Busting Brackets
Fansided

Bracketology 2020: Duke/Syracuse, Saint Mary’s/BYU among week’s best matchups

By Tristan Freeman

SYRACUSE, NY - FEBRUARY 20: Elijah Hughes #33 of the Syracuse Orange reacts to a made three-point basket as teammate Buddy Boeheim #35 gestures against the Louisville Cardinals during the first half at the Carrier Dome on February 20, 2019 in Syracuse, New York. (Photo by Rich Barnes/Getty Images)
SYRACUSE, NY - FEBRUARY 20: Elijah Hughes #33 of the Syracuse Orange reacts to a made three-point basket as teammate Buddy Boeheim #35 gestures against the Louisville Cardinals during the first half at the Carrier Dome on February 20, 2019 in Syracuse, New York. (Photo by Rich Barnes/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
5 of 6
Next
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY – JANUARY 04: M.J. Walker #23 of the Florida State Seminoles (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY – JANUARY 04: M.J. Walker #23 of the Florida State Seminoles (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

4. UNC Greensboro (16-5, 6-2) at East Tennessee State (18-3, 7-1) – Saturday, Feb 1

Can the Southern Conference find a way to get multiple teams into the NCAA Tournament this year? It’ll depend on what ETSU does, as they’re the only team with a discussable at-large resume. The win over LSU looks fantastic these days, while both Winthrop and Little Rock’s success in conference play has quality helped the Bucs move into the top-50 of the NET rankings. But it’s hard to win in the SoCon against the top-tier, including a more than capable UNC-Greensboro team.

East Tennessee State already has a win over the Spartans, winning 64-57 on the road. If the Bucs can get the season-sweep, the rest of the schedule is very favorable for a run. With exception to the rematch against Furman, this is the toughest game left for the Bucs. For those who have ESPN+, this is the kind of mid-major you should tune into.

3. Florida State (17-2, 7-1) at Virginia (13-6, 5-4) – Tuesday, Jan 28

You can effectively copy and paste what I said about the previous Louisville vs NC State matchup when it comes to the ACC and potential major opportunities. But Virginia is in more danger than the Wolfpack, having just lost last when at home when they faced each other, before needing overtime to avoid an absolute disaster of a loss at Wake Forest on Sunday. The Cavaliers NET ranking is around 60, meaning that the reigning national champs are much close to the NIT than they are the NCAA Tournament.

They’ll really need to find a way to beat one of the hottest teams in the country in Florida State, winners of 10 straight heading into this game. One of those came against UVA, in a close 54-50 victory not too long ago. If the Seminoles can keep winning, they’ll have a legit case to be a No. 1 seed by the time of the Big Dance. But they’ll have to keep getting road wins like this one.

Home/Bracketology