The Pac-12 has faded into the background of the college basketball sphere in 2021. An announcement by the conference that they would not play non-conference games, which was then later reversed, left teams struggling to fill their schedules, leading to a lack of blockbuster games featuring the teams out west.

Over the course of the season, though, we have watched as many different schools have gotten their turn as the conference’s darling. It was Oregon to start the year, then people noticed the raw talent on Stanford, Colorado got a turn, and most recently UCLA, but one team has emerged from the pack recently: Andy Enfield’s USC Trojans. The team, led by future NBA star Evan Mobley, holds a 10-1 record since the calendar flipped to 2021, the lone loss being a fluky one-possession defeat in Corvallis.

On Saturday, USC cemented itself as what many of us already knew them to be: the best team in the Pac-12. The Trojans dominated a ranked UCLA team from tip to buzzer en route to a 66-48 victory, holding their cross-town rivals to the fewest points the Bruins had scored all season. The win pushed USC to a 9-2 record in conference play, leaving them tied with UCLA atop the conference, but thanks to the head-to-head victory, the Trojans now control their own destiny to a Pac-12 crown, a feat they have not achieved since 1985, when they shared the title with Washington, back when the conference was still known as the Pac-10. Were the Trojans to be able to win an outright title, it would be the first since 1961, when the conference was known as the Athletic Association of Western Universities and consisted of just five schools.

A reminder, as always, these rankings DO NOT reflect a team’s resume. They are solely used to measure a team’s strength in the sense Vegas would to set lines. Thus, team talent remains an important variable throughout the season. Additionally, recent games are weighted more heavily, and if you are lucky or don’t look good in a win, you may fall, while if you look good or are unlucky in a loss, you may rise. Let’s get into it.

Rank	Name	Conf	Record	change
1	Baylor	Big 12	17-0	1
2	Gonzaga	WCC	18-0	-1
3	Michigan	Big Ten	13-1	0
4	Illinois	Big Ten	13-5	2
5	Iowa	Big Ten	13-6	-1
6	Houston	AAC	16-2	-1
7	Villanova	Big East	12-2	0
8	Tennessee	SEC	13-4	0
9	Alabama	SEC	15-5	2
10	Virginia	ACC	13-3	3
11	Ohio State	Big Ten	15-4	3
12	Texas Tech	Big 12	14-5	-3
13	Wisconsin	Big Ten	14-6	-3
14	Texas	Big 12	11-5	-2
15	West Virginia	Big 12	13-5	4
16	Florida State	ACC	10-3	2
17	USC	Pac-12	15-3	8
18	Creighton	Big East	14-5	-3
19	Kansas	Big 12	12-7	-3
20	Oklahoma	Big 12	12-5	-3
21	Colorado	Pac-12	14-5	0
22	Arkansas	SEC	14-5	4
23	Rutgers	Big Ten	11-6	-1
24	Purdue	Big Ten	13-7	-4
25	Indiana	Big Ten	10-8	2
26	Loyola-Chicago	Missouri Valley	17-3	-2
27	Missouri	SEC	13-3	7
28	San Diego State	Mountain West	13-4	5
29	Louisville	ACC	11-4	10
30	North Carolina	ACC	12-6	0
31	Florida	SEC	10-5	-8
32	UCLA	Pac-12	13-4	-3
33	Oklahoma State	Big 12	12-5	2
34	Duke	ACC	7-7	-6
35	Arizona	Pac-12	13-6	-3
36	Virginia Tech	ACC	14-4	-5
37	LSU	SEC	11-6	1
38	Seton Hall	Big East	11-8	17
39	Penn State	Big Ten	7-8	2
40	BYU	WCC	15-4	7
41	Oregon	Pac-12	10-4	-5
42	Saint Louis	A10	8-3	-5
43	Clemson	ACC	12-5	11
44	Minnesota	Big Ten	11-7	-2
45	Xavier	Big East	11-2	-2
46	Memphis	AAC	12-6	7
47	Maryland	Big Ten	10-9	-3
48	Connecticut	Big East	8-4	-8
49	SMU	AAC	10-4	8
50	Michigan State	Big Ten	9-7	-1
51	Utah State	Mountain West	14-5	7
52	Richmond	A10	10-4	-1
53	St Bonaventure	A10	9-2	-7
54	Stanford	Pac-12	12-7	2
55	Syracuse	ACC	10-6	-10
56	Ole Miss	SEC	10-8	6
57	Kentucky	SEC	5-12	-5
58	VCU	A10	13-4	3
59	Georgia Tech	ACC	9-6	0
60	Boise State	Mountain West	14-4	-12
61	Auburn	SEC	10-10	-1
62	Drake	Missouri Valley	18-1	-12
63	Mississippi State	SEC	11-9	2
64	Utah	Pac-12	8-7	7
65	Davidson	A10	10-5	-1
66	Notre Dame	ACC	7-10	3
67	North Carolina State	ACC	8-7	0
68	St John’s	Big East	13-7	11
69	Marquette	Big East	9-10	-3
70	Northwestern	Big Ten	6-10	2
71	Colorado State	Mountain West	14-4	-1
72	Marshall	Conference USA	10-5	6
73	Western Kentucky	Conference USA	13-4	0
74	Wichita State	AAC	11-4	-6
75	Wright State	Horizon	15-4	9
76	Providence	Big East	9-10	-13
77	Belmont	OVC	20-1	13
78	Arizona State	Pac-12	6-8	-3
79	St Mary’s	WCC	11-5	-2
80	Pittsburgh	ACC	9-6	8
81	Toledo	MAC	16-5	-7
82	Cincinnati	AAC	5-7	-1
83	South Carolina	SEC	5-7	-1
84	Dayton	A10	11-5	-4
85	Rhode Island	A10	9-11	-9
86	TCU	Big 12	10-7	-1
87	Furman	Southern	11-6	-4
88	Colgate	Patriot	7-1	-1
89	San Francisco	WCC	10-8	0
90	Georgia	SEC	12-6	2
91	UAB	Conference USA	16-2	3
92	North Texas	Conference USA	10-6	1
93	UC Santa Barbara	Big West	12-3	-2
94	Tulsa	AAC	9-8	-8
95	Butler	Big East	6-10	1
96	UCF	AAC	5-9	-1
97	UNC Greensboro	Southern	13-5	0
98	Louisiana Tech	Conference USA	15-6	4
99	Georgetown	Big East	5-9	14
100	Massachusetts	A10	7-4	7
101	South Florida	AAC	7-5	-2
102	Abilene Christian	Southland	15-3	4
103	Nevada	Mountain West	14-7	14
104	Texas A&M	SEC	8-7	-3
105	Buffalo	MAC	8-6	20
106	Winthrop	Big South	16-1	-3
107	Liberty	ASUN	15-5	-2
108	Washington State	Pac-12	11-8	7
109	South Dakota State	Summit	11-4	-11
110	Miami FL	ACC	7-11	0
111	Akron	MAC	11-4	3
112	Kent State	MAC	10-5	-12
113	Oregon State	Pac-12	10-7	7
114	Duquesne	A10	7-6	-2
115	Wofford	Southern	12-6	-4
116	Georgia State	Sun Belt	8-4	-8
117	Ohio	MAC	11-6	5
118	UC Irvine	Big West	10-6	0
119	Grand Canyon	WAC	12-3	5
120	Boston College	ACC	3-11	-16
121	Wake Forest	ACC	5-8	-12
122	Pepperdine	WCC	8-8	4
123	Vermont	AEC	7-3	-2
124	Missouri State	Missouri Valley	11-5	-8
125	DePaul	Big East	3-8	-6
126	Bradley	Missouri Valley	10-11	-3
127	Loyola Marymount	WCC	8-6	1
128	Nebraska	Big Ten	4-9	-1
129	Temple	AAC	4-7	1
130	East Carolina	AAC	8-7	12
131	Indiana State	Missouri Valley	11-8	-2
132	Pacific	WCC	5-5	1
133	East Tennessee State	Southern	11-7	-1
134	Vanderbilt	SEC	5-9	-3
135	Siena	MAAC	8-2	0
136	California	Pac-12	7-14	0
137	UC Riverside	Big West	8-4	3
138	Mercer	Southern	10-7	-4
139	UNLV	Mountain West	7-9	-1
140	Santa Clara	WCC	9-4	3
141	George Mason	A10	8-8	7
142	Weber State	Big Sky	11-4	14
143	Murray State	OVC	9-9	17
144	Eastern Washington	Big Sky	8-6	2
145	Northern Iowa	Missouri Valley	6-12	-4
146	Hofstra	CAA	12-7	-2
147	Iowa State	Big 12	2-11	2
148	Cal State Bakersfield	Big West	12-7	2
149	Bowling Green	MAC	10-8	-12
150	Northeastern	CAA	8-6	1
151	Coastal Carolina	Sun Belt	12-6	-12
152	Texas State	Sun Belt	13-6	5
153	Old Dominion	Conference USA	9-5	-8
154	St Peter’s	MAAC	9-6	1
155	Chattanooga	Southern	14-5	14
156	Washington	Pac-12	3-14	-9
157	Stephen F. Austin	Southland	11-3	1
158	Drexel	CAA	8-7	8
159	Army	Patriot	9-4	0
160	Monmouth	MAAC	10-5	2
161	Tulane	AAC	7-7	0
162	Navy	Patriot	11-2	1
163	South Dakota	Summit	11-7	5
164	Bryant	NEC	10-5	0
165	Ball State	MAC	7-9	6
166	La Salle	A10	8-11	7
167	Arkansas Little Rock	Sun Belt	10-9	-15
168	UTEP	Conference USA	8-10	-1
169	Charlotte	Conference USA	9-9	-16
170	New Mexico State	WAC	4-4	9
171	James Madison	CAA	10-5	6
172	Morehead State	OVC	15-6	8
173	North Dakota State	Summit	11-9	-3
174	UMBC	AEC	12-4	1
175	Sam Houston State	Southland	14-6	-1
176	Eastern Kentucky	OVC	14-4	-22
177	Louisiana	Sun Belt	13-6	-12
178	Wyoming	Mountain West	10-9	5
179	UTSA	Conference USA	10-9	21
180	Southern Illinois	Missouri Valley	9-7	-4
181	Oral Roberts	Summit	10-8	0
182	Kansas State	Big 12	5-15	-10
183	Cleveland State	Horizon	14-5	7
184	Austin Peay	OVC	11-7	14
185	Appalachian State	Sun Belt	12-7	-7
186	Bellarmine	ASUN	11-5	8
187	Jacksonville State	OVC	12-7	5
188	Iona	MAAC	5-3	-4
189	VMI	Southern	10-9	7
190	Hawaii	Big West	7-5	-2
191	Detroit	Horizon	8-8	4
192	Fresno State	Mountain West	7-7	-6
193	Florida Atlantic	Conference USA	8-7	-11
194	Rice	Conference USA	12-8	16
195	Southern Utah	Big Sky	12-3	-4
196	Miami OH	MAC	8-7	-11
197	South Alabama	Sun Belt	11-8	2
198	Montana State	Big Sky	9-5	-11
199	Montana	Big Sky	8-9	-10
200	Lipscomb	ASUN	12-9	8
201	Nicholls State	Southland	10-6	-8
202	Radford	Big South	13-7	10
203	College of Charleston	CAA	7-8	-2
204	UT Arlington	Sun Belt	11-9	-7
205	Valparaiso	Missouri Valley	7-12	4
206	UNC Wilmington	CAA	7-8	0
207	Northern Kentucky	Horizon	11-8	22
208	Delaware	CAA	7-7	-4
209	UT Rio Grande Valley	WAC	8-4	-4
210	Prairie View A&M	SWAC	7-4	8
211	George Washington	A10	3-9	0
212	Evansville	Missouri Valley	8-10	15
213	Gardner Webb	Big South	8-11	3
214	UNC Asheville	Big South	10-9	3
215	San Diego	WCC	2-7	-2
216	UC Davis	Big West	4-6	6
217	Western Carolina	Southern	8-11	-14
218	Lafayette	Patriot	5-4	-11
219	Texas Southern	SWAC	6-7	25
220	Albany	AEC	4-6	4
221	Georgia Southern	Sun Belt	12-9	-2
222	Oakland	Horizon	8-15	-7
223	Samford	Southern	6-8	0
224	Saint Joseph’s	A10	1-14	-4
225	Mt St Mary’s	NEC	6-7	-4
226	Niagara	MAAC	7-9	2
227	LIU Brooklyn	NEC	6-5	-25
228	Bucknell	Patriot	4-4	-3
229	Hartford	AEC	10-7	1
230	Canisius	MAAC	3-3	5
231	Northern Colorado	Big Sky	8-8	0
232	Missouri Kansas City	Summit	7-10	1
233	Morgan State	MEAC	11-4	8
234	American University	Patriot	2-2	21
235	Utah Valley	WAC	6-7	13
236	Stetson	ASUN	7-10	3
237	Sacremento State	Big Sky	6-5	1
238	Boston University	Patriot	3-5	2
239	Youngstown State	Horizon	10-10	15
240	Illinois State	Missouri Valley	5-14	-14
241	Norfolk State	MEAC	10-6	8
242	UC San Diego	Big West	4-5	8
243	Illinois Chicago	Horizon	8-9	-11
244	NJIT	AEC	6-8	1
245	Stony Brook	AEC	8-9	-9
246	FIU	Conference USA	9-12	-32
247	William & Mary	CAA	6-7	0
248	Loyola Maryland	Patriot	1-5	28
249	Florida Gulf Coast	ASUN	9-6	21
250	Southern Miss	Conference USA	7-12	-8
251	Wagner	NEC	4-5	5
252	Massachusetts Lowell	AEC	7-9	-6
253	Citadel	Southern	10-7	6
254	Cal Baptist	WAC	9-6	-1
255	Wisconsin Milwaukee	Horizon	7-8	-21
256	Middle Tennessee State	Conference USA	5-11	18
257	New Hampshire	AEC	9-8	3
258	Towson	CAA	3-12	-7
259	New Mexico	Mountain West	5-11	-1
260	Troy	Sun Belt	10-10	-17
261	Quinnipiac	MAAC	5-6	8
262	Farleigh Dickinson	NEC	7-9	18
263	Fordham	A10	2-9	20
264	Arkansas State	Sun Belt	8-9	18
265	Seattle	WAC	8-7	-1
266	Wisconsin Green Bay	Horizon	6-14	-4
267	Merrimack	NEC	6-4	0
268	North Carolina Central	MEAC	4-3	-31
269	High Point	Big South	7-9	3
270	Marist	MAAC	9-7	-4
271	Elon	CAA	3-6	-14
272	Cal State Fullerton	Big West	5-6	-4
273	Western Michigan	MAC	4-11	21
274	Portland State	Big Sky	5-9	7
275	St Francis PA	NEC	5-12	-12
276	Central Michigan	MAC	6-12	-15
277	Campbell	Big South	10-9	0
278	Eastern Michigan	MAC	4-8	0
279	North Alabama	ASUN	10-6	-27
280	Eastern Illinois	OVC	7-14	10
281	St Francis NY	NEC	4-6	-16
282	Idaho State	Big Sky	9-7	7
283	Cal State Northridge	Big West	7-8	1
284	Longwood	Big South	6-14	7
285	Long Beach State	Big West	3-5	3
286	Robert Morris	Horizon	3-11	-15
287	Manhattan	MAAC	5-8	9
288	North Florida	ASUN	7-11	-3
289	Purdue Fort Wayne	Horizon	6-11	-16
290	Jackson State	SWAC	5-5	7
291	Sacred Heart	NEC	6-6	1
292	Southern University	SWAC	4-7	-17
293	Rider	MAAC	4-11	2
294	Air Force	Mountain West	4-13	-1
295	South East Missouri State	OVC	7-12	-9
296	North Carolina A&T	MEAC	8-9	3
297	Tarleton State	WAC	5-8	1
298	Florida A&M	MEAC	2-8	5
299	IUPUI	Horizon	5-8	3
300	Nebraska Omaha	Summit	2-16	-13
301	Louisiana Monroe	Sun Belt	4-15	5
302	SIU Edwardsville	OVC	7-9	-23
303	North Dakota	Summit	6-15	-3
304	Alabama A&M	SWAC	5-2	0
305	Western Illinois	Summit	5-12	16
306	Tennessee State	OVC	3-14	4
307	Lehigh	Patriot	3-7	-2
308	Jacksonville	ASUN	9-11	-7
309	Northern Illinois	MAC	2-10	3
310	Grambling	SWAC	8-8	7
311	Hampton	Big South	7-9	-3
312	Central Conn	NEC	4-10	1
313	Northwestern Louisiana	Southland	5-14	6
314	Coppin State	MEAC	6-12	-3
315	Central Arkansas	Southland	3-14	-6
316	Northern Arizona	Big Sky	5-11	0
317	Portland	WCC	6-12	-10
318	San Jose State	Mountain West	5-11	5
319	Holy Cross	Patriot	2-8	-4
320	New Orleans	Southland	4-12	2
321	Howard	MEAC	1-4	3
322	Tennessee Tech	OVC	2-18	3
323	South Carolina Upstate	Big South	3-13	-9
324	Fairfield	MAAC	3-13	-6
325	Lamar	Southland	4-13	-5
326	Southeastern Louisiana	Southland	6-11	0
327	Presbyterian	Big South	5-11	0
328	Maine	AEC	2-7	1
329	Dixie State	WAC	6-9	-1
330	Incarnate Word	Southland	8-8	5
331	Houston Baptist	Southland	3-12	0
332	Binghamton	AEC	2-13	1
333	McNeese State	Southland	8-10	5
334	Texas A&M Corpus Christi	Southland	3-12	-4
335	Cal Poly	Big West	3-13	-3
336	Charleston Southern	Big South	1-15	-2
337	Tennessee Martin	OVC	6-11	0
338	Denver	Summit	2-13	-2
339	Kennesaw State	ASUN	3-15	1
340	Alcorn State	SWAC	3-8	-1
341	Idaho	Big Sky	0-15	1
342	Arkansas Pine Bluff	SWAC	3-15	-1
343	Alabama State	SWAC	3-7	0
344	Delaware State	MEAC	1-12	0
345	South Carolina State	MEAC	0-15	0
346	Chicago State	WAC	0-9	0
347	Mississippi Valley State	SWAC	0-16	0

The Big Ten has far and away been the best conference in college basketball this year. According to the most recent update of the CSD Prime College Basketball Computer model, the average Big Ten team holds a ranking of 34th. The next highest conference is the Big 12, 15 spots lower at 49th. The SEC, ACC, and Big East all fall about ten spots below that, and the Pac-12 trails even further back.

It takes a conference as dominant as the Big Ten to put a team like Maryland, with a 10-8 record, into the NCAA tournament conversation, but the Terps’ resume is hard to deny. Maryland ranks 37th in the NET with four Q1 victories. All eight losses for UM come in Q1 games.

Only three other teams in the country have at least four Q1 victories and zero sub-Q1 defeats, and they are all ranked in the top ten of the AP poll. So come on, I know they’ve got eight losses, but let’s put the Terps in the field.

Seed List

KEY

Italicized – Play-in game
GREEN – Moved up one or more seed line
RED – Moved down one or more seed line
BLUE – New to bracket

Note: The furthest left team is considered to be the highest-ranked on the seed line and the furthest right is considered to be the lowest-ranked

1 Seeds: Gonzaga, Baylor, Michigan, Villanova
2 Seeds: Houston, Ohio State, Alabama, Texas
3 Seeds: Illinois, Virginia, Iowa, Missouri
4 Seeds: Wisconsin, Tennessee, Texas Tech, Florida State
5 Seeds: Oklahoma, Creighton, West Virginia, Kansas
6 Seeds: Virginia Tech, UCLA, Purdue, USC
7 Seeds: Rutgers, Florida, Colorado, Xavier
8 Seeds: Louisville, Oklahoma State, BYU, Minnesota
9 Seeds: Drake, Clemson, Boise State, Connecticut
10 Seeds: St. Bonaventure, San Diego State, North Carolina, Arkansas
11 Seeds: Loyola-Chicago, Oregon, LSU, Stanford
12 Seeds: Indiana, Colorado State, Richmond, Maryland, Toledo, Winthrop
13 Seeds: UAB, Colgate, Belmont, Furman
14 Seeds: South Dakota State, UC Irvine, Liberty, Abilene Christian
15 Seeds: Grand Canyon, Cleveland State, Vermont, Siena
16 Seeds: Louisiana, Northeastern, Montana State, Bryant, Prairie View A&M, North Carolina A&T

Dropped Out: Saint Louis

Bubble Watch

Last Four Byes
Loyola-Chicago
Oregon
LSU
Stanford
Last Four In
Indiana
Colorado State
Richmond
Maryland
First Four Out
Utah State
VCU
Seton Hall
Syracuse
Next Four Out
Saint Louis
Georgia Tech
Western Kentucky
SMU

Bids By Conference

Big Ten – 10 of 15 (+0 in First Eight Out)
Big 12 – 7 of 10 (0)
SEC – 6 of 14 (0)
ACC – 6 of 15 (2)
Pac-12 – 5 of 12 (0)
Big East – 4 of 10 (1)
Mountain West – 3 of 11 (1)
WCC – 2 of 10 (0)
Missouri Valley – 2 of 10 (0)
Atlantic 10 – 2 of 14 (2)
American – 1 of 11 (1)
Conference USA – 1 of 14 (1)

Saturday marks one of the biggest days of the college basketball season to date, with three ranked vs ranked matchups and a number of bubble battles. Check out the official Crazy Sports Dude college basketball viewing guide for Saturday, February 6th, 2020.

The day begins with a battle between the two teams leading the SEC standings right now: Alabama and Missouri. Over on FOX at the same time, Seton Hall will look to add a big road win to their resume against UConn. In the 2 PM ET hour we see a pair of additional ranked vs ranked games as Wisconsin faces Illinois and Kansas travels to West Virginia. Over on the ACC Network, Clemson looks to stop their skid against a hungry Syracuse team.

At 3, Texas takes on Cade Cunningham and Oklahoma State, and at 4, Pitt travels to Virginia in what may be a must-win game for the Panthers’ NCAA Tournament hopes. At 6, UNC and Duke is, strangely, a bubble battle, and the night finishes with a big game out west: UCLA against USC.

TIME (ET)	MUST-WATCH	SECOND SCREEN	KEEP AN EYE
12	#10 alabama @ #18 missouri – espn	seton hall @ connecticut – fox	#16 virginia tech @ miami – acc rsns
2	#19 wisconsin @ #12 illinois – fox (2:30)	#23 kansas @ #17 west virginia – cbs	syracuse @ clemson – acc network
4	#6 Texas @ oklahoma State – abc (3)	pittsburgh @ #14 virginia – ESPN	northwestern @ #24 purdue – BTN (4:30)
6	north carolina @ Duke – ESPN	#15 creighton @ marquette – fox (5)	wofford @ furman – espn+
8	arizona @ Colorado – fs1	#11 TENNESSEE @ KENTUCKY – ESPN	notre Dame @ Georgia Tech – acc network
10	#21 UCLA @ usc – espn	utah state @ fresno state – fs1	csu bakersfield @ Uc irvine – espnu

Seed List

KEY

Italicized – Play-in game
GREEN – Moved up one or more seed line
RED – Moved down one or more seed line
BLUE – New to bracket

Note: The furthest left team is considered to be the highest-ranked on the seed line and the furthest right is considered to be the lowest-ranked

1 Seeds: Gonzaga, Baylor, Michigan, Villanova
2 Seeds: Houston, Alabama, Texas, Iowa
3 Seeds: Ohio State, Illinois, Virginia, Tennessee
4 Seeds: Missouri, Wisconsin, Texas Tech, Florida State
5 Seeds: Creighton, West Virginia, Oklahoma, UCLA
6 Seeds: Virginia Tech, Purdue, Kansas, Florida
7 Seeds: Colorado, USC, Minnesota, Oklahoma State
8 Seeds: Xavier, Louisville, Drake, Boise State
9 Seeds: Rutgers, BYU, Oregon, Clemson
10 Seeds: Connecticut, North Carolina, Saint Louis, San Diego State
11 Seeds: St. Bonaventure, LSU, Indiana, Loyola-Chicago
12 Seeds: Stanford, Arkansas, Richmond, Colorado State, Toledo, Winthrop
13 Seeds: UAB, Belmont, Colgate, Liberty
14 Seeds: South Dakota State, Abilene Christian, UC Irvine, Furman
15 Seeds: Grand Canyon, Vermont, Cleveland State, Siena
16 Seeds: Louisiana, Northeastern, Bryant, Montana State, Prairie View A&M, North Carolina A&T

Dropped Out: Pittsburgh, Seton Hall, UMBC, Georgia State

Bubble Watch

Last Four Byes
St. Bonaventure
LSU
Indiana
Loyola-Chicago
Last Four In
Stanford
Arkansas
Richmond
Colorado State
First Four Out
Utah State
Seton Hall
Maryland
Syracuse
Next Four Out
VCU
Georgia Tech
Penn State
SMU

Bids By Conference

Big Ten – 9 of 15 (+2 in First Eight Out)
Big 12 – 7 of 10 (0)
SEC – 6 of 14 (0)|
ACC – 6 of 15 (2)|
Pac-12 – 5 of 12 (0)
Big East – 4 of 10 (1)
Mountain West – 3 of 11 (1)
Atlantic 10 – 3 of 14 (1)
Missouri Valley – 2 of 10 (0)
WCC – 2 of 10 (0)
American – 1 of 11 (1)

It seems quite likely that Gonzaga will head into Selection Sunday with a zero in the loss column, but its time to start talking about another team that has a shot to accomplish the same feat: the Baylor Bears.

Now, as of today, it is still more likely than not that the Bears will lose a game by sheer attrition if nothing else. Scott Drew’s team still has seven games rated as “Q1” difficulty by the NCAA, not to mention the Big 12 tournament. For comparison, Gonzaga has just one (2/27 @ BYU).

Baylor has already played five Q1 games, though, and they’ve won them all, by an average of 12 points. They rank 2nd in the CSD Prime Computer Rankings, the second highest-ranked Big 12 team sits at 9th, Texas Tech. An undefeated season would almost assuredly secure Baylor the #1 overall seed, as by Selection Sunday their resume will have surpassed that of Gonzaga’s. For now, I would still bet against it happening, but it is no longer a proposition to be scoffed at.

Rank	Name	Conference	Record
1	Gonzaga	WCC	17-0
2	Baylor	Big 12	16-0
3	Michigan	Big Ten	13-1
4	Iowa	Big Ten	12-4
5	Houston	AAC	15-1
6	Illinois	Big Ten	11-5
7	Villanova	Big East	11-1
8	Tennessee	SEC	12-3
9	Texas Tech	Big 12	12-5
10	Wisconsin	Big Ten	13-5
11	Alabama	SEC	14-4
12	Texas	Big 12	11-3
13	Virginia	ACC	11-3
14	Ohio State	Big Ten	14-4
15	Creighton	Big East	13-4
16	Kansas	Big 12	11-6
17	Oklahoma	Big 12	11-4
18	Florida State	ACC	10-3
19	West Virginia	Big 12	11-5
20	Purdue	Big Ten	12-6
21	Colorado	Pac-12	13-5
22	Rutgers	Big Ten	10-6
23	Florida	SEC	10-4
24	Loyola-Chicago	Missouri Valley	14-3
25	USC	Pac-12	13-3
26	Arkansas	SEC	13-5
27	Indiana	Big Ten	9-7
28	Duke	ACC	7-5
29	UCLA	Pac-12	13-3
30	North Carolina	ACC	11-5
31	Virginia Tech	ACC	13-3
32	Arizona	Pac-12	13-4
33	San Diego State	Mountain West	13-4
34	Missouri	SEC	11-3
35	Oklahoma State	Big 12	11-4
36	Oregon	Pac-12	9-3
37	Saint Louis	A10	7-2
38	LSU	SEC	11-5
39	Louisville	ACC	10-4
40	Connecticut	Big East	8-3
41	Penn State	Big Ten	6-7
42	Minnesota	Big Ten	11-6
43	Xavier	Big East	11-2
44	Maryland	Big Ten	9-8
45	Syracuse	ACC	10-5
46	St Bonaventure	A10	9-1
47	BYU	WCC	14-4
48	Boise State	Mountain West	14-2
49	Michigan State	Big Ten	8-6
50	Drake	Missouri Valley	16-0
51	Richmond	A10	10-4
52	Kentucky	SEC	5-10
53	Memphis	AAC	9-6
54	Clemson	ACC	10-5
55	Seton Hall	Big East	9-8
56	Stanford	Pac-12	10-6
57	SMU	AAC	9-4
58	Utah State	Mountain West	13-5
59	Georgia Tech	ACC	8-5
60	Auburn	SEC	10-8
61	VCU	A10	12-4
62	Ole Miss	SEC	8-8
63	Providence	Big East	9-8
64	Davidson	A10	10-5
65	Mississippi State	SEC	10-8
66	Marquette	Big East	8-9
67	North Carolina State	ACC	7-6
68	Wichita State	AAC	9-4
69	Notre Dame	ACC	6-9
70	Colorado State	Mountain West	12-4
71	Utah	Pac-12	7-7
72	Northwestern	Big Ten	6-9
73	Western Kentucky	Conference USA	13-4
74	Toledo	MAC	15-4
75	Arizona State	Pac-12	6-8
76	Rhode Island	A10	9-9
77	St Mary’s	WCC	11-5
78	Marshall	Conference USA	9-4
79	St John’s	Big East	11-7
80	Dayton	A10	10-4
81	Cincinnati	AAC	3-7
82	South Carolina	SEC	4-6
83	Furman	Southern	11-5
84	Wright State	Horizon	13-4
85	TCU	Big 12	9-7
86	Tulsa	AAC	9-6
87	Colgate	Patriot	7-1
88	Pittsburgh	ACC	8-5
89	San Francisco	WCC	10-8
90	Belmont	OVC	18-1
91	UC Santa Barbara	Big West	12-3
92	Georgia	SEC	10-6
93	North Texas	Conference USA	9-5
94	UAB	Conference USA	14-2
95	UCF	AAC	4-7
96	Butler	Big East	5-9
97	UNC Greensboro	Southern	12-5
98	South Dakota State	Summit	10-3
99	South Florida	AAC	7-5
100	Kent State	MAC	9-4
101	Texas A&M	SEC	8-7
102	Louisiana Tech	Conference USA	14-5
103	Winthrop	Big South	16-1
104	Boston College	ACC	3-10
105	Liberty	ASUN	14-5
106	Abilene Christian	Southland	14-3
107	Massachusetts	A10	5-4
108	Georgia State	Sun Belt	8-4
109	Wake Forest	ACC	5-7
110	Miami FL	ACC	6-10
111	Wofford	Southern	10-5
112	Duquesne	A10	6-6
113	Georgetown	Big East	4-8
114	Akron	MAC	10-3
115	Washington State	Pac-12	10-7
116	Missouri State	Missouri Valley	9-4
117	Nevada	Mountain West	11-7
118	UC Irvine	Big West	9-5
119	DePaul	Big East	3-7
120	Oregon State	Pac-12	8-7
121	Vermont	AEC	7-3
122	Ohio	MAC	10-6
123	Bradley	Missouri Valley	9-9
124	Grand Canyon	WAC	12-3
125	Buffalo	MAC	6-6
126	Pepperdine	WCC	7-8
127	Nebraska	Big Ten	4-8
128	Loyola Marymount	WCC	8-6
129	Indiana State	Missouri Valley	9-7
130	Temple	AAC	4-5
131	Vanderbilt	SEC	5-8
132	East Tennessee State	Southern	10-5
133	Pacific	WCC	5-4
134	Mercer	Southern	10-6
135	Siena	MAAC	8-2
136	California	Pac-12	7-12
137	Bowling Green	MAC	10-7
138	UNLV	Mountain West	6-8
139	Coastal Carolina	Sun Belt	12-4
140	UC Riverside	Big West	8-4
141	Northern Iowa	Missouri Valley	5-11
142	East Carolina	AAC	7-6
143	Santa Clara	WCC	9-4
144	Hofstra	CAA	11-6
145	Old Dominion	Conference USA	8-4
146	Eastern Washington	Big Sky	5-6
147	Washington	Pac-12	3-12
148	George Mason	A10	8-7
149	Iowa State	Big 12	2-9
150	Cal State Bakersfield	Big West	11-6
151	Northeastern	CAA	8-6
152	Arkansas Little Rock	Sun Belt	10-7
153	Charlotte	Conference USA	9-7
154	Eastern Kentucky	OVC	13-2
155	St Peter’s	MAAC	9-6
156	Weber State	Big Sky	9-4
157	Texas State	Sun Belt	11-6
158	Stephen F. Austin	Southland	10-3
159	Army	Patriot	9-4
160	Murray State	OVC	7-8
161	Tulane	AAC	7-5
162	Monmouth	MAAC	8-5
163	Navy	Patriot	11-2
164	Bryant	NEC	10-5
165	Louisiana	Sun Belt	13-4
166	Drexel	CAA	7-6
167	UTEP	Conference USA	8-8
168	South Dakota	Summit	10-6
169	Chattanooga	Southern	12-5
170	North Dakota State	Summit	10-8
171	Ball State	MAC	6-8
172	Kansas State	Big 12	5-13
173	La Salle	A10	7-10
174	Sam Houston State	Southland	13-6
175	UMBC	AEC	10-4
176	Southern Illinois	Missouri Valley	8-6
177	James Madison	CAA	9-5
178	Appalachian State	Sun Belt	12-7
179	New Mexico State	WAC	3-3
180	Morehead State	OVC	13-6
181	Oral Roberts	Summit	9-7
182	Florida Atlantic	Conference USA	8-7
183	Wyoming	Mountain West	10-7
184	Iona	MAAC	5-3
185	Miami OH	MAC	8-5
186	Fresno State	Mountain West	7-6
187	Montana State	Big Sky	9-3
188	Hawaii	Big West	5-5
189	Montana	Big Sky	7-8
190	Cleveland State	Horizon	12-5
191	Southern Utah	Big Sky	11-3
192	Jacksonville State	OVC	10-6
193	Nicholls State	Southland	10-5
194	Bellarmine	ASUN	9-5
195	Detroit	Horizon	6-8
196	VMI	Southern	9-9
197	UT Arlington	Sun Belt	9-9
198	Austin Peay	OVC	9-6
199	South Alabama	Sun Belt	9-8
200	UTSA	Conference USA	8-9
201	College of Charleston	CAA	5-8
202	LIU Brooklyn	NEC	6-3
203	Western Carolina	Southern	7-9
204	Delaware	CAA	7-7
205	UT Rio Grande Valley	WAC	8-3
206	UNC Wilmington	CAA	7-8
207	Lafayette	Patriot	5-3
208	Lipscomb	ASUN	11-8
209	Valparaiso	Missouri Valley	6-10
210	Rice	Conference USA	10-8
211	George Washington	A10	3-9
212	Radford	Big South	11-7
213	San Diego	WCC	2-7
214	FIU	Conference USA	8-10
215	Oakland	Horizon	8-13
216	Gardner Webb	Big South	6-11
217	UNC Asheville	Big South	10-9
218	Prairie View A&M	SWAC	6-4
219	Georgia Southern	Sun Belt	11-8
220	Saint Joseph’s	A10	1-14
221	Mt St Mary’s	NEC	6-7
222	UC Davis	Big West	3-5
223	Samford	Southern	6-8
224	Albany	AEC	4-6
225	Bucknell	Patriot	4-4
226	Illinois State	Missouri Valley	5-11
227	Evansville	Missouri Valley	7-8
228	Niagara	MAAC	7-9
229	Northern Kentucky	Horizon	9-8
230	Hartford	AEC	10-7
231	Northern Colorado	Big Sky	8-8
232	Illinois Chicago	Horizon	8-7
233	Missouri Kansas City	Summit	7-10
234	Wisconsin Milwaukee	Horizon	7-6
235	Canisius	MAAC	3-3
236	Stony Brook	AEC	8-8
237	North Carolina Central	MEAC	2-3
238	Sacremento State	Big Sky	6-4
239	Stetson	ASUN	5-9
240	Boston University	Patriot	3-5
241	Morgan State	MEAC	9-4
242	Southern Miss	Conference USA	7-10
243	Troy	Sun Belt	8-9
244	Texas Southern	SWAC	4-7
245	NJIT	AEC	6-7
246	Massachusetts Lowell	AEC	6-8
247	William & Mary	CAA	6-7
248	Utah Valley	WAC	6-7
249	Norfolk State	MEAC	9-6
250	UC San Diego	Big West	3-5
251	Towson	CAA	3-10
252	North Alabama	ASUN	10-4
253	Cal Baptist	WAC	8-5
254	Youngstown State	Horizon	8-10
255	American University	Patriot	2-2
256	Wagner	NEC	2-5
257	Elon	CAA	3-5
258	New Mexico	Mountain West	5-11
259	Citadel	Southern	9-5
260	New Hampshire	AEC	8-7
261	Central Michigan	MAC	6-10
262	Wisconsin Green Bay	Horizon	5-13
263	St Francis PA	NEC	5-10
264	Seattle	WAC	7-6
265	St Francis NY	NEC	4-4
266	Marist	MAAC	9-7
267	Merrimack	NEC	4-4
268	Cal State Fullerton	Big West	5-6
269	Quinnipiac	MAAC	4-6
270	Florida Gulf Coast	ASUN	7-6
271	Robert Morris	Horizon	3-9
272	High Point	Big South	6-9
273	Purdue Fort Wayne	Horizon	6-9
274	Middle Tennessee State	Conference USA	3-11
275	Southern University	SWAC	4-6
276	Loyola Maryland	Patriot	0-5
277	Campbell	Big South	10-9
278	Eastern Michigan	MAC	4-8
279	SIU Edwardsville	OVC	6-6
280	Farleigh Dickinson	NEC	5-9
281	Portland State	Big Sky	4-8
282	Arkansas State	Sun Belt	6-9
283	Fordham	A10	1-8
284	Cal State Northridge	Big West	6-7
285	North Florida	ASUN	7-11
286	South East Missouri State	OVC	6-10
287	Nebraska Omaha	Summit	2-14
288	Long Beach State	Big West	3-5
289	Idaho State	Big Sky	9-7
290	Eastern Illinois	OVC	5-13
291	Longwood	Big South	6-14
292	Sacred Heart	NEC	6-6
293	Air Force	Mountain West	4-12
294	Western Michigan	MAC	2-11
295	Rider	MAAC	4-11
296	Manhattan	MAAC	5-6
297	Jackson State	SWAC	3-5
298	Tarleton State	WAC	4-8
299	North Carolina A&T	MEAC	8-9
300	North Dakota	Summit	5-14
301	Jacksonville	ASUN	9-9
302	IUPUI	Horizon	4-7
303	Florida A&M	MEAC	2-8
304	Alabama A&M	SWAC	4-1
305	Lehigh	Patriot	3-7
306	Louisiana Monroe	Sun Belt	4-13
307	Portland	WCC	6-10
308	Hampton	Big South	7-8
309	Central Arkansas	Southland	3-13
310	Tennessee State	OVC	3-12
311	Coppin State	MEAC	6-10
312	Northern Illinois	MAC	2-10
313	Central Conn	NEC	4-10
314	South Carolina Upstate	Big South	3-11
315	Holy Cross	Patriot	2-8
316	Northern Arizona	Big Sky	5-11
317	Grambling	SWAC	6-8
318	Fairfield	MAAC	3-12
319	Northwestern Louisiana	Southland	5-14
320	Lamar	Southland	4-11
321	Western Illinois	Summit	3-12
322	New Orleans	Southland	4-12
323	San Jose State	Mountain West	5-11
324	Howard	MEAC	1-4
325	Tennessee Tech	OVC	2-16
326	Southeastern Louisiana	Southland	6-11
327	Presbyterian	Big South	5-9
328	Dixie State	WAC	5-8
329	Maine	AEC	2-7
330	Texas A&M Corpus Christi	Southland	3-10
331	Houston Baptist	Southland	3-12
332	Cal Poly	Big West	3-11
333	Binghamton	AEC	2-13
334	Charleston Southern	Big South	1-15
335	Incarnate Word	Southland	6-8
336	Denver	Summit	1-12
337	Tennessee Martin	OVC	5-10
338	McNeese State	Southland	7-10
339	Alcorn State	SWAC	3-7
340	Kennesaw State	ASUN	3-15
341	Arkansas Pine Bluff	SWAC	3-13
342	Idaho	Big Sky	0-13
343	Alabama State	SWAC	2-6
344	Delaware State	MEAC	0-11
345	South Carolina State	MEAC	0-13
346	Chicago State	WAC	0-9
347	Mississippi Valley State	SWAC	0-14

Saturday marks one of the biggest days of the college basketball season to date, with four ranked vs ranked matchups and a number of bubble battles. Check out the official crazysportsdude college basketball viewing guide for Saturday, January 30th, 2020.

The day opens with a big SEC/Big 12 battle as two surging teams square off in Alabama and Oklahoma. We’ll get two more of those big non-conference battles at 2 with Texas Tech vs LSU and Florida vs West Virginia. Next up, Villanova will look to continue its dominance on the rest of the Big East as they face Seton Hall. At 6, we’ll be treated to two blockbuster matchups as Kansas takes on Tennessee and Virginia faces rival Virginia Tech. Finally, just before eight, Minnesota takes on Purdue. It is a big day with plenty of NCAA Tournament implications. Let’s get into it.

TIME (ET)	MUST-WATCH	SECOND SCREEN	KEEP AN EYE
12	#9 ALABAMA @ #24 OKLAHOMA – ESPN	CLEMSON @ DUKE – ESPN2	TULSA @ EAST CAROLINA – ESPN+
2	#10 TEXAS TECH @ LSU – ESPN2	FLORIDA @ #11 WEST VIRGINIA – ESPN2	UTAH @ COLORADO – PAC-12 NETWORK (2:30)
4	#3 VILLANOVA @ SETON HALL – FOX (3)	ARKANSAS @ OKLAHOMA STATE – ESPN2	#16 FLORIDA STATE @ GEORGIA TECH – ACC NETWORK
6	#15 KANSAS @ #18 TENNESSEE – ESPN	#8 VIRGINIA @ #20 VIRGINIA TECH – ACC NETWORK	XAVIER @ BUTLER – FS1 (5:30)
8	#21 MINNESOTA @ PURDUE – BTN (7:30)	STANFORD @ ARIZONA STATE – ESPN2	NOTRE DAME @ PITT – ACC NETWORK

Arizona self-imposed a postseason ban. Duke (5-5) and Kentucky (5-9) are barely even worth a mention. North Carolina (10-5) is just in the field right now, and Michigan State (8-4) is now out. Even Kansas, the only blueblood program to be safely in the field of 68, currently sits as losers of three straight games. What is up with college basketball’s blue blood programs.

There is a non-zero chance just one of college basketball’s premier brand names makes March Madness this year. Previously, we have looked at the cases of both Duke and Kentucky, today, we will look at Michigan State.

Tom Izzo’s Spartans have not played a game since January 8th, but we have to evaluate what little resume we have. MSU opened the year 6-0, however, just one of those wins (@ Duke) qualifies as a Q2 win, and none qualify as Q1 victories. Since the 6-0 start, Michigan State is just 2-4. They are 0-2 in Q1 games, the losses coming by a combined 34 points, and just 2-2 in Q2 opportunities.

The Spartans have fallen to 44th in KenPom and clock in at 85th in the NCAA’s NET system. Comparing the resume to that of St. Bonaventure, the team that displaced them, there is almost no comparison. The Bonnies rank over 40 spots better in the NET, are 1-0 in Q1 games, and are 1-1 in Q2. For those keeping track at home, that’s relative to a 2-4 Q1/2 record for MSU.

Now, there will be plenty of opportunities for Michigan State to pick up victories in the coming weeks. The Spartans have 11 (!) more Q1 opportunities left on the schedule. Winning even half of those would put Tom Izzo’s crew in solid shape to make the big dance, but for now, there is no way to justify having them in.

Bracket

Seed List

KEY

Italicized – Play-in game
GREEN – Moved up one or more seed line
RED – Moved down one or more seed line
BLUE – New to bracket

Note: The furthest left team is considered to be the highest-ranked on the seed line and the furthest right is considered to be the lowest-ranked

1 Seeds: Gonzaga, Baylor, Michigan, Villanova
2 Seeds: Houston, Texas, Iowa, Alabama
3 Seeds: Ohio State, Virginia, Tennessee, Missouri
4 Seeds: Wisconsin, Illinois, Kansas, West Virginia
5 Seeds: Florida State, Creighton, Colorado, Texas Tech
6 Seeds: UCLA, Minnesota, Purdue, USC
7 Seeds: Clemson, Oregon, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma State
8 Seeds: Boise State, Louisville, Saint Louis, BYU
9 Seeds: Oklahoma, UConn, Xavier, Florida
10 Seeds: Drake, LSU, North Carolina, Rutgers
11 Seeds: Indiana, Seton Hall, Arkansas, San Diego State
12 Seeds: Pittsburgh, Stanford, St. Bonaventure, Richmond, Winthrop, Toledo
13 Seeds: Belmont, UAB, Furman, South Dakota State
14 Seeds: Colgate, Georgia State, Liberty, Siena
15 Seeds: Abilene Christian, Cleveland State, Bryant, UC Irvine 
16 Seeds: Grand Canyon, Northeastern, UMBC, Montana State, Prairie View A&M, North Carolina A&T

Dropped Out: Duke, Michigan State, New Mexico State, Vermont, Southern Utah, Norfolk State, Texas Southern

Bubble Watch

Last Four Byes
Indiana
Seton Hall
Arkansas
San Diego State
Last Four In
Pittsburgh
Stanford
St. Bonaventure
Richmond
First Four Out
Maryland
Loyola-Chicago
Michigan State
Colorado State
Next Four Out
Utah State
Syracuse
VCU
SMU

Bids By Conference

Big Ten – 9 of 15 (+2 in First Eight Out)
Big 12 – 7 of 10 (0)
ACC – 7 of 15 (1)
SEC – 6 of 14 (0)
Big East – 5 of 10 (0)
Pac-12 – 5 of 12 (0)
Atlantic 10 – 3 of 14 (1)
Mountain West – 2 of 11 (2)
WCC – 2 of 10 (0)
American – 1 of 11 (1)
Missouri Valley – 1 of 10 (1)

Saturday marks one of the biggest days of the college basketball season to date, with four ranked vs ranked matchups and a number of bubble battles. Check out the official crazysportsdude college basketball viewing guide for Saturday, January 23rd, 2020.

Time (ET)	MUSt-WATCH	SECOND SCREEN	KEEP AN EYE
12	#9 Alabama @ #24 Oklahoma – espn2	clemson @ duke – espn	providence @ georgetown – fs1
2	#10 texas tech @ lsu – tbd	florida @ #11 west virginia – tbd	st. bonaventure @ davidson – cbssn
4	#3 villanova @ seton hall – fox (3)	arkansas @ oklahoma state – espn2	#16 florida state @ georgia tech – acc network
6	#15 kansas @ #18 tennessee – espn	#8 Virginia @ #20 Virginia tech – acc network	oregon @ usc – Fox (5:30)
8	#21 minnesota @ Purdue – btn (7:30)	#5 texas @ kentucky – espn	notre dame @ pitt – acc network
10	stanford @ arizona state – espn2	utah @ colorado – pac-12 network (9:30)	new mexico state @ grand canyon – espn3 (9)

When David Duke Jr. of Providence, Rhode Island was born in 1999, maybe his parents thought history would not remember *that* David Duke, maybe they just didn’t care.

A black kid from the northwest corner of Providence with ancestry in Liberia, and America’s most famous white supremacist. It would be impossible to confuse the two if they stood side by side. And yet, they share the same name, a cruel joke from a cruel universe.

Scrolling through Duke Jr.’s Twitter feed you are barraged with basketball highlights, Rhode Islander pride, and lots and lots of anti-racist activism, as if in some strange way Duke Jr. is atoning for the sins of the evil man that he shares nothing with but a string of letters.

A 5’6″ kid as a freshman in high school, not much more than a role player as a sophomore, and then the victim of a hamstring injury his junior year, Duke’s lifelong dream of becoming a pro basketball player seemed like a longshot.

Duke recovered from that injury, though, and averaged 15 points per game that season, taking his team to the state championship and scoring 26 on a Bishop Hendrickson team that was the Alabama football of Rhode Island high school basketball en route to a win.

That performance earned him his first D1 offer: UMass. Two weeks later, Ed Cooley and Providence offered the hometown kid a scholarship. Kansas, Florida, Virginia, Villanova, and Syracuse were among the 21 schools that ended up offering Duke a scholarship. In the end, though, the hometown kid signed with the hometown coach, and Duke became a Providence Friar.

Since enrolling, Duke has done nothing but impress. He was named co-Big East Freshman of the Year, became the first Providence native to start for the Friars in well over 20 years, and was called by head coach Ed Cooley the “hardest working player in the country.”

Duke even made the Big East’s All-Academic team and helped to lead a charge by the conference’s players to demand a response to the summer’s Black Lives Matter protests.

Not only has the conference chosen to wear “BLM” patches on jerseys after pressure from black players and coaches, but rumors have been floating about the conference potentially adopting a rule similar to the “Rooney Rule” in the NFL which requires teams with head coaching vacancies to interview at least one minority candidate. It would be the first of its kind at the Division I level.

This year, things look rough for Providence. The Friars are 7-6, with road games against the conference’s two best teams next up on the docket. There has been one bright spot though. That hometown kid from the northwest side.

The now-junior has been shooting at a 47% clip from deep. He has made 82% of his shots from the free-throw line, and is passing and defending better than he ever has in his career.

You would be hard-pressed to find a college basketball writer in the country that has not tweeted something positive about Duke at some point this season, and NBA scouts have noticed.

A long, smart, athletic, two-way guard that is shooting well? That’s a recipe to skyrocket up draft boards, and Duke has, with many mock drafts placing him as a lottery pick in the upcoming 2021 NBA Draft.

In a 2018 interview with the Providence Journal, back when he was just a freshman with the Friars, Duke talked about his decision to keep his name. He said: “Someday I want people to look up ‘David Duke’ and see my face.”

In a few years, they very will might.

In the latest update to our bracketology, Mike Krzyewski’s Duke Blue Devils check-in as an 11 seed and one of the last eight at-larges in the NCAA Tournament field, and even that may be generous.

The Blue Devils currently sit at 5-3 and are 0-2 in Q1 opportunities with only one Q2 win (@ Notre Dame on 12/16), not to mention a home loss to Michigan State that currently registers as a quadrant three shortcoming.

Now, with that being said, there is still time for the resume to improve, which is why the Blue Devils currently sit on the right side of the bubble. Duke checks in at 24th in KenPom and has five Q1 opportunities remaining, the first of which comes tonight @ Pitt, another ACC squad currently on the bubble. A loss there would drop college basketball’s most decorated program to 5-4, and likely out of the next bracketology update. For context, Duke has not missed the NCAA Tournament since 1995, when Coach K left the program midseason due to a back injury.

As of right now, we project Duke to get things back on track, but when you check this article again next Tuesday, I would not be surprised if things looked different.

KEY

Italicized – Play-in game
GREEN – Moved up one or more seed line
RED – Moved down one or more seed line
BLUE – New to bracket

Seed List

Note: The furthest left team is considered to be the highest-ranked on the seed line and the furthest right is considered to be the lowest-ranked

1 Seeds: Gonzaga, Baylor, Michigan, Iowa
2 Seeds: Villanova, Texas, Tennessee, Houston
3 Seeds: Wisconsin, Ohio State, Kansas, Creighton
4 Seeds: Clemson, Missouri, Illinois, West Virginia
5 Seeds: Alabama, Texas Tech, Colorado, Virginia
6 Seeds: UCLA, Minnesota, Oregon, Louisville
7 Seeds: Florida State, USC, Virginia Tech, Saint Louis
8 Seeds: Oklahoma State, Connecticut, LSU, Purdue
9 Seeds: Xavier, Boise State, Rutgers, BYU
10 Seeds: San Diego State, Arkansas, Seton Hall, Oklahoma
11 Seeds: Duke, Florida, North Carolina, Drake
12 Seeds: Richmond, Indiana, Michigan State, Stanford, Winthrop, Toledo
13 Seeds: Georgia State, South Dakota State, Furman, UAB
14 Seeds: Belmont, Abilene Christian, Liberty, Colgate
15 Seeds: Cleveland State, UC Irvine, Siena, Bryant
16 Seeds: Vermont, New Mexico State, Northeastern, Southern Utah, Norfolk State, Texas Southern

Dropped Out: Syracuse, Western Kentucky, Wright State, UMBC

Bubble Watch

Last Four Byes
Oklahoma
Duke
Florida
North Carolina
Last Four In
Richmond
Indiana
Michigan State
Stanford
First Four Out
Utah State
Wichita State
Maryland
Pittsburgh
Next Four Out
VCU
St. Bonaventure
Syracuse
Colorado State

Bids By Conference

Big Ten – 10 (+1 in First Eight Out)
Big 12 – 7 (0)
ACC – 7 (2)
SEC – 6 (0)
Big East – 5 (0)
Pac-12 – 5 (0)
Atlantic 10 – 2 (2)
Mountain West – 2 (2)
WCC – 2 (0)
American – 1 (1)