Buzzer-Beating Bracketology
Da'Sean Butler (left) and Evan Turner (right) rocked their conference tournaments with buzzer-beating threes. (AP)
NEW YORK — When West Virginia’s Da’Sean Butler hit the banked-in buzzer-beater that rocked the Big East tournament on Thursday night, Ohio State’s Evan Turner was watching it on television, 730 miles away in Indianapolis. They were teammates this summer at the World University Games in Serbia, and are still friends, so when Turner was presented with the opportunity to make some last-second March magic of his own — about 15 hours later — he said he “just wanted to second” Butler’s shot.
What he actually did was one-up it, drilling a 37-foot three as time expired, without needing help from the backboard. Turner’s heroics sunk Michigan’s hopes of playing its way into the NCAA tournament, just as Butler’s banker killed Cincinnati’s run at an automatic bid. But those miracle shots didn’t just impact the Wolverines and Bearcats: The team that could potentially be most affected is Duke.
From a bracketology standpoint, we’ve reached the hour where one shot can affect seeding position. Kansas, which plays in the Big 12 semifinals today, and Kentucky, which advanced to the SEC semis by beating Alabama on Friday afternoon, are locks for No. 1 seeds. Syracuse is a near-lock for a No. 1, although I would advise the Orange to keep any bad news about Arinze Onuaku’s quad tendon quiet until after the selection committee is finished. Better to be evaluated at 100 percent than without one of your interior enforcers.
Duke is temporarily the fourth No. 1, but there’s a chance West Virginia (by winning the Big East) or Ohio State (by winning the Big Ten) could usurp them on the top line of the S-Curve. Especially if the Blue Devils don’t win the ACC tournament on Sunday.
Let’s compare the three teams’ resumes: Bad Losses
Team (RPI)
Record
Conf. (Pos.)
vs. RPI Top 25
vs. RPI Top 50
Good Wins
Duke (2)
27-5
13-3 (1)
1-4
7-4
Maryland, Clemson (x2), Gonzaga
N.C. State
Ohio State (29)
25-7
14-4 (1)
4-4
5-4
Purdue, Wisconsin, Cal, Michigan State
Michigan
West Virginia (5)
25-6
13-5 (2)
4-4
6-4
Villanova, Pitt, A&M, Georgetown, Ohio St.
None
I’d suggest to the Blue Devils that they beat Miami and Maryland Georgia Tech (or N.C. State) over the next two days, and leave their seeding as little up to chance as possible. We’ve all seen what Butler and Turner are capable of at the 11th hour.
You also have to consider that Turner didn’t play for most of Ohio State’s losses
How did WV’s buzzer beater “rock” the Big East tournament? Wasn’t WV the favorite? If so, why did they need a desperation 3 to win the game? Oh, and did Butler call “bank” when he let it fly?
I have been fortunate to watch Evan Turner all year and he is truly amazing!!!!! He has made outstanding progress since he entered OSU. That is a testament to the kind of person he is and to our coach, Thadd Matta. Evan has earned a lot of respect off of the court also by doing things such as mentoring a boy from a single parent household . He is an excellent role model for kids. I am so glad that he chose to come to Ohio State.
What was the deal with Matta yelling at the Michigan bench? Classy guy. It would have been great to see him get a technical for it and Ohio State lose after a great shot.
FYI, Butler did call bank, according to Cincinnati’s Lance Stephenson. By the way, Evan Turner was back and at full strength when WVU beat Ohio St. this year.
Lastly, anybody that thinks Michigan is better than Cincinnati is high.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/stewart_mandel/03/12/westvirginia.quarters/
Hey Kaiser,
Thad Matta was yelling at the officials’ table to emphasize to them how GOOD the shot was (as in Turner got it off on time). It was absolutely not an attack on the M-ch-g-n bench.
Hellooo!!! What about Purdue? IF they should win the Big-10 tournament, even with Robbie Hummel, wouldn’t they prove they deserve a #1 seed, ABOVE Ohio State, West Va., Duke, or even Syracuse. Granted, it’s a big if, but if they did they’d have won 15 of their last 16, and have a 29-4 record. Yes, losing Hummel was a blow, but c’mon, they only lost 1 game after that.
I could be wrong, but I agree with Kaiser – it sure looked to me like Matta was yelling at the Michigan bench after Turner’s game-winning shot.
Duke doesn’t have to beat Maryland because Maryland lost today, Duke doesn’t deserve a #1 seed based on 1-4 against top 25
Why did Ohio State become the media’s darling the final weeks of the regular season? They are a good team, but lost to Purdue late in the season and have 7 total losses, (3 with Turner in the lineup). Once Hummel went down Purdue vanished from the #1 seed talk immediately. Purdue beat 2 of the 3 potential #1 seeds in this article (killed WV), Duke plays in a weak conference and the Boilers have a better overall record than all 3. And why does Syracuse who lost in the first round of the tournament, still get a #1 seeed w/o question? Things that make you go “hmmm.”
Matta was not yelling at the Michigan bench, he was yelling at the referee, Hughes, for all of the ticky tacky fouls he had called, especially the second half. Timing was bad, I will admit.
Mike, Butler actually did call “Bank” as he let the shot go….Lance Stephenson told reporters about it after the game.
How can Duke possibly be 1-4 vs RPI top 25? They have losses to Wisconsin, Georgetown, Georgia Tech, Maryland, and NC State. Assuming NC State is the one loss that was not a top 25 loss, then you are saying all of the other teams are in the top 25. Duke has wins over Georgia Tech and Maryland. That would make them 2-4, not 1-4. If Georgia Tech is not in the top 25, then Duke would be 1-3, not 1-4.
Additionally, Duke’s 1-3 record came with 1 home game and 3 road games. West Virginia’s 4-4 record came with 3 home games, 1 neutral game, and 4 road games. You think if Duke played, say, Wisconsin at home instead of at Wisconsin, their record wouldn’t be 2-2?