After a few weeks of league play, there are some teams who are clearly on their way to the NCAA Tournament. At the same time, there are those who have all but eliminated themselves from postseason discussion.
This was another week where teams were able to build their Bracketology resumes. In face, it wasn’t just in the SEC where that occurred. Here’s another list of teams who should be viewed as big winners from the past few days.
Louisville Cardinals
There aren’t going to be many opportunities for big wins in the ACC so when they come, you have to take advantage of it. That’s what Louisville did, beating Clemson at home and getting a Quad 1 road win at Pittsburgh on the weekend. This past week solidified the Cardinals as the No. 2 team in the league and has them squarely on the right side of the at-large picture.
Oregon Ducks
After giving up 109 points in a home loss to Illinois, Oregon bounced back to win its next three games. Two of them were on the road this past week, at Ohio State and Penn State. Both of those went down to the wire and could’ve gone the other way, but these wins not only clinched a likely tournament bid for them but also stayed in the Big Ten title contention.
Georgia Bulldogs
The Bulldogs were one of the few SEC teams who entered league play without a clear-cut NCAAT resume. They now have one, beating both Kentucky and Oklahoma at home to get a Quad 1 and 2 win, along with a top-30 NET ranking of its own. They took care of business at home and now don’t have to beat one of the top two teams (Auburn and Tennessee) in the coming week.
Villanova Wildcats
Without freshman star Liam McNeeley, the UConn Huskies have been very vulnerable. And in a must-win scenario, Villanova was able to get the 68-66 home upset for its first Quad 1 victory of the season. They did lose on the road at St. John’s but beating UConn has them back in the conversation for an at-large bid.
New Mexico Lobos
When the Lobos lost at home to New Mexico State, it looked as if they wasn’t going to be dancing. However, they’ve rebounded nicely, winning its first six Mountain West games. They won on the road at Wyoming this past week, which is hard, no matter how good the Cowboys are.
But the 14-point win over San Diego State gave them another key victory to add to their resume. While the Aggies defeat will still haunt them going forward, New Mexico has done literally everything possible to get back in the picture.