January 23, 2014

What a huge win for the Golden Gophers!  It was virtually a wire-to-wire win, with no major stumbles, and a sustained dominance on both sides of the court, shooting 59% and holding the Badgers to 44%. The win bumps Minnesota to 26th in RPI, and will undoubtedly propel them into the top 25 in next week's polls.

In the other Big Ten game last night, the hot Hawkeyes lost to an even hotter Wolverines team, who along with the Spartans are really starting to pull away in the conference standings - both with a two game lead over the rest of the pack.

Ole Miss moved into the field with a win at Vandy.  Despite a shaky RPI (60) and SOS (89), the Rebels' road and neutral schedule (6-2) is the highlight of their resume.  That being said, they'll probably need a quality win or two to remain in the top-68 and they have three such contests left on the schedule - two against Kentucky and a home matchup with Florida.  Wins at Tennessee and against Missouri wouldn't hurt either.

Finally, Richmond upset the Minutemen in a very close game.  Not only did this drop UMass from a top seed, but also helped boost the Gophers to a #5 SOS.  With that victory, Richmond adds a quality win to their resume and moves onto the bubble (3rd out).  A strong finish to the season could move the Spiders into the field.

1 seeds: Arizona, Syracuse, Wichita State, Michigan State

2 seeds: Kansas, Villanova, Massachusetts, Florida

3 seeds: Wisconsin, San Diego State, Pittsburgh, Creighton

4 seeds: Cincinnati, Iowa State, Oklahoma State, Saint Louis

5 seeds: Louisville, Duke, Kentucky, Ohio State

6 seeds: George Washington, Oklahoma, Gonzaga, Colorado

7 seeds: Xavier, Michigan, Iowa, UCLA

8 seeds: Texas, Oregon, Southern Miss, Connecticut

9 seeds: Virginia, Minnesota, New Mexico, VCU

10 seeds: Green Bay, Florida State, SMU, Kansas State

11 seeds: Memphis, California, Missouri, Providence

12 seeds: Indiana State, Baylor, Saint Mary's, Stanford, Ole Miss, North Dakota State

13 seeds: New Mexico State, UC Santa Barbara, Toledo, Harvard, 

14 seeds: Stephen F. Austin, Manhattan, Mercer, Delaware

15 seeds: Belmont, Boston University, Georgia State, North Carolina Central

16 seeds: Northern Colorado, Stony Brook, Saint Francis (NY), Elon, Radford, Southern

First Four Out: Arizona State, LSU, Richmond, Illinois
Next Four Out: Wake Forest, Saint Joseph's, Dayton, BYU