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Bracketology 2020: Creighton, Michigan State and Texas among biggest winners

By Tristan Freeman

CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - FEBRUARY 15: Tomas Woldetensae #53 of the Virginia Cavaliers celebrates with teammates after scoring the game-winning basket during the second half of their game against the North Carolina Tar Heels at the Dean Smith Center on February 15, 2020 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Virginia won 64-62. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - FEBRUARY 15: Tomas Woldetensae #53 of the Virginia Cavaliers celebrates with teammates after scoring the game-winning basket during the second half of their game against the North Carolina Tar Heels at the Dean Smith Center on February 15, 2020 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Virginia won 64-62. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 12: Maliek White #4, Alpha Diallo #11 and A.J. Reeves #10 of the Providence Friars (Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 12: Maliek White #4, Alpha Diallo #11 and A.J. Reeves #10 of the Providence Friars (Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images) /

Providence Friars (17-12, 10-6 Big East)

It looked like an impossible task for the Friars to be an at-large team after all the bad losses they took in the non-conference. But they simply just had to beat all the top teams in the Big East in order to offset that. They took a large lead on the road at Villanova, before holding on to a four-point win and another Quad 1 resume builder.

Along with wins over Marquette and Seton Hall in the past couple of weeks, Providence has found themselves on the right side of the bubble with a couple of games to go before the Big East Tournament. As long as they beat both Xavier and DePaul at home this week, they should be good to go regardless of what happens at Madison Square Garden.

UCLA Bruins (19-11, 12-5)

Just like Providence, it didn’t look as if the Bruins were going to even be in the at-large picture once March 1st got here. But they’ve been on an absolute tear of late, winning eight of nine in the month of February that included a pair of home wins over both Arizona and Arizona State.

Now in first place in the Pac-12, the Bruins are hoping that the eye-test combined with the major momentum will be worth more than the metrics that have been slow to move them on up. Their NET ranking is still above 70 and the bad losses to Hofstra and Cal State Fullerton remain eyesores. But it’ll be hard to keep this red-hot team out the NCAA Tournament as long as they don’t lose to one of the bottom teams in the conference tournament.

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