[Cobra Mgr]

The first automatic bids are about to be handed out. It's going to be interesting to see how much NET affects the committee's selections & seeding.........

.......Conference tournaments are going to be huge this year. If you are a fan of a bubble team, you are going to want to pay close attention to the "one bid" conf tourneys. That's because of Wofford, Buffalo & the Pac12. Those teams & Washington are assured of at large bids. If they don't win their tourney, that means a team not expected to get a bid takes a spot away from a bubble team. So if your team is teetering on the brink, you are fans of the Terriers, Bulls & Huskies this week........

..........How far the Pac12 has fallen is baffling. Oregon has the 2nd highest NET in the Pac12 right now @ #64. To illustrate how bad that is, 11 other conferences have @ least 2 teams ranked that higher. That includes, outside the Power 6, the AAC (5), AtlSun (2), the MAC (2), MtnWest (2), Ohio Valley (2), So Con (3) & West Coast (2). It's a mystery how this league got so bad..........

.........Notice 2 mid-major leagues not mentioned above? What happened to the Missouri Valley & Atlantic 10? Those 2 used to have some of the best basketball outside of the power conferences. VCU leads the Atl 10 @ #36. Davidson & Dayton are in the 70's. Last yr's surprise Loyola-Ch & Drake are 1-2 in the MVC & are right behind each other in the NET @ #127 & 128. VCU not winning the Atl10's final game might be the only hope these 2 conferences have to be multi-bid leagues.........

........The Southern Conference has to be the most pleasant surprise this season. Don't let Wofford's dominance of their league fool you. Furman, UNC-G & E.Tenn St. are ranked 66th or higher. Furman won @ Villanova and had a single digit deficit w/9 to go @ SEC co-leader LSU. The Spartans also lost @ LSU, by just 6. And they had the halftime lead @ Rupp vs Kentucky. This conference is poised to be a major bracket buster this season..............

.........Speaking of potential bracket busters, pay attention to the leaders of the Atlantic Sun, Liberty & Lipscomb. Liberty went 1-4 vs power conference schools. They never lost by double digits & beat UCLA in Pauley by 15. The Bisons went on the road & gave TCU their only non-conference loss. They also fell short @ Louisville by just 4. Their NET is probably too low to merit an at large selection. So they are going to have to win their tourney on March 10th. Regardless who wins, neither is likely to be overwhelmed w/dancing in front of the cameras...........

..........I keep hearing commentators saying dook will get a pass regarding seeding because of Zion's injury. Are they going to do the same for Va Tech, who lost their all time assists leader for over half the conference schedule? Four of their 7 losses came in that period. How about Michigan State. who has 2 of their top 3 scorers out? Kansas? Zags? Just because Zion is a dynamic player doesn't mean dook has earned the right to not be questioned. I'm sick of that type of garbage in football & a dang sure don't want it in basketball. You earn what you earn based on your established season record. Not on your established reputation. Injuries are part of the game. The ones that overcome deserve to be rewarded. Those that succumb deserve to be empty handed............

...........While on the topic of dook, RJ Barrett is clearly better than Zion WIlliamson. Zion is flashy. Barrett is just good. The rest of the devils have seen their game tumble w/o Zion's presence. Barrett has skyrocketed. He still gets his. Don't let ESPN's overbearing hype fool you. I understand why an NBA team would want to pick Zion first because of his box office draw. Zion may be the star of your team, but Barrett would be the BEST on your team...........

The best contenders for #1 seeds........Gonzaga...Their weakness will be a 3 month period without playing any serious competition to prepare them for the NCAA's.....Virginia...No major concerns. But can Tony Bennett's system do it when it matters most?........dook...Health and little consistent scoring outside of RJ/Zion......UNC...no offensive or defensive presence in the paint....Kentucky...displaying what everyone thought they would be when the season started, but their inexperience crops up from time to time.......Tennessee...I had my doubts until they reached the meat of their schedule the last couple of weeks. They are learning on the run what it means to play as the hunted instead of the hunter...Michigan/Mich St.......these 2 have an outside shot if they run the table while a couple of the former have disaterous finishes. People forget Michigan was last season;s runner up. The Spartans have too many health concerns to be thought of as more than a dark horse for a title. But I guess you can't count out an Izzo led team.........