With now less than a week to go until Selection Sunday, the top eight in the RTC16 has become a bit more stable. As leagues embark on their conference tournaments, strong play to protect and possibly improve seeding will be key. With Gonzaga and Baylor having secured two of the four #1 seeds, will the Big Ten grab the others or will a team like Alabama pry a top seed away?
CONFERENCE BREAKDOWN: Big Ten (5), Big 12 (3), ACC (2), SEC (2), AAC (1), Big East (1), MVC (1), WCC (1),
RISING:
- Illinois: Brad Underwood’s Illini picked up a pair of Quad-1 victories by beating Michigan without Ayo Dosunmu and then following that up with a win at Ohio State. The #2 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, Illinois has now positioned itself to be a strong contender for a #1 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
- Loyola (Chicago): The Ramblers ran through the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament with three wins all by double-figures. In the MVC Tournament, Loyola made 49% percent of its three-point attempts, an important improvement for a team that ranked seventh from beyond the arc in league play.
- Oregon: The Ducks went 3-0 this past week to win the Pac-12 title. This included a dominant final 10 minutes Wednesday night against UCLA in which Oregon turned a nine-point deficit into an eight-point victory. Chris Duarte is the type of player who can carry this talented Oregon team into the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
FALLING:
- Maryland: A week ago Maryland had won five straight games and found itself in good position on the bubble. Then the Terrapins went 0-2 this past week with losses to non-tournament teams in Northwestern and Penn State. Eric Ayala had a particularly tough week, going 6-of-20 from the field.
- Villanova: The Wildcats were hit with injuries at the worst time of the season. First it was losing Collin Gillespie for the season with a knee injury against Creighton, and then Justin Moore to what was described as a severe ankle sprain. The impact of Gillespie was clear in the loss at Providence, a game in which Villanova produced its worst offensive efficiency output of the season.
- Wisconsin: Wisconsin has lost three straight and five of its last six games. With the game tied late against Iowa, the Badgers failed to grab a defensive rebound on a missed free throw, were called for a foul on Jordan Bohannon shooting a three-pointer, and then found itself on the wrong end of another monitor review to a play involving Brad Davison.