Portal Kombat: Choose Your Fighter

 

There are still options for Marquette to upgrade their rotation

For the first two weeks of the portal, it was a stressful but ultimately incredibly fun time to be a Marquette fan. With glaring needs at the center position and a secondary wing ball-handler, the additions of Sananda Fru and Nolan Minessale seemed to be the perfect fits for a Marquette squad intent on getting back to the top of the Big East and the NCAA Tournament. But with just hours left for student athletes to enter the transfer portal, Marquette fans learned that while the portal giveth, it also taketh away.

Marquette big man Sheek Pearson has entered the transfer portal, source told ESPN. Former top-50 recruit reclassified into the 2025 class and redshirted this past season with the Golden Eagles.

— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) April 22, 2026

Marquette already seemed to have a need for a guard off the bench, with no experienced ball-handlers beyond Nigel James and Minessale. The departure of Pearson left Marquette without its top center option as well, as Caedin Hamilton was removed from the starting lineup and relegated to limited bench minutes by the end of this past season and Josh Clark struggled to establish a regular role in the rotation. Marquette is left with two open scholarships and two pretty clear needs.

With those needs in mind, we enter Portal Kombat. But instead of choosing between Kano, Sonya, and Sub-Zero, college basketball fans have options like Divine, Nzeh, Mack, and the secret unlockable character, Gold. The portal may be closed for new entrants (for now...more on that later) but there are players in the portal that Marquette could add to address those two bench needs. Today we'll take a look at some of those options to give Marquette fans an idea of how the roster could still be upgraded by addressing the bench, provided they have enough credits to select their character. Note that the year listed is what they will be in the 2026-27 season.

Combo Guards

Divine Ugochukwu, Michigan State (6'3", 195, Jr)

This guy looks like he was built in a lab to play in Shaka Smart's system. I don't know if Ugochukwu would be willing to come in for a role that wasn't as a starter, but if he did, it would be ideal. While he's just 6'3", he boasts a massive 6'8" wingspan, which gives him the ability to guard players bigger than his listed size. He's a high efficiency (120.3 Adj ORtg) guard who earned a starting role for the Spartans before being sidelined with a foot injury. He was also a late portal entry, so there's likely time to get involved. Ugochukwu was a positive player on both ends in both RAPM (2.3) and BPR (2.3). He's an excellent finisher, shooting 65.4% at the rim and 44.2% from three. While his passing isn't elite (17.0% assist rate) what's appealing is how he achieves that passing. He is elite hitting cutters and passing in pick and roll. It's exactly what Marquette needs in a ball-handler. In addition, he can shoot, drive, and get out in transition with high-level efficiency. This is a guy who could step in with confidence at any time and fill in for any of the starters 1-3 to give elite rotational coverage.

Christian Jones, George Washington (6'4", 200, Jr)

Jones would arrive with two years of eligibility after starting all 34 games against D1 opponents for the Revolutionaries and averaging 10.0 ppg/3.0 rpg/3.1 apg. Jones posted a 2.2 RAPM and 2.8 BPR, with positive scores in both on the offensive and defensive side. He is a proven provider (21.3% assist rate) and shooter (36.4 3PFG%). He doesn't stand out as a star in any regard, but he's good at a lot of things. Looking at his Hoop-Explorer Play Profile, he's an above average shooter both in catch and shoot and pull-ups, is a good pick-and-roll passer, and does well enough in transition. His driving may be a bit lackluster but at least he's willing and hopefully more coaching would help him improve in that regard.

Sebastian Mack, Missouri (6'3", 195, Sr)

Mack got off to a decent start at Missouri, averaging 10.6 ppg/1.8 rpg/1.0 apg/1.4 spg in his first 8 games. Then it all went south. His averages all sank, he had career lows in efficiency, three-point shooting, and assist rate. When I asked a Missouri fan what happened, he responded "Not a fit at all, and he made the court look like it was a slip 'n slide and spent as much time falling down as he did on his feet." While that's less than appealing, it might provide Mack as a buy-low option on a player that could be a really good fit if he regained his 2024-25 form when he was at UCLA. That season, Mack was efficient (105.1 ORtg), created for others (15.8% assist rate), and was at his best going downhill to the hoop. He's always been a good defender, particularly when it comes to generating turnovers. If the staff were looking for someone who has proven themselves before at the high-major level and were willing to take a chance on a reclamation project, Mack could be a good option.

Centers

Ben Defty, Boston University (7'0", 255, Jr)

If Marquette wanted a like-for-like Fru backup, they couldn't find someone with a closer statistical profile than Defty. He's a high-efficiency big man (121.7 ORtg) who is elite at the rim (72.3%), as a shot-blocker (7.0%), and on the glass (8.7% OR, 20.7% DR). While there's some risk with big men who anchored bad defenses (BU ranked #348 per kenpom) it's hard to blame Defty for that. Defty was the only player on BU with positive RAPM and DBPR scores, and there was a massive gap between him and the next best defender in both metrics. The biggest question is how he would handle the step up in competition. I would caution against those who criticize Defty because of his numbers against Tier A+B competition. In his career, he only had 3 games out of 63 against such opponents with two of the three outings over 100 ORtg. The sample size simply isn't large enough to draw any meaningful conclusions.

Kachi Nzeh, Little Rock (6'8", 225, Sr)

Nzeh had by far his most productive season so far at Little Rock after stints at Xavier and Penn State, posting 11.7 ppg/4.8 rpg/1.3 apg. He rated as a negative RAPM and BPR player on both ends of the court, but that's likely more because Little Rock was a sub-300 team and poor on both offense and defense. He was a positive contributor per RAPM in his previous high-major seasons. Nzeh can play both front court positions, has consistently been over 60% at the rim for his career, and last year added 40.4% three point shooting (on 114 attempts) to his offensive arsenal. He also does a bit of everything on offense, even if not at elite levels. He'd likely be worth taking a flyer as someone who has high-major experience and has been a positive contributor in low to moderate minute loads.

Devin Williams, Florida Atlantic (6'10", 210, Jr)

Williams played both the 4 and the 5 for FAU. Williams isn't a great offensive player, but he's at least serviceable. He converts 62.7% of his shots at the rim and has the ability to step out to the three-point line a couple times per game, making 33.3% from deep mostly on pick-and-pop actions like what Ben Gold used to get looks at Marquette. He's an excellent offensive rebounder (10.2% OR) but does turn it over a bit more than you'd like. The defensive end is where he really shines, with a monster 11.1% block rate (9th nationally), 1.1 DRAPM, and 1.58 DBPR. When he was on the floor, teams were 3.2% less likely to attempt shots at the rim and 8.1% worse on those attempts (50.2% on to 58.3% off). As long as Williams offensive usage stayed low, he looks like a capable complement to either Royce Parham or Sananda Fru.

There's also one more wrinkle worth discussing. Recently, NCAA President Charlie Baker came out in support of allowing college athletes five years to complete five seasons. If this were to pass with immediate effect, players like Chase Ross and Ben Gold would be eligible to plan an additional season. There are still many questions to be answered around this. If it passes, will returning fifth year players be given the option to enter the portal, or will they have to have entered the portal before this went into effect, like North Carolina's Seth Trimble? Will extra scholarships be allowed so teams that filled their roster spots can retain graduate seniors? If they create an additional portal entry period, will this only be open to graduate seniors to enter the portal or will it give the chance for all current players to enter again?

Later this year, college sports could be ready to vote on the biggest change to eligibility since 1972. Five in five isn’t just a concept limited to a committee room anymore, it’s something the NCAA president is actively pushing hard for. https://t.co/VrSYgeNs3x

— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) April 22, 2026

If Marquette is to bring back one of their graduates, the most likely would seem to be Ben Gold. The staff does not want any questions about the leadership of this team, which makes it more likely that Gold would return over Chase Ross, who frequently had the ball in his hands in late game situations that went awry (Dayton, Oklahoma, Villanova, to name a few). In addition, it's pretty clear that Nolan Minessale fills the Chase role but the third big man role that Sheek Pearson was expected to fill is still vacant and it seems unlikely the staff would be comfortable with the current options as opposed to someone like Gold who thrived in a reserve big role in the past.

F Ben Gold, Marquette (6'11", 235, Gr)

In many ways, Gold seems ideal for this spot. He's always been a high-efficiency, low usage big that is capable of playing in the middle, where he started for the bulk of the past two seasons, or in more of a stretch-four role that he slid into when paired with a more traditional down low player like Caedin Hamilton. Offensively, Ben has been over 63% at the rim every season at Marquette and he showed consistent three-point progress until last year's backslide. His rebounding improved significantly over his time here. He has been a positive contributor on both the offensive and defensive end in both RAPM and BPR each of the past three years. Gold knows the system and would be able to play in the middle alongside Parham as he did most of last year or step in alongside Fru as more of a pick-and-pop player. In addition, he was a higher efficiency shooter when he was at lower usage, and with the roster as constructed he would almost certainly be a bench option since Fru was specifically brought in to man the middle and Ben was significantly behind the returning big three (James, Stevens, Parham) in conference play minutes last year. For Gold's play profiles, I'm including each of the past two years to see not just what he looked like last year but also what he looked like when he was in a reduced role, more similar to what would be expected if he returned.

Whether Marquette stays with the roster as constructed, looks to add through the current portal, holds off for the fifth year ruling, or considers adding reclassified 2027 recruits as 2026 freshmen remains to be seen, but if they opt for the portal, there are still some good options out there that would improve the team. One website I've been playing around with lately is ShootyHoops.com that allows you to see where they project teams with portal additions made. Currently, Marquette ranks #22 on that site, but adding Ben Defty and Christian Jones brings them up to #13. It's just one site and just one projection, but improving the bench will make the team better while improving the floor, guarding against injuries, and helping a player like Nigel James to not get burned out by February as we saw with Kam Jones in 2024-25.

Nolan Minessale Commits to Marquette

From Hilltopper to Golden Eagle, Nolan Minessale is transferring to Marquette

Photo from JSOnline.com

In the 2024 WIAA Boys High School Championship Game, Marquette University High School star Nolan Minessale led the Hilltoppers with 29 points as they beat Arrowhead 84-62 to clinch the school's first state title. After two years at St. Thomas, Minessale is going to be putting on another Marquette uniform, this time a few blocks east of the MUHS campus at Marquette. Minessale was a first team all-Summit League player after averaging 19.8 ppg, 4.6 rpg, and 4.3 apg.

Minessale is an intriguing two-way prospect. He has good size at 6'5" but more impressively boasts a 7'0" wingspan. This gives him excellent positional versatility as he played PG, SG, SF, and PF at St. Thomas, while also sometimes jumping the tip due to his length and athleticism. At Marquette he could compete for a starting spot while giving coverage at multiple positions.

Offensively, Minessale is a high efficiency player who primarily played as a wing but looked equally comfortable in the lead guard role. St. Thomas was 9.7 adjusted points/100 possessions better on offense with Minessale on the floor. He can create shots for himself and others. Minessale thrives getting to the hoop, where he is an elite finisher who can convert above the rim while also getting to the free throw line. He's also an adept passer who can spray outside or thread the needle in pick and roll. His biggest weakness is three point accuracy, but with 42 made threes this past season he will still draw a defender out there. In terms of versatility he has some similarity to Kam Jones in that he can play on or off the ball, initiate the offense, and finish at the rim. Kam was a better shooter, Nolan is a better rebounder and gets to the line more often.

Defensively, Minessale uses his length to be disruptive and is difficult to get past. St. Thomas was a staggering 13.9 adjusted points/100 better on defense with Minessale on the floor. He's good at generating turnovers and shot blocking (5.0% block rate as a freshman). And while Summit League teams aren't known for their defense, Minessale graded out as the best defender on a top-150 defense last year.

The biggest question will be how he scales up to the Big East. At a glance, it's clear to see his efficiency dropped off against the type of competition he'll be seeing every week in the Big East. I'd say this is a minor concern. Individual efficiency is often driven by team efficiency, and mid-major teams generally tend to fare worse against Tier A+B competition because of the talent discrepancy. As long as those numbers don't drop off a cliff (30-50 points worse) I'm not as disturbed as I once was by these declines. It's also a small sample size, just 11 out of 62 games played.

Looking at this past year, that depression was largely driven by turnovers and three point percentage. But as the primary offensive option, he was still able to create shots, defend, get into the lane, finish, and get to the line. At Marquette, he won't draw the same defensive attention which should mitigate the weaknesses while allowing the positives to still thrive. As a freshman, his drop was almost exclusively due to a shooting decline in non-conference play. But as his eFG% was 40.4% in the first three of those games as a true freshman in his first month of D1 basketball and it rose to 60.0% (with all individual game efficiency ratings over 120.0), he certainly seemed to acclimate to those games as the season went on.

In terms of skillset, Minessale looks like a great fit. If he starts, his length and athleticism allow him to slot in alongside Nigel James and Adrien Stevens as a third guard or wing. His ball handling and creation essentially puts another point guard on the floor and he provides cover when one of those two goes to the bench. He's a rim/three focused offensive player as 87.1% of his shots came from the parts of the floor Marquette emphasizes.

It's worth noting how good Minessale is at what Marquette wants to do. Per Hoop Explorer he's in the 80th or better efficiency in attacking the rim, drive and kick, hitting cutters, making cuts from the perimeter, and passing in pick and roll. Those are also five of his six most frequently used play types, so it isn't just being good at what Shaka Smart wants but maximizing that. He's only average in transition but his frequency shows he is willing and able to get out and run.

We'll close with a recommendation to read an evaluation from KJ Scouting. He regards Minessale as an NBA prospect and put together a great video demonstrating what he can do on the court and why he could thrive not just in the Big East but beyond. Welcome to Marquette, Nolan.

And for those of you who are very online, a warm Marquette welcome to cousin Mia Minessale as well.

Sananda Fru Commits to Marquette

 

Marquette has added Louisville transfer center Sananda Fru

Photo by Michael Hickey | Getty Images

Marquette has secured the services of the first men's basketball Division I transfer since Darryl Morsell committed in the summer of 2021 with the addition of 6'11" Louisville center Sananda Fru. Fru immediately projects as the starting center and the type of major impact piece Marquette wanted to announce their reentry to the transfer portal. Fru ranks as the #4 transfer in the country per EvanMiya.com and seems like a particularly good fit for Marquette's style.

The coaching staff first announced their intentions on February 14 through a sideline report from Jared Greenberg in the game at Xavier. Greenberg said "Marquette is the last high-major men's basketball program to resist going into the transfer portal, and now those days appear to be coming to an end."

So what do we know about Sananda Fru on the court? Let's start with a quick statistical breakdown:

On the offensive end, Fru is an elite player, ranking #39 in the country in offensive efficiency. This is largely because of his dunking ability, where he converted 62/68 attempts, which made up half of his two-point field goal makes. Fru was #2 in the nation in 2PFG%, something that was sorely lacking at Marquette last year. He's also a high-level offensive rebounder so he can give himself the chances to create those shots. Fru also does something Marquette hasn't seen much from the center position since Oso Ighodaro left. He scores 1.319 points per possession on Pick & Roll rolls to the rim. Coming from a Louisville program where more than half the attempts came from three, he will likely see more plays designed for him. While his three-point percentage looks impressive, I would caution that he only had eight attempts.

Fru might be an even better fit on the defensive end. This is in part because Louisville does not play the drop coverage that has grown in popularity but still isn't embraced at Marquette, which means he will already be familiar with switching and guarding different players. He's an excellent shot blocker and has good defensive activity. His DRAPM and DBPR scores, both metrics that measure overall defensive impact, are better than any returning Marquette player. Essentially, Fru gives Marquette a true rim protector and versatile interior defender with high-level athletic ability.

Every transfer will also come with some criticisms. Fru did lose his starting spot down the stretch at Louisville and Cardinal fans I've talked to have described him as soft. He committed 4.2 fouls per 40 minutes, a number that rose to 4.6 in ACC play and 5.1 against Tier A&B competition per kenpom. And while he gets to the charity stripe well (52.9% FT Rate) he only converts at a 61.1% clip, which is by far not the most important thing but will frustrate some fans. It's also worth noting that system fit makes a big difference. Years ago, Joseph Chartouny seemed like an ideal fit to create shots for Markus Howard and the Hausers while being the perimeter tip of the spear on defense, but the system muted his impact and that transfer never fully worked. Marquette fans will hope Coach Smart is better at fitting Fru into his system than Wojo was with Chartouny.

In addition, despite the demotion, Sananda Fru still managed to put up 10 points and 10 rebounds in Louisville's first round NCAA win over South Florida. Pat Kelsey said "Being nice to you hasn't helped, maybe I just need to scream my ass off at you and you play like a freaking monster." Big men often tend to do better after a transfer, possibly due to the new staff identifying players that have already proven at the D1 level they fit into the specific system a team will run.

Milwaukee should be a particularly good fit for Fru. He was born in Berlin, Germany and played professionally for Löwen Braunschweig, tallying 12.4 ppg and 6.2 rpg as he won Best Young Player honors in 2024-25. Few cities in the country have as many local ties to Germanic culture. I would point out to Fru that Milwaukee German Fest will be July 24-26, there are a number of German restaurants in Milwaukee including Mader's and the Old German Beer Hall, and volunteer opportunities reading to children at the Milwaukee German Immersion School.

Welcome to the transfer portal era, Marquette fans.

You down with OPP? Offseason Portal Prep?

 It's officially official portal season for #mubb. Returners to the roster (majority anyway) have been announced so we discuss our excitement about who's officially returning. We then talk about who isn't returning (spoiler, we think those are positive too) and discuss what to make about the players on this roster of which there have been no mention whatsoever. Based on what's been announced and what we speculate about the unannounced players, we provide our recipe for a successful portal season with 3 known roster spots available. One other change we need to discuss is Nevada Smith leaving to head coach Siena. First of all, congrats coach we'll miss you but also please don't take your jar of magic beans with you. We discuss how Nevada's departure impacts the staff and program going forward and what we're looking for in a new staff member. Buckle up, this is the fun part. Enjoy!

 

https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/2bku6twph4kh9y4g/2026_April_5_PPP7kh63.mp3

This is the end....of the season

 Well, the #mubb season ended kinda sorta like we thought it would. We spend a little bit of time talking about the Big East Tournament but pretty quickly pivot to the most important off season in the program since at least Covid. We talk about what the issues are, what we expect from Shaka, and what we would prescribe for the team to find success next season. We close out with an overview of the college basketball landscape that Marquette is competing in. There is no doubting the pod will be back somewhat frequently unlike offseasons of the past. Enjoy!

https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/xuudn966hsf7wt73/2026_March_15_the_end9aq09.mp3

 

Cracketology: Contingency Plans

It's rare that nearly every game on Sunday seems to have some level of meaning aside from just the automatic bid, but with the exception of the American Final, all of the results will impact someone on the seed list. With that in mind, I'm going to go into this with the following expectations, picking the team that would rank higher in the seed list to win all of their respective finals:

• YALE over Penn in the Ivy League Final
• VANDERBILT over Arkansas in the SEC Final
• VCU over Dayton in the Atlantic 10 Final
• SOUTH FLORIDA over Wichita in the American Final
• MICHIGAN over Purdue in the Big 10 Final

Now let's talk contingency plans:

PENN WINS IVY LEAGUE: If the upset happens, Yale is eliminated and every team from 50-Northern Iowa to 57-Wright State moves up one spot. This means that High Point becomes a 12-seed, Hawaii becomes a 13-seed, and Penn slots in as the new 57, making them a 14-seed.

ARKANSAS WINS SEC: Vanderbilt moved up to the last 3-seed on the expectation of being SEC Champs. If the Razorbacks win, Vandy and Nebraska swap spots. Nebraska is the last 3-seed and Vanderbilt is the top 4-seed. Arkansas remains unchanged.

DAYTON WINS ATLANTIC 10: If the Flyers pull the upset, that eliminates 45-San Diego State from the field and Dayton is slotted into #45 overall and an 11-seed. VCU stays at #43 but is now playing in Dayton as the second to last at-large.

WICHITA STATE WINS AMERICAN: If the Shockers shock the Bulls, they simply take their spot. No change, the American champ is #46 overall and an 11-seed.

PURDUE WINS BIG 10: If the Boilermakers win, Arizona would jump Michigan to #2 overall as the Wolverines would fall to #3, but both would remain on the 1-line. Purdue would jump up ahead of Michigan State to #8 overall as the last 2-seed.

We'll wrap with a quick bubble discussion, then have the final projected Seed List.

Ultimately, I went with San Diego State over Auburn and Texas. It was three teams for one spot. While San Diego State was the lowest in WAB (#47, -0.15 score) that is on par with Xavier from last year (#49, -0.12) who was the last team in. Auburn (#44, +0.40) has some nice wins, but 16 total losses would be the most ever for an at-large team and 17-16 would be the worst winning percentage for an at-large team. Auburn is also 11-16 in Q1-3, which would be by far the worst ever record in that range (last year's Texas was 13-15, the only sub-.500 Q1-3 record to earn an at-large). Texas (#46, +0.00) also has good wins, but they are 10-14 in Q1-3, which would also be the worst ever selected. San Diego State may not have the top end wins, but also didn't have the opportunity volume that Auburn and Texas had. They did, however, go 15-11 in Q1-3 and don't have any of the fatal flaw numbers the other two have.

I feel like no matter which team I pick here, I'll be wrong. This decision gets easier if Dayton wins the A-10 and knocks this spot completely out of the field, but for now I'm going with San Diego State as the last team in. 

This is my best shot at a bracket, but it could change a lot in the next few hours. The Committee will definitely have contingencies.

Cracketology: Another 48 Hours

Did Nijel Pack & Oklahoma do enough to earn an at-large bid?

Photo by Morgan Givens | University of Oklahoma

We're drawing closer to the NCAA Selection Show. As I write this, we are two days out from seeing the full bracket. So where do things stand? Let's dig in with a quick look at the biggest questions facing the Selection Committee between now and Sunday.

Who are the most likely bid thieves?

• Atlantic 10 - Dayton: Over the last month, the Flyers are playing like the best team in the A-10, ranked #27 in T-Rank ahead of #40 VCU. Included in that stretch is a decisive win over St. Louis, who they play in Saturday's semifinal.
• Big East - Seton Hall: By the time you read this, the Pirates may be done, but if they can get by St. John's (they played within single digits twice), the Pirates have a win over UConn each year since the Huskies rejoined the Big East.
• MAC - Akron: The MAC is guaranteed to have a bid thief with Miami (OH) eliminated, and the Zips were the metric favorite to win the automatic bid from the start. They defeated the three remaining semifinalists by an average of 13.0 ppg in the regular season.
• Mountain West - San Diego State: The Aztecs are favored over New Mexico, but whomever wins that game will be the best shot at a bid thief. It's likely too late for either to earn an at-large, so the only path to a second Mountain West bid is if Utah State loses.
• SEC - Oklahoma: The Sooners are getting some late at-large buzz, but it's reminiscent of 2022 Texas A&M, who also had a long January into February losing streak only to try to make up for that in the SEC Tournament. I think it's automatic bid or bust for Oklahoma.

Who will land on the right side of the bubble?

• In - Missouri: The Tigers might be sweating with some bid thieves, but they have five wins over the field including beating Florida. They also have wins over the two closest SEC contenders, Auburn and Oklahoma. They should hear their name on Selection Sunday.
• In - SMU: The Mustangs are in, but bid thieves could certainly knock them out. Their four Q1 wins and 45 WAB should be enough, but all it would take is a few bid thieves to knock them out.
• Barely In - VCU: The Rams would be well-suited to make bracketologists lives easier by winning the A-10 auto bid. Their 39 resume average and 42 WAB is appealing, but they don't have any wins over another at-large team in the field, with neutral court wins over South Florida and Virginia Tech along with a road win at Dayton the highlights of their resume. If there's another 1-2 bid thieves and VCU doesn't punch their own ticket, they could easily be left out.
• Barely In - Texas: The Longhorns are only 17-14, a mark that rarely makes the field, but they have 6 wins over at-large teams in the field. Their WAB of 46 is as bubbly as can be and they are quite simply the best of a group of not great options. 
• Barely Out - Oklahoma: If you put Oklahoma's resume up against the rest of the bubble with no context, they might be in over VCU or Texas. But wins over South Carolina and Texas A&M came in the SEC Tournament and it's hard to know how much those will be valued. No one had this team in 48 hours ago, not sure I can get there because of two wins since then.
• Barely Out - San Diego State/New Mexico: These teams are the Spider-Man meme. Separated by 1 in NET, 1 in WAB, both are 2-6 in Q1, have 8 Q1+2 wins, and have losses in Q3. I just don't think either have quite done enough. They likely need the auto-bid.
• Out - Auburn: Yes, they played a tough schedule and won some big games. However they also have 16 losses and are one game above a .500 record. No team has ever made the at-large field with that many losses or that poor a winning percentage. They had chances and didn't make the most of them.

What is Miami-Ohio's Fate?

Where the Redhawks land is one of the most debated conversations at the moment. Despite their loss to UMass, that was still a Q3 loss and while it will prevent them from moving up, we're going to stick with their resume average of 39.7 and as a result they landed on the 10-line as the 40th overall team. The seed was primarily based on two factors.

First, last year's Memphis had a 17.0 resume average and a 52.3 predictive average. Typically, the average of those two would predict the seed, with a slight weighting advantage to the predictives, which would suggest Memphis should've been an 8 or 9 seed. Instead, the Selection Committee followed their resume average and gave them a 5-seed. Second, this team started 31-0 and there's no way that a team with a 31-1 record should be at risk of having to play a game in Dayton just to get to the Thursday/Friday games.

With that in mind, the Redhawks have a 39.7 resume average and a 91.0 predictive average. I'm throwing out the predictives like the Committee did for Memphis last year and strictly following their resume average for a 10-seed. Even if there are four more bid thieves, I think Miami should be above Dayton, no matter what line they land on.

At this point, I'm not sure if it's surprising or just the universe trying to tell me something that following the bracketing principles, Miami (OH) is once again facing Miami (FL), this time because the Redhawks were the last 10-seed placed and the only opening was against the Hurricanes. Suppose at some point, you just have to lean into the bit.

Okay...here's the current Seed List and Bracket. It's primarily based on Thursday's results, but nothing today has significantly changed that, if anything it reinforced what we already had, largely thanks to the Wisconsin win over Illinois.

Multi-bid Leagues

SEC: 10

Big 10: 9

ACC: 8

Big 12: 8

Big East: 3

WCC: 3

A-10: 2

MAC: 2