Bracketology: Arizona, Tennessee join No. 1 seeds

With some immense battles ahead this weekend during the Big 12/SEC challenge, Arizona and Tennessee join Purdue and Alabama as No. 1 seeds in today’s bracket update.  Both Purdue and Alabama are firmly entrenched and a loss would not alter either’s positioning.  The current race for the Boilermakers and Crimson Tide is the right to lead the South Region in Louisville.

Bracketology

Arizona claims its spot due do its impressive 5-0 record against the upper tier of Quad 1 (Quad 1A).  Those wins include: UCLA, Tennessee, Indiana and San Diego State.  Tennessee has more work to do to hold its position, although the Volunteers’ metrics are impressive, including No.2 ratings in the NET and predictive metrics.  They get a huge opportunity to impress (or disappoint) when Texas arrives on Saturday.

A tight race is underway in the Big 12.  It’s a rare occurrence, but today’s bracket features five Big 12 teams among the four seed lines.  Thus, you will see more than one Big 12 team in a region within those parameters.  This would be an authorized exception to bracketing principles of separating teams from the same conference among the top four seeds.

QT: UK does a U-Turn; Saturday takeaways

We’ll start with a quick reminder: the NCAA Selection Committee evaluates teams, not conferences.  Understandably, fans (and media) enjoy conversations about how many teams from Conference A will make it, or how many from Conference B should earn a bid.  While such discussions are fun, the reality is, conference affiliation only applies to the mandatory automatic qualifier (AQ) in each league.  Is conference strength a factor?  Sure, because NET ratings within conference groupings can help or hinder a team’s overall profile.  Just know that all Quad 1 or Quad 2 wins are not created equal.  Example: a road win against a team rated No. 120 in the NET counts as a Quad 2 victory, although that team would most likely not be an at-large candidate.

The next reminder: regardless of NET rating, teams still have to win games.  Simply losing to quality opponents is not a path toward at-large selection, nor should it be.  Thus, teams such as West Virginia, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech need victories.  Fortunately for them, the Big 12 offers daily opportunities.

QT: Xavier builds its resume; Kansas survives

Xavier added a significant resume-building victory to its team sheet on Saturday by taking down previously unbeaten Connecticut at the Cintas Center.  XU improved to 2-3 against Quad 1 opponents, having also beaten West Virginia at home.  The Musketeers three losses are by a combined 13 points, all to Quad 1 teams.  They travel to Villanova next Saturday before a pair of home games with Creighton and Marquette.

Kansas rallied and then survived an upset bid by Oklahoma State.  The Jayhawks are now 6-1 against Quad 1-2 opponents.  Missed opportunity for the Cowboys, who entered Saturday among the Next 4 OUT grouping.  Predictive metrics are higher on OSU than results-based options; likely because the Cowboys’ best win remains Sam Houston State.  Huge week ahead for OSU with West Virginia and Texas coming to Stillwater.

Bracketology: New list of No. 1 seeds

Fresh off an incredible Feast Week of college hoops, we have a new group of teams on the No. 1 seed line: Arizona, Virginia, Purdue and Texas.  Early projections are always a mixed bag, but finding a collection of November resumes better than Arizona, Virginia and Purdue is a tough task.

Bracketology
Seed List

Houston opened the season on the top line and may well return.  To date, however, the Cougars best wins are Oregon and Kent State.  It’s not Houston’s fault the Ducks have staggered out the gate, but it’s reality.  Putting it another way, Houston hasn’t done anything to fall, but several other teams put passed them with stronger early profiles.  Soon enough, the Cougars host Alabama and travel to Virginia.  Opportunity awaits.

Keep in mind, it’s still November.  Current standing is not necessarily an indicator of future results. Some teams have yet to be truly tested.  Others have quality losses.

QT: Maui and Mississippi State

Creighton and San Diego State posted key wins at the Maui Invitational on Monday.  The Bluejays passed their first test of the season against Texas Tech.  The Aztecs took down Ohio State, adding the Buckeyes to an early victory list that includes BYU and Stanford.  Today: Creighton squares off against Arkansas; SDSU gets Arizona.

Meanwhile, Texas Tech is now in an unenviable spot.  By losing to Creighton, the Red Raiders face Louisville and the winner of Cincinnati-Ohio State on Wednesday.  If it’s UC, TTU could end up facing two team with losing records.

Mississippi State, the final at-large team selection in Monday’s (way too early) bracket projection, edged Marquette to move to 5-0 on the season.  MSU’s other notable win came against Akron in Philadelphia; the Zips throttled Western Kentucky Monday in Grand Cayman.  The Bulldogs could well be 10-0 before their schedule picks up.