The Dagger

Ranking the seven contenders for the last three No. 1 seeds

The race for the NCAA tournament's final No. 1 seeds takes on greater importance than usual this season for one simple reason.

All the other contenders want to be spared the possibility of having to face top-ranked Kentucky until at least the Final Four. 

While the unbeaten Wildcats have all but locked up the NCAA tournament's No. 1 overall seed, the three remaining No. 1 seeds are still up for grabs entering the final week of the regular season. Below is a look at the seven contenders for those three spots in order of most likely to least likely to get one.  

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BYU could be one of March's most hotly debated bubble teams

Before BYU snapped third-ranked Gonzaga's 41-game home winning streak on Saturday night, the Cougars were an NCAA tournament-caliber team without an NCAA tournament-caliber résumé.

They had zero victories against RPI top 50 opponents. They had a pair of sub-100 RPI losses to Pepperdine and a third at San Diego. The most notable wins they had attained all season were at home against fellow bubble team Stanford and at home against likely NIT teams UMass and Saint Mary's.

One monumental road win in Spokane isn't a quick fix for those flaws in BYU's résumé, but it will force the selection committee to take a closer look at the Cougars. What they'll find is a profile that will test their philosophies and a team the eye test and computer numbers agree is probably better than its lack of notable victories suggests.

BYU is No. 26 in the KenPom rankings mostly because the use of margin of victory as a tool to determine a team's strength favors the Cougars.

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Gonzaga's loss to BYU will likely cost it a No. 1 seed

Gonzaga found one way to settle the debate over whether it deserves a No. 1 seed despite playing in a weaker league than the other contenders.

The Zags suffered a 73-70 home loss to BYU on Saturday night that likely removes them from consideration barring a flurry of setbacks from other top teams.

Though Gonzaga boasts a 29-2 record and quality non-league victories over SMU, St. John's, Georgia and UCLA, the Zags' eight top 100 RPI wins are the fewest among the nation's elite teams. That's not Gonzaga's fault since it did its best to assemble a formidable non-conference schedule, but it's a byproduct of playing in the RPI's ninth strongest league.

Whereas it was easier to overlook the flaws in Gonzaga's resumé when its lone loss was in overtime at Pac-12-leading Arizona in December, a loss at home to a BYU team that was on the fringes of the bubble picture prior to Saturday changes that. The Zags can still get a No. 2 seed if they win the WCC tournament in Las Vegas, perhaps in the West if Arizona either ascends to the No. 1 line or suffers another loss or two and drops below Gonzaga in the pecking order.

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Defense propels Arizona to a win that could have big ramifications

Three times in the final 75 seconds of the Pac-12's game of the year, Utah had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead.

Seventh-ranked Arizona emerged with an enormous 63-57 road win and clinched at least a share of the Pac-12 title because each time its defense held. 

Utah had to settle for an errant Brandon Taylor 3-pointer on its first chance since star Delon Wright gave up the ball early in the possession and was content to be a spectator. Wright did not make the same mistake on the Utes' second chance, but when the All-American candidate shed T.J. McConnell via a ball screen and attacked Kaleb Tarczewski off the dribble, the Arizona center was able to recover quickly enough to contest his potential go-ahead layup at the rim.

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Boise State moves to top of Mountain West with sweep of Aztecs

Boise State overcame a lot of history Saturday night to earn what could prove to be a milestone victory at San Diego State.

The Broncos won for the first time at San Diego State 56-46 and ended the Aztecs’ 29-game home court winning streak as well as their 47-game home winning streak when leading at halftime at Viejas Arena. It was the first road win against a ranked opponent for the Broncos since 2012 and only the second win against a ranked opponent in 20 such games under coach Leon Rice.

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The victory gave Boise State a season sweep in the series with Aztecs. So while the teams are tied atop the Mountain West standings, the Broncos hold an edge. That advantage is buoyed by the fact that Boise State’s final two regular season games are against San Jose State and Fresno State while the Aztecs must face tougher challenges against UNLV and Nevada.

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Dunk of the year nominee: Shaq Goodwin's off-glass alley-oop slam

At the end of disappointing season in which his team isn't even in contention for the NCAA tournament, Memphis big man Shaq Goodwin is still running the floor hard. His reward Saturday night was to be on the receiving end of a SportsCenter-worthy alley-oop pass. Instead of attempting a contested layup late in the first half against Tulsa, Memphis guard Trahson Burrell spotted a trailing Goodwin out of the corner of his eye and lobbed a pass off the glass. The 6-foot-9 junior showed excellent recognition and finished the play with a two-handed flush. One of the reasons Memphis is only 17-12 is that Goodwin hasn't performed to his potential, but he enjoyed one of his better games of the season against Tulsa. He scored 17 points and pulled down six rebounds, but the Tigers blew a late lead in regulation and lost 74-72 in overtime.

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Previous Dunk of the Year nominees:

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Controversial non-call helps Kansas hold off Texas in key Big 12 game

If Texas doesn’t make the NCAA tournament, it will have plenty of moments to regret from the past month during a late-season slide.

If Kansas wins its 11 th consecutive Big 12 Conference regular season title, it certainly will have earned it. But it also will be because a few things went its way at key times and others didn’t take advantage of some of the Jayhawks’ stumbles.

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One of those defining moments for both teams came late in their meeting Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse in 69-64 Kansas win.

Texas trailed by two points with 12.4 seconds remaining. Guard Isaiah Taylor, who was simply unstoppable at times earlier in the game, brought the ball up the floor and spun into the lane trying to attack the basket.

He appeared to be fouled by Kansas guard Frank Mason III, who bumped him with his body, and Perry Ellis, who reached back and hacked Taylor on the arm. There was no foul called and there should have been.

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Wichita State clinches second straight Valley title in style

Eyes pointed down court and right arm cocked behind his head, Fred VanVleet looked like a quarterback who had just spotted a receiver breaking free down field.

The Wichita State point guard lobbed a length-of-the-floor pass to Tekele Cotton, who caught it, took one dribble and unleashed a powerful windmill slam that served as an ideal exclamation point for the Shockers' biggest victory of the season.

By defeating Valley co-leader Northern Iowa 74-60 on Saturday afternoon at Koch Arena, Wichita State secured its second consecutive league championship and avenged its only conference loss of the season. The Panthers had throttled the Shockers last month in Cedar Falls to move into a first-place tie and set up a winner-take-all showdown in Saturday's regular season finale. 

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Villanova wins Big East and bolsters case for No. 1 seed against Xavier

No. 6 Villanova started slow Saturday on the road at Xavier where more than a few ranked teams have struggled in recent years.

But guard Ryan Arcidiacono scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half and Villanova won the Big East regular season title while bolstering its case for a No.1 seed in the NCAA Tournament with a 78-66 victory over the Musketeers.

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The Wildcats trailed by seven at halftime and allowed Xavier to shoot nearly 60 percent in the first 20 minutes. The Musketeers sank seven 3-pointers in the half hoping to notch their best win of the season and give the selection committee something to consider when doling out at-large berths, but they couldn’t pull off the upset.

It’s not that Xavier is lacking quality wins. It had four victories over ranked opponents entering the game, but a victory over the Wildcats would have been impressive.

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