If you like college basketball – and if you’re reading this, you probably do – I hope you watched the Ohio State-Michigan game on Sunday. He had a lot of points, if he likes to attack, but it was not a bad defensive game. Sometimes, the offenses are just clicking.
He went back and forth, with two great teams exchanging blows, until Michigan was able to recover in the end with a 92-87 victory. The only thing missing was a crowd living on the edge every second of the way.
From the point of view of the keys, these were teams No. 3 and No. 4 overall, with the Wolverines being the team with the highest ranking before and, of course, after the game. However, the state of Ohio maintains its place in the No. 1 seed line, as well as in the Bracketology update.
Illinois, who defeated Minnesota on Saturday, remains one place behind as the runner-up. The Buckeyes’ victory in Illinois is the deciding factor for now. The Illini travel to Columbus, Ohio, for the March 6 rematch.
Top Bracketology Seeds
Check out Palm’s last key, full field of 68 and all teams in the bubble at the Bracketology hub.
Tar Heels back on the field
The bottom of the support was doing its usual twists and turns. We welcome North Carolina after a 99-54 victory over Louisville. Do not adjust the monitor – this score is correct. Tar Heels won by 45. If you think that “Margem da Vitória” doesn’t matter in NET’s ranking, UNC moved up 20 positions in NET after that victory.
For Louisville, number 8 in the bracket, that was the first game after a 19-day break at COVID-19 and the worst defeat any team has ever suffered after a break of at least 10 days.
Coming out of the key is VCU, who lost at home to George Mason on Saturday. That was not the worst news for the Rams. They also lost their best player, Nah’Shon Hyland, with a sprained foot at the end of the game. The injury is still being assessed and it is not known how much time he will lose.
Does Duke have a chance?
People are foaming at the mouth with excitement – or disgust – over the possibility that Duke might have a chance at the tournament after beating Virginia over the weekend. The loss of Jalen Johnson does not appear to be harming the Blue Devils and, in fact, many people think his departure helped. It is Duke’s third consecutive win and moves the Blue Devils to 10-8 this season.
Before we get too excited, Duke’s resume is still very small. The only other notable victory for Blue Devils came home to Clemson. They have defeats in Pitt and Miami, as well as at home to Notre Dame and Michigan State, which has a better tournament record now.
Bracketology bits
Saint Louis looked pretty bad this weekend too, losing at Dayton 76-53, giving the Flyers an overview of the season’s series. The Billikens lost at home to Dayton on January 26 in their first game back after a 34-day break at COVID. SLU played only 15 games, so he didn’t have much of a chance to build his resume. They fell for the First Four game in the projected key.
Stephen F. Austin received a one-year NCAA post-season ban for the 2021-22 season. On Friday, it was announced that the NCAA had approved the school’s request to postpone it for this season. Lumberjacks will miss this year’s postseason, including the Southland Conference Tournament.