Selection Sunday is fast approaching, and teams that are starting to hit their peak now can find themselves in excellent shape to make a deep run in March Madness. That is certainly not the case for the Houston Cougars, who have dropped three games in a row to raise questions about how far Kelvin Sampson's team can go in this year's tournament.
Fresh off a disappointing place in the NCAA's Top 16 Seed Reveal, which saw the Cougars lapped by both Iowa State and UConn in the S-curve, Houston fell flat against Arizona on Saturday and fell by double digits at Kansas on Monday night, an alarming result when the same Jayhawks were blown out by unranked Cincinnati two days earlier at Allen Fieldhouse.
That trend is certainly pointing the arrow downward for the Cougars as we take a look at this week's college basketball stock watch. We'll dive deeper into Houston's woes in just a bit, but first we'll start with the aforementioned Bearcats, whose late-season surge could be valuable for Wes Miller's job security.
Risers in the past week of college basketball
Wes Miller
The seat under Wes Miller with Cincinnati was scorching entering February as the Bearcats were in auto-bid or bust territory for March with an 11-12 record lowlighted by a Quad 4 loss to Eastern Michigan. Things have improved dramatically for Cincinnati since then as they have ripped off four straight wins, including victories at home against UCF and the aforementioned road win at Kansas, to breathe new life into their bubble hopes.
A 2-9 Quad 1 record isn't great for Miller, whose other Quad 1 win came at home against Iowa State, but the fact we're even having bubble conversations about the Bearcats is a big win for his future. Next up for Cincinnati is a Tuesday night trip to No. 14 Texas Tech, which is down star forward J.T. Toppin for the remainder of the season, and a win there could really put Miller in a good spot for the stretch run.
Cameron Boozer
Most draft experts entered the season saying the top pick in June's NBA Draft was going to be a battle between Darryn Peterson and A.J. Dybantsa, but Duke's Cameron Boozer has had the best season of all of them. Boozer stepped up in a big way in Saturday's statement win over No. 3 Michigan, racking up 18 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists despite missing a significant chunk of the second half due to foul trouble.
While he may not be quite Cooper Flagg-levels of brilliant, Boozer is averaging 22.6 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists per game while shooting 58.6 percent from the floor. Anyone who has watched Boozer up close can see how well-rounded his game is, making him a viable choice for the top pick if NBA teams are scared off by Peterson's injuries or Dybantsa's tougher times against top competition.
St. John's Red Storm
The Big East runs through St. John's again as Rick Pitino's move to insert Dillon Mitchell into the starting lineup in January has paid massive dividends. The Red Storm made a big mistake in their portal class by not adding a true point guard to their roster but Mitchell has filled the point-forward role instead, stabilizing the offense as St. John's has ripped off 13 consecutive wins to jump from the bubble to a safe No. 15 in the AP Top 25.
A high seed likely won't be in the Red Storm's future due to some non-conference struggles, but few top seeds would like to see a Pitino-led group in the Sweet 16. There is also time for St. John's to add a few good results to their resume this week as they travel to No. 6 UCONN on Wednesday before hosting Villanova, the conference's other team safely heading to the tournament, on Saturday night.
Alabama Crimson Tide
It looks as if the Charles Bediako saga may have been a distraction for No. 17 Alabama, which hasn't lost a game since a judge revoked a temporary injunction allowing him to play for the Crimson Tide. The surge has seen Alabama win six straight games, including a dramatic 117-115 double overtime victory against No. 20 Arkansas last week, as their offense is firing on all cylinders again.
Nate Oats' team has averaged 97.5 points per game during their winning streak, which has moved them back up the S-curve to the point that Selection Committee chair Keith Gill told CBS on Saturday afternoon that the Crimson Tide were in the conversation for the final spot on the 4-line in the Top 16 seed reveal. The Bediako situation is still hanging around as he has appealed to the Alabama Supreme Court for another injunction but Alabama has shown they are probably a better team without him.
Fallers this week in college basketball
Houston Cougars
To be frank, there is no shame in losing to the No. 6 and No. 4 teams in the country before falling to a ranked Kansas team at Allen Fieldhouse for any team. The problem is that if you want to be viewed as a true title contender, which No. 5 Houston claims to be, you can't go 0-for-3 in those spots if you want to be taken seriously.
The big problem right now for Houston is their inability to get timely buckets against top defenses, which is going to be an issue the deeper they go into March Madness. The best wins that the Cougars have this season have come against Arkansas, Texas Tech and at BYU, which is not exactly inspiring confidence they can take down the types of teams they will need to beat to help Kelvin Sampson win his first national championship.
Clemson Tigers
We covered the Tigers in this space last week and things have only gotten worse for Clemson, which has now lost four games in a row, including a loss at home to Florida State that they are fortunate only counts as a Quad 2 defeat. Those stumbles are costing Clemson valuable positioning on the S-curve, with ESPN's Joe Lunardi projecting them as a 9-seed in his latest update on Feb. 24.
20 wins in a better ACC, with three of them coming in Quad 1, mean that the Tigers shouldn't have to sweat the bubble anytime soon. If Brad Brownell can't get his guys to play more like they did in January, when they were ranked and in the conversation for giving Duke their biggest test in the ACC, their stay in March Madness should be quite brief.
Darryn Peterson
The negative headlines continue to swirl around Darryn Peterson, who went viral in Kansas' win over Oklahoma State last week when he hit a three and was caught on camera signaling to Bill Self to come out immediately. Peterson played just 18 minutes in that game, which led to some frustration from Self along with calls from national media types questioning his commitment to the program and his teammates.
Anyone who has watched tape of Peterson as a high schooler compared to now at Kansas can tell that he clearly isn't right physically, likely as a result of an early-season hamstring injury that may not have fully healed. There is no questioning how dynamic of a player Peterson is when he is on the floor, but if he can't be counted on to be a full go in March it will be very tough to expect a deep run from the Jayhawks since they are a completely different team without Peterson on the floor.
The Mountain West
Utah State is a virtual lock to go dancing and if they win the Mountain West's automatic bid, there is a chance they are the only rep the league has in the NCAA Tournament. San Diego State is in a free fall, dropping a bad game against Colorado State on Saturday while getting swept by fellow bubbler Grand Canyon, while New Mexico was swept by Boise State and has a Quad 3 defeat to New Mexico State hanging over their heads.
The Aztecs and Lobos are set to meet in a nationally televised game on Saturday at The Pit on CBS, with the winner more likely to stay on the right side of the cutline down the stretch. Seeing the fall of the Mountain West, which got six NCAA Tournament bids a few years ago and is in its final season before being split in two by the reconstituted Pac-12, is a disappointing development for fans of mid-major basketball.