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Bracketology 2022: Duke, Indiana, and Houston among week’s losers

By Tristan Freeman

Oregon's Jacob Young, left, and De'Vion Harmon celebrate in the closing second of the game against Stanford as fans cheer beyond Feb. 10, 2022.Eug 021022 Uo Stanford 08
Oregon's Jacob Young, left, and De'Vion Harmon celebrate in the closing second of the game against Stanford as fans cheer beyond Feb. 10, 2022.Eug 021022 Uo Stanford 08 /
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Bracketology Houston Cougars guard Taze Moore Memphis Tigers guard Lester Quinones Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports
Bracketology Houston Cougars guard Taze Moore Memphis Tigers guard Lester Quinones Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports /

Houston Cougars – 20-4 (9-2 in AAC)

Heading into this past week, Houston Head Coach Kelvin Sampson was viewed as a legit candidate for National Coach of the Year. The Cougars were a top-10 team and unbeaten in league play without having leading scorer Marcus Sasser and key guard Tramon Mark for the season due to injuries. But now, it looks as if the injuries have caught up to the team.

That may be a little unfair considering the competition, as the next two best teams (SMU and Memphis) were the opponents. The Cougars were up on the Mustangs on Wednesday until a furious comeback allowed the underdogs to come back and give the favorites their first loss in AAC play, 85-83.

Then came a desperate Memphis squad who still had an outside shot at getting an at-large bid despite all the drama and bad losses that have occurred. And that’s what the Tigers did, beating Houston on Saturday by 10 points to get its signature victory for the season next to Alabama.

The 0-2 week did two things for the Cougars. The first making the AAC regular-season title race wide open between them and SMU+Memphis, as Houston still faces each of them once more in the coming weeks. But it also drops them a seed line or two most likely and despite being ranked No. 6 in the national AP polls, was also a projected 4-5 seed in most Bracketology.

That’s because not only is the AAC weak overall and doesn’t provide many Quad 1 opportunities, but the Cougars also are just 4-4 against Quad 1 and 2 opponents. And when your best wins are against Oregon and Virginia (neither currently in most projected Field of 68 groups), you have a very light resume.

dark. Next. 5 bubble teams to keep an eye on

Houston’s losses this week weren’t bad in context and this team could very well be top-10 caliber. But their resume isn’t going to show that and if they take another loss or two in league play, could wind up as a six seed in the NCAA Tournament, something they’ll want to avoid but may not have a choice in the matter.

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