There weren’t a ton of games overall in the past week, as many teams were off for the holiday break. But that doesn’t mean that there weren’t meaningful results that impacted teams from a Bracketology standpoint.
Here’s a look at five programs that did their respective resume the biggest of favors in the past week.
Memphis Tigers
It’s been said many times how important this game against Ole Miss was for the team. The AAC doesn’t provide any opportunities for Quad 1 wins the rest of the way. The Rebels at home was a Quad 2 game, and Memphis pulled out the 87-70 victory. The Tigers now have seven combined Quad 1/2 wins, which is the most of any team right now. They’ll hope it’ll be good enough come Selection Sunday.
Nebraska Cornhuskers
The Cornhuskers didn’t have big opportunities in the Diamond Head Classic, so the goal was to go 3-0 to avoid any bad losses. That’s what they did, beating Murray State, Hawaii, and Oregon State to win the championship. They end the non-con with no bad losses, making it a perfectly respectable past couple of months.
UCLA Bruins
The Bruins only had one game but it was a big one, taking on Gonzaga in a neutral-site matchup. Like with previous games between them, it went down to the final seconds. But UCLA got the Quad 1 victory to add to an already strong resume, giving them plenty of breathing room as they look to get back to the NCAA Tournament.
Boise State Broncos
The Broncos had a tricky road game at San Jose State, a team who had been on a winning streak and was leading for most of the game. But Boise State was able to avoid what would’ve been a very bad loss to their resume and staying in the bubble picture. True road games in league play are no joke and Boise almost found that out the hard way.
Utah State Aggies
Utah State was also on the road this weekend, but they took on perennial Mountain West favorite San Diego State. There would’ve been nothing shameful about losing to them, and they were down double-digits early. But they were able to come back and get the 67-66 road win and Quad 1 resume booster. Add the road win over Saint Mary’s in the week prior, and no one has helped their resume more during this time than the Aggies.