SMU and Cincinnati are safely in the field, but Temple is teetering on the edge, perhaps needing an opening-game win over Memphis (or more) to feel safe. And Tulsa’s got some work to do. The Golden Hurricane finished second in the conference on the strength of an unlikely 10-0 start in AAC play. Among those […]

The Sun Belt employs the double stepladder format which gives the top two seeds a bye to semifinals. The favorite here is Georgia State, who is led by their junior wing, R.J. Hunter. Georgia State was preseason #66 and there was some anticipation that the Panthers could have a special season with Hunter’s leadership. They […]

Texas has become the symbol of power conference privilege this season. Many people are questioning why the Longhorns deserve a bid, having failed to achieve a .500 record in conference play. “You’re a bunch of losers,” people say. At least that is what I am making them say in this argument. “If you can’t win […]

The SEC has the consensus best team in the land but then the next highest team is ranked 30th in my system. However, there are seven teams between 30 and 50, and two more between 50 and 70. While Kentucky got the bulk of the attention, there was a lot going on in the middle […]

One of the things that has come out of doing preseason ratings is that a team can survive a lot of attrition is they return a high-usage player. Oregon’s roster was gutted in the offseason for a variety of reasons, but they still had Joseph Young. They were preseason 34th and enter the Pac-12 tournament […]

When historians look back on this season, they’ll be puzzled by Wisconsin’s loss to Rutgers. I know Frank Kaminsky missed the game and Traevon Jackson got hurt in the middle of it, but that doesn’t come close to explaining the outcome. Even without those two, the Badgers should have been able to preserve a 12-point […]

The Big East tournament has been held in Madison Square Garden every year since 1983, the longest-running show in college hoops. While being excluded from “Power 5” status, the conference is currently ranked second in my system and is going to be well-represented in the NCAA tournament. But that doesn’t mean it couldn’t use more […]

Boise State was brought into the Mountain West for its football talents, but look at its hoops team, earning the top seed in the basketball tournament. Not bad for a team that started 0-3 in conference play and needed overtime in their fourth game to beat UNLV at home. James Webb III went from a […]

The Southland Conference led the country in pace this season, leading the second-fastest conference by a comfy 1.6 possessions per 40 minutes. Nine of the 13 teams in the league finished in the top 100 of adjusted tempo. Furthermore, defense was poor for quite a few teams. That combination created a bunch of high-scoring games. […]

The favorite in Conference USA is Old Dominion, where Jeff Jones is trying to guide the Monarchs to the tournament just two years after a 5-25 season. But the more interesting story to me is Charlotte. With a 2% chance of winning the title, the 49ers check in as the double-digit seed most likely to […]