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The top of the rankings sees a shake-up this week after two losses by SEC favorites Auburn and Kentucky.
We’ll get to those games shortly, but what does it all mean? Do the results of past week open the door for another team or two to crack the top five? Are Auburn’s and Kentucky’s résumés good enough to withstand some slipups? Or are the Wildcats’ short-handed losses starting to catch up to them? Is there anything to be concerned about for either team?
Starting with the last question: I don’t think so. I still think full-strength Kentucky is a clear-cut national title favorite, and the Wildcats showed on Saturday against Alabama that a short-handed Kentucky is pretty good too. As for the Tigers, their decision-making in the backcourt is still worrisome late in games, and Wendell Green has had some really, really poor final possessions in recent weeks. That’s the area to watch.
With the SEC losses, though, Kansas’ route to a 1-seed is more apparent. The Jayhawks are the only team in the country with 10 Quadrant 1 wins. They also have just one loss outside of Quadrant 1, and they’re ranked No. 1 in ESPN’s strength of record and in the KPI.
The most interesting team in this discussion, though, is Baylor, which raised some eyebrows when it was ranked No. 5 overall in Saturday’s mock bracket reveal. With Baylor as one of the elite teams in the country when completely healthy, the selection committee was obviously putting a huge amount of weight on the Bears’ full-strength résumé and predictive metrics. If the Bears can avenge their blowout loss to Kansas with a win over the Jayhawks on Saturday, their path to 1-seed is wide-open — especially if everyone besides Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua (knee, out for the season) comes back fully healthy before Selection Sunday.
Since Texas Tech started looking like one of the elite teams in the country in early January, the Red Raiders have earned Win of the Week honors on a pair of occasions, and Mark Adams also landed…
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Source : espn
