Value Add’s top all-around player Delon Wright led Utah to the biggest win of the night at then #43 Cal. Utah, Nebraska, Georgetown and Dayton moved up the fasted in the Middle 50 the last two nights, all putting themselves right on the bubble for possible NCAA bids. The updated Middle 50 of teams that currently deserve an NCAA at-large bid (26th through 50th) or NIT bid (51st through 75th) are listed below with noted results from Tuesday or Wednesday.
While Doug McDermott is rated as the top offensive player in the country at www.valueaddbasketball.com, Wright continues to be among the Top 10 in the Pac12 in many categories, including the defensive skills of steals and blocked shots. During the Utes current 3-game winning streak Wright’s average game has been 6-9 from the floor and 7-9 from the line, with an average game of 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocked shots and has had multiple steals in every game.
The AP Top 25 teams are not listed.
Middle 50 (26th through 50th deserve NCAA)
- 26. Ohio St (the best team NOT in the AP Top 25, so 26th best overall)
- 27. UCLA
- 28. VCU
- 29. Texas
- 30. Gonzaga
- 31. Massachusetts
- 32. Arizona St; fell at #49 Oregon (dropped 2 spots)
- 33. George Washington big win over #41 St. Josephs (rose 2 spots)
- 34. Oklahoma St
- 35. Kansas St
- 36. Baylor; double digit win at home against #16 Iowa State (rose 3 spots)
- 37. Colorado big road upset at #37 Stanford (rose 3 spots)
- 38. Pittsburgh
- 39. Xavier
- 40. BYU
- 41. Stanford; lost to #42 Colorado at home (dropped 3 spots)
- 42. Southern Miss
- 43. Tennessee; destroyed Auburn (rose 1 spot)
- 44. Arkansas; destroyed Mississippi by 30
- 45. St. Joseph’s; fell short against #35 George Washington (dropped 1 spot)
- 46. Dayton; huge win at #17 St. Louis (rose 5 spots into NCAA tournament)
- 47. Minnesota
- 48. HARVARD
- 49. Oregon; edged #30 Arizona State at home
- 50. California; upset by #56 Utah at home could threaten bid (dropped 6 spots)
Middle 50 (51st – 75th like NIT, top teams chance at NCAA)
- 51. GREEN BAY
- 52. Nebraska; double digit road win at Indiana could have them in (rose 3)
- 53. Utah; big upset win at #43 Cal has them close in our books, though others doubt it
- 54. Georgetown; double digit win over #13 Creighton may get them in (rose 7 spots)
- 55. Providence; edged #60 Marquette in 2 OT thriller at home, but still slipped due to big wins by Georgetown, Dayton, Nebraska and Utah who moved ahead of them
- 56. Florida St
- 57. St. John’s
- 58. Louisiana Tech;
- 59. NORTH DAKOTA St
- 60. Missouri; survived by 1 at home against #79 Texas A&M
- 61. BELMONT
- 62. Marquette; just missed huge upset at #52 Providence that could have put them in bubble talk (dropped 1)
- 63. LSU
- 64. TOLEDO; -1 barely survived against non-top 100 Central Michigan team
- 65. Richmond
- 66. Indiana; double digit home loss to #55 Nebraska dropped 3)
- 67. West Virginia; -1 double digit loss at #23 Oklahoma ends any hopes (dropped 3)
- 68. Georgia
- 69. Illinois; -3 blown out by Michigan at home by 31
- 70. Clemson; held off Miami to stay alive
- 71. Washington
- 72. Saint Mary’s
- 73. St. Bonaventure
- 74. Ohio; blows out Bowling Green for road win
- 75. Indiana St
Others outside of the Middle 50 need to improve to make NIT
- 76. Boise St; loss at home to sub-.500 Nevada team a killer, could push them out of NIT
- 77. San Francisco
- 78. Texas A&M; just missed huge upset win at Missouri by 1 point – could have had put them firmly in NIT
- 79. UNLV; blown out by #10 San Diego State at home
- 80. Oregon St; just missed big upset of #3 Arizona
- 81. GEORGIA STATE (NIT Guar); +1 big road win at Arkansas State, but with NIT already guaranteed by regular season title the tourney is all that matters
- 82. Manhattan
- 83. Middle Tennessee
- 84. STEPHEN F AUSTIN (NIT guar)
- 85. Cleveland St
- 86. UTEP
- 87. Western Michigan
- 88. IONA (NIT guar)
- 89. DELAWARE (NIT Guar)
- 90. Akron; +1 big double digit home win over strong Buffalo team (rose 5 spots)
- 91. VERMONT (NIT Guar)
- 92. Boston University; 91-54 over albeit weak Lafayette team
- 93. NC State
- 94. Missouri St
- 95. Purdue; fell short of huge upset road win vs. #9 Wisconsin
- 96. Maryland; beat up on weak Virginia Tech team to keep NIT hopes alive barely
- 97. Eastern Michigan
- 98. New Mexico State
- 99. Vanderbilt
- 100, DAVIDSON (NIT Guar)