It is time again for another edition of college basketball Bad Beats. This article focuses on the worst of the worst over the week of college basketball. Those stories and losses make people cringe when they talk about them and get upset when they read about them. Bad Beats don’t just have to be teams that experienced a bad loss; it could be a huge story that starts getting negative press or a season that has already gone awry.
Here are the five worst Bad Beats over the last two weeks of the college basketball season.
No. 5 Kentucky Wildcats get blown out on National TV Again!
John Calipari left Kentucky to take the Arkansas job, and the Wildcats decided to hire Mark Pope. The hire was always a head-scratcher given his lack of experience at the power conference level. The Wildcats wanted to make sure their new coach was a Kentucky man, and given that Pope played for Kentucky, the hire made sense in that regard. That is where the good ends for the Wildcats under Pope. Sure, the Wildcats made the Sweet 16 last year, which was the furthest they had gone in the previous three years, but this season has not been going well.
Kentucky has played two high-profile teams this year in prime time on TV. Usually, that is good news for the Wildcats. However, this year Kentucky has been blown out twice, once by Louisville and again by Michigan State. In their defense, the Wildcats have had some key injuries, but getting blown out doesn’t fly at Kentucky. The fans are restless, and Mark Pope doesn’t have any answers as to why it is happening. Ultimately, Kentucky will be fine, but they have got to stop getting embarrassed on National TV against good teams.
No. 4 Rutgers gets run out of the gym by Central Connecticut and got blown out in the Players Era.
It was just last season that the Scarlet Knights were preseason ranked in the top 25; having two lottery picks will do that for a team. Rutgers also finished last season with a losing record and failed to make the NCAA Tournament. It was one of the worst seasons I can remember, given that I had two lottery picks. Everything has been downhill for the Rutgers program since then.
Heading into the season, the expectations were low for Rutgers, but no one expected them to be as bad as they are right now. The Scarlet Knights have an awful time scoring; they do play defense, but the lack of scoring has already derailed this team. Rutgers lost to Central Connecticut at Jersey Mike's arena, then went to Vegas for the Players Era, only to get pounded by Tennessee, then beat Notre Dame before finally beating UNLV. It is going to be a long year in Piscataway, especially with Purdue and Michigan looming.
No. 3 Loyola Chicago Ramblers entire season
Entering the season, the Ramblers were one of the teams that many had pegged as one of the top teams in the Atlantic 10. Loyola Chicago was going to be one of those teams many thought would get an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament, and then the season happened.
On Opening Night, the Ramblers needed a buzzer-beater to beat Cleveland State, and that was the only win the Ramblers have had all season. Since that game, they have lost six games in a row, look disengaged, can’t rebound, can’t score, and don’t have much depth. Head coach Drew Valentine is on the hot seat and will likely lose his job. The Ramblers look nowhere near good enough to turn this around. I never would have thought that Loyola Chicago was one of the worst teams in the sport.
No. 2 NC State at the Maui Invitational
Everyone loves a feel-good story, and Will Wade and the NC State Wolf Pack were like a feel-good story, at least from the standpoint of the third team in the North Carolina and Duke rivalry. The Wolf Pack finally looks like a formidable opponent again, now that coach Wade can legally buy players. NC State has put together an incredible roster from the transfer portal, featuring its fair share of star power.
The Wolf Pack were ranked again heading to Maui and were the overwhelming favorite to win that tournament until they got beaten by Seton Hall. The loss to Seton Hall, a team that won 7 games last year, was already bad, but when you consider that it was the first time an unranked opponent had beaten a ranked one all season and broke the 84-0 streak to start the season, it becomes a terrible beat. The good thing is that Seton Hall doesn’t appear to be a bad loss, at least not yet. NC State made it worse by losing to Texas to close out Maui and returning home with a 6th-place finish.
No. 1 Players Era Festival
This has already been talked about ad nauseam, and there are articles either for or against this tournament everywhere you look. I personally loved the field in the tournament and will never tire of watching top 25 teams do battle in November. It is what the tournament stands for, which is why it is a Bad Beat.
Those who don’t know this tournament provides NIL money to the teams playing in it, and it is rapidly expanding every year to include everyone, right? Wrong: the teams in this tournament are those who have no problem with NIL, and it is making sure the rich stay rich and freezing out other teams that the tournament deems unworthy. There are articles about that everywhere if you look for them.
The other part about this tournament that makes no sense is that there is no bracket. The first two games are known games in Vegas, then the tournament takes the margin of victory of all of the 2-0 teams and places them in the respective groups. The larger you win, the better chance you have of playing for the championship. The tournament goes against sportsmanship, but it is really good for your computer metrics, which have become ever so crucial for NCAA Tournament seeding.
It would be nice to have a bracket for this event, given the high-profile nature of the games and the teams. Iowa State went 2-0 but didn't play for the championship because they didn’t win their games by enough. Tennessee also has a case, given that they beat Houston, who many had ranked number 1 heading to Vegas. The tournament director has gone on record as saying there is nothing wrong with the format, and next year, with 32 teams, expect more of the same. Stop freezing out teams that want to play in it, especially mid-majors, and please get a bracket to make it a real tournament, not a showcase of brand names, which is what it is currently.