Feb. 1-7, 2021
No feature games this week, which is a surprise for sure. To the weekly recap we go:
Hartford (David Ginsberg) -- 17-6, 7-4 T-1st America East.
2/4/21 vs. Boston University (W 60-58).
2/7/21 at Vermont (L 77-57).
A split this week for the Hawks, as they win their non-conference game, but lose in the more important conference game, losing badly at that.
UConn (Randolph Childress) -- 11-12, 6-5 6th American.
2/3/21 vs. UCF (W 57-55).
2/6/21 at Tulane (L 78-59).
A split for the Huskies, who continue to struggle in Coach Childress's first year at the helm. Losing by 19 to a team even lower than them in the standings just isn't going to cut it.
ECU (Al Hutt) -- 13-9, 7-4 T-3rd American.
2/3/21 vs. Tulane (W 85-64).
2/6/21 at Temple (W 78-70).
2 more wins for the Pirates, who continue to turn heads this season. Next week will tell us a lot though, as they play both the 1st and 2nd place teams in the conference.
Tulsa (Will Brown) -- 9-11, 3-7 9th American.
2/3/21 vs. Houston (L 60-48).
2/6/21 at SMU (L 84-59).
The struggles continue for the Golden Hurricane, who get absolutely blasted by SMU, not to mention losing by double digits to a 5 win team. Coach Brown is right, this season can't get over fast enough for them.
Duke (Dean Hoo) -- 16-6, 7-3 T-4th ACC.
2/3/21 vs. Virginia Tech (W 77-57).
2/6/21 at Clemson (W 78-68).
2 more wins for the Blue Devils, who have won 4 in a row now as they continue to make a late season push to get back into the NCAA Tournament.
#14 TCU (Bee Mighty) -- 18-5, 9-2 2nd Big 12.
2/1/21 at Texas (L 78-61).
2/6/21 at Kansas State (W 79-67).
A split for the Horned Frogs, who suffer their 2nd conference loss at Texas, but a nice recovery at K-State to split their road games this week.
Michigan State (Al Mighty) -- 13-9, 5-5 T-6th Big Ten.
2/3/21 vs. #11 Penn State (L 85-81).
2/6/21 at Maryland (W 89-80).
A split for the Spartans, who continue to play average basketball. Coach Mighty is struggling to find some consistency with this team.
Northwestern (Ess Vee) -- 8-14, 4-6 Big Ten.
2/3/21 vs. Nebraska (L 74-73).
2/6/21 vs. Iowa (W 69-54).
A split for the Wildcats, who break a 4 game losing streak by beating Iowa, and were just a basket away from going 2-0 this week.
Hawaii (B.B. Gunn) -- 11-11, 5-4 T-3rd Big West.
2/4/21 vs. Cal Poly (W 85-76).
2/6/21 at Cal State Fullerton (L 72-55).
The Warriors also are struggling to find some consistency, as they break a 3 game losing streak by beating Cal Poly, then turn right around and lose again. The schedule is set up nicely to make a postseason push, but can Coach Gunn get these guys up for it?
Rice (Charlie Shocker) -- 11-10, 4-6 T-8th Conference USA.
2/4/21 at Old Dominion (W 75-66).
2/6/21 at Middle Tennessee (L 67-60).
A split for the Owls this week, as they also struggle to find consistency, as they have split their games the last 4 weeks of the season.
Colorado (Rob Nielsen) -- 10-12, 4-6 8th Pac 12.
2/4/21 at Oregon State (L 72-60).
2/6/21 vs. California (W 82-63).
A split for the Buffaloes, who have won 3 of their last 4 but have a very tough stretch coming up.
Stanford (Benito Sanchez) -- 11-11, 5-5 T-5th Pac 12.
2/4/21 vs. Arizona State (L 51-46).
2/6/21 at Arizona (L 65-56).
2 tough losses for the Cardinal this week, as they fall back to .500 on the season.
#23 UCLA (Tim Shepard) -- 16-6, 7-3 2nd Pac 12.
2/4/21 vs. Gonzaga (W 79-67).
2/6/21 vs. Washington (W 72-50).
2 double digit wins for the Bruins, who recover nicely this week after their loss to Oregon last week.
Washington State (DeShawn St. John) -- 14-8, 5-5 T-5th Pac 12.
2/4/21 vs. Oregon (W 72-69).
2/6/21 at Arizona State (L 70-60).
A split for the Cougars, who win a very tough game against Oregon, but can't follow it up as they lose to Arizona State.
Alabama (Roy Rogers) -- 9-13, 2-8 T-12th SEC.
2/3/21 vs. #20 Texas A&M (L 89-81).
2/6/21 vs. Ole Miss (L 88-79).
The terrible season continues for the Crimson Tide, as they lose 2 more, and have now lost 7 of their last 8.
Kentucky (Patrick Hutt) -- 14-7, 7-3 T-3rd SEC.
2/3/21 at Vanderbilt (L 62-60).
2/6/21 vs. South Carolina (W 84-53).
By all accounts, this is a down year for the Wildcats so far. They lost a heartbreaker at Vanderbilt before pounding South Carolina, but of their last 8 regular season games, 7 of them are against teams with winning records.
Troy (Brett Hawkins) -- 10-12, 6-8 T-7th Sun Belt.
2/4/21 vs. Northern Kentucky (L 92-68).
I feel another late season slide coming for the Trojans, who have lost their last 3 games, and lost their last 2, including their lone game this week in very convincing fashion. The schedule is favorable for a strong finish, as 5 of their remaining 8 games are against teams that currently have either 7 or 8 wins. Let's hope Coach Hawkins can find a way to at least get his boys to qualify for the Sun Belt Tournament.
Let's take a look at the national top 25 for the week of Feb. 8-14:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference test test test test
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1. Louisville (67) 21-3 1795 1 Atlantic Coast Conference
2. Wisconsin (5) 20-2 1733 2 Big Ten Conference
3. Baylor 20-3 1651 3 Big 12 Conference
4. Villanova 19-4 1517 6 Big East Conference
5. San Diego State 20-2 1516 5 Mountain West Conference
6. Illinois 19-3 1460 10 Big Ten Conference
7. Florida State 18-4 1401 8 Atlantic Coast Conference
8. Boise State 18-4 1296 4 Mountain West Conference
9. Syracuse 17-3 1217 9 Atlantic Coast Conference
10. Wichita State 21-4 1144 7 Missouri Valley Conference
11. Rhode Island 19-3 1047 15 Atlantic 10 Conference
12. Penn State 17-6 975 11 Big Ten Conference
13. TCU 18-5 756 14 Big 12 Conference
14. Memphis 16-4 750 17 American Athletic Conference
15. UAB 18-4 723 22 Conference USA
16. Providence 17-6 675 13 Big East Conference
17. Fresno State 19-4 527 16 Mountain West Conference
18. UCLA 16-6 469 23 Pacific-12 Conference
19. Kent State 18-4 459 NR Mid-American Conference
20. Georgetown 16-7 457 24 Big East Conference
21. Florida 15-7 437 12 Southeastern Conference
22. Virginia 15-7 352 25 Atlantic Coast Conference
23. UC Irvine 18-4 291 NR Big West Conference
24. Vanderbilt 16-6 203 NR Southeastern Conference
25. Western Michigan 18-5 201 NR Mid-American Conference
Others Receiving Votes:
William & Mary 18-5 58 Colonial Athletic Association
Rutgers 16-6 54 Big Ten Conference
Harvard 18-5 43 Ivy League
Tennessee 16-6 41 Southeastern Conference
Georgia State 19-6 40 Horizon League
Missouri 16-6 37 Southeastern Conference
Arizona 15-7 20 Pacific-12 Conference
Texas A&M 16-6 19 Southeastern Conference
Lehigh 18-5 13 Patriot League
Middle Tennessee 17-5 8 Conference USA
Duke 16-6 5 Atlantic Coast Conference
Quinnipiac 19-5 4 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
SMU 16-6 3 American Athletic Conference
Oregon State 16-6 2 Pacific-12 Conference
Oklahoma 13-8 1 Big 12 Conference
Both TCU and UCLA move up in the top 25 this week, TCU doing so despite the loss to Texas. Duke is garnering a few votes after 2 wins this week.
Now for the mid-major top 25 for the week of Feb. 8-14:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference test test test test
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1. San Diego State (72) 20-2 1800 2 Mountain West Conference
2. Boise State 18-4 1719 3 Mountain West Conference
3. Wichita State 21-4 1641 1 Missouri Valley Conference
4. Rhode Island 19-3 1563 4 Atlantic 10 Conference
5. Memphis 16-4 1518 5 American Athletic Conference
6. UAB 18-4 1428 7 Conference USA
7. Kent State 18-4 1298 8 Mid-American Conference
8. Fresno State 19-4 1261 6 Mountain West Conference
9. Western Michigan 18-5 1197 9 Mid-American Conference
10. UC Irvine 18-4 1110 10 Big West Conference
11. Georgia State 19-6 1061 14 Horizon League
12. SMU 16-6 1007 17 American Athletic Conference
13. William & Mary 18-5 946 19 Colonial Athletic Association
14. Buffalo 15-7 868 13 Mid-American Conference
15. Harvard 18-5 828 15 Ivy League
16. Lehigh 18-5 694 16 Patriot League
17. Middle Tennessee 17-5 691 18 Conference USA
18. Illinois State 17-7 614 12 Missouri Valley Conference
19. Quinnipiac 19-5 456 21 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
20. Richmond 16-6 399 NR Atlantic 10 Conference
21. Detroit 18-8 351 20 Horizon League
22. Davidson 15-7 306 11 Atlantic 10 Conference
23. FIU 15-6 154 24 Conference USA
24. Mercer 17-6 143 25 Southern Conference
25. George Washington 14-7 138 22 Atlantic 10 Conference
Others Receiving Votes:
Eastern Michigan 16-7 44 Mid-American Conference
Massachusetts 15-7 38 Atlantic 10 Conference
Pepperdine 15-8 35 West Coast Conference
Akron 15-8 31 Mid-American Conference
Marshall 15-7 21 Conference USA
UTEP 13-7 15 Conference USA
Northeastern 17-8 11 Colonial Athletic Association
Northern Kentucky 16-6 6 Sun Belt Conference
Columbia 14-8 4 Ivy League
Northern Illinois 14-8 4 Mid-American Conference
Still none of our Mid-Major teams garnering votes. Hartford has the best chance, and probably should, but it is what it is.
Now it's time for this weeks edition of the Bubble Watch. Again we have 2 teams in the Overall Bubble Watch (I didn't leave Duke out this time!) so 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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Minnesota 14-8 .571 (42) 4-4 1-3 8-0 1-1 50 In
Washington 14-8 .559 (58) 4-7 2-0 4-1 4-0 63 In
Marshall 15-7 .579 (30) 3-3 1-0 5-1 6-3 107 In
Buffalo 15-7 .556 (63) 1-4 1-0 8-2 5-1 106 In
Virginia 15-7 .549 (70) 3-2 3-2 7-3 2-0 110 In
Washington State 14-8 .569 (45) 2-5 1-0 6-3 5-0 66 In
Arkansas 14-8 .565 (50) 1-6 3-2 6-0 4-0 103 In
Davidson 15-7 .561 (54) 1-1 2-1 6-2 6-3 82 In
Columbia 14-8 .568 (47) 3-4 1-1 3-1 7-2 43 Out
UTEP 13-7 .570 (44) 0-2 1-3 9-1 3-1 55 Out
Duke 16-6 .549 (71) 1-3 2-1 8-1 5-1 151 Out
Marquette 15-8 .544 (79) 2-6 3-2 3-0 7-0 138 Out
Auburn 13-8 .561 (56) 2-7 1-0 5-1 5-0 64 Out
Oakland 14-9 .570 (43) 2-1 3-4 4-4 5-0 40 Out
Indiana 13-8 .555 (64) 3-5 0-0 3-2 7-1 77 Out
Washington State is projected in, Duke projected out. Duke has a better overall record, and a slightly better record against the RPI top 100. So why are they projected out you ask? It's simple, that darn SOS (Strength of Schedule). Washington State's SOS is almost 100 higher than Duke's, and their RPI is 26 higher, so that explains that.
Duke just needs to keep taking care of business in their conference, and they have 3 very important games left. Winning 2 of those 3 is critical, along with suffering no bad losses.
Washington State may have their fate decided in the next 3 games, as they are against the top 3 teams in the conference. They need good results in all of them, but it's unlikely to happen. For them, winning the rest of their games aside from the next 3 may be enough.
Now for the rest of the Bubble Watch:
Locks:
TCU,
UCLA,
Kentucky.
No changes from last week, as even the Overall Bubble Watch stayed the same.