A total of 137 games were played on Saturday. What five stories emerged from the pack? Here they are:
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5 – DAVIDSON AND DAYTON AVOID BAD LOSSES
There is a difference between a quality win and a bad loss, between making a tangible gain and avoiding a huge step backward. For the Davidson Wildcats and Dayton Flyers in the Atlantic 10, Saturday witnessed the avoidance of a crippling defeat.
Here’s what Davidson did:
Final: Davidson 80, George Mason 73 (OT). Pretty miserable loss for Mason (6-12, 1-5), which led by six with 15 seconds left in regulation.
— Patrick Stevens (@D1scourse) January 25, 2015
George Mason entered this game at 6-11, so a loss would have been very harmful for the Wildcats as they pursue a Dance card.
Dayton narrowly avoided losing at home to 10-8 Richmond. A 63-60 win over the Spiders doesn’t enhance the Flyers’ resume, but it prevents it from being blackened by a loss that would have caught the attention of the Selection Committee for all the wrong reasons.
NCAA tournament seasons often emerge based on the ability to snag that difference-making victory against a strong opponent. However, they’re just as often built on the ability to avoid a stain on the portfolio. Davidson and Dayton turned that small but significant trick on Saturday.
4 – MOUNTAIN WEST CLARITY
The Mountain West will probably live with what happened on Saturday: San Diego State, which hosts Colorado State and Wyoming later in the season, lost to CSU in Fort Collins in a thrilling late-night game. The Aztecs can even out the score against the Rams and Cowboys in Viejas Arena. For now, Colorado State bagged a win which will shore up its resume.
Meanwhile, Wyoming — trailing New Mexico by two with under 15 seconds left, missed one of two foul shots and then, instead of fouling, got a steal and a bucket with 3.2 seconds left to stun the Lobos, 63-62. Wyoming’s win, coupled with CSU’s victory, moves the Mountain West toward a three-bid haul in March. Given that the conference put only two teams in the Big Dance last season, the Mountain West should be happy with three teams.
New Mexico’s only chance of getting in at this point? Winning the MWC Tournament.
3 – PAC-12 REVERSALS
The Oregon State Beavers have finished higher than eighth place in the Pac-12 only once over the past nine seasons. The UCLA Bruins were a No. 4 seed in last year’s NCAA tournament.
After Oregon State’s win on Saturday over USC and UCLA’s blowout loss to Oregon, UCLA is tied for seventh in the conference. Oregon State, on the other hand, is in line for a No. 4 seed… not in the NCAAs, but in the Pac-12 tournament. That would be good enough for a first-round bye in Las Vegas.
The turnarounds for both Oregon State (positive) and UCLA (negative) have been replicated in other conferences, such as the next one on the list:
2 – SEC PLOT TWISTS
The SEC is not a strong conference, but it is creating teams that are becoming increasingly likely to crack the brackets in March.
LSU stopped Vanderbilt on Saturday. The Tigers aren’t stopping in their pursuit of an NCAA berth, which is picking up momentum.
LSU and Arkansas are anything but sure things — the Bayou Bengals and Razorbacks have a long, long way to go. However, both teams won on Saturday, and they did so on the road. LSU won at Vanderbilt in overtime, while Arkansas escaped Missouri — head coach Mike Anderson’s previous employer — when the Tigers missed two foul shots inside the final five seconds. SEC bubble teams have to win road games against middling opposition in order to get into the field of 68. LSU and Arkansas are moving up the board, with Texas A&M and Georgia trying to make up ground (but still noticeably behind in the race for March Madness).
While LSU and Arkansas improved their situations, Florida’s loss at Ole Miss pretty much confirms that the Gators can only make the Dance if they win the SEC tournament. That NIT field is going to be littered with huge names this season — Michigan, UCLA, Florida, Connecticut, New Mexico, Tennessee, Memphis.
Wow.
1 – DEATH. TAXES. BILL SELF OWNING THE BIG 12.
The Kansas Jayhawks are headed for their 11th straight Big 12 regular season title. Ryan Palencer wrote about Kansas’s win over Texas on Saturday, which — combined with Iowa State’s shocking loss at Texas Tech — puts KU fully in control of the Big 12.
Eleven straight conference titles in this day and age? It would be a remarkable streak if it occurred.
It’s now very likely to occur.
Rock, Chalk, Repeat.
