Do you smell that? It’s not what The Rock is cookin’; it’s MARCH! We are in the last week of the regular season, with most teams having 1 game left. Next week starts conference tournaments, giving hope to Cinderellas for one last shot at dancing. This week’s top 25 will focus on the teams that are squarely into the dance. Next week, expect a conference tournament preview and a discussion of the bubble.

Kansas’ stranglehold on the #1 spot continues, and the Jayhawks are going to be a number 1 seed, even with an early conference tournament loss. After that, the other #1 seeds get muddier. The field of potential 1s is not large though, consisting of Kansas, Gonzaga, Baylor, Dayton, San Diego St and Florida St and Louisville. The shocking part of this list is the strong showing of 3 mid-major programs. If all three skate through conference tournaments, don’t rule out 3 mid-major #1 seeds. On the other side, a bad loss in conference play will derail and chance at a #1 or even #2 seed. As major programs go, a conference championship will slot any of these teams into a #1 seed. Notice how tight #8-20 are, meaning teams could easily jump around the 2 to 5 lines based on conference play.Please note, that these rankings will jump around a little as we give Power 5 a bump and conference champions a bump in seeding. That has not been done at all this season yet. 

Hokies Continue to Learn in 2020 for a Bright 2021

Hokies closed out their home slate with an impressive win against the Clemson Tigers. In addition to celebrating Senior (singular) night, the Hokies locked the already closed door on the Tigers tournament chances. The Hokies ranking status improved slightly to #110 in the EVTB rankings, #82 in NET and #97 in Kenpom. If you have been under a rock, we are not a bubble team for once, but you never know what conference play can bring. Hokie Nation will be hoping for a miracle tournament run, or start looking forward to next season.

What Is The State of Postseason ACC?

Let’s start at the top, the ACC still has a shot at a #1 seed in Florida St and Louisville. I do think that it would require winning the conference tournament for that to happen. Despite their ranking, I am going to rule Duke out #1 contention after their last few games. Moving to the next level, UVA is in, probably in the 7-9 range. They have had an impressive finish to the season. I am capable of giving props when props are due, although they are a snoozefest to watch. Next, comes the bubble. The bubble consists of 3 teams; NC State, Syracuse and ND, with NC State being the most likely 5th team. Aside from winning their last regular season game (sorry ND), these teams will need to rack up at least 2 wins in the ACC tournament to have a decent shot. Don’t forget about a possible miracle run, because mathematically, every team is still alive in the tournament hunt.