{"id":375575,"date":"2010-03-01T11:47:28","date_gmt":"2010-03-01T16:47:28","guid":{"rendered":"urn:newsml:sports.yahoo,yhoo:20050301:fantasy,article,yhoo-ept_sports_fantasy_experts-224993:1"},"modified":"2010-03-01T11:47:28","modified_gmt":"2010-03-01T16:47:28","slug":"bracket-big-board-at-large-pressure-cooker-has-huskies-panting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/375575","title":{"rendered":"Bracket Big Board: At-large pressure cooker has Huskies panting"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Bracket Big Board takes into consideration past returns,
\ncurrent performance and expected future gains in determining who should
\nbe included among the field of 65 (31 automatic and 34 at-large bids).
\nEssentially, the Bracket Big Board is a cheat sheet designed for
\namateur bracketologists if they were filling out a Tourney Pick ‘Em ’10<\/a>
\n(SIGN UP NOW!!!<\/a>) entry today. The Bracket Big Board is updated every Monday until the
\ndance card is officially unveiled March 14.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a>
<\/p>\n

Despite dropping a critical matchup with Louisville
\non Sunday Senior Day, Connecticut’s
\nmotto on campus still remains: "Yes UCann." <\/p>\n

Plagued by underachievement and extraneous circumstances no
\nteam could prepare for, the once lifeless Huskies are revived. The return of
\nhead coach Jim Calhoun, who missed several games with health problems, has
\nsparked his team to three wins in its past four – two against highly ranked
\nfoes Villanova and West Virginia.
\nThe transformation is nothing short of miraculous. Recall just two weeks ago,
\nUConn’s tournament chances was on par with the Nutmeg State avoiding another Nor’easter – slim. At 14-11 overall and 4-8 in
\nconference play on February 13, the disoriented Huskies were seemingly destined
\nfor the Not Invited Tournament. <\/p>\n

How quickly fortunes can reverse.<\/a><\/p>\n

Now 17-12 (7-9 in conference) they’re on the brink of bouncing off the bubble and into the tourney field.  <\/p>\n

The primary reason why UConn has emerged from the dead:
\nKemba Walker. <\/p>\n

The catalytic force has rapidly ascended into the Pantheon
\nof college point guards. Last season coming off the bench, he played
\nunrestrained. His poor decision making led to numerous turnovers. But in his
\nsecond season, some of the matured point guard’s rough edges have smoothed.
\nThough missteps occasionally have happened – he’s averaged 3.1 turnovers per game –
\nhis ability to push the tempo, create, distribute, draw contact and, most
\nnotably, score (23.5 ppg in his last four), has almost single-handedly
\npropelled the Huskies into the at-large picture. Walker’s brutally honest coach recently spoke highly of the sophomore’s development<\/a>:  <\/p>\n

"Kemba Walker is one of the best point guards in
\nthe country, I don’t have any question in my mind about that," Calhoun said.
\n"It’s a joy for me to coach him and watch him play."<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

However, there’s no time for complacency. <\/p>\n

With three BEASTly teams – Louisville, UConn and Notre Dame –
\npotentially fighting for two NCAA spots, Calhoun’s club can ill-afford another
\nsetback. Wednesday’s road clash in South
\n Bend could ultimately decide its tournament fate.
\nStill, with nine wins against the RPI 100 – more than at-large locks BYU, Texas, Texas A&M, Maryland, Oklahoma St. and Ohio St. – a
\ndisastrous final two weeks may not completely crush dancing hopes. Keep in mind
\nthe Huskies, who’ve played the second-toughest schedule in the country, have
\nlost seven games by five points or less. The Selection Committee will also
\nweigh Calhoun’s extended absence heavily.  <\/p>\n

If UConn does sneak into the Field of 65, consider it,
\nsimilar to major conference underdogs Arizona
\nand Wisconsin
\nlast year, a diseased Cinderella no one wants a one-night stand with. <\/p>\n

Offensively, the Huskies are doughboy soft interiorly, but
\nthe same cannot be said on the opposite end<\/a>. Challenging opponents down low by
\nbodying up and swatting shots, they rank in the top 12 nationally in two-point
\nfield goal percentage defense and block percentage. Overall, they’re No. 28
\nin defensive efficiency. Add that with Uconn’s incredible ability to get to the
\nline, and this is a team which could wreak considerable bracket havoc.  <\/p>\n

Beware of these dogs.<\/p>\n

Here are the movers and shakers on this week’s Triple-B:<\/p>\n

<\/a>
 <\/a>
<\/p>\n

*For games played through Sunday, February 28
*RPI data provided
\nby Rivals<\/a>
*Efficiency
\n stats from kenpom.com<\/a>
<\/strong><\/p>\n

On
\n the Bubble: <\/strong>St. Mary’s (24-5), Dayton (19-9), Minnesota (17-11), San Diego St. (20-8), Mississippi (19-9), Charlotte (19-9) <\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dropped
\n Out:<\/strong> Dayton, San Diego St., St. Mary’s, Robert Morris<\/p>\n

Conference
\nBreakdown: <\/strong>American
\nEast
\n (1), ACC (7), Atlantic Sun (1), Atlantic 10 (4), Big 12 (7), Big
\nEast (9), Big Sky (1), Big South (1), Big Ten (5), Big West (1),
\nColonial (1), Conference USA (2), Horizon (1), Ivy (1), Metro (1),
\nMid-American (1), Mid-Eastern (1), Missouri Valley (1), Mountain West
\n(3), Northeast (1), Ohio Valley (1), Pac-10 (1), Patriot (1), SEC (4),
\nSouthern (1), Southland (1), SWAC (1), Summit (1), Sun Belt (1), West
\nCoast (1), WAC
\n(1) <\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Image courtesy of US Presswire <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Bracket Big Board takes into consideration past returns, current performance and expected future gains in determining who should be included among the field of 65 (31 automatic and 34 at-large bids). Essentially, the Bracket Big Board is a cheat sheet designed for amateur bracketologists if they were filling out a Tourney Pick ‘Em ’10 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5446,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-375575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5446"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=375575"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375575\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=375575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=375575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=375575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}