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Bracketology 2020: Virginia, DePaul and Washington among week’s losers

SEATTLE, WA - DECEMBER 08: Quade Green #55 of the Washington Huskies drives passed Admon Gilder #1 of the Gonzaga Bulldogs and scores on a breakaway late in the 2nd half at Hec Edmundson Pavilion on December 8, 2019 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Mike Tedesco/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WA - DECEMBER 08: Quade Green #55 of the Washington Huskies drives passed Admon Gilder #1 of the Gonzaga Bulldogs and scores on a breakaway late in the 2nd half at Hec Edmundson Pavilion on December 8, 2019 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Mike Tedesco/Getty Images)
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Bracketology
COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA – MARCH 22: Breein Tyree #4 of the Mississippi Rebels (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

The first full week of 2020 brought plenty of bad omens for teams. Who suffered the most in terms of Bracketology?

It’s hard to believe that we are already just about two months away from the NCAA Tournament. Teams are really starting to etch out exactly who they are. Some are loving what they are seeing, with these squads sprinting past preseason projections and inching ever-closer to the hallowed “safe” zone in the world of bracketology.

Others, though, continued to show the nation all their warts. And while we may have taken steps forward as a society to accept each other’s flaws, that same leniency is not afforded to teams that stumble through the early part of their conference season.

For those teams, the hot lights of judgment burn as bright as ever.

And it is through that lens of scrutiny that we look at this week’s bracketology losers.

Though there are still roughly eight weeks of basketball left to be played, struggling teams are simply running out of time to put it all together.

And in a time where arguably too much emphasis is placed on the name on the front of the jersey, it is surprising to see some of the storied programs that will be sweating out Selection Sunday.

In fact, last year’s national champions make an early appearance in the paragraphs to follow. Other programs with recent NCAA titles are also finding themselves on the outs as we barrel deeper into the first month of 2020.

We start our Bracketology Losers week as always with the ACC, a league that boasts two recent national champions flirting with disaster after another rough week.