QT: Auburn’s resume and Creighton’s woes

The Auburn Tigers arrived in Atlanta with a No. 11 Associated Press ranking and a nifty 8-0 record.  Those same Tigers were handled rather tamely by another set of Tigers from Memphis.  Perhaps it shouldn’t have been a surprise.

While unbeaten, Auburn’s best wins entering the Holiday Hoopsgiving event were Northwestern (one point) and Saint Louis (five points).   Early NET ratings suggested it was Bradley, although it seems unlikely the Braves will retain their current status.  That isn’t to knock Northwestern or Saint Louis – which beat Memphis at home in November (but also lost by 22 at Iona) – rather, it’s to emphasize that narrowly beating such teams might suggest a tad bit of inflation related to the Tigers’ ranking.

Let’s not overreact to any single outcome, nor determine a teams ultimate destiny in early December.  Let’s also not be stubborn and continue to evaluate teams based upon preseason expectations.  Auburn might well prove to be a Top 25 team.  For now, the Tigers’ resume suggests otherwise.

Quick Takes: Gonzaga, UCLA hold serve; tough opening week for the Atlantics

The return of Quick Takes features notable home victories for Gonzaga and UCLA – and a tough opening week for the Atlantics: the Atlantic 10 and the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).  Here we go:

• If preseason projections hold, Gonzaga and UCLA will be wrangling for No. 1 seed position in the West Region.  The two teams meet in Las Vegas on November 23.  Consider it must-watch TV.  Until then, the Zags and Bruins held serve at home against two other top-seed contenders: UCLA beat Villanova in OT late Friday, and Gonzaga rushed past Texas in Spokane Saturday night.  Those are two early resume builders.
• St. Bonaventure is good.  As for the rest of the Atlantic 10, it hasn’t exactly been an ideal few days: Richmond lost to Utah State (which lost to UC Davis at home), VCU lost at home to Wagner, Dayton lost at home to UMass-Lowell, and George Washington dropped a 20-point decision at UC San Diego.
• Meanwhile in the ACC: Louisville lost at home to Furman, Virginia dropped its opener at home against Navy, Georgia Tech fell to Miami-OH, Miami lost at home to UCF (it’s not a bad loss, though, as UCF is pretty good), and Pittsburgh lost at home to The Citadel.

Bracketology: Ohio State moves to top line

With its nation-leading eight Quadrant 1 wins, including four in the upper tier of that grouping, Ohio State moves to the top line in this morning’s bracket update.  Within the rugged Big Ten, the Buckeyes own road wins at Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin.  The other three teams on the No. 1 seed line remain in place – Gonzaga, Baylor and Michigan.  Alabama is now next in line.

Bracketology
Seed List

The bubble extends into the nine-seed line, and there are an array of questionable profiles.  The variations between them are minimal and it depends on how you dice them apart.  Enjoy a busy Saturday of college hoops and the Super Bowl.

Quick Takes: Saturday’s resume builders

It’s never a good idea to over react to a single result in college basketball.  We’ve seen plenty of instances when a “big” win is followed by a “questionable” loss.  Even so, let’s have a go at some Quick Take-aways from the final Saturday in January.

We’ll start with Florida.  The Gators went into Morgantown and exited with a victory over West Virginia.  While technically Tennessee is ranked higher in the current NET ratings, beating the Mountaineers on the road qualifies as UF’s biggest resume win to date.  The journey ahead isn’t easy – with trips to LSU, Tennessee and Arkansas on the horizon – but Florida got a major boost to its profile, regardless.  Now they need to make it stick.

Quick Takes: Michigan State and the Mountain West …

Let’s begin Quick Takes with this … we could realistically be looking at an NCAA tournament bracket without these teams: Kentucky, Duke and Michigan State.  Since winning at Duke on December 1, MSU has one win against a tournament team, Rutgers.  And Thursday, those same Spartans lost at Rutgers by 40.  Pauses due to COVID have certainly impacted Sparty, along with many other teams, but MSU’s current resume has more questions than answers.  With more than a month left in the regular season (we hope), there’s ample time for Tom Izzo and Company to right the ship.  We’ll see if last night ends up being a turning point or the edge of a cliff.