Around the NCAA - February 15, 2011

Monday's Recap
Thank you Kansas State.  I have been asking for a bubble team to beat someone and the Wildcats finally heeded my call with an impressive thumping of the Jayhawks. At 5-6 in the Big 12, K-State still has some work to do, but a win over Kansas could be what it needs to turn this season around. 

Syracuse, who was becoming a seeding nightmare, got a nice win over West Virginia, as the Mountaineers continue a fall down the seeding lines. 

What's on tap for Tuesday
There is a huge tilt in the Colonial, as Virginia Commonwealth hosts George Mason in a desperate attempt to hold onto any at-large chances.  With the weak bubble, a sweep of George Mason and Wichita State this week would get VCU back into the discussion.

Michigan State at Ohio State - the Spartans can thrust themselves safely back in the dance with a huge road win in Columbus
St. John's at Marquette - the Golden Eagles are the most precarious of the Big East teams and may need to beat St. John's here or Cincinnati on March 2nd to lock up a bid.  They can still get to 9-9 in the Big East by sweeping Seton Hall and beating Providence, but a 4th good RPI win tonight would be huge for Marquette.

Finally today, I am going to start dissecting some of the bubblicious teams.  Conference-USA seems a good place to start.

Memphis (19-6, 7-3, RPI#32)
RPI Top 25 record - 0-2
RPI Top 50 record - 3-3
RPI Top 100 record - 8-5
Road/Neutral record - 5-4
Best Win - at UAB (RPI#34)
Best Road/Neutral Win - at UAB (RPI#34)
Bad Losses - at SMU (RPI#204)

UTEP (19-5, 7-2, RPI#54)
RPI Top 25 record - 0-1
RPI Top 50 record - 0-2
RPI Top 100 record - 3-3
Road/Neutral record - 5-4
Best Win - neutral vs Michigan (RPI#59)
Best Road/Neutral Win - Michigan (RPI#59)
Bad Losses - home vs Pacific (RPI#129), neutral vs Georgia Tech (RPI#173)

UAB (18-6, 8-3, RPI#34)
RPI Top 25 record - 0-1
RPI Top 50 record - 0-4
RPI Top 100 record - 6-5
Road/Neutral record - 7-4
Best Win - home vs UTEP (RPI#54)
Best Road/Neutral Win - at Marshall (RPI#62)
Bad Losses - at Arizona State (RPI#153)

Southern Miss (18-6, 7-4, RPI#47)
RPI Top 25 record - 0-0
RPI Top 50 record - 1-3
RPI Top 100 record - 4-5
Road/Neutral record - 7-5
Best Win - at UAB (RPI#34)
Best Road/Neutral Win - at UAB (RPI#34)
Bad Losses - at SMU (RPI#204)

Without comparison to other conferences, these resumes are nothing to write home about.  I am seriously questioning my inclusion of UAB in the field this week.  Memphis should have enough to be an at-large resume, but if the Tigers win the C-USA tourney, does anyone else have a worthy resume?  Let's compare them to some other bubblicious squads.

Virginia Tech (16-7, 6-4, RPI#64)
RPI Top 25 record - 0-2
RPI Top 50 record - 1-5
RPI Top 100 record - 7-5
Road/Neutral record - 7-5
Best Win - home vs Florida State (RPI#48)
Best Road/Neutral win - neutral vs Oklahoma State (RPI#56)
Bad Losses - home vs Virginia (RPI#148), at Georgia Tech (RPI#173)

Boston College (16-9, 6-5, RPI#43)
RPI Top 25 record - 0-3
RPI Top 50 record - 1-5
RPI Top 100 record - 7-8
Road/Neutral record - 5-6
Best Win - neutral vs Texas A&M (RPI#31)
Best Road/Neutral win - Texas A&M (RPI#31)
Bad Losses - home vs Yale (RPI#139)

Clemson (17-8, 6-5, RPI#73)
RPI Top 25 record - 0-2
RPI Top 50 record - 2-4
RPI Top 100 record - 7-6
Road/Neutral record - 4-6
Best Win - home vs Boston College (RPI#43)
Best Road/Neutral win - at College of Charleston (RPI#77)
Bad Losses - at South Carolina (RPI#117), at Virginia (#148)

Kansas State (17-9, 5-6, RPI#32)
RPI Top 25 record - 1-3
RPI Top 50 record - 1-6
RPI Top 100 record - 7-9
Road/Neutral record - 4-7
Best Win - home vs Kansas (RPI#2)
Best Road/Neutral win - neutral vs Gonzaga (RPI#73)
Bad Losses - home vs Colorado (RPI#93)

Oklahoma State (16-8, 4-6, RPI#56)
RPI Top 25 record - 0-1
RPI Top 50 record - 3-2
RPI Top 100 record - 5-7
Road/Neutral record - 4-7
Best Win - home vs Missouri (RPI#26)
Best Road/Neutral win - at Tulsa (RPI#95)
Bad Losses - at Texas Tech (RPI#150)

Baylor (16-8, 6-5, RPI#67)
RPI Top 25 record - 0-2
RPI Top 50 record - 1-4
RPI Top 100 record - 4-6
Road/Neutral record - 3-6
Best Win - at Texas A&M (RPI#31)
Best Road/Neutral win  - Texas A&M (RPI#31)
Bad Losses - at Oklahoma (RPI#124), at Iowa State (RPI#146)

Michigan State (13-10, 6-6, RPI#51)
RPI Top 25 record - 1-6
RPI Top 50 record - 3-7
RPI Top 100 record - 7-9
Road/Neutral record - 3-8
Best Win - home vs Wisconsin (RPI#18)
Best Road/Neutral win - neutral vs Washington (RPI#38)
Bad Losses - at Iowa (RPI#149)

Michigan (15-10, 6-7, RPI#59)
RPI Top 25 record - 0-6
RPI Top 50 record - 1-7
RPI Top 100 record - 7-9
Road/Neutral record - 3-6
Best Win - home vs Harvard (RPI#45)
Best Road/Neutral win - at Michigan State (RPI#51)
Bad Losses - at Indiana (RPI#156)

Alabama (16-8, 8-2, RPI#81)
RPI Top 25 record - 1-2
RPI Top 50 record - 2-2
RPI Top 100 record - 3-4
Road/Neutral record - 3-8
Best Win - home vs Kentucky (RPI#14)
Best Road/Neutral Win - at Tennessee (RPI#28)
Bad Losses - at Providence (RPI#102), at Arkansas (RPI#104), neutral vs St. Peter's (RPI#142), neutral vs Iowa (RPI#149)

VCU (20-7, 12-3, RPI#57)
RPI Top 25 record - 0-0
RPI Top 50 record - 2-3
RPI Top 100 record - 5-4
Road/Neutral record - 8-6
Best Win - at Old Dominion (RPI#30)
Best Road/Neutral win - Old Dominion (RPI#30)
Bad Losses - at South Florida (RPI#157), at Northeastern (RPI#169), at Georgia State (RPI#216)

Richmond (20-6, 9-2, RPI#71)
RPI Top 25 record - 1-1
RPI Top 50 record - 1-2
RPI Top 100 record - 4-4
Road/Neutral record - 10-3
Best Win - neutral vs Purdue (RPI#10)
Best Road/Neutral win - Purdue (RPI#10)
Bad Losses - at Iona (RPI#110), neutral vs Georgia Tech (RPI#173)

Just a sampling of some of the various bubblicious resumes.  All have significant flaws.  By my latest bracket, seven of these teams need to be included in the field.  That is why Kansas State's win over Kansas was huge last night.  They became just the 4th team out of these 15 to beat an RPI Top 25 team.  Only 6 of the 15 have more than 1 RPI Top 50 win.  The committee currently has its work cut-out for them.  Keep deciding it on the court boys!!