Bracketology Update: February 15, 2011

George Mason 71 VCU 51

George Mason took a big step towards securing an at-large bid with a 20 point road win at Virginia Commonwealth (VCU) tonight. VCU has now lost 3 of their last 5 games and have just a 2-3 record against top 50 RPI teams. VCU also has 3 losses against teams with RPI's of 100 or higher including a loss at Georgia State (RPI 217). Although RPI is not the final indicator of whether a team makes the tournament or not, VCU's RPI was 61 coming into tonight and will surely fall with this most recent loss. VCU travels to Wichita State for Bracketbusters this Saturday and will certainly need to win that game to have any at-large possibilities left.

Virginia Tech 91 Maryland 83

A loss tonight for Virginia Tech at home would have done a lot more damage, but getting this win propels Virginia Tech to 17-7 overall and 7-4 in ACC play. The Hokies are a mere 1-5 against teams ranked in the top 50 RPI, but they do host top 50 RPI teams Duke and Boston College in the coming weeks prior to the ACC Tournament.

Ohio State 71 Michigan State 61

A loss on the road for Michigan State drops them to 13-11 overall and 6-7 in the Big Ten but does not end the hopes of the Spartans to make the tournament. They host Top 50 RPI Illinois on Saturday and play at two other top 50 RPI teams next week in at Minnesota and home to Purdue. 2 wins would get Sparty to 8-8 in the conference and improving upon that 3-8 top 50 RPI record.

Butler 64 Green Bay 62

Butler survives a road scare at Green Bay and improves to 19-9 overall and 11-5 in the Horizon league. The Bulldogs have a 4-4 record against top 50 RPI teams. A loss tonight would have marked a sixth loss for Butler outside of the top 100 RPI teams and seriously damaged the hopes of them getting an at-large bids. Butler has two remaining games with teams with RPI's in the 200s and will likely need to win The Horizon League Tournament to get back to the NCAA Tournament that they were oh so close to winning last April.

Saint Johns 80 Marquette 68

Saint Johns improves to 16-9 overall and 8-5 in a tough Big East conference with an 80-68 road win tonight. Marquette falls to 15-11 and 6-7 in the Big East with this loss at home. Marquette falls to 3-10 against top 50 RPI teams (that's insane by the way, 13 teams?) with an 0-3 record against top 50 RPI teams in the non conference (Duke, Wisconsin, Vanderbilt). In addition, Marquette lost to Gonzaga (RPI 72) and has zero wins out of the conference in the top 100. They aren't eliminated from at-large consideration by any means, but the margin for error is becoming slim.