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Bracketology 2020: Villanova, Michigan State among this week’s losers

By Andrew Dieckhoff

PHILADELPHIA, PA - DECEMBER 21: Head coach Jay Wright of the Villanova Wildcats reacts against the Kansas Jayhawks in the first half at the Wells Fargo Center on December 21, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - DECEMBER 21: Head coach Jay Wright of the Villanova Wildcats reacts against the Kansas Jayhawks in the first half at the Wells Fargo Center on December 21, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
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SAN DIEGO, CA – MARCH 16: The Wichita State Shockers mascot (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
SAN DIEGO, CA – MARCH 16: The Wichita State Shockers mascot (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /

Wichita State Shockers (17-6, 5-5 American)

Perhaps it’s too early to fully panic, but the Shockers have had a bad two weeks. In their only action last week, Wichita State fell to Tulsa on a buzzer-beater. The loss broke up the momentum that Gregg Marshall’s squad was trying to rebuild after back-to-back defeats at the hands of Temple and Houston in mid-January.

They had the perfect chance to get re-tracked this past week, with games against Cincinnati and Houston on the ledger. The Shockers are directly competing with both teams for an at-large berth out of the American, so these games were vitally important for their March profile.

And after taking losses in both games, those at-large hopes are suddenly in serious peril.

Cincinnati managed to beat Wichita State by a single point at Koch Arena on Thursday, putting further distance between the two teams in the AAC standings—and perhaps swapping their positions in the NCAA Tournament field. The Bearcats had some early stumbles, but this road win against Wichita will do wonders for their resume.

Not that the Shockers are going to be the ones to congratulate them.

But rather than sulk in their recent losses, Wichita State needed to get back to work and go grab a big road win of their own on Sunday. They likely had no clue what kind of buzzsaw was waiting for them at the Fertitta Center.

Houston ended up cruising to an astonishing 76-43 win over the Shockers, besting their league rivals in just about every facet of the game. Though they were sitting in the national Top 25 polls just two weeks ago, the wheels have come off in a hurry for Wichita State.

The Shockers should have an easier time in their next three matchups, as they square off with UCF, Tulane, and South Florida. Their final five games all pose serious threats, though, with Cincinnati, Temple, SMU, Memphis, and Tulsa all capable of beating Wichita.

If Gregg Marshall can’t scramble to right his team’s ship, they could sail completely off the edge of the map.

Next. Bracketology Winners. dark

Check back next week for another installment of Bracketology Losers. In the meantime, just pray your team doesn’t find its way onto this list.

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