Marquette: They no longer have a chance to get a #1 seed and their title hopes, both Big East and NCAA, are almost certainly dashed. Acker and Butler are nice players but they are no Dominic James. I said he'd been there forever, but now he has played his last college game. The Golden Eagles actually lead UConn before James broke his foot. They were an entirely different team with out him and despite McNeal and Matthews' best efforts they couldn't prove any differently. They could be in for a free fall seed wise if they don't pick themselves up. Marquette very rarely plays more than 8 guys so guys are going to have to step up. They have a tough close to the conference season with Louisville and Pitt on the road before they close at home to a Syracuse team that may be desperate.
UConn: Not much. They were good. They are good. They will be good. They we most likely take the number one overall ranking back come Monday and are in a good position to lock up a top seed.
There were a quartet of Bubble Teams in need of big wins last night against tough opponants and one of the four came through.
Virginia Tech: The win over Clemson gives them another win over the conference elite after taking down Wake on the road earlier in the year. They close with Duke and UNC at home before a road game at Florida State. Losing to the two Tobacco Road schools would make a win in Talahassee a must have just to get the Hokies any serious consideration. Lose all three and they won't even finish .500 in conference. I'd say they have to win one of the two home games against Duke and UNC and maybe even FSU. A win in one of the next two would get them at least 8-8 in the ACC and wins over 3 of the 4 general consensus top teams in the conference and as long as they avoid an embaressing loss in the confernce tournament they should be fine.
Maryland: Another ACC bubble team with a big chance last night, but the Terps fell short. They weren't completely obliterated by Duke like on their trip to Cameron Indoor but fell well short. They are sub .500 in the ACC at 6-7 for the moment but two games against the bottom of teh barrel (NC State and UVA) leave them a chance to get .500 in ACC play. They need those games to have a chance but could maybe afford one loss if they take down Wake in their other remaining conference game. If they lose 2 of 3 it'll take a deep tourny run to get them in and they may need two tourny wins even if they beat NC State and Virginia to get the nod over other teams on the bubble.
Kansas State: After taking down Missouri in Manhatten the first go round the Wildcats were far less successful the second go round. Losing by 20 may officially knock them off the bubble unless they win they next three (Nebraska, at Oklahoma State, Colorado) and make a deep run in the conference tournament game. Though those three wins would give them a decent conference resume their non-conference can be generously described as WEAK. They lost all three games against power conference teams (Kentucky and conference cellar dwellers Iowa and Oregon) and their best OOC win is arguably Cleveland State, unless you care to mention the 10-18 Idaho State Bengals who knocked off another bubble team in Utah. This was their last chance to make a case and they are now on the outside looking in.
Utah: They look to be all set after knocking off UNLV last night 80-70. They have a lead in the surprising Mountain West by two games (Side Note: What is it with that conference this year? First they have three ranked teams in football now they have about as many teams in conversation for a bid as the SEC? Bizarre year, or maybe they should become the 7th BCS confernce) over BYU and New Mexico. This Utah team, no longer with Rick Majerus or Andrew Bogut (they do have 7'2" Luke Nevill), stands a chance to be possibly the first team to ever lose a game to Division II Southwest Baptist and still recieve and at large bid if they don't win the MWC tournament....ITS MADNESS!
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