Quick Reference to the 2012 DirecTV Classic

The bracket at this event is somewhat convoluted, as are all brackets when every team is promised three games. The one on Wikipedia is actually the easiest to read, but if you don't want to click there or Wikipedia is blocked on your computer, the outline is basically as follows. If a team wins twice, their third game is the championship. If a team wins and then loses, their third game is for third place. If a team loses and then wins, their third game is for fifth. If a team loses twice, their third game is for seventh, which is not cool.

Xavier's first round game against Pacific is set in stone. X will then play one of Drexel and St. Mary's. Finally, Xavier will play one of the four teams from the bottom half of the bracket: Rice, Georgia Tech, Drake, and California.

Drexel Dragons (1-2)
Strengths:
-Defense. Drexel is holding opponents to 27% behind the arc this year, which goes a long ways toward explaining why the Dragons are 60th in the country in defensive efficiency.
-Offensive rebounding. Drexels forwards fly to the glass, and they rake down 41% of their own misses as a team.

Weaknesses:
-Ball security. They turn the ball over on 23.5% of their possessions, which is borderline crippling for an offense. Junior guard Chris Fouch is having season-ending surgery, which is only going to exacerbate the issue.
-Shooting. An EFG of 46.6% puts Drexel at 207th in the country as of this writing. When you can't protect the ball and can't put it in the basket, you are going to play some ugly games.

St. Mary's Gaels (3-0)
Strengths:
-Shooting. Saint Mary's is shooting .506/.418/.683. as a team, which is fairly excellent. Their top three scorers are shooting 22-46 (.478) from behind the arc.
-Ball security. The Gaels only turn the ball over on 16.5% of their possessions, the 35th best mark in the nation. Between that and their shooting, it's no wonder they're in the top 25 in offensive efficiency.

Weaknesses:
-Rebounding. St. Mary's gets crushed on the glass. Their offensive rebounding percentage is 286th in the country and their defensive rebounding percentage is 300th. They can be had on the boards.
-Forcing turnovers. In that they are good at controlling the ball, they also don't put a ton of pressure on the opponent in that area. Only nine teams in the nation are currently worse in this department.

Rice Owls (1-2)
Strengths:
-Perimeter defense. Rice opponents have shot 15% from deep on the year. This is in part because Rice has played two non-D1 teams, but finding any strengths on this squad is hard to do.
-Free throw shooting. Credit where it is due: Rice shoots 78.6% from the line.

Weaknesses:
-Rebounding. You're almost spoiled for choice when it comes to the red ink on Rice's KenPom page, but rebounding jumps out. They are 276th in defensive rebounding percentage and 347th - dead last - on the offensive glass.