The Pi-Rate Ratings

January 16, 2022

PiRate Ratings College Basketball–Sunday, January 16, 2022

Filed under: College Basketball — Tags: , , , , , , , , , — piratings @ 4:00 am
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VillanovaButler16.8
Ohio St.Penn St.8.7
Wichita St.Cincinnati2.5
Boston UNavy-0.8
MaineBinghamton-3.8
IonaNiagara10.4
LafayetteArmy-2.1
AmericanBucknell1.3
MaristMonmouth-3.5
QuinnipiacFairfield-0.7
ManhattanCanisius4.0
RiderSaint Peter’s-2.0
MinnesotaIowa-4.4
Southern Miss.Louisiana Tech-13.5
St. John’sGeorgetown9.1
LehighLoyola (MD)-1.8
Illinois St.Bradley-2.9

March 21, 2020

The Greatest NCAA Tournament That Never Was–Round Three Saturday

Filed under: College Basketball — Tags: , , , , , , , , , — piratings @ 1:30 am

Good Saturday morning sports fans.  This is Greg Humble in the studio along with my colleagues here at See BS–Charles Parkly Clark Post, and Kenny Jones. We’re just moments away from a great slate of Saturday games, and at the end of the day four teams will punch their tickets to the Sweet 16.

We’re going to start everybody out with the top-seed in the East, the 2001 Duke Blue Devils taking on the eight seed Kentucky Wildcats of 1978.  Let’s send it out to our See BS crew, Ian Falcon, Jim Snorkel, and Jamie Herdall.

 

EAST REGION

Wildcat Inside Muscle Too Much For The Region’s Top Seed

 

9 Kentucky 1978

89

1 Duke 2001

80

Unassociated Press: The 8-Seed 1978 Kentucky Wildcats took advantage of a huge rebounding edge to hold off the top seed in the East, the 2001 Duke Blue Devils.  The Wildcats enjoyed a huge 51-30 rebounding advantage with the Blue Mist’s Twin Towers both recording double figure boards.

Kentucky broke open a close game midway through the second half.  With a 56-53 lead, the Wildcats went on a 16-5 run to take a commanding 72-58 lead.  Duke frantically mounted a comeback with three-pointers from Jay Williams, Mike Dunleavy, and Nate James to cut the lead to 76-70, but the Wildcats chose to keep the ball in the hands of Kyle Macy down the stretch, and Duke was forced to foul one of the all time great foul shooters.

 

Boxscore

Kentucky

Start

FG

FGA

3P

3PA

FT

FTA

ORB

DRB

TRB

AST

STL

BLK

TOV

PF

PTS

Rick Robey

C

5

8

0

0

4

6

3

8

11

2

0

4

2

2

14

Mike Phillips

F

2

5

0

0

2

3

2

10

12

0

0

3

4

3

6

Jack Givens

F

5

11

1

3

4

5

1

5

6

3

0

0

1

1

15

Truman Claytor

G

2

6

1

4

0

0

1

1

2

2

2

0

2

1

5

Kyle Macy

G

4

9

3

7

10

11

0

1

1

5

0

0

3

2

21

James Lee

4

8

0

0

1

2

2

4

6

0

0

0

2

3

9

Chuck Aleksinas

2

3

0

0

0

0

2

4

6

0

0

2

2

2

4

Jay Shidler

4

7

4

7

0

0

0

0

0

2

0

0

1

1

12

LaVon Williams

1

2

0

0

0

0

0

1

1

1

1

0

0

1

2

Fred Cowan

0

0

0

0

1

2

1

2

3

0

0

1

1

2

1

Team

3

Totals

29

59

9

21

22

29

12

36

51

15

3

10

18

18

89

 

 

 

Duke

Start

FG

FGA

3P

3PA

FT

FTA

ORB

DRB

TRB

AST

STL

BLK

TOV

PF

PTS

Carlos Boozer

C

5

9

0

0

2

3

2

5

7

0

0

0

1

5

12

Shane Battier

F

7

18

1

3

4

6

1

4

5

2

2

1

1

3

19

Mike Dunleavy

F

5

15

2

7

2

2

0

1

1

3

1

0

2

2

14

Nate James

G

3

5

2

4

0

0

1

2

3

3

2

0

0

5

8

Jay Williams

G

4

10

3

8

3

4

1

1

2

4

1

0

1

3

14

Chris Duhon

1

4

0

1

1

2

1

0

1

2

1

0

0

2

3

Casey Sanders

2

3

0

0

2

3

1

4

5

0

0

0

1

4

6

Matt Christensen

2

6

0

0

0

0

0

2

2

1

0

0

0

2

4

Team

4

Totals

29

70

8

23

14

20

7

19

30

15

7

1

6

26

80

Player of the Game

Kyle Macy

 

Score By Halves

Team

1

2

Final

Kentucky

46

43

89

Duke

44

36

80

 

 

Tiny Towe Blitz’s Cardinals Press To Lead Pack To Impressive Win

 

4 North Carolina St. 1974

96

12 Louisville 1980

82

 

Unassociated Press: Five foot, six inch guard Monte Towe proved to be impossible to trap by the vaunted Louisville 2-2-1 press defense.  Time and time again, he broke the press and drove until he found an open teammate, forcing Louisville to call the press off.  By the time the Cardinals stopped pressing, the Wolf Pack had turned the ball over twice, but they scored easy baskets or went to the foul line enough times to take a 10-point lead in the first 12 minutes of the game.

A three-minute stretch to end the first half found N.C. State turning the ball over in their own halfcourt four times, while Louisville warmed up from the field and cut the lead to two points.

The Wolf Pack maintained the lead throughout the second half, and once they held a five point lead, they forced Louisville to foul down the stretch, where Towe was 8 of 8 at the charity stripe in the final minutes to preserve the win.

1974 North Carolina State now faces 1978 Kentucky in the Sweet 16 in what should be an incredible matchup, as the two teams have similar styles.  David Thompson and Jack Givens should be worth the price of admission.

Boxscore

North Carolina St.

Start

FG

FGA

3P

3PA

FT

FTA

ORB

DRB

TRB

AST

STL

BLK

TOV

PF

PTS

Tom Burleson

C

9

14

0

0

4

6

2

11

13

1

0

3

4

3

22

Tim Stoddard

F

3

5

0

0

2

2

1

8

9

0

0

1

1

2

8

David Thompson

F

6

11

1

2

9

12

3

6

9

2

1

2

3

2

22

Mo Rivers

G

1

3

1

3

0

0

0

1

1

2

1

0

2

4

3

Monte Towe

G

3

7

2

5

11

11

0

1

1

8

3

0

3

1

19

Mark Moeller

3

5

1

1

0

0

1

2

3

0

0

0

1

3

7

Steve Nuce

1

3

0

0

3

4

2

2

4

1

0

0

0

2

5

Phil Spence

2

4

0

0

2

2

0

1

1

0

1

0

2

1

6

Greg Hawkins

1

2

0

0

1

2

0

1

1

1

0

0

2

2

3

Bill Lake

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Mike Buurma

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Bruce Dayhuff

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Craig Kuszmaul

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Dwight Johnson

0

1

0

1

1

2

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

Team

3

Totals

29

55

5

12

33

41

9

33

45

15

6

6

18

20

96

 

 

 

Louisville

Start

FG

FGA

3P

3PA

FT

FTA

ORB

DRB

TRB

AST

STL

BLK

TOV

PF

PTS

Wiley Brown

C

4

8

0

0

2

4

3

2

5

0

1

0

1

5

10

Rodney McCray

F

4

10

1

4

4

5

2

3

5

1

3

0

3

3

13

Derek Smith

F

5

11

0

0

1

2

4

7

11

0

0

1

2

5

11

Darrell Griffith

G

6

17

3

9

4

5

3

3

6

2

1

0

4

4

19

Jerry Eaves

G

2

6

1

5

2

2

1

2

3

5

1

0

2

2

7

Poncho Wright

3

8

1

3

2

3

0

1

1

1

2

0

0

5

9

Roger Burkman

2

7

2

7

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

0

4

6

Tony Branch

2

5

0

0

1

1

1

2

3

1

1

0

1

5

5

Daryl Cleveland

1

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

2

Greg Deuser

0

1

0

0

0

0

0

1

1

0

0

0

0

2

0

Marty Pulliam

0

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

Steve Clark

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Team

3

Totals

29

75

8

28

16

22

14

21

38

11

9

1

13

37

82

Player of the Game

Monte Towe

 

Score By Halves

Team

1

2

Final

N. C. State

47

49

96

Louisville

45

37

82

 

Cavaliers Put Hoyas To Sleep With Slow Pace

 

3 Virginia 2019

60

14 Georgetown 1984

52

Unassociated Press: The 2019 Virginia Cavaliers slowed the game down to 59 possessions, forcing Georgetown to pass away from Patrick Ewing, and then trapping Ewing when he caught the ball in the post.  The tactic worked, as Ewing could only take seven shots in 35 minutes of action.

This had the look of a game where both teams would struggle to score 40 points, as neither team could solve the other’s defense.  Eight minutes into the game, Georgetown led 7-6.  At this point, Braxton Key entered the game for Virginia and gave the Wahoo offense a shot in the arm with six quick points to give the Cavaliers a 16-13 lead, a lead they would not relinquish.

Virginia held the Hoyas to 34.6% shooting in the second half, as Ewing could only score one basket in the final stanza.

Boxscore

Virginia

Start

FG

FGA

3P

3PA

FT

FTA

ORB

DRB

TRB

AST

STL

BLK

TOV

PF

PTS

Mamadi Diakete

C

1

4

0

0

1

2

2

5

7

1

0

1

2

1

3

De’Andre Hunter

F

5

12

0

0

4

4

2

3

5

2

0

0

1

1

14

Guy Jerome

F

2

6

1

4

0

0

1

5

6

2

0

0

0

1

5

Kyle Guy

G

2

5

1

3

0

0

0

1

1

3

1

0

1

3

5

Kihei Clark

G

4

11

2

3

2

3

0

2

2

3

0

0

2

1

12

Braxton Key

6

10

2

4

5

6

2

6

8

1

1

0

1

2

19

Jack Salt

1

2

0

0

0

0

0

4

4

0

0

0

0

2

2

Team

3

Totals

21

50

6

14

12

15

7

26

36

12

2

1

7

11

60

 

 

 

Georgetown

Start

FG

FGA

3P

3PA

FT

FTA

ORB

DRB

TRB

AST

STL

BLK

TOV

PF

PTS

Patrick Ewing

C

4

7

0

0

1

2

2

7

9

0

0

2

0

1

9

Reggie Williams

F

3

8

0

0

0

0

1

4

5

1

1

0

0

3

6

Fred Brown

F

3

9

1

6

0

1

1

3

4

2

1

0

1

2

7

David Wingate

G

3

8

2

5

1

2

1

4

5

1

1

1

2

2

9

Michael Jackson

G

4

12

2

7

4

5

0

2

2

2

0

0

1

1

14

Michael Graham

1

2

0

0

1

2

1

2

3

0

0

0

1

2

3

Horace Broadnax

2

6

0

0

0

0

1

1

2

1

0

0

0

1

4

Gene Smith

0

1

0

1

0

0

0

0

0

2

1

0

0

0

0

Bill Martin

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

Team

1

Totals

20

53

5

19

7

12

7

24

32

9

4

3

5

12

52

Player of the Game

Braxton Key

 

Score By Halves

Team

1

2

Final

Virginia

33

27

60

Georgetown

29

23

52

 

Hoosiers Limit Mistakes, Play Excellent Defense In Impressive Win

 

10 Indiana 1987

78

2 North Carolina 2005

63

Unassociated Press: The Hoosiers committed just seven turnovers while limiting North Carolina to 40.7% shooting.  Indiana opened a 15-point lead in the first half, and North Carolina never cut the lead to single digits, getting to within 10 points three times.

The Tar Heel starting front court was held to 10-26 shooting, while the Hoosiers’ front court was 17-34.

This sets up an interesting Sweet 16 game between 1987 Indiana and 2019 Virginia Thursday night.

 

Boxscore

Indiana

Start

FG

FGA

3P

3PA

FT

FTA

ORB

DRB

TRB

AST

STL

BLK

TOV

PF

PTS

Dean Garrett

C

6

11

0

0

2

4

2

7

9

1

0

0

2

3

14

Daryl Thomas

F

9

14

0

0

4

6

1

6

7

3

2

0

1

2

22

Rick Callaway

F

4

9

1

3

3

4

0

7

7

2

1

1

1

2

12

Keith Smart

G

3

7

1

3

2

2

0

2

2

2

2

0

0

1

9

Steve Alford

G

5

12

3

6

5

6

0

1

1

5

0

0

1

2

18

Steve Eyl

1

4

0

0

1

2

1

1

2

0

1

0

2

2

3

Joe Hillman

0

2

0

1

0

0

0

0

0

3

0

0

0

1

0

Team

3

Totals

28

59

5

13

17

24

4

24

31

16

6

1

7

13

78

 

 

 

North Carolina

Start

FG

FGA

3P

3PA

FT

FTA

ORB

DRB

TRB

AST

STL

BLK

TOV

PF

PTS

Sean May

C

8

19

0

0

3

4

1

8

9

0

0

2

2

3

19

Jawad Williams

F

2

5

1

3

0

0

1

6

7

1

0

0

0

1

5

Jackie Manuel

F

0

2

0

2

2

3

1

5

6

2

1

0

3

4

2

Rashad McCants

G

4

9

4

9

3

4

2

4

6

1

1

0

5

3

15

Raymond Felton

G

7

16

3

7

2

2

2

2

4

3

2

0

2

4

19

Marvin Williams

0

1

0

0

0

0

1

1

2

1

1

0

0

1

0

Melvin Scott

1

2

0

0

1

2

0

2

2

2

0

0

1

3

3

David Noel

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

2

0

Team

4

Totals

22

54

8

21

11

15

8

28

40

10

5

2

13

21

63

Player of the Game

Daryl Thomas

 

Score By Halves

Team

1

2

Final

Indiana

41

37

78

N. Carolina

29

34

63

 

SOUTH REGION

 

Top Seed Falls To Quick Bruin Quintet

 

8 UCLA 1964

97

1 Kentucky 1996

89

 

Unassociated Press: UCLA’s great backcourt duo of Walt Hazzard and Gail Goodrich combined for 61 points, and the UCLA full-court press was just as devastating as Kentucky’s matchup press.

Kentucky led for most of the first half and the first six minutes of the second half.  With the Wildcats ahead 61-54, the Bruins reeled off 14 point in the next three minutes to take a 68-66 lead.  After Kentucky tied the score at 68-68, back-to-back three point field goals by Hazzard gave UCLA the lead for good.

Boxscore

UCLA

Start

FG

FGA

3P

3PA

FT

FTA

ORB

DRB

TRB

AST

STL

BLK

TOV

PF

PTS

Fred Slaughter

C

2

6

0

0

2

5

3

8

11

4

2

0

5

3

6

Keith Erickson

F

4

9

0

0

2

3

2

9

11

6

3

0

2

3

10

Jack Hirsch

F

3

8

1

4

1

2

2

5

7

1

1

1

4

4

8

Walt Hazzard

G

9

22

3

10

8

11

1

6

7

2

2

0

3

2

29

Gail Goodrich

G

10

17

5

8

7

9

0

1

1

4

2

0

3

2

32

Kenny Washington

3

6

0

0

2

3

4

2

6

0

1

2

3

3

8

Doug McIntosh

2

3

0

0

0

0

1

1

2

0

1

1

1

3

4

Kim Stewart

0

1

0

0

0

0

0

2

2

0

0

0

0

2

0

Team

4

Totals

33

72

9

22

22

33

13

34

51

17

12

4

21

22

97

 

 

 

Kentucky

Start

FG

FGA

3P

3PA

FT

FTA

ORB

DRB

TRB

AST

STL

BLK

TOV

PF

PTS

Walter McCarty

C

4

9

0

2

3

5

2

6

8

0

0

1

4

4

11

Antoine Walker

F

7

15

1

2

2

3

1

8

9

0

2

0

1

3

17

Derek Anderson

F

3

7

0

1

0

0

1

4

5

2

1

0

2

5

6

Tony Delk

G

5

13

3

7

4

5

1

3

4

3

2

0

4

2

17

Anthony Epps

G

2

6

1

4

2

3

0

1

1

6

1

0

5

5

7

Ron Mercer

5

8

2

3

3

4

2

3

5

3

2

0

1

2

15

Mark Pope

1

3

0

2

2

2

1

4

5

0

0

1

1

4

4

Jeff Sheppard

2

4

2

4

2

2

0

1

1

1

1

0

2

1

8

Wayne Turner

2

5

0

2

0

0

0

1

1

0

0

0

1

3

4

Allen Edwards

0

2

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

0

1

0

Team

3

Totals

31

72

9

27

18

24

8

31

42

16

9

2

21

30

89

Player of the Game

Walt Hazzard

 

Score By Halves

Team

1

2

Final

UCLA

44

53

97

Kentucky

48

41

89

Bruin Muscle Proves Too Much For Cardinals

 

4 UCLA 1970

100

5 Louisville 2013

82

Unassociated Press:  The trio of Steve Patterson, Sidney Wicks, and Curtis Rowe flexed their muscles, scoring almost at will at times in the paint and getting multiple offensive rebounds with putbacks.

After beginning the game matching baskets, the score was knotted at 17-17 with 12 minutes to go in the first half.  UCLA opened a 12-point lead in the next eight minutes, and Louisville could get no closer than seven points the rest of the way.

When the Cardinals cut the lead to seven at 69-62, a Bruin 9-2 run moved the lead out to 14, and Louisville began to rush their offense, committing crucial turnovers that allowed the lead to ballon to 21 points at one point.

The 1970 Bruins now face the 1964 UCLA Bruins in a game of contrasts between 1964’s speed and 1970’s muscle.

 

Boxscore

UCLA

Start

FG

FGA

3P

3PA

FT

FTA

ORB

DRB

TRB

AST

STL

BLK

TOV

PF

PTS

Steve Patterson

C

6

13

0

0

2

3

2

6

8

1

1

1

2

2

14

Sidney Wicks

F

9

15

0

0

6

8

5

11

16

0

3

4

3

3

24

Curtis Rowe

F

6

11

0

0

4

6

3

9

12

2

2

2

1

1

16

John Vallely

G

6

12

3

6

3

3

0

2

2

5

1

0

4

2

18

Henry Bibby

G

6

14

3

8

5

7

0

3

3

9

1

0

3

2

20

John Ecker

1

2

0

0

0

0

0

1

1

0

0

0

2

3

2

Kenny Booker

1

3

0

1

1

2

1

2

3

0

0

0

1

2

3

Terry Schofield

1

1

1

1

0

0

0

1

1

2

1

0

0

1

3

Bill Siebert

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

Andy Hill

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

1

1

0

Team

3

Totals

36

71

7

16

21

29

11

35

49

20

9

7

17

18

100

Louisville

Start

FG

FGA

3P

3PA

FT

FTA

ORB

DRB

TRB

AST

STL

BLK

TOV

PF

PTS

Gorgiu Dieng

C

7

15

0

0

2

4

2

4

6

1

0

1

2

4

16

Chane Behanen

F

3

8

0

0

1

2

1

6

7

2

0

0

1

5

7

Wayne Blackshear

F

4

11

2

6

2

3

2

6

8

3

1

1

5

4

12

Russ Smith

G

4

9

3

7

6

7

0

4

4

1

2

0

3

3

17

Peyton Siva

G

5

12

2

5

3

3

0

3

3

2

1

0

4

2

15

Luke Hancock

2

4

1

2

0

0

2

1

3

0

0

0

1

4

5

Montrezl Harrell

1

2

0

0

0

0

0

3

3

1

0

0

0

1

2

Stephan Van Treese

2

5

0

0

0

0

0

1

1

2

0

0

2

2

4

Kevin Ware

1

3

1

3

1

2

0

0

0

2

2

0

1

2

4

Team

2

Totals

29

69

9

23

15

21

7

28

37

14

6

2

19

27

82

Player of the Game

Sidney Wicks

 

Score By Halves

Team

1

2

Final

UCLA

52

48

100

Louisville

37

45

82

 

Grant Hill Puts Blue Devils’ Hopes On His Shoulder To Bring Duke Back To Victory

 

6 Duke 1992

78

14 Kansas 1997

73

 

Unassociated Press: In a game with many twists and turns, Duke blew a 10-point first half lead and trailed by as many as nine points in the second half until Grant Hill took control of the game, scoring 14 of his game high 20 points in the final 11 minutes of the game.

Kansas went on a 24-7 scoring run that covered the last six minutes of the first half and first four minutes of the second half to take a 49-42 lead.  After Duke cut the lead to three several times, the Jayhawks scored six straight points to take a 59-50.  That’s when Hill went to work, scoring 14 of Dukes’ final 28 points.

 

Boxscore

Duke

Start

FG

FGA

3P

3PA

FT

FTA

ORB

DRB

TRB

AST

STL

BLK

TOV

PF

PTS

Christian Laettner

C

7

13

0

0

5

7

3

5

8

0

0

1

2

3

19

Brian Davis

F

2

5

0

0

0

0

1

7

8

2

1

0

1

1

4

Grant Hill

F

6

11

2

3

6

6

0

5

5

4

1

0

3

2

20

Thomas Hill

G

5

9

2

4

3

4

0

2

2

2

2

0

2

1

15

Bobby Hurley

G

3

7

1

3

4

4

0

1

1

5

0

0

2

0

11

Antonio Lang

1

2

0

0

1

2

1

2

3

1

0

0

1

2

3

Cherokee Parks

2

4

0

0

2

3

2

3

5

0

0

1

0

3

6

Marty Clark

0

1

0

1

0

0

0

1

1

0

0

0

1

1

0

Team

3

Totals

26

52

5

11

21

26

7

26

36

14

4

2

12

13

78

 

 

 

Kansas

Start

FG

FGA

3P

3PA

FT

FTA

ORB

DRB

TRB

AST

STL

BLK

TOV

PF

PTS

Scot Pollard

C

8

15

0

0

3

4

1

6

7

2

0

0

2

4

19

Raef LaFrentz

F

7

12

0

0

1

2

2

5

7

3

0

2

1

2

15

Paul Pierce

F

8

14

0

0

3

5

2

3

5

2

2

1

0

3

19

Jerod Haase

G

2

5

2

5

0

0

0

3

3

2

1

0

3

4

6

Jacque Vaughn

G

2

6

2

5

2

2

0

2

2

4

2

0

1

4

8

Ryan Robertson

1

3

1

3

1

2

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

2

4

Billy Thomas

0

1

0

1

0

0

1

1

2

1

0

0

1

2

0

T.J. Pugh

1

4

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

3

2

Team

3

Totals

29

60

5

14

10

15

6

20

29

14

6

3

8

24

73

Player of the Game

Christian Laettner

 

Score By Halves

Team

1

2

Final

Duke

37

41

78

Kansas

31

42

73

 

 

Wildcats Hot For Three Minutes, But It’s Enough To Advance

 

2 Villanova 2018

64

7 Florida 2007

51

 

Unassociated Press: Villanova couldn’t buy a basket for 3/4 of the game, but then neither could the Gators as both teams had trouble finding the range.  Then, a brief barrage of baskets on 4 of 7 shooting that included a couple of three-point shots broke open a close game to allow ‘Nova to pull away to a safe lead.  Leading just 39-38 in the second half, an 11-0 run gave The Wildcats a 12-point lead.  Florida never could mount a move at this point, and Villanova cruised to victory.

Villanova advances to Thursday’s Sweet 16 round against 1992 Duke.

 

 

Boxscore

Villanova

Start

FG

FGA

3P

3PA

FT

FTA

ORB

DRB

TRB

AST

STL

BLK

TOV

PF

PTS

Omari Spellman

C

3

6

0

0

2

3

2

4

6

0

0

1

3

2

8

Eric Paschall

F

4

7

0

0

4

4

1

8

9

1

0

2

1

1

12

Michael Bridges

F

5

12

2

5

0

2

3

5

8

0

2

0

2

3

12

Phil Booth

G

3

9

1

4

3

4

1

3

4

3

1

0

5

2

10

Jalen Brunson

G

3

7

2

6

4

5

0

2

2

2

1

0

2

4

12

Donte DiVincenzo

3

9

1

4

2

2

1

3

4

1

0

0

1

2

9

Collin Gillespie

0

0

0

0

1

2

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

1

Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree

0

1

0

0

0

0

0

1

1

0

1

0

0

1

0

Team

5

Totals

21

51

6

19

16

22

8

26

39

7

5

3

14

16

64

 

 

 

Florida

Start

FG

FGA

3P

3PA

FT

FTA

ORB

DRB

TRB

AST

STL

BLK

TOV

PF

PTS

Joakim Noah

C

6

11

0

0

3

5

2

8

10

2

0

2

1

2

15

Al Horford

F

5

10

0

0

2

4

3

6

9

0

0

3

1

4

12

Corey Brewer

F

3

12

1

7

3

3

1

5

6

1

2

1

2

3

10

Lee Humphrey

G

2

9

1

4

0

0

0

2

2

3

0

0

3

4

5

Taurean Green

G

1

7

0

5

2

4

0

1

1

2

0

0

5

2

4

Walter Hodge

1

2

0

1

0

0

0

2

2

0

1

0

1

3

2

Chris Richard

1

1

0

0

1

2

1

1

2

1

1

0

0

1

3

Dan Werner

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

1

0

Team

2

Totals

19

52

2

17

11

18

7

25

34

9

4

6

14

20

51

Player of the Game

Eric Paschall

 

Score By Halves

Team

1

2

Final

Villanova

26

38

64

Florida

23

28

51

Sweet 16 Schedule For East and South Regions

 

East 

4 – North Carolina St.  1974 vs. 9 – Kentucky 1978

3 – Virginia 2019 vs. 10 – Indiana 1987

South 

4 – UCLA 1970 vs. 8 – UCLA 1964

2 – Villanova 2018 vs. 6 – Duke 1992

 

Coming Tomorrow–Third Round Action From the Midwest and West Regions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

March 1, 2020

PiRate Ratings College Basketball For March 1, 2020

Sunday’s Games

 

Home

Visitor

Spread

Charlotte

Florida Intl.

3.7

Fairfield

Rider

-2.0

Georgetown

Xavier

1.9

Houston

Cincinnati

6.9

Illinois

Indiana

4.6

Louisville

Virginia Tech

13.4

Monmouth

Manhattan

5.8

Nebraska

Northwestern

2.8

North Texas

Western Kentucky

5.5

Northeastern

Towson

4.2

Ohio St.

Michigan

4.4

Old Dominion

Florida Atlantic

4.8

Quinnipiac

Marist

5.1

Rhode Island

Saint Louis

7.0

Rice

Middle Tennessee

7.2

SMU

Wichita St.

-0.9

St. John’s

Creighton

-4.0

Stanford

Colorado

1.3

Temple

South Florida

5.1

UTEP

Southern Miss

6.6

UTSA

UAB

2.2

Wisconsin

Minnesota

4.4

 

Sunday’s Key TV Games

 

Time (EST)

Network

Home

Visitor

1:00 PM

ESPN

Houston

Cincinnati

2:00 PM

CBS

Georgetown

Xavier

2:00 PM

BTN

Illinois

Indiana

2:00 PM

ESPNU

Rhode Island

Saint Louis

4:00 PM

CBS

Ohio St.

Michigan

4:00 PM

ESPNU

SMU

Wichita St.

6:00 PM

ESPNU

Stanford

Colorado

6:30 PM

BTN

Wisconsin

Minnesota

 

Conference Tournaments Start Tuesday Night

Coming Tuesday, we begin our daily conference tournament coverage all the way to Selection Sunday. 

The Atlantic Sun, Big South, Horizon, and Patriot Leagues will get started on Tuesday. 

On Wednesday, the Mountain West, Northeast, and Ohio Valley Conferences commence post-season play. 

On Thursday, the Missouri Valley (Arch Madness) and The West Coast Conference start tournament play.

 

 

 

 

 

 

February 26, 2020

PiRate Ratings College Basketball For February 26, 2020

Filed under: College Basketball — Tags: , , , , , , , , , — piratings @ 6:55 am

Wednesday’s Games

 

Home

Visitor

Spread

Abilene Christian

Sam Houston St.

3.8

Air Force

New Mexico

-1.4

American

Lafayette

2.6

Arkansas

Tennessee

5.5

Army

Holy Cross

11.7

Boston College

Notre Dame

-5.1

Bucknell

Colgate

-4.8

California Baptist

Utah Valley

7.7

Citadel

Mercer

-6.0

Connecticut

Central Florida

8.3

Florida

LSU

3.4

Fordham

Rhode Island

-12.8

George Washington

Richmond

-8.7

Houston Baptist

Nicholls

-8.9

Illinois St.

Bradley

-3.8

Lamar

Incarnate Word

12.9

Lehigh

Boston U

-6.0

Long Beach St.

Cal St. Northridge

0.7

Louisiana

Arkansas St.

2.0

Maine

New Hampshire

-2.8

Manhattan

Marist

6.3

Marquette

Georgetown

7.2

Massachusetts

VCU

-6.8

McNeese

Southeast Louisiana

10.0

Minnesota

Maryland

-0.2

Navy

Loyola (MD)

3.4

New Orleans

Texas A&M-CC

2.0

Northern Iowa

Evansville

18.4

Omaha

North Dakota

4.6

Penn St.

Rutgers

6.3

Pittsburgh

Syracuse

0.4

Purdue Fort Wayne

Denver

6.2

Quinnipiac

Siena

-2.8

Saint Louis

Saint Joseph’s

14.3

South Carolina

Georgia

5.8

South Florida

East Carolina

8.6

Southern Illinois

Indiana St.

0.4

St. Bonaventure

Duquesne

1.4

Stanford

Utah

9.6

Stephen F. Austin

Northwestern St.

15.6

Stony Brook

Hartford

9.7

UMass Lowell

Albany

1.9

UMBC

Binghamton

10.0

UNC Greensboro

Furman

4.0

UNLV

Boise St.

0.5

Vanderbilt

Missouri

-1.5

Villanova

St. John’s

10.4

Virginia Tech

Virginia

-0.3

VMI

Chattanooga

-2.9

Western Carolina

Samford

11.4

Wofford

East Tennessee St.

-4.0

 

Key TV Games on Wednesday Night

 

Time (EST)

Network

Home

Visitor

7:00 PM

BTN

Penn St.

Rutgers

7:00 PM

ESPN+

UNC Greensboro

Furman

8:30 PM

FS1

Marquette

Georgetown

8:30 PM

SECN

Arkansas

Tennessee

9:00 PM

BTN

Minnesota

Maryland

9:00 PM

ESPN2

Florida

LSU

10:00 PM

Pac12

Stanford

Utah

 

 

 

 

 

 

February 21, 2020

PiRate Ratings Bracketology For February 21, 2020

Date

2/21/2020

Seed

Team

Team

Team

Team

Team

Team

1

Baylor

Gonzaga

Kansas

San Diego St.

2

Duke

Dayton

Maryland

Florida St.

3

Seton Hall

Creighton

Louisville

Villanova

4

Penn St.

West Virginia

Kentucky

Colorado

5

Oregon

Auburn

Butler

Iowa

6

Michigan St.

Arizona

Ohio St.

Marquette

7

Michigan

BYU

Houston

Wisconsin

8

Illinois

LSU

Texas Tech

Rutgers

9

Saint Mary’s

Xavier

Florida

Rhode Island

10

Arizona St.

Wichita St.

Oklahoma

Virginia

11

USC

Indiana

Northern Iowa

USC

12

Liberty

Yale

Utah St.

N. Carolina St.

Richmond

Cincinnati

13

Stephen F. Austin

Vermont

North Texas

Akron

14

New Mexico St.

Colgate

Wright St.

Hofstra

15

South Dakota St.

UC-Irvine

Little Rock

Montana

16

Winthrop

Austin Peay

Prairie View

Siena

St. Francis (PA)

Norfolk St.

 

Bubble Contenders

 

69

Georgetown

70

Purdue

71

Mississippi St.

72

Stanford

73

Providence

74

South Carolina

75

Arkansas

76

Alabama

77

UNC Greensboro

78

Memphis

The First Four

Opening Round in Dayton

12 Seed Game: Utah St. vs. Cincinnati

12 Seed Game: North Carolina St. vs. Richmond

16 Seed Game: Norfolk St. vs. Prairie View

16 Seed Game: Siena vs. St. Francis (PA)

February 19, 2020

PiRate Ratings College Basketball For February 19, 2020

Filed under: College Basketball — Tags: , , , , , , , , , — piratings @ 7:08 am

Wednesday’s Games

 

Home

Visitor

Spread

Alabama

Texas A&M

13.1

American

Navy

4.9

Arkansas St.

UL Monroe

7.0

Bradley

Missouri St.

4.9

Cincinnati

Central Florida

11.2

Citadel

Chattanooga

-8.4

Colgate

Lehigh

15.3

DePaul

Villanova

-3.4

Drake

Valparaiso

2.4

Duquesne

George Washington

11.4

East Tennessee St.

Furman

4.6

Fresno St.

Air Force

6.2

Georgetown

Providence

4.8

Georgia

Auburn

-3.4

Houston

Tulsa

10.0

Houston Baptist

Abilene Christian

-10.7

Incarnate Word

McNeese

-7.3

La Salle

Fordham

7.6

Lafayette

Boston U

-0.3

Louisville

Syracuse

10.0

Loyola (Chi.)

Illinois St.

11.4

Loyola (MD)

Army

2.6

Memphis

East Carolina

15.8

Mercer

Samford

7.5

Minnesota

Indiana

4.9

Mississippi St.

South Carolina

5.5

North Carolina St.

Duke

-8.4

North Dakota

South Dakota St.

-4.1

Northwestern St.

Nicholls St.

-4.3

Richmond

George Mason

11.8

Rutgers

Michigan

1.2

Sam Houston St.

Lamar

8.8

San Jose St.

Boise St.

-11.5

Seton Hall

Butler

5.7

Siena

Iona

7.0

South Dakota

North Dakota St.

0.3

Stephen F. Austin

Central Arkansas

14.0

Texas

TCU

4.1

Texas Tech

Kansas St.

12.0

Tulane

SMU

-6.1

UC Irvine

Long Beach St.

15.7

UMKC

California Baptist

-0.2

UNC Greensboro

Wofford

10.1

Utah St.

Wyoming

21.1

Virginia

Boston College

11.6

Virginia Tech

Miami

4.9

Wake Forest

Georgia Tech

1.3

Washington St.

California

6.6

Western Carolina

VMI

9.5

 

Wednesday’s Key TV Games

 

Time (EST)

Network

Home

Visitor

6:30 PM

FS1

Seton Hall

Butler

7:00 PM

ESPN

Louisville

Syracuse

7:00 PM

BTN

Rutgers

Michigan

7:00 PM

ESPN+

East Tennessee St.

Furman

8:00 PM

ESPN3

South Dakota

North Dakota St.

8:30 PM

FS1

Georgetown

Providence

9:00 PM

ESPN

North Carolina St.

Duke

9:00 PM

ESPNU

Houston

Tulsa

9:00 PM

BTN

Minnesota

Indiana

9:00 PM

SECN

Mississippi St.

South Carolina

In Order To Perform A More Perfect Metric

 

If you follow this website on a semi-regular basis, you know that our R+T Rating has been the one unique metric used by us when predicting NCAA Tournament favorites.

For those of you that are new to this site, our R+T Rating was created two decades ago to estimate the extra scoring opportunities (by points) each team might be better than average in the NCAA Tournament.  We realized long ago that just like the “Money Ball” type of baseball strategies did not work well in the Major League Playoffs, the NCAA Tournament presented its own unique differences and required more than the Four Factors to determine winners when only the good to great teams remain.

The current formula for R+T consists of counting stats, but we have realized for some time that rate stats are much more accurate.  Using baseball as an example, a counting stat would be Johnny Horsehide hitting 43 home runs and driving in 118 runs.  These two stats might lead the Majors, but these stats may not reveal what we want them to reveal.  Gary Goodeye might hit just 34 home runs and drive in 95 runs, but Good Ole Gary might be a better home run hitter than Johnny.  How many times did Horsehide come to the plate?  What if Horsehide walked 34 times in 702 plate appearances while playing for a team that had three all-stars hitting in front of him, all of whom have on-base percentages of .400 or better?

What if Goodeye had 650 plate appearances playing on a team that was quite weak offensively?  Let’s say his teammates that batted in front of him had one-base percentages between .320 and .335.  Let’s say that Goodeye didn’t always get good pitches when he appeared in the batter’s box, and he walked 125 times.

Now, if we look at the number of home runs hit per at bat or plate appearances that did not end in a walk (or hit by pitch or sacrifice), we will see that Goodeye actually hit home runs at a slightly better rate than Horsehide.  As for runs batted in, that statistic is close to meaningless, because in order to drive runs in, runners must be on base.  So, the RBI stat is more reliant on the other players on the team.  It could be that Goodeye drove in runners better than Horsehide, because when we look at how many runners were on base and what base they were on, Goodeye might have had a better percentage at driving those runners in.

Back to basketball.  A team with a rebounding advantage of 43-37 has a +6 margin.  A team with a rebounding advantage of 35-30 has a +5 margin.  Using counting stats, the 43-37 team is one better than the 35-30 team.  But, the 35-30 team rebounded 53.85% of the missed shots, while the 43-37 team only rebounded 53.75% of the shots.  So, the 35-30 team is a little better than the 43-37 team on the surface.

However, it is harder to get offensive rebounds than it is to get defensive rebounds.  In fact, data throughout the calculated history of college basketball shows that an offensive rebound is worth better than 2 1/2 defensive rebounds.  The Four Factors breaks rebounding rate down into offensive and defensive rates.  

Let’s say that in a game,  Team A shot 25 of 60 for 41.7% while shooting 16-22 at the foul line for 72.7%.  Team B shot 28 of 58 for 48.3% while shooting 10-17 at the foul line for 58.8%.  Team A hit one more three point basket than Team B and one by a point.  

Now, let’s look at the rebounding for this game.  First, there were five dead ball rebounds, which we do not count as actual rebounds.  The statistical rules in basketball is that for every missed shot, there must be a rebound.  When a player is at the foul line for two shots, and he misses the first shot, there is not a real rebound.  The foul shooting team gets credited with a dead ball rebound.

To the contrary, team rebounds do count, because these are rebounds in which possession is determined.  When a missed shot ends up out of bounds before possession can be guaranteed, the team that gets possession out of bounds receives an offensive rebound.

In this game after removing the five dead ball rebounds, there were 73 rebounds to be had.  When Team A shot, there were 39 potential rebounds following misses, while when Team B shot, there were 34 potential rebounds following misses.

Looking at the stats, Team A finished with 13 offensive rebounds and 23 defensive rebounds for 36 total rebounds.  Team B finished with 11 offensive rebounds and 26 defensive rebounds for 37 total rebounds.

Team B had a counting rebounding margin of +1, while Team A had a margin of -1.  However, let’s now look at the percentage of offensive rebounds each team enjoyed.  Team A had 13 offensive rebounds out of 39 missed shots, which is 33.3% of the missed shots at their offensive end.  Team B had 11 offensive rebounds out of 34 missed shots for 32.4% of the missed shots at their offensive end. 

Looking at the rate stats, Team A may have retrieved fewer total rebounds than Team B, but they were actually the better rebounding team in this game by almost 1%.

The rate data is obviously more telling than counting data, but how can we determine a point value to substitute rate data for counting data in our R+T Rating, which in the past has picked a lot of surprise NCAA Tournament winners?

We’ve been back-testing values daily for two months.  We had to include a constant in our formulas to smooth out the results to make the numbers mean something.  Without the constant, the results were too far apart to mean something.  Tiny differences led to major spreads, and that did not tell us what we wanted.  

After about 150 to 175 different attempts, we believe (HOPE) that we have finally had a breakthrough.  The following formula will be explained after we reveal it:

((R*8)+(S*2+((5-Opp S)*2)+(T*4)))/2.75

 

This formula now refers to Rate Stats.  The “R” in the formula now stands for Rebounding Rate.  This is a combination of both offensive and defensive rebounding rate and it is a deviation from the norm and not just a percentage.  The norm in our experiment is 28.1%.  If a team has an offensive rebounding rate above this number, it is above average, and if it is below this number, it is below average.  Thus, the norm for defensive rebounding rate is the opposite of the above number, or 71.9%.  We then calculate our R part of the formula by taking each team’s offensive rate minus 28.1 plus their defensive rate minus 71.9 and then add the two results and divide by 2.

Example: Today, Houston has an offensive rebounding rate of 38.5%, which is 10.4% higher than average (we experimented with using the actual percentage better which would have been 37% better than average, but we never arrived at a usable final number doing so.)  Houston’s defensive rebounding rate is 74.5%, which is 2.6% better than average. 

We then take both numbers (+10.4 & +2.6), sum the numbers, and divide by 2 to get +6.5.  That would be the R number for Houston in the new formula.

Let’s now update our formula:

((6.5*8)+(S*2+((5-Opp S)*2)+(T*4)))/2.75

 

The rest of this formula uses the same system as above.  The norm for steals (S) is 9.2% for both offense and defense.

Houston has a 7.4% steal rate, which is 1.8% below average.  Houston’s opponents have a 7.5% steal rate against them, which is 1.7% above average for Houston.  Once again, we update the formula.

 

((6.5*8)+(-1.8*2+((5- [-1.7])*2)+(T*4)))/2.75

 

Now, we need Turnover rates, both offensive and defensive.  The norm for turnover rate is 16.9%.  Obviously, the lower the offensive turnover rate is, the better, and the higher the defensive turnover rate is, the better.  Houston’s offensive turnover rate is 14.9%, which is 2.0% better than average.  The Cougars’ defensive turnover rate is 15.8%, which is 1.1% below average.  We sum the two numbers and divide by 2:  2.0 + (-1.1) = 0.9 and divided by 2 = 0.45.  The 0.45 is now our T in the equation and we are ready to solve the equation.  The 2.75 by the way is our constant that when used brings the results into what we hope is a usable formula.

 

((6.5*8)+(-1.8*2+((5- [-1.7])*2)+(.45*4)))/2.75

 

We will simplify the formula in case you have math anxiety like one of our PiRate lasses.

 

((52)+(-3.6+(6.7*2)+(1.8)))/2.75

 

(52+9.8+1.8)/2.75

 

63.6/2.75 = 23.13

 

We will have some growing pains with this new formula, and there’s a good chance that the numbers will be tweaked in the future, but this is the Rate Version of the R+T Rating that we will use in the NCAA Tournament.  Because it is an experiment, we will also use the original R+T formula when we issue our Bracketnomics 2020 edition.

 

Here are the two formulas together for you to compare.

 

Original R+T using actual counting margins and averages

 

(R * 2) + (S * .5) + (6 – Opp S) + T

R = Rebounding Margin
S = Average Steals Per Game
T = Turnover Margin

 

New Experimental R+T using rate the percentage number difference from the norm

 

((R*8)+(S*2+((5-Opp S)*2)+(T*4)))/2.75

The 2020 Norms

Offensive Rebounding:        28.1%

Defensive Rebounding:       71.9%

Steals (O&D):                         9.2%

Turnovers (O&D)                16.9%

 

 

 

 

 

February 17, 2020

PiRate Ratings Bracketology for February 17, 2020

Date

2/17/2020

Seed

Team

Team

Team

Team

Team

Team

1

Baylor

Gonzaga

Kansas

San Diego St.

2

Duke

Dayton

Maryland

Florida St.

3

Seton Hall

Penn St.

Louisville

Villanova

4

Auburn

Oregon

Creighton

West Virginia

5

Kentucky

Colorado

Butler

Michigan St.

6

Iowa

Ohio St.

Marquette

Arizona

7

LSU

Michigan

BYU

Texas Tech

8

Houston

Wisconsin

Illinois

Rutgers

9

Oklahoma

USC

Saint Mary’s

Xavier

10

Rhode Island

Florida

Arizona St.

Virginia

11

Wichita St.

Indiana

Northern Iowa

East Tennessee St.

12

Stephen F. Austin

Yale

Georgetown

Cincinnati

Purdue

Utah St.

13

Vermont

Liberty

North Texas

New Mexico St.

14

Akron

Colgate

Wright St.

Hofstra

15

Little Rock

Winthrop

UC-Irvine

Murray St.

16

South Dakota St.

Montana

Prairie View

St. Peter’s

Robert Morris

Norfolk St.

 

The Rest of the Bubble

69

Richmond

70

Arkansas

71

Stanford

72

Mississippi St.

73

North Carolina St.

74

Alabama

75

South Carolina

76

VCU

77

Syracuse

78

Minnesota

79

Furman

80

Memphis

 

A Look At The One-Bid Leagues & Their Conference Tournaments

 

America East: 8 teams with superior seed hosting every game

Vermont (11-1/21-6) has a 2 1/2 game lead over Stony Brook (8-3/17-9), and it would be a major upset if any team other than the Catamounts won this tournament. The race for third place between Albany (7-4/14-12) and Hartford (7-5/14-13) is important, because the 3rd place finisher would get to avoid Vermont until the Championship Game. Of course, second place is still up for grabs, and in the semifinals, the second place team would host the third place team if they both won their quarterfinal round games.

Atlantic Sun: 8 teams with superior seed hosting every game (North Alabama not eligible)

What looked like a cake walk to the conference championship in December has turned into anything but. Liberty (10-2/24-3) was coming off a season in which the Flames won a game in the NCAA Tournament and returned a ton of talent. But, the Flames are not currently in first place in the A-Sun. North Florida (11-2/18-10) not only has a one half game lead over LU, they beat the Flames earlier this year. The rematch is this Thursday at Liberty.

Don’t rule out the third and fourth teams in this league. Stetson (9-3/15-12) has never been to the Division 1 NCAA Tournament, but the Hatters have been in contention in recent years. Lipscomb (7-6/12-14) is the hottest team in the league, having won five of six including a 12-point victory over UNF. The Bisons still have games remaining with the top two teams before tournament play begins.

 

Big Sky: 11 teams in regular bracket at Boise, ID

There is no dominant team inside the league this year. Defending champion Montana (12-3/16-10) was supposed to have a rebuilding season after losing five of the top seven players from consecutive conference championship teams. Give Travis Decuire a lot of credit for his ability to recruit to Missoula and then teach his players to play as a team. The whole is much better than the sum of the parts, and Decuire rates high on our coaches ready to move on to Power Conference schools list, as he is close to leading the Grizzlies to their fourth conference championship in his six years at the school.

Eastern Washington (10-4/17-8) and Northern Colorado (10-4/17-8) are the next two in line in the Big Sky, but EWU has already been swept by Montana, while UNC is one of the three league teams to pin a loss on the Grizzlies. Keep an eye on 6th place Southern Utah (7-7/14-11). The Thunderbirds have been in a bit of a tailspin in the last month, but if they can pull out of it and play like they did in December, they could be a tough out for any of the top five in the league.

Big South: 11 teams. The first round is played at the home court of the higher-seeded team. The quarterfinal and semifinal rounds are then played at the #1 seed’s home floor. The Championship Game is then played on the higher-seeded team’s home floor.

With first place vital in this conference, Winthrop (13-2/19-9) and Radford (12-2/17-9) have separated themselves from the pack and will most likely share the regular season title with identical 16-2 conference records. Since they split their season series with both teams winning on the road against each other, the #1 seed would be settled in a tiebreaker by looking at how these two co-champs fared against the next team in the standings and so forth until the tie is broken. Winthrop’s other conference loss was to 7-6 Gardner-Webb, while Radford’s loss was to 6-8 UNC Asheville. Radford has the advantage here, but remember that Winthrop won at Radford in the regular season, and the Eagles have the superior inside game, which tends to play more of a factor in March.

Big West: 8 teams in regular bracket. All games in Anaheim

UC-Irvine (9-2/17-10) lost some big-time talent off a team that won a game last year’s Big Dance and took Oregon to the final minutes in the Round of 32, but Coach Russ Turner has his Anteaters in first place again this year, and UCI is running away with the regular season race.

The real race is between the second through eighth place teams. First, the ninth place team does not qualify for the tournament, and at the moment, just two games separate second from ninth. Any of the eight teams other than UCI could miss out, while any of the other eight teams could end up with the number two seed. UCSB (5-5/16-9) matches up well with UCI and has a victory over the Anteaters, but they have been swept by Cal St. Northridge (6-5/11-16) and handily defeated by UC-Davis (6-5/12-15). UC-Riverside (4-7/14-13) is a team to watch if they don’t miss out and finish in ninth place. The Highlanders have a very tall lineup that can control the boards and get inside shots when they can control the pace of their games. They are capable of winning three times in three days at the Honda Center.

Colonial Athletic: 10 teams in regular bracket. All games in Washington, D.C.

This is a somewhat down year for the CAA as there are no teams that look capable of winning a second round NCAA Tournament game. The conference race is an interesting one with seven better than average teams.

Joe Mihalich led Niagara to four conference championships and two NCAA Tournament appearances before coming to Hofstra (11-3/20-7). This is his seventh season in Hempstead, and he’s won two CAA Championships thus far, inlcuding last season. This Gaels team is in line to make it number three, but Hofstra has yet to win the CAA Tournament in this time. This teams isn’t as good as last year’s, so it’s hard to say that the Gaels are big favorites to make it to the Dance for the first time since Jay Wright was coaching there in 2001.

Willliam & Mary (10-5/18-10), Delaware (9-5/19-8), and Towson (9-5/16-11) are next in line, but the potentially more dangerous teams are behind them. Charleston (9-6/15-12) and defending Conference Tournament champion Northeastern (7-7/13-13) are talented enough to steal the bid from Hofstra yet again. Charleston is probably the team to watch in the CAA Tournament.

Conference USA: 12 teams in regular bracket. All games in Frisco, TX.

This is a really unique way to host a conference tournament in the Dallas Cowboys practice facility. The league places two playing floors separated by a curtain, and it is possible to sit in such a way that you can see two games at once.

There is quite an advantage here, as the tournament takes place in the backyard of North Texas (12-2/18-9), the current league leader. The Mean Green are undefeated in conference play on their home floor, and they would have to be considered the prohibitive favorite to claim the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Western Kentucky (11-3/18-8) defeated UNT in Bowling Green earlier this year, but the Hilltoppers suffered a crippling blow when sure NBA Draft choice big man Charles Bassey’s season ended with a leg injury.

Louisiana Tech (10-4/19-7) plays tough defense, handles the ball well, and they frequently get extra scoring opportunities, so the Bulldogs are a top contender in the conference tournament. If any other team should sneak through and cut the nets at Jerryworld Headquarters, they would most likely be looking at a 16-seed and possible trip to Dayton.

Horizon: 10 teams. The first two rounds are played at the higher-seeded teams’ home courts. Also, after every round, this league re-seeds its remaining teams like the NFL Playoffs. The final two rounds will then be played in Indianapolis, and the top two teams receive byes to the semifinal round, so finishing first or second is extremely important.

Like they have in recent years, this has been a two-team race, and it’s almost a sure thing that Wright St. (13-2/23-5) and Northern Kentucky (11-4/19-8) will be the top two teams. Wright St. is enjoying its best season in their 14-year run as the class of the Horizon League. However, the Raiders did not have a strong out-of-conference schedule, and we would be shocked if they were to win a game in the NCAA Tournament.

Northern Kentucky is transitioning with a new coach, and the Norse are not as strong as they were under former coach John Brannen, who took NKU to two NCAA Tournaments in his final three years.

Ivy: 4 teams in regular bracket. Games will be played at Harvard.

The Ivy League probably has the correct format for a smaller conference. Only the top four teams qualify for the conference tournament, meaning the champion is at least one of the league’s deserving teams.

As of today, the interesting part of this league is that five teams are competing for four spots. All tied for third with 5-3 conference records and six games to go are Harvard (16-7), Penn (13-8), and Brown (12-9).

Yale (6-2/18-6) and Princeton (6-2/11-10) are only a game ahead of the other three, and both teams must finish their regular season playing four road games and two home games. So, one of the co-leaders could easily fall to 8-6 or 7-7 in league play and finish fifth.

Harvard hosts the tournament, and the Crimson have four home games and just two road games remaining. But, those four home games are versus the other four contenders.

Dartmouth (2-6/9-14) is three games behind the contenders, but the Mean Green have the perfect remaining schedule with four home games, while their two road games are against the two weakest teams in the league. It isn’t impossible for Dartmouth to finish 7-7, and then hope that two of those 5-3 teams come back to the pack.

Metro Atlantic: 11 teams in regular bracket. Games will be played in Atlantic City, NJ

What we have here is an almost sure trip to Dayton for the Conference Tournament champion. The MAAC is quite weak this year, and the automatic bid will go to a team that will immediately become an underdog in a first round play-in game unless some 20-loss team pulls off a conference tournament upset.

Saint Peter’s (10-5/13-11) has gone 8-2 in their last ten games. Former Seton Hall star Shaheen Holloway is in his second year with the Peacocks, and his team is the best in the league in defense and rebounding. As hot as the Peacocks have been, there is one team even hotter. Siena (9-5/13-10) has won six of their last seven games, and the six wins were by an average of more than 16 points per game. The Saints have been on a three-point shooting tear in this winning streak, hitting 40 of 103 from behind the arc, while limiting opponents to just 29-106.

Mid-American: 12 teams in regular bracket. First round games at higher-seeded teams. Remaining rounds in Cleveland.

This is not a particularly strong year for some Maction. This is a definite one-bid league, while in past years multiple teams have made the Field.
This is also the only league that continues to divide its teams into divisions. At the present time, the East is a bit stronger than the West, as it has the top four teams in the league. Bowling Green (10-3/19-7) has a slim half-game edge over Akron (9-3/19-6), while Kent St. (7-5/17-8) and defending MAC Champ Buffalo (7-5/15-9) are right behind.

In the West, Northern Illinois (8-5/15-11) leads Ball St. (7-5/14-11) by a half-game with Central Michigan (6-5/13-11) another half-game back, with all three teams tied in the loss column.

Akron and Kent St. have played stronger schedules than the rest of these teams, but neither has pulled off a big win. The Zips probably give this league its best chance to compete as a double-digit seed in the second round of the Dance.

Mideastern Athletic: 10 teams in regular bracket. All games will be played in Norfolk, VA

North Carolina Central (8-2/12-12) and Nofolk St. (8-2/12-13) hold slim leads over North Carolina A&T (8-3/12-14) and Florida A&M (8-4/10-13), but FAMU is not eligible this year. This is a league where past history showing the #1 seed winning the conference tournament over half the time, and teams finishing fourth or fifth tending to win most of the other times.

There are three teams in contention for fifth place where a 9-7 conference mark should be sufficient to qualify as that dark horse contender. They are: Morgan St. (7-5/13-14), Bethune-Cookman (6-5/12-13), and South Carolina St, (6-5/11-12).
Should either of the top three teams run the table in the league and the conference tournament, there is a chance they could avoid a play-in game in Dayton.

Missouri Valley: 10 teams in regular bracket. All games will be played in St. Louis (Arch Madness)

This is one of two leagues where the regular season champion could still get an at-large bid if it loses in the conference tournament. Northern Iowa (11-3/22-4) has worked its way up the ladder where if they win out, the Panthers could earn a single-digit seed in the Field of 68. If UNI were to lose in the Valley Championship Game and finish the regular season at 28-5, they will probably steal an at-large bid away from a big league like the Big Ten, ACC, SEC, or Big 12.

Loyola of Chicago (10-4/18-9) isn’t nearly as strong as they were two years ago when they surprised the nation with a Final Four run, but the Ramblers are good enough to beat UNI in the Conference Tournament if they handle the ball well and play tough defense. Both of their regular season games with the Panthers went to overtime, with the teams splitting the two games.

Bradley (9-5/18-9) did not match up well with the two teams above the Braves in the MVC standings, while Southern Illinois (9-5/15-12) lacks the offensive firepower to win three games in three days in March.

Keep an eye on a team coming from off the pace to challenge UNI in the MVC Tournament. Drake, Indiana State, Valparaiso, and Missouri State are all tied at 7-7 in the league. It might be advantageous to finish 6th and avoid UNI until a potential championship game. While Arch Madness is usually won by one of the top two seeds, it has been won from the middle of the pack before.

Northeast: 8 teams in regular bracket. All games will be played at higher-seeds’ home courts. Merrimack is ineligible during their transition to D1, while the bottom two teams of the remaining 10 will be eliminated from the tournament.

The rule forcing transitioning teams to be ineligible for the NCAA Tournament is just plain stupid. The NEC has a dominating team in Merrimack (12-2/18-9), who should at least get a chance to prove themselves with an NIT bid. If a team is good enough to win their conference championship and conference tournament, why punish the team and their league? Merrimack doesn’t have an advantage moving up in classification. It’s understandable that a team moving down might should be punished with ineligibility until all of its former Division 1 players have graduated, but this is a team moving up to D1.

The eventual tournament champion is a sure bet for banishment to Dayton and the play-in game. The contenders are all quite weak and none of these teams should be expected to compete against more athletic play-in opponents. The best of the rest include Robert Morris (11-3/15-12), Saint Francis (PA) (10-4/17-8), and Sacred Heart (9-5/16-11). With a five-game winning streak and the best offense in the league, SFPA should be considered the team to beat.

Ohio Valley: 8 teams playing in a special format in Evansville, IN. The OVC brackets their tournament in a method similar to the finals of the Professional Bowlers Association. First, only the top eight of the 12 league teams qualify for the tournament. In the first round, teams 5-8 play, with the two winners advancing to the quarterfinals to play teams 3-4. The two teams that win this round then advance to the semfinals to play teams 1 and 2, so finishing in the top two gets you a two-round bye to the semifinals.

There are four teams in contention for those two double byes, and this league is strong at the top, but not strong enough to sneak a second team into the field like last year.

Murray St. (12-2/19-7) and Austin Peay (12-2/18-9) have been tough rivals for years in the OVC and have enjoyed their share of success in the NCAA Tournament. Belmont (11-3/20-7) beat Temple in the NCAA Tournament last year, but the Bruins have nearly beaten top-rated teams in the NCAA Tournament before, like when a last second shot nearly missed that would have knocked out Duke. Fourth place Eastern Kentucky (10-4/13-14) has averaged 83.5 points per game in their last nine games, using a pressure defense to come up with a lot of steals and fast break points. The Colonels don’t have the same talent as the other three contenders, but they are likely to come with a reckless abandon attitude, while the others might be a bit tight.

If a team from the back of the pack has a chance, it might be Tennessee State (8-6/16-11). The Tigers have the talent to put it together and as a 5-seed, beat the numbers 8, 4, and 1-seed to get to the Championship Game.

Patriot: 8 teams playing in a regular bracket with the higher seeds hosting all games.

Colgate (11-3/20-7) looked like the class of the field until yesterday, when the Raiders fell second division Loyola of Maryland (5-9/13-14). Colgate also lost twice to Lafayette (8-6/16-9). Second place Boston U (10-4/16-11) has won six of seven, but the Terriers lost twice to Colgate. American (9-5/13-12) is in third, while the aforementioned Lafayette rests in fourth place, which probably irritates Colgate, because that would put the Leopards and Raiders on the same side of the Conference Tournament bracket.

Southern: 10 teams playing in a regular bracket with all games played in Asheville, NC.

This is the other league besides the Missouri Valley where a second team could earn an at-large bid. This league is dangerously good at the top of the standings. East Tennessee (12-2/23-4) won at LSU by double digits. Furman (12-2/22-5) lost in overtime at Auburn. UNC Greensboro (11-3/21-6) has road wins against Georgetown and Vermont as well as a close loss at Kansas. Plus, UNCG plays a very unorthodox defense that is difficult to face the first time. Additionally, the fourth through seventh place teams, all with records of 8-6 or 7-7 in league play (Western Carolina, Wofford, Chattanooga, and Mercer) are strong enough to probably win other Mid-Major leagues like the NEC, Patriot, and Big Sky).

If the two championship game participants include ETSU and either Furman or UNCG, the loser of this game deserves an at-large bid, especially if it is at the expense of a power conference team with a losing conference record.

Southland: 8 teams playing in a regular bracket with all games played in Katy, TX, and the bottom five teams in the standings eliminated from the tournament.

Stephen F. Austin (13-1/22-3) will not get an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament if they do not win the automatic bid, even though the Lumberjacks won at Duke. The rest of their schedule has not been strong enough to allow them this pass. Should they lose in the SLC Tournament, SFA will actually be a team capable of winning the NIT,but that’s not what they want.

Who could possibly upset SFA in the Conference Tournament? The team to watch would be Nicholls State (11-4/17-9). The Colonels full court press the entire game, and nobody wants to face that pressure in pressure-packed games. At 10 steals per game out of 73 possessions, it leaves little room for error for the team that commits a few too many additional turnovers. Opponents turn the ball over better than one out of every four possessions.

Southwest Athletic: 8 teams playing in a regular bracket with first round games at the higher seeded teams’ home courts and all the final two rounds in Birmingham, AL.

If you follow this incredible conference steeped in great history, you are in for quite a treat at this year’s SWAC Tournament, because as many as seven teams have the ability to come through and get the automatic bid. This might be the most exciting tournament from game one to the Championship Game!

Prairie View (9-2/13-11) and Texas Southern (8-3/11-13) lead the pack at the present time. Both teams have played some very good games on the road against heavy favorites, and both have won games that prove they could contend and maybe scare a heavily-ranked team if one of these teams could sneak into a 15-seed.

After the top two, there are five teams tied for third at 7-5 (Grambling, Alcorn St., Jackson St., Southern, and Alabama St.). We believe that Texas Southern gives the SWAC its best chance to win a play-in game as a 16-seed, while Prairie View is the only team capable of sneaking up to a 15-seed.

Summit: 9 teams playing in a regular bracket with all games played in Sioux Falls, SD.

When your conference tournament is played inside the state where two of your league’s top three teams play, the odds are stacked in the favor of the two in-state teams. South Dakota St. (11-2/20-8) has basically become the Kentucky of the Summit League. The Championship comes through Brookings and then Sioux Falls becomes Frost Arena II, where the Jackrabbits have won five of the last eight Summit League Tournaments.

North Dakota State (10-2/19-7) finished behind SDSU last year in the Summit League race, but then the Bison won the Summit Championship, then won their play-in game in the NCAA First Round, and then stayed within single digits of Duke for 30 minutes in the Second Round.

Don’t forget South Dakota (9-4/19-9) or Oral Roberts (7-6/14-12). Both teams can score a lot of points, and a hot streak by either team could see them cutting down the nets.

Sun Belt: 10 teams playing in a special bracket. The first three rounds will be played at the higher-seeded teams’ home courts, while the semifinals and finals will be played in New Orleans. Teams 7-10 only will play in the first round. The two winners will then play at seeds 5-6 in the second round, and the two winners in that round will play at seeds 3-4 in the third round. The top two seeds get byes to the semifinals in New Orleans, so the regular season conference race will be a mad dash to the finish.

The SBC plays a 20-game conference schedule, and with four games to go, Little Rock (12-4/18-9) holds a slim lead over (Georgia St. (11-5/18-9). Texas St. (10-6/17-10) and Georgia Southern (10-6/17-11). Two other teams, South Alabama and Appalachian St., are 9-7 in the league and still in the race for second place.

All these teams have had nights where they played a good Power Conference team close in a loss, but none of these teams have a big win this year. The champion of this league is likely looking at a quick second round exit as a 15-seed.

Western Athletic: 8 teams playing in regular bracket with all games played in Las Vegas. California Baptist is ineligible.

New Mexico State (12-0/21-6) is such a heavy favorite that it would be a bigger upset if they lost in the WAC Tournament than if the New York Knicks won this year’s NBA Championship. The Aggies have won this league three years in a row and seven times in the last eight seasons.

With second place Cal Baptist (7-3/18-7) not eligible, the next best team is Grand Canyon (7-4/12-13) with Texas Rio Grande Valley next at (7-5/11-14).

February 14, 2020

PiRate Ratings Bracketology For February 14, 2020

Date

2/14/2020

Seed

Team

Team

Team

Team

Team

Team

1

Baylor

Gonzaga

Kansas

San Diego St.

2

Duke

Dayton

Louisville

Maryland

3

Seton Hall

Florida St.

West Virginia

Auburn

4

Villanova

Butler

Penn St.

Oregon

5

Kentucky

Creighton

Michigan St.

Colorado

6

Marquette

Iowa

Arizona

LSU

7

Arizona

Rutgers

Wisconsin

Michigan

8

Ohio St.

Texas Tech

Illinois

Houston

9

USC

Purdue

Rhode Island

Saint Mary’s

10

Oklahoma

Florida

Xavier

Wichita St.

11

Stanford

Indiana

Northern Iowa

Arkansas

Virginia

12

East Tennessee St.

Yale

Stephen F. Austin

Cincinnati

Arizona St.

13

Liberty

Vermont

New Mexico St.

North Texas

14

Colgate

Wright St.

Akron

Winthrop

15

Hofstra

Little Rock

Murray St.

UC-Irvine

16

South Dakota St.

Montana

Prairie View

Rider

Robert Morris

Norfolk St.

 

Bubble Contenders

 

69

VCU

70

N. Carolina St.

71

Mississippi St.

72

Utah St.

73

Georgetown

74

Richmond

75

Minnesota

76

Memphis

77

Furman

78

Notre Dame

79

Alabama

80

Tennessee

 

First Four Games

11–seeds: Arkansas vs. Virginia

12–seeds: Cincinnati vs. Arizona St.

16-seeds: Prairie View vs. Robert Morris

16-seeds: Rider vs. Norfolk St.

 

Best PiRate Rating Criteria To Win National Championship

Duke

February 3, 2020

PiRate Ratings Bracketology For February 3, 2020

Filed under: College Basketball — Tags: , , , , , , , , , — piratings @ 2:25 pm

Date

2/3/2020

Seed

Team

Team

Team

Team

Team

Team

1

Baylor

Gonzaga

Kansas

San Diego St.

2

Duke

Dayton

Louisville

West Virginia

3

Seton Hall

Florida St.

Maryland

Villanova

4

Michigan St.

Butler

Auburn

Oregon

5

Iowa

LSU

Creighton

Penn St.

6

Kentucky

Colorado

Illinois

Arizona

7

Marquette

Rutgers

Ohio St.

Houston

8

Wisconsin

Arkansas

Michigan

Wichita St.

9

Stanford

BYU

USC

Saint Mary’s

10

Indiana

Florida

Rhode Island

Oklahoma

11

Texas Tech

Memphis

Northern Iowa

VCU

Mississippi St.

12

East Tennessee St.

Yale

Liberty

Virginia

Xavier

13

Stephen F. Austin

Louisiana Tech

Vermont

New Mexico St.

14

Wright St.

UC-Irvine

Colgate

Bowling Green

15

Winthrop

Little Rock

Hofstra

Murray St.

16

South Dakota St.

Eastern Washington

Texas Southern

Monmouth

Robert Morris

North Carolina A&T

 

First Four Out

Purdue

Georgetown

Arizona St.

Tulsa

Next Four Out

Cincinnati

Utah St.

Minnesota

Alabama

 

 

 

January 28, 2020

PiRate Ratings College Basketball For January 28, 2020

Tuesday’s Games

 

Home

Visitor

Spread

St. John’s

Villanova

-2.1

Tennessee

Texas A&M

12.4

Virginia

Florida St.

-1.5

Florida

Mississippi St.

5.1

Cincinnati

SMU

6.2

VCU

Richmond

4.1

George Mason

Rhode Island

-5.4

Akron

Buffalo

9.5

Toledo

Kent St.

2.9

Clemson

Syracuse

1.3

Nebraska

Michigan

-6.2

Miami (O)

Central Michigan

0.7

Bowling Green

Ball St.

-0.9

Rutgers

Purdue

3.0

Miami

Virginia Tech

-1.0

Northern Illinois

Ohio

5.0

Missouri

Georgia

3.9

Duke

Pittsburgh

18.3

Georgetown

Butler

-0.7

Ole Miss

Auburn

-5.0

Air Force

Fresno St.

1.8

Wyoming

Utah St.

-13.6

 

Tuesday’s Best Games On TV

 

Tonight’s small slate of games features a couple of key contests where teams are

jostling for NCAA Tournament berths.  The top game of the night is an inner-city

battle between Virginia Commonwealth and Richmond, two Atlantic 10 rivals

separated by just five miles and a half dozen monuments.

 

If St. John’s has any idea of getting back on the Bubble for a potential NCAA

Tournament at-large bid the Red Storm needs to upset Villanova tonight at Madison

Square Garden.  St. John’s has dropped six of their last eight games.

 

Could it be that last year’s National Champion misses out on an NCAA Tournament

bid?  Virginia is hanging on by a thread in the at-large wars, as the Cavaliers might

become the first champion in five years not to make the Big Dance the next season.

UVA is 5-4 in the ACC and 13-6 overall with a couple of good wins, but multiple bad

losses.  A win tonight over a tough Florida State team could put the Cavs back above

the midpoint of the Bubble, but the Seminoles are competing for a number one

seed, and a road win in the ACC could strengthen that chance.

 

The Big Ten is the strongest conference in the nation today, and when 12 teams in

one league are competing for probably 10 bids, every game is vital.  Purdue is in

10th place in the Big Ten at 4-5/11-9, but the Boilermakers are in contention for an

at-large bid.  Rutgers is in great shape, as the Scarlet Knights are enjoying their best

season since Phil Sellers, Eddie Jordan, and Hollis Copeland made RU basketball the

most exciting event in the Metro NY-NJ area.  This year’s RU team sits at 6-3 in the

Big Ten, good enough for a tie for third and just one game behind the co-leaders.

 

At 2-5/12-8, Georgetown has moved far down the Bubble and is currently an NIT

team from the Big East.  If the tournament started today, five Big East Teams would

have invitations.  Butler 4-3/16-4 would be one of those five.  The Hoyas need a big

win over the Bulldogs tonight.

 

Time (EST)

Network

Home

Visitor

6:30 PM

FS1

St. John’s

Villanova

7:00 PM

ESPN

Virginia

Florida St.

7:00 PM

CBSSN

Va. Commonwealth

Richmond

8:00 PM

BigTen

Rutgers

Purdue

9:00 PM

CBSSN

Georgetown

Butler

 

 

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