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Sunday, December 22, 2024
Road wins were hard to come by in the Big Ten until Friday night, when it suddenly became a good night to be a road team, especially one surging team in particular. Plus two teams go in different directions in the Big East, a stunning rally ends with a buzzer-beater in the MAAC, and better news out of Miami concerning a coach.
With many teams still on a holiday break but conference play ready to start in earnest, we begin a quick three-day look at some of the biggest surprises and storylines in each conference through the season’s first two months.
Two out of three wasn’t bad in Brooklyn, with a game that wasn’t competitive sandwiched between two good ones. Plus the Tar Heels face a major challenge due to a key injury and a Pirate may not return to action so fast this time.
There might not have been many games on the schedule for Sunday, but it was quite a day with some big results. Plus a second home loss for one team, a few other games stand out, and a coach wasn’t able to go on Saturday.
The first day of action in the Maui Invitational didn’t quite start off as expected, but that might help in a year where it may be surpassed in terms of having the best field. Plus more tournament action includes one championship, a program first in Richmond, and a Hawkeye is done for the season.
The Big East appears to have met its match in the early going in the Gavitt Tipoff Games, narrowly avoiding a sweep on the evening. Plus a good win in Richmond, another stinker in Tampa, and a good road win for a Big 12 team.
The Michigan schools and Purdue continued their excellence in the Big Ten, which was again one of the top conferences in the land and sent a league-record number of teams to the NCAA Tournament.
After a quiet Thursday, upsets came into play in a noticeable way on Friday. Plus a couple of top seeds get a push for a while, Buffalo owns a state on the hardwood, and the SEC leads the way in coaching changes.
After a run of frustrating Selection Sundays, this year’s NCAA Tournament selection committee did much improved work, even as there is still more work to do.
On Selection Sunday morning, here are our one-time only projections of who will be in the field, who won’t, who should be, who shouldn’t and why.
