Around the Rim: How injuries impact selection/seeding

Losing Dominic James to a broken foot certainly hurts Marquette. He was part of a dynamic three-guard offense and an exceptional defender. You hate to see any player injured – it’s especially tough when the player’s a senior on a team having an excellent season. We wish him a full recovery.

Just how does James’ injury affect Marquette come Selection Sunday?  That will depend largely on how the team plays without him over the next couple of weeks.  Not only is it bad timing because of the NCAA Tournament, but the Golden Eagles are also entering the toughest part of their schedule.  As the Selection Committee accounts for James’ absence, they will have to not only evaluate wins and losses, but assess the team’s overall performance without James.  If Marquette performs well, seeding effects will be minimal. Should the Golden Eagles struggle, where best to place them in the Bracket will be a much tougher decision.  Will they be a four seed?  Five?  Or without James are they a six or seven seed?  Hard to say.  We’ll know a lot more prior to the Big East Tournament in New York.

February arrival still finds Huskies in top spot…

We open February with Connecticut as the No. 1 team in the polls – which, of course is fun, but meaningless – and also No. 1 here at Bracketville.  How long that lasts depends on the Huskies.  The last few No. 1 teams haven’t spent much time there.

The updated February 2 bracket is posted in Bracketology.

In other bracket news, we think North Carolina is a step behind the top line teams: UConn, Duke, Oklahoma and Pittsburgh.  While we use both performance and potential, we’re about two-thirds of our way through the season and thus performance holds two-thirds of the weight.  In that regard, UNC simply doesn’t have the same overall profile.  We also know if the Tar Heels decide to focus for 40 minutes and play some lock-down defense, they can easily move back to a  No. 1 spot. 

We’ve also lost some teams that have made a home in the bracket for a long time: Notre Dame, Miami(FL), Wisconsin and Michigan.  All four – along with Georgetown – have struggled mightily.  They have just over a month to recover.  Of those, Notre Dame and Wisconsin  probably have the toughest routes.  The Irish in particular have a weak non-conference strength of schedule and an even weaker defense.  Look for more in some Around the Hoop: Bracket Bits soon.   And as always, send us a rebound – Bracketguy.

Hoyas, Huskies open Big East season …

     Time to get serious.  Non-conference work is largely done.  The backyard brawls begin with league play.  We’re about to start separating the contenders and pretenders.  Is there a better way to start than Georgetown at Connecticut tonight?   In another key conference tilt, Stephen Curry and Davidson invade Charleston to take on the Cougars.  Charleston is 9-1 (Division 1) and 2-0 in the Southern Conference.  The Cougars also have a win over South Carolina.  Winner gets a early head start.