Results: Thursday, December 4, 2014

Bubbles Popped: 3

Drexel (2-5), Colonial
The reality is a six loss team than ran the table in the Colonial Regular season would in most cases be near a lock for an at-large and certainly on the bubble for an at-large.  In most cases.  Drexel however lost to a division II school last night.  That kind wart won't go away and is a deal breaker for a six loss team in the Colonial, which really isn't what it used to be after being raided by the Atlantic Ten.

N.C. A&T (1-7), MEAC
If NC A&T were to win out until their conference championship game, it would include a win at Ohio State.  Even a nice win like that though, wouldn't be enough to give them an at-large worthy resume.

Samford (3-6), Southern Conference
A game at Wake Forest is Samford's last shot at a win over a school from a power conference.  They may very well win, which is why no one will be impressed.

Four results worth mentioning: 

Philadelphia Sciences 54, Drexel 52
Has it really been eighteen years since Malik Rose led Drexel to a first round upset of Memphis, then went toe to toe with John Wallace of Syracuse in the 1996 NCAA Tournament at The Pit in Albuquerque?  This is the kind of loss that will follow a team all season and haunt a program for several years to come.  Inexcusable.  I don't even know what Phil. Sciences is, D2?, D3?, some sort of JUCO?  And I don't care to look it up.

LSU 74, West Virginia 73
This will be a good win for LSU all year, and likely improve their NCAA seeding by a spot or two.  The Tigers should compete for 2nd place in the SEC.

TCU 66, Ole Miss 54
The undefeated Horned Frogs have now swept Mississippi State and Ole Miss.  I don't expect them to challenge Kansas or Texas for the Big XII title, but at this point, they have be on everyone's radar.

DePaul 84, Chicago State 60
The Blue Demons four wins are over schools from the WAC, Mid American, Pac-12, and Missouri Valley.  They mixed in a head scratching loss to a Patriot League school, but all in all, this 4-1 start has an air of legitimacy to it.  The Big East looks to be the deepest conference in the country, and surviving league play could be a different story for DePaul.  Or rather, the same old story.