The Oregon Ducks were so close to toppling the Pac-12 powerhouse at Stanford in yet another Big Monday clash that it responded to the hype. It was a provocation demonstration for the NCAA conference and tournament, as the season reaches the penultimate weekend for most.
Tennessee, Michigan and South Carolina have consecutive disputes against qualified opponents this weekend and, for the first, it could mean a better classification for the tournament. Their forecast for the weekend is below in a slightly different edition of “what to watch” and the full schedule is here.
First, about the Cardinal and a “heavyweight fight”.
Stanford is back with his Pac-12 title
Stanford’s 6th win of 63-61 kept Cardinal (19-2, 16-2) at the top of the conference standings and reinforced his projection as number 1 in the NCAA tournament. The selection committee released the top 16 at halftime as a glimpse of what the key will look like next month.
Stanford endured a nine-week trip to get to this point and had to overcome the current regular season champion and Oregon tournament conference champion (12-5, 9-5). The two faced each other in the Pac-12 tournament title game for the past three seasons.
“It was a heavyweight fight,” said Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer after the game. “It wasn’t what any of the teams are probably used to, but you know we’re excited to be first in the Pac-12 and we really want to win a Pac-12 championship and we had to go through Oregon for the chance to do that. “
The cardinal has a three-game family home to end the season. They face Arizona State (5-7 Pac-12) on Friday, No. 10 Arizona (10-2) on Monday and Cal (0-10) on February 28. Your Pac-12 agenda contains an intriguing note, first identified by Pac-12 writer Michelle Smith, on the quality of these victories in a difficult conference.
Stanford’s traveling companion, Cal, had several breaks, including one recently extended because of problems with COVID-19 within the group. Last month, Stanford was the only opponent that USC, UCLA, Washington State, Oregon State and Oregon had to prepare for every week. This means that these teams had only one opponent to plan for each of those weeks, and Stanford still won by 22.5 points on average.
As for Oregon, the Ducks can take growth wins, even if it’s not a “W” on the schedule. They returned from a 15-point handicap and had the opportunity to win in the final minute.
“I am very proud,” said Oregon coach Kelly Graves. “We don’t believe in moral victories, we wanted to win and we played hard and well to win, but we didn’t. I am proud of the fight we showed. It was the first time against one of the elite teams that we played hard for four quarters. It just didn’t go our way. “
Oregon lost all five games against qualifying opponents and will have his last chance against one in the regular season when the Ducks go to UCLA on Friday (8 pm ET, Pac-12 Network). The Bruins won 73-71 on January 3, ending the string of 27 consecutive Ducks wins.
Both teams are in the first four rows of sowing, with UCLA in ninth and Oregon in 11th. Watch out for Michaela Onyenwere, a member of Naismith’s top 20 list (17.4 PPG, 8.3 RPG) for the Bruins and Nyara Sabally for the Ducks.
No. 11 Michigan: boosting curriculum for the first 16 seeds
at No. 14 Indiana, Thursday, 6 pm ET, BTN
vs. No. 15 State of Ohio, Sunday, 2 pm ET, ESPN2
IN MICHIGAN: Michigan (12-1, 7-1 Big Ten) was not in the first revelation of the NCAA’s selection committee’s 16 seeds, but could play its way with a strong performance this weekend. Michigan ranks 14th in the NET ranking, the new metric tool in use that weighs who a team played, where they played, the efficiency of a team and the result.
Part of Michigan’s omission may be how confusing Wolverine programming has been because of the COVID-19 breaks. They played 13 games, including eight in conference, with only Rutgers playing fewer games in the Big Ten. The games against Indiana, seeded in the first revelation in the 15th position overall, and the state of Ohio are the last ones in the program before the tournament.
OPTIONS: Michigan has yet to play Indiana and suffered a 81-77 loss to Ohio State on Jan. 21 before going on hiatus. The star of this contest takes us to …
WHO TO WATCH: Naz Hillmon lost 50 points against the Buckeyes, setting a record for most points scored by a Michigan basketball player. This got him a message from Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James. The 1.80 meter junior striker has an average doubling of 26.1 points and 11.7 rebounds per game with 65.8% of shots. She has four games of at least 30 points and five games of at least 12 rebounds. Hillmon is solidly in contention for Naismith’s Player of the Year honors and is one of five players with a double average on the 20-player list at the end of the season.
GREAT IMPLICATIONS OF TEN: Maryland (10-1), Michigan (7-1), Indiana (11-2), Ohio State (8-3) and Northwestern (9-4) are the top five teams in the conference and have distanced themselves from the rest of the group. Indiana enters the competition on Thursday with a four-game winning streak and still has to face Ohio State on February 27, a month after a 78-70 defeat.
Maryland is a 2-seed in the first development (No. 7 overall) and placed in the South Carolina region. Indiana is with Stanford and NC State.
No. 21 of Tennessee’s brutal schedule until the end of the season
vs. No. 2 South Carolina, Thursday, 7 pm ET, SECN
at No. 22 Georgia, Sunday, noon ET, SECN
NO TENNESSEE: The Lady Vols (12-5, 6-3 SEC) continue a brutal stretch until the end of the season on the penultimate weekend before the tips from the SEC tournament in Greenville, South Carolina, on March 3. They lost to ranked opponents Kentucky (71-56) and Texas A&M (80-70) last week. Now, they will get No. 2 from South Carolina (17-2, 12-0) and No. 22 from Georgia (16-4, 8-4).
The losses put them in five positions in the AP ranking, but they are a 4-seed in the first disclosure of the key. This placed them interestingly in Region 1 with none other than UConn (plus Arizona and Baylor). The two teams have not faced each other in the NCAA tournament since the 2004 national championship game won by the Huskies.
Lady Vols are ranked 17th on the NET and one of the five SEC teams to reveal the top 16. This weekend’s victories, especially in South Carolina, can boost your resume.
OPTIONS: It is the only game of the season against South Carolina, which has its own consecutive games against SEC classified talents this weekend, detailed below.
Georgia won the first clash against Tennessee 67-66 on January 14 in Knoxville. Bulldogs are three seeds, one place ahead of Tennessee, in the region with Stanford, NC State and Indiana.
WHO TO WATCH: Tennessee’s Rennia Davis is on Naismith’s top 20 list, averaging 15.1 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. The senior is coming out of a 25-point game against Texas A&M and her biggest contributions came appropriately at the biggest moments.
SEC IMPLICATIONS: South Carolina’s No. 2 and Texas A&M’s No. 5 (12-0, 10-1) are the fugitive leaders of the SEC and, although they may collapse, it seems unlikely. The two face off on the last day of the regular season.
Behind them is Tennessee (6-3), No. 17 Kentucky (15-5, 8-4), No. 22 Georgia (8-4), LSU (6-6) and Alabama (6-6). Lady Vols have also been impacted by several COVID-19 breaks and cannot miss games.
South Carolina’s No. 2: enjoy, gain experience
at No. 21 Tennessee, Thursday, 7 pm ET, SECN
vs. No. 17 Kentucky, Sunday, 3 pm ET, ESPN
IN SOUTH CAROLINA: South Carolina (17-2, 12-0) wants the national title chance it didn’t have last year and that performance last week against UConn further cement Gamecocks as a championship favorite. They end the season with Tennessee, Kentucky, Ole Miss and Texas A&M. The only way to go is a place in the NCAA tournament projections, so for Gamecocks, it’s about staying on course and preparing for the tournament challenge for a young team whose sophomores didn’t have the experience last year.
South Carolina is currently projected for Region 2 with Maryland, UCLA and Virginia. In a season constantly adjusted for positive COVID-19, Gamecocks did extremely well with security and protocols to avoid any prolonged break.
OPTIONS: It is the only regular season competition against Tennessee. They defeated Kentucky 75-70 on January 10 with a late recovery. South Carolina overtook the Wildcats, 46-31, and dominated painting to overcome them, 56-34
WHO TO WATCH: South Carolina sophomore Aliyah Boston and Kentucky student Rhyne Howard are both on the top 20 Naismith list. Boston lost most of the first half of the competition due to problems, but returned to score 16 of their 20 points in the second half and helped boost the return win by adding 12 rebounds. She averages 13.6 points and 11.6 rebounds per game.
Howard had 32 points in the first encounter, one of three games in which she overcame 30. She averages 19.7 points and 7.2 rebounds per game and has carried the Wildcats many times throughout the season. Howard is coming out of a 31-point game against Florida.
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