BracketBusters
A few years ago ESPN hatched the BracketBusters idea to help teams get into the tournament — and also help mid-majors get better games. It’s been a huge success and the top game assigned Monday – St. Mary’s (21-2 and an RPI of 20) at Murray State (21-0 and RPI of 33) will be a great one. Murray has impressive wins over Southern Miss, Dayton and Memphis, but also has 10 victories over teams with RPIs of over 200. While that’s not the Racers fault as they must play the teams in their league, beating St. Mary’s (7-2 on the road and 6-2 against the top 100) would help them get a little higher seed (right now probably a 6 for the unbeatens from Kentucky). Regardless, it will be a great showcase of two very good teams. Don’t miss it February 18th.
Next Up
Thursday night I will be in Berkeley for Arizona at Cal. Mike Montgomery is setting his team up to win the Pac-12. They’re 7-2 at the halfway point and get the Arizona schools at home this week. If his squad takes care of business, they’ll be 9-2 and, thanks to the conference’s unbalanced schedule, the Golden Bears don’t have to play Washington again or visit Tucson. Montgomery is doing a great coaching job and his team executes, but I thought he looked bad calling San Diego State a “kickback program” the night before he lost to them for the second straight time. I only mention this because I can see a 5 (Aztecs)-12 (Cal) matchup in Portland come NCAA time. Don’t call them any more names Mike as the KICKBACK KIDS are tough. That said, right now Cal might be the only Pac-12 team in the tourney, but watch out for Washington (72 RPI) who just swept the Arizona schools on the road.
(Coverage of the Arizona-Cal game begins at 10:45 PM Eastern Thursday night. John Tautges will join Bill for the call from Berkeley.)
Parity Rules
Parity continues to be the name in most conferences. In the ACC, 8 of the 12 teams have 3 losses or fewer. In the A-10, the seven top teams have 2 or 3 losses. In both the Pac-12 and the Big 10 the top four teams can say the same, and in the Big East, after Syracuse, the next eight teams have four losses or less. What this means is another tough decision for the NCAA’s Selection Committee when it comes time to pick the last few teams.
Ram Tough… Luck
Remember VCU last year? The Rams barely got into the Dance and then went on to the Final Four. Well, Shaka Smart’s squad won’t have a chance to repeat Butler’s back-to-back feat this year unless they win the CAA tournament. Their strength of schedule is 215 and they “boast” 10 wins over teams with RPIs of 225 or higher. Add to that the fact that their remaining games are against weak opponents and it doesn’t look good. I don’t think a BracketBusters meeting with Northern Iowa can save them. They need to triumph in Richmond to make the Tournament.
— Bill Frieder
Former Michigan and Arizona State head coach Bill Frieder is an analyst for Westwood One’s coverage of NCAA Basketball. In his weekly blog Boxed Out, Bill scours the box scores to bring you interesting stories from the world of college basketball.
