Wednesday rooting guide

kcg88

Heisman
Aug 11, 2017
10,862
17,230
0
Listed with KenPom predicted percent chances of victory.

UConn (49%) at Seton Hall - The Huskies are higher up in the pecking order at the moment... In fact Seton Hall is the last team in according to Bracket Matrix. If SHU wins, both teams can still make the tournament. But if UConn wins, it knocks Seton Hall out of the field and presents the possibility of a three-bid Big East (Xavier lit their own chances on fire yesterday).

Clemson (48%) at Syracuse - The Orange are on the very fringes of the bubble so this would just KO them for good. A win here gets Syracuse into the range where they can maybe make the dance with a win in the ACC Tournament.

Maryland (61%) at Northwestern - This would keep the loss to the Terps as a Q1 (our win over them is Q1 regardless since it was on the road). Maryland is ahead of us at the moment, and they could fall back and maybe even out of the tournament if they lose to Northwestern and Penn State to close the year. Our 9-11 profile would look very similar: We both have wins over Illinois and Purdue, they have one over Wisconsin which honestly isn't aging that well but they lost their B1G-ACC game while we won ours. Probably better for us for Maryland to just close strong. Them splitting their last two games is the worst outcome for us.

Penn State (62%) vs. Minnesota - This would completely end the Gophers' chances if they aren't already. But 8-12 Minnesota miiiiiiiight just have enough quality wins (Michigan, Ohio State, Iowa, Purdue) to squeak into the tournament with two wins in the B1G tournament. If Penn State wins here then there's a chance the banged up guys (Liam Robbins and Both Gach and even Marcus Carr to an extent) might just call it a season rather than play hurt on Saturday which would be great for us.

USC (77%) vs. Stanford - This would be a massive Q1 win for Stanford and propel them up near the cut line. A loss pretty much wipes them out.

Tulane (35%) vs. Wichita State - A Q3 loss for the Shockers would be a blow, although the AAC might get two teams in regardless (SMU and Memphis hanging around).

Missouri at Florida and UCLA at Oregon also play today, but all four teams are probably in the field anyway so there's no strong rooting interest. No result in either game knocks any team off their seedline.
 

bac2therac

Hall of Famer
Jul 30, 2001
247,965
177,610
113
Great job.

I will add that while UCLA looks pretty good now, if they lose tonight and to USC and first Pac 12 tourney game they are moving to last 4 in territory

Their resume is really flimsy
 
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bigmatt718

Heisman
Mar 11, 2013
15,784
22,210
113
To me the PSU game is the most important. We want Minnesota to have zero hope on Saturday and for us to mercifully end their season. Pitino is a goner and like what was said above, a loss tonight and players like Carr, Robbins, etc might just opt to end their season instead of playing through injury for at best an NIT spot.
 

bac2therac

Hall of Famer
Jul 30, 2001
247,965
177,610
113
yeah I really think its important that Penn State wins. We do not want a scenerio where Minny beats PSU, then beats RU and then RU matched up with Minny in the Big 10 tourney game that will send the winner into the tourney and the loser out.