Feb. 19-25, 2024
29 games on the schedule this week, and just 1 feature game. It's a big one though, in the Pac 12. Let's take a look:
2/24/24-
Stanford (Benito Sanchez) @
#13 UCLA (Tim Shepard) -- A shootout in this one, as both teams shot over 44%, but UCLA committed 17 turnovers. That doomed them, as Stanford took advantage and won it going away.
Final Score: Stanford- 92, #13 UCLA- 72
Now to the rest of the weekly recap:
Hartford (David Ginsberg) -- 16-14, 8-8 4th America East.
2/23/24 at UMass Lowell (L 80-56).
2/25/24 vs. St. Peter's (L 78-65).
2 more losses for the Hawks, who end the regular season on a 3 game losing streak. They'll be the 4th seed in the America East Tournament and open up against 5th seed Vermont.
UConn (Randolph Childress) -- 13-14, 9-8 5th American.
2/21/24 vs. ECU (W 83-55).
2/24/24 at Houston (W 61-60).
2 more wins for the Huskies, who have gotten hot late in the season. They've won 6 in a row, and they'll finish at least .500 in conference. A remarkable turnaround.
Tulsa (Will Brown) -- 10-18, 6-10 9th American.
2/21/24 vs. #25 Memphis (W 52-41).
2/24/24 vs. ECU (W 73-52).
Nice week for the Golden Hurricane who shocked Memphis, but they finish up the regular season on the road. We'll see if they have a couple more shockers in them.
Notre Dame (Al Mighty) -- 14-14, 7-9 T-7th ACC.
2/21/24 at #6 Syracuse (L 100-77).
2/24/24 vs. Boston College (W 84-76, OT).
A split for the Fighting Irish, who had to come from behind just to beat BC. Coach Mighty better figure it out quick or his stay in South Bend may be short and sweet.
TCU (Bee Mighty) -- 16-12, 9-8 5th Big 12.
2/19/24 vs. Texas Tech (L 88-78).
2/24/24 vs. #9 Iowa State (L 87-63).
2 losses for the Horned Frogs as that breaks a 4 game losing streak. They have 2 more games next week, and one of them is a pretty tough non-conference game.
#15 St. John's (Dean Hoo) -- 20-8, 9-7 T-3rd Big East.
2/21/24 vs. #22 Xavier (L 98-97, OT).
2/24/24 vs. Seton Hall (W 76-49).
A better week for the Red Storm, as they take Xavier to OT before a huge win over Seton Hall that breaks a 6 game losing streak. They'll finish off on the road in 2 more tough games.
Northwestern (Ess Vee) -- 13-15, 6-10 T-9th Big Ten.
2/21/24 at Rutgers (L 88-77).
2/24/24 at #8 Wisconsin (L 104-61).
2 more losses for the Wildcats, and they need to win twice next week just to finish .500 overall.
Hawaii (B.B. Gunn) -- 11-15, 7-7 T-5th Big West.
2/19/24 vs. Penn (W 81-59).
2/22/24 at UC Davis (L 77-68).
Well, another split for the Warriors, who win their non-conference game, but the more important game was the conference game, which they lost. Firecoachgunn.com now has over 1.5 million hits.
FIU (Brett Hawkins) -- 12-16, 7-9 T-8th Conference USA.
2/22/24 at Florida Atlantic (L 67-61).
2/24/24 vs. UTEP (L 81-78).
2 more tough losses for the Golden Panthers. It looked like they were turning the corner, but this has been a disastrous season for Coach Hawkins. At least he can take solace in knowing that his former school, Troy, will probably finish with single digit wins this season.
Rice (Charlie Shocker) -- 18-9, 10-6 3rd Conference USA.
2/22/24 vs. South Dakota State (W 82-64).
2/24/24 vs. Middle Tennessee (W 75-69).
2 more wins for the Owls, who still have a chance to get to 20 wins this season. This is only the second time since this dynasty started that they'll finish with double digit wins in conference play.
Colorado (Rob Nielsen) -- 14-14, 8-8 6th Pac 12.
2/22/24 at Gonzaga (L 80-74).
2/24/24 at Oregon (L 70-64).
A pair of aggravating 6 point losses for the Buffaloes this week, as they are now at .500 overall and in conference play.
Stanford (Benito Sanchez) -- 19-9, 9-7 5th Pac 12.
2/22/24 vs. Utah (W 88-84).
2/24/24 at #13 UCLA- feature game, highlighted above.
A big win for the Cardinal, and that win at UCLA ensured they will finish no worse than .500 in conference play.
#13 UCLA (Tim Shepard) -- 21-8, 11-5 T-2nd Pac 12.
2/22/24 at Oregon (W 76-54).
2/24/24 vs. Stanford- feature game, highlighted above.
A split for the Bruins, but that loss to Stanford eliminated them from a chance to win the Pac 12 regular season title. They'll look to finish strong next week.
Washington State (DeShawn St. John) -- 16-11, 5-11 T-10th Pac 12.
2/22/24 vs. Washington (W 71-63).
2/24/24 vs. Utah (L 71-57).
A split for the Cougars, but at least 1 win is good. They are hoping to get 1 more next week as they go on the road for 2, but it won't be easy.
Alabama (Roy Rogers) -- 19-8, 13-3 1st SEC.
2/21/24 at Arkansas (W 80-56).
2/24/24 at South Carolina (W 78-40).
2 blowout road wins this week, and all they have to do is win 1 of their 2 games next week to clinch a split of the SEC title. Win both, and they clinch the title outright. Lose both, and they could drop to 3rd.
Here's a look at the national top 25 going into the week of Feb. 26-March 3:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference test test test test
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1. Arizona (72) 26-2 1800 1 Pacific-12 Conference
2. Baylor 26-2 1701 2 Big 12 Conference
3. Louisville 25-3 1636 5 Atlantic Coast Conference
4. Georgetown 23-6 1535 3 Big East Conference
5. Virginia 26-2 1533 4 Atlantic Coast Conference
6. Syracuse 26-3 1515 6 Atlantic Coast Conference
7. Providence 23-6 1359 7 Big East Conference
8. Wisconsin 25-4 1297 8 Big Ten Conference
9. Iowa State 21-7 1228 9 Big 12 Conference
10. Ohio State 20-6 1145 10 Big Ten Conference
11. Iowa 22-6 1029 12 Big Ten Conference
12. Villanova 19-9 1008 17 Big East Conference
13. Creighton 20-8 914 14 Big East Conference
14. St. Bonaventure 21-6 773 16 Atlantic 10 Conference
15. Indiana 21-7 694 11 Big Ten Conference
16. Yale 24-4 689 18 Ivy League
17. St. John's 20-8 633 15 Big East Conference
18. Texas A&M 21-7 502 23 Southeastern Conference
19. North Carolina 21-7 485 21 Atlantic Coast Conference
20. UCLA 21-8 448 13 Pacific-12 Conference
21. Vanderbilt 20-8 419 NR Southeastern Conference
22. California 19-9 318 24 Pacific-12 Conference
23. Xavier 19-9 305 22 Big East Conference
24. DePaul 19-9 167 NR Big East Conference
25. UAB 21-6 115 20 Atlantic 10 Conference
Others Receiving Votes:
Memphis 21-7 40 American Athletic Conference
Oklahoma 19-9 39 Big 12 Conference
Oakland 22-6 30 Horizon League
North Texas 23-6 17 Conference USA
UC Irvine 21-7 12 Big West Conference
La Salle 21-7 9 Atlantic 10 Conference
BYU 21-9 3 West Coast Conference
Kent State 21-8 2 Mid-American Conference
Both of our ranked teams drop this week. St. John's drops 2 spots with their split, but UCLA drops 7 spots! A little tough love there apparently. And how the hell is Alabama not at least getting some votes? They are winning the SEC for gosh sakes. The voters must be punishing the basketball team because of the football team getting into the college football playoff after not even playing in their conference championship game. Haha sorry, I had to.
Now for the mid-major top 25 going into the week of Feb. 26-March 3:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference test test test test
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1. St. Bonaventure (71) 21-6 1799 1 Atlantic 10 Conference
2. Yale 24-4 1675 3 Ivy League
3. BYU (1) 21-9 1591 5 West Coast Conference
4. UAB 21-6 1532 2 Atlantic 10 Conference
5. Memphis 21-7 1491 4 American Athletic Conference
6. Oakland 22-6 1416 12 Horizon League
7. Kent State 21-8 1406 14 Mid-American Conference
8. La Salle 21-7 1268 16 Atlantic 10 Conference
9. UC Irvine 21-7 1185 7 Big West Conference
10. George Washington 20-8 1104 9 Atlantic 10 Conference
11. Wichita State 21-9 1099 8 Missouri Valley Conference
12. North Texas 23-6 1052 6 Conference USA
13. Tulane 20-8 933 10 American Athletic Conference
14. Illinois State 20-9 915 11 Missouri Valley Conference
15. Drexel 21-7 748 13 Colonial Athletic Association
16. Massachusetts 20-8 687 20 Atlantic 10 Conference
17. Akron 21-8 607 18 Mid-American Conference
18. Old Dominion 20-8 542 23 Conference USA
19. Bradley 19-9 507 NR Missouri Valley Conference
20. American 23-7 386 25 Patriot League
21. Florida Gulf Coast 20-7 379 17 Sun Belt Conference
22. Mercer 22-8 282 21 Southern Conference
23. Houston 19-8 216 19 American Athletic Conference
24. Richmond 19-9 192 15 Atlantic 10 Conference
25. San Diego 19-10 154 NR West Coast Conference
Others Receiving Votes:
Utah State 18-10 71 Mountain West Conference
Robert Morris 23-7 41 Northeast Conference
Western Carolina 20-8 33 Southern Conference
Northwestern State 21-7 25 Southland Conference
Arkansas State 20-8 21 Sun Belt Conference
Indiana State 19-11 21 Missouri Valley Conference
San Diego State 17-11 21 Mountain West Conference
Detroit 18-10 1 Horizon League
A little surprised Rice didn't at least get some votes there.
Now for another edition of the Bubble Watch, and we'll start with the Overall Bubble Watch which sees one of our FOFC teams, and a former FOFC team.
Code:
Team Record RPI vs. 1-50 vs. 51-100 vs. 101-200 vs. 200+ SOS Projected
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LSU 17-10 .576 (33) 2-3 3-2 11-5 1-0 40 In
San Diego 19-10 .559 (54) 1-2 2-2 10-5 6-1 91 In
Massachusetts 20-8 .546 (70) 3-6 1-1 4-1 12-0 185 In
Detroit 18-10 .557 (56) 2-3 2-0 5-2 9-5 98 In
Loyola Marymount 18-12 .556 (59) 1-3 3-2 8-6 6-1 60 In
Albany 18-10 .548 (64) 0-4 2-1 3-1 13-4 113 In
UT Arlington 16-10 .557 (58) 0-1 5-3 6-3 5-3 78 In
Vanderbilt 20-8 .541 (80) 0-3 4-1 12-3 4-1 179 In
North Texas 23-6 .543 (75) 0-0 4-2 7-2 12-2 290 Out
Indiana State 19-11 .543 (74) 4-3 5-2 4-3 6-3 142 Out
Michigan State 17-10 .544 (73) 1-3 5-2 5-5 6-0 119 Out
Richmond 19-9 .542 (77) 2-5 2-0 5-2 10-2 176 Out
Mercer 22-8 .545 (71) 0-1 1-4 7-2 14-1 237 Out
Arkansas State 20-8 .542 (76) 0-0 2-4 5-2 13-2 218 Out
Rice 18-9 .541 (79) 0-1 2-3 6-4 10-1 233 Out
Good to see Rice at least on the bubble, which means they will at least be in contention with a strong finish. Still though, you have to look at that SOS and RPI. It always seems to come down to that. I mean, a 16-5 record against teams 101 and lower in the RPI probably means not a very tough schedule.
Also, Coach Al Mighty might be happy to see that Michigan State is projected out of the NCAA Tournament as well, since he mentioned something about them recently. Although, I hate to say it, but the Spartans still have a better chance than Al's new team, Notre Dame does.
Now for the rest of the bubble watch:
Locks: St. John's, UCLA, Stanford, Alabama.
The same teams that have been locks for the last couple weeks are still locks. The changes include Rice being in the Overall Bubble Watch as one of the Last Four Out, as well as TCU going from being one of the Last Four In, to being off the bubble and definitely out.