Tennessee

Continuing with the Early 2012-13 Ranking, here are teams 31 to 45. 

 

Bracketology projections will be coming fast and furious this week. Tennessee enters the field for the first time all season, replacing Arizona, who choked in a loss to Arizona State. UCONN also returns, replacing South Florida. South Florida still has a strong chance to return, while Arizona has been replaced by Oregon as the Pac-12's third most likely team.

 

Three teams (Belmont, Murray State and UNC Asheville) punched their tickets to the NCAA tournament on Saturday.

Saturday's Conference Tournament Primer

VANDERBILT (21-9, 10-5 SEC) AT TENNESSEE (17-13, 9-6 SEC)

 

Time: 4 p.m.

 

Since we're down to the stretch run, Bracketology projections will be coming fast and furious instead of once a week. The big news is that South Florida enters the field for the first time. The Bulls beat Louisville and replace UCONN who lost to Providence earlier in the week.

 

We're getting down to the nitty gritty. Some leagues have already wrapped up their schedules, while others have a couple of games left. Here's a breakdown of this week's Top 10 games as it relates to NCAA Tournament Bracketology and the Bubble:  
 

Tuesday's bubble teams went 3-6, including big wins by Seton Hall, Kansas St, and Colorado St. With 58 games on tap, here's what to watch for Wednesday as it relates to NCAA Tournament & NIT Bracketology:

 

 

With the announcement that starting center Fab Melo would miss Saturday's game due to an unresolved academic issue, the chances that top-ranked Syracuse would remain undefeated took a hit. But few would have thought that the Orange would have few (if any) answers in the paint as a result of his absence, and that's exactly what happened at Purcell Pavilion. Jack Cooley scored 17 points and grabbed ten rebounds and Notre Dame led by as many as 18 points on their way to the 67-58 win, the eighth in school history over a top-ranked opponent. 

There weren't many opportunities to watch ranked teams play each other (there was just one, which is discussed below), but Saturday's slate provided many teams the chance to improve their resumes. Florida State and Northwestern took full advantage of their opportunities as they both knocked off Top 10 opponents at home, albeit in different ways.