Since terminally bubble-bound Maryland insists on making this a typically tense early March (and since I'd like a decent Maryland-related item despite having no midweek game to work with), here's a look at who helped and hurt the Terrapins' postseason chances.
(The caveat here is no one helps or hurts those chances more than Maryland will in its regular season finale at Virginia and then in the ACC tournament).
Helping:
Mississippi dismissing Arkansas probably does a little more good than bad. Both are hopelessly bad road teams and reside in a division rife with mediocrity. That's five losses in seven games for the Razorbacks, who are among the many teams incapable of nailing down postseason berths in a weak year.
Hurting:
Virginia Tech wiped out Wake Forest in its home finale last night, and the Hokies can no longer be ignored as a plausible NCAA tournament team. The Demon Deacons, meanwhile, are pretty much toast unless they win the ACC tournament.
A team that got itself back in the discussion is Ohio State (aka the Maryland of the Big Ten). The Buckeyes snapped a four-game losing streak by beating Purdue in overtime and collecting their first victory over a current top-50 team.
--- Patrick Stevens
Comments (3)
Patrick - thanks for this and your recent posts.. helps me stay off the ledge..
Since we (Terps) are off until Sunday night, what games in the ACC and across the "bubble watch" should us Maryland fans be paying attention to over the next 4-5 days, and who should we be rooting for to improve our chances out there?
Posted by Levi | March 5, 2008 11:07 AM
First of all, the teams to really keep an eye on are the teams that would squeeze another team out just by losing in their conference tournaments. In some cases, it means multiple teams losing. Both Gonzaga and Saint Mary's are in good shape in the West Coast; so long as one of them wins the league tournament, it won't be a problem for the bubble.
Memphis. Butler. Xavier AND Massachusetts. Drake. Gonzaga AND Saint Mary's. South Alabama, in all likelihood. Brigham Young AND UNLV. Maybe even Kent State in the MAC and Davidson in the SoCon. Bubble teams will be rooting for all of those program to make their lives easier.
Two particularly dangerous teams around the country are Western Kentucky (Sun Belt) and Southern Illinois (Missouri Valley). I'd be surprised if at least one of them didn't win their league tournament.
The Hilltoppers have the requisite great player (Courtney Lee) but will probably have to beat South Alabama on its home court in a potential league final.
The Salukis have played well late and are still capable of winning wonderfully ugly 51-48 games. Plus, the No. 1 seed hasn't won the Valley tournament since 1998.
As for the next few days, here's some games to keep an eye on (bubble team in CAPS):
Tonight: KENTUCKY at South Carolina, SYRACUSE at Seton Hall, Tulsa at UAB, Tennessee at FLORIDA
Thursday: ARIZONA STATE at OREGON (knockout time for the Ducks), ARIZONA at Oregon State, Xavier at SAINT JOSEPH'S
Saturday: UAB at Memphis, SAINT JOSEPH'S at Dayton, MISSISSIPPI at Georgia, Marquette at SYRACUSE, ARIZONA STATE at Oregon State, VILLANOVA at Providence, ARIZONA at OREGON, Auburn at ARKANSAS
Sunday: Michigan State at OHIO STATE, FLORIDA at KENTUCKY, VIRGINIA TECH at Clemson
Posted by Patrick Stevens | March 5, 2008 11:31 AM
Thanks for the notes, Patrick.. and Slaw... well, thats like your opinion, man
Posted by Levi | March 5, 2008 8:03 PM