How Utah’s Men’s, Women’s Basketball Teams Fare Heading Toward March
Feb 5, 2024, 2:38 PM
SALT LAKE CITY – We are rounding into the last month of the regular season for men’s and women’s basketball and both teams for Utah have a shot to make some noise in March.
For Utah women’s basketball team, the path feels pretty clear cut- barring an absolutely disastrous and unforeseen final month they should be in with no problems.
For the Utah men, things are a little less flexible, and they will absolutely need to put their best foot forward in February. This includes trying to nail down a road win or two in the Pac-12 which has alluded the Runnin’ Utes to this point.
UTES WIN #GoUtes pic.twitter.com/c5eFS0PSTf
— Utah Women’s Basketball (@UTAHWBB) February 4, 2024
To keep things even between the men and the women we’ll specifically look at NET scores, RPI, and where ESPN has both Utah teams to this point in the season.
Two more on deck this week! See you soon, Ute fans‼️
🛒🎟️➡️ https://t.co/A2SsTX608r pic.twitter.com/zyc17hNc4M
— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) February 4, 2024
Where The Runnin’ Utes Stand In The Bracketology
Currently the Utah men’s basketball team holds an NET rank of No. 34 and an RPI rank of No. 31.
The Runnin’ Utes have recorded some nice wins this season that they have struggled to get in the past. However, the biggest knock on this team is that most of those wins have come at home.
🤌🤌🤌@sneakgod 🪽 pic.twitter.com/o7hjhajhNY
— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) February 4, 2024
Utah currently only has one road win this season coming in out-of-conference play and are 50/50 in neutral site games (2-2) which have also come from out-of-conference play.
The Utes have nine remaining regular season conference games left to play and five of them will be on the road. Utah needs to win a few of those while maintaining their dominance at home in order to make sure they are dancing in March.
As things currently stand according to ESPN, the Utes are sitting as a nine-seed in the Omaha Regional and would be paired with eight-seed Ole Miss.
Where Utah Women’s Basketball Stands In The Bracketology
The Utah women are in a little more of a comfortable place and need to just continue to do what they’ve been doing with no crazy letdowns.
As of today, the Utes sit at No. 6 in the NET rankings and No. 17 in the RPI rankings.
Utah was handed a tough hand to navigate through to start their season with Issy Palmer being eliminated from play with a medical issue till recently and losing Gianna Kneepkens for the season.
Issy really out here throwing down the reverse card. @palmerisabel11 #GoUtes
📺 https://t.co/MM9Dcs7U0K pic.twitter.com/wNGEXShpMk— Utah Women’s Basketball (@UTAHWBB) February 4, 2024
With Palmer back in the mix and a new-found chip on their shoulder, the Utah women have been playing very well outside a blow-out loss on the road to Oregon State recently.
The Utah women have seven more games to play before a final decision is made and as long as they keep up what they’ve been doing both at home and on the road, they should be more than fine heading into Tournament season.
As of today, according to ESPN, Utah women’s basketball sits at a five-seed in the Spokane Regional and would be paired with 12-seed Drake.
Michelle Bodkin is the Utah Utes Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of both the Crimson Corner Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and The Saturday Show (Saturday from 10 a.m.–12 p.m.) on The KSL Sports Zone. Follow her on X, Instagram, and Threads: @BodkinKSLsports
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