2/26/22 vs. Michigan (W 81-63).
2 more wins for the Spartans, who are having their best season the 2017-2018 campaign. Their seed in the Big Ten Tourney is already locked up. No matter what happens next week against stiff competition, whether they find a way to win both, or split, or lose both, they are locked into 2nd place in the Big Ten.
Northwestern (Ess Vee) -- 16-12, 8-8 T-6th Big Ten.
2/23/22 at Purdue (W 91-89).
2/26/22 at Maryland (L 84-67).
A road split for the Wildcats, who are barely hanging on to postseason aspirations. They face a pair of 17-11 teams next week, and getting at least 1 of those to stay at or above .500 in the conference will be very imperative.
Hawaii (B.B. Gunn) -- 17-11, 8-7 T-4th Big West.
2/24/22 vs. Cal Poly (L 88-80).
2/26/22 at Cal State Northridge (W 76-64).
A split for the Warriors this week, and next week they have a single game against the conference leaders. They still have a chance to finish as high as 3rd or as low as 7th in the conference.
Rice (Charlie Shocker) -- 15-12, 7-9 9th Conference USA.
2/24/22 vs. #11 Old Dominion (L 81-72).
2/26/22 at Middle Tennessee (L 82-47).
The Owls definitely didn't have their best week, with a tough loss to conference leader Old Dominion, as well as an embarrassing 35 point loss at Middle Tennessee. They better pick it up, and fast.
Colorado (Rob Nielsen) -- 20-8, 12-4 T-2nd Pac 12.
2/24/22 at Utah (W 66-55).
2/26/22 at Gonzaga (W 76-60).
2 solid road wins for the Buffaloes, and Coach Nielsen has to be in consideration for Pac 12, maybe even national COTY. This is Colorado's first 20 win season since the first season of this dynasty. They are still trailing Arizona though, but have a chance to meet them next week in a game that could decide the Pac 12 title.
Stanford (Benito Sanchez) -- 19-7, 12-4 T-2nd Pac 12.
2/24/22 vs. Washington (W 78-53).
2/26/22 vs. Oregon State (W 61-49).
2 more wins for the Cardinal, who are also 1 game behind Arizona. Unless they have a letdown next week, they'll pick up another 20 win season.
UCLA (Tim Shepard) -- 19-9, 11-5 4th Pac 12.
2/24/22 vs. Gonzaga (L 98-91, OT).
2/26/22 at Arizona State (W 60-37).
A split for the Bruins, as they can't overcome blowing a 10 point halftime lead in an OT loss to Gonzaga. This means they have to win twice next week and get a lot, and I do mean a lot, of help if they are going to win another Pac 12 Title.
Washington State (DeShawn St. John) -- 10-18, 2-14 12th (last) Pac 12.
2/24/22 vs. #24 Arizona (L 73-66).
2/26/22 vs. Oregon (W 96-88).
Looks like the Cougars decided to wait until the end of the season to start playing good basketball. They actually had a 9 point halftime lead against Arizona, too bad they couldn't finish it off, but they seem to be building a little momentum.
Alabama (Roy Rogers) -- 18-10, 12-4 T-1st SEC.
2/23/22 at LSU (L 98-93, OT).
2/26/22 vs. Tennessee (W 76-66).
The Crimson Tide could be in the SEC lead all by themselves had they not fallen late at LSU. Nevertheless, next week is huge for the Tide as they take on the conference co-leaders and the 3rd place team.
Kentucky (Patrick Hutt) -- 21-8, 10-6 T-4th SEC.
2/23/22 vs. Florida (W 55-42).
2/26/22 at LSU (W 87-76).
2 more wins for the Wildcats, and they've won 3 straight after a 2 game losing streak. They still have a slight chance to extend their record of consecutive years winning or splitting the SEC title, but it's going to take 2 wins and a lot of help.
Troy (Brett Hawkins) -- 17-12, 11-8 3rd Sun Belt.
2/24/22 at Arkansas Little Rock (L 68-59).
2/26/22 vs. UT Arlington (W 92-64).
Yet another split for the Trojans, who will probably miss out on the Sun Belt title. 1 more game next week, and a win could still get them a share of the conference title, but a loss could drop them all the way to 8th place. Either way, they know they will have a chance for more wins as they will qualify for the Sun Belt tournament.
Here's a look at the national top 25 going into the week of Feb. 28-March 6:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference test test test test
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Wisconsin (72) 29-1 1800 1 Big Ten Conference
2. Wichita State 29-1 1728 2 Missouri Valley Conference
3. Baylor 25-3 1624 3 Big 12 Conference
4. Oklahoma 23-5 1605 4 Big 12 Conference
5. Virginia 23-5 1514 6 Atlantic Coast Conference
6. Florida State 23-5 1423 10 Atlantic Coast Conference
7. San Diego State 24-4 1354 8 Mountain West Conference
8. Texas 22-6 1285 7 Big 12 Conference
9. Syracuse 22-6 1197 9 Atlantic Coast Conference
10. Old Dominion 25-2 1182 11 Conference USA
11. Notre Dame 23-6 1092 14 Atlantic Coast Conference
12. Arkansas 22-6 984 5 Southeastern Conference
13. St. John's 22-6 879 15 Big East Conference
14. Memphis 23-5 858 17 American Athletic Conference
15. Louisville 20-8 698 13 Atlantic Coast Conference
16. Oakland 25-5 675 18 Horizon League
17. Duke 22-7 621 12 Atlantic Coast Conference
18. Michigan State 21-6 553 19 Big Ten Conference
19. Georgetown 19-8 479 21 Big East Conference
20. Arizona 22-6 461 24 Pacific-12 Conference
21. Villanova 21-7 440 25 Big East Conference
22. Sacred Heart 25-4 353 23 Northeast Conference
23. BYU 23-7 284 16 West Coast Conference
24. Buffalo 21-7 130 NR Mid-American Conference
25. Kentucky 21-8 90 NR Southeastern Conference
Others Receiving Votes:
North Carolina 18-10 22 Atlantic Coast Conference
Stanford 19-7 20 Pacific-12 Conference
Florida Gulf Coast 24-6 18 Atlantic Sun Conference
Massachusetts 22-7 12 Atlantic 10 Conference
Kansas State 19-9 11 Big 12 Conference
Colorado 20-8 3 Pacific-12 Conference
FIU 20-7 2 Conference USA
Iowa State 18-11 1 Big 12 Conference
Manhattan 22-6 1 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
Southern Utah 21-6 1 Big Sky Conference
Duke has a big drop in the polls thanks to losing twice this week, while Michigan State raises a spot. Kentucky is back in the top 25, while Stanford and Colorado are receiving votes again.
Now for the mid-major top 25 going into the week of Feb. 28-March 6:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference test test test test
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Wichita State (72) 29-1 1800 1 Missouri Valley Conference
2. San Diego State 24-4 1725 2 Mountain West Conference
3. Old Dominion 25-2 1658 3 Conference USA
4. Memphis 23-5 1572 5 American Athletic Conference
5. Oakland 25-5 1497 6 Horizon League
6. BYU 23-7 1455 4 West Coast Conference
7. Buffalo 21-7 1337 8 Mid-American Conference
8. Sacred Heart 25-4 1299 9 Northeast Conference
9. Massachusetts 22-7 1226 7 Atlantic 10 Conference
10. Florida Gulf Coast 24-6 1135 11 Atlantic Sun Conference
11. FIU 20-7 1051 14 Conference USA
12. Loyola MD 23-6 937 10 Patriot League
13. Manhattan 22-6 886 13 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
14. Fresno State 20-9 845 19 Mountain West Conference
15. SMU 19-9 786 12 American Athletic Conference
16. UNC Wilmington 22-8 759 17 Colonial Athletic Association
17. UNLV 18-10 700 21 Mountain West Conference
18. Richmond 19-9 660 15 Atlantic 10 Conference
19. William & Mary 20-9 466 18 Colonial Athletic Association
20. Southern Utah 21-6 437 20 Big Sky Conference
21. Indiana State 19-11 275 25 Missouri Valley Conference
22. Boise State 16-11 180 16 Mountain West Conference
23. Bowling Green 19-10 147 NR Mid-American Conference
24. Saint Joseph's 18-10 118 22 Atlantic 10 Conference
25. UAB 17-9 83 24 Conference USA
Others Receiving Votes:
Rider 21-9 74 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
Long Beach State 18-9 38 Big West Conference
Houston 18-10 32 American Athletic Conference
Belmont 20-10 31 Ohio Valley Conference
Connecticut 16-12 30 American Athletic Conference
Texas A&M Corpus Christi 19-8 29 Southland Conference
Fordham 18-9 25 Atlantic 10 Conference
Portland 19-11 23 West Coast Conference
Alabama A&M 20-8 22 Southwestern Athletic Conference
Davidson 17-11 19 Atlantic 10 Conference
New Mexico 16-12 8 Mountain West Conference
UTEP 17-11 8 Conference USA
Wagner 21-8 8 Northeast Conference
Jacksonville State 20-10 7 Ohio Valley Conference
George Washington 17-11 6 Atlantic 10 Conference
Colgate 19-10 4 Patriot League
Harvard 18-9 2 Ivy League
Welcome back UConn, who is receiving mid-major votes again.
None of our teams are in the Overall Bubble Watch this week, but let's take a quick look:
Code:
OVERALL BUBBLE WATCH
Team Record RPI vs. 1-50 vs. 51-100 vs. 101-200 vs. 200+ SOS Projected
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mississippi 17-11 .552 (60) 3-6 4-3 5-1 5-1 67 In
Purdue 17-11 .558 (50) 3-6 2-3 6-1 6-1 63 In
Indiana State 19-11 .567 (40) 0-4 2-2 7-3 10-2 69 In
UTEP 17-11 .574 (34) 4-4 1-1 6-3 6-3 30 In
Colgate 19-10 .549 (63) 1-3 4-0 5-3 9-4 141 In
Green Bay 18-12 .554 (57) 5-1 6-1 3-5 4-5 77 In
SMU 19-9 .544 (70) 1-2 8-3 4-2 6-2 144 In
VCU 19-9 .540 (80) 3-4 5-4 4-1 7-0 154 In
UAB 17-9 .545 (68) 1-4 1-1 5-3 10-1 135 Out
Houston 18-10 .549 (65) 2-2 4-4 2-1 10-3 126 Out
George Washington 17-11 .542 (76) 1-2 5-3 2-6 9-0 101 Out
Davidson 17-11 .541 (79) 0-1 4-4 5-4 8-2 110 Out
Indiana 17-11 .529 (101) 3-6 5-2 5-1 4-2 131 Out
Portland 19-11 .526 (107) 2-1 0-3 6-6 11-1 200 Out
Wagner 21-8 .520 (121) 0-1 2-2 3-2 16-3 329 Out
Here's a look at our FOFC teams:
Locks:
Duke,
Michigan State,
Stanford,
UCLA,
Kentucky,
Alabama
In:
Colorado
No changes from last week, it's exactly the same.