Before we get to my updated rankings for today, allow me a moment to rant on the Missouri Tigers and their situation.
A week ago the Tigers were tied with Mississippi for 4th place in the SEC. They were still alive for the 2-seed in the SEC tournament, but they needed to beat Arkansas and Tennessee, have Kentucky lose to Georgia AND Florida, and have the winner of the Alabama vs. Mississippi game lose their Saturday game. A lot to ask for, but possible.
On Saturday morning, all the chips were in place. They beat Arkansas, Kentucky lost to Georgia, Mississippi beat Alabama (they were playing at LSU, while Alabama was home for Georgia). This had created a 4-way tie for second place. Then, in the span of an hour, the shit hit the fan. Florida failed to score ANYTHING in the final 7:30 and let Kentucky come back to win. Alabama hit a half-court buzzer beater to beat Georgia. Mississippi handled LSU. And finally, Phil Pressey hoisted the most ill-advised 3-pointer EVER (like in all the history of basketball EVER), causing the Tigers to fall into a tie with Tennessee for 5th place... which Tennessee then owned the tie-break.
Why was Pressey's shot so bad? The Tigers were down 3. They had 2 timeouts left. They had 17 seconds left. He (nor most of his teammates) hadn't made one all game. They had 2 timeouts left. There is ABSOLUTELY NO BASKETBALL LOGIC BEHIND HIS DECISION. Sure, if it goes in, great... but then Tennessee had 12 seconds and a timeout to win it.
Half the blame could go to coach Haith... he could have called timeout. But most of it goes on Pressey. I'd be apologizing for him all season; defending him after the Kentucky loss when my wife was sick of him; blaming the defense for the loss to A&M; citing poor coaching for the loss to UCLA; missing Lawrence Bowers against LSU; and roasting the officiating against Arkansas. I can't do that anymore. This one's on him. Not just the bad shot, but he had three or four defensive lapses in the second half and I don't think he got the the free throw line once. If you want to take the last shot, run a play for yourself, use some clock and get a screen. The better no-timeout, no-play, too quick decision would have been to just drive at the basket, maybe get 3 the old-fashioned way. Nothing about his shot makes any sense to anyone that knows basketball... worst of all, he airballed it.
Okay, on with the rankings (bold teams have clinched an automatic bid):
1: Indiana v. 16: Southern or Liberty (Big South)
2: Miami (FL) v. 15: Long Beach State
3: Syracuse v. 14: Florida-Gulf Coast (A-Sun)
4: North Carolina v. 13: Valparaiso
5: Oklahoma State v. 12: Akron
6: Kansas State v. 11: Colorado
7: UCLA v. 10 Wichita State
8: Butler v. 9: Oklahoma
1: Duke v. 16: Long Island or Norfolk State
2: Kansas v. 15: Stephen F Austin
3: Georgetown v. 14: South Dakota State
4: Arizona v. 13: Bucknell
5: Wisconsin v. 12: La Salle or Southern Miss
6: Colorado State v. 11: California
7: San Diego State v. 10: NC State
8: Illinois v. 9: Kentucky
1: Louisville v. 16: Northeastern
2: Ohio State v. 15: Florida International
3: New Mexico v. 14: Iona
4: Gonzaga v. 13: Louisiana Tech
5: Minnesota v. 12: Temple or Iowa State
6: St. Louis v. 11: Boise State
7: UNLV v. 10: Villanova
8: Memphis v. 9: Belmont (OVC)
1: Michigan State v. 16: Montana
2: Florida v. 15: Vermont
3: Marquette v. 14: Harvard (Ivy)
4: Michigan v. 13: Davidson
5: Pittsburgh v. 12: Middle Tennessee
6: VCU v. 11: Cincinnati
7: Creighton (MVC) v. 10: St. Mary's
8: Missouri v. 9: Notre Dame
Last 4 In:
Temple
La Salle
Iowa State
Southern Miss
First 4 Out:
Tennessee
Denver
Oregon
Mississippi
Bids Handed Out Tonight:
Colonial (Northeastern v. James Madison)
Southern (Davidson v. Charleston)
Sun Belt (Florida International v. Western Kentucky)
MAAC (Iona v. Manhattan)
WCC (Gonzaga v. St. Mary's)
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