Feb. 8-14, 2021
2 feature games for you, and we'll start in the Big Ten.
2/13/21-
Northwestern (Ess Vee) @
Michigan State (Al Mighty) -- No problem for the Spartans in this one, as they force 18 Northwestern turnovers and roll to an easy victory.
Final Score: Michigan State- 65, Northwestern- 46
Now to the Pac 12:
2/13/21-
#18 UCLA (Tim Shepard) @
Washington State (DeShawn St. John) -- A very gutsy effort for the Cougars in this one, as the teams played sloppy ball, combining for 35 turnovers. Washington State led at halftime, but free throw shooting was the difference, as Wazzou could only manage to shoot 50% from the charity stripe. The Bruins hit their free throws down the stretch.
Final Score: #18 UCLA- 60, Washington State- 55
Now to the rest of the weekly recap:
Hartford (David Ginsberg) -- 18-7, 8-5 2nd America East.
2/10/21 at UMass Lowell (W 61-57).
2/14/21 vs. UMBC (L 67-58).
The Hawks continue to fade down the stretch, as they've lost 2 of their last 3. Losing to an 8 win team.. not acceptable.
UConn (Randolph Childress) -- 13-12, 8-5 T-3rd American.
2/10/21 vs. Temple (W 86-80).
2/13/21 at South Florida (W 90-82).
Good week for the Huskies, who win 2 in a row for the first time since the beginning of January. They can still make a push for the postseason, and it starts with developing a nice winning streak.
ECU (Al Hutt) -- 13-11, 7-6 6th American.
2/10/21 vs. SMU (L 79-76).
2/13/21 vs. #14 Memphis (L 89-60).
The Pirates lose both games this week, and no such luck against Memphis this time. Earlier this season, ECU upset Memphis, but the Tigers were ready for the rematch.
Tulsa (Will Brown) -- 10-12, 4-8 9th American.
2/10/21 at Cincinnati (L 69-58).
2/13/21 at Temple (W 77-60).
The Golden Hurricane split this week, breaking a 3 game losing streak by winning big at Temple. The schedule doesn't get any easier though.
Duke (Dean Hoo) -- 18-6, 9-3 4th ACC.
2/10/21 at Notre Dame (W 75-67).
2/13/21 at #22 Virginia (W 82-58).
The Blue Devils seem to be figuring it out in February, as they've won 6 in a row, including a pasting of a ranked Virginia Team. Only 1 more real test on their schedule, so they should be setting themselves up quite nicely to return to the Big Dance.
#13 TCU (Bee Mighty) -- 18-7, 9-4 2nd Big 12.
2/8/21 vs. #3 Baylor (L 70-57).
2/13/21 vs. West Virginia (L 70-64).
Tough week for the Horned Frogs, as they continue to slide, losers of 3 of their last 4.
Michigan State (Al Mighty) -- 14-10, 6-6 T-6th Big Ten.
2/10/21 vs. Rutgers (L 53-50).
2/13/21 vs. Northwestern- feature game, highlighted above.
A split for the Spartans, who lost to a Rutgers team that has been a surprise all season. Time for Coach Mighty to earn his money, as Sparty goes on the road for the next 4.
Northwestern (Ess Vee) -- 8-16, 4-8 13th Big Ten.
2/10/21 vs. Ohio State (L 73-62).
2/13/21 at Michigan State- feature game, highlighted above.
2 more losses for the Wildcats, who have lost 6 of their last 7. The season is going south quick, and with their next 4 games against teams that have an RPI of 30 or better, it doesn't look like it'll get any better.
Hawaii (B.B. Gunn) -- 11-13, 5-6 T-5th Big West.
2/9/21 at Long Beach State (L 70-44).
2/13/21 vs. UC Riverside (L 65-57).
Firecoachgunn.com is back up and running after 2 more losses for the Warriors. This makes them losers of 6 of their last 7 games after a 4-0 conference start. Coach Gunn needs to find the team that won 4 straight to start conference play.
Rice (Charlie Shocker) -- 12-11, 5-7 T-8th Conference USA.
2/11/21 vs. Charlotte (L 90-81).
2/13/21 vs. Marshall (W 91-89, OT).
A split for the Owls this week, as they pulled off a mild upset against Marshall, even if they did need OT to do it.
Colorado (Rob Nielsen) -- 11-13, 5-7 T-8th Pac 12.
2/11/21 vs. Washington (L 68-59).
2/13/21 vs. Arizona (W 72-65).
Don't be so alarmed by the fact the Buffaloes beat Arizona, this is a very down year for Zona. Still a good win for Coach Nielsen, who hopes he can turn it into an end of season push.
Stanford (Benito Sanchez) -- 13-11, 7-5 T-4th Pac 12.
2/11/21 vs. Oregon (75-57).
2/13/21 at Gonzaga (W 71-70).
The Cardinal get 2 big wins this week to crawl within a game of 1st place in a down year for the conference overall. A nice buzzer beater at Gonzaga continues the Zags' not so warm welcome to Pac 12 life.
#18 UCLA (Tim Shepard) -- 17-7, 8-4 Pac 12.
2/11/21 vs. Arizona State (L 89-78).
2/13/21 at Washington State- feature game, highlighted above.
The Bruins split this week, as Arizona State continues to be a thorn in everybody's side, doing just enough to stay relevant.
Washington State (DeShawn St. John) -- 15-9, 6-6 T-6th Pac 12.
2/11/21 at Oregon State (W 62-54).
2/13/21 vs. #18 UCLA- feature game, highlighted above.
A split for the Cougars, as struggles at the free throw line cost them a chance for an upset against UCLA.
Alabama (Roy Rogers) -- 10-14, 3-9 T-12th SEC.
2/10/21 at Georgia (W 71-63).
2/13/21 at Tennessee (L 75-65).
A split for the Crimson Tide, as the win at Georgia broke a 4 game losing streak. They are still struggling though, having only won 3 of their last 11 games. The win at Georgia was also career win #100 for Coach Rogers.
Kentucky (Patrick Hutt) -- 16-7, 9-3 T-1st SEC.
2/10/21 vs. Missouri (W 77-65).
2/13/21 at #21 Florida (W 84-75).
Nice week for the Wildcats, who beat 2 solid teams, including a team that was ranked. They've won 3 in a row and appear to be putting it together now.
Troy (Brett Hawkins) -- 12-12, 7-8 8th Sun Belt.
2/11/21 vs. Appalachian State (W 68-61).
2/13/21 at Nicholls State (W 71-45).
Good week for the Trojans, who are trying to avoid a 2nd straight late season meltdown. Getting a conference win and a non-conference win is a good start.
Here's a look at the national top 25 for the week of Feb. 15-21:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference test test test test
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1. Wisconsin (48) 21-3 1775 2 Big Ten Conference
2. Louisville (21) 22-4 1720 1 Atlantic Coast Conference
3. Baylor 22-3 1633 3 Big 12 Conference
4. Illinois (3) 21-3 1630 6 Big Ten Conference
5. Florida State 20-4 1477 7 Atlantic Coast Conference
6. Boise State 20-4 1391 8 Mountain West Conference
7. San Diego State 21-3 1389 5 Mountain West Conference
8. Wichita State 23-4 1297 10 Missouri Valley Conference
9. Villanova 20-5 1272 4 Big East Conference
10. Syracuse 18-4 1174 9 Atlantic Coast Conference
11. Fresno State 21-4 1015 17 Mountain West Conference
12. Memphis 18-4 984 14 American Athletic Conference
13. Rhode Island 20-4 925 11 Atlantic 10 Conference
14. Penn State 18-7 820 12 Big Ten Conference
15. Providence 18-6 761 16 Big East Conference
16. UCLA 17-7 643 18 Pacific-12 Conference
17. Duke 18-6 562 NR Atlantic Coast Conference
18. Rutgers 18-6 524 NR Big Ten Conference
19. UAB 19-5 454 15 Conference USA
20. Vanderbilt 17-7 408 24 Southeastern Conference
21. Harvard 20-5 308 NR Ivy League
22. Georgetown 17-8 255 20 Big East Conference
23. Georgia State 20-6 213 NR Horizon League
24. Kentucky 16-7 191 NR Southeastern Conference
25. Middle Tennessee 19-5 139 NR Conference USA
Others Receiving Votes:
TCU 18-7 119 Big 12 Conference
Buffalo 17-7 86 Mid-American Conference
SMU 18-6 63 American Athletic Conference
Quinnipiac 21-5 58 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
Western Michigan 19-6 39 Mid-American Conference
Missouri 17-7 25 Southeastern Conference
Tennessee 17-7 22 Southeastern Conference
UC Irvine 18-6 21 Big West Conference
Richmond 18-6 7 Atlantic 10 Conference
Nice to see so many of our FOFC teams represented here. Granted, 4 isn't a lot, but it's a start. UCLA moves up 2 spots, even after splitting this week. Meanwhile, 2-0 weeks for Duke and Kentucky see them jump into the top 25, while TCU falls out after an 0-2 week, but is still at the top of the Others Receiving Votes list.
Now for the Mid-Major Top 25 for the week of Feb. 15-21:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference test test test test
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1. Wichita State (65) 23-4 1788 3 Missouri Valley Conference
2. Boise State (4) 20-4 1698 2 Mountain West Conference
3. San Diego State (3) 21-3 1698 1 Mountain West Conference
4. Memphis 18-4 1571 5 American Athletic Conference
5. Rhode Island 20-4 1500 4 Atlantic 10 Conference
6. Fresno State 21-4 1412 8 Mountain West Conference
7. UAB 19-5 1347 6 Conference USA
8. SMU 18-6 1254 12 American Athletic Conference
9. Georgia State 20-6 1186 11 Horizon League
10. Buffalo 17-7 1136 14 Mid-American Conference
11. Middle Tennessee 19-5 1057 17 Conference USA
12. Harvard 20-5 1033 15 Ivy League
13. Western Michigan 19-6 962 9 Mid-American Conference
14. Kent State 18-6 835 7 Mid-American Conference
15. UC Irvine 18-6 752 10 Big West Conference
16. Richmond 18-6 736 20 Atlantic 10 Conference
17. Quinnipiac 21-5 673 19 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
18. Illinois State 18-8 549 18 Missouri Valley Conference
19. Mercer 19-6 512 24 Southern Conference
20. William & Mary 18-7 406 13 Colonial Athletic Association
21. Massachusetts 17-7 339 NR Atlantic 10 Conference
22. Pepperdine 17-8 265 NR West Coast Conference
23. Detroit 19-9 174 21 Horizon League
24. Davidson 16-8 144 22 Atlantic 10 Conference
25. Lehigh 18-7 102 16 Patriot League
Others Receiving Votes:
George Washington 15-8 55 Atlantic 10 Conference
FIU 16-7 53 Conference USA
Columbia 16-8 35 Ivy League
Northern Illinois 16-8 35 Mid-American Conference
Northern Kentucky 18-6 34 Sun Belt Conference
Akron 16-9 26 Mid-American Conference
Northeastern 18-8 20 Colonial Athletic Association
UTEP 14-8 5 Conference USA
Eastern Michigan 17-8 3 Mid-American Conference
USC Upstate 18-7 3 Atlantic Sun Conference
Cal State Northridge 15-9 2 Big West Conference
Still striking out here, as Hartford continues to slump a bit, and UConn hasn't lived up to expectations.
It's time for this weeks edition of the Bubble Watch, and we've got 1 FOFC team listed in the Overall Bubble Watch:
Code:
OVERALL BUBBLE WATCH
Team Record RPI vs. 1-50 vs. 51-100 vs. 101-200 vs. 200+ SOS Projected
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Florida 15-9 .588 (20) 4-7 3-1 5-1 3-0 10 In
Arkansas 15-9 .565 (43) 5-7 0-2 6-0 4-0 70 In
UC Irvine 18-6 .565 (44) 0-1 4-1 8-3 6-1 189 In
Arizona 15-9 .581 (24) 3-5 4-1 7-3 1-0 20 In
Columbia 16-8 .571 (34) 3-3 1-2 6-1 6-2 57 In
Oregon State 16-8 .557 (59) 1-4 2-3 6-0 7-1 103 In
William & Mary 18-7 .559 (55) 1-0 1-1 5-4 11-2 167 In
Washington State 15-9 .569 (40) 1-5 4-2 4-2 6-0 53 In
George Washington 15-8 .555 (65) 3-1 5-3 3-2 4-2 91 Out
UTEP 14-8 .569 (38) 0-4 2-2 7-1 5-1 47 Out
Marshall 15-9 .561 (49) 3-3 1-0 6-3 5-3 118 Out
Kent State 18-6 .548 (73) 3-1 2-2 4-3 9-0 211 Out
Davidson 16-8 .553 (67) 1-1 3-1 5-3 7-3 106 Out
Marquette 16-9 .548 (72) 2-7 3-2 4-0 7-0 105 Out
Massachusetts 17-7 .543 (80) 1-1 1-3 7-2 8-1 199 Out
Right now, Washington State is the last team projected in, and they are losing ground. If they keep splitting their games during the week, that could change. The 1-5 against the RPI top 50 is hurting them, even if their RPI is strong enough to warrant an at-large bid. They have 6 games left, going .500 in those 6 games is absolutely a must, and they'll probably need to win at least 1 game in the Pac 12 Tourney to feel safe.
Now for the rest of the FOFC Teams and their projections. Remember, if a team isn't listed, they are projected out, and also remember this is only for the NCAA Tournament, not the other 3 postseason tournaments.
Locks:
Duke,
TCU,
UCLA,
Kentucky.
The only change from last week is that Duke is off the bubble, for now, and is projected as a lock.