Bracketology 2023: Kansas State, Arizona among week’s biggest winners

Temple Owls

The ONLY reason why the Owls even made this list is because their resume has a chance to matter if certain things go their way. Temple pulled off the road win over the No. 1 team in the country, the Houston Cougars. That’s another Quad 1 win, joining Rutgers and VCU to make it 3-0. And had Villanova not had its rare bad year, that would be another one to it.

The problem is that the Owls have a NET ranking over 100, thanks to multiple Quad 3 and 4 defeats to teams such as Wagner and Maryland-Eastern Shore. The chances of Temple being an at-large team is slim to none but if they somehow pull off the season sweep of Houston and run through the AAC without another Quad 3 or 4 loss, then the numbers might start to look interesting. if nothing else, their season isn’t officially dead.

Wake Forest Demon Deacons

The Demon Deacons have been lacking a lot of quality wins and had a pair of ranked opponents to deal with last week. They had to get at least a win and managed to do with an 87-77 victory over Clemson for a Quad 2 win. Wake Forest also was a beneficiary of Gonzaga’s loss to LMU last weekend. The Lions are a Quad 2 loss on the Deacon’s resume now, which makes up for LSU (Quad 3 loss) falling apart in SEC play.

With a NET ranking of 71, Wake Forest has some work to do to get into a better position when it comes to Bracketology. They have another Quad 1 opportunity coming up with a road matchup at Pittsburgh.