Bracketology 2023: Clemson, Illinois, and NC State among biggest winners

New Mexico Lobos

At the start of January, the Lobos were the last unbeaten team in college basketball. But two straight losses, including a bad road defeat at Fresno State, put them in the middle of the Mountain West standings. But they rebounded nicely this week, starting with a Quad 2 home win over Oral Roberts in a newly-scheduled matchup that replaced the lost games against New Mexico State.

And to cap it off, New Mexico beat the best team in the Mountain West, the San Diego State Aztecs. The final score was 76-67, led by 29 points from Jaelen House. The Quad 1 road victory is the signature win for the Lobos, who has a top-50 NET ranking and is right in the at-large conversation. They have plenty more opportunities in the conference but do need to avoid more mishaps like Fresno State.

Oregon Ducks

I didn’t want to include the Ducks, who entering Saturday were 9-8 overall and had a loss to UC-Irvine on its resume. But I can’t overlook the massive upset win over Arizona, which should improve its ranking better than 70.

It’s still not near enough to have them in the bubble picture but there’s a path to get them in the mix. If they can get through the pending road trip of Stanford and Cal and then take care of business against Utah and Colorado at home, Oregon will be 7-3 in Pac-12 play heading into the rematch at Arizona. By then, their numbers could take a serious climb.