Five Teams To Watch Closely This Week
By Nick Parsons.
Across the nation college basketball teams will be playing for their tournament lives. One win could make all the difference and in some cases, one loss spells doom.
Here’s a look at five teams that have to make loud noises in conference tournament week to reach the NCAA tournament.
UConn (17-14)
They’re out, they’re in, they’re out again.
No team has had a bigger rollercoaster ride than the Connecticut Huskies. Jim Calhoun’s team was once a staple in the Top 10 but lost its Hall of Fame coach for a spell to exhaustion and a ton of games down the stretch.
UConn will open play in the Big East Tournament on Tuesday and probably have to win the entire shebang to reach the Big Dance.
The Huskies have played the third toughest schedule in the country, knocked off then No. 1 Texas and top 10 teams West Virginia and Villanova.
But, and it’s a big but, no team has ever received an at-large bid the NCAA with 15 losses and UConn’s next loss will be its 15th.
Calhoun was so upset with his team in its loss at South Florida that he benched three of his top players (Jerome Dyson, Stanley Robinson and Gavin Edwards) early in the second half and they never returned. After the game he said they wouldn’t even start when the Huskies play St. John’s at Madison Square Garden Tuesday.
Sit Dyson and Robinson? If you’re a Hall of Fame coach with retirement approaching, you can do whatever you want.
California (21-9)
The Pac-10 has been a whipping boy amongst pundits around the country this year. When a powerhouse like UCLA becomes a dog that’s to be expected.
But can a major conference like the Pac-10 get just one team in the NCAA field? You really wouldn’t think so.
Still, it makes Cal’s appearance in the postseason tourney so important. The Pac-10 is so slightly regarded and conference’s like the Big East are so highly thought of that come Selection Sunday, Cal could be left out in the cold even though it is the regular-season champion.
Cal’s RPI is in the mid-20s and the Bears have played one of the toughest schedules in the country. Here’s the but …
Cal has zero wins over teams in the top 50 and losses to teams ranked as low as 183 in the RPI. Its best non-conference win is against Murray State.
One tourney win should do it and that game is Thursday against either Oregon or Washington State.
Rhode Island (21-8)
The Rams looked like a lock to earn a tournament bid a couple of weeks ago. Now, despite some gaudy RPI (26) numbers, Rhody’s bubble might burst.
The Rams finished the Atlantic 10 slate fifth in the standings and that’s not good enough for a tourney bid.
Rhode Island is 9-4 in road/neutral games this season and 2-4 against top 50 teams. The Rams beat Oklahoma State and Dayton. But close losses to Richmond, St. Louis and Saint Bonaventure coupled with Saturday’s crushing last-second loss to UMass was like sticking a steak knife in a balloon.
Pop goes those tourney hopes.
BUT …
Rhode Island is still a quality team and one of those teams that could make a run in its conference tourney. The Rams get to play host to Saint Joseph’s on Tuesday before heading to Atlantic City for the tourney proper. URI pounded St. Joe’s earlier in the year.
Let’s put it this way. URI plays St. Joe’s then St. Louis and Temple. The Rams should probably start praying now.
Illinois (18-13)
The Fighting Illini have quality wins over Vandy, Wisconsin, Michigan State and Clemson this season but they’re going to need at least another to make the tourney.
With an RPI of around 70 and a strength of schedule at 37, Illinois has to make a bang in the Big Ten tourney.
Seems like coach Bruce Weber is banking on a dose of prayer himself. Weber wanted Sunday’s game pushed back to 1 p.m. so his fans could go to church and then attend his team’s game against Wisconsin. It didn’t help as the Badgers rolled 72-57.
That means the two teams will play again on Friday and it looks pretty safe to say that if the Illini can beat Wisconsin twice in one season, they should get a ticket to the dance.
Weber says the Illini could do some damage if they make the tourney. “We’re good enough,” he said. “We’ve beaten some good teams. We’ve got to get there.”
Illini was getting hammered in Sunday’s before going on a run to cut the deficit to five points and then had three straight empty trips.
They can’t come up empty on Friday.
Memphis (23-8)
The selection committee should love these Tigers. It seems every time they win, they burst someone else’s bubble in the process.
The Tigers are no strangers to NCAA success lately (whether they go to class or not is another matter) and finished the Conference USA regular season in second place.
Memphis is coming off of huge wins against UAB and Tulsa and those two wins just might have gotten the Tigers into the tournament.
In turn it may have taken some of the edge off this questionable team which seems ripe for an upset.
Memphis is 46th in the RPI with a strength of schedule near 80 and this is a team that got pounded by Houston just a couple of weeks ago. Remember that Memphis has won this tournament four straight years but every time it did it was the overwhelming preseason conference favorite. That wasn’t the case this year.
When Calipari left the Tigers the cupboard was bare. And, Memphis lost in the Sweet 16 last year and not one of these current Tigers scored a point in that game. Only Doneal Mack started the game and he went 0-for-7 from the field.