I watched the game. USC is really good.
Dons lose 81-65 to Nevada. I would say their At-Large Chances are close to zero. Probably going to have to do something remarkable like 15-3 or better in conference.
Also, Vandy beat SMC fairly handily, 96-71. I’m not sure the last time a Bennett team gave up 90+ to anyone other than Gonzaga, but I would guess that it has been a while. Still, not a bad loss for the Gaels who remain a fringe top-25ish squad.
For the Dons, I agree. I think at-large hopes are dwindling. But they’re in a better spot now than Santa Clara was last year before beating Gonzaga in Spokane. So it’s salvageable for them, but looking bleak. With OSU way down, there are only 5 Q1 games available for USF in WCC play and maybe 3-4 more Q2 games. That danger applies to SCU from here, though, too. I think Xavier eventually becomes Q1, and McNeese is almost certain to move to Q2. But the two Santa Cruz games are basically must-wins now.
So you’ve got tonight, The Pit, and ASU in Vegas to make a splash. Probably need all three to feel on track or 2/3 to feel in it.
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Bad day for the WCC losses for SMC, USF, and now LMU who was beaten by Stony Brook, 71-68. Stony Brook has a decent record, but two of their wins are non-D1. And one of their losses is a near-30 point drubbing by Pacific. LMU really needed to win that one.
The quiet success story, though, is Seattle who won yet again today against Texas State, 66-52. Seattle is one buzzer beater heave by Cal Poly away from being undefeated. The Redhawks haven’t played a great schedule, but they at least have a win in Maples–more valuable after tonight to be sure–and consistent results against other mid-majors.
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NET rankings start tomorrow. It should be a fun release for SCU for the first time since the NCAA debuted them, I would think.
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I asked Gemini and it predicted somewhere between 30 and 45 in NET tomorrow. Although, upon further interrogation it now says #22 so let’s go with that. The NET does not use any prior year data to come up with pre-season rankings like Torvik or Kenpom so that probably works in our favor initially.
Remember the old RPI, well we are 12th in that. NCAA College Basketball RPI Rankings (updated today)
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Seems it made a good first prediction. I find when you push LLMs after they answer that they often start making more mistakes and hallucinate.
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RPI says we are 14, Stanford 67, St. Louis 72, Minnesota 244.
I’ll take all of that with an enormous grain of salt.
Or should that be with the tiniest grain of salt?
Santa Clara at 32 right behind St Mary’s at 29. I’m not surprised with our ranking since the program has been evolving so much the last five years.
Its Pacific I’m impressed with! What a turnaround for that program! Congrats to WCC for becoming such a competitive conference.
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Ouch McNeese State lost to Incarnate Word tonight that’s gonna hurt. Incarnate Word was 231 in today’s NET rankings and McNeese was 44
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USD gave Long Beach State its first D1 win last night, 76-72. It’s hard to see Lavin surviving after this season.
Earlier tonight, the Pilots could not hang another WCC win in Maples, losing to Stanford, 94-72. Portland turned the ball over 18 times, and Kyle Smith made them pay.
Tomorrow the big game is SLU at LMU at 7 pm on ESPN+. It’s worth tuning in to see how a league opponent fairs against the Billikens that beat SCU. The line is SLU -6.5, so the Lions have a shot at home but definitely are an underdog. I don’t think SLU loses twice in a row, but Avila went down in an ugly way at the final play of last game. So it will be important to see if he’s 100% for the game in LA.
It is halftime and Saint Louis is up 40-24 @ LMU
Saint Louis beats LMU 91-70
LMU’s point guard, Jan Vide, who was leading them in scoring and assists (6/game) has missed the last 5 games. They started the season strong but aren’t the same team without him.
Minnesota up 10 on #22 Indiana with 3:50 left in the game.
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Gophers hold on win by 9. BIG announcers and analysts kept discussing how Minnesota was able to recover from losing to two “Mid-Majors.” From what I saw, I’d like the Broncos’ chances against IU.
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I thought the same thing. While watching lots of Big 10 teams this year that have loaded up on mid major transfers, our Broncos look a lot more “prospecty” with size and length than many of these Big 10 teams.
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Dons lose at home to North Alabama. 65-63.
who would’ve thought that they would become a flat tire game
Cincinnati @ Xavier about to tip-off on TNT.