WINNERS

 Gonzaga
Wins over Colorado, Wisconsin and Cincinnati gave Gonzaga the Maui Invitational title and a significant nonconference profile boost.  If they had been able to finish off Michigan State on the road, they would be skyrocketing up the Top-25 right now.  Wake Forest, Duke, Illinois and Oklahoma are still on the schedule, and they could be tripped up a couple times before WCC play begins.  Nonetheless, the Bulldogs are well on their way to getting into their 12th straight NCAA Tournament.

 Cincinnati
Another mover and shaker in Maui was Cincinnati, as they beat ranked Vanderbilt and Maryland before falling to Gonzaga in the final.  Two wins over probable NCAA-bound teams is a nice luxury to have in March.  For a team that was picked in the middle of the pack for most preseason Big East polls, the Bearcats will benefit greatly from such a strong nonconference statement.

LOSERS

Maryland
The Terps entered the Maui Invitational as a threat to win the tournament and left without a Division 1 win.  After a predictable first round rout over Chaminade, Maryland lost to unranked Cincinnati and Wisconsin.  They have a game vs. Villanova coming up in the nonconference schedule, but Maryland will be the underdog in that matchup.  If they can’t beat Villanova, they will have a fairly weak out of conference profile and need a great ACC performance to get into the NCAA Tournament.

 UCLA
A home loss to Cal State Fullerton and a blowout loss to Portland would be a bad week for anybody, but for UCLA it is an outright embarrassment.  To top it all off, Center Nikola Dragovic was arrested on assault charges.  Luckily, Butler also lost in the first round of the 76 Classic, giving the Bruins a chance to redeem themselves today.