Jan. 29-Feb. 4, 2024
28 games on the schedule this week, and 1 feature game. We go to Conference USA.
2/1/24-
Rice (Charlie Shocker) @
FIU (Brett Hawkins) -- Both teams badly needing a win here, and it was FIU getting the homecooking in this one. FIU shot 40 free throws compared to just 11 free throws for Rice. (If there's one thing I hate about this game, it's the large free throw discrepancies that seem to happen far too often. That was enough for the Golden Panthers to come back from an 11 point halftime deficit and literally steal a win.
Final Score: FIU- 75, Rice- 70
Now for the rest of the weekly recap:
Hartford (David Ginsberg) -- 14-10, 6-5 5th America East.
2/4/24 at New Hampshire (L 72-65).
Just 1 game this week for the Hawks, but they see their 4 game winning streak come to an end.
UConn (Randolph Childress) -- 7-14, 3-8 10th American.
1/31/24 vs. UCF (L 65-45).
2/3/24 at Tulane (L 86-72).
2 more blowout losses for the Huskies, who are in the midst of their worst season, probably ever.
Tulsa (Will Brown) -- 7-15, 3-7 9th American.
1/31/24 vs. Houston (L 89-77).
2/3/24 at SMU (L 83-73).
Although not quite as bad, the Golden Hurricane also lose twice this week. Both were by double digits though.
Notre Dame (Al Mighty) -- 11-12, 4-7 T-9th.
1/31/24 vs. Florida State (L 80-79).
2/3/24 at #6 Louisville (L 93-81).
A grueling loss to to Florida State, and the Fighting Irish have now lost 4 in a row. Coach Mighty won't be here long if this keeps up.
TCU (Bee Mighty) -- 12-10, 5-6 T-5th Big 12.
1/29/24 at #4 Baylor (L 68-60).
2/3/24 at #14 Oklahoma (L 84-60).
Remember when the Horned Frogs were 12-5, and 5-1 in the conference. That seems like a long time ago, as they are now under .500 in conference play with a 5 game losing streak.
#7 St. John's (Dean Hoo) -- 19-4, 8-3 T-2nd Big East.
1/31/24 vs. #2 Georgetown (L 78-77).
2/3/24 vs. #9 Providence (L 87-80).
Good efforts for the Red Storm this week, but they take a step back with 2 close losses against top 10 teams. Those are the games they really need to win for RPI purposes, but as long as they right the ship now, they'll be fine.
Northwestern (Ess Vee) -- 12-10, 5-5 T-6th Big Ten.
1/31/24 vs. Nebraska (L 73-63).
2/3/24 vs. #16 Iowa (L 85-59).
2 losses for the Wildcats as they break a 4 game winning streak. It's only going to get tougher from here on out.
Hawaii (B.B. Gunn) -- 7-13, 4-5 T-5th Big West.
1/30/24 vs. UC Santa Barbara (L 100-91).
2/3/24 at Long Beach State (L 82-77).
2 more tough losses for the Warriors, they've lost 4 in a row now, and firecoachgunn.com is hotter than ever, with over a million hits now. The only saving grace might be the weakness of the conference, as Hawaii finds themselves just 2 games behind the leaders.
FIU (Brett Hawkins) -- 10-12, 5-5 T-6th Conference USA.
2/1/24 vs. Rice- feature game, highlighted above.
2/3/24 at South Dakota State (W 74-55).
2 key wins for the Golden Panthers who are back up to .500 in conference play. If ever they were going to make a push, now would be the time, as they play only 3 more teams that currently have a winning record.
Rice (Charlie Shocker) -- 14-7, 6-4 5th Conference USA.
2/1/24 at FIU- feature game, highlighted above.
2/3/24 at Western Kentucky (W 61-43).
Could be a different story for the Owls if not for that debacle of a game at FIU. However, they are still in good position, but unlike FIU, they have the tough end of the schedule in February.
Colorado (Rob Nielsen) -- 11-11, 5-5 T-5th Pac 12.
2/1/24 at Oregon State (W 74-48).
2/3/24 vs. #23 California (L 95-75).
A split for the Buffaloes, who continue to play .500 ball throughout the season. I don't see that changing next week.
Stanford (Benito Sanchez) -- 15-7, 5-5 T-5th Pac 12.
2/1/24 vs. Arizona State (W 86-78).
2/3/24 at #1 Arizona (L 91-64).
No shame in losing to Arizona, all but 1 team has this season. They are a legit national title contender. That doesn't make the Cardinal feel any better, as they are in the middle of the Pac 12 standings, with still a lot of challenges coming up.
#22 UCLA (Tim Shepard) -- 17-6, 7-3 T-2nd Pac 12.
2/1/24 vs. Gonzaga (W 86-67).
2/3/24 vs. Washington (W 92-64).
2 blowout wins for the Bruins this week, and it's good to finally see them playing UCLA basketball again. They should at least keep it up for a few more games.
Washington State (DeShawn St. John) -- 14-7, 3-7 T-9th Pac 12.
2/1/24 vs. Oregon (L 82-65).
2/3/24 at Arizona State (W 74-65).
An 11-0 record going into conference play might still not be enough to get the Cougars into the NCAA Tournament. They do have 5 more winnable conference games, but they also have 3 in which their hope is to keep it close. Even if they can go .500 in February, that should be enough for their first postseason berth.
Alabama (Roy Rogers) -- 13-8, 7-3 T-2nd SEC.
1/31/24 vs. #19 Texas A&M (L 58-52).
2/3/24 vs. Ole Miss (W 68-63).
The Crimson Tide split a couple close ones this week, and they enter February on a brutal 4 game stretch that they'll have to be at their best for.
Here's a look at the national top 25 heading into the week of Feb. 5-11:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference test test test test
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1. Arizona (71) 21-1 1799 1 Pacific-12 Conference
2. Georgetown 20-3 1710 2 Big East Conference
3. Virginia 21-1 1655 3 Atlantic Coast Conference
4. Baylor 21-2 1582 4 Big 12 Conference
5. Syracuse (1) 22-1 1534 5 Atlantic Coast Conference
6. Louisville 20-3 1434 6 Atlantic Coast Conference
7. Providence 19-4 1334 9 Big East Conference
8. Ohio State 16-4 1288 10 Big Ten Conference
9. Wisconsin 19-4 1217 11 Big Ten Conference
10. St. John's 19-4 1148 7 Big East Conference
11. Oklahoma 16-6 1059 14 Big 12 Conference
12. Iowa 17-5 1017 16 Big Ten Conference
13. St. Bonaventure 17-4 952 13 Atlantic 10 Conference
14. Iowa State 16-6 855 8 Big 12 Conference
15. Xavier 17-5 728 17 Big East Conference
16. BYU 19-6 677 24 West Coast Conference
17. Creighton 17-6 593 15 Big East Conference
18. UCLA 17-6 551 22 Pacific-12 Conference
19. UAB 17-4 442 25 Atlantic 10 Conference
20. Indiana 16-6 357 12 Big Ten Conference
21. George Washington 17-5 327 18 Atlantic 10 Conference
22. Yale 19-4 198 NR Ivy League
23. California 14-8 183 23 Pacific-12 Conference
24. LSU 16-5 166 21 Southeastern Conference
25. North Texas 19-4 161 NR Conference USA
Others Receiving Votes:
Texas A&M 16-6 159 Southeastern Conference
Memphis 17-5 100 American Athletic Conference
Florida Gulf Coast 19-4 82 Sun Belt Conference
DePaul 16-6 63 Big East Conference
Stanford 15-7 16 Pacific-12 Conference
Oakland 17-5 5 Horizon League
North Carolina 16-7 4 Atlantic Coast Conference
Tulane 17-6 4 American Athletic Conference
Despite losing both their games this week, St. John's didn't drop as far as one might think, only 3 spots. This is probably because both games were close and against top 10 teams. However, UCLA continues to bring it back to prominence, moving up 4 spots. Stanford also receives a few more votes this week, despite the .500 conference record.
Now a look at the mid-major top 25 going into the week of Feb. 5-11:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference test test test test
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1. St. Bonaventure (59) 17-4 1787 1 Atlantic 10 Conference
2. BYU (10) 19-6 1718 3 West Coast Conference
3. George Washington 17-5 1621 2 Atlantic 10 Conference
4. UAB (3) 17-4 1578 6 Atlantic 10 Conference
5. Memphis 17-5 1453 4 American Athletic Conference
6. Yale 19-4 1355 9 Ivy League
7. Florida Gulf Coast 19-4 1309 7 Sun Belt Conference
8. Wichita State 18-7 1283 5 Missouri Valley Conference
9. North Texas 19-4 1260 13 Conference USA
10. Oakland 17-5 1219 11 Horizon League
11. Tulane 17-6 1086 10 American Athletic Conference
12. UC Irvine 16-6 971 8 Big West Conference
13. Bradley 16-6 913 16 Missouri Valley Conference
14. La Salle 16-6 868 14 Atlantic 10 Conference
15. Richmond 16-6 790 17 Atlantic 10 Conference
16. Western Carolina 17-5 638 20 Southern Conference
17. Kent State 15-8 560 NR Mid-American Conference
18. Drexel 16-6 553 24 Colonial Athletic Association
19. Houston 16-6 548 15 American Athletic Conference
20. Illinois State 15-8 466 21 Missouri Valley Conference
21. Robert Morris 19-5 360 23 Northeast Conference
22. San Diego State 15-8 338 12 Mountain West Conference
23. Arkansas State 17-6 203 18 Sun Belt Conference
24. Massachusetts 15-7 158 19 Atlantic 10 Conference
25. North Dakota State 17-7 83 NR Summit League
Others Receiving Votes:
Portland 14-8 81 West Coast Conference
Indiana State 15-9 63 Missouri Valley Conference
Mercer 17-8 51 Southern Conference
Detroit 15-8 23 Horizon League
Colorado State 14-8 20 Mountain West Conference
Akron 16-7 12 Mid-American Conference
Loyola Marymount 15-10 10 West Coast Conference
Green Bay 14-8 7 Horizon League
American 17-7 5 Patriot League
Florida Atlantic 15-7 4 Conference USA
Old Dominion 14-8 3 Conference USA
Saint Joseph's 13-9 1 Atlantic 10 Conference
Saint Mary's 13-10 1 West Coast Conference
UNLV 12-8 1 Mountain West Conference
No big surprise there, as all our mid-major FOFC teams are left out (Making a pitch for more strong teams guys! I'm still taking sign-ups for 5 more teams, let's get some more representation in both polls!)
The first edition of the Bubble Watch for the 2023-2024 season is out, and 2 of our teams are featured in the Overall Bubble Watch, let's take a look.
Code:
OVERALL BUBBLE WATCH
Team Record RPI vs. 1-50 vs. 51-100 vs. 101-200 vs. 200+ SOS Projected
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Indiana State 15-9 .563 (50) 1-2 5-3 6-3 3-1 97 In
Illinois State 15-8 .551 (67) 2-2 2-3 8-3 3-0 100 In
San Diego State 15-8 .553 (65) 2-2 2-1 4-4 7-1 117 In
Purdue 15-7 .551 (69) 0-2 3-2 5-3 7-0 129 In
Richmond 16-6 .545 (77) 2-2 1-1 3-2 10-1 236 In
Portland 14-8 .551 (70) 0-3 4-1 6-3 4-1 110 In
Texas 14-9 .570 (44) 4-7 1-1 4-1 5-0 45 In
Rice 14-7 .546 (75) 1-2 2-3 5-1 6-1 223 In
Wake Forest 14-9 .568 (46) 1-6 4-3 4-0 5-0 50 Out
Loyola Marymount 15-10 .562 (51) 1-3 2-2 7-5 5-0 56 Out
Nicholls State 13-8 .559 (59) 1-2 1-0 5-4 6-2 82 Out
Houston 16-6 .542 (84) 1-2 1-0 6-4 8-0 214 Out
Albany 14-9 .566 (48) 0-4 3-1 2-2 9-2 64 Out
Washington State 14-7 .539 (89) 1-4 2-1 5-2 6-0 175 Out
Vanderbilt 15-7 .511 (148) 0-1 6-1 5-5 4-0 241 Out
Nice to see Rice hanging around, but they still have a long ways to go. The SOS is bad, as proven by the 11-2 record against teams ranked 101 or lower in the RPI. However, if they can keep winning in conference they've got a chance.
Meanwhile, let's be honest: Washington State still has a long ways to go before they are legit competitors in the Pac 12. Sure, the 11-0 start was nice, but the 175 SOS and the 11-2 record against 101 and lower RPI teams proves it wasn't against the toughest competition. I'll be frank, they really need to win quite a few more games to make the NCAA Tourney. However, they still have many winnable games on their schedule, and barring a complete collapse, they still have a pretty good shot to make their first postseason appearance.
Now for the rest of the teams, and remember, this reflects the NCAA Tournament only, not the other postseason tournaments.
Locks: St. John's, UCLA, Stanford
A bit surprised to see Alabama projected out, but so be it. I'm sure it'll change. I hope.