Bracketology 2021: BYU, Purdue and Saint Louis among biggest winners
By Joey Loose
Western Kentucky
These days, Conference USA certainly isn’t the power conference it once was, but the league has still produced some darlings of the NCAA Tournament in recent years. Western Kentucky has been a potential darling ever since Rick Stansbury was hired four years ago, but this may be the year that the high-profile recruiting pays off.
The Hilltoppers took care of business this past week, toppling a tough Rhode Island team on Sunday before heading to Tuscaloosa and upending Alabama at home. Highly touted prospect Charles Bassey is averaging better than 16 points a game, and his 27-point, 12-rebound effort was key to the Hilltoppers’ win against the Crimson Tide. Even with a meager 4-point effort from Taveion Hollingsworth (16.4 ppg), Western Kentucky still got the job done.
This Western Kentucky team already had the spotlight on them, knocking Northern Iowa and Memphis out of the Crossover Classic before losing a fantastic showdown with West Virginia. They’ve since also dropped a road game at Louisville, but there’s no shame in those two losses. When you consider the wins that this team has picked up, especially recently, this is a team that can do some serious damage in the NCAA Tournament.
It’s far too early to accurately speculate on seeding, especially before play has even begun in Conference USA, but this is a sneaky good Hilltoppers squad that could work their way up the seedling. They could be the worst nightmare of a top 2 seed in the second round.