USATSI
The final full week of college basketball’s regular season is in our rear view, which means our weekly report card — wherein I hand out grades for various teams based on how they performed over the week — will morph into something new this postseason. So let’s make the last one of the regular season a good one, shall we?
As always, there’s good and bad scattered about the report card, so let’s start with the good. I’ll be transparent from the jump: Only one team — UCLA — got an A+ for mowing by Arizona State and Arizona. However, Houston and Miami earned A grades this week after clinching their respective conference titles. Duke also earned the rare A by taking out in-state foes NC State and North Carolina, sweeping the Tar Heels while side swiping their tourney hopes in the process. Double whammy.
The bad starts with the Heels, who missed a chance at home to improve their résumé. No team in college hoops has ever began the season ranked No. 1 and gone on to miss the NCAA Tournament, but UNC is on the verge of doing exactly that. Jerry Palm has the Tar Heels on the wrong side of his bubble as of Sunday with work to do in the ACC Tournament to get in.
Oh, but UNC isn’t alone with ugly grades this week. Providence laid an egg at home in a stunning meltdown vs. Seton Hall and Arkansas continued its downward spiral to flirt close with failing grades this week as well.
Let’s dive into the report card for this week. As always, keep in mind the cycle runs Monday-Sunday.
