Bracketology 2020: Duke, Butler, Auburn among this week’s losers
Wichita State
Just when it looked like Gregg Marshall’s team had taken over complete control of the American, the Shockers took a giant step backward. Wichita State lost both of its games to fellow top-half teams in the AAC, first to Temple and then to Houston.
Though the Shockers will undoubtedly fall in the national polls—perhaps all the way out of them—they still have an inside edge on an at-large bid out of the American. But they lost two games to teams that will be vying against them for that bid.
The road loss to Temple won’t be nearly as damning as losing at home to Houston will be. The Cougars are making a push into second place in the league, with Memphis returning to the top spot almost by default. Wichita State can return the favor at the Ferititta Center on February 9.
Cincinnati
The Bearcats did not have a good non-conference season, so they have to pick up some big-time victories in the AAC this season. They missed out on a whale of an opportunity when they traveled to Memphis on Thursday.
Cincinnati looked to have the Tigers on the ropes for a spell, but they weren’t able to respond to a second-half surge from Penny Hardaway’s squad. Instead of grabbing a marquee road victory, it was another loss being added to the Bearcats’ resume.
John Brannen’s club really doesn’t have a signature win, and they’ve been struck with some bad fortune as two of their best wins—Tennessee and New Mexico—are likely to get worse with age due to those teams’ issues with injuries and suspensions, respectively.
They’ll have a big road game against our next team on Wednesday, but it might not be big enough to make a dent in Cincinnati’s at-large hopes.
Temple
The Owls did score a huge victory over Wichita State last week, so it seems strange for them to show up in the loser’s column. But Temple managed to take that swell of momentum and flush it into the ether, losing their next game by 16 points when they faced SMU in the Lone Star State.
The loss to the Mustangs prevented Temple from getting back to .500 in the AAC, instead casting them down into ninth place in the 12-team league. Their win over the Shockers is likely better than any win Cincinnati has, but until the Owls can get their conference record turned around, they won’t last long in the discussions for an at-large bid.
Teams like Tulsa and SMU are hanging around and making noise in the league, but Temple and Cincinnati are both in the running for a possible fourth bid out of the American. Wednesday’s winner between the Owls and Bearcats will gain an advantage in that race.