Seeding is Believing | Big 12 surging into final month

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Feb. 8—Men’s college basketball and Illini beat writer Scott Richey projects his top four seeds for each region of the NCAA tournament ahead of Selection Sunday on March 16. This week? The rise of the Big 12. MIDWEST

* 1. Alabama (19-3)

* 2. Purdue (19-5)

* 3. Iowa State (17-5)

* 4. Michigan (17-5)

Michigan won just eight games last season. The final blow to the Juwan Howard era in Ann Arbor, Mich. The Wolverines have more wins at home than that this season with a perfect 11-0 mark at the Crisler Center under first-year coach Dusty May as part of a 17-5 overall record. Four of those five losses came by three or fewer points, as Michigan has fared better in close games lately.

WEST

* 1. Houston (18-4)

* 2. Tennessee (19-4)

* 3. Texas A&M (17-5)

* 4. Wisconsin (18-5)

Texas A&M entered last season with high expectations. The Aggies were a preseason top 15 team that wound up going 9-9 in the SEC and just grabbed a No. 9 seed in the NCAA tournament. The expectations were nearly the exact same this year, and Texas A&M is living up to them. Key nonconference wins against Creighton, Texas Tech and Purdue have been a résumé booster.

EAST

* 1. Duke (20-2)

* 2. Florida (19-3)

* 3. Arizona (16-6)

* 4. Michigan State (18-4)

Arizona’s 4-5 start to the season raised legitimate questions about the Wildcats’ ability to compete this year. The issue wasn’t losing to good teams (of which all of them were). It was that Arizona lost to every good team it played. They’ve won 12 of 13 since leaning on veteran guard Caleb Love, who is averaging 18.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists in that stretch.

SOUTH

* 1. Auburn (21-1)

* 2. Texas Tech (18-4)

* 3. Kansas (16-6)

* 4. St. John’s (21-3)

Is Auburn going to go undefeated in what might be the most difficult conference of all time? The SEC is loaded with 14 of its 16 teams ranked in the top 50 in the NET, and the Tigers continue crush opponent after opponent. Auburn is favored in its nine remaining regular season games and by double figures in six of them. The only…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/seeding-believing-big-12-surging-154800307.html

Author : The News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana, Ill.

Publish date : 2025-02-08 15:48:00

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