Armadillo Sports
Tuesday’s 6-pack
— Baylor 75, Kansas 69— Jayhawks have lost three games in a row.
— Virginia Tech 78, Duke 75— Duke is an ordinary 5-4 in ACC games.
— Nevada 97, New Mexico 94, 2OT— Lobos led by 5 in the first OT.
— Northwestern 66, Wisconsin 63— Badgers were only 9-16 on foul line.
— Oakland 76, Detroit 67— Grizzlies held Antoine Davis to 14 points.
— Kings 133, Grizzlies 100— Sacramento scored 47 points in first quarter.
Quote of the Day
“I don’t need to go into all the pluses or minuses, but I’ve got a lot more to evaluate Mike McCarthy on than this playoff game.”
Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones
Tuesday’s quiz
Mike McCarthy won a Super Bowl with Green Bay 12 years ago; how many playoff games has he won since then?
Monday’s quiz
Steve McNair was the Tennessee Titans’ QB in their one Super Bowl appearance.
Sunday’s quiz
The old TV show Frasier starring Kelsey Grammer was set in Seattle.
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Tuesday’s Den: Early looks at the NCAA Tournament field……
— Big X— How good is the Big X this season? Bracketology has West Virginia listed as one of the last four teams in the Field of 68; they’re 1-6 in Big X play. Right now, Bracketology has eight of the ten Big X teams in the NCAA’s.
— Big 14— Bracketology has 10 of the 14 teams in the Field of 68:
1-seed– Purdue
5— Rutgers
6– Illinois
7— Iowa, Michigan State
9— Indiana
10— Maryland, Wisconsin
11— Ohio State
12— Northwestern
— SEC— Bracketology has five SEC teams in the field, with fading Arkansas as a 7-seed; they’re 2-5 in SEC games and have injury issues. Alabama/Tennessee are far and away the two best SEC teams this season.
— Kentucky is a bubble team; they’ve won three games in a row, and play Kansas Saturday in the Big X/SEC Challenge, so a win there would likely get them off the bubble.Their loss to #244 South Carolina, just before they upset Tennessee, is a red flag on their resume.
— ACC— Bracketology has seven ACC teams in NCAA’s, but none higher than a 3-seed:
3-seed— Virginia
5— Miami, NC State
6— Duke
8— Clemson
9— North Carolina, Pittsburgh
— #1-seeds, to this point: Alabama, Houston, Kansas, Purdue— the last Bracketology was done before Houston lost at home to Temple Sunday. We’ll see if losing as a 20-point favorite knocks them out of a #1-seed, for now.
Only one #1-seed has ever lost in the first round of the tournament; after that, there isn’t much difference between play the 8-9 seed winner and the 7-10 winner in the second round.
— #2-seeds, to this point: Arizona, Iowa State, Tennessee, UCLA— Tennessee/UCLA are best of this group. I’m thinking that UCLA will wind up as a #1-seed.
— Last four teams in; the two play-in games would be:
Ohio State-West Virginia and Northwestern-Oklahoma.
Northwestern had their last two games postponed by COVID-related issues, which complicates their situation.
— Mountain West— San Diego State/Boise State seem like they’re headed to the NCAA’s, with surging New Mexico listed as an 11-seed, which means they don’t have much margin for error.
This league is improved; their #7-rating this year (and last year) is highest league has been rated since 2013. UNLV is 1-6 in Mountain West, tied for last with Wyoming; they’re 11-1 in their non-conference games.
— Big East— Bracketology has five Big East teams in:
3-seed— Xavier
4— UConn, Marquette
6— Providence
8— Creighton
Doesn’t seem to be much bubble activity here; none of the other six Big East teams have a shot at an at-large bid- they’ll need to win the Big East Tournament to get in the NCAA’s.
— Pac-12— Bill Walton won’t like this, but Bracketology has three teams in: UCLA, Arizona and 10-seed Arizona State. They list the first eight teams outside the Field of 68; none of them are Pac-12 teams. Can USC/Utah get hot and out themselves on the bubble?
— AAC— Houston is a big fish in a small pond; they’ll either be a #1 or a #2-seed. Memphis is the only other AAC team that Bracketology has in the Field of 68, and they’re listed as an 11-seed, a bubble team. There are two Houston-Memphis games between now and the AAC tournament; Tigers would be well-served to at least split the pair.
Central Florida is listed as one of the last four out of the field.
— Atlantic 15— Last time this league had only one team in the NCAA’s? 2002, but they appear headed that way this season.
Bracketology has VCU as the lone A-15 team, but as a 12-seed, barely avoiding a play-in game. Dayton just lost to George Washington, the kind of loss that sends you to the NIT, unless you win the conference tournament.
— Championship Week is so much fun because all the other leagues are one-bid leagues, so their conference tournaments are essentially play-in events for the NCAA’s.
KenPom.com has Florida Atlantic ranked as #36, Charleston as #73; they would be the two fascinating teams to watch if they got upset in their conference tournament. Would they get at-large spots, and knock power conference teams out of the field?
Tuesday’s 6-pack
— Baylor 75, Kansas 69— Jayhawks have lost three games in a row.
— Virginia Tech 78, Duke 75— Duke is an ordinary 5-4 in ACC games.
— Nevada 97, New Mexico 94, 2OT— Lobos led by 5 in the first OT.
— Northwestern 66, Wisconsin 63— Badgers were only 9-16 on foul line.
— Oakland 76, Detroit 67— Grizzlies held Antoine Davis to 14 points.
— Kings 133, Grizzlies 100— Sacramento scored 47 points in first quarter.
Quote of the Day
“I don’t need to go into all the pluses or minuses, but I’ve got a lot more to evaluate Mike McCarthy on than this playoff game.”
Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones
Tuesday’s quiz
Mike McCarthy won a Super Bowl with Green Bay 12 years ago; how many playoff games has he won since then?
Monday’s quiz
Steve McNair was the Tennessee Titans’ QB in their one Super Bowl appearance.
Sunday’s quiz
The old TV show Frasier starring Kelsey Grammer was set in Seattle.
********************************
Tuesday’s Den: Early looks at the NCAA Tournament field……
— Big X— How good is the Big X this season? Bracketology has West Virginia listed as one of the last four teams in the Field of 68; they’re 1-6 in Big X play. Right now, Bracketology has eight of the ten Big X teams in the NCAA’s.
— Big 14— Bracketology has 10 of the 14 teams in the Field of 68:
1-seed– Purdue
5— Rutgers
6– Illinois
7— Iowa, Michigan State
9— Indiana
10— Maryland, Wisconsin
11— Ohio State
12— Northwestern
— SEC— Bracketology has five SEC teams in the field, with fading Arkansas as a 7-seed; they’re 2-5 in SEC games and have injury issues. Alabama/Tennessee are far and away the two best SEC teams this season.
— Kentucky is a bubble team; they’ve won three games in a row, and play Kansas Saturday in the Big X/SEC Challenge, so a win there would likely get them off the bubble.Their loss to #244 South Carolina, just before they upset Tennessee, is a red flag on their resume.
— ACC— Bracketology has seven ACC teams in NCAA’s, but none higher than a 3-seed:
3-seed— Virginia
5— Miami, NC State
6— Duke
8— Clemson
9— North Carolina, Pittsburgh
— #1-seeds, to this point: Alabama, Houston, Kansas, Purdue— the last Bracketology was done before Houston lost at home to Temple Sunday. We’ll see if losing as a 20-point favorite knocks them out of a #1-seed, for now.
Only one #1-seed has ever lost in the first round of the tournament; after that, there isn’t much difference between play the 8-9 seed winner and the 7-10 winner in the second round.
— #2-seeds, to this point: Arizona, Iowa State, Tennessee, UCLA— Tennessee/UCLA are best of this group. I’m thinking that UCLA will wind up as a #1-seed.
— Last four teams in; the two play-in games would be:
Ohio State-West Virginia and Northwestern-Oklahoma.
Northwestern had their last two games postponed by COVID-related issues, which complicates their situation.
— Mountain West— San Diego State/Boise State seem like they’re headed to the NCAA’s, with surging New Mexico listed as an 11-seed, which means they don’t have much margin for error.
This league is improved; their #7-rating this year (and last year) is highest league has been rated since 2013. UNLV is 1-6 in Mountain West, tied for last with Wyoming; they’re 11-1 in their non-conference games.
— Big East— Bracketology has five Big East teams in:
3-seed— Xavier
4— UConn, Marquette
6— Providence
8— Creighton
Doesn’t seem to be much bubble activity here; none of the other six Big East teams have a shot at an at-large bid- they’ll need to win the Big East Tournament to get in the NCAA’s.
— Pac-12— Bill Walton won’t like this, but Bracketology has three teams in: UCLA, Arizona and 10-seed Arizona State. They list the first eight teams outside the Field of 68; none of them are Pac-12 teams. Can USC/Utah get hot and out themselves on the bubble?
— AAC— Houston is a big fish in a small pond; they’ll either be a #1 or a #2-seed. Memphis is the only other AAC team that Bracketology has in the Field of 68, and they’re listed as an 11-seed, a bubble team. There are two Houston-Memphis games between now and the AAC tournament; Tigers would be well-served to at least split the pair.
Central Florida is listed as one of the last four out of the field.
— Atlantic 15— Last time this league had only one team in the NCAA’s? 2002, but they appear headed that way this season.
Bracketology has VCU as the lone A-15 team, but as a 12-seed, barely avoiding a play-in game. Dayton just lost to George Washington, the kind of loss that sends you to the NIT, unless you win the conference tournament.
— Championship Week is so much fun because all the other leagues are one-bid leagues, so their conference tournaments are essentially play-in events for the NCAA’s.
KenPom.com has Florida Atlantic ranked as #36, Charleston as #73; they would be the two fascinating teams to watch if they got upset in their conference tournament. Would they get at-large spots, and knock power conference teams out of the field?