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↵FOUR FEAST WEEK WINNERS: ↵
↵↵West Virginia: They won the loaded 76 Classic in Anaheim. The path the Mountaineers took didn't feature as many of the name-brand matchups as expected thanks to losses by Clemson and Butler in the first round and Minnesota in the semifinals. Still, WVU picked up wins against Long Beach State (Big West favorite) as well as Texas A&M -- a tourney-caliber team -- and Portland, which appears ready to challenge Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference. More importantly, the Mountaineers moved past whatever mysterious off-the-court drama was going on with Devin Ebanks (pictured). He scored 14 points in his two games during the tournament, which were against Texas A&M in the semis and Portland in the title game. ↵
↵↵Florida: Picked up an enomrous win against Michigan State in the Legends Classic. (I previously made the mistake of leaving them out because I forgot this was an actual tournament.) The Gators have a stellar 6-0 start punctuated with a win over the Spartans. Get to know Kenny Boynton, who is leading the Florida attack. ↵
↵↵Texas A&M: If I was picking just one other team from 76 Classic that came out as a big winner, it has to be the Aggies. Clemson is a quality win. West Virginia is a quality loss if there is such a thing. And of course, getting a shot at -- and delivering against -- Minnesota, which figures to be a tourney team, was a good way to salvage a trip to the loser's bracket. Portland probably garnered more profile from their trip to Anaheim than A&M did, but the Aggies picked up wins that will matter more in March. ↵
↵↵Gonzaga: Other teams picked up bigger single wins, but the cumulative impact of landing tourney-quality wins against both Wisconsin and Cincinnati is valuable to a team like the Bulldogs that toils in obscurity for a few months in the WCC after nonconference play finishes. While it was disconcerting to see Matt Bouldin essentially nullified in the tourney final by UC freshman Lance Stephenson, the step-up job by some of the Gonzaga bigs, particularly rising forward Elias Harris, was encouraging. ↵
↵↵Honorable mention: Cincinnati, Portland, Duke. ↵
↵↵FOUR FEAST WEEK LOSERS: ↵
↵↵Butler: The field in Anaheim was loaded, but that doesn't excuse their sloppy play. The 21-turnover game against Minnesota was cringe-worthy for a team that usually does such a good job controlling the rock. The Bulldogs can salvage things by striking big wins in nonconference play against Georgetown, Ohio State and Xavier, but an opportunity was missed here. It leaves Butler with little margin for error against its remaining brand-name foes if they want to improve upon their regular seeding. ↵
↵↵Michigan: If not for an escape job against Creighton, their trip to Orlando would've been downgraded from bad to disastrous. Even if Marquette is clearly better than people anticipated, it was a really flat performance. ↵
↵↵Creighton: Winless in Orlando, Creighton can pretty much kiss any at-large hopes goodbye. They were picked second in the Missouri Valley Conference, but they've lost every meaningful game to this point in the nonconference season. The fact that they let Michigan sneak away with a win in overtime has to sting. ↵
↵↵Oklahoma: I almost stopped at Creighton and then remembered the Sooners, so I had to make room for four. Why did I almost forget them? They were playing in what has become the incredibly low profile Great Alaska Shootout. The Sooners lost by 12 to San Diego and seven to Houston. The best thing about the losses happening in Anchorage is that most of the country is probably unaware they ever happened. ↵
↵↵Honorable mention: Maryland. ↵
↵This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.