As the NCAA has yet to release their initial NET rankings for the 20-21 season, this has to be taken with a grain of salt. However, I really like where we are positioned at this point.
Potential #1 seeds: Gonzaga, Baylor, Villanova, Texas, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan St., Kansas, Illinois, Virginia
We've already seen Duke & Kentucky all but eliminated from top seed consideration. Villanova, Texas, Wisconsin, Kansas, Illinois, and Virginia have all lost already (granted to solid competition, but the nod would go to undefeated teams at this point most likely). With the list of B1G teams at the top, we probably don't even need to put up any sort of insane record to lock up a #1 seed -- 16-4 would do it pretty easily assuming we can get some wins against Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan St (5 games against this group, so going 3-2 would be fine).
I would have liked to see a few more close wins from the B1G/ACC challenge -- Indiana, Nebraska, Purdue, Northwestern would have helped the perception of the conference if we could have gone something like 7-4 or 8-3 instead of 6-5. The B1G should still get a really solid proportion of bids, with 8 teams that should make it, and another 4 that will be competing for bids. The P12 looks down again this year, with several teams having lost disappointing games already and now real contenders for the national championship. The B12 and ACC appear to be top heavy, and I don't see any true contenders in the SEC. With limited non-conference games, it will be difficult for the struggling conferences to earn enough quality wins for their bubble teams.
Potential #1 seeds: Gonzaga, Baylor, Villanova, Texas, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan St., Kansas, Illinois, Virginia
We've already seen Duke & Kentucky all but eliminated from top seed consideration. Villanova, Texas, Wisconsin, Kansas, Illinois, and Virginia have all lost already (granted to solid competition, but the nod would go to undefeated teams at this point most likely). With the list of B1G teams at the top, we probably don't even need to put up any sort of insane record to lock up a #1 seed -- 16-4 would do it pretty easily assuming we can get some wins against Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan St (5 games against this group, so going 3-2 would be fine).
I would have liked to see a few more close wins from the B1G/ACC challenge -- Indiana, Nebraska, Purdue, Northwestern would have helped the perception of the conference if we could have gone something like 7-4 or 8-3 instead of 6-5. The B1G should still get a really solid proportion of bids, with 8 teams that should make it, and another 4 that will be competing for bids. The P12 looks down again this year, with several teams having lost disappointing games already and now real contenders for the national championship. The B12 and ACC appear to be top heavy, and I don't see any true contenders in the SEC. With limited non-conference games, it will be difficult for the struggling conferences to earn enough quality wins for their bubble teams.
