Every Top-5 Team Falls in Wild Saturday Slate
With March Madness just around the corner, teams are jostling for NCAA tournament seeding. It’s the final Saturday of February! With just 15 days to go until Selection Sunday, the 146 Division I men’s games today (and especially the four matchups between ranked teams) have extra meaning as teams look to make their cases to the NCAA’s selection committee.
Sports Illustrated will keep you updated all day with the biggest takeaways from Saturday’s loaded slate and what it all means for March.
Gonzaga Takes First WCC Loss in Over Two Years
Until today, Gonzaga hadn’t even played a conference game decided by single digits. But the Bulldogs’ dominant reign in the WCC was stopped at least for a night by Saint Mary’s, which executed a marvelous game plan to suck the life out of one of the sport’s most explosive offenses. The Gaels limited Gonzaga to just 21 first-half points to get out to a 15-point halftime edge, then made enough shots in the second half to hold on even as Gonzaga made its push. The Bulldogs’ frontcourt duo of Chet Holmgren and Drew Timme combined for just 12 points on 5-of-17 shooting, one of the most impressive defensive performances of the season by any team. With every other projected top seed losing today, Gonzaga will likely stay put as the No. 1 overall seed and stay in the West Regional. And on the other side, it’s a signature win for Saint Mary’s, which has built a highly impressive résumé and will jump a seed line or two with this win.
Baylor’s Frontcourt Shines Without Tchamwa Tchatchoua
Losing Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua to a season-ending knee injury felt devastating for Baylor—both because of how good he was on both ends and because of how big a leader he is for this Bears club. But in Baylor’s biggest game of the season to date, Scott Drew saw his other two frontcourt players step up in big ways. Freshman Jeremy Sochan played the finest game of his young career, matching a career-high 17 points while making a significant impact defensively as well. Veteran center Flo Thamba kept Baylor in it early when Kansas threw a haymaker and posted 18 points of his own in the best offensive performance in his career. The win over the Jayhawks is a huge boost to Baylor’s hopes of a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, particularly considering all of the four No. 1’s in SI’s Friday update took losses Saturday. Baylor now has more Q1 wins than any other team in the country with 11.
Arizona Digs Too Deep A Hole vs. Colorado
Tommy Lloyd’s Wildcats have had their share of slow starts and sleepy halves lately, but have relied on an explosive offense to turn things around and pull away. Today was a different story at altitude against Colorado. The Buffaloes forced the game into the halfcourt and never allowed Arizona to make a true push, limiting the Wildcats to just 26 second-half points to pull the upset victory. The biggest implication for Arizona is the loss essentially wipes away the Wildcats’ chance for the No. 1 overall seed and a chance to play in the West Regional. But with so many other losses in the top 10, the path to a No. 1 seed is still relatively straight for Lloyd’s team.
How Saturday's top-10 college basketball chaos impacts the 2022 NCAA tournament bracket
The final Saturday in February turned out to be a historic day in college basketball. Each of the top six teams in the AP Top 25 lost, the first time that has ever happened on a single day in the history of the poll. A total of seven members of the AP top 10 fell, also a single-day record.
What does it mean from a Bracketology perspective? Well, imagine an NFL weekend in which every game ends in a tie. No team would lose or gain an inch in the standings. That's what happened in college basketball on Saturday.
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Who were the projected No. 1 seeds after the dust settled on Saturday, and why?
We ended almost exactly where we started. The top three teams on the morning seed list -- Gonzaga, Arizona and Kansas -- all lost major road games in hostile environments. Three of the teams in the best position to supplant them -- Kentucky, Purdue and Texas Tech -- suffered the same fate. At the end of the carnage, Baylor was the only top-10 team to improve its seed. The Bears began the day sixth overall and ended up fourth overall. That gives the defending NCAA champions the final 1-seed. Just don't write it in ink. Baylor visits Texas on Big Monday.
Of the top-10 teams to lose Saturday, whose loss was the most damaging from a bracket perspective?
Auburn, Kentucky and Purdue all slipped a single spot on the seed list. The only seed to change was Auburn, which fell from fourth overall to fifth and a No. 2 seed in the bracket. Kentucky and Purdue only slid within the 2-seeds. So the so-called damage was relative and, in essence, minimal.
The best NCAA March Madness teams by seed
The NCAA Tournament has become one of the most unpredictable, edge-of-your-seat sporting events of the year due to its knockout nature. It’s a clash of college basketball styles coming together as the calendar turns from winter to spring, pitting teams that usually never see each other on the same court with their seasons on the line.
Upsets happen every year in the tournament, while other teams that’ve been highly ranked all season continue their dominance to a Final Four. The 2022 edition of March Madness will be the first in three years with the possibility of full-capacity crowds, meaning few who’ll play under those bright lights have experienced it before.
As Selection Sunday looms closer, we’re looking at the best NCAA Tournament team at each seed. It’s not necessarily the teams that advanced the furthest or the squad that had the best overall season. It’s our best shot at the team that best stands out from its competition. Only teams from the 1985 NCAA Tournament to present day were eligible for this list, as the field expanded to 64 teams, giving an even playing field.