If you enjoy college basketball -- and if you are reading this, you probably do – I hope you got to see the Ohio State-Michigan game Sunday. It had a lot of points, if you like offense, but it was not a bad defensive game. Sometimes, the offenses are just clicking.
It went back and forth, with two great teams trading blows, until Michigan was able to salt it away at the end with a 92-87 victory. The only thing missing was a crowd living on the edge every second of the way.
From a bracket perspective, those were the No. 3 and No. 4 teams overall, with the Wolverines being the higher-seeded team before, and of course, after the game. However, Ohio State holds on to its spot on the No. 1 seed-line as well in the Bracketology update.
Illinois, which blew out Minnesota on Saturday, remains one spot back as a No. 2 seed in the bracket The Buckeyes' win at Illinois is the deciding factor for now. The Illini travel to Columbus, Ohio, for the rematch on Mar. 6.
Bracketology top seeds
Check out Palm's latest bracket, full field of 68 and all the teams on the bubble on the Bracketology hub.
Tar Heels hop back into field
The bottom of the bracket was doing its usual flips and twists. We welcome North Carolina back into the field after a 99-54 win over Louisville. Do not adjust your monitor – that score is correct. The Tar Heels won by 45. In case you think "Margin of Victory" does not matter in the NET rankings, UNC moved up 20 spots in the NET after this win.
For Louisville, a No. 8 seed in the bracket, that was the first game after a 19-day COVID-19 pause and the worst loss any team has suffered coming out of such a break of at least 10 days.
Dropping out of the bracket is VCU, which lost at home to George Mason on Saturday. That was not the worst news for the Rams. They also lost their best player, Nah'Shon Hyland, to a sprained foot late in the game. The injury is still being evaluated and it is not known how much time he will miss.
Does Duke have a chance?
People are foaming at the mouth with excitement – or disgust -- about the possibility of Duke making a run at the tournament after beating Virginia over the weekend. The loss of Jalen Johnson does not seem to be hurting the Blue Devils any and in fact, many people think his leaving helps. It is the third win in a row for Duke and moves the Blue Devils to 10-8 on the season.
Before we get too excited though, Duke's resume is still very thin. The Blue Devils' only other noteworthy win came at home to Clemson. They have losses at Pitt and Miami, as well as at home to Notre Dame and Michigan State, which has a better tournament resume right now.
Bracketology bits
Saint Louis looked pretty bad this weekend also, losing at Dayton 76-53, giving the Flyers a sweep of the season series. The Billikens lost at home to Dayton on Jan. 26 in its first game back after a 34-day COVID pause. SLU has only played 15 games, so it has not had much of a chance to build up its resume. They have dropped into First Four game in the projected bracket.
Stephen F. Austin had received a one-year postseason ban from the NCAA for the 2021-22 season. On Friday, it was announced that the NCAA had approved the school's request to move that up to this season. The Lumberjacks will now miss this year's postseason, including the Southland Conference Tournament.
