Feb. 12-18, 2024
26 games on the schedule this week, but 3 of them are feature games. We'll start in the Pac 12, where all 4 of our FOFC Pac 12 Teams have a feature game.
2/15/24-
#17 UCLA (Tim Shepard) @
Colorado (Rob Nielsen) -- The Bruins got a big test in this one, trailing by 11 at halftime. They were able to power back though, getting just a few more three pointers to fall. That was the difference in a tough road win.
Final Score: #17 UCLA- 76, Colorado- 74
2/17/24-
Stanford (Benito Sanchez) @
Washington State (DeShawn St. John) -- Rebounding and three point shooting was the big difference in this one, as Stanford outrebounded Washington State by 13, and made 5 more three pointers. It wasn't easy, but they get the win.
Final Score: Stanford- 86, Washington State- 78
Now we move to the American where our 2 American FOFC teams have been struggling all season.
2/17/24-
UConn (Randolph Childress) @
Tulsa (Will Brown) -- Another feature game barnburner that came down to who had the ball last. That happened to be UConn, who hit a buzzer beater to stun Tulsa on the road.
Final Score: UConn- 66, Tulsa- 64
Now to the rest of the weekly recap:
Hartford (David Ginsberg) -- 16-12, 8-7 4th America East.
2/16/24 vs. Stony Brook (W 76-50).
2/18/24 at UMBC (L 98-82).
A split for the Hawks, who have a tough week coming up next week to finish their regular season schedule. With just 1 conference game left, they are locked into 4th place in the America East.
UConn (Randolph Childress) -- 11-14, 7-8 T-6th American.
2/14/24 vs. SMU (W 71-63).
2/17/24 at Tulsa- feature game, highlighted above.
2 more wins for the Huskies, who are finishing strong, but still 3 more tough games coming up. Still though, a .500 conference finish is still in reason.
Tulsa (Will Brown) -- 8-18, 4-10, T-9th American.
2/14/24 at South Florida (L 69-65).
2/17/24 vs. UConn- feature game, highlighted above.
A pair of close losses this week for the Golden Hurricane, and Coach Brown has to be infuriated by the number of single digit losses this team has on the season.
Notre Dame (Al Mighty) -- 13-13, 6-8 T-7th ACC.
2/17/24 vs. Pittsburgh (W 87-77).
A much needed win for the Fighting Irish who have won 2 in a row and are back to .500 overall and in conference. Unfortunately, they've got a date on the road with a top 10 team next week.
TCU (Bee Mighty) -- 16-10, 9-6 4th Big 12.
2/12/24 at Kansas State (W 72-59).
2/17/24 at West Virginia (W 77-51).
The Horned Frogs win 2 next week, very important wins as they can finish no worse than .500 in the conference now. Next week will be a grind though, with a top 10 team coming to town.
#11 St. John's (Dean Hoo) -- 19-7, 8-6 3rd Big East.
2/14/24 at #14 Creighton (L 67-55).
2/17/24 at Butler (L 72-70).
There is a major self destruction going on for the Red Storm, who have now lost 5 in a row. Forget about a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, they just need to worry about finishing strong and securing their bid.
Northwestern (Ess Vee) -- 13-13, 6-8 T-7th Big Ten.
2/14/24 vs. Penn State (W 97-90).
2/17/24 at #18 Indiana (L 93-58).
A split for the Wildcats, who got completely thrashed at Indiana, a game they'll want to forget soon.
Hawaii (B.B. Gunn) -- 10-14, 7-6 T-4th Big West.
2/13/24 at UC Irvine (L 98-90).
2/17/24 vs. Cal State Fullerton (W 81-62).
Another split for the Warriors, as that seat for Coach Gunn continues to get hotter and hotter. Running the table in their last 4 regular season games would get them to .500 overall. It's possible, but I'm not holding my breath.
FIU (Brett Hawkins) -- 12-14, 7-7 T-7th Conference USA.
2/15/24 at Middle Tennessee (L 82-71).
2/17/24 at Marshall (W 67-55).
A split for the Golden Panthers in what has been a season to forget. The streak of consecutive 20 win seasons will certainly come to an end, unless FIU gets mad hot and doesn't lose another game the rest of the season, which isn't likely. Hopefully Coach Hawkins has bought himself some time.
Rice (Charlie Shocker) -- 16-9, 8-6 T-4th Conference USA.
2/15/24 at George Mason (L 44-41).
2/17/24 vs. Southern Miss (W 85-80).
The Owls sure wish they could have traded some of those points in the Southern Miss game to the George Mason game. Definitely a tale of 2 different type games this week, and another split.
Colorado (Rob Nielsen) -- 14-12, 8-6 5th Pac 12.
2/15/24 vs. #17 UCLA- feature game, highlighted above.
2/17/24 at Arizona State (W 65-56).
A split for the Buffaloes, who were just 1 shot away from possibly being in the top 4 of the conference. 3 of their last 4 regular season games are on the road, but all are winnable. That doesn't mean they will win them though.
Stanford (Benito Sanchez) -- 17-9, 7-7 6th Pac 12.
2/15/24 vs. Oregon State (L 67-58).
2/17/24 at Washington State- feature game, highlighted above.
A split for the Cardinal, who need to win those home games, because they have 2 tough, ranked opponents yet to play, and neither will be easy.
#17 UCLA (Tim Shepard) -- 20-7, 10-4 2nd Pac 12.
2/15/24 at Colorado- feature game, highlighted above.
2/17/24 at #1 Arizona (L 77-50).
Arizona continues to be a thorn in the Bruins' side, and it won't get any easier, as 3 of their remaining 4 regular season games are against teams with an RPI of 38 or better.
Washington State (DeShawn St. John) -- 15-10, 4-10 11th Pac 12.
2/15/24 vs. #1 Arizona (L 66-48).
2/17/24 vs. Stanford- feature game, highlighted above.
2 more losses for the Cougars, and they really, really need to at least win 2 of their remaining regular season games to feel good about a postseason berth. They could win all of them, or they could lose all of them. Hard to know which Cougar team will show up.
Alabama (Roy Rogers) -- 17-8, 11-3 1st SEC.
2/14/24 vs. Missouri (W 69-63).
2/17/24 vs. LSU (W 56-55).
2 more wins for the Crimson Tide, who now out first place outright in the SEC. They are a game up, with 4 to play, but 3 of those 4 are on the road.
Now for a look at the national top 25 going into the week of Feb. 19-25:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference test test test test
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1. Arizona (72) 24-2 1800 1 Pacific-12 Conference
2. Baylor 24-2 1675 4 Big 12 Conference
3. Georgetown 22-5 1609 2 Big East Conference
4. Virginia 24-2 1590 3 Atlantic Coast Conference
5. Louisville 24-3 1555 6 Atlantic Coast Conference
6. Syracuse 25-2 1491 5 Atlantic Coast Conference
7. Providence 22-5 1358 8 Big East Conference
8. Wisconsin 23-4 1288 7 Big Ten Conference
9. Iowa State 19-7 1230 12 Big 12 Conference
10. Ohio State 18-6 1150 9 Big Ten Conference
11. Indiana 20-6 1025 18 Big Ten Conference
12. Iowa 20-6 902 15 Big Ten Conference
13. UCLA 20-7 849 17 Pacific-12 Conference
14. Creighton 19-8 843 14 Big East Conference
15. St. John's 19-7 691 11 Big East Conference
16. St. Bonaventure 19-6 662 10 Atlantic 10 Conference
17. Villanova 17-9 655 24 Big East Conference
18. Yale 22-4 594 25 Ivy League
19. Oklahoma 18-8 409 13 Big 12 Conference
20. UAB 20-5 408 NR Atlantic 10 Conference
21. North Carolina 19-7 336 NR Atlantic Coast Conference
22. Xavier 18-8 249 16 Big East Conference
23. Texas A&M 19-7 242 19 Southeastern Conference
24. California 17-9 199 21 Pacific-12 Conference
25. Memphis 20-6 174 20 American Athletic Conference
Others Receiving Votes:
North Texas 22-5 166 Conference USA
Vanderbilt 18-8 140 Southeastern Conference
UC Irvine 20-6 50 Big West Conference
George Washington 19-7 31 Atlantic 10 Conference
DePaul 18-8 13 Big East Conference
Drexel 20-6 13 Colonial Athletic Association
Oakland 20-6 3 Horizon League
I continue to be dismayed by these polls. No surprise that St. John's moved down 4 spots this week, they are slumping bad, but how does a team that barely won at Colorado, yet got thumped by Arizona, move up 4 spots?? I'm ok with it because it helps our FOFC teams, but I don't get it. And Alabama, on top of the SEC, doesn't even receive 1 vote? Crazy.
Now for the mid-major top 25 going into the week of Feb. 19-25:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference test test test test
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1. St. Bonaventure (57) 19-6 1776 1 Atlantic 10 Conference
2. UAB (7) 20-5 1650 7 Atlantic 10 Conference
3. Yale 22-4 1609 6 Ivy League
4. Memphis 20-6 1539 3 American Athletic Conference
5. BYU (3) 19-9 1431 2 West Coast Conference
6. North Texas (2) 22-5 1398 4 Conference USA
7. UC Irvine (3) 20-6 1349 10 Big West Conference
8. Wichita State 20-8 1335 9 Missouri Valley Conference
9. George Washington 19-7 1244 5 Atlantic 10 Conference
10. Tulane 19-7 1116 11 American Athletic Conference
11. Illinois State 19-8 1091 14 Missouri Valley Conference
12. Oakland 20-6 1087 8 Horizon League
13. Drexel 20-6 914 16 Colonial Athletic Association
14. Kent State 19-8 900 15 Mid-American Conference
15. Richmond 19-7 794 12 Atlantic 10 Conference
16. La Salle 19-7 739 18 Atlantic 10 Conference
17. Florida Gulf Coast 20-6 665 13 Sun Belt Conference
18. Akron 20-7 594 21 Mid-American Conference
19. Houston 18-7 429 24 American Athletic Conference
20. Massachusetts 18-8 373 25 Atlantic 10 Conference
21. Mercer 21-8 313 23 Southern Conference
22. Robert Morris 22-6 198 19 Northeast Conference
23. Old Dominion 18-8 188 NR Conference USA
24. San Diego State 17-10 175 22 Mountain West Conference
25. American 21-7 92 NR Patriot League
Others Receiving Votes:
Bradley 17-9 87 Missouri Valley Conference
San Diego 17-10 59 West Coast Conference
Arkansas State 19-7 54 Sun Belt Conference
Indiana State 18-10 49 Missouri Valley Conference
Loyola Marymount 18-11 40 West Coast Conference
Manhattan 19-9 23 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
Western Carolina 18-8 21 Southern Conference
Portland 16-10 17 West Coast Conference
Utah State 16-10 15 Mountain West Conference
Northwestern State 19-7 13 Southland Conference
UC Santa Barbara 17-9 11 Big West Conference
UT Arlington 16-8 6 Sun Belt Conference
USC Upstate 20-8 5 Atlantic Sun Conference
Radford 20-7 1 Big South Conference
No surprise here, as no FOFC representation here.
Now for another edition of the Bubble Watch. We start with the Overall Bubble Watch, in which just 1 of our teams is in.
Code:
Team Record RPI vs. 1-50 vs. 51-100 vs. 101-200 vs. 200+ SOS Projected
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BYU 19-9 .566 (46) 3-3 3-2 7-2 6-2 94 In
Bradley 17-9 .576 (30) 2-3 3-2 3-3 9-1 58 In
San Diego 17-10 .564 (50) 3-2 1-2 8-5 5-1 71 In
San Diego State 17-10 .552 (63) 2-1 4-3 4-5 7-1 105 In
Old Dominion 18-8 .559 (55) 1-0 2-6 5-1 10-1 129 In
TCU 16-10 .593 (23) 2-7 3-2 9-0 2-1 14 In
UT Arlington 16-8 .569 (44) 0-1 5-2 3-1 8-4 107 In
Indiana State 18-10 .548 (69) 3-3 5-2 4-2 6-3 152 In
Mercer 21-8 .546 (71) 0-1 1-4 7-1 13-2 212 Out
La Salle 19-7 .543 (77) 1-4 5-2 4-1 9-0 214 Out
Detroit 16-10 .553 (62) 2-3 1-0 6-2 7-5 88 Out
Albany 17-10 .552 (65) 0-4 2-1 3-1 12-4 93 Out
Arkansas State 19-7 .543 (79) 0-1 1-3 1-2 17-1 240 Out
Portland 16-10 .545 (74) 2-5 1-0 9-5 4-0 108 Out
North Carolina State 15-10 .564 (49) 4-5 3-0 6-1 2-4 42 Out
Good to see TCU back on the bubble in a good way, as one of the Last 4 In. You gotta think the RPI has a lot to do with it, and that is helped by the SOS. They still need to win a few more games though. It'll be tough, it's gutcheck time now.
Now for the rest of our teams:
Locks: St. John's, UCLA, Stanford, Alabama
A couple changes this week, as both Rice and Alabama are off the bubble. 1 is now a lock, the other is projected clearly out.