Only five top 25 games last night. If you read my post yesterday, you know that is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of talent that is out there. Gonzaga continues to stay in the #1 spot after a win over San Diego. This is the longest any team has been ranked at #1 all season. As long as they can keep their momentum up they will be a team to keep an eye on in the tournament.
Of course they could just be shining bright now and fizzle over time due to injuries or just general fatigue. Something else to keep in mind come bracket time!
Those pesky Wolverines got a win over unranked Purdue. I think it is important to note that The Boilermakers took them into two overtimes. That is a huge deal to me. I don't think this is the last win that U of M will get this year, but I also don't think they have seen their last loss.
The team has some real strengths but it also has some weaknesses. If they want to be successful I think some more players are going to need to come forward and shine. Currently if one player is having an off shooting night and another one gets in foul trouble they struggle to compete. That's my assessment anyway...
In a minor upset Wichita State beat Memphis by a nine point differential. As I said, it was only a minor upset, but I think it speaks to the strength of the teams at the middle and lower end of the rankings. I think we are going to continue to see a lot of movement in that area and it should give a pretty clear picture of who might end up in the tournament.
Take a look at that score from the Arizona/Oregon game. The Wildcats took the Ducks into overtime and just barely lost to them. Since they played in Oregon, I am guessing this game didn't start until 11 PM my time. I was long asleep by then. It looks like it would have been an awesome game to watch though.
Finally, Nice job Spartans with a commanding win over Minnesota. The Golden Gophers aren't ranked, but like I said yesterday, the Big 10 is pretty tight with about six teams tied for the fourth place spot. There have been some huge upsets and basically no team is safe.
Michigan State still had 12 turnovers which in my opinion is about 6 too many. Luckily their shooting percentage was better than Minnesota's last night. Rebounding was on point and they bested their opponent on both the offensive and defensive side. I think the fact that they were able to steal the ball five more times than Minnesota and commit seven less personal fouls really helped them. Hopefully they can carry that discipline forward.