Bracketology 2021: BYU, Purdue and Saint Louis among biggest winners

Saint Louis

In recent years, the A-10 has certainly stood out as one of the premier mid-major conferences. Last year’s Dayton squad was a legitimate national championship threat, and it’s hard to forget the success that Rhode Island or VCU have had in recent years. Finally, on the rebound under former Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford, the Billikens are fresh in that conversation as well.

Their 6-0 start already saw them defeat LSU a few weeks back, but Thursday’s double-digit win over NC State only solidifies their place as one of the nation’s best mid-majors in the early going. Javonte Perkins (19.5 ppg) had 20 points in the win over the Wolfpack while a 16-point, 15-rebound effort from Jordan Goodwin was the latest for the stud forward who’s averaging well over a double-double in the early going.

Richmond got the attention early for their win over Kentucky and certainly helped their case with wins this week over Vanderbilt and Loyola, but Saint Louis could be emerging as the team to beat in the A-10. They still face a challenge on the road at Minnesota that would help build their resume even more, but this is a team that should be jumping up the seed line and could be ranked very soon.

There were many winners during these past seven days of college basketball, but we’ve taken a few moments to highlight five of those successful teams. Anything can happen and it’s hard to know just who will shine next week.