What’s Trending is a column examining the week that was in college basketball social media. Nick Fasulo (@nickfasuloSBN) is your weekly host.

Bill Walton’s Mount Rushmore of Musicians

Bill Walton has no idea how many presidents are on Mount Rushmore. A must watch.

Syracuse is Not Undefeated Anymore

But that is OK. Sometimes losing helps give you perspective and alleviate some unnecessary pressure.

Cheer up, @Cuse fans… last time Boston College beat #1 team in the nation was over UNC in 2009… the Heels went on to win the title.

— Jason McCallum (@ESPNJMac) February 20, 2014

SU is officially 0-7 wearing elite or throwback jerseys in football, bball, and lacrosse the past three years

— Benjamin Sio (@bsio) February 20, 2014

That Means Wichita State is the Nation’s Lone Unbeaten

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Daniel Evans (@bracketexpert) is Rush the Court’s resident bracketologist. He will update his brackets at least twice a week through the rest of the regular season here at RTC, but his updated brackets can be viewed daily at Bracketology Expert. As we approach March Madness, he’ll also provide occasional blind resumes. Evans has been ranked by the Bracket Matrix as the nation’s 11th-best bracketologist out of hundreds of entries. 

A handful of teams made statements over the past week, but Florida made the biggest statement of all. The Gators went into Rupp Arena, where the Wildcats rarely lose under John Calipari, and won by 10 points. The SEC may be having an awful season as a collective, but Florida may actually be the nation’s best team. For a squad that many were doubting as a #1 seed just a few short days ago, Florida has clearly separated itself from many of the others chasing them at this point.

Syracuse survived games with Pittsburgh and NC State, but for bracketing purposes all that matters is that the Orange won those two games. Because of the victories and Arizona‘s Friday night loss to Arizona State, Syracuse remains the No. 1 overall seed. Wichita State is still fourth on my overall S-curve. The Shockers have been helped by losses from the teams behind them for a No. 1 seed.

The race for the last few at-large bids is a complete mess. After a win over Michigan State Sunday, Nebraska is now in the mix. Yes, Nebraska. The SEC needs somebody not named Kentucky to beat Florida towards the end of the regular season or in the SEC Tournament, but any wins other than one over the Gators is pretty useless.

First Four Out: LSU, West Virginia, Baylor, Florida State

It’s Friday, it’s Valentine’s Day, and that means it’s time for another tearjerking edition of the RTC Podblast. As we head into a holiday weekend (bookended!) and the countdown of only four weeks until Selection Sunday, the guys are ready to focus on the selection of the field for the 2014 NCAA Tournament. To help us with that task, FoxSports.com‘s Reid Forgrave (@reidforgrave) joined us for this week’s Rush the Takes, as he is currently participating in the NCAA’s mock selection committee exercise in Indianapolis. As always, Shane Connolly (@sconnolly114) hosts, and some of the revelations from Forgrave on how teams like Pittsburgh and Wichita State are being evaluated is certainly interesting.

Make sure to subscribe to the podcast/podblast on iTunes so that you’ll get all of the episodes immediately downloaded to your listening device.

• 0:00-8:22 – Syracuse Continues To Prove Themselves
• 8:22-12:55 – Pitt Continues to Drop Chances
• 12:55-14:38 – The Surprising Postponement of Duke-UNC
• 14:38-15:45 – Quick Takes on Tuesday Action
• 15:45-29:28 – Rush The Takes With Reid Forgrave
• 29:28-37:00 – Weekend Preview

The RTC Podcast is back in action, and there was plenty to talk about this week as unbeaten Wichita State got through its mathematically toughest set of games remaining on its schedule. Can the Shockers run the table? Is it time to #cheerfortheears? We brought on CBSSports.com‘s Matt Norlander to discuss the bet and a bunch of other relevant things in this week’s podcast. The full rundown is below.

• 0:00-6:00 – #CheerForTheEars Origin Story
• 6:00-13:46 – Chances Wichita State Actually Goes Undefeated
• 13:46-25:13 Marcus Smart Fall Out (you did drop another Markel Starks, but I deleted it haha)
• 25:13-29:50 – Notable Games Around the Country
• 29:50-32:55 – Overanalyzed Teams
• 32:55-37:04 – Shaky Top of the Rankings
• 37:04-46:17 – More Norlander Predictions
• 46:17-53:58 – Week Preview

Daniel Evans (@bracketexpert) is Rush the Court’s resident bracketologist. He will update his brackets at least twice a week through the rest of the regular season here at RTC, but his updated brackets can be viewed daily at Bracketology Expert. As we approach March Madness, he’ll also provide occasional blind resumes. Evans has been ranked by the Bracket Matrix as the nation’s 11th-best bracketologist out of hundreds of entries. 

The movement in my latest bracket is not at the top.

• The No. 1 seeds remain the same with Syracuse, Arizona, Florida and Wichita State on the top line. After winning at Northern Iowa, the Shockers have survived all of their major regular season hurdles and appear destined to be an outstanding 34-0 going into the NCAA Tournament.
• Most of this week’s changes are at the bottom. The difference between the last eight teams in and the first eight teams out is minimal. For instance, LSU, Missouri and Tennessee are all among the last few teams in, while Ole Miss is among the last four out. That’s how close the SEC is to only having two teams — Florida and Kentucky — make the field this year.
• A big winner this week includes SMU, a team that dominated Cincinnati Saturday night. On the flip side, Oklahoma State is now a No. 8 seed following another loss and the Marcus Smart situation, which leaves the Cowboys without their best player for the next three games. Of course, I’m not projecting those games (potential losses) into the field here.

Bids by Conference: Big 12 (6), ACC (6), Big Ten (6), Pac-12 (6), SEC (5), AAC (5), Big East (4), Atlantic 10 (4), Mountain West (2), WCC (2)

First Four Out: Dayton, Oregon, Georgetown, Ole Miss

The full bracket is after the jump:

Read the rest of this entry »

Daniel Evans (@bracketexpert) is Rush the Court’s resident bracketologist. He will update his brackets at least twice a week through the rest of the regular season here at RTC, but his updated brackets can be viewed daily at Bracketology Expert. As we approach March Madness, he’ll also provide occasional blind resumes. Evans has been ranked by the Bracket Matrix as the nation’s 11th-best bracketologist out of hundreds of entries. 

Five top 10 teams lost this weekend and my latest bracketology reflects all of the wild results. No. 1 Arizona finally lost after playing with fire multiple times in the last few weeks, but more importantly, the Wildcats also lost power forward Brandon Ashley for the season. The Wildcats — a lock to make the Big Dance — will be evaluated by the selection committee as a new team without their second-leading scorer and rebounder in the lineup. Don’t read too much into it right this second, though. If the NCAA Tournament started today, I have no doubt that Arizona would still be a No. 1 seed.

• Wichita State finally moved up to the No. 1 line in my bracket after Kansas lost to Texas, but like always, I’m going to be brutally honest about the Shockers. Wichita has only TWO wins over teams in my bracket and that is not the sort of quality resume you expect to see from a No. 1 seed. Still, I have the Shockers on the top line because they are undefeated and they look like a top-5 team when you watch them play.
• Texas is moving up in a hurry after a convincing win Saturday over the Jayhawks. UCLA is also moving up, even after a loss to Oregon State on Sunday. The Bruins are unranked because the Pac-12 is seen as a weak conference (other than Arizona) and it’s really unfair to UCLA. Despite their bad loss yesterday, Steve Alford’s team looks like the conference’s second-best squad at this point and have the quality wins of a middle-of-the-road seed.
• Pittsburgh is about to start sliding. The Panthers still lack a top-50 win after falling to Virginia on Sunday. For now, I left Pittsburgh as a No. 6 seed but the Panthers have the feel of a team that gets “shafted” on Selection Sunday and end up a couple of seed lines lower. I’m going to keep re-evaluating the Panthers, of course, but based on how the national media perceives Jamie Dixon’s team (currently seen as a Top 25 team), I have to predict the committee will likely see Pittsburgh in the same light and seed them accordingly.

For the first time this season, there are more than 36 at-large teams deserving a spot in the field which made it hard to pick the final few teams. The full bracket is after the jump:

First Four Out: Oregon, BYU, Clemson, Georgetown

Bids by Conference: Big 12 (7), ACC (6), Big Ten (6), Pac-12 (6), SEC (5), American (5), Atlantic 10 (4), Big East (3), Mountain West (2)

Daniel Evans (@bracketexpert) is Rush the Court’s resident bracketologist. He will update his brackets at least twice a week through the rest of the regular season here at RTC, but his updated brackets can be viewed daily at Bracketology Expert. As we approach March Madness, he’ll also provide occasional blind resumes. Evans has been ranked by the Bracket Matrix as the nation’s No. 11 bracketologist out of hundreds of entries. 

A lot changed in my bracketology following a crazy weekend of college basketball. I’m going to try to break it down and make it as simple and as easy as possible. First, let’s start at the top.

• Villanova replaces Wisconsin on the No. 1 seed line after Wisconsin lost twice last week. The Wildcats simply have a better resume than Florida, who is No. 5 on my S-curve despite a loss to Wisconsin earlier this season. Remember, the Gators were not completely healthy in their loss at Wisconsin. Point guard Scottie Wilbekin, who has become the go-to guy for Florida in the final minutes of games, missed the final few minutes of the last second loss at Connecticut.
• Wichita State stays on the No. 3 seed line despite being undefeated. The Shockers simply do not have the profile of a No. 1 or No. 2 seed at this point. Gonzaga didn’t last year at this time either, and still ended up on the No. 1 line, so stay patient Shocker fans.
• Oklahoma has jumped up to a No. 4 seed after wins against Baylor and Iowa State. The Cyclones stay as a No. 3 seed, but are sliding. Baylor falls to a No. 8 seed after a couple more losses. Ohio State is also sliding — the Buckeyes’ profile looks nothing like the seed of a surefire NCAA Tournament team, although that is where most bracketologists continue to seed them as a No. 3 or No. 4 seed.
• Anyone wanting a prediction from me can write this one down: Kansas will end up with a No. 1 seed. The Jayhawks have a tremendous profile like always, and are playing their best basketball of the season.

I think that’s enough for now. If you have questions (and surely you do), please tweet me @bracketexpert.

First Four Out: VCU, Illinois, Arkansas, Southern Mississippi.

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Daniel Evans (@bracketexpert) is Rush the Court’s resident bracketologist. He will update his brackets at least twice a week through the rest of the regular season here at RTC, but his updated brackets can be viewed daily at Bracketology Expert.

Going into Saturday, this has been a crazy week in college basketball. Let’s review:

• Baylor is sliding after getting destroyed by Texas Tech.
• Ohio State continues to have zero good wins and has now lost three straight games.
• Wisconsin lost its first game of the year at Indiana Tuesday night.
• Kansas knocked off Iowa State Monday night and continues to move up in my bracketology rankings.

I listed Kansas as a No. 1 seed in my preseason bracketology because the Jayhawks earn No. 1 seeds more consistently than any other team in the country. Kansas always schedules well and it pays off. The Jayhawks are up to No. 2 in my latest bracket and are nearing the No. 1 seed line at this point. Wichita State remains on the No. 3 line despite being undefeated. It’s nothing personal against the Shockers — really, it’s not. They just don’t have the profile of a top two seed at this point. Colorado lost Spencer Dinwiddie to an ACL injury earlier this week and the Buffaloes lost to UCLA  a few nights later. I’ve moved Colorado down because of Dinwiddie’s loss. For now, I’m keeping New Mexico State and Belmont in the bracket below despite losing games this week and technically falling out of first place. It’s still early in the year and for one night, I am willing to give those teams the benefit of the doubt.

Here is the complete field, seeded #1-#68:

First Four Out: Arkansas, Stanford, Indiana, Saint Mary’s

#1 Seeds:
ARIZONA (Pac-12/WEST)
SYRACUSE (ACC/EAST)
WISCONSIN (Big Ten/SOUTH)
Michigan State (Midwest)

#2  Seeds:
Villanova
FLORIDA (SEC)
KANSAS (Big 12)
San Diego State (MWC)

Read the rest of this entry »

Daniel Evans (@bracketexpert) is Rush the Court’s resident bracketologist. He will update his brackets at least twice a week through the rest of the regular season here at RTC, but his updated brackets can be viewed daily at Bracketology Expert.

Our latest bracketology shows a little bit of movement at the top. After Michigan State‘s big win over Ohio State Tuesday night, the Spartans jump to the No. 1 line. Iowa State continues to climb and is up to No. 6 overall on my S-curve, while Wichita State is up to No. 9. I’m still doubting that the Shockers can get a No. 1 seed unless they finish the regular season with an unblemished record (or at most one loss), so for now they remain on the No. 3 seed line despite remaining undefeated.

The “Most Annoying Team in America” to Bracketologists (Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports)

North Carolina remains the most annoying team in the country. The Tar Heels lost to Miami (FL) earlier this week to add another awful loss to a resume full of them. Of course, the Tar Heels also have three of the best wins in the country over Michigan State, Kentucky and Louisville.. The Tar Heels are like many of my ex-girlfriends, bipolar and unpredictable.

Here is the complete field, seeded #1-#68:

LAST FOUR IN: Georgetown, Texas, Oklahoma, Dayton
FIRST FOUR OUT: California, SMU, North Dakota State, St. Mary’s

#1 Seeds:

• ARIZONA (Pac 12/WEST)
• WISCONSIN (Big Ten/SOUTH)
• SYRACUSE (ACC/EAST)
• Michigan State (Midwest)

#2  Seeds:

• Ohio State
• IOWA STATE (Big 12)
• FLORIDA (SEC)
• Oklahoma State

Read the rest of this entry »

Happy conference season, everyone! Here’s hoping that you’re staying warm out there, wherever you are, avoiding the crushing chill of the polar vortex and all that. While it’s been beyond freezing outside, it’s stayed hot on the court, with a number of interesting upsets getting us through the weekend. Since we’re at the midpoint of the season — more or less — we thought it was the right time to do some resets, analyzing some of the surprises and disappointments of the first half of the season, while digging a bit deeper into each of the power conferences to determine which teams will win their leagues. As always, Shane Connolly (@sconnolly114) hosts us through all the discussion, so be sure to check the below outline to jump around if you like.

Make sure to add the RTC Podcast to your iTunes lineup so that you’ll automatically upload it on your listening device after we record. And feel free to contact us through Twitter or email — we’re listening.

• 0:00-3:02 – Upsets Galore This Weekend
• 3:02-6:19 – Notre Dame Opens ACC Play With a Big Win Over Duke
• 6:19-10:41 – Upsets With Long Lasting Impact
• 10:41-12:15 – Shoutouts to Randy and Wisky
• 12:15-14:12 – #RootForTheSuit
• 14:12-16:35 – Surprise Team in the Non-Conference
• 16:35-18:27 – Disappointments in Non-Conference Play
• 18:27-20:06 – Still Ain’t Buyin’
• 20:06-21:19 – PreSeason Picks We Want Back
• 21:19-22:34 – Preseason Picks That Make Us Feel Better About Ourselves
• 22:34-26:19 – Conferences We’re Excited For
• 26:19-28:10 – Toughest Conference to Call
• 28:10-37:17 – Re-evaluating Each Conference
• 37:17-40:14 – Seriously UNC, WTF?
• 40:14-51:04 – Preview The Week