Today's multiple tournament seeding matchups reviewed, as well as Miami and Kansas' keys to their wins and going foward

 2/6-2/7

Recap

• Kansas and Miami make big statements

Yesterday, the only really appealing games were Texas-Kansas and Duke-Miami. Starting with Miami, the Hurricanes got revenge for losing at Duke by beating them by 22 at home. I had said that guards Nijel Pack and Wooga Poplar were the missing pieces, and Miami’s recent hot streak has been due to these two combining for 6 double-digit games in the past 5 games. In Pack’s 3 double-digit games, he averaged 18.3 points. I think that Poplar and Pack will keep this up, and Miami will be very dangerous as we get closer to March again.

In Texas-Kansas, the game was close for most of the first half, but Kansas began to pull ahead halfway through the second half and never let Texas catch up. What can this win be attributed to? Production other than Jalen Wilson. In their last game, they got trounced at Iowa State as Wilson scored 1 point away from half of Kansas’ total points. After Kansas comfortably beat Texas, Wilson only scored 2. Now I'm not saying that Kansas does better without Wilson’s production, but it seems that when his teammates are producing they do better. That will be the key for them in the coming games. And don't get it wrong, Wilson wasn’t ballhogging in the Iowa State game either. He shot at very solid efficiency. Kansas will get back into national championship favorites if they can combine Wilson’s scoring and his teammates’ scoring.

• Quick SWACtion, as well as some insane upsets

Yesterday may have been the very worst mid-major slate of the year, with the only intriguing game coming from 4th place AR-Pine Bluff vs. 5th place Jackson State, who had started off SWAC play to an incredible start but had gone on a recent cold streak. It took two overtimes, but Jackson State barely won in the most intriguing game of the day. They now improve to 6-5 and 4th in the conference, but watch if they can keep up this level of play from this good game.

Now we can get to the upsets. Remember when IUPUI almost beat #1 Horizon League Milwaukee? Well, IUPUI had recently trounced Green Bay in a game between the two last place teams in the conference. Yesterday, Green Bay bounced back and beat Milwaukee. I don’t know how this happens, but it is concerning for Milwaukee that they nearly lost to one of the worst teams in the conference and lost to the worst team. They have a big bounce back game against a good Detroit Mercy team on Thursday.

In the SWAC, formerly first-place Southern lost to bottom-half Alcorn State. The SWAC is yet another conference where anyone can beat anyone on any night, similar to the Horizon League. The key to Southern’s loss was that the Jaguars’ two leading scorers, Etienne and Whitley, were held to 9 points. The team also shot 11% from 3, so it’s extremely hard to win with that. We now need to pay attention to Southern’s shooting consistency and Alabama State’s defense.

Preview

It’s going to be a very impactful day in the ACC today March seeding wise, as we have Virginia - NC State and North Carolina - Wake. For Wake, this game is essentially a must-win, as they’re right outside of the bubble right now and would move back on with a win, but would likely be eliminated with a loss. Wake’s schedule coming up is perfect for them to get back in the tournament, with a couple of easy games and Q1-A opportunities. Virginia and NC State is also an extremely important game for both of these teams, especially for Virginia’s 2-seed hopes. The ‘Hoos probably can’t afford to lose another regular season game if they want a 2 seed, and this game is especially important, as NC State is the last ranked team they play all season. NC State also looks to avoid another loss that would kick them back out of the top-25, as they would likely be set for the season, as Virginia is also the last ranked team they play for the rest of the season.

Though no ranked teams play, there are still some huge bubble and standing games. Starting with Texas A&M, the Aggies are visited by a very good Auburn team who was just robbed from beating Tennessee. A&M is currently the first team out, and this is one of the biggest Q-1 opportunities of the season, as they’re currently 11-1 at home and could get more comfortably in the bubble with a win. They do have a very unfortunate schedule coming up, as they play some of their hardest games at home coming up. A loss here could make it tough to make it back into the tournament, so this game is huge. We also have another bubble matchup between Last Four Byes Arkansas and Last Four In Kentucky. Whoever wins this would likely jump off the bubble and into the tournament, and while the loser would still be fine, this is a huge opportunity. If Arkansas can secure themselves in the tournament before Nick Smith comes back, they could get themselves back into a top-8 seed.

In the Big East, we have a huge matchup between Marquette and UConn. If you didn’t know already, UConn is 1-4 against currently ranked Big East teams. Marquette has climbed to #10 in the rankings, and sits at the top of the Big East with Xavier. Let’s go through two scenarios. If UConn loses this, they’d likely fall out of the Top-25 and down into a 6 or even 7 seed. However, if they win, they’d be “back”, would make a huge statement, climb to a 4 seed, and also get closer to the top of the standings before a couple of more important games against Creighton and Providence. Make sure to catch this matchup.

After falling out of the top-25 last week, Rutgers is now back in it this week. The Scarlet Knights are hovering right on that 5-6-7 seed spot and aren’t really moving out of it. They play Indiana. Now we really don't car about Rutgers, as Indiana just upset #1 Purdue. This game, in my opinion, is just as important as the Purdue game. They proved themselves, but now have to keep it up. Their consistency comes from freshman Jalen Hood-Schifino, who arguably has been the most inconsistent guy in college basketball. We’ll learn a lot from them today, so this game is not one to miss.

TCU, like Indiana, has a very important game today against Kansas State, and as many know, TCU’s best player Mike Miles is out. They now have to visit a very good Kansas State team, likely without him, and though I don't think they will win, this game could be huge for them. They’d keep themselves within first of the conference, as well as prove that they can be the best in the conference without Miles, which will be important for production outside of Miles when he comes back. Though I don’t think it’ll happen, this is another Top-25 vs. Top-25 matchup with big implications.

We have a HUGE matchup in the A-10 today with #4 Dayton visiting #1 VCU. After losing to St. Bonaventure, Dayton was eliminated from ever earning an at-large bid. Now, their focus is on the A-10 conference tournament, and they could get one game away from the #1 seed with a win here. If they lose this, they probably won’t be able to get back to first place, as VCU’s remaining schedule is easier than Dayton’s. Overall, this is yet another case of a team looking to make a statement against a better team.

The last game of today’s preview, similar to Arkansas - Kentucky, is Last Four Byes New Mexico - Last Four In Nevada. However, the implications for this game are more massive than that SEC matchup. This is likely a must-win for New Mexico’s MW regular season title hopes. They’ve been super inconsistent, which won’t be a weakness to have come March. They have an easy schedule coming up, and could definitely climb their way up to the top if they beat Nevada, don’t get upset, then beat San Diego State again. After all, this is the second to last time they’ll play another tournament team all season. For Nevada, they could finally secure themselves inside the bubble with a win. They’ve slowly creeped their way inside, and with a doable upcoming schedule, could finally lock themselves in.