TeamRankings.com College Basketball Daily Feast: Feb 28, 2011

Welcome to the TeamRankings.com Daily Feast, where every weekday we stuff your head with the tastiest data-driven insights on college hoops.

Coffee & Cooler Talk: News And Results From Yesterday

  • In the most hyped game of the weekend, BYU completed a season sweep of San Diego State, winning at Viejas Arena by a score of 80-67. The Cougars jumped out to an early lead and kept the Aztecs at arm’s length for most of the game. As a result, BYU rose from #7 to #5 in our Predictive power ratings, while San Diego State dropped a spot to #9.
  • It was a given that a highly ranked team would lose in the above Mountain West battle, but several others went down this weekend in conference road games. Duke shot only 4 of 20 from three point range in losing to Virginia Tech, 64-60. Texas allowed 58 second half points to in allowing Colorado to come back from a 22 point deficit and beat the Longhorns 91-89. Arizona lost their second straight by being thoroughly outclassed by UCLA, 71-49. Finally, Pittsburgh was edged in overtime by Louisville, 62-59, though the Panthers were almost saved by a technical foul on one of Louisville’s male cheerleaders with one second left in OT. Each of these teams tumbled a couple spots in our Away power ratings.
  • Highly rated teams holding serve this weekend included: Kansas beating Oklahoma on the road, 82-70; Notre Dame coming back from three down at halftime to beat Seton Hall 60-48; Ohio State dominating Indiana, 82-61; Purdue handing Michigan State their worst loss in seven years, 67-47; and Wisconsin finishing a perfect home season by downing Northwestern 78-63.
  • Three other Big East games involving probable NCAA tournament teams ended with the road team victorious: Syracuse continued their excellent road play, winning at Georgetown by a score of 58-51; Steve Lavin’s surprising St. John’s squad won at Villanova, 81-68; and Connecticut beat Cincinnati, 67-59. Syracuse now has the best shot among these teams of winning the league’s automatic bid, with a 10.4% chance according to our latest Big East conference tournament simulation.
  • Finally, the biggest game that fits into none of the above categories: Kentucky avenged an earlier loss to Florida, beating the Gators at home, 76-68. This probably doesn’t come as much of a shock to anyone who has followed the Wildcats closely this year. They have one of the larger home court advantages in the country, ranking #16 in our Home Advantage power ratings.
  • The Horizon League regular season ended in a three-way tie for first between UW Milwaukee, Butler, and Cleveland State. Due to tiebreakers, their seeds in the conference tournament, which begins tomorrow, will be in the same order I just listed them. The top two seeds receive double byes to the semifinals, and the #1 seed gets home court advantage from that point on, meaning Cleveland State is at a huge structural disadvantage. Of course, that means we may get to see two extra games from Norris Cole, who may be the best player in the Horizon League.
  • The Big South tournament also begins on Tuesday. Coastal Carolina had the top seed wrapped up a couple games ago, but the standings were finalized with Saturday’s games. Presbyterian’s win and Gardner-Webb’s loss combined to drop Gardner-Webb into 9th place, meaning they’ll miss the conference tournament, along with Radford. Our Big South conference tournament simulation has Coastal Carolina as a large, but not prohibitive, favorite to win the league’s automatic NCAA bid.

Lunchtime Reading: Interesting Posts From Around The Blogosphere

Dinner & A Game: Notes On Tonight’s Hottest Games

  • #24 Villanova at #10 Notre Dame A Big East game between a 9-7 team and a 12-4 team. All those who thought in the pre-season that the 12-4 team would be Notre Dame, raise your hand.
  • #30 Kansas St at #6 Texas Texas has lost two of three, while Kansas State has won four straight and is playing nearly as well as Texas over the last 10 games.