The Boise State men’s basketball team has positioned itself for a good shot at the school’s first-ever at-large NCAA tournament bid if it can finish the regular season strong the next two weeks.
The Broncos are 18-8 overall and 6-6 in the Mountain West, a league ranked No. 2 in RPI by RealTimeRPI.com.
Three of Boise State’s remaining four games are at home. First is Nevada on Wednesday, followed by Colorado State on Saturday. Next Tuesday the Broncos are at UNLV, then close the regular season at home against San Diego State.
If the Broncos can win two of their final four games, they may need a win or two in the Mountain West tournament to solidify an at-large bid, but winning three, especially since at least two would be against teams that have appeared in the top 25 this season, could lock it up.
“If you want to be in the conversation in March, you have to take care of business in February,” Boise State coach Leon Rice said Saturday after defeating Fresno State 72-63.
The NCAA’s latest RPI rankings have the Broncos at No. 47, a drop of five spots from last week. Boise State went 2-0 last week, but against teams ranked 75th and 157th in the RPI this week. Creighton’s recent losing skid hasn’t helped either, though the Broncos’ RPI will be soon bolstered with the tough matchups ahead.
A few national bracketologists have updated their projections, and still have the Broncos firmly on the bubble. CBSSports.com’s Jerry Palm has Boise State as a 12-seed in a play-in game against Charlotte. ESPN.com’s Joe Lunardi doesn’t even have the Broncos as one of his last eight out in his latest bracket. USA Today’s Patrick Stevens has the Broncos as one of his first four out. The Bracket Project, which combines the average seeding for 50 mock brackets, has the Broncos as the second team out.
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Only one Mountain West team is ranked in the latest Associated Press top 25 men’s basketball poll, New Mexico, at No. 14. Gonzaga, Rice’s former employer, is No. 2, while the WAC’s Louisiana Tech makes its debut at No. 25. Here is the rest of the top 25, with my vote below.
1. Indiana (64)
2. Gonzaga (1)
3. Duke
4. Michigan
5. Miami (Fla.)
6. Kansas
7. Georgetown
8. Florida
9. Michigan State
10. Louisville
11. Arizona
12. Syracuse
13. Kansas State
14. New Mexico
15. Oklahoma State
16. Ohio State
17. Wisconsin
18. Saint Louis
19. Memphis
20. Butler
21. Notre Dame
22. Marquette
23. Pittsburgh
24. Oregon
25. Louisiana Tech
Others receiving votes: Colorado State 49, Virginia Commonwealth 45, Akron 43, Wichita State 35, Saint Mary’s 24, Illinois 19, Connecticut 18, UNLV 13, North Carolina 8, California 5, Middle Tennessee 2, Belmont 1, Missouri 1, Stephen F. Austin 1
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Here is my top 25 for the week:
1. Indiana
2. Duke
3. Gonzaga
4. Michigan
5. Kansas
6. Miami (Fla.)
7. Florida
8. Michigan State
9. Georgetown
10. Louisville
11. New Mexico
12. Kansas State
13. Arizona
14. Ohio State
15. Syracuse
16. Saint Louis
17. Memphis
18. Wisconsin
19. Oklahoma State
20. Butler
21. Notre Dame
22. Louisiana Tech
23. Colorado State
24. Marquette
25. Akron
Come on Dave, I want to hear your “I was wrong” for putting my Blue Devils at 6 last week when they had (and still have) the best RPI in the country. At least you aren’t doing to them what you are doing to New Mexico.
I still want to know why Indiana gets the 1 spot when they just barely managed to climb into top 10 RPI (this week) despite being in the #1 RPI conference.
I had Duke behind Miami, for one, because Miami crushed them. Gonzaga has lost only twice, once at the buzzer. Michigan State had beat Illinois, Minnesota and Michigan in two weeks.
And I don’t vote solely based off RPI. Indiana has a better conference mark than Duke, they’ve beat Michigan State twice, Ohio State and Michigan the last three weeks. Duke lost at Maryland 10 days ago.
That being said, I have them at No. 2 this week, no one has them No. 1. Me and nine other voters have them at No. 2. Fifty-five have them lower, so I’m not exactly slighting them. I wasn’t “wrong.”
I didn’t say anything about Miami, because I’m with you on head-to-head. Why did you put Duke ahead of Miami this week, though? I probably wouldn’t have. I don’t get Indiana as consensus #1, though. I know you aren’t going to talk smack about the organization that gives you a vote, but seriously, with a few hundred NCAA 1 teams out there the only way t. I’m assuming you and most every other voter lost a lot of money on Indiana vs. Minnesota tonight. Oh, that’s right, there is no skin in the game. That is the only way we can have hundreds of teams in NCAA D1 basketball and every AP voter agrees that only one of 2 teams could possibly be the best in the country.
If you weren’t wrong last week, then how come Duke passed 4 of the 5 teams ahead of them last week just for playing some scrubs? I’m assuming they are #1 in your vote next week. How can you wildly change your rankings when nothing much happens and still claim to be right? How come an AP voter has never won the bracket competitions?
Sorry, accidental cut-and-paste screwed up the other post. Here is how I intended it to read:
I didn’t say anything about Miami, because I’m with you on head-to-head. Why did you put Duke ahead of Miami this week, though? I probably wouldn’t have. I don’t get Indiana as consensus #1, though. I know you aren’t going to talk smack about the organization that gives you a vote. I’m assuming you and most every other voter lost a lot of money on Indiana vs. Minnesota tonight. Oh, that’s right, there is no skin in the game. That is the only way we can have hundreds of teams in NCAA D1 basketball and every AP voter agrees that only one of 2 teams could possibly be the best in the country.
If you weren’t wrong last week, then how come Duke passed 4 of the 5 teams ahead of them last week just for playing some scrubs? I’m assuming they are #1 in your vote next week. How can you wildly change your rankings when nothing much happens and still claim to be right? How come an AP voter has never won the bracket competitions?