http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the-dagger/the-only-certainty-in-col...
Five No. 1 teams have fallen before the month of February for the first time since 1949. Fifteen teams ranked in the current AP Top 25 have lost at least once in the past eight nights. Of the 19 losses suffered in January by AP top 10 teams, 13 have been upset by an unranked opponent.
Perennial juggernaut Duke is in the throes of a three-game losing streak and should fall out of the AP Top 25 next week for the first time in nearly nine years. Fellow powerhouse Kentucky is teetering on the verge of joining the Blue Devils after four losses to unranked teams. Almost every top team has a glaring flaw, from North Carolina's suspect outside shooting, to Villanova's over-reliance on the 3-point shot, to West Virginia's inability to score when it's not dominating the offensive glass.
Fittingly, the lone remaining undefeated team is SMU, which is ineligible to participate in the postseason this spring.
The tournament this year is going to be amazing.
Comments
It makes me feel even better about our season knowing that two of our losses came against two of those giant-killers: Iowa State (beat us and #1 Oklahoma) and West Virginia (beat us and #1 Kansas).
SMU might have a case for being the top team in the country right now. Unfortunately for them though, there is a reason for that and because of that reason they are ineligible for postseason.
aren't they banned from the postseason because 1 player who transferred this year had an administrator do an online class for him? The two seem to be separate.
And this seems to play in to the narrative of the NCAA having selective taste in punishing schools
That was the primary problem. It was what happened after that information came to light at the school and with the coach in terms of not reporting it. There is also a two pronged history going on here as well that the NCAA cited. This is the third time Larry Brown has had a program get hit with significant violations, after having issues at UCLA and Kansas before this stint. The other is the overall athletic department history at SMU considering the death penalty they received in football and other major violations in other sports over the years. Worsening the picture is that Larry Brown was less than truthful when confronted with the evidence and timeline of the wrong doing. The joke there is that Brown received only a 30% season penalty which computed to the same length of suspension that Jim Boeheim got at Syracuse, who was forthcoming with all evidence. Essentially though SMU laid themselves out on a silver platter for the NCAA to smack them. Other schools at least muddy the water more and benefit from it.
Does this mean VT's gonna beat UNC this weekend?
Yes it does.
What's the over/under for the game actually being played in Bburg this weekend?
Tipoff 's not until Sunday evening, they'll play it.
So my bracket is usually shattered by the sweet 16, the way this season is going I might just have to pick by mascots this year.
So what you're saying is that VT is going to be ranked in the top 10 next week, right?
Another top 5 team goes into Iowa, this time at Iowa State and loses. Down goes Kansas.