2024-25 College Basketball Thread

[tapintoamerica]

Saint Mary's holds off Gonzaga, 62-58, to improve to 20-3. Gaels 10-0 in the league and basically just clinched the WCC regular season title.

Gonzaga has two stud players in Nembhard and Ike, but needed a third player to make a big shot or two tonight and no one did. Zags now have four conference losses. They may need to win the WCC tourney to keep their NCAA streak alive.

They were 11th in KenPom before tonight. They should be OK as an at-large candidate.

 

[I Should Coco]

They were 11th in KenPom before tonight. They should be OK as an at-large candidate.

It certainly would help if they could beat the Gaels in Spokane in the Feb. 22 rematch. And quit losing to teams like Oregon State (sorry, Micro )

 

[micropolitan guy]

It certainly would help if they could beat the Gaels in Spokane in the Feb. 22 rematch. And quit losing to teams like Oregon State (sorry, Micro )

Beavers are #45 in KenPom. The road loss won't hurt Gonzaga at all.

 

[I Should Coco]

Beavers are #45 in KenPom. The road loss won't hurt Gonzaga at all.

After I posted I looked at Gonzaga's season schedule and realized the Zags' home loss to Santa Clara was worse.

Also, GU now has three conference losses, not four.

Other than that … [/SJ.compostfail]

 

[dixiehack]

KenPom is in love with the Zags but I'm not exactly sure why. I think the opening blowout of Baylor (No. 26) and the offensive output against the filler teams in the WCC really is boosting up their efficiency numbers. Because otherwise their remaining good wins are No. 43 San Diego State, No. 55 Indiana and No. 58 Arizona State.

If you gave that resume to Drake or VCU they'd have a decent shot at the bubble but wouldn't be any kind of slam dunk.

 

[I Should Coco]

KenPom is in love with the Zags but I'm not exactly sure why. I think the opening blowout of Baylor (No. 26) and the offensive output against the filler teams in the WCC really is boosting up their efficiency numbers. Because otherwise their remaining good wins are No. 43 San Diego State, No. 55 Indiana and No. 58 Arizona State.

If you gave that resume to Drake or VCU they'd have a decent shot at the bubble but wouldn't be any kind of slam dunk.

The other issue, like most recent seasons, is it's hard to know how good Saint Mary's is this year. The Gaels have wins over Nebraska and USC, but both are in the bottom half of the B1G standings.

Randy Bennett builds his team to beat Gonzaga, and if his collection of underrated American and various Australian players can win an NCAA game or two that's a happy bonus.

 

[dixiehack]

Gonzaga still has both halves of the home and home with San Francisco and I wouldn't bank on them sweeping the Dons at this point.

 

[I Should Coco]

In women's hoops, Iowa gets its biggest win in the post-Caitlin Clark era, giving JuJu Watkins and USC its first B1G loss, 76-69, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The Hawkeyes needed that one — it's been a bumpy season after Clark and her two teammates, Kate Martin and Gabbie Marshall, moved on.

 

[micropolitan guy]

Watkins was 8-for-22 and 1-7 from 3. She's a volume shooter, not an especially good one; she was 6-for-32 in a game here last season.

 

[Webster]

Watkins does not seem fun to play with.

 

[Songbird]

Cal gets his revenge. Arkansas has been horrible this conference season, played over their heads tonight.

lol he can win this game but the one that would have completed 40-0.

His whole Kentucky saga is for the ages.

 

[tapintoamerica]

KenPom is in love with the Zags but I'm not exactly sure why. I think the opening blowout of Baylor (No. 26) and the offensive output against the filler teams in the WCC really is boosting up their efficiency numbers. Because otherwise their remaining good wins are No. 43 San Diego State, No. 55 Indiana and No. 58 Arizona State.

If you gave that resume to Drake or VCU they'd have a decent shot at the bubble but wouldn't be any kind of slam dunk.

Perhaps more confounding than the Zags' high standing in KenPom overall: why Auburn is only 17th in non-conference SoS. I know that when you take every non-con opponent into consideration, you can grasp the numerical reasoning for why they're 17th. But they've played four of the non-SEC teams in the overall top 10. Hard to do more than that.