With Tulane botching its shot at the College Football Playoff, Boise State now essentially has its pathway clear. All the Broncos have to do is avoid a bad loss and they will be in the playoff.
This is the game that scares the living daylights out of the Big 12. Currently, the Big 12 champion would make the playoff as the last team in the field. But if Tulane keeps winning, the Green Wave could be in position to push the Big 12 out of the playoff entirely.
It’s safe to say that Memphis has already had an incredibly successful trip to the islands. Given little chance in a bracket that included Connecticut and Michigan State, the Tigers have reached the finals of the Maui Invitational, where they’re up against another brand of Tigers.
Here’s the exact matchup the Big 12 did not want to see when the Maui Invitational was announced last year. A season ago, the Big 12 knew it had scored a coup when it snagged Colorado from the decaying Pac-12, but basketball fans knew that it would create an oddity in the schedule.
This might not be what Iowa State was hoping for out of its trip to the islands. The Cyclones have not prepared well for this matchup, playing three weak opponents in their first three games.
Other than Dayton, Memphis probably has the most to prove in this Maui field. That kind of pressure can work either way, especially with Connecticut both yet to prove itself and used to facing bad offenses.
This is why you don’t eliminate divisions. Or if you do, you make sure the schedules are at least somewhat uniform.
The Big 12 still has half the conference alive for its two spots in the conference title game in Arlington, and you might need to be a math major to understand who might make it and what needs to happen. Or, you need to be someone like me who has way too much time on his hands.
When a team can’t run with Arizona, it’s going to run into problems. When a team can run with Arizona, the Wildcats really don’t have a good backup plan.
Since Fred Hoiberg arrived in Lincoln, the biggest question in the annual rivalry between Nebraska and Creighton has been simple: can the Huskers slow down the Bluejays?