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Bracketology 2020: Duke, Butler, Auburn among this week’s losers

By Andrew Dieckhoff

DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - DECEMBER 31: Vernon Carey Jr. #1 of the Duke Blue Devils reacts after dunking against the Boston College Eagles during the first half of a game at Cameron Indoor Stadium on December 31, 2019 in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - DECEMBER 31: Vernon Carey Jr. #1 of the Duke Blue Devils reacts after dunking against the Boston College Eagles during the first half of a game at Cameron Indoor Stadium on December 31, 2019 in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /
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KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – MARCH 31: Head coach Bruce Pearl of the Auburn Tigers (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – MARCH 31: Head coach Bruce Pearl of the Auburn Tigers (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

Auburn

Uh, okay.

At the start of the week, Auburn was undefeated and ranked near the top of the national polls. But after two disasters, the Tigers are suddenly in a free fall.

The first defeat came at the hands of Nate Oats’ new-look Alabama team, which has been surging a bit over the past few weeks. But their first loss wasn’t some buzzer-beating nail-biter. It was a beatdown from just about the opening tip and the result was a 19-point margin of victory for the Tide.

But that’s fine. Everybody gets one.

Apparently, one wasn’t enough for Bruce Pearl’s side.

On Saturday, the team was beaten handily again, this time by a Florida team that has had an astoundingly disappointing season compared to their preseason projections. This was not the way to quiet those who claim that Auburn hasn’t played against good enough competition to warrant their high ranking.

Looking back, their best wins are over NC State and Mississippi State. This team has quickly gone from an outside contender for a #1 seed to desperately trying to hold on to a top-4 spot that would likely give them a favorable pod placement.

Next week holds two interesting challenges, as the Tigers take on a dangerous South Carolina team before hosting Iowa State in an inter-conference battle. Both games could be dangerous traps, so the Tigers need to fix their problems quickly.

Kentucky

John Calipari can attest to that categorization of the Gamecocks as a “dangerous team”. After all, his Wildcats fell to South Carolina on the road last week, just as they had returned to the Top 10 of the media polls.

Kentucky got things back on track over the weekend and scored a nice road victory over Arkansas, but the midweek loss to Frank Martin’s club might come back to bite the Wildcats when it comes time for seeding and site placement in the NCAA Tournament.

There are available sites in Cleveland and Greensboro that would be great for Kentucky, but if they don’t start asserting themselves and rising to their lofty potential, chances are good that they could be shut out of their first and second choices for their location in the opening rounds.

Missouri

Like Auburn, these Tigers also lost two games last week. Unlike Auburn, Missouri hasn’t done nearly enough this season to be able to afford weeks like this. Consequently, Cuonzo Martin’s team is veering dangerously close to being out of the picture altogether, with just two months until Selection Sunday.

The Tigers did have the unenviable task of playing both games on the road, but they needed to make a statement against teams like Mississippi State and Alabama in order to distinguish themselves in the middle of the SEC pack.

Instead, they lost both contests by a combined 41 points and currently sit at 1-4 in the conference. Only winless Ole Miss and Vanderbilt are keeping Missouri out of the SEC cellar. At this point, there’s simply not enough left on the schedule for the Tigers to turn around their tournament fortunes. Outside of a magical run through the SEC Tournament, this team will be staying home.

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