2012 NCAA Tournament: 10 2011 Tourney Teams Who Won’t Be in This Year’s Bracket
The 2012 NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Championship is still eons away.
Most of the regular season has passed, however, and some 2011 participants continue to slump. In particular, 10 are extreme long shots to return to the Big Dance.
Slow starters regularly gain admittance via automatic bids that can be earned with undefeated runs through conference tournaments. But who wants to put all their eggs in that basket?
Unfortunately, that remains the only option for teams who have under-performed from the get-go.
The field of 68 this March would be improved sans these tourney teams from last year.
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ACC tourney to include all 14 teams (AP)
The Atlantic Coast Conference will play a nine-game schedule in football and every team will compete in the ACC basketball tournaments once Syracuse and Pittsburgh join the league. The league announced Friday how it will incorporate the schools once they leave the Big East Conference. ACC commissioner John Swofford said Friday it’s still unclear when that will happen since Big East bylaws…
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UCLA Basketball: 10 Changes the Bruins Must Make to Sneak into the NCAA Tourney
This isn’t your father’s UCLA basketball program…Your father’s Bruins were better.
Ben Howland is doing his best to salvage what has been a challenging season.
They lost four of their first five games, including puzzling defeats to open up against Loyola Marymount and Middle Tennessee.
He had to dismiss Reeves Nelson (last year’s leading scorer and rebounder) after six games.
They have played their “home” games in multiple locations.
And as they cross into February, the Bruins are 12-9 (5-4 Pac 12) and need to go on a serious run to make something out of this chaotic craziness.
Here are 10 changes that UCLA needs to make if they are going to sneak into the NCAA tournament:
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Who’s hot and not for NCAA tourney ballots
With seven weeks to go before the 68-team NCAA men’s basketball tournament tips off, the selection wheels are turning.
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5 College Basketball Teams Ranked in Preseason That Might Not Make NCAA Tourney
UCLA Bruins head coach Ben Howland (pictured) is in an unfamiliar position.
His Bruins (currently 11-9) are on the verge of not making the NCAA tournament.
After starting the season ranked 17th in the Associated Press Top 25 preseason poll, things were looking positive for the Los Angeles (Calif.) school that has won 11 NCAA championships. However, the 2011-12 season has been totally the opposite.
Suspensions, lack of talent and you name it have turned the Bruins’ season into a nightmare. Question is, can they right the ship in time and make a run to make the tournament?
The answer for the Bruins and four other preseason Top 25 schools are answered here in this slideshow.
Enjoy.
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McGruder powers K-State to tourney title (AP)
Rodney McGruder scored a career-best 28 points and Kansas State used a big first-half run to beat Long Beach State 77-60 on Sunday and win the Diamond Head Classic. McGruder finished 10 of 11 from the field, including 2 of 3 from 3-point range. He also went 6 of 7 from the line. Will Spradling added 17 points for the Wildcats (10-1).
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Duke Basketball: Will Second in the ACC Be Enough To Earn a No. 1 Tourney Seed?
Duke has four more games (home games versus UNC-Greensboro, Western Michigan and Penn and a road game at Temple) before they begin their ACC schedule.
The Blue Devils and the North Carolina Tar Heels will battle it out to see who wins the regular season championship and conference tournament.
Sure, there are officially 10 other teams that make up the Atlantic Coast Conference, but let’s get real. It’ll be between Roy’s Boys and Coach K’s Crew.
There’s a lot of basketball to play between now and Selection Sunday, but a strange question hangs in the air: Will second place in the ACC be enough to earn a No. 1 tourney seed?
History says that is more than possible.
Last year, Pitt was a No. 1 seed in the 2011 NCAA Tournament. They made it, not as the Big East Tourney Champ, but as an at-large selection.
In 2010, Syracuse was a No. 1 seed, making it in the exact same fashion that Pitt did the year before.
In 2009, three of the four No. 1 seeds (Pitt, UConn and North Carolina) all were chosen as at-large selections.
In 2008, all four No. 1 seeds (UCLA, North Carolina, Memphis and Kansas) were all tournament champs.
Without going any further, we can see that it is not a requirement for Duke (or North Carolina or anyone else, for that matter) to win the ACC Tournament to become a No. 1 seed in the 2012 NCAA Tournament.
As of today, Duke is No. 5 and North Carolina is No. 6 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll.
Who knows how the next two-plus months of the season will go?
Both the Blue Devils and the Tar Heels have a good shot at being No. 1 seeds, and at least one of them won’t be the ACC champs.
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North Carolina Basketball: How Many Games Will They Drop Before the Tourney?
Short Answer: Less than five (see below for exact answer)
Long Answer:
North Carolina (8-2) has had their fair share of uncertainty this year. The Tar Heels started off the season at No. 1, played well in their season opener against Michigan State and then were blind-sighted by an early-season upset loss to UNLV in late November.
The Tar Heels then barely held on against Wisconsin at home, and battled it out until the very end against No. 1 Kentucky, but came out with a loss.
North Carolina is now ranked No. 5 and is looking at a possible seven-game win streak going into ACC conference play.
Let’s take a look at the Tar Heels’ remaining non-conference games:
12/17- Appalachian St.; 12/19- Nicholls St.; 12/21- Texas; 12/29- Elon; 1/1- Monmouth
The only real team that stands a chance at beating North Carolina out of those opponents is Texas, and the Longhorns don’t have a very strong team this year. That stated, the Tar Heels have will most likely roll over these opponents, boosting their record to 13-2.
Now, for ACC conference play North Carolina plays:
Boston College (1)*, Miami (2), Florida State (1), Virginia Tech (1), NC State (2), Georgia Tech (1), Wake Forest (1), Maryland (2), Duke (2), Virginia (2), and Clemson (1)
*number of matchups against opponent
Although the ACC isn’t at its strongest this year, there are teams that can give North Carolina some trouble. Let’s first group the teams that won’t pose a threat to the Tar Heels:
Boston College, Miami, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, Maryland, and Clemson
That leaves five teams (Florida State, Virginia Tech, NC State, Duke, and Virginia) that will be serious contenders against North Carolina.
The most serious contenders are NC State, Duke, and Virginia.
NC State: The Wolfpack may only stand at 6-3 right now, but all of their losses have come to solid teams (Indiana, Vanderbilt, and Stanford). They are a very unselfish team and spread the scoring around to everyone. The fact that it’s a rivalry game always intensifies the game.
Duke: The Blue Devils are under scrutiny for being overrated after they got destroyed by No. 1 Ohio State. They have some very talented guards in Austin Rivers and Seth Curry, but they have not rebounded well this year. Another huge rivalry for the Tar Heels, and the first matchup is at home for UNC.
Virginia: The Cavaliers have already proved themselves against Top 25 teams by beating No. 15 Michigan earlier this year. Senior forward Mike Scott (15.3 PPG 9.1 RPG) will have two chances to take down the No. 5 Tar Heels.
Stepping back from all the could-be contenders, North Carolina could go undefeated for the remainder of the season if all goes according to play. The Tar Heel have a good chance to beat Duke twice this year and sweep through the rest of their ACC opponents.
However, from a more realistic point-of-view, the Tar Heels will probably lose about three games this year and finish at 26-5. There’s always room for an upset in college basketball, and their rivalry games will be very even games.
So, 3, that’s the magic number. 25-6 before the ACC Tournament.
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College Basketball Top 25: Which of Them Are Potential Top Tourney Seeds?
Basketball season can be so complicated. Things can change with just one shot. A layup, a half-court miracle, and three pointer at the buzzer. No one team is better than any other as we see every March, but the regular season is just as full of drama.
Who ends up as the four No. 1 seeds in the Big Dance is always a gigantic deal. Being good enough to have that honor means it will get extremely tough down the road. It also comes with a lot of pressure being that a No. 1 seed has never lost in the first round and is expected to make it all the way to the Final Four.
The Top 25 this week is chalk full of No. 1 potentials. As we push through into the sixth week of the rankings, we take a look at which ones actually have the capability to nail that one seed in the tournament this postseason.
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Villanova Basketball: 7 Reasons They May Not Be Tourney Bound
Under head coach Jay Wright, Villanova basketball has seen a renaissance of sorts. Since Wright took over in the 2001-02 season, he has led them to a 229-113 record.
He’s brought them to seven straight NCAA Tournament appearances and has a 12-7 tournament record. Wright led them to a Final Four in 2009, an Elite Eight in 2006 and two Sweet 16s.
This year’s team could bring an end to that streak. Here is why.
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