A great weekend in college basketball has finished up, let’s talk about who were the biggest winners and losers from these unpredictable few days of college bball!
Biggest Winners:
Indiana Hoosiers: vs. Purdue, 79-74
Last Week: 19 / This Week: 16
IU did not have too many high quality wins coming into the weekend, as their best wins are likely Xavier on November 11th and North Carolina on November 30th, and those are both two months removed now. However, they had a major resume boost with a win over the unanimous #1 team in the country Purdue Boilermakers. The Hoosiers offense was shot out of a cannon with 50 first half points against a normally stout Purdue defense; and this looks to be an up-word trend as starting point guard Xavier Johnson’s return is looming, so the Hoosiers should be primed to make a push for a 3 or 4 seed come March.
St. Mary’s Gaels: vs Gonzaga, 78-70 (OT)
Last Week: 18 / This Week: 15
St. Mary’s did not play amazing this Saturday night against Gonzaga, as they shot 25% from 3-point land and had their three main guards go a combined 17/46 from the field. But nonetheless they still managed to take down West Coast Conferance rival Gonzaga in overtime at home, and I think that this proves just how good the Gaels could be. Led by surefire Freshman of the Year in the WCC, Aidan Mahaney, if St. Mary’s gets a good draw and hot from behind the arc come March they could be a fun dark horse Final Four team.
Virginia Tech Hokies: vs Virginia, 74-68
Last Week: 54 (Next 4 Out), 45 (Last Team In)
Virginia Tech has been a team all season that has really underperformed compared to preseason expectations, as they have a solid all-around team with guards Hunter Cattoor and Sean Pedulla being explosive from inside and outside of the arc. With a lot of bubble teams falling over the weekend, VTech had a massive boost with a win at home vs. the clear ACC frontrunners Virginia, so if the Hokies can continue to beat the terrible ACC teams remaining on their schedule (Boston College, Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, Louisville and Florida St.) then they should have a good chance to play at least in a First Four game come March.
Biggest Losers:
North Carolina Tar Heels: @ Duke, 63-57
Last Week: 31 / This Week: 35
The tricky thing about North Carolina this year is that on paper they have one of the best rosters in the country, but they truly do not have any stand-out quality wins this year. They missed out on another opportunity with a mediocre performance at Duke on Saturday. With a tough part of their schedule coming up this month against Clemson, Miami, NC St. and Virginia it is make or break time for Hubert Davis and the Heels.
Penn St. Nittany Lions: @ Nebraska, 72-63
Last Week: 44 (Last Four In) / This Week: 49 (Last Four Out)
Maybe Nebraska is not that bad? They have wins over Creighton and Penn St., and as well took Purdue to overtime; but also they are absolute trash at the same time haha. Jalen Pickett is one of the best players in the country, but if the Nittany Lions get any more bad losses like this they may not be in the conversation for the March Madness bracket much longer.
Arizona St. Sun Devils: vs Oregon, 75-70
Last Week: 50 (Next Four Out) / This Week: 57 (Next Next Four Out)
Talk about your midseason collapse, the Pac-12 really does not want anymore tournament teams it seems. The young Sun Devils have now lost 3 out of 4 games to terrible Pac-12 opponents in Oregon, Washington and Washington St. (by 17). Arizona St. has a lot of talent on its roster, but if they do not figure it out soon they will be playing on the NIT bubble in a couple of weeks.
Dayton Flyers: @ St. Bonaventure, 68-59
Last Week: *Projected Automatic Conference Bid / This Week: You Thought
The A-10 tournament is going to be electric, but I do not think that Dayton will be the team dancing in March anymore. VCU and St. Louis matched up well on Saturday that ended in a VCU victory, but come March whoever comes out of the Atlantic 10 will likely be a 12 seed who will be a popular pick in the first round. Unfortunately after a bad loss to the Bonnies over the weekend I don’t think they are going to match the preseason overhype.
The Official Webb Index Rating:
*Projected Conference Tournament Winner (Automatic Bid)
- Houston*
- Purdue*
- Bama*
- Zona*
- Tennessee
- UCLA
- Texas
- Xavier
- Kansas*
- Kansas St
- Marquette*
- Virginia*
- Baylor
- Iowa St.
- St. Mary’s
- Indiana
- Providence
- Gonzaga*
- Rutgers
- Miami
- TCU
- Illinois
- Auburn
- Uconn
- FAU*
- Michigan St
- Maryland
- Iowa
- Mizzou
- Duke
- San Diego St*
- Memphis
- USC
- Kentucky
- UNC
- Creighton
- Arkansas
Last 4 Byes
- West Virginia
- Northwestern
- Texas A&M
- NC St.
Last 4 In
- Pitt
- Clemson
- Oklahoma St.
- Virginia Tech
Last 4 Out
- Florida
- Mississippi St.
- Wake Forest
- Penn St.
Next Four Out
- Oklahoma
- Michigan
- Wisconsin
- Boise St.
Next Next Four Out
- New Mexico
- Nevada
- Temple
- Arizona St.
Amount of Bids per Conference:
Big 12 – 8
Big 10 – 8
ACC – 8
SEC – 7
Big East – 3
Pac 12 – 3
American – 2
WCC – 2
Mountain West – 1
February 6, 2023. Kody Webb. khapworldwidewebb.com
The World Wide Webb 