RSSMarch 6, 9:30 a.m.: Penn State got the win it needed, so the Nittany Lions are probably headed to the NCAA tournament.
Other bubble teams continued to stumble. Providence, South Carolina and Arizona all suffered damaging losses. I will update my bracket later today, and my guess is that South Carolina – which has not beaten a top 50 team – is very much on the outside looking in.
Each morning, I will post my last four teams in the field and my first teams out. As you can tell, it is very difficult to separate one team from another, and selection committee members often differ on which credentials they value most. (SOS means strength of schedule; all records reflect Division I competition; all data courtesy of Jerry Palm’s Web site, www.collegerpi.com)
LAST FOUR IN
Nevada-Las Vegas (21-8, 9-6)
Pros: won at Louisville, swept BYU
Cons: 87 SOS
Penn State (21-9, 10-7)
Pros: 6-9 vs. top 50
Cons: 58 RPI, 10-0 vs. top 200 or worse
Maryland (18-11, 7-8)
Pros: two top five victories
Cons: 2-5 on road
Virginia Tech (17-12, 7-8)
Pros: 5 road wins
Cons: 62 RPI
FIRST TEAMS OUT
Michigan (17-12, 8-9)
Pros: 9 SOS, 5 top 50 wins
Cons: 2-8 on road
Miami (16-11, 6-9)
Pros: 21 SOS, 54 RPI
Cons: 6-9 in ACC
Providence (18-12, 10-8)
Pros: 10-8 in Big East
Cons: 69 RPI, 3-8 vs. top 50
Florida (21-9, 8-7)
Pros: 53 RPI
Cons: 2-7 on road, 2-6 vs. top 50
Notre Dame (15-13, 7-10)
Pros: pounded Louisville, 90-57
Cons: 73 RPI
Cincinnati (17-12, 8-9)
Pros: 4 top 50 wins
Cons: 1-7 vs. top 25
Kentucky (19-11, 8-7)
Pros: 3 top 25 wins
Cons: Poor RPI, SOS
Kansas State (19-10, 8-7)
Pros: Not much
Cons: 84 SOS, 74 RPI
San Diego State (18-8, 10-5)
Pros: Beat Utah, UNLV
Cons: 4-8 vs. top 100
Saint Mary’s (22-5, 10-4)
Pros: 8-3 road record
Cons: 167 SOS, 3-3 vs. top 100
By
Eric Prisbell
|
March 6, 2009; 9:30 AM ET
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Posted by: whatbull | March 6, 2009 2:02 PM
Wins at Virginia and in the first round of ACC tournament play could help shore up Maryland's poor road record. But they have to win them, and nothing can be taken for granted with this team.
Posted by: JohninMpls | March 6, 2009 2:56 PM
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The UMD TERPSp absolutely deserve a berth ..I have watched countless games from all the different conferences and this young & resilient team has the resume and star power to play with anyone in the country.. almost put wake away and the same with duke.. they deserve respect for their body of work and their tough schedule.. cannot comapre an acc schedule with some of the other conferences.