Bracketology 2020 Projected Field: Wichita State, Seton Hall rising

On the outside looking in…

Let me start this section by saying that the bubble is an absolute mess right now. I actually feel pretty comfortable through most of the No. 10 seeds at the moment as I think all of them should be safely in the field if Selection Sunday was this weekend. After that, though, there is a ton of competition for the last six or so spots and it is difficult to sort through those resumes. Thankfully, the picture will become clearer as the season progresses, but it is very muddy for the time being.

Now that I have finished breaking down the teams actually in my field, here are 11 teams on the outside looking in that I want to highlight this week…(there is no order to this).

Minnesota Golden Gophers: One of the most difficult early-season resumes to analyze. Minnesota is 1-6 in Q1 games so far this season as it is yet to consistently “win the big ones”. As a result of their high number of losses, the Gophers sit sub-60 in both KPI and SOR. With that said, though, efficiency metrics seem to love this team comparatively. Will Minnesota turn a corner?

Washington Huskies: Washington has been highly-regarded nationally throughout this season but its resume does not scream tournament-team. None of the Huskies’ metrics are particularly impressive and they are just 2-4 in Q1+2. Their win over Baylor is great, but they haven’t looked great since. Additionally, losing Quade Green for the foreseeable future (academically ineligible) hurts their chances of making a strong push moving forward.

Purdue Boilermakers: Purdue simply has to find a way to win away from Mackey Arena. Throughout the first two months of the season, the Boilermakers have been awful when playing outside of their home gym and that absolutely needs to change. If it does, though, this team can be very dangerous. Not many opponents, including nationally-ranked ones, will walk into Mackey and leave with a victory this season.

Utah Utes: Utah needs to boost its predictive metric rankings in order to be seriously considered. The Utes rank strongly in NET and resume metrics but sitting sub-95 in BPI and KenPom will not cut it. There will be opportunities for this team in Pac-12 play.

Oregon State Beavers: Oregon State boasts a great win by taking down Colorado on the road a couple of weeks ago. That is the good news. The bad news? Well, that was just one of three wins that the Beavers have in Q3 or tougher games. They also already have four losses. With that said, all of their metrics are sitting just on the outside of bubble-worthy. This is a team to monitor that could make a run.

Georgia Bulldogs: Georgia picked up its biggest win of the season during this past week when it went on the road and upset Memphis. Considering the Tigers aren’t incredibly highly-rated by anything but the human polls and will not play any big-time games the rest of the season, though, this will likely not go down as a signature win by the end of the season for the Bulldogs. The Anthony Edwards-led squad will need to perform at a high level in SEC play to dance.

DePaul Blue Demons: DePaul is 12-3 with wins over Iowa, Minnesota, and Texas Tech. With that said, though, they are only ranked in the Top 50 nationally by one committee-used metric (SOR) and are relatively far behind other bubble teams in the other categories. Additionally, it appears as though the Blue Demons are trending in the wrong direction as they have currently dropped back-to-back games – both at home.

St. John’s Red Storm: Sticking with the Big East, St. John’s also entered conference play with hopes of competing for the NCAA Tournament after a strong non-league performance. Yet, they are also winless in conference so far at 0-3. Granted, two of those came on the road so it’s hard to be too upset but the Red Storm absolutely need to turn on the jets soon. They are ranked sub-70 in every metric.

USC Trojans: USC is such an interesting case. The Trojans are 5-3 in Q1+2 games without a truly bad loss. The Trojans also rank in the Top 36 in both KPI and SOR. Yet…they are sub-70 in every other metric used by the committee. A convincing stretch of play in the Pac-12 could change that and put the Trojans in the field.

Oklahoma State Cowboys: Oklahoma State dropped back-to-back games this week to good teams in Texas Tech and West Virginia. The issue, though, is that the Cowboys looked awful in both games and it caused them to plummet down the rankings. They are also down to just 9-5 on the season and have just won two games since November.

Virginia Cavaliers: The defending national champions are not in a great place right now. Virginia still holds a solid 11-3 (3-1 ACC) record but losses to South Carolina and Boston College are quite detrimental. Additionally, they are yet to secure a truly strong win. The Cavaliers still rank relatively high in most metrics but the NET is not fooled as it placed them at No. 64. Virginia does not have a Q1 win yet this season.

Others to Monitor (also in no order): Providence, Duquesne, SMU, Pittsburgh, Furman, Alabama, TCU, Saint Louis, Temple, Tennessee, Arizona State, Missouri, Texas, Rhode Island, Cincinnati, Notre Dame, New Mexico, Utah State, Miami (FL), and a few others.

That concludes this updated look at my bracketology projected field. Check next Friday for another bracket! Hopefully your favorite team continues to be included or makes a run at belonging in the field.