San Diego State isn’t a reach for No. 1
San Diego State is the only undefeated team in Division I and has a case to land a No. 1 seed. If the Aztecs keep winning, it won’t be in question. And chances are very good they’ll keep winning.
San Diego State (23-0) is already four games up in the loss column on its closest Mountain West competitors with six conference games left. It has no more Quadrant 1 games based on the current NET rankings, and just two more Quadrant 2 games (at Boise State on Feb. 16 and at Nevada on Feb. 29) before its league tournament.
While the Aztecs aren’t going to roll up an overwhelming total of high-end victories, their defeats of Creighton and Iowa in Las Vegas, Nev., and their triumph at BYU have all become more valuable as the season has unfolded.
San Diego State checks in as the top No. 2 seed in this week’s Washington Post bracket projection. That’s not unprecedented; the Aztecs were a No. 2 seed in 2011, when some guy named Kawhi Leonard played for them. Given the efficiency at both ends of the floor and a point guard in Malachi Flynn (16.5 points, 5.1 assists per game) who routinely controls games, this edition of San Diego State is in line to do its highly accomplished predecessor one better.
FIELD NOTES
Last four included: Virginia, Oklahoma, VCU, Purdue
First four on the outside: Memphis, Xavier, Minnesota, Cincinnati
Next four on the outside: Alabama, Georgetown, Syracuse, N.C. State
Moving in: Bowling Green, College of Charleston, Eastern Washington, Louisiana Tech, Mississippi State, North Carolina A&T, Rhode Island, Tulsa
Moving out: Akron, Memphis, Minnesota, Montana, N.C. State, Norfolk State, North Texas, William & Mary
Conference call: Big Ten (11), SEC (6), Big East (5), Big 12 (5), Pac-12 (5), ACC (4), American Athletic (3), Atlantic 10 (3), West Coast (3)
BRACKET PROJECTION
SOUTH VS. EAST, WEST VS. MIDWEST
South Region
St. Louis
(1) BIG 12/Baylor vs. winner of (16) SWAC/ Prairie View vs. NORTHEAST/Robert Morris (8) Rutgers vs. (9) Southern California Omaha
(5) Butler vs. (12) AMERICAN ATHLETIC/ Tulsa
East Region
Greensboro, N.C.
(1) Duke vs. winner of (16) METRO ATLANTIC/Monmouth vs. MEAC/Norfolk State (8) Stanford vs. (9) Michigan Tampa, Fla.
(5) SEC/LSU vs. (12) IVY/Yale
(4) Villanova vs. (13) AMERICA EAST/ Vermont
Albany, N.Y.
(3) West Virginia vs. (14) BIG WEST/UC Irvine
(6) Penn State vs. (11) MISSOURI VALLEY/ Northern Iowa
Sacramento, Calif.
(7) Wisconsin vs. (10) Mississippi State (2) MOUNTAIN WEST/San Diego State vs. (15) SUMMIT/South Dakota State Good luck figuring out Stanford. The Cardinal, a NET darling, lost consecutive games to California and Oregon State before topping Pac-12 favorite Oregon by 10. The Cardinal is very much a midbracket team at this stage. … LSU’s metrics are probably held down a bit by its penchant for tight games. The 17-4 Tigers are 6-3 in games decided by four points or less. …
The neutral-site collapse against Mississippi hasn’t aged well, but Penn State has nothing else in its profile holding it down. The Nittany Lions are a combined 9-4 in games against Quadrant 1 and 2 teams and are in fine shape to end a nine-year
NCAA Tournament drought. … Teams with more Quadrant 1 victories than Wisconsin’s six: Kansas (9), Baylor (7) and Iowa (7). Butler, Creighton and Seton Hall each have six.
West Region
Spokane, Wash.
(1) WEST COAST/Gonzaga vs. (16) SUN BELT/Little Rock
(8) Texas Tech vs. (9) Wichita State Spokane, Wash.
(5) Iowa vs. (12) ATLANTIC SUN/Liberty (4) Oregon vs. (13) SOUTHLAND/Stephen F. Austin
Albany, N.Y.
(3) BIG EAST/Seton Hall vs. (14) PATRIOT/ Colgate
(6) Illinois vs. (11) Virginia-VCU winner Tampa, Fla.
(7) Arkansas vs. (10) Rhode Island
(2) Florida State vs. (15) COLONIAL/College of Charleston
Texas Tech split its games with West Virginia (win) and Kansas (loss) last week, which was a solid showing. None of the Red Raiders’ next eight games are against Baylor, Kansas or West Virginia. That’s a clear opportunity to rise in the bracket. … The time is right for Virginia to make some hay, too. Saturday’s trip to Louisville is the only one of the Cavaliers’ next seven games against a projected tournament team. …
Liberty was originally slotted in the East Region in this exercise, but was shipped out west to avoid a rematch with LSU. …
VCU hasn’t done anything bad. But besides the early defeat of LSU, the Rams really haven’t accomplished much. The Feb. 18 visit from Dayton looms large for VCU’s profile.
Midwest Region
Omaha, Neb.
(1) Kansas vs. (16) BIG SKY/Eastern Washington
(8) Ohio State vs. (9) Saint Mary’s Sacramento, Calif.
(5) PAC-12/Colorado vs. (12) SOUTHERN/ East Tennessee State
(4) Creighton vs. (13) WESTERN ATHLETIC/New Mexico State Cleveland
(3) BIG TEN/Michigan State vs. (14) HORIZON/Wright State
(6) Kentucky vs. (11) Oklahoma-Purdue winner
St. Louis
(7) Houston vs. (10) BYU
(2) ACC/Louisville vs. (15) OHIO VALLEY/ Austin Peay
No one is going to lean on its November and December accomplishments quite like Ohio State. Six of the Buckeyes’ top eight victories came before New Year’s Day, though to their credit, the other two have been in their last two games (at Northwestern, vs. Indiana). … Unlike Gonzaga, which doesn’t play regularly at Spokane Arena, Creighton stay in its home city for the opening weekend because the tournament will be played on its usual home court.