Plenty of Bracket Impact

Big week of big matchups will shape resumes come March

Jan. 15, 2008

By Jerry Palm

Special to CSTV.com

	JERRY PALM Jerry runs the web sites CollegeRPI.com and CollegeBCS.com and a CSTV.com analyst. E-mail here!

        ---   Column Archive   --- FOOTBALL 12/2: Tigers Land On Their Feet 12/2: Losses Leave BCS In Disarray 11/29: A Merciful End 11/25: A Fitting Chaos 11/22: Games To Be Thankful For 11/18: No-Backup Blues 11/15: Down The Stretch They Come 11/11: Kansas Not Quite In Control 11/11: LSU, Oregon Figure To Be Tops In BCS 11/8: Jockeying For Other BCS Bowls Begins 11/4: No. 2 Ripe For The Picking 11/1: Soft Schedule Warriors 10/28: Road To The BCS - Smooth Travels...For Now 10/25: Road To The BCS - Four On The Floor 10/21: LSU Still Not No. 2 10/14: Road Starts Rocky 10/7: Road To The BCS Is A Bumpy One 8/25: Ohio State Replacing Troy and Ted 8/7: Weis' Cloak of Secrecy 7/10: Another Date, A Lot More Dollars? 3/29: Football Playoff Up to Presidents 11/18: ND Sends Seniors Out In Style 11/11: Michigan Can Finally Look Ahead 11/9: Irish's Faint Title Hopes Alive 11/4: ND Airs It Out 10/28: USC Loss Gives New BCS Hopes 10/21: Thirty-Five Seconds Means Everything 10/7: Irish Efficient In Win 9/30: Problems? What Problems? 9/16: Wolverines Make Statement MEN'S BASKETBALL 1/22: Losers Make The News 1/15: Plenty of Bracket Impact 1/8: Season Lacking Surprise For Now 11/7: Masochistic Scheduling Tendencies 11/6: Salukis Cream of MVC Crop 10/13: Butler Back On Top 7/24: The Game's Toughest Job? 6/24: Sun Belt Goes A Different Route 6/12: The Big Balancing Act 3/29: Brand Speaks on Graduation Rates 3/12: Road To 64: Final Edition 3/6: Make Or Break Time Across The Board 2/27: It's Now Or Never 2/22: Rockets Surge Past Stumbling Huskies 2/21: Locking Up 2/20: Freshman Helps Redbirds Celebrate Senior Day 2/20: At-Large Bids Live Away From Home 2/17: Cats Tame 'Dogs in Battle of Non-BCS Powers 2/15: Purdue Pulls Big Win 2/13: Could Duke's Struggles Keep Them Out? 2/6: Who's Hot, Who's Not 1/30: Conference Play Really The Judge 1/27: A Feeling In The Ayer-s 1/26: Butler Baffles In Win 1/23: Separation At The Top 1/16: Road to the Final 64: First Edition 1/13: Badgers Survive Scare From Northwestern 1/10: Illinois State Throws Monkey Off Its Back 12/16: Oden Returns Home In Buckeye Rout 12/16: Graves Explodes For Butler 12/07: Notre Dame Hits High Tide 12/05: Purdue Handles Loyola At Home 3/31: Hoosiers Are the Talk of Indy 3/25: Looking at the Elite Eight 3/22: Big Ten Anything But 3/12: Air-ing Grievances 3/07: One Last Chance 2/27: All About Team 2/21: Looking At The Bubble 2/14: No. 1 Seeds a Tough Call 2/07: The Home Stretch 1/17: Explaining the Bracket 1/09: The Valley Is High

There are some big games ahead this week that could have bracket impact come March, especially for teams needing that big, attention-getting win.

Ohio State is actually a Top 25 RPI team but is lacking an eye-popping win. The Buckeyes are coming off a loss at Purdue Saturday and continue their road swing with games at Michigan State and Tennessee. It is important for Ohio State to bounce back and be competitive in these games, if not win one of them.

Oklahoma, Kansas State and Missouri are three Big 12 teams hanging around in the RPI danger zone that have a chance to really help their causes this week. Kansas State, coming off a win over the Sooners in Norman, will host No. 10 Texas A&M Saturday. Oklahoma lost to Kansas Monday night by 30 and now the Jayhawks travel to Missouri Saturday, where the Tigers just knocked off Texas.

Minnesota got off to a nice start in non-conference play in its first year under Tubby Smith, but they can really go a long way toward making the NCAA Tournament with a good week this week. The Gophers host conference leader Indiana Thursday and then Michigan State comes in on Sunday. Minnesota played the Spartans tough when they met in East Lansing Jan. 5 but came up short in a 65-59 loss.

USC has lost three of four to start Pac-10 play and has an RPI in the 70s, so the Trojans need to get things turned around if they are going to make the field. They get a week off to prepare for a visit to cross-town rival UCLA Saturday. The Bruins will be the third projected No. 1 seed USC will have faced so far this season. Kansas rallied to beat them by four at the Galen Center, while Memphis needed overtime to down them in New York.

Stanford is one of the teams that beat USC, and that win qualifies as the best RPI win in the Cardinal's tournament profile. That's not really something to write home about. That's why this home stand is important, starting with the game against Arizona Thursday.

Arizona State has won nine straight since losing at Nebraska. That streak includes wins over Arizona, Xavier and Oregon, all at home, which is the rub.  That Nebraska game is the Sun Devils only true road game of the year so far, and if they are going to earn some attention from the committee, they are going to have to win on the road. That starts this week with the Bay Area road trip.

Another team that needs to prove itself on the road is Notre Dame. The Irish played their first road game of the season at Marquette on Saturday and lost by 26. This Saturday, they go to Georgetown and need to show much better than that.

Florida is another team with a chance to prove itself this week. The defending champs are 15-2 but 15-0 against teams unlikely to make the tournament, which is why their RPI is in the mid-70s. The Gators can improve on that quite a bit by winning at Mississippi Wednesday night.

Finally, there are three non-major games that are key matchups in those conference races. Dayton hosts Massachusetts on Wednesday night as the Minutemen look to bounce back from a home loss to Saint Joseph's. In the Missouri Valley, the two remaining undefeated teams face off in Des Moines Saturday when Illinois State takes on Drake. Raise your hand if you thought this would be an important game two months ago. Right, me neither. And another surprise team, Cleveland State, hosts Butler for first place in the Horizon League Thursday. The Vikings are 5-0 in the league and have a win over Florida State in non-conference play.