Bracketology 2024: Virginia Tech, New Mexico, and Utah among week's biggest losers

Seton Hall Pirates

It’s been a month since the Pirates had landed anything other than a Quad 4 victory. After beating DePaul the weekend prior, they took on Georgetown, with a NET ranking around 200 overall. Seton Hall was able to win, 76-70, led by 25 points and 10 rebounds from Dre Davis and 20 points, seven rebounds, and eight assists from Kadary Richmond.

Avoiding a Quad 4 loss is the most important but winning a “close” game against a bad team also has an impact on the overall metrics. For a team like Seton Hall, whose NET was in the 60s, to begin with, that was an issue. And following it up with a blowout bubble battle loss makes it even worse.

On Sunday, the Pirates were defeated by Villanova, 80-54. That loss took them down nine spots to a NET ranking of 76 and now 5-7 combined versus Quad 1/2 foes, along with two Quad 3 defeats as well. With already poor metrics taking a big hit with these two results, the Pirates have to be considered a “loser” from this past week.

The next two games for Seton Hall are against more teams on the bubble. They got Xavier at home and St. John’s on the road, with both games being big for the overall Big East picture.