Bracketology 2021: Oklahoma, Illinois, Virginia Tech among big winners

It was impossible to expect a flawless college basketball season in the middle of the national pandemic. That being said, we’ve made our way to the end of January with a great majority of the college basketball schedule being played. There have been cancellations, postponements, and other hoops to jump through, but we’ve had a significant amount of on-court action nonetheless.

We’re halfway through conference season, which means that March Madness is drawing closer and closer. As the calendar turns towards February and then March, the games become more and more important. For bubble teams, the opportunities grew more important as do their need to make an impression on the Selection Committee.

This past week of basketball provided some of those opportunities and a number of teams took full advantage. Power conference teams each have their chance to make their mark, though not every team can take advantage of that chance. In a college basketball world of uneven scheduling and pandemic pauses, it’s not easy these days to make an impact and for these teams to get on a hot streak. That being said, some fantastic performances from this past week showed that this was possible.

We’re going to take a look at ten teams that stood out and made positive impacts towards their standing come March, especially in the eyes of bracketologists across the country.