PiRate Ratings College Basketball For Wednesday, March 13, 2019

Wednesday’s PiRate Ratings Spreads

Home	Rating	HCA	Visitor	Rating	Spread
George Washington	93.3	0.0	Massachusetts	97.5	-4.2
Fordham	95.2	1.0	Richmond	99.0	-2.8
North Carolina St.	112.9	0.0	Clemson	112.2	0.7
Virginia Tech	116.5	0.0	Miami (Fla.)	107.5	9.0
Louisville	114.0	0.0	Notre Dame	105.9	8.1
Syracuse	111.3	0.0	Pittsburgh	105.1	6.2
TCU	110.0	0.0	Oklahoma St.	104.8	5.2
Oklahoma	111.3	0.0	West Virginia	104.9	6.4
Providence	106.7	0.0	Butler	108.2	-1.5
St. John’s	107.8	1.5	DePaul	104.9	4.4
Northern Arizona	92.1	0.0	Sacramento St.	94.2	-2.1
Idaho St.	90.7	1.0	Southern Utah	93.0	-1.3
Idaho	85.0	1.0	Montana St.	95.2	-9.2
Rutgers	106	0.0	Nebraska	110.5	-4.5
Illinois	106.2	0.0	Northwestern	107.2	-1.0
Louisiana Tech	101.8	0.0	Florida Atlantic	98.7	3.1
UAB	100.1	0.0	Middle Tennessee	95.2	4.9
North Texas	100.9	1.5	Florida Int’l.	97.4	5.0
Marshall	99.7	0.0	Rice	94.3	5.4
North Carolina A&T	92.2	0.0	Coppin St.	84.9	7.3
Norfolk St.	95.1	1.5	South Carolina St.	87.3	9.3
Colorado St.	99.2	0.0	Boise St.	102.6	-3.4
New Mexico	99.3	0.0	Wyoming	90.3	9.0
Air Force	94.8	0.0	San Jose St.	85.4	9.4
USC	105.7	0.0	Arizona	105.9	-0.2
Colorado	107.0	0.0	California	95.0	12.0
UCLA	104.9	0.0	Stanford	103.9	1.0
Oregon	109.3	0.0	Washington St.	101.6	7.7
Colgate	102.1	2.5	Bucknell	102.0	2.6
Lamar	98.0	0.0	Houston Baptist	93.3	4.7
Texas A&M CC	93.7	0.0	Central Arkansas	91.6	2.1
Missouri	106.1	0.0	Georgia	103.5	2.6
Vanderbilt	102	1.0	Texas A&M	105.4	-2.4

 

Conference Tournaments Update

America East Conference
All games at home floor of higher seeds
Semifinals–Tuesday, March 12
Vermont	84	Binghamton	51
Md.-Baltimore Co.	90	Hartford	85 2ot

*** Championship Game–Saturday, March 16 ***
Seed	Home	Seed	Visitor
1	Vermont (26-6)	3	Maryland-Baltimore Co. (21-12)

 

Atlantic 10 Conference
Site: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY
First Round–Wednesday, March 13
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
12	George Washington (8-23)	13	Massachusetts (11-20)
11	Richmond (12-19)	14	Fordham (12-19)

 

 

Atlantic Coast Conference
Site: Spectrum Center, Charlotte, NC
First Round–Tuesday, March 12
Miami (Fla.)	79	Wake Forest	71
Notre Dame	78	Georgia Tech	71
Pittsburgh	80	Boston College	70

 

Second Round–Wednesday, March 13
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
8	North Carolina St. (21-10)	9	Clemson (19-12)
5	Virginia Tech (23-7)	12	Miami (Fla) (14-17)
7	Louisville (19-12)	15	Notre Dame (14-18)
6	Syracuse (19-12)	14	Pittsburgh (14-18)

 

 

Big 12 Conference
Site: Sprint Center, Kansas City, MO
First Round–Wednesday, March 13
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
8	TCU (19-12)	9	Oklahoma St. (12-19)
7	Oklahoma (19-12)	10	West Virginia (12-19)

 

 

Big East Conference
Site: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
First Round–Wednesday, March 13
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
8	Providence (17-14)	9	Butler (16-15)
7	St. John’s (20-11)	10	DePaul (15-13)

 

 

Big Sky Conference
Site: Century Link Arena, Boise, ID
First Round–Wednesday, March 13
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
8	Northern Arizona (10-20)	9	Sacramento St. (14-15)
7	Southern Utah (14-15)	10	Idaho St. (11-18)
6	Montana St. (14-16)	11	Idaho (5-26)

 

 

Big Ten Conference
Site: United Center, Chicago, IL
First Round–Wednesday, March 13
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
12	Rutgers (14-16)	13	Nebraska (16-15)
11	Illinois (11-20)	14	Northwestern (13-18)

 

 

Colonial Athletic Association

Site: North Charleston Coliseum, North Charleston, SC

Championship Game–Tuesday, March 12

Northeastern

82

Hofstra

74

Champion: Northeastern  (23-10)

 

 

Conference USA
Site: Ford Center, Frisco, TX
First Round–Wednesday, March 13
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
8	Louisiana Tech (19-12)	9	Florida Atlantic (17-14)
5	UAB (18-13)	12	Middle Tennessee (11-20)
7	Florida Int’l. (19-12)	10	North Texas (20-11)
6	Marshall (18-13)	11	Rice (13-18)

 

 

Horizon League (Motor City Madness)

Site: Higher Seed and Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, MI

Championship Game–Tuesday, March 12
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
1	Wright St. (21-12)	2	Northern Kentucky (25-8)

Champion: Northern Kentucky  (26-8)

 

 

Mideastern Athletic Conference
Site: Scope Arena, Norfolk, VA
First Round–Tuesday, March 12
Coppin St.	81	Morgan St.	71
South Carolina St.	63	Md. Eastern Shore	54

 

Quarterfinals–Wednesday, March 13 & Thursday, March 14
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
2 (wed)	North Carolina A&T (18-12)	7	Coppin St. (8-24)
3 (thu)	North Carolina Central (15-15)	11	Delaware St. (6-24)
1 (wed)	Norfolk St. (19-12)	9	South Carolina St. (8-25)
4 (thu)	Howard (16-15)	5	Bethune-Cookman

 

 

Mountain West Conference
Site: Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, NV
First Round–Wednesday, March 13
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
8	Colorado St. (12-19)	9	Boise St. (12-19)
7	New Mexico (13-17)	10	Wyoming (8-23)
6	Air Force (13-17)	11	San Jose St. (4-26)

 

 

Northeast Conference

All games at home floor of higher seeds

Championship Game–Tuesday, March 12

Fairleigh-Dickinson

85

St. Francis (PA)

76

Champion: Fairleigh-Dickinson  (20-13)

 

 

Pac-12 Conference
Site: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, NV
First Round–Wednesday, March 13
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
8	USC (15-16)	9	Arizona (17-14)
5	Colorado (19-11)	12	California (8-22)
7	UCLA (16-15)	10	Stanford (15-15)
6	Oregon (19-12)	11	Washington St. (11-20)

 

 

Patriot League

Played at Colgate

Championship Game–Wednesday, March 13
Seed	Home	Seed	Visitor
1	Colgate (23-10)	2	Bucknell (21-10)

 

 

Southland Conference
Site: Leonard E. Merrell Center, Katy, TX
First Round–Wednesday, March 13
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
5	Lamar (19-12)	8	Houston Baptist (12-17)
6	Texas A&M CC (14-17)	7	Central Arkansas (13-18)

 

 

Southeastern Conference
Site: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN
First Round–Wednesday, March 13
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
12	Missouri (14-16)	13	Georgia (11-20)
11	Texas A&M (13-17)	14	Vanderbilt (9-22)

 

 

Summit League

Site: Denny Sanford Premier Center, Sioux Falls, SD

Championship Game–Tuesday, March12

North Dakota St.

73

Omaha

63

Champion: North Dakota St. (18-15)

 

 

Sun Belt Conference
Site: 1st Rd at Higher Seed, Lakefront Arena, New Orleans, LA
First Round–Tuesday, March 12
Louisiana Monroe	89	Appalachian St.	80
South Alabama	75	Arkansas St.	67

 

Second Round–Thursday, March 14
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
6	Coastal Carolina (15-15)	7	Louisiana Monroe (17-14)
5	Louisiana (19-12)	8	South Alabama (16-16)

 

 

Southwestern Athletic Conference
Site: at Higher Seeds
Quarterfinals–Tuesday, March 12
Prairie View A&M	86	Alcorn St.	66
Grambling	59	Arkansas Pine Bluff	52
Alabama St.	58	Jackson St.	49
Texas Southern	80	Southern	70

 

Semifinals–Friday, March 15
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
1	Prairie View A&M (21-12)	4	Grambling (17-15)
2	Texas Southern (20-12)	6	Alabama St. (12-18)

 

 

West Coast Conference
Site: Orleans Arena, Las Vegas, NV
Championship Game–Tuesday, March 12
Saint Mary’s	60	Gonzaga	47

Champion: Saint Mary’s  (22-11)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2018 Big 12 Conference Preview

Note: The preseason ratings you see in the previews may not be the same as the ratings you see for the first game. We update every team’s rating based on player injuries, changes to the depth charts, and other factors that may change during preseason practice.
Our Power 5 Conference preseason ratings and won-loss predictions were figured before knowing the outcome of recent suspensions to Coaches Urban Meyer and D.J. Durkin at Ohio State and Maryland. Because our ratings set 100.0 as average, and the mean of all 130 teams must be 100.0, taking points away from Ohio State and Maryland require redistributing points to the other 128 teams. Expect these ratings to change prior to August 25.

Today, the PiRates begin to preview the Power 5 conferences. With five leagues and four playoff spots, one Power 5 conference is guaranteed to miss out every year. Last year, with two SEC teams making it, two Power 5 leagues did not make the cut. The Big 12 was one of the fortunate leagues as Oklahoma won the revived Big 12 Conference Championship Game and gave Georgia all it could handle in the National Semifinals before losing in overtime.
The Sooners still have quite a lot of talent remaining in Norman, but Coach Lincoln Riley faces a minor reloading project. Because Texas, West Virginia, Oklahoma State, TCU, and Iowa State are solid this year, and because this league is the only one in which every team plays every other, we believe the champion could easily be 7-2 and miss out on the playoffs.

Oklahoma has stolen the title of Quarterback U. from BYU and Stanford in the last 20 seasons. From Josh Heupel to to Jason White to Paul Thompson to Sam Bradford to Landry Jones to Trevor Knight, the Sooners always had an A+ passing attack and sometimes complimentary running threat. However, Baker Mayfield was in an A++ class by himself. Mayfield averaged 11.5 yards per passing ATTEMPT when most NCAA teams do not average 11.5 yards per completion these days! He threw 43 touchdown passes versus just 6 interceptions. Oklahoma averaged 362 passing yards per game to go with 218 rushing yards per game and Riley’s first year offense scored 45 points per game.
Mayfield is now the new hope in Cleveland, and Oklahoma turns to another future pro as their new quarterback. Kyler Murray will be playing for pay soon, but it will not be in football. He signed with the Oakland Athletics for $4.66 million, and one has to wonder if every time Murray drops back to pass against blitzing monsters, he will subconsciously think about that contract and throw the ball a bit too soon to avoid an injury that would end his baseball career before it starts.
Oklahoma will still be the decided favorite to win the Big 12 thanks to the running game. Backs Rodney Anderson and Trey Sermon teamed up to run the ball 309 times for 1,905 yards. They combined to catch 33 passes for 420 additional yards. They scored 25 total touchdowns, and the dynamic duo have another fine offensive line opening holes for them this year.
Murray will have a trio of top flight receivers catching his passes this year. Marquise Brown, CeeDee Lamb, and Mykel Jones all have the quickness to turn a 7 yard route into a 50 yard touchdown.

If Oklahoma falters this year, or should we say when, it will be because the opponent scored points easier than they could. The Sooner defense is vulnerable this year with a green secondary and a questionable pass rush following the loss of some incredible talent. Linebacker Kenneth Murray and cornerback Parnell Motley return, but the Sooners lost too much talent from a defense that gave up 27 points per game last year, and a couple opponents will top 40 points and most likely beat OU in 2018. The schedule doesn’t offer much help, as the Sooners always play Texas in Dallas and face West Virginia, Oklahoma State, and Iowa State on the road. 10-2 looks like the ceiling for this team.

Tom Herman’s first season at Texas was somewhat positive and somewhat disappointing. The Longhorns did not immediately take to his spread offense, and the offense was not as strong last year as it was during Charlie Strong’s final season. The defense was strong and kept the burnt orange in many games. Narrow losses to USC, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Texas Tech could easily flip to the win column this year, as UT is poised to be a serious contender in the conference race and stands a good chance of making the Big 12 Championship Game.

Sam Ehlinger appears to have a slight lead over Shane Buechele to be under center when the Longhorns kick off the season against Maryland. The Longhorn roster is short on talent at running back and receiver, and the offensive line is good but not outstanding, but there is room for improvements. Expect Texas to increase their offensive output by a little.

It’s the defense that will allow the ‘Horns to possibly contend for the Big 12 title. Ironically, Herman, the offensive guru lowered the point total given up by 10 points a game over prior defensive guru coach Strong. Texas gave up 21 points per game in 2017, which is about like giving up 15 points a game in other Power 5 conferences. As good as the defense was last year, this year’s edition will be better, maybe much better. The roster is packed with talented stars, especially in the trenches, where ends Charles Omenihu and Breckyn Hager are the best duo in the league. Anthony Wheeler anchors the second line of defense from his middle linebacker position. He’ll team with Gary Johnson and Malcolm Roach to form the best trio in the league. Arguably, Texas also has the best secondary in the league with potential All-American Kris Boyd returning at cornerback.

The schedule is as favorable for the Longhorns as it is unfavorable for Oklahoma, so we believe Texas has a grand chance at earning one of the two playoff spots.

West Virginia is the sexy choice this year to win the Big 12. The Mountaineers have the top quarterback in the league, when he remains healthy. Will Grier was 6-0 as the quarterback at Florida in 2015. He is 12-4 lifetime at Florida and West Virginia, but he has not complete either season in his short career. His season ended last year in the Texas game when he suffered a fractured finger. When healthy, Grier is a difference maker. He was fifth nationally in passer efficiency rating.

Grier has two elite receivers returning in Gary Jennings and David Sills. The duo teamed up for 157 receptions last year; Jennings is the possession receiver, and Sills is the touchdown machine. For any passing team to be consistently good, the pass blocking has to be outstanding, and the Mountaineers have that type of interior line, as good as the line at Oklahoma.

What will likely keep WVU in the 8-win area is a porous defense. The Mountaineers gave up 31.5 points per game and did so by allowing more than 200 yard rushing and 200 yard passing. It may be considered a good thing that most of that weak defense is no longer around, but the Mountaineers will actually take a step back this year with major concerns on the front line and in the secondary. There is talent in every unit, but not enough to be a force in the league. Linebacker David Long returns after making 15 1/2 tackles for loss last year. Defensive end Ezekiel Rose led the team with 5 sacks, while Dravon Askew-Henry mans the highly important spur safety (a hybrid safety-linebacker position that can make the defense a 3-4 or 3-3-5) spot.

West Virginia has two tough non-conference opponents to face prior to Big 12 play. They open with Tennessee in Charlotte, North Carolina, and two weeks later, they play at North Carolina State. The close the season with a home game against Oklahoma, which could have serious conference championship implications for one or both teams.
Oklahoma State’s string of three consecutive double-digit win seasons is in serious jeopardy in 2018. The Cowboys’ spectacular passing game will take a major hit this year. Mason Rudolph led the nation with more than 4,900 passing yards last year. That number in 13 games topped every NFL quarterback by almost 400 yards! Rudolph is now a backup to Ben Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh. New OSU quarterback Dru Brown has never taken a snap as the Cowboy quarterback, but he’s not a newcomer to FBS football. Brown started the past two years for Hawaii, and he will assume the controls of Coach

Mike Gundy’s offense and bring a new style to the team. Brown does not have Rudolph’s arm strength or quick release, but he can take off and run for a lot of yards in a scramble. OSU might even add a wrinkle or two where Brown fakes to top-flight running back Justice Hill and boots in the opposite direction. Defenses will have to concentrate extra defenders when Hill is a running threat. He burned defenses for 1,467 rushing yards and 15 TDs, while coming out of the backfield to catch 31 passes.
Losing two star receivers that caught 133 passes for 2,705 yards and 21 socres is going to make the passing numbers go down more than having Brown replace Rudolph. OSU still has talent in the receiving corps, but James Washington and Marcell Ateman are not easily replaced.

The Cowboy offensive line is rebuilding this year, and the holes and pass protection just won’t be there like they were the last three years. Oklahoma State averaged 45 points per game in 2017 and finished second in the nation with 569 total yards per game. The numbers could take a 10-point and 100-yard hit this year. The defense might be marginally improved over last season, but after giving up 29.4 points per game, improving to 28 per game may mean the win total will be reduced by two or three.

TCU has more offensive retooling to do than Oklahoma State, as they lost quarterback Kenny Hill, running back Kyle Hicks, their top three receivers, and three offensive linemen. The Horned Frogs feature defense first, and there is enough talent returning to continue the stellar play on this side of the ball in 2018, but not excellent enough to return to the Big 12 Championship Game. There is talent in all three units, led by end Ben Banogu. Last year, Banogu made 16 1/2 tackles behind the line including 8 1/2 sacks. He forced three fumbles in the process.

Stong-side linebacker Ty Summers can stop the run at the line for little or no gain, and he can cover the short passing zones with competence. Safety Niko Small leads a talented secondary that should continue to limit opponent passing by about 25-30 yards under their average.

TCU led all Big 12 teams in scoring defense, rushing defense, and passing defense. It will take a repeat of that feat to contend for second place in the league, and even if the Frogs repeat, the offense may be off just enough to come up a win short.

Iowa State was a major surprise in 2017, as the Cyclones topped Oklahoma in Norman and TCU in October on the way to an 8-5 season. Coach Matt Campbell, who had previously done wonders at Toledo, became a hot commodity in the big-time coaching market, and another 8-win season in Ames could see several rich offers coming his way. The Cyclones left something on the table last year, as narrow losses to Iowa in overtime, West Virginia, Oklahoma State, and Kansas State could have made 2018 a historic high in Ames.

The Cyclones actually return more starters than any of the other contenders in the league, but overall, they are still a few players short from becoming a serious contender. Quarterback Kyle Kempt was the major cog that turned the season around for ISU, as he torched Oklahoma’s defense for 343 passing yards and three touchdowns. His being granted a 6th year of eligibility means that ISU is an outside contender for the Big 12 Championship Game. Stubby back David Montgomery bulled his way to 1,146 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns. He won’t run the toss sweep down the sideline for a long touchdown, but he rarely goes down on first contact, and it frequently takes two defenders to bring him to the ground.

The receiving corps lost a stud in Allen Lazard, who is turning heads in Jacksonville as an undrafted free-agent that will most likely make the Jaguars’ roster. Hakeem Butler was a fine second option last year, and he should be the go-to guy this year, as the other receivers on the roster are possession receivers lacking the ability to turn a 7-yard pattern into a 50-yard gain.

Iowa State’s big jump happened because the defense no longer resembled 11 matadors against bulls with the letter “O” somewhere on their helmets. The Cyclones finished a close second to TCU in scoring defense last year. Enough talent returns this year to keep this unit strong. The front seven is second or third best in the league. As weak-side edge rusher JaQuan Bailey goes, so goes the ISU pass defense. Bailey has the ability to meet the quarterback about one second after the quarterback takes his fifth step in his drop. Defenses will have to double up on him, so it will be important for outside linebacker Willie Harvey to step up and improve on last year’s numbers.

Kansas State enters most seasons as an also-ran in the league, but the Wildcats always beat one or two teams they are not supposed to beat. KSU knocked off Oklahoma State in Stillwater and then knocked off Iowa State to earn a Cactus Bowl bid at the 11th hour last year. The Wildcats lost close games to Vanderbilt, Texas, Oklahoma, and West Virginia, meaning they were not farm from being 12-1. Only TCU dominated them on the scoreboard. Expect more of the same in 2018, as Coach Bill Snyder guides his team to one or two upsets and earns yet another bowl bid.

Texas Tech has not been a factor in the Big 12 race since Mike Leach was fired. The Red Raiders tried the Tommy Tuberville way for a few years and fell back into the middle of the pack. Former TTU quarterback Kliff Kingsbury has taken the program down another couple notches, as the Raiders have struggled to get six wins during his tenure. If Kingsbury cannot right the ship this year and take his team up a notch or so, there probably will be a new man walking the sidelines at Jones Stadium next year. Prospects are not all that excellent for this TTU edition. The team has not been able to produce a running game that forces defensive coaches to have to stop it, so the passing game has to “struggle” to put up gawdy numbers. Too often, the defense stays on the field too long and tires, eventually succumbing to opposing offenses that punish tired defenses. The Red Raiders gave up 444 yards per game and 32+ points per game last year, and the schedule offers them no favors with out of conference games against Ole Miss and Houston. Additionally, the one toss-up game on the conference schedule, versus Kansas State, will be played in the Little Apple, making KSU a decided favorite.

Baylor has a long way to go to return to prominence. Matt Rhule turned the program around at Temple, but quite frankly, that was easier than having to win in the Lone Star State where 100 FBS teams recruit the state like they play their home games in Dallas. The Bears were plainly the ninth best team in the league, both offensively and defensively. They lost at home to Liberty, and had it not been for the worst FBS team also being a Big 12 team, BU could have gone 0-12 last year. There is a little talent in Waco this year, but it will take a gargantuan improvement for the Bears to improve from one to six wins. Having the easiest opening schedule of any Big 12 team could allow Baylor to enter October with two or three wins, but they may lose out the rest of the way.

Kansas is worse in the Big 12 than the Cleveland Browns are in the AFC North Division. The Jayhawks went 1-11 last year with the lone win coming against FCS member Southeast Missouri State, a team that went 3-8 in the Ohio Valley Conference. Coach David Beaty is now 3-33 in Lawrence through three years. He won’t see a fifth season if he is 4-44 after this season. The Jayhawks should be a better team this year, especially on defense, but then it is harder to be worse when you finish in last place in the league in offense and defense and lose to the next weakest team at home by more than four touchdowns!

Here is how the Big 12 Conference Media voted in the preseason poll

Big 12	1st Place	Points
1. Oklahoma	46	509
2. West Virginia	2	432
3. TCU	1	390
4. Texas	1	370
5. Oklahoma St.	0	300
6. Kansas St.	2	283
7. Iowa St.	0	250
8. Texas Tech	0	149
9. Baylor	0	125
10. Kansas	0	52

The PiRate Ratings differ somewhat after the top.

Big 12 Conference
Team	B12	Overall	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Average
Oklahoma	0-0	0-0	119.5	117.7	119.8	119.0
Texas	0-0	0-0	113.2	111.9	112.8	112.6
Oklahoma St.	0-0	0-0	113.2	110.8	112.7	112.2
T C U	0-0	0-0	112.7	112.0	111.5	112.0
Iowa State	0-0	0-0	110.7	108.8	110.2	109.9
West Virginia	0-0	0-0	110.0	108.8	109.1	109.3
Kansas St.	0-0	0-0	107.4	106.0	106.8	106.7
Texas Tech	0-0	0-0	106.0	104.0	104.2	104.7
Baylor	0-0	0-0	102.9	100.6	102.3	101.9
Kansas	0-0	0-0	93.9	92.3	91.6	92.6
Big 12 Averages			108.9	107.3	108.1	108.1

New Coaches
There are no new coaches in the Big 12 this year, but there are a couple on very hot seats, and 2019 might see some new faces.

David Beaty needs to show some kind of advancement at Kansas, or the Jayhawks will be in the market for a new coach, possibly one from the Dakotas and the FCS ranks.
Kliff Kingsbury needs to win at least seven regular season games and look competitive in the losses, or else Texas Tech may look to move in another direction, maybe hiring a power-style coach.

Dana Holgorsen cannot afford to see West Virginia disappoint this season with so much offensive firepower. Anything short of nine wins would be a disappointment, and there are some restless fans in Morgantown.

Matt Campbell can do no wrong in the eyes of the fans at Iowa State. However, another 8-win season would most likely see him receive job offers with contracts too rich for Iowa State to match or top. His name has already been bantered among heavy-hitters at Ohio State should Urban Meyer be dismissed.

Predicted Won-Loss Records
Note: These predicted won-loss records are strictly mechanical based on the initial PiRate Ratings. No upsets are factored in these predictions. Additionally, our PiRate Ratings are only useful for the next week of games and cannot really be used to forecast past that point. Part of our weekly adjustment to our ratings includes a factor where depth issues or non-issues have been pre-set. In other words, a team without talented second stringers may lose ratings points as the season progresses even if they win games by the predicted margin, whereas a team with exceptional depth (like Alabama) will improve during the season and see its rating rise even if they win games by a little less than the predicted margin. What we’re saying is: don’t take these numbers with anything more than a grain of salt.   

Team	Conference	Overall
Oklahoma	9-0	13-0*
Oklahoma St.	7-2	10-3
Texas	7-2	10-2
TCU	6-3	8-4
Iowa St.	5-4	7-5
West Virginia	5-4	7-5
Kansas St.	3-6	5-7
Baylor	2-7	4-8
Texas Tech	1-8	3-9
Kansas	0-9	2-10

 

Bowl Tie-ins
1. Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, LA
2. Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, TX
3. Camping World Bowl in Orlando, FL
4. Texas Bowl in Houston, TX
5. Liberty Bowl in Memphis, TN
6. Cactus Bowl in Tucson, AZ
7. Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth, TX

Coming Tomorrow–The Pac-12 Conference

PiRate Ratings Conference Tournament Update–March 7, 2018

Today’s PiRate Ratings For Conference Tournament Games

Home Team	Visitor
or Higher Seed	Lower Seed	Spread
LaSalle	Massachusetts	4.1
George Washington	Fordham	6.1
Florida St.	Louisville	0.7
North Carolina St.	Boston College	3.4
Virginia Tech	Notre Dame	-0.3
North Carolina	Syracuse	7.9
Oklahoma St.	Oklahoma	-0.5
Texas	Iowa St.	5.6
Georgetown	St. John’s	-3.1
Marquette	DePaul	5.2
Florida Int’l.	Southern Miss.	0.2
UTSA	UTEP	2.7
North Texas	Louisiana Tech	-1.9
UAB	Florida Atlantic	9.0
Hampton	Florida A&M	9.4
Bethune-Cookman	Morgan St.	1.8
UNLV	Air Force	9.4
Utah St.	Colorado St.	5.7
Wyoming	San Jose St.	12.6
Colorado	Arizona St.	-7.8
Stanford	California	10.8
Washington	Oregon St.	-0.7
Oregon	Washington St.	9.7
Bucknell	Colgate	9.3
Georgia	Vanderbilt	1.9
South Carolina	Ole Miss	2.8
New Orleans	Texas A&M-CC	2.9
Lamar	Central Arkansas	0.8
Coastal Carolina	Texas St.	1.2
Appalachian St.	Little Rock	3.9
UL-Monroe	Arkansas St.	2.4
Troy	South Alabama	3.9

Games in RED are Championship Games for Automatic NCAA Tournament Bids.

Last Night’s Conference Tournament Championship Games

Colonial Athletic Association Tournament
Charleston 83	Northeastern 76 ot

Horizon League Tournament
Wright St. 74	Cleveland St. 57

Northeast Conference Tournament
Long Island 71	Wagner 61

Summit League Tournament
South Dakota St. 97	South Dakota 87

West Coast Conference Tournament
Gonzaga 74	BYU 54

Teams With Automatic Bids to the Dance

Team	Bid	Conf.	W-L
Charleston	AUTO	CAA	26-7
Gonzaga	AUTO	WCC	30-4
Iona	AUTO	MAAC	20-13
Lipscomb	AUTO	A-SUN	23-9
Long Island	AUTO	NEC	18-16
Loyola (Chi.)	AUTO	MVC	28-5
Michigan	AUTO	BTen	28-7
Murray St.	AUTO	OVC	26-5
Radford	AUTO	B-South	22-12
South Dakota St.	AUTO	Summit	28-6
UNC-Greensboro	AUTO	SoCon	27-7
Wright St.	AUTO	Horizon	25-9

Conference Championship Games Scheduled For Wednesday

Patriot League Tournament
Championship–March 7
Time	Home	Visitors	TV
7:30 PM	#1 Bucknell	#2 Colgate	CBSSN

 

Conference Tournaments Beginning Today

Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament
Washington, DC
First 4 Rounds EST/Championship EDT
First Round–March 7
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	#12 LaSalle	#13 Massachusetts
8:30 PM	#11 George Washington	#14 Fordham
Second Round–March 8
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM	#8 VCU	#9 Dayton	NBCSN
2:30 PM	#5 George Mason	LaSalle or UMass	NBCSN
6:00 PM	#7 Richmond	#10 Duquesne	NBCSN
8:30 PM	#6 St. Louis	GWU or Fordham	NBCSN
Quarterfinals–March 9
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM	#1 Rhode Island	VCU or Dayton	NBCSN
2:30 PM	#4 St. Joseph’s	GMU/LaSalle/UMass	NBCSN
6:00 PM	#2 St. Bonaventure	Richmond or Duquesne	NBCSN
8:30 PM	#3 Davidson	Stl/GWU/Fordham	NBCSN
Semifinals–March 10
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
1:00 PM	URI/VCU/Dayton	StJo/GMU/LaSalle/UMass	CBSSN
3:30 PM	StBon/Rich/Duq	Dav/Stl/GWU/Fordham	CBSSN
Championship–March 11
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
1:00 PM			CBS

Rhode Island is a lock to get into the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team if the Rams do not win the conference tournament.  St. Bonaventure is most likely in as well, but the Bonnies could sure use a quarterfinal win to make it secure.  Davidson is a potential bid stealer.  The Wildcats are the hottest team in the league and sport the league’s top defense.  Davidson knocked off Rhode Island in the regular season finale.

A player to watch in this tournament is Justin Wilson of VCU.  Wilson has the talent and ability to carry his team to the semifinals, where the right matchup could produce a dark horse for the league title.

Big 12 Conference Tournament
Kansas City
All Times CST
First Round–March 7
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	#8 Oklahoma St.	#9 Oklahoma	ESPNU
8:00 PM	#7 Texas	#10 Iowa St.	ESPNU
Quarterfinals–March 8
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
11:30 AM	#4 Kansas St.	#5 TCU	ESPN2
1:30 PM	#1 Kansas	Okla. St. or Oklahoma	ESPN2
6:00 PM	#2 Texas Tech	Texas or Iowa St.	ESPNU
8:00 PM	#3 West Virginia	#6 Baylor	ESPNU
Semifinals–March 9
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	Kan/Okl St/Okla	Kan St. or TCU	ESPN2
8:00 PM	TTU/Tex/Iowa St.	WVU or Baylor	ESPN2
Championship–March 10
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
5:00 PM			ESPN

Kansas is aiming to secure a number one seed in the Big Dance, but the Jayhawks have been a bit inconsistent this year.  West Virginia swooned in the middle of the season, but the Mountaineers began to put it all together late in the season.  Kansas State, TCU, and Texas Tech had their moments during the season, but none of the three looked like a champion as March came marching in.  Oklahoma has taken on water to the point where a first-round loss to rival Oklahoma St. could sink the Sooners.  Texas and Baylor might need one tournament win to earn tournament lock status, while Iowa St. is really the only team that must win the automatic bid to get into the field of 68.  This should be one of the most exciting Big 12 Tournaments ever.

Big East Conference Tournament
New York City
All Times EST
First Round–March 7
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM	#8 Georgetown	#9 St. John’s	FS1
9:30 PM	#7 Marquette	#10 DePaul	FS1
Quarterfinals–March 8
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM	#1 Xavier	G’Town or St. John’s	FS1
2:30 PM	#4 Creighton	#5 Providence	FS1
7:00 PM	#2 Villanova	Marq. or DePaul	FS1
9:30 PM	#3 Seton Hall	#6 Butler	FS1
Semifinals–March 9
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:30 PM	Xavier/GTown/St. Johns	Creighton or Providence	FS1
9:00 PM	Villa/Marq/DePaul	S. Hall or Butler	FS1
Championship–March 10
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:30 PM			Fox

Except for Georgetown and DePaul, any of the other eight teams in this league could win the conference tournament.  Villanova finished behind Xavier in the standings, but the Wildcats own the Musketeers.  St. John’s finished in a last place tie, but the Red Hawks beat Duke, Villanova, and Marquette in consecutive games.  So, it would not be all that shocking if SJU found the magic in MSG and make a run.

Conference USA Tournament
Frisco, TX
Top 12 Teams Qualify
All Times CST
Note: This facility splits into two separate courts until the semifinals
First Round–March 7
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	#8 Florida Int’l.	#9 Southern Miss.	TBA
6:30 PM	#5 UTSA	#12 UTEP	TBA
8:30 PM	#7 North Texas	#10 Louisiana Tech	TBA
9:00 PM	#6 UAB	#11 Florida Atlantic	TBA
Quarterfinals–March 8
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	#1 Middle Tennessee	FIU or Southern Miss	Stadium
6:30 PM	#4 Marshall	UTSA or UTEP	Stadium
8:30 PM	#2 Old Dominion	N Tex or La Tech	Stadium
9:00 PM	#3 Western Kentucky	UAB or FAU	Stadium
Semifinals–March 9
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:30 PM	MTSU/FIU/USM	Marsh/UTSA/UTEP	CBSSN
3:00 PM	ODU/UNT/LT	WKU/UAB/FAU	CBSSN
Championship–March 10
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:30 PM			CBSSN

This should be an interesting tournament just for the logistics.  If you have ever attended a giant AAU tournament, you most likely have seen multiple courts set up with a curtain dividing the action.  This tournament is going to face something similar.  The event will take place where the Dallas Cowboys practice.  There’s nothing new about staging the Final Four in a domed stadium meant for football.  However, there will be two courts facing parallel to each other with a thick black curtain separating the games.  There will be no worries about the basketball rolling from one court to the other interrupting a game, because the courts will be set in opposite end zones.  However, there is no guarantee that the sounds from one court might be heard on the other court, especially referee whistles and scoreboard horns.

The tournament itself should be quite interesting.  Middle Tennessee romped over the rest of the league with the exception of Marshall.  Marshall’s style of play is totally different than all the other teams in the league and all but a few teams nationally.  The Thundering Herd are one of the most exciting teams to watch in all levels of basketball.

Even though they are highly ranked, Middle Tennessee is far from a lock to make the NCAA Tournament if they do not win the automatic bid.  The Blue Raiders are 49th in the RPI, 48th in predictive metrics, 3-3 in Quadrant 1 games, and 2-1 in Quadrant 2 games.  They are certainly on the Bubble.

Western Kentucky and Old Dominion are fairly evenly matched with enough talent to win the tournament and represent the league well in an opening round NCAA Tournament game.  UAB is the  only dark horse with the horses to pull off a couple of upset wins, but anything other than the top four seeds advancing to the semifinals would be shocking.

 

Mountain West Conference Tournament
Las Vegas
All Times PST
First Round–March 7
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
11:00 AM	#8 UNLV	#9 Air Force	Stadium
1:30 PM	#7 Utah St.	#10 Colorado St.	Stadium
4:00 PM	#6 Wyoming	#11 San Jose St.	Stadium
Quarterfinals–March 8
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM	#1 Nevada	UNLV or Air Force	CBSSN
2:30 PM	#4 Fresno St.	#5 San Diego St.	CBSSN
6:00 PM	#2 Boise St.	Utah St. or Color. St.	CBSSN
8:30 PM	#3 New Mexico	Wyoming or San Jose	CBSSN
Semifinals–March 9
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	Nev/UNLV/AFA	FSU or SDSU	CBSSN
8:30 PM	BSU/USU/CSU	UNM/Wyom/SJSU	CBSSN
Championship–March 10
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
3:00 PM			CBS

If your favorite power conference team is in need of a new coach, then your school’s administration should keep a watch on this conference.  This is a league that features a lot of excellent coaches that could move on to big time schools and win big, much like the MAC in football.

At the top of this list are Nevada’s Eric Musselman, Boise State’s Leon Rice, Wyoming’s Allen Edwards, Fresno State’s Rodney Terry, and New Mexico’s Paul Weir.

Nevada has an NCAA bid locked up, but unless another team wins the MWC Tournament, this will be a one-bid league.  Boise State was on the Bubble at one time, but the Broncos’ resume, which includes a road win at Oregon  and home win over Loyola (Chi.) still might be a bit too thin.

San Diego State is like the snake in the grass that the mice cannot see.  The Aztecs can usually play great defense, but their offense is a bit too inconsistent.  This year, that is not the case, as their offense is rather strong, but their defense has not been up to recent standards.  However, SDSU enters this tournament riding a six-game winning streak with evidence that their defense is starting to come around.  Of all the dark horses in all the conferences, we believe the Aztecs are the most dangerous.

 

Pacific 12 Conference Tournament
Las Vegas
All Times PST
First Round–March 7
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM	#8 Colorado	#9 Arizona St.	Pac12
2:30 PM	#5 Stanford	#12 California	Pac12
6:00 PM	#7 Washington	#10 Oregon St.	Pac12
8:30 PM	#6 Oregon	#11 Washington St.	Pac12
Quarterfinals–March 8
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM	#1 Arizona	Colorado or Ariz. St.	Pac12
2:30 PM	#4 UCLA	Stanford or Cal	Pac12
6:00 PM	#2 USC	Wash or Oregon St.	Pac12
8:30 PM	#3 Utah	Oregon or Wash St.	FS1
Semifinals–March 9
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	Ariz/Color/Ariz St	UCLA/Stanford/Cal	Pac12
8:30 PM	USC/Wash/OreSt	Utah/Oreg/WSU	FS1
Championship–March 11
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM			FS1

Will the on-court action be as exciting as the off-court action in this league?  Arizona had to withstand a lot of negative press and speculation about Coach Sean Miller and star player DeAndre Ayton.

Then, there is the case of the hottest team in November and early December becoming an also-ran in conference play, yet remaining on the Bubble.  In other years prior to the current set-up where last 10 or 12 games meant a lot, this metric is not considered by the Selection Committee.  Thus, Arizona State, 8-10 in the Pac-12 and tied for eighth, is still very much in consideration for an at-large bid, while Utah and Stanford, both 11-7 in the league are not seriously being considered.  Stanford swept ASU, clearly showing the world that they are a superior team, while Utah split with the Sun Devils.  It just goes to show that this current system, while being easy to understand, is seriously flawed.

Imagine if the San Diego Padres won series over the Cubs, Nationals, and Astros early in the season and led the NL West through the end of May and then swooned to a 83-79 finish, while the Dodgers go 92-70 but end up with losing records to the Cubs and Nats and lose their interleague series with Cleveland.  Would it be right for the Padres to go to the playoffs based on those April and May wins, while the Dodgers stay home, even if the Dodgers owned the Padres in head-to-head games?  This would be a joke!  But, in college basketball, it is hailed as the new genius way to determine who belongs in the Dance.

It is our opinion that conference standings mean something, in fact a lot more than most of the other factors used to pick at-large teams.  The third place team in a league is obviously better than the eighth place team in the same league.

 

Southeastern Conference Tournament
St. Louis
First 4 Rounds CST, Championship Game CDT
First Round–March 7
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	#12 Georgia	#13 Vanderbilt	SECTV
8:30 PM	#11 South Carolina	#14 Ole Miss	SECTV
Second Round–March 8
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM	#8 Texas A&M	#9 Alabama	SECTV
2:30 PM	#5 Missouri	Georgia or Vandy	SECTV
6:00 PM	#7 Mississippi St.	#10 LSU	SECTV
8:30 PM	#6 Arkansas	S. Carolina or Ole Miss	SECTV
Quarterfinals–March 9
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM	#1 Auburn	A&M or Alabama	ESPN
2:30 PM	#4 Kentucky	Mizzou/UGa/Vandy	ESPN
6:00 PM	#2 Tennessee	Miss St. or LSU	SECTV
8:30 PM	#3 Florida	Ark/USC/Ole Miss	SECTV
Semifinals–March 10
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM	Aub/A&M/Alabama	UK/MO/GA/VU	ESPN
2:30 PM	UT/MSU/LSU	Fla/Ark/USC/OM	ESPN
Championship–March 4
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM			ESPN

Co-champion Auburn is a wounder Tiger.  Without their one legitimate star inside presence, Anfernee McLemore, we do not see the Tigers making it to the Championship Game, and they could fall short of the Semifinals.

Co-champion Tennessee really only goes seven deep, which is okay in the NCAA Tournament, but having to win three games in three days will be tough.

Florida and Kentucky can always be counted to put it all together starting the second week of March.  The Gators and Wildcats have enough vulnerabilities this year that either team winning the tournament would be a mild surprise.

It is the next six teams in this league that should make this an exciting tournament.  Alabama is like the 33rd car in Indy Qualifying, always worried that another car might run an exceptional qualifying run and bump them from the field.  The Crimson Tide absolutely must win Thursday over Texas A&M to have any chance to make the field.  A win over Auburn on Friday would do the trick.

Who do we like in this tournament?  It all hinges on one player who has been in action for all of two minutes all season.  Will Michael Porter, Jr. return to action for Missouri?  If so, will he be able to play considerable minutes?  If so, then Missouri becomes our favorite to run the table and win the Arch Madness encore.  The Tigers are already strong enough to compete for the championship, so if Porter can come close to looking like he did when Missouri played Kansas in that pre-season charity game, the Tigers might capitalize on the return and cut down the nets in their home state.

Texas A&M is a team to watch.  The Aggies will have to fight off a feisty Alabama team playing for its tournament life.  An A&M win on Thursday would set up a quarterfinal game with an Auburn team that A&M handled in Auburn.

 

Southland Conference Tournament
Katy, TX
Top 8 Teams Qualify
All Times CST
First Round–March 7
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
5:00 PM	#5 New Orleans	#8 Texas A&M-CC	ESPN3
7:30 PM	#6 Lamar	#7 Central Arkansas	ESPN3
Quarterfinals–March 8
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
5:00 PM	#4 Sam Houston St.	UNO or TAMCC	ESPN3
7:30 PM	#3 Stephen F. Austin	Lamar or Cent. Ark.	ESPN3
Semifinals–March 9
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
5:00 PM	#1 SE Louisiana	SHSU/UNO/TAMCC	ESPN3
7:30 PM	#2 Nicholls St.	SFA/Lamar/Cent. Ark.	ESPN3
Championship–March 10
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
8:00 PM			ESPN2

How many times have you watched a classic horse race where an all-time favorite horse like American Pharoah or Secretariat is in third place entering the top of the stretch?  The champion may be down 4 or 5 lengths, and the horses leading him may have decent past performances that show they close well.  Still, all eyes are on the all-time great, because you just know the heroic equine is going to run a 11.4 final furlong and pass the two horses in front.

The Southland Conference has its Secretariat or Citation.  Stephen F. Austin enters the tournament as the number three seed, but the fans of top-seed Southeast Louisiana and second-seed Nicholls State will tell you that they fear the Lumberjacks.  SFA played the two co-champs in back-to-back games more than two months ago.  Since then, the Lumberjacks have improved by about 7-10 points.  SFA is the real favorite to win the tournament for the fourth time in five years.

 

Sun Belt Conference Tournament
New Orleans
First 3 Rounds CST, Championship Game CDT
First Round–March 7
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
11:30 AM	#8 Coastal Carolina	#9 Texas St.	ESPN3
2:00 PM	#5 Appalachian St.	#12 Little Rock	ESPN3
5:00 PM	#7 UL-Monroe	#10 Arkansas St.	ESPN3
7:30 PM	#6 Troy	#11 South Alabama	ESPN3
Quarterfinals–March 9
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
11:30 AM	#1 UL-Lafayette	CCU or Tex St.	ESPN3
2:00 PM	#4 UT-Arlington	Appy St. or Little Rock	ESPN3
5:00 PM	#2 Georgia St.	ULM or Arky St.	ESPN3
7:30 PM	#3 Georgia Southern	Troy or USA	ESPN3
Semifinals–March 10
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
11:30 AM	ULL/CCU/Tex St	UTA/Appy/Little Rock	ESPN3
2:00 PM	GSU/ULM/ASU	GSU/Troy/USA	ESPN3
Championship–March 11
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
1:00 PM			ESPN2

Louisiana Lafayette (We know they now call themselves just Louisiana, but until it is the household name we will still add “Lafayette”) is the overwhelming favorite to win the tournament and be a formidable first-round opponent, but it is not a foregone conclusion that the Ragin’ Cajuns will slaughter three opponents and earn the one bid that will go to the league.

ULL has an incredible offense and can light up the scoreboard, but occasional defensive lapses have led to giving up too many points.  Georgia State hung 106 points on them two weeks ago.  Panthers’ coach Ron Hunter knows how to prepare his teams for tournament play, and Georgia State should be considered a co-favorite.

Texas-Arlington is a team to watch in this tourney.  The Mavericks usually win the hustle stats, and those extra opportunities mean even more in March.

 

Conference Tournaments Continuing Today

All times EST

Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament
Second Round–March 7
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM	#8 Florida St.	#9 Louisville	ESPN
2:00 PM	#5 North Carolina St.	#12 Boston College	ESPN
7:00 PM	#7 Virginia Tech	#10 Notre Dame	ESPN2
9:00 PM	#6 North Carolina	#11 Syracuse	ESPN2
Quarterfinals–March 8
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM	#1 Virginia	Fla. St. or Louis.	ESPN
2:00 PM	#4 Clemson	NCSt/BC	ESPN
7:00 PM	#2 Duke	VaT/N.Dame	ESPN
9:00 PM	#3 Miami (Fla.)	North Carolina or Syracuse	ESPN
Semifinals–March 9
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM	UVa/FSU/Louis.	Clem/NCSt/BC	TBA
9:00 PM	Duke/VaT/ND	Mia.UNC/Syr	TBA
Championship–March 10
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
8:30 PM			ESPN

 

Mideastern Athletic Conference Tournament
Quarterfinals–March 7
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	#1 Hampton	#9 Florida A&M	ESPN3
8:00 PM	#2 Bethune-Cookman	#7 Morgan St.	ESPN3
Quarterfinals–March 8
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	#3 Savannah St.	#6 UNC-Central	ESPN3
8:00 PM	#4 North Carolina A&T	#5 Norfolk St.	ESPN3
Semifinals–March 9
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	Hampton/FAMU	NCAT/Norfolk St	ESPN3
8:00 PM	BCU/MSU	Sav/UNCC	ESPN3
Championship–March 10
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
1:00 PM			ESPN2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2018 NCAA Division 1 Conference Tournament Schedule

Here is a look at the 32 Division 1 conferences’ tournament schedules.  A few league still have “to be announced starting times.”

America East Conference Tournament
All Games Played at Higher Seed
Tournament Re-seeded after quarterfinals
Top 8 Teams
Quarterfinals–March 3
Time	Home	Visitors	TV
TBA	#1	#8	ESPN3
TBA	#4	#5	ESPN3
TBA	#2	#7	ESPN3
TBA	#3	#6	ESPN3
Semifinals–March 6
Time	Home	Visitors	TV
TBA	Highest Remaining	Lowest Remaining	ESPN3
TBA	2nd Highest	3rd Highest	ESPN3
Championship–March 10
Time	Home	Visitors	TV
TBA	Higher	Lower	ESPN2

Vermont (11-0/21-5) has won 14 games in a row and should be the overwhelming favorite to return to the NCAA Tournament.  The Catamounts are one of the better shooting teams from behind the arc, and they are sneaking good on the boards.  They will not be an easy out for a favored power conference team in the first round.

American Athletic Conference Tournament
Orlando, FL
First 3 Rounds EST/Championship EDT
First Round–March 8
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM	# 8	#9	ESPNU
2:30 PM	#5	#12	ESPNU
6:00 PM	#7	#10	ESPNU
8:30 PM	#6	#11	ESPNU
Quarterfinals–March 9
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM	#1	8 or 9	ESPN2
2:30 PM	#4	5 or 12	ESPN2
6:00 PM	#2	7 or 10	ESPNU
8:30 PM	#3	6 or 11	ESPNU
Semifinals–March 10
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
1:00 PM	1, 8, or 9	4, 5, or 12	CBS
3:30 PM	2, 7, or 10	3, 6, or 11	CBS
Championship–March 11
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
3:00 PM			CBS

Cincinnati (12-0/23-2) faces three tough regular season  games on their schedule before the AAC Tournament begins.  The Bearcats play at Houston (9-3/19-5) tonight in a game you can see on CBSSN at 7 PM Eastern.  UC looks like a national championship contender.  The Bearcats are number one in the nation in field goal percentage defense and in scoring margin.  The team is one of the quickest teams we have seen in many years, and they plug defensive holes fast enough to give up many decent shots.  Coach Mick Cronin’s forces are better offensively this year, because they just may be the best passing team in college basketball.  The ball moves much quicker through the air than by the dribble, and combining fast player movement with crisp passing makes it hard to contain.  The only question is whether the Bearcats have played a tough enough schedule.  Road games at Houston and Wichita State will give us the answer.

Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament
Washington, DC
First 4 Rounds EST/Championship EDT
First Round–March 7
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	#12	#13
8:30 PM	#11	#14
Second Round–March 8
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM	#8	#9	NBCSN
2:30 PM	#5	12 or 13	NBCSN
6:00 PM	#7	#10	NBCSN
8:30 PM	#6	11 or 14	NBCSN
Quarterfinals–March 9
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM	#1	8 or 9	NBCSN
2:30 PM	#4	5, 12, or 13	NBCSN
6:00 PM	#2	7 or 10	NBCSN
8:30 PM	#3	6, 11, or 14	NBCSN
Semifinals–March 10
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
1:00 PM	1, 8, or 9	4, 5, 12, or 13	CBSSN
3:30 PM	2, 7, or 10	3, 6, 11, or 14	CBSSN
Championship–March 11
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
1:00 PM			CBS

Rhode Island (13-0/21-3) has secured a bid to the NCAA Tournament with or without the automatic bid.  Should somebody upset the Rams in the A-10 Tournament, there will be an extra A-10 team dancing, which means one bubble will pop.  URI has a 16-game winning streak, and Danny Hurley will become a hot commodity in the coaching wars in late March and April.

Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament
Brooklyn
All Times EST
First Round–March 6
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM	#12	#13	ESPN2
2:00 PM	#10	#15	ESPN2
7:00 PM	#11	#14	ESPNU
Second Round–March 7
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM	#8	#9	ESPN
2:00 PM	#5	12 or 13	ESPN
7:00 PM	#7	10 or 15	ESPN2
9:00 PM	#6	11 or 14	ESPN2
Quarterfinals–March 8
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM	#1	8 or 9	ESPN
2:00 PM	#4	5, 12, or 13	ESPN
7:00 PM	#2	7, 10, or 15	ESPN
9:00 PM	#3	6, 11, or 14	ESPN
Semifinals–March 9
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM	1, 8, or 9	4, 5, 12, or 13	TBA
9:00 PM	2, 7, 10, or 15	3, 6, 11, or 14	TBA
Championship–March 10
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
8:30 PM			ESPN

Virginia (13-1/24-2) lost at home to rival Virginia Tech (7-6/18-8), placing the Hokies many places higher on the Bubble.  This tournament should be up for grabs, because there are many quality teams.  One will get hot and play its best basketball of the season, and that team will earn the automatic bid.  Keep an eye on North Carolina State (7-6/17-9).  First year coach Kevin Keatts proved to be one of the best tournament coaches when he was at UNCW, and his players have played well above their talent levels for him.  Just a tad more improvement, and the Wolf Pack could be dangerous in the Barclay’s Center.

Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament
All Games Played at Higher Seed
All Times EST
Quarterfinals–February 26
Time	Home	Visitors	TV
TBA	#1 Florida Gulf Coast	#8	ESPN3
TBA	#4	#5	ESPN3
TBA	#2	#7	ESPN3
TBA	#3	#6	ESPN3
Semifinals–March 1
Time	Home	Visitors	TV
TBA	1 or 8	4 or 5	ESPN3
TBA	2 or 7	3 or 6	ESPN3
Championship–March 4
Time	Home	Visitors	TV
TBA			ESPN

Florida Gulf Coast (11-0/20-8) has already secured the top seed and will host every game it plays in the A-Sun Tournament.  This Eagles team is not as strong as the great dunking 2013 team that advanced to the Sweet 16, but it will be a major upset if FGCU loses.

Big 12 Conference Tournament
Kansas City
All Times CST
First Round–March 7
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	#8	#9	ESPNU
8:00 PM	#7	#10	ESPNU
Quarterfinals–March 8
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
11:30 AM	#4	#5	ESPN2
1:30 PM	#1	8 or 9	ESPN2
6:00 PM	#2	7 or 10	ESPNU
8:00 PM	#3	#6	ESPNU
Semifinals–March 9
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	1, 8, or 9	4 or 5	ESPN2
8:00 PM	2, 7, or 10	3 or 6	ESPN2
Championship–March 10
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
5:00 PM			ESPN

This will be one interesting and exciting tournament.  Except for Iowa State, any of the other nine teams has the ability to win this tournament.  It will be important to finish in the top six to avoid having to play an extra game to win the thing, but even the 7 through 9 seeds will have chances to win four games in four days.  Baylor (6-7/16-10) has won four straight games to move from the cellar to a fifth place tie.  The Bears are the hot team, and their wins at Oklahoma State and Texas plus a home win over Kansas proves that they are good enough to keep winning.  Saturday’s game against front-runner Texas Tech (10-3/22-4) should be one of the best of the weekend.

Big East Conference Tournament
New York City
All Times EST
First Round–March 7
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM	#8	#9	FS1
9:30 PM	#7	#10	FS1
Quarterfinals–March 8
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM	#1	8 or 9	FS1
2:30 PM	#4	#5	FS1
7:00 PM	#2	7 or 10	FS1
9:30 PM	#3	#6	FS1
Semifinals–March 9
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:30 PM	1, 8,or 9	4 or 5	FS1
9:00 PM	2, 7, or 10	3 or 6	FS1
Championship–March 10
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:30 PM			Fox

Villanova (10-3/23-3) dropped from the top of the polls and then dropped from the top of the conference.  Xavier (12-2/24-3) is the hot team, but the Musketeers have eeked out a lot of their wins this year.  Teams that pick up many close wins seldom advance to the Final Four, but it is not impossible.  Xavier pinned one of the losses on Cincinnati, and it is slightly possible that the Final Four could have two teams from the Queen City.

After losing 11 games in a row, St. John’s (3-11/14-13) has won four in a row, including two over top five teams (Duke and Villanova).  Seldom does the last place team look capable of winning a power conference tournament, but there is precedence.  Virginia won the ACC after finishing last in the standings one season in the 1970’s.

Big Sky Conference Tournament
Reno, NV
All Times PST
First Round–March 6
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM	#8	#9	Pluto tv
2:30 PM	#5	#12	Pluto tv
5:30 PM	#7	#10	Pluto tv
8:00 PM	#6	#11	Pluto tv
Quarterfinals–March 8
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM	#1	8 or 9	Pluto tv
2:30 PM	#4	5 or 12	Pluto tv
5:30 PM	#2	7 or 10	Pluto tv
8:00 PM	#3	6 or 11	Pluto tv
Semifinals–March 9
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
5:30 PM	1, 8, or 9	4, 5, or 12	Pluto tv
8:00 PM	2, 7, or 10	3, 6, or 11	Pluto tv
Championship–March 10
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
5:00 PM			ESPNU

Three teams have put it together in the month of February, and one of the three should win the tournament.  Montana (13-0/20-5) has won 13 games in a row; Weber St. (10-2/17-7) has won 7 in a row; and Idaho (9-3/17-7) has won 4 in a row.  Montana plays at Idaho on Saturday.

Big South Conference Tournament
1st Round & Championship Game at Higher Seeds
Quarterfinals and Semfinals at #1 Seed
All Times EST
First Round–February 27
Time	Home	Visitors	TV
7:00 PM	#7	#10	BSN
7:00 PM	#8	#9	BSN
BSN TV	at http://bigsouthsports.com
Quarterfinals–March 1
Time	Home	Visitors	TV
1:00 PM	#2	7 or 10	ESPN3
3:30 PM	#3	#6	ESPN3
7:00 PM	#1	8 or 9	ESPN3
9:30 PM	#4	#5	ESPN3
Semifinals–March 2
Time	Home	Visitors	TV
6:00 PM	2, 7, or 10	3 or 6	ESPN3
8:30 PM	1, 8, or 9	4 or 5	ESPN3
Championship–March 4
Time	Home	Visitors	TV
1:00 PM			ESPN

UNC-Asheville (11-3/18-9) was the preseason pick to win the Big South, but the Bulldogs underachieved through early January.  Since then, UNCA has passed four teams to move to the top of the standings, riding a 7-game winning streak.  Keep an eye on eighth place Charleston Southern (6-8/11-14).  The Buccaneers have won four of five games, and they could easily be 9-9 by the time the tournament starts.  Many of CSU’s losses have been close, including road losses against the top part of the league.  The Bucs are peaking at the right time.

Big Ten Conference Tournament
New York City
All Times EST
First Round–February 28
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
5:30 PM	#12	#13	Big Ten
7:45 PM	#11	#14	Big Ten
Second Round–March 1
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM	#8	#9	Big Ten
2:15 PM	#5	12 or 13	Big Ten
6:30 PM	#7	#10	Big Ten
8:45 PM	#6	11 or 14	Big Ten
Quarterfinals–March 2
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM	#1	8 or 9	Big Ten
2:15 PM	#4	5, 12, or 13	Big Ten
6:30 PM	#2	7 or 10	Big Ten
8:45 PM	#3	6, 11, or 14	Big Ten
Semifinals–March 3
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
2:00 PM	1, 8, or 9	4, 5, 12, or 13	CBS
4:30 PM	2, 7, or 10	3, 6, 11, or 14	CBS
Championship–March 4
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
4:30 PM			CBS

The Big Ten season is ending early this year so the league can stage its conference tournament at Madison Square Garden.  MSG also hosts the Big East Tournament.

The top three teams (Ohio St. 13-1/22-5), Michigan St. (13-2/25-3), and Purdue (12-2/23-4) have separated themselves from the rest of the field and are all safely in the Dance.  Michigan (10-5/21-7) is close to a lock.  There are three or four other teams that will begin the tournament needing multiple wins to have a chance to get into the field.  Nebraska (11-4/20-8) is a victim of the new way of picking at-large teams.  In past years, the Cornhuskers would be a near lock with an 11-4 record in the Big Ten.  With the new quadrant system being used, Nebraska does not have a Quadrant 1 win and not enough Quadrant 2 wins.  The Huskers have three winnable conference games and could be 14-4 in the league and still back on the Bubble, so NU will need to do some damage in the Big Apple.

Big West Conference Tournament
Anaheim, CA
Top 8 Teams Qualify & Tournament Re-seeds for Semifinals
All Times PST
Quarterfinals–March 8
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM	#2	#7	FSWest
2:30 PM	#3	#6	FSWest
6:00 PM	#1	#8	FSWest
8:30 PM	#4	#5	FSWest
Semifinals–March 9
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:30 PM	Highest Remaining	Lowest Remaining	TBA
9:00 PM	2nd Highest	3rd Highest	TBA
Championship–March 10
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
9:00 PM			ESPN2

UC-Santa Barbara (8-2/19-5), UC-Irvine (8-3/13-14), UC-Davis (7-4/16-9), Cal State Fullerton (7-4/14-9), and Long Beach St. (7-4/13-14) have stayed bunched together all season, and no team has a great edge over any other.  With the game at the Honda Center in Anaheim, there are basically three home teams in UCI, CSF, and LBSU.  This one is up for grabs.

Colonial Athletic Association Tournament
North Charleston, SC
All Times EST
First Round–March 3
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	#8	#9	CAA TV
8:30 PM	#7	#10	CAA TV
Quarterfinals–March 4
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM	#1	8 or 9	Comcast
2:30 PM	#4	#5	Comcast
6:00 PM	#2	7 or 10	Comcast
8:30 PM	#3	#6	Comcast
Semifinals–March 5
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	1, 8, or 9	4 or 5	CBSSN
8:30 PM	2, 7, or 10	3 or 6	CBSSN
Championship–March 6
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM			CBSSN

In the late 1990’s John Kresse took College of Charleston to multiple NCAA Tournaments.  The Cougars (11-3/20-6) have not been to the Big Dance since, but this looks like the most promising year this century for C of C.  The Cougars are strong in the backcourt and have a beefy forward in Jarrell Brantley.

Conference USA Tournament
Frisco, TX
Top 12 Teams Qualify
All Times CST
Note: This facility splits into two separate courts until the semifinals
First Round–March 7
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	#8	#9	TBA
6:30 PM	#5	#12	TBA
8:30 PM	#7	#10	TBA
9:00 PM	#6	#11	TBA
Quarterfinals–March 8
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	#1	8 or 9	Stadium
6:30 PM	#4	5 or 12	Stadium
8:30 PM	#2	7 or 10	Stadium
9:00 PM	#3	6 or 11	Stadium
Semifinals–March 9
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:30 PM	1, 8, or 9	4, 5, or 12	CBSSN
3:00 PM	2, 7, or 10	3, 6, or 11	CBSSN
Championship–March 10
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:30 PM			CBSSN

Middle Tennessee (12-1/20-5) will be the favorite, but the Blue Raiders will not waltz to an easy three-peat in CUSA.  The tournament has been moved to the North Dallas suburbs, where it will be played on the Cowboys’ practice facility.  The football field will be split into two courts so that two games can be played at a time (women’s tournament will also be there simultaneously).

The next three best teams, Western Kentucky (10-2/18-7), Old Dominion (10-2/19-5), and Marshall (8-4/17-8) have very little chance of sniffing an at-large bid.  WKU may have a slight chance, but realistically the Hilltoppers need to win out in the regular season and make it to the finals before their at-large hopes would be legitimate.

It’s the tier below these top four that should concern Middle Tennessee the most.  North Texas (7-5/14-11) is virtually a home team in the conference tournament.  UTSA (7-5/14-11) has improved by 10 points since December.  UAB (7-6/16-10) has not yet played up to its talent level, which means the Blazers could peak at tournament time.

Horizon League Tournament
Detroit (Motor City Madness)
All Times EST
First Round–March 2
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
5:30 PM	#7	#10	ESPN3
8:00 PM	#8	#9	ESPN3
Quarterfinals–March 3
5:30 PM	#2	7 or 10	ESPN3
8:00 PM	#1	8 or 9	ESPN3
Quarterfinals–March 4
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
5:00 PM	#3	#6	ESPN3
7:30 PM	#4	#5	ESPN3
Semifinals–March 5
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM	1, 8, or 9	4 or 5	ESPNU
9:30 PM	2, 7, or 10	3 or 6	ESPNU
Championship–March 6
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM			TBA

Northern Kentucky (12-2/19-7) and Wright St. (11-3/19-8) have flip-flopped between first and second place all year.  Northern Kentucky is the defending conference champions, and the Norse were the overwhelming favorite to repeat this year.

There are a couple more teams to consider in this tournament.  UIC (10-4/15-12) has quietly moved into third following a 7-game winning streak, and the top two teams still must visit UIC Pavilion.  Oakland (8-6/16-11) has a powerful, up-tempo offense, which is not all that consistent.  When consistent, the Golden Grizzlies have the ability to beat any league opponent.  Oakland won by 13 at NKU.

Ivy League Tournament
Philadelphia (Ivy Madness)
Top 4 Teams Qualify
Semifinals EST Championship Game EDT
Semifinals–March 10
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:30 PM	#1	#4	ESPNU
3:00 PM	#2	#3	ESPN2
Championship–March 11
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
9:00 PM			ESPN2

Penn (7-1/17-7) and Harvard (7-1/12-11) have secured half of the spots in the field of four that will square off at the Palestra.  The Quakers will have the home court advantage.

The other two spots are still very much up for grabs with five teams competing and six conference games remaining.  This is a down year for the Ivy, and the winner of the tournament will most likely face a #1 seed in the first round if not forced to go to Dayton for the First Four.

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament
Albany, NY
All Times EST
First Round–March 1
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
5:00 PM	# 8	#9	ESPN3
7:00 PM	#7	#10	ESPN3
9:00 PM	#6	#11	ESPN3
Quarterfinals–March 2
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM	#1	8 or 9	ESPN3
9:30 PM	#2	7 or 10	ESPN3
Quarterfinals–March 3
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM	#3	6 or 11	ESPN3
9:30 PM	#4	#5	ESPN3
Semifinals–March 4
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM	1, 8, or 9	4 or 5	ESPN3
9:30 PM	2, 7, or 10	3, 6, or 11	ESPN3
Championship–March 5
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM			TBA

This is a league in transition, as its previous top teams have settled back in the pack.  The current top three in the standings are the three teams playing their best ball in February, and we would tend to believe that one of the trio will win the automatic bid.  Those three teams are: Rider (12-2/19-7), Canisius (12-2/18-9), and Niagara (10-4/17-10).  For Rider and Canisius, it was the mid 1990’s when they were in the NCAA Tournament, while Niagara went in 2007.

Mid-American Conference Tournament
Cleveland (First Round at Higher Seeds)
All Times EST
First Round–March 5
Time	Home	Visitors	TV
TBA	#8	#9	TBA
TBA	#5	#12	TBA
TBA	#7	#10	TBA
TBA	#6	#11	TBA
Quarterfinals–March 8
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM	#1	8 or 9	ESPN3
2:30 PM	#4	5 or 12	ESPN3
6:30 PM	#2	7 or 10	ESPN3
9:00 PM	#3	6 or 11	ESPN3
Semifinals–March 9
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:30 PM	1, 8, or 9	4, 5, or 12	CBSSN
9:00 PM	2, 7, or 10	3, 6, or 11	See *
* This game will be available at cbssports.com
Championship–March 10
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM			ESPN2

Buffalo (11-2/19-7) looked like the clear-cut favorite until the last week or so, and now the Bulls have stiff competition from Toledo (11-2/19-7).  However, historically, the MAC Tournament has seen an abnormally large number of surprises.  We don’t expect it to be any different this year.  Central Michigan (5-8/16-10) has disappointed this year, as their talent level is better than their results so far.  The Chippewas are a very longshot to win the tournament, but it would not surprise us if CMU looks much stronger in Cleveland–if they get there.

Mideastern Athletic Conference Tournament
Norfolk, VA
All Times EST
First Round–March 5
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:30 PM	#4	#13	ESPN3
9:00 PM	#5	#12	ESPN3
First Round–March 6
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
4:00 PM	#8	#9	ESPN3
6:30 PM	#6	#11	ESPN3
9:00 PM	#7	#10	ESPN3
Quarterfinals–March 7
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	#1	8 or 9	ESPN3
8:00 PM	#2	7 or 10	ESPN3
Quarterfinals–March 8
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	#3	6 or 11	ESPN3
8:00 PM	4 or 13	5 or 12	ESPN3
Semifinals–March 9
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	1, 8, or 9	4, 5, 12, or 13	ESPN3
8:00 PM	2, 7, or 10	3, 6, or 11	ESPN3
Championship–March 10
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
1:00 PM			ESPN2

The winner of this conference may be forced to go to the First Four round in Dayton, but there is one team from this league that no other 16-seed wants to see in Dayton.  Savannah State (10-1/13-13) is the most up-tempo team in Division 1.  Watching the Tigers play is the closest thing to watching UNLV play in the 1970’s (not like Loyola Marymount under Paul Westhead.)  Former Georgetown great Horace Broadnax has had a total change in coaching paradigm in the last two years.  He used to coach like his mentor John Thompson, emphasizing defense and patient offense.  Now, Broadnax’s Tigers play like a Mike D’Antoni-coached team.  There is little need for a shot-clock in SSU games.  The Tigers average better than 84 possessions per game.  They take more than 73 field goal attempts per game.  They force more than 18 turnovers per game and average close to 10 steals per game, and they score 86.5 points per game.  If it weren’t for an inability to rebound, we would have SSU on our list of low majors with a legitimate chance to upset a power team in the Round of 64.  If they get to the NCAA Tournament and advance past the First Four, they will be forced to play somebody like Virginia, Villanova, or Cincinnati, and they don’t have the muscle to pull off the biggest upset in the history of the Dance.  However, if they get there, you will want to watch them play.

Missouri Valley Conference Tournament
St. Louis (Arch Madness)
All Times CST
First Round–March 1
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	#8	#9	MVC TV
8:30 PM	#7	#10	MVC TV
Quarterfinals–March 2
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM	#1	8 or 9	MVC TV
2:30 PM	#4	#5	MVC TV
6:00 PM	#2	7 or 10	MVC TV
8:30 PM	#3	#6	MVC TV
Semifinals–March 3
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
2:30 PM	1, 8, or 9	4 or 5	CBSSN
5:00 PM	2, 7, or 10	3 or 6	CBSSN
Championship–March 4
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
1:00 PM			CBS

With Wichita State now in the AAC, it figured that the Valley race would be wide open.  While it still may be so, it sure looks like Loyola (Chi.) (12-3/22-5) is doing its best to return to glory.  The Ramblers won it all in 1963, and they have only been back to the NCAA Tournament one time since legendary coach George Ireland retired in the late 1960’s.  Southern Illinois (10-5/18-10) was a national joke a few years ago when Coach Barry Hinson went on one of the most famous rants in coaching history, and ESPN featured it for two days.  Hinson has never taken a team to the NCAA Tournament in 17 years as a head coach.

Mountain West Conference Tournament
Las Vegas
All Times PST
First Round–March 7
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
11:00 AM	# 8	#9	Stadium
1:30 PM	#7	#10	Stadium
4:00 PM	#6	#11	Stadium
Quarterfinals–March 8
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM	#1	8 or 9	CBSSN
2:30 PM	#4	#5	CBSSN
6:00 PM	#2	7 or 10	CBSSN
8:30 PM	#3	6 or 11	CBSSN
Semifinals–March 9
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	1, 8, or 9	4 or 5	CBSSN
8:30 PM	2, 7, or 10	3, 6, or 11	CBSSN
Championship–March 10
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
3:00 PM			CBS

In our opinion, Eric Musselman should be the National Coach of the Year.  His Nevada Wolfpack (11-2/22-5) has 10 transfers on the roster.  Musselman inherited a 22-game loser in Reno when he arrived three years ago and immediately turned the program around, going 24-14 and winning the CBI Tournament.  He won both the regular season and conference tournament last year, but Nevada quickly got behind by double digits against Iowa State in the first round and went home after one game.

This year, Nevada has the tools to do some damage in the tournament.  They are most likely going back as an at-large team if they do not win the automatic bid.

Boise State (10-4/20-6) is worthy of making the tournament even if the Broncos cannot top Nevada for the conference tournament title.  Former Mark Few assistant Leon Rice has built the BSU program up to where it is now on par with the football program.  Rice could be in line for a pay raise and a relocation to a power conference school.

Northeast Conference Tournament
All Games at Higher Seed
Top 8 Teams Qualify and Tournament Re-seeds after Quarterfinals
All Times EST
Quarterfinals–February 28
Time	Home Team	Visitors	TV
TBA	#1	#8	NEC *
TBA	#2	#7	NEC *
TBA	#3	#6	NEC *
TBA	#4	#5	NEC *
* NEC Front Row at http://necfrontrow.com/
Semifinals–March 3
Time	Home Team	Visitors	TV
12:00 PM	Highest Remaining	Lowest Remaining	ESPN3
2:00 PM	2nd Highest	3rd Highest	ESPN3
Championship–March 6
Time	Home Team	Visitors	TV
7:00 PM			ESPN2

The NEC is a candidate for placing its automatic qualifier in a First Four game.  No league team this year has enough force to do any damage in the NCAA Tournament.  First place Wagner (11-3/18-7) is not much of a favorite to win the NEC Tournament.  The Seahawks’ three conference losses came to teams in the lower half of the standings.

Ohio Valley Conference Tournament
Evansville, IN
Top 8 Teams Qualify, Southeast Missouri ineligible due to low APR Scores
All Times CST
First Round–February 28
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:30 PM	#5	#8	OVC
8:30 PM	#6	#7	OVC
OVC Network at http://www.ovcdigitalnetwork.com/watch
Quarterfinals–March 1
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:30 PM	#4	5 or 8	OVC
8:30 PM	#3	6 or 7	OVC
Semifinals–March 2
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM	#1	4, 5, or 8	ESPNU
9:00 PM	#2	3, 6, or 7	ESPNU
Championship–March 3
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM			ESPN2

The Ohio Valley Conference Tournament is set up so that the top two seeds have large advantages over the rest of the field.  The top two start in the semifinals and only have to win twice to earn the automatic bid.

It also severely handicaps the rest of the field when the top two are considerably better than the rest of the field.  Murray State (12-2/20-5) and Belmont (12-2/20-7) have dominated the league for years, and both are capable of knocking off a favored opponent in the opening round.

The tournament has moved away from Nashville to Evansville, Indiana, so Belmont will not have a home town advantage.  Murray, Kentucky, is an easy drive from Evansville, but then so is Nashville.  It should make for a grand finale if the Racers and Bruins meet for all the marbles.

Pacific 12 Conference Tournament
Las Vegas
All Times PST
First Round–March 7
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM	# 8	#9	Pac12
2:30 PM	#5	#12	Pac12
6:00 PM	#7	#10	Pac12
8:30 PM	#6	#11	Pac12
Quarterfinals–March 8
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM	#1	8 or 9	Pac12
2:30 PM	#4	5 or 12	Pac12
6:00 PM	#2	7 or 10	Pac12
8:30 PM	#3	6 or 11	FS1
Semifinals–March 9
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	1, 8, or 9	4, 5, or 12	Pac12
8:30 PM	2, 7, or 10	3, 6, or 11	FS1
Championship–March 11
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM			FS1

The Pac-12 may not be the best conference in the West this year.  The best four teams, maybe five teams, out West are not from the Pac-12.  Arizona (10-3/20-6) may not be as strong as Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s, Nevada, Boise State, and maybe New Mexico State.  So, it figures that the league will send a minimum number of teams to the Big Dance, maybe just two or three.

Arizona State (7-6/19-6) was once a lock for the NCAA Tournament, and the Sun Devils will most likely make it into the field because of the new criteria, where the way a team ends the season is not considered at all.  Wins over Kansas, Kansas State, and Xavier should be enough to get Bobby Hurley’s team into the field, where you can bet they will be placed in position to play Rhode Island in the first or second game, and the Committee will claim it was purely coincidental.

The Arizona rivals face off in Tempe tonight, and it should be one worth watching.  Tune in to ESPN at 9:00 PM Eastern.

USC, Oregon, and Washington still have work to do to make it into the field, while Utah, Colorado, and Stanford are probably looking at only an automatic bid as a means of Dancing.

Patriot League Tournament
All Games Played at Higher Seed
All Times EST
First Round–February 27
Time	Home	Visitors	TV
TBA	#7	#10	Stadium
TBA	#8	#9	Stadium
Quarterfinals–March 1
Time	Home	Visitors	TV
TBA	#1 Bucknell	8 or 9	Stadium
TBA	#4	#5	Stadium
TBA	#2	7 or 10	Stadium
TBA	#3	#6	Stadium
Semifinals–March 1
Time	Home	Visitors	TV
TBA	1 or 8	4 or 5	CBSSN
TBA	2 or 7	3 or 6	CBSSN
Championship–March 4
Time	Home	Visitors	TV
TBA			CBSSN

Bucknell (13-2/19-9) secured the top seed this past weekend, so the Bison will host any game they play in the Pat Tourney.  One of their two league defeats came at home, so it is possible that they could be upset, but not very likely.

Southeastern Conference Tournament
St. Louis
First 4 Rounds CST, Championship Game CDT
First Round–March 7
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	#12	#13	SECTV
8:30 PM	#11	#14	SECTV
Second Round–March 8
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM	#8	#9	SECTV
2:30 PM	#5	12 or 13	SECTV
6:00 PM	#7	#10	SECTV
8:30 PM	#6	11 or 14	SECTV
Quarterfinals–March 9
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM	#1	8 or 9	ESPN
2:30 PM	#4	5, 12, or 13	ESPN
6:00 PM	#2	7 or 10	SECTV
8:30 PM	#3	6, 11, or 14	SECTV
Semifinals–March 10
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM	1, 8, or 9	4, 5, 12, or 13	ESPN
2:30 PM	2, 7, or 10	3, 6, 11, or 14	ESPN
Championship–March 4
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM			ESPN

There will be a double dose of Arch Madness this year, as the SEC moves its tournament to St. Louis.  It happens to coincide with the return to power of Missouri (8-5/18-8), and the Tigers’ fans may rival those from the Bluegrass.  Coach Cuonzo Martin was born just across the river, and he will have a loyal following as Mizzou has to be considered a co-favorite to win the conference tournament.  Now, if Michael Porter can suit up and play any amount of meaningful minutes, Missouri will become the odds-on favorite to win the tournament.

Auburn (11-2/23-3) will win the regular season title, while Tennessee (9-4/19-6) will most likely finish second, but the PiRates do not believe either team’s style of play and talent can win three games in three days.  If Missouri doesn’t win the tournament, it could be Alabama (8-5/17-9), a team with tough defense and enough offense to win three times in three days.

Of course, there are Florida (8-5/17-9) and Kentucky (6-7/17-9).  Who would ever count out either team with the incredible talent on both rosters?  It would not be a surprise if one or both peaked at the right time.

Southern Conference Tournament
Asheville, NC
All Times EST
First Round–March 2
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
5:00 PM	#8	#9	ESPN3
7:30 PM	#7	#10	ESPN3
Quarterfinals–March 3
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM	#1	8 or 9	ESPN3
2:30 PM	#4	#5	ESPN3
6:00 PM	#2	7 or 10	ESPN3
8:30 PM	#3	#6	ESPN3
Semifinals–March 4
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
4:00 PM	1, 8, or 9	4 or 5	ESPN3
6:30 PM	2, 7, or 10	3 or 6	ESPN3
Championship–March 5
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
9:00 PM			ESPN2

This looks like a two-team race.  East Tennessee (13-1/22-5) was cruising along with the nation’s best winning streak at 16, before they crashed and burned at UNC-Greensboro (11-2/20-6).  If anybody else wins the automatic bid, it is going to be a quick one and done.  Both ETSU and UNCG have the talent to win an opening round game.  ETSU has the strong front court, while UNCG has a fantastic press defense.

Southland Conference Tournament
Katy, TX
Top 8 Teams Qualify
All Times CST
First Round–March 7
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
5:00 PM	#5	#8	ESPN3
7:30 PM	#6	#7	ESPN3
Quarterfinals–March 8
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
5:00 PM	#4	5 or 8	ESPN3
7:30 PM	#3	6 or 7	ESPN3
Semifinals–March 9
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
5:00 PM	#1	4, 5, or 8	ESPN3
7:30 PM	#2	3, 6, or 7	ESPN3
Championship–March 10
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
8:00 PM			ESPN2

This is no longer Stephen F. Austin (10-3/21-5) and the 7 Dwarfs.  The Lumberjacks may very well win the conference tournament again this year, but they won’t just show up and receive the trophy.

Nicholls State (11-2/17-9) and Southeast Louisiana (11-3/17-10) rank ahead of SFA at the moment, and Sam Houston State (10-4/16-11) and New Orleans (10-4/13-12) are bunched up in a tight race.  None of the contenders have exceptionally strong resumes, so this league could be staring at a 16-seed in the tourney.

Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament
First Round at Higher Seed, Semifinal and Final Round in Houston
Grambling and Alabama A&M are ineligible due to low APR Scores
All Times CST
Quarterfinals–March 6
Time	Home	Visitors	TV
TBA	#1	#8	TBA
TBA	#4	#5	TBA
TBA	#2	#7	TBA
TBA	#3	#6	TBA
Semifinals–March 9
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
2:30 PM	1 or 8	4 or 5	TBA
8:30 PM	2 or 7	3 or 6	TBA
Championship–March 10
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
3:00 PM			ESPN2

It hurts that the best team, Grambling (10-3/14-12) in the league is ineligible to play in the NCAA Tournament.  The other nine teams have losing records, so the winner of this conference tournament will almost assuredly be playing in Dayton in the First Four round.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff (9-4/9-18) went 0-14 outside of the SWAC, yet the Lions could be the favorite to win the tournament.  Southern (8-5/12-14) and Alabama St. (6-6/6-18) are actually the two hottest teams at the moment.

Summit League Tournament
Sioux Falls, MS
All Times CST
Quarterfinals–March 3
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	#1	#8	MidcoSN
8:30 PM	#2	#7	MidcoSN
Quarterfinals–March 4
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	#4	#5	MidcoSN
8:30 PM	#3	#6	MidcoSN
Semifinals–March 5
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	1 or 8	4 or 5	MidcoSN
8:30 PM	2 or 7	3 or 6	MidcoSN
Championship–March 6
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
8:00 PM			ESPN2

The top two teams will send a lot of fans to Sioux Falls to make their games feel like home games.  South Dakota State (10-1/22-6) and South Dakota (10-2/23-6) have to be considered prohibitive co-favorites, but we will keep a careful eye on Fort Wayne (6-6/17-12).  The Mastodons are like the Boston Red Sox during the Ted Williams days.  You know they are going to score, score, score with a powerful offense, but you never know if they are going to give up too many to the opponent.  If you saw the second half of Fort Wayne’s two-point loss at SDSU, you know that when this team puts it all together, they can beat any team in the Summit.  Indiana coach Archie Miller will tell you how talented these guys are.  The question is, will they ever put it all together for three consecutive days?

Sun Belt Conference Tournament
New Orleans
First 3 Rounds CST, Championship Game CDT
First Round–March 7
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
11:30 AM	# 8	#9	ESPN3
2:00 PM	#5	#12	ESPN3
5:00 PM	#7	#10	ESPN3
7:30 PM	#6	#11	ESPN3
Quarterfinals–March 9
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
11:30 AM	#1	8 or 9	ESPN3
2:00 PM	#4	5 or 12	ESPN3
5:00 PM	#2	7 or 10	ESPN3
7:30 PM	#3	6 or 11	ESPN3
Semifinals–March 10
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
11:30 AM	1, 8, or 9	4, 5, or 12	ESPN3
2:00 PM	2, 7, or 10	3, 6, or 11	ESPN3
Championship–March 11
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
1:00 PM			ESPN2

A month ago, this tournament looked like a mere formality where the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns (11-1/21-4) would party in New Orleans.  As Lee Corso would say, “Not so fast my friends.”  From almost out of nowhere, Georgia State (10-3/19-7).  A recent 10-game winning streak, which included a 14-point trouncing of ULL, brought GSU to within a game of first place.

West Coast Conference Tournament
Las Vegas
All Times PST
First Round–March 2
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	#8	#9	The W
8:00 PM	#7	#10	The W
The W at: http://www.wccsports.com/ot/upcoming-events.html
Quarterfinals–March 3
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
1:00 PM	#3	#6	The W
3:00 PM	#4	#5	The W
7:00 PM	#1	8 or 9	ESPN2
9:00 PM	#2	7 or 10	ESPN2
Semifinals–March 4
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	1, 8, or 9	4 or 5	ESPN
8:00 PM	2, 7, or 10	3 or 6	ESPN2
Championship–March 6
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM			ESPN

We know about the top two teams, as they are always in contention for an NCAA bid every year.  Gonzaga (13-1/23-4) is no longer a mid-major team.  Once you make it to within a couple minutes of a national championship, you deserve the ranks to join teams from the past like UNLV, Marquette, Jacksonville, and UTEP that came to national prominence from out of nowhere.

Saint Mary’s (13-1/24-3) is not that far behind Gonzaga.  With Jock Londale in the post, they may have the top center in the nation.  SMU should get into the Dance as an at-large if they do not win the automatic bid.

Now, the question is can a third team earn a bubble-busting spot by beating both of the league powers?  BYU (9-5/20-7) certainly has the talent to get hot and run the table at Orleans Arena.  The Cougars can be tough to match up with, especially when they get their running game going.

Western Athletic Conference Tournament
Las Vegas
All Times PST
Quarterfinals–March 8
Time	Home	Visitors	TV
12:00 PM	#3	#6	ESPN3
2:30 PM	#2	#7	ESPN3
6:00 PM	#1	#8	ESPN3
8:30 PM	#4	#5	ESPN3
Semifinals–March 9
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	3 or 6	2 or 7	ESPN3
8:30 PM	1 or 8	4 or 5	ESPN3
Championship–March 10
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM			ESPNU

This is a league with one really good team and three or four average teams that have the capability to sneak into the tournament title.  It would be ashamed for this league if New Mexico State (9-0/22-3) were to be upset in the tournament and end up as a 1-seed in the NIT.  The Aggies may have their best team in Las Cruces since Lou Henson took the 1970 team to the Final Four.  Coach Chris Jans has been rebuilding his reputation, and after a stint as Gregg Marshall’s assistant at Wichita State, he has made a strong comeback in his first year at NMSU.  He may be able to set up a long dynasty in the WAC.

Before you think that the Aggies will go through the motions and win the league title, there are four other decent teams that can beat them.  Seattle (6-3/17-9) and Utah Valley (6-3/17-8) are tied for second, but we believe that Grand Canyon (6-4/17-9) may be the team that best has the tools to upset NMSU.  The Antelopes are coached by former NBA tough man, Dan Majerle, and his teams are an extension of his hustle.

 

2017 Big 12 Conference Preview

The Big 12 Conference was supposed to be the first super league way back in the 1990’s when the best teams from the former very strong Southwest Conference merged with the Big 8 Conference. It was supposed to be superior to the Southeastern Conference, which had already expanded to 12 teams, and the Big Ten Conference, which had expanded to 11 teams. With Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, and Colorado perenially among the top 10 in the nation, and with Texas A&M, Missouri, and Oklahoma State competing for a spot among the nation’s elite, the Big 12 looked poised to become the league that all others looked up to.

It didn’t last long. Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska, and Texas A&M departed for the Pac-12, SEC, Big Ten, and SEC. The league added TCU and West Virginia to get back to 10 teams, but this conference is struggling to remain important. Rumors persist that schools still might bolt the league for one of the other four super conferences.

2017 promises to bring some interesting changes to the league without any teams bolting. There are three new coaches in the league. Matt Rhule takes over a Baylor team in transition, after Jim Grobe served as an emergency fill-in coach for a year. The Bears will play a combination of spread offense and the power offense Rhule used at Temple.

Tom Herman is the new head coach at Texas. Herman made Houston a semi-national power, even getting the Cougars into the Playoff hunt. Texas suffered three consecutive losing seasons under Charlie Strong, and the Longhorns have not been a national contender for eight seasons.

The biggest change of all comes in Norman, Oklahoma, where Bob Stoops made a decision this summer to retire. Lincoln Riley, the wonderboy of the offense is the new coach, and he inherits a Sooner squad that could easily average more than 45 points per game. Whether the defense can stop the top offenses that the Sooners will face will determine if OU can challenge for a playoff spot. A trip to the Giant Horseshoe in Columbus, Ohio, looms in week two,

The Big 12 Media and our PiRate, Mean, and Bias ratings basically agree that this year’s Big 12 race will come down to the Bedlam game. Oklahoma State hosts Oklahoma in that game this year, but unlike most years, it is not the last weekend on the schedule.

Here’s how the Media voted.

2016 Big 12 Conference Media Poll
#	Team	1st Pl.	Total
1	Oklahoma	19	303
2	Oklahoma St.	12	294
3	Kansas St.	1	231
4	Texas	0	213
5	TCU	0	202
6	West Virginia	0	183
7	Baylor	0	129
8	Texas Tech	0	85
9	Iowa St.	0	83
10	Kansas	0	37

Here are the PiRate, Mean, and Bias preseason ratings.

Big 12 Conference
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Average
Oklahoma	123.8	121.8	124.8	123.5
Oklahoma St.	118.2	117.0	119.8	118.3
Kansas St.	113.9	113.4	114.3	113.9
Texas	112.2	113.0	112.4	112.6
T C U	111.4	108.6	111.1	110.3
West Virginia	107.7	108.8	107.5	108.0
Baylor	103.9	106.4	103.8	104.7
Iowa State	101.0	102.4	101.7	101.7
Texas Tech	101.3	101.0	100.1	100.8
Kansas	91.0	94.4	90.3	91.9
Big 12 Averages	108.4	108.7	108.6	108.6

And, here are out not-so-scientific preseason won-loss predictions and bowl projections.

 

Big 12 Conference Projected Standings
Team	Conference	Overall	Bowl
Oklahoma	8-1	11-2	Cotton
Oklahoma St.	8-1	11-2	Fiesta
Kansas St.	6-3	8-4	Camping World
Texas	6-3	8-4	Alamo
TCU	6-3	8-4	Texas
West Virginia	4-5	6-6	Cactus
Baylor	4-5	6-6	Liberty
Texas Tech	2-7	4-8
Iowa St.	1-8	3-9
Kansas	0-9	2-10
No Big 12 team available for Heart of Dallas Bowl

Oklahoma to win the Big 12 Conference Championship Game in a rematch with Oklahoma State.  The Big 12’s top two teams in the standings will face off in Arlington, Texas, on December 2.

Trivia Answer: Not many people guessed at our trivia question, and none were correct. Here’s the question once again.
In 1918, Georgia Tech beat North Carolina State 118-0. For half a century no Division 1 team scored 100 points on another Division 1 team. In 1949 San Jose State beat New Mexico 103-0, but the Spartans would not become a major college participant until the following season, so this one doesn’t count. The last time a Division 1 team scored 100 points on another Division 1 team was in 1968, when current AAC West member Houston beat current AAC West member Tulsa 100-6.
A Houston wide receiver caught a 25-yard pass for a touchdown in that 100-6 game that made the score 93-6. He later went on to fame in the music business. A Tulsa lineman also became a famous celebrity on television and through his books.
Here are your three trivia questions:
1. Name the Houston Wide Receiver that would become a famous music celebrity.
2. Explain how this wide receiver once performed the National Anthem for a sporting event that was postponed soon after he performed, yet there was no rain, snow, or lightning.
3. Name the Tulsa lineman that became a famous TV celebrity and has used this game as a means to help advance his career.
The answers
1. Larry Gatlin
2. Gatlin and his brothers sang the National Anthem prior to the scheduled Game 3 of the 1989 World Series. Moments later, the great Earthquake hit the Bay, postponing the game for 10 days.
3. Dr. Phil

Coming Tomorrow. The Pac-12. Two teams have the talent to make it to Playoffville this year, but this league is rather balanced with some quality talent, and it could be difficult for any team to win enough games to get there.

Conference Tournament Update–Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Good Wednesday to all.  Today, the PiRates are hunkered down in our own version of our war room, preparing for Selection Sunday and the opening two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

We have received a heavy load of contacts from you ladies and gentlemen, and a lot of you want to know about our Red-White-Blue Ratings.

1. We do not know why the Prediction Tracker has not posted our ratings the last two weeks, because we sent them in.  They use a system that takes them off our page, and maybe it is not working properly or it was something we did to make them invisible.
2. We will attempt to publish ratings for all 67 NCAA Tournament games.
3. We will publish all the Four Factor and PiRate Bracketnomics information for every team in the Field and update it for every round.

This marks the peak of conference tournament action, as more games will be played in the next two days than any other time during Conference Championship Fortnight.

Teams That Clinched Automatic Bids Tuesday

Making The Field 100% of the Time???

Here’s a trivia question you can use to fool your sports teams?  Name the only school that has made the NCAA Tournament every year since it has been an eligible Division I team.

The answer is simple if you watched the Horizon League Tournament Championship Game last night.  Northern Kentucky, in its first year of D1 eligibility won the automatic bid by holding on against 23-loss Milwaukee.  The Norse closes the season on a rush, winning nine of their last 10 games, but it looks like they will be a heavily over-matched opponent as a 15-seed or at best a 14-seed.

 

Top of the Mountain Again

Our congratulations go out for a fifth time to Mount St. Mary’s, winner of the Northeast Conference Tournament Championship.  This may be the best MSM team to make it to the NCAA Tournament.  The Mountaineers have been fodder for some major #1 seeds through the years, losing to Kentucky by 46, North Carolina by 39, and to Michigan State by 23.  The Mountaineers have been sent to Dayton twice before, beating Coppin State and losing to Albany.  Short of some additional upsets where sub .500 teams receive automatic bids, Mount St. Mary’s is most likely looking at a third trip to Dayton.

 

Reaching the Summit

The South Dakota State Jackrabbits were not expected to compete for the Summit League title this year after former coach Scott Nagy left for the Wright State job, and prospects were not great when SDSU finished the regular season at just 8-8 in the league.  New coach  T.J. Otzelberger may be a star in the making, as he has a slew of national supporters from his days as an assistant at Washington and Iowa St.  His Jackrabbits won the Summit League Championship last night, which means SDSU (18-16) is going to be a 16-seed with a possible visit to Dayton.

 

Bulldog Tough Again

Gonzaga looked like a Final Four team again last night after a week of malaise.  The Bulldogs punished rival Saint Mary’s in the West Coast Conference Championship Game, looking more like a power team from the 1960’s and 1970’s from the Big Ten.  And, star guard Nigel Williams-Goss looked more like Oscar Robertson last night, basically destroying the Gaels’ with his shooting, passing, and ball-hawking defense.

 

Other Conference Tournament Games

The Bubble burst for one team, while two others strengthened their resumes in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.  Clemson stayed alive by dismissing North Carolina State with relative ease.  Wake Forest withstood a valiant effort from an undermanned Boston College team, and Danny Manning’s Demon Deacons may have secured their at-large spot with the win.  However, another win today over Virginia Tech should definitely get them in.  Georgia Tech fell to Pittsburgh in an ugly game, which was made uglier by an open microphone that caught Panther Head Coach Kevin Stallings saying some very nasty things to one of his players, making it two years with two teams where an open mic caught the fiery Gene Keady disciple cursing one of his players.

 

Last Place Team Watch

99% of you reading this probably saw none of the Big Sky Tournament opening round games, but to the 1% that did, you were quite entertained Tuesday.  Portland State and Sacramento State won their first games in high-octane fashion, but the nightcap between last place Southern Utah and 6-seed Montana State proved to be the game of the day.  At the end of regulation, the game was tied at 78.  Five minutes later after overtime, the score was knotted at 93-93.  Five minutes later, it was 101-101.  It took three extra sessions, but the last place team with a 5-26 record entering the night emerged victorious.  Southern Utah won 109-105 to advance to the quarterfinals against 3-seed Weber State.  The Thunderbirds were led by former Texas Tech Red Raider Randy Onwuasor, who broke the tournament record with 43 points.  Onwuasor played 53 out of the 55 minutes, and he had a rather poor shooting night, hitting just 11-33 from the field, but he drew fouls like a cheap diner draws flies.  The bulky guard connected on 20 foul shots, something that is rarely done when your last name isn’t Maravich or Chamberlain.

 

SWAC’s Best Advance

In recent years, the Southwestern Athletic Conference representative in the NCAA Tournament has been a 16-seed and frequently forced to play in the Opening Round (First Four) in Dayton.  Texas Southern has a chance to move up to a 15-seed if they win the conference tournament in Houston.  The Tigers began tournament play with an 87-72 win over 8-seed Alabama State.  TSU has a surrogate team playing for their NCAA Tournament hopes.  Alcorn State also advanced yesterday with a win over Mississippi Valley.  If the 2-seed Braves win the SWAC Tournament title, it is just as if Texas Southern wins it.  Alcorn State is on probation for low APR scores, and they are ineligible for postseason play.  If ASU wins, then TSU gets the bid as the regular season champion.

 

Big Conference Action Today

The ACC started conference play yesterday and continues with Round 2 today.  Six other multiple bid leagues commence action today–The Atlantic 10, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-12, and SEC.  Here is a look at each of these multiple bid league brackets.

Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament–Brooklyn
First Round, Tuesday, March 7
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
1	12	Clemson	16-14	vs.	13	North Carolina St.	15-16	75-61
2	10	Wake Forest	18-12	vs.	15	Boston College	9-22	92-78
3	11	Georgia Tech	17-14	vs.	14	Pittsburgh	15-16	59-61
Second Round, Wednesday, March 8
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
4	8	Syracuse	18-13	vs.	9	Miami (Fla.)	20-10	12:00 PM	ESPN
5	5	Duke	23-8	vs.	12	Clemson	17-14	2:00 PM	ESPN
6	7	Virginia Tech	21-9	vs.	10	Wake Forest	19-12	7:00 PM	ESPN2
7	6	Virginia	21-9	vs.	14	Pittsburgh	16-16	9:00 PM	ESPN2
Quarterfinal Round, Thursday, March 9
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
8	1	North Carolina		vs.		Game 4 winner		12:00 PM	ESPN
9	4	Louisville		vs.		Game 5 winner		2:00 PM	ESPN
10	2	Florida St.		vs.		Game 6 winner		7:00 PM	ESPN
11	3	Notre Dame		vs.		Game 7 winner		9:00 PM	ESPN
Semfinal Round, Friday, March 10
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
12		Game 8 winner		vs.		Game 9 winner		7:00 PM	ESPN or 2
13		Game 10 winner		vs.		Game 11 winner		9:00 PM	ESPN or 2
Championship Game, Saturday, March 11
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
14		Game 12 winner		vs.		Game 13 winner		9:00 PM	ESPN

 

 

Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament–Pittsburgh (Duquense)
1st Round, Wednesday, March 8
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	12	Massachusetts	14-17	vs.	13	St. Joseph’s	11-19	6:00 PM	ASN
2	11	St. Louis	11-20	vs.	14	Duquesne	10-21	8:30 PM	ASN
2nd Round, Thursday, March 9
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
3	8	LaSalle	15-14	vs.	9	Davidson	15-14	12:00 PM	NBCSN
4	5	St. Bonaventure	19-11	vs.		Game 1 winner		2:30 PM	NBCSN
5	7	George Mason		vs.	10	Fordham		6:00 PM	NBCSN
6	6	George Washington	18-13	vs.		Game 2 winner		8:30 PM	NBCSN
Quarterfinal Round, Friday, March 10
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
7	1	Dayton	24-6	vs.		Game 3 winner		12:00 PM	NBCSN
8	4	Rhode Island	21-9	vs.		Game 4 winner		2:30 PM	NBCSN
9	2	VCU	24-7	vs.		Game 5 winner		6:00 PM	NBCSN
10	3	Richmond	19-11	vs.		Game 6 winner		8:30 PM	NBCSN
Semifinal Round, Saturday, March 11
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
11		Game 7 winner		vs.		Game 8 winner		1:00 PM	CBSSN
12		Game 9 winner		vs.		Game 10 winner		3:30 PM	CBSSN
Championship Game, Sunday, March 12
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
13		Game 11 winner		vs.		Game 12 winner		12:30 PM	CBS

 

 

Big 12 Conference Tournament–Kansas City
1st Round, Wednesday, March 8
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	8	TCU	17-14	vs.	9	Oklahoma	11-19	7:00 PM	ESPNU
2	7	Texas Tech	18-13	vs.	10	Texas	10-21	9:00 PM	ESPNU
Quarterfinal Round, Thursday, March 9
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
3	4	Iowa St.	20-10	vs.	5	Oklahoma St.	20-11	12:30 PM	ESPN2
4	1	Kansas	28-3	vs.		Game 1 winner		2:30 PM	ESPN2
5	2	West Virginia	24-7	vs.		Game 2 winner		7:00 PM	ESPNU
6	3	Baylor	25-6	vs.	6	Kansas St.	19-12	9:00 PM	ESPNU
Semifinal Round, Friday, March 10
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
7		Game 4 winner		vs.		Game 3 winner		7:00 PM	ESPN or 2
8		Game 5 winner		vs.		Game 6 winner		9:00 PM	ESPN or 2
Championship Game, Saturday, March 11
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
9		Game 7 winner		vs.		Game 8 winner		6:00 PM	ESPN

 

 

Big East Conference Tournament–New York City
1st Round, Wednesday, March 8
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	8	St. John’s	13-18	vs.	9	Georgetown	14-17	7:00 PM	FS1
2	7	Xavier	19-12	vs.	10	DePaul	9-21	9:30 PM	FS1
Quarterfinal Round, Thursday, March 9
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
3	1	Villanova	28-3	vs.				12:00 PM	FS1
4	4	Marquette	19-11	vs.	5	Seton Hall	20-10	2:30 PM	FS1
5	2	Butler	23-7	vs.				7:00 PM	FS1
6	3	Providence	20-11	vs.	6	Creighton	23-8	9:30 PM	FS1
Semifinal Round, Friday, March 10
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
7		Game 1 winner		vs.		Game 2 winner		6:30 PM	FS1
8		Game 3 winner		vs.		Game 4 winner		9:00 PM	FS1
Championship Game, Saturday, March 11
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
9		Game 7 winner		vs.		Game 8 winner		5:30 PM	Fox

 

 

Big Ten Conference Tournament–Washington, DC
1st Round, Wednesday, March 8
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	12	Nebraska	12-18	vs.	13	Penn St.	14-17	4:30 PM	ESPN
2	11	Ohio St.	17-14	vs.	14	Rutgers	14-17	7:00 PM	BTN
2nd Round, Thursday, March 9
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
3	8	Michigan	20-11	vs.	9	Illinois	18-13	12:00 PM	BTN
4	5	Michigan St.	18-13	vs.		Game 1 winner		2:20 PM	BTN
5	7	Iowa	18-13	vs.	10	Indiana	17-14	6:30 PM	ESPN2
6	6	Northwestern	21-10	vs.		Game 2 winner		8:50 PM	ESPN2
Quarterfinal Round, Friday, March 10
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
7	1	Purdue	25-6	vs.		Game 3 winner		12:00 PM	ESPN
8	4	Minnesota	23-8	vs.		Game 4 winner		2:20 PM	ESPN
9	2	Wisconsin	23-8	vs.		Game 5 winner		6:30 PM	BTN
10	3	Maryland	24-7	vs.		Game 6 winner		8:50 PM	BTN
Semifinal Round, Saturday, March 11
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
11		Game 7 winner		vs.		Game 8 winner		1:00 PM	CBS
12		Game 9 winner		vs.		Game 10 winner		3:30 PM	CBS
Championship Game, Sunday, March 12
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
13		Game 11 winner		vs.		Game 12 winner		3:00 PM	CBS

 

 

Pac-12 Conference Tournament–Las Vegas
1st Round, Wednesday, March 8
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	8	Arizona St.	14-17	vs.	9	Stanford	14-16	3:00 PM	P12 Net.
2	5	California	19-11	vs.	12	Oregon St.	5-26	5:30 PM	P12 Net.
3	7	Colorado	18-13	vs.	10	Washington St.	13-17	9:00 PM	P12 Net.
4	6	USC	23-8	vs.	11	Washington	9-21	11:30 PM	P12 Net.
Quarterfinal Round, Thursday, March 9
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
5	1	Oregon	27-4	vs.		Game 1 winner		3:00 PM	P12 Net.
6	4	Utah	20-10	vs.		Game 2 winner		5:30 PM	P12 Net.
7	2	Arizona	27-4	vs.		Game 3 winner		9:00 PM	P12 Net.
8	3	UCLA	28-3	vs.		Game 4 winner		11:30 PM	ESPN
Semifinal Round, Friday, March 10
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
9		Game 5 winner		vs.		Game 6 winner		9:00 PM	P12 Net.
10		Game 7 winner		vs.		Game 8 winner		11:30 PM	ESPN
Championship Game, Saturday, March 11
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
11		Game 9 winner		vs.		Game 10 winner		11:00 PM	ESPN

 

 

Southeastern Conference Tournament–Nashville
1st Round, Wednesday, March 8
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	12	Mississippi St.	15-15	vs.	13	LSU	10-20	7:00 PM	SECN
2	11	Auburn	18-13	vs.	14	MIssouri	7-23	9:00 PM	SECN
2nd Round, Thursday, March 9
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
3	8	Georgia	18-13	vs.	9	Tennessee	16-15	1:00 PM	SECN
4	5	Alabama	17-13	vs.		Game 1 winner		3:20 PM	SECN
5	7	Vanderbilt	17-14	vs.	10	Texas A&M	16-14	7:00 PM	SECN
6	6	Ole Miss	19-12	vs.		Game 2 winner		9:20 PM	SECN
Quarterfinal Round, Friday, March 10
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
7	1	Kentucky	26-5	vs.		Game 3 winner		1:00 PM	SECN
8	4	South Carolina	22-9	vs.		Game 4 winner		3:20 PM	SECN
9	2	Florida	24-7	vs.		Game 5 winner		7:00 PM	SECN
10	3	Arkansas	23-8	vs.		Game 6 winner		9:20 PM	SECN
Semifinal Round, Saturday, March 11
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
11		Game 7 winner		vs.		Game 8 winner		1:00 PM	ESPN
12		Game 9 winner		vs.		Game 10 winner		3:20 PM	ESPN
Championship Game, Sunday, March 12
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
13		Game 11 winner		vs.		Game 12 winner		1:00 PM	ESPN

Today’s TV Schedule

You can have a lot of fun watching a slew of games today and tonight, even if just one bid goes out.  That one automatic addition will come from the Patriot League, where the top seed Bucknell Bison host Lehigh.  Time and TV follow.

Championship Games
Time (ET)	Network	Conference	Team	vs.	Team
7:30 PM	CBSSN	Patriot	Bucknell	vs.	Lehigh

 

 

Ongoing Tournament Games
Time (ET)	Network	Conference	Team	vs.	Team
12:00 PM	ESPN	ACC	Syracuse	vs.	Miami (Fla.)
2:00 PM	ESPN	ACC	Duke	vs.	Clemson
7:00 PM	ESPN2	ACC	Virginia Tech	vs.	Wake Forest
9:00 PM	ESPN2	ACC	Virginia	vs.	Pittsburgh
6:00 PM	ASN	A-10	Massachusetts	vs.	St. Joseph’s
8:30 PM	ASN	A-10	St. Louis	vs.	Duquesne
7:00 PM	ESPNU	Big 12	TCU	vs.	Oklahoma
9:00 PM	ESPNU	Big 12	Texas Tech	vs.	Texas
7:00 PM	FS1	Big East	St. John’s	vs.	Georgetown
9:30 PM	FS1	Big East	Xavier	vs.	DePaul
4:30 PM	ESPN	Big Ten	Nebraska	vs.	Penn St.
7:00 PM	BTN	Big Ten	Ohio St.	vs.	Rutgers
12:30 PM	Campus Insiders	CUSA	Western Kentucky	vs.	UTSA
3:00 PM	Campus Insiders	CUSA	Rice	vs.	Southern Miss.
6:30 PM	Campus Insiders	CUSA	UAB	vs.	Charlotte
9:00 PM	Campus Insiders	CUSA	Marshall	vs.	Florida Atlantic
6:00 PM	ESPN3	MEAC	UNC-Central	vs.	Delaware St.
8:00 PM	ESPN3	MEAC	Norfolk St.	vs.	South Carolina St.
2:00 PM	MWN	MWC	Utah St.	vs.	San Jose St.
4:30 PM	MWN	MWC	Wyoming	vs.	Air Force
7:00 PM	MWN	MWC	San Diego St.	vs.	UNLV
3:00 PM	P12 Net.	Pac-12	Arizona St.	vs.	Stanford
5:30 PM	P12 Net.	Pac-12	California	vs.	Oregon St.
9:00 PM	P12 Net.	Pac-12	Colorado	vs.	Washington St.
11:30 PM	P12 Net.	Pac-12	USC	vs.	Washington
7:00 PM	SECN	SEC	Mississippi St.	vs.	LSU
9:00 PM	SECN	SEC	Auburn	vs.	MIssouri
6:00 PM	ESPN3	Southland	Sam Houston St.	vs.	Central Arkansas
8:30 PM	ESPN3	Southland	Lamar	vs.	Southeastern Louisiana
1:30 PM	ESPN3	Sun Belt	Coastal Carolina	vs.	South Alabama
3:00 PM	ESPN3	Sun Belt	Arkansas St.	vs.	Louisiana-Monroe
6:00 PM	ESPN3	Sun Belt	Louisiana-Lafayette	vs.	Arkansas-Little Rock
8:30 PM	ESPN3	Sun Belt	Troy	vs.	Appalachian St.

 

 

 

PiRate Ratings College Basketball Preview For January 7-8, 2017

Early Look At Mid and Low Major Conferences
As we take our first look at the conferences that should receive just one NCAA Tournament bid, we are in total agreement among the lot of us that 22 leagues will definitely produce just one tournament team–the winner of their conference tournament, or in the case of the Ivy League, the regular season conference championship, and it is likely that a 23rd league will receive just one bid.

Let’s take a look at the 23 probable one-bid leagues.

America East
Vermont, MD.-Baltimore Co., UMass-Lowell, and Stony Brook are tied for first, but only with 1-0 conference marks. Vermont is 11-5 overall, with two losses to top 25 teams.

Atlantic Sun
Conference play has yet to begun, but Florida Gulf Coast and Jacksonville look strong in the pre-conference. FGCU lost at Michigan State by just one point, while Jacksonville sports the top won-loss record at 12-5. We believe overall that this league is stronger than it has been in recent years, but no at-large bid is possible this year.

Big Sky
Eastern Washington, Southern Utah, and Weber State have begun the conference race at 2-0, with Montana a half-game back at 2-1. EWU owns a hot home court advantage, and they already have four overtime wins in their 15 games played.

Big South
With losses by 55 to Creighton, 37 to George Mason, and 31 to Texas Tech, you would not expect Longwood to be on top in the conference race at 3-0, but the Lancers from tiny Farmville, Virginia, own first place by themselves by a game over Radford, UNC-Asheville, Winthrop, Campbell, and Liberty. UNCA lost at Ohio State by a bucket.

Big West
It’s a down year in this league, as no team looks capable of avoiding a 15 or 16-seed. Most of the members in this league perform poorly away from home, and we expect this year’s race to be won with a record as low as 10-6. UC-Irvine, Long Beach State, and UC-Davis appear to be the top teams, but there is not much separating the teams at this point. While somewhat mediocre, this league could put on one of the most exciting conference tournament’s this season.

Colonial Athletic
UNC-Wilmington is on the cusp of competing for a spot on the bubble, but at this point, it looks like they would have to win the CAA Tournament to get into the Big Dance. The Seahawks join Charleston, Northeastern, and James Madison at 3-0 in league play. Northeastern is the hot team at this point. The Huskies have won six games in a row, including four on the road, with one of those coming at Michigan State.

Conference USA
Middle Tennessee is 2-0 in the league and 12-3 overall, as well as 2-0 against SEC teams, but the Blue Raiders would be a long shot in the at-large sweepstakes this year. If Middle wins the automatic bid with a record in the vicinity of 29-5, they could receive an 11 seed and possibly a 10 seed. Chief challengers to the Blue Raiders this year are Marshall, Louisiana Tech, and Western Kentucky. Keep an eye on Marshall, as their unique fast-paced philosophy can give the Thundering Herd a big advantage against teams lacking depth, especially at conference tournament time.

Horizon
No, it’s not a Super Bowl preview, but Oakland and Green Bay look like the top two teams in this league. Actually, both of these teams are close runners-up to Valparaiso at this point. The Crusaders are 1-0 in the conference and 11-3 overall, with wins over Alabama, BYU, and Rhode Island. Northern Kentucky and Wright State have shown signs of moving up into the top tier with the big three.

Ivy
This is still the one holdout league that does not sanction a post-season conference tournament. Thus, one hot team can become the first official invitee to the Big Dance, but in recent years, this has not happened. There is no clear-cut favorite to win the crown as the first conference games commence next weekend. Princeton, Yale, Harvard, and Penn look to be the leading contenders at this point, but this group is not setting the woods on fire.

Metro Atlantic
After a sluggish first month of the season, Canisius has found its groove. The Golden Griffins have reeled off seven consecutive wins, averaging 88.6 points per game. With approaching road games with Iona and Fairfield, if Canisius wins both, they will be in the driver’s seat in the MAAC. Pre-season favorite Monmouth has not been as strong as expected and just lost three games in a row. Still, you cannot dismiss the Hawks, as they have non-conference win over Memphis and an overtime loss to South Carolina. Monmouth beat Canisius and can gain command by pulling off the sweep when they face them in Buffalo on January 16.

Mid-American
The MAC once was worthy of multiple bids to the NCAA Tournament, but in recent years, this league has been down some. Akron, Ohio, and Eastern Michigan have separated a bit from the rest of the pack in this league, and these three top contenders are just talented enough to compete in the Round of 64. Home court advantanges are rather strong in this league, so expect the teams to beat up on each other, leaving no team with a conference mark better than 14-4.

Mideastern Athletic
The MEAC has frequently been given #15 and #16 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, but this league consistently produces teams capable of pulling off huge upsets. The league does not get the credit it deserves, because the teams tend to begin the season slowly and develop as the year progresses. We like what UNC-Central has done to this point, and it would not surprise us if the Eagles make a run to 20 regular season wins. UNCC won at Missouri and led at LSU by as much as 13, before the Tigers came back to win in the final minute.

Missouri Valley
This is a caveat one-bid league. Wichita State would be on the bubble if the Shockers won 25 games but not the MVC Tournament title. However, at this point, we do not see a serious contender to knock WSU off the perch at Arch Madness. Illinois State currently shares first with the Shockers with a 3-0 league mark, but WSU looks to be double digits better than any league opponent. Sure, some team is liable to upset the Shockers, but we don’t see WSU losing more than two conference games, and they have as good a chance at running the table in the league as the do at losing twice.

Mountain West
The MWC has taken quite a tumble this year, as this looks like a sure one-bid league. Nevada and Boise State are this year’s quality clubs, but they do not have at-large approved resumes. Normal power San Diego State has begun league play at 0-2, so this does not look like the Aztecs’ year.

Northeast
It looks like a strong possibility that the conference tournament champion in this league will be headed to the opening round (first four) in Dayton. The NEC is rather weak this year, even though second division Wagner has a win at Connecticut. Fairleigh Dickinson has a game and a half lead in the race with a perfect 3-0 mark, but the Knights tumbled off their horses outside of league play. Keep an eye on Long Island. The Blackbirds are just 9-7 and 2-1 in the league, but most of their losses have been close, and they did beat St. John’s.

Ohio Valley
In past years, both Murray State and Belmont have done quite well in NCAA Tournament play. The two contenders already have moved to the top of the standings in their respective divisions, and it looks like they might square off when the bid is on the line in March.

Patriot
Bucknell and Boston U are tied at 3-0 in league play with Loyola (MD), Holy Cross, and Lafayette a game back at 2-1. Lehigh looked like a top contender in the preseason, taking Xavier to the final gun before losing by 3 and winning at Mississippi State, but the Mountain Hawks lost at home to Loyola to fall to 1-2 in league play.

Southern
This will be an exciting conference race with five teams competing for the regular season title. Furman, East Tennessee, Chattanooga, Samford, and UNC-Greensboro are about equal, and the five could stay within two games of each other all season. A multiple tie in the 14-4 and 13-5 range is quite possible.

Southland
Stephen F. Austin has lost the magic, as it left town for Stillwater, Oklahoma. Now, this league is wide open. New Orleans, and Nicholls State, two teams not expected to contend for league honors, currently are unbeaten in league play.

Southwestern Athletic
In recent years, the SWAC champion has known it would be headed to Dayton, and chances are strong that could happen again this year. In recent years, multiple league members have been ineligible for postseason play due to low APR scores, but that number has been reduced to just Alcorn State this year, and the Braves are an also-ran in the SWAC this year. Jackson State and Texas Southern have begun league play at 2-0, with Arkansas Pine-Bluff at 1-0. Grambling and Southern are 1-1, and most of their out of conference losses have been closer than normal for this league. We believe Southern might be the best representative for this league this year.

Summit
Bigger schools better keep an eye on this league. Whoever draws the conference tournament champion better not overlook their opponent, because their is quality in numbers in the Summit League this season. North Dakota State got hot at the right time, and the Bison are 3-0 in league play. Fort Wayne can play quality defense, bang the boards, and run the fast break like a team from the 1970’s. The Mastodons beat Indiana and gave a good game against Notre Dame. They can score points in spurts, and they average close to 90 points per game.

Sun Belt
UT-Arlington is off to a 12-3 start with a 2-0 mark in conference play. Included in those dozen wins is a big upset of Saint Mary’s, but as each day passes, that win does not look so much like an upset, just more like one really good team beating another really good team. Still, the Mavericks do not have enough on their resume to contend for a bubble spot. Arkansas State is also 2-0 in the league, but the Red Wolves do not have a signature win that gives them a shot at the bubble. Their win at Georgetown could look better in March than it does now, but still we see only one team making the dance from this league.

Western Athletic
New Mexico State is 1-0/14-2, but the Aggies’ best win is only against Arizona State. This is not enough to merit bubble consideration, so if NMSU runs the table in the league and then loses in the WAC Finals, they could be NIT bound at 30-3. UT Rio Grande Valley is a hot team with seven wins in eight games, and the Vaqueros can fill the nets with buckets, but they don’t play enough defense to do damage in the Dance.

Multiple Bid Leagues
45 bids remain after the 23 one bid leagues are accounted for. Those 45 bids will go to nine conferences, an average of five per league. Of course, some of the nine leagues will receive just two or three bids, unless an upset winner earns the automatic bid. Let’s look at those now.

American Athletic
Cincinnati and SMU appear to be in good shape for now. The Bearcats (2-0/12-2) are ranked in the top 25 and have a win at Iowa State. Cinti can strengthen their hold on an at-large bid with a win at Houston (3-0/12-3) tomorrow. SMU (3-0/13-3) currently owns a nine-game winning streak, but they have yet to record a win over a top 25 team (they have yet to play one). They do own a win over Pittsburgh as well as losses to Michigan and USC. Central Florida is in the mix at 3-0/12-3. They present a monster matchup problem with 7 foot 6 inch center Tacko Fall hitting 80% of his shots (95% are within a foot of the basket or dunks) and pulling down double digit rebounds while playing a one-man zone in the low post.

Atlantic 10
Dayton and Rhode Island look like the class of the league at this point, but both teams have a watchful eye on VCU. Two of the three should make the Dance, and it is possible that this league will send a third team there as well, but for now, we are sticking with two for sure.

West Coast
Gonzaga and St. Mary’s should both get bids, but SMC cannot afford to slip and lose more than two conference games. A win at Dayton is not enough to guarantee the Gaels an at-large bid. They will have to go 12-2 in league play or beat Gonzaga one time out of three.

39 Bids Left for 6 Power Leagues
Of the remaining six power leagues, we will give only 3 bids to the SEC. Kentucky, Florida, and one other team from among South Carolina, Arkansas, Georgia, and Alabama should receive bids.
The Pac-12 will send 3 or 4 teams. UCLA, Arizona, and Oregon look good at this point, while USC and California vying for a possible fourth bid.

We are going with 5 Big East bids: Villanova, Xavier, Butler, Creighton, and Marquette.

6 bids go to the Big Ten: Purdue, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Minnesota, and either Northwestern, Ohio State, or Michigan State.

The Big 12 could send 8 teams dancing: Baylor, Kansas, West Virginia, Iowa State, Kansas State, Texas Tech, TCU, and Oklahoma State would all be in the tournament if the season ended today.

The ACC will reign supreme in this year’s Dance Party. As of this moment, we have an incredible 10 teams in the tournament: Virginia, Duke, North Carolina, Louisville, Florida State, Clemson, Notre Dame, Miami, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest all have tourney-worthy resumes.

This brings us to 65 bids. The remaining three bids are reserved for three possible conference tournament surprise winners. If the three do not emerge, then the at-large possibles to secure the bids would come from a pool of these teams: an additional SEC team from the group of Arkansas, Georgia, and Alabama; yet another ACC team from among Syracuse, North Carolina State, and Pittsburgh; Houston from the AAC; an additional Big Ten team from the group of Northwestern, Michigan State, and Ohio State; an additional Pac-12 team from the USC/Cal pairing; and Wichita State, should the Shockers finish highly-ranked but fail to win the MVC Tournament.

This Week’s PiRate Ratings Top 10
1. West Virginia
2. Villanova
3. Kentucky
4. Baylor
5. Kansas
6. Duke
7. North Carolina
8. Gonzaga
9. UCLA
10. Virginia

ACC
1. Duke
2. North Carolina
3. Virginia
4. Louisville
5. Florida State
6. Clemson
7. Notre Dame
8. Miami (FL)
9. Virginia Tech
10. Wake Forest
11. Pittsburgh
12. Syracuse
13. North Carolina St.
14. Georgia Tech
15. Boston College

Big 12
1. West Virginia
2. Baylor
3. Kansas
4. Texas Tech
5. Iowa St.
6. Kansas St.
7. Oklahoma St.
8. TCU
9. Oklahoma
10. Texas

Big East
1. Villanova
2. Xavier
3. Butler
4. Creighton
5. Marquette
6. Seton Hall
7. Georgetown
8. Providence
9. St. John’s
10. DePaul

Big Ten
1. Purdue
2. Wisconsin
3. Michigan
4. Indiana
5. Minnesota
6. Northwestern
7. Michigan St.
8. Ohio St.
9. Maryland
10. Illinois
11. Iowa
12. Nebraska
13. Penn St.
14. Rutgers

Pac-12
1. UCLA
2. Arizona
3. Oregon
4. USC
5. California
6. Utah
7. Colorado
8. Stanford
9. Arizona St.
10. Washington
11. Washington St.
12. Oregon St.

SEC
1. Kentucky
2. Florida
3. South Carolina
4. Arkansas
5. Georgia
6. Alabama
7. Tennessee
8. Vanderbilt
9. Texas A&M
10. Ole Miss
11. LSU
12. Auburn
13. Mississippi St.
14. Missouri

This Weekend’s Spreads

Games Scheduled for:	Saturday, January 7, 2017
Home	Visitor	Red	White	Blue
Syracuse	Pittsburgh	4	4	-4
Duke	Boston College	24	28	24
Florida St.	Virginia Tech	8	10	13
Georgia Tech	Louisville	-12	-16	-19
Notre Dame	Clemson	3	5	5
North Carolina	North Carolina St.	14	15	9
West Virginia	TCU	13	15	6
Kansas St.	Oklahoma	9	8	9
Baylor	Oklahoma St.	10	11	21
Kansas	Texas Tech	11	11	13
Iowa St.	Texas	11	11	8
Georgetown	Butler	-3	-4	-1
Seton Hall	DePaul	14	15	16
Providence	Dayton	-1	1	-4
Xavier	St. John’s	14	16	15
Villanova	Marquette	11	13	19
Penn St.	Michigan St.	-1	-3	-4
Michigan	Maryland	6	7	-1
Indiana	Illinois	10	11	2
Washington	Oregon St.	10	12	10
Arizona St.	Utah	-1	-2	-2
Washington St.	Oregon	-11	-16	-19
Arizona	Colorado	12	11	15
Georgia	Missouri	14	14	17
South Carolina	Texas A&M	7	5	8
LSU	Mississippi St.	6	4	11
Florida	Tennessee	12	12	15
Auburn	Ole Miss	3	1	-6
Alabama	Vanderbilt	3	3	1
Kentucky	Arkansas	16	17	17

 

Games Scheduled for:	Sunday, January 8, 2017
Home	Visitor	Red	White	Blue
Nebraska	Northwestern	1	-2	4
Purdue	Wisconsin	4	3	7
Iowa	Rutgers	9	10	8
Minnesota	Ohio St.	6	6	13
Virginia	Wake Forest	10	15	12
UCLA	Stanford	19	18	8
USC	California	4	2	1

College Football Ratings & Spreads For November 1-5, 2016

The College Football Playoff Committee doles out its first playoff ranking tomorrow, and it looks like their job became easy enough that they can come in late to the office. With losses to Baylor, West Virginia, and Nebraska, and wins by Clemson and Washington, four undefeated Power 5 Conference teams remain. Obviously, the first ranking will include Alabama, Michigan, Clemson, and Washington as its first quartet. There is some talk that Texas A&M should be in the mix, but including a one-loss SEC team over an unbeaten Washington, Michigan, or Clemson, would draw enough ire from the non-SEC football world that the committee would be barbecued in the media.

In the end, there is only one way to hold a proper playoff. The playoffs should be decided the same way they are decided in every sport that has a playoff–on the field. No committee should be needed to figure out which teams to invite. Politics should have no bearing on the process. It is obvious that if it comes down to it, a one-loss team like Ohio State, Alabama, or Clemson will always trump a one-loss team like Washington, Baylor, or Louisville.

The champions of the Power 5 conferences should receive automatic bids to an 8-team playoff. Or, the winners of the conference championship games should receive automatic bids. That would mean, until the Big 12 expanded to at least 12 teams and implemented a championship game, their conference would not receive an automatic bid. Also, no independent team could be eligible for the playoffs, so Notre Dame, BYU, Army, and U Mass would have to find a league or else never be eligible for a playoff spot.

As for the other three spots in the playoffs, take the Group of 5 and award the top conference champion overall, the sixth playoff spot. That would be Western Michigan as of now.  Of the remaining four conference champions, give them spots 7 through 10 and have them play a preliminary “play-in” round to earn the 7th and 8th spots in the playoffs.

Let’s take a look at this in action. First, the Big 12 would have to expand by at least two teams to retain their automatic bid status. For the sake of argument, let’s add Notre Dame and BYU as the 11th and 12th teams. Army and U Mass could go to Conference USA.

Imagine for a moment that these moves have occurred. Now, using what has happened so far this year, let’s say that Clemson wins the ACC, Alabama wins the SEC, Michigan wins the Big Ten, Oklahoma wins the Big 12, and Washington wins the Pac-12. Western Michigan goes 13-0 to win the MAC and become the best Group of 5 team. The remaining four Group of 5 Champions are South Florida in the AAC, Western Kentucky in CUSA, Troy in the Sun Belt, and San Diego State in the Mountain West.

In the preliminary round, #7 seed South Florida would host #10 seed Troy, while #8 seed San Diego State would host #9 seed Western Kentucky. Western Michigan would be the #6 seed; Oklahoma #5, Washington #4, Clemson #3, Michigan #2, and Alabama #1.

After the preliminary round, #1 Alabama would host the winner of the SDSU-WKU game; #2 Michigan would host the winner of the South Florida-Troy game; #3 Clemson would host #6 Western Michigan; and #4 Washington would host #5 Oklahoma.

The debate would revolve around teams like Troy and Western Kentucky getting spots in playoffs, even if they were just preliminary rounds. But, this is the same thing that happens in the NCAA Basketball Tournament, where the champion of the #31 conference tournament gets an automatic bid, while a top ten team that does not win their league’s conference tournament does not receive an automatic bid.

In the end, the NCAA will never implement such a plan, because fairness is not part of their plan. A fair profit is all that matters, so for now, the big powers will get the benefit of the doubt for financial reasons only.

This Week’s PiRate Ratings

PiRate Ratings
#	Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Average
1	Alabama	135.9	129.1	135.8	133.6
2	Michigan	128.7	126.4	128.7	127.9
3	Washington	128.8	121.6	128.6	126.3
4	Louisville	127.2	122.5	127.1	125.6
5	Clemson	126.7	119.5	125.6	123.9
6	LSU	124.8	119.8	124.4	123.0
7	Auburn	123.7	121.2	123.9	122.9
8	Ohio St.	121.9	121.5	122.2	121.9
9	Oklahoma	120.9	119.4	120.6	120.3
10	Virginia Tech	119.1	117.7	119.5	118.8
11	Texas A&M	117.5	115.5	117.3	116.8
12	Florida St.	119.2	112.7	118.3	116.7
13	North Carolina	118.4	112.0	118.3	116.2
14	Colorado	117.5	113.0	117.3	116.0
15	Oklahoma St.	115.2	116.2	115.0	115.5
16	USC	117.7	112.9	115.5	115.4
17	Wisconsin	115.4	113.4	116.1	115.0
18	Florida	114.7	116.6	113.2	114.8
19	Tennessee	115.5	112.7	114.7	114.3
20	Baylor	113.8	114.3	114.2	114.1
21	Pittsburgh	115.1	111.4	114.3	113.6
22	Miami	115.7	110.0	115.0	113.6
23	Western Michigan	112.9	111.8	114.6	113.1
24	Stanford	114.6	108.6	114.0	112.4
25	Penn St.	112.0	113.2	111.4	112.2
26	Nebraska	113.2	110.2	113.1	112.2
27	Ole Miss	114.3	109.2	113.0	112.2
28	Washington St.	112.4	109.5	112.2	111.4
29	West Virginia	111.8	110.8	111.3	111.3
30	Iowa	112.1	109.5	111.9	111.2
31	Notre Dame	112.7	108.8	111.3	110.9
32	Texas	110.3	111.4	109.7	110.5
33	UCLA	110.2	108.7	109.5	109.5
34	Houston	109.3	108.2	110.7	109.4
35	Utah	111.7	106.2	110.1	109.3
36	Northwestern	110.4	106.4	109.4	108.7
37	South Florida	108.8	107.0	109.3	108.4
38	Arkansas	109.9	105.2	108.0	107.7
39	BYU	109.6	104.1	109.2	107.6
40	Georgia Tech	109.2	105.3	108.1	107.5
41	Georgia	107.8	107.4	106.9	107.4
42	Kansas St.	106.6	108.9	106.5	107.3
43	Mississippi St.	107.8	106.3	106.7	106.9
44	TCU	106.5	108.0	105.6	106.7
45	Boise St.	105.7	106.9	106.7	106.4
46	Oregon	107.1	105.3	106.3	106.2
47	San Diego St.	105.6	104.2	107.6	105.8
48	Minnesota	105.8	104.7	105.3	105.3
49	Western Kentucky	105.5	102.9	106.8	105.1
50	Temple	104.6	103.9	105.0	104.5
51	Tulsa	103.4	104.8	104.1	104.1
52	North Carolina St.	104.9	102.3	104.5	103.9
53	Texas Tech	104.6	103.8	103.1	103.9
54	Michigan St.	104.5	103.9	102.8	103.7
55	Indiana	102.9	104.8	102.5	103.4
56	Virginia	104.3	101.5	103.8	103.2
57	Arizona St.	103.9	102.8	102.5	103.1
58	Maryland	102.3	104.7	100.8	102.6
59	Syracuse	104.0	100.8	102.6	102.5
60	Navy	102.6	101.7	102.4	102.3
61	Toledo	101.5	101.8	102.0	101.8
62	California	104.6	97.8	102.2	101.5
63	Duke	101.7	101.6	101.0	101.4
64	Wake Forest	101.6	100.4	102.0	101.4
65	Kentucky	101.1	102.0	100.5	101.2
66	Appalachian St.	100.4	100.7	102.4	101.2
67	Vanderbilt	101.6	98.4	100.3	100.1
68	Memphis	100.7	98.8	99.6	99.7
69	South Carolina	99.7	99.3	99.3	99.5
70	Boston College	99.9	98.8	99.4	99.4
71	Arizona	99.6	97.4	98.1	98.4
72	Iowa St.	98.6	98.2	97.9	98.2
73	Louisiana Tech	96.9	98.8	98.6	98.1
74	Missouri	97.9	97.6	97.2	97.6
75	Central Florida	95.9	97.3	96.6	96.6
76	Cincinnati	96.4	96.8	96.4	96.6
77	Middle Tennessee	95.8	96.7	96.3	96.3
78	Army	92.8	99.8	94.9	95.8
79	New Mexico	94.8	96.9	95.7	95.8
80	Central Michigan	95.0	96.9	95.4	95.8
81	Air Force	94.8	96.2	94.8	95.3
82	Troy	93.0	97.7	95.0	95.3
83	Northern Illinois	94.1	95.5	95.4	95.0
84	SMU	94.4	93.9	96.5	95.0
85	Oregon St.	96.7	92.2	95.3	94.7
86	East Carolina	94.0	95.5	94.3	94.6
87	Illinois	95.0	91.6	94.0	93.6
88	Ohio	91.3	97.1	92.0	93.5
89	Wyoming	92.2	92.3	93.2	92.6
90	Connecticut	92.4	91.3	92.0	91.9
91	Southern Mississippi	91.6	91.9	92.0	91.9
92	Arkansas St.	90.6	92.6	92.3	91.8
93	Utah St.	91.0	93.6	90.8	91.8
94	Colorado St.	90.0	91.8	90.9	90.9
95	Purdue	91.8	90.2	90.5	90.8
96	Rutgers	92.0	89.6	90.6	90.8
97	Georgia Southern	88.2	88.6	90.0	89.0
98	Kent St.	87.2	89.0	87.9	88.1
99	Miami (O)	86.8	87.7	88.2	87.6
100	Old Dominion	86.2	89.7	86.7	87.5
101	Ball St.	85.4	87.9	86.5	86.6
102	Akron	84.2	89.9	85.6	86.6
103	Tulane	84.9	88.9	85.6	86.5
104	Nevada	85.3	87.7	85.9	86.3
105	UNLV	85.1	88.2	85.2	86.2
106	South Alabama	83.5	90.1	84.8	86.1
107	Eastern Michigan	85.1	87.4	85.4	86.0
108	Hawaii	85.9	84.9	85.7	85.5
109	Georgia St.	82.7	87.4	84.6	84.9
110	UTSA	81.7	88.4	84.1	84.8
111	Marshall	82.8	86.4	83.7	84.3
112	Kansas	82.9	88.1	80.3	83.8
113	North Texas	81.7	84.8	82.5	83.0
114	Massachusetts	80.3	86.6	81.4	82.8
115	Bowling Green	82.4	82.8	82.4	82.5
116	San Jose St.	82.7	82.7	82.2	82.5
117	Idaho	79.5	84.8	81.1	81.8
118	Fresno St.	80.0	83.5	79.7	81.1
119	Florida International	79.1	83.7	79.3	80.7
120	UL-Lafayette	77.7	83.8	79.5	80.4
121	Rice	77.6	84.3	77.6	79.8
122	Buffalo	76.3	83.2	76.9	78.8
123	Florida Atlantic	74.1	78.8	77.0	76.6
124	Charlotte	73.7	79.0	74.4	75.7
125	UTEP	72.2	76.7	73.4	74.1
126	New Mexico St.	71.6	74.7	72.5	72.9
127	Texas St.	67.5	69.7	68.3	68.5
128	UL-Monroe	64.9	69.8	65.2	66.6

 

PiRate Retrodictive Rankings
#	Team
1	Alabama
2	Michigan
3	Clemson
4	Louisville
5	Washington
6	Texas A&M
7	Ohio St.
8	Wisconsin
9	Western Michigan
10	Auburn
11	Nebraska
12	Florida
13	Oklahoma
14	Colorado
15	LSU
16	Washington St.
17	Penn St.
18	Virginia Tech
19	West Virginia
20	Florida St.
21	Boise St.
22	USC
23	North Carolina
24	Tennessee
25	Utah
26	Baylor
27	Houston
28	Stanford
29	South Florida
30	Oklahoma St.
31	Arkansas
32	Pittsburgh
33	Appalachian St.
34	San Diego St.
35	Tulsa
36	Troy
37	Minnesota
38	Iowa
39	Northwestern
40	BYU
41	Ole Miss
42	Temple
43	Georgia Tech
44	Kansas St.
45	Western Kentucky
46	Miami (Fla)
47	Navy
48	Kentucky
49	Wyoming
50	Toledo
51	Arizona St.
52	California
53	Texas Tech
54	UCLA
55	Oregon
56	Texas
57	Georgia
58	Maryland
59	Louisiana Tech
60	North Carolina St.
61	Indiana
62	Memphis
63	Middle Tennessee
64	Wake Forest
65	TCU
66	South Carolina
67	Central Florida
68	Vanderbilt
69	Syracuse
70	Air Force
71	Colorado St.
72	Mississippi St.
73	Southern Miss.
74	Notre Dame
75	New Mexico
76	SMU
77	Boston College
78	Ohio
79	Army
80	Oregon St.
81	Duke
82	Old Dominion
83	Central Michigan
84	Michigan St.
85	Akron
86	Georgia Southern
87	Cincinnati
88	Arizona
89	Eastern Michigan
90	East Carolina
91	Missouri
92	Idaho
93	Virginia
94	Arkansas St.
95	South Alabama
96	Utah St.
97	Illinois
98	North Texas
99	Hawaii
100	Rutgers
101	Northern Illinois
102	UTSA
103	Ball St.
104	Tulane
105	Connecticut
106	Kent St.
107	Purdue
108	Iowa St.
109	UL-Lafayette
110	Miami (O)
111	Georgia St.
112	UNLV
113	Nevada
114	San Jose St.
115	New Mexico St.
116	Marshall
117	Bowling Green
118	Charlotte
119	Massachusetts
120	UL-Monroe
121	Florida Int’l.
122	Kansas
123	Texas St.
124	Buffalo
125	UTEP
126	Rice
127	Fresno St.
128	Florida Atlantic

PiRate Ratings By Conference

American Athletic Conference
East Division
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Average
South Florida	108.8	107.0	109.3	108.4
Temple	104.6	103.9	105.0	104.5
Central Florida	95.9	97.3	96.6	96.6
Cincinnati	96.4	96.8	96.4	96.6
East Carolina	94.0	95.5	94.3	94.6
Connecticut	92.4	91.3	92.0	91.9
West Division
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Average
Houston	109.3	108.2	110.7	109.4
Tulsa	103.4	104.8	104.1	104.1
Navy	102.6	101.7	102.4	102.3
Memphis	100.7	98.8	99.6	99.7
SMU	94.4	93.9	96.5	95.0
Tulane	84.9	88.9	85.6	86.5
AAC Averages	99.0	99.1	99.4	99.1
Atlantic Coast Conference
Atlantic Division
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Average
Louisville	127.2	122.5	127.1	125.6
Clemson	126.7	119.5	125.6	123.9
Florida St.	119.2	112.7	118.3	116.7
North Carolina St.	104.9	102.3	104.5	103.9
Syracuse	104.0	100.8	102.6	102.5
Wake Forest	101.6	100.4	102.0	101.4
Boston College	99.9	98.8	99.4	99.4
Coastal Division
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Average
Virginia Tech	119.1	117.7	119.5	118.8
North Carolina	118.4	112.0	118.3	116.2
Pittsburgh	115.1	111.4	114.3	113.6
Miami	115.7	110.0	115.0	113.6
Georgia Tech	109.2	105.3	108.1	107.5
Virginia	104.3	101.5	103.8	103.2
Duke	101.7	101.6	101.0	101.4
ACC Averages	111.9	108.4	111.4	110.6
Big 12 Conference
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Average
Oklahoma	120.9	119.4	120.6	120.3
Oklahoma St.	115.2	116.2	115.0	115.5
Baylor	113.8	114.3	114.2	114.1
West Virginia	111.8	110.8	111.3	111.3
Texas	110.3	111.4	109.7	110.5
Kansas St.	106.6	108.9	106.5	107.3
TCU	106.5	108.0	105.6	106.7
Texas Tech	104.6	103.8	103.1	103.9
Iowa St.	98.6	98.2	97.9	98.2
Kansas	82.9	88.1	80.3	83.8
Big 12 Averages	107.1	107.9	106.4	107.2
Big Ten Conference
East Division
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Average
Michigan	128.7	126.4	128.7	127.9
Ohio St.	121.9	121.5	122.2	121.9
Penn St.	112.0	113.2	111.4	112.2
Michigan St.	104.5	103.9	102.8	103.7
Indiana	102.9	104.8	102.5	103.4
Maryland	102.3	104.7	100.8	102.6
Rutgers	92.0	89.6	90.6	90.8
West Division
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Average
Wisconsin	115.4	113.4	116.1	115.0
Nebraska	113.2	110.2	113.1	112.2
Iowa	112.1	109.5	111.9	111.2
Northwestern	110.4	106.4	109.4	108.7
Minnesota	105.8	104.7	105.3	105.3
Illinois	95.0	91.6	94.0	93.6
Purdue	91.8	90.2	90.5	90.8
Big Ten Averages	107.7	106.5	107.1	107.1
Conference USA
East Division
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Average
Western Kentucky	105.5	102.9	106.8	105.1
Middle Tennessee	95.8	96.7	96.3	96.3
Old Dominion	86.2	89.7	86.7	87.5
Marshall	82.8	86.4	83.7	84.3
Florida International	79.1	83.7	79.3	80.7
Florida Atlantic	74.1	78.8	77.0	76.6
Charlotte	73.7	79.0	74.4	75.7
West Division
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Average
Louisiana Tech	96.9	98.8	98.6	98.1
Southern Mississippi	91.6	91.9	92.0	91.9
UTSA	81.7	88.4	84.1	84.8
North Texas	81.7	84.8	82.5	83.0
Rice	77.6	84.3	77.6	79.8
UTEP	72.2	76.7	73.4	74.1
CUSA Averages	84.5	87.9	85.6	86.0
FBS Independents
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Average
Notre Dame	112.7	108.8	111.3	110.9
BYU	109.6	104.1	109.2	107.6
Army	92.8	99.8	94.9	95.8
Massachusetts	80.3	86.6	81.4	82.8
Indep. Averages	98.9	99.8	99.2	99.3
Mid-American Conference
East Division
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Average
Ohio	91.3	97.1	92.0	93.5
Kent St.	87.2	89.0	87.9	88.1
Miami (O)	86.8	87.7	88.2	87.6
Akron	84.2	89.9	85.6	86.6
Bowling Green	82.4	82.8	82.4	82.5
Buffalo	76.3	83.2	76.9	78.8
West Division
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Average
Western Michigan	112.9	111.8	114.6	113.1
Toledo	101.5	101.8	102.0	101.8
Central Michigan	95.0	96.9	95.4	95.8
Northern Illinois	94.1	95.5	95.4	95.0
Ball St.	85.4	87.9	86.5	86.6
Eastern Michigan	85.1	87.4	85.4	86.0
MAC Averages	90.2	92.6	91.0	91.3
Mountain West Conference
Mountain Division
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Average
Boise St.	105.7	106.9	106.7	106.4
New Mexico	94.8	96.9	95.7	95.8
Air Force	94.8	96.2	94.8	95.3
Wyoming	92.2	92.3	93.2	92.6
Utah St.	91.0	93.6	90.8	91.8
Colorado St.	90.0	91.8	90.9	90.9
West Division
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Average
San Diego St.	105.6	104.2	107.6	105.8
Nevada	85.3	87.7	85.9	86.3
UNLV	85.1	88.2	85.2	86.2
Hawaii	85.9	84.9	85.7	85.5
San Jose St.	82.7	82.7	82.2	82.5
Fresno St.	80.0	83.5	79.7	81.1
MWC Averages	91.1	92.5	91.5	91.7
Pac-12 Conference
North Division
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Average
Washington	128.8	121.6	128.6	126.3
Stanford	114.6	108.6	114.0	112.4
Washington St.	112.4	109.5	112.2	111.4
Oregon	107.1	105.3	106.3	106.2
California	104.6	97.8	102.2	101.5
Oregon St.	96.7	92.2	95.3	94.7
South Division
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Average
Colorado	117.5	113.0	117.3	116.0
USC	117.7	112.9	115.5	115.4
UCLA	110.2	108.7	109.5	109.5
Utah	111.7	106.2	110.1	109.3
Arizona St.	103.9	102.8	102.5	103.1
Arizona	99.6	97.4	98.1	98.4
Pac-12 Averages	110.4	106.4	109.3	108.7
Southeastern Conference
East Division
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Average
Florida	114.7	116.6	113.2	114.8
Tennessee	115.5	112.7	114.7	114.3
Georgia	107.8	107.4	106.9	107.4
Kentucky	101.1	102.0	100.5	101.2
Vanderbilt	101.6	98.4	100.3	100.1
South Carolina	99.7	99.3	99.3	99.5
Missouri	97.9	97.6	97.2	97.6
West Division
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Average
Alabama	135.9	129.1	135.8	133.6
LSU	124.8	119.8	124.4	123.0
Auburn	123.7	121.2	123.9	122.9
Texas A&M	117.5	115.5	117.3	116.8
Ole Miss	114.3	109.2	113.0	112.2
Arkansas	109.9	105.2	108.0	107.7
Mississippi St.	107.8	106.3	106.7	106.9
SEC Averages	112.3	110.0	111.5	111.3
Sunbelt Conference
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Average
Appalachian St.	100.4	100.7	102.4	101.2
Troy	93.0	97.7	95.0	95.3
Arkansas St.	90.6	92.6	92.3	91.8
Georgia Southern	88.2	88.6	90.0	89.0
South Alabama	83.5	90.1	84.8	86.1
Georgia St.	82.7	87.4	84.6	84.9
Idaho	79.5	84.8	81.1	81.8
UL-Lafayette	77.7	83.8	79.5	80.4
New Mexico St.	71.6	74.7	72.5	72.9
Texas St.	67.5	69.7	68.3	68.5
UL-Monroe	64.9	69.8	65.2	66.6
Sun Belt Averages	81.8	85.5	83.2	83.5

 

PiRate Ratings By Conference
#	League	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Average
1	SEC	112.3	110.0	111.5	111.3
2	ACC	111.9	108.4	111.4	110.6
3	Pac-12	110.4	106.4	109.3	108.7
4	Big 12	107.1	107.9	106.4	107.2
5	Big Ten	107.7	106.5	107.1	107.1
6	Independents	98.9	99.8	99.2	99.3
7	AAC	99.0	99.1	99.4	99.1
8	MWC	91.1	92.5	91.5	91.7
9	MAC	90.2	92.6	91.0	91.3
10	CUSA	84.5	87.9	85.6	86.0
11	Sun Belt	81.8	85.5	83.2	83.5

 

 

This Week’s Games–November 1-5
Home	Visitor	PiRate	Mean	Bias
Tuesday, November 1
Northern Illinois	Bowling Green	14.7	15.7	16.4
Ball St.	Western Michigan	-24.5	-20.9	-25.1
Wednesday, November 2
Akron	Toledo	-15.3	-9.9	-14.4
Thursday, November 3
Ohio U	Buffalo	18.0	16.9	18.1
Iowa St.	Oklahoma	-19.3	-18.2	-19.7
Georgia St.	Arkansas St.	-5.4	-2.7	-5.2
Colorado	UCLA	10.3	7.3	10.8
Friday, November 4
Miami (O)	Central Michigan	-5.2	-6.2	-4.2
Connecticut	Temple	-9.2	-9.6	-10.0
Boise St.	San Jose St.	26.0	27.2	27.5
Saturday, November 5
Boston College	Louisville	-24.3	-20.7	-24.7
Clemson	Syracuse	25.7	21.7	26.0
Duke	Virginia Tech	-14.4	-13.1	-15.5
North Carolina St.	Florida St.	-11.3	-7.4	-10.8
North Carolina	Georgia Tech	12.2	9.7	10.2
Miami (Fla.)	Pittsburgh	3.6	1.6	3.7
Washington St.	Arizona	15.8	15.1	17.1
USC	Oregon	13.6	10.6	12.2
California	Washington	-21.2	-20.8	-23.4
West Virginia	Kansas	31.9	25.7	34.0
Kansas St.	Oklahoma St.	-5.6	-4.3	-5.5
Notre Dame (N)	Navy	10.1	7.1	8.9
Army	Air Force	1.0	6.6	3.1
Ole Miss	Georgia Southern	29.1	23.6	26.0
Mississippi St.	Texas A&M	-6.7	-6.2	-7.6
Auburn	Vanderbilt	25.1	25.8	26.6
Texas Tech	Texas	-3.2	-5.1	-4.1
Rutgers	Indiana	-8.4	-12.7	-9.4
Illinois	Michigan St.	-6.5	-9.3	-5.8
Northwestern	Wisconsin	-3.0	-5.0	-4.7
Middle Tennessee	UTSA	17.1	11.3	15.2
Wake Forest	Virginia	-0.2	1.4	0.7
Rice	Florida Atlantic	6.0	8.0	3.1
Colorado St.	Fresno St.	13.0	11.3	14.2
Southern Miss.	Charlotte	20.9	15.9	20.6
Baylor	TCU	9.8	8.8	11.1
Stanford	Oregon St.	20.9	19.4	21.7
Cincinnati	BYU	-10.2	-4.3	-9.8
Troy	Massachusetts	15.7	14.1	16.6
Arkansas	Florida	-1.8	-8.4	-2.2
Michigan	Maryland	29.4	28.7	30.9
Minnesota	Purdue	17.0	17.5	17.8
Appalachian St.	Texas St.	35.9	34.0	37.1
SMU	Memphis	-3.8	-2.4	-0.6
South Carolina	Missouri	5.0	4.7	5.1
UL-Lafayette	Idaho	0.8	2.0	1.4
UL-Monroe	South Alabama	-13.6	-18.3	-17.6
Central Florida	Tulane	14.0	14.4	14.0
Western Kentucky	Florida Int’l.	29.4	22.2	30.5
North Texas	Louisiana Tech	-12.2	-11.0	-13.1
Old Dominion	Marshall	5.9	6.2	5.5
San Diego St.	Hawaii	23.7	23.3	25.9
Penn St.	Iowa	2.9	6.7	2.5
Kentucky	Georgia	-4	-2.4	-3.4
LSU	Alabama	-8	-6.3	-8.4
Tulsa	East Carolina	12.4	12.3	12.8
Ohio St.	Nebraska	11.7	14.3	12.1
New Mexico	Nevada	12.5	12.2	12.8
Wyoming	Utah St.	4.2	1.7	5.4

(N)–Game to be played in Jacksonville, FL

FBS vs. FCS	Week 10
Home	Visitor	PiRate
Tennessee	Tennessee Tech	41
UTEP	Houston Baptist	16

 

Bowl Projections

The bowl outlook took a major turn this past weekend with numerous upsets bringing multiple teams into the bowl discussions.  Let’s take a look at how each conference was affected.

Group of 5 Leagues

American Athletic Conference

South Florida recovered from its loss to Temple by beating Navy at its own game.  This now opens the door in the West for Tulsa, which beat Memphis to move into position to take the West if they win out.  Because the AAC does not slot bowl teams into specific bowls, it did not change much.  Houston with two losses is out of the NY6 Bowl picture for now.  The AAC has eight bowl tie-ins but appears headed to having just seven bowl eligible teams.  However, SMU is getting better and better every week, so the Mustangs could sneak in as the eighth eligible team.  For now, we are predicting that Cincinnati will not be bowl eligible.

Conference USA

Western Kentucky should win the East with Middle Tennessee and Old Dominion earning bowl bids from this division.  The West is up for grabs, but Louisiana Tech is starting to look like the team that will emerge as the division winner.  Southern Miss. and North Texas are still alive, and UTSA is a dark horse.  We see six bowl eligible teams emerging, which is perfect, since the league has six bowl tie-ins.

Independents

BYU is going to be bowl eligible and get the Poinsettia bid allotted to the Cougars.  With Army’s upset of Wake Forest, the Black Knights should get to seven wins and become bowl eligible.  Notre Dame still looks like a team on the outside.  The Fighting Irish might need to beat USC in the season finale to get to 6-6, and for now, we do not believe they can beat the Trojans.

Mid-American Conference

Western Michigan is now in the driver’s seat for the NY6 Bowl thanks to Wyoming’s win over Boise State.  The Broncos have a rather easy November schedule and figure to play a 7-5 or even 6-6 team in the MAC title game.

The East has become quite interesting.  While Ohio has the upper hand in the race, keep an eye on Miami of Ohio.  Miami has not figured in the race in years, but the Redhawks won at Eastern Michigan Saturday to move to 3-2 in the league.  If Miami wins out, and Ohio loses to Toledo and either Central Michigan or Akron, then Miami could be the division winner with a 6-6 overall mark.

The MAC will have at least seven bowl eligible teams, and they only have five bowl tie-ins.  Because WMU for now is slotted for the Cotton Bowl, there will be one surplus team to become an at-large invitee to another bowl.

Mountain West Conference

Boise State’s loss not only knocks them well back in the NY6 Bowl pecking order, the Broncos now need Wyoming to lose twice in order to get a trip to the MWC Championship Game.  It has been awhile since the Broncos have played at home in the bowl season, but we believe they will garner another bowl even if they do not win the league.

San Diego State is all but assured to win the West Division, and the Aztecs could be the only division team to gain bowl eligibility.  Hawaii’s loss at home to New Mexico means the Rainbow Warriors are probably looking at 6-7 at best.  At 6-7, UH would have preference over the 5-7 teams trying to gain alternate status to bowls.

Sun Belt

With 11 teams and just four bowl tie-ins, the SBC usually produces an extra bowl eligible team or two.  We believe two league teams will receive at-large bids this year.  Troy and Appalachian State are already bowl eligible, while Arkansas State and Georgia Southern in good shape.  South Alabama and either Idaho or Louisiana-Lafayette should give the league a couple of at-large candidates.

Power 5 Leagues

Atlantic Coast Conference

Clemson, Florida State, and Louisville in the Atlantic and North Carolina, Virginia Tech, and Pittsburgh in the Coastal are assured of bowls, but after that, it is a jumbled race.  For now, we believe Miami, Wake Forest, and Georgia Tech will become bowl eligible, but North Carolina State, Boston College, Syracuse, and Duke will not.  We also believe Duke may fall to 4-8, taking the Blue Devils out of the 5-7 bowl sweepstakes, where they hold the APR Ace card.  Boston College has a fat APR score and could get in at 5-7.  Overall, we see nine bowl teams from this league.  Because Clemson should get a playoff spot and Louisville is safe as a NY6 Bowl team, and because there is a chance that either North Carolina or Virginia Tech could sneak into the Cotton Bowl picture, this league will not supply all its contracted bowls with teams.

Big 12 Conference

With the two undefeated teams losing this past weekend, it is almost impossible now for a team from this league to make the Playoffs.  It is the price the Big 12 pays for not expanding (and as some believe because Texas says no expansion).  As of today, we have the league champion going to the Sugar Bowl, and no other team should earn an NY6 bid.  With Texas and Texas Tech winning, this now makes a strong case for seven bowl eligible teams (TCU dropping out for now) for seven bowls.

Big Ten Conference

Can Michigan win at the Giant Horseshoe?  We believe the Wolverines are now considerably better than Ohio State, and we cannot see a West Division team staying within two touchdowns of the Maize and Blue.  Jim Harbaugh has his alma mater looking much like it did back in the Bo Schembechler 1970’s.

Should Michigan hand Ohio State that season-ending loss, and should Penn State win out, the Nittany Lions could be the Rose Bowl’s choice over a multiple loss West Division champion.

We are looking at 10 bowl eligible teams in this league, but we also believe three teams will be in the NY6, meaning the league will come up one team short for its bowl obligations.

Pac-12 Conference

With Washington’s win at Utah, we now show the Huskies going to the Palouse and beating rival Washington State in the season finale.  In the South, Colorado controls its own destiny with a favorable schedule, but they will have to beat Utah in Boulder on the final weekend.

We show UCLA, Cal, and Oregon falling short, while Arizona State recovers to gain bowl eligibility.  This leads to seven bowl eligible teams for eight spots (one playoff and seven bowls), so the Cactus Bowl would have to find another team.

Southeastern Conference

In what was an interesting turn of events this past weekend in the East Division, South Carolina upset Tennessee and Kentucky won at Missouri.  Florida now controls its own destiny in the division, but if the Gators lose to Arkansas and LSU on the road, and Kentucky beats fading Georgia and Tennessee teams, the Wildcats would be the major shocking surprise winner in the division!

Alabama plays at LSU this weekend, and we just cannot see the Tigers winning this game.  The Tide get Auburn at home, so it looks like a march to the top seed for the Saban Dynasty.

We have added South Carolina to the Bowl list this week, and with Kentucky now 99% assured of gaining bowl eligibility, that brings the SEC to 11 bowl eligible teams, which means they will supply a team for every bowl tie-in.

The 7-loss Alternate Teams

This week, we have 78 teams gaining bowl eligibility.  We have Hawaii at 6-7, so the Rainbow Warriors would be team #79.  The 80th team would thus go to the highest APR score of the 5-7 teams.  Duke would be that team if the Blue Devils can win two more times, but their schedule is set up for a hard crash, and thus we do not believe they will win five games.

Next up among the possible 5-7 teams is Vanderbilt.  If the Commodores win one of their final four games (Missouri is still to be played), it looks like they will be the 80th team in the field.  It might mean a 1,500+ mile trip out West.

Bowl	Conferences		Team	vs.	Team
New Mexico	MWC	CUSA	New Mexico	vs.	North Texas
Las Vegas	Pac-12	MWC	Arizona St.	vs.	San Diego St.
Cure	AAC	SBC	Temple	vs.	Appy St.
Camellia	MAC	SBC	Miami (O)	vs.	S. Alabama
New Orleans	CUSA	SBC	La. Tech	vs.	Troy
Miami Beach	AAC	MAC	Central Fla.	vs.	Central Mich.
Boca Raton	AAC	CUSA	Houston	vs.	Western Ky.
Poinsettia	MWC	BYU	Colorado St.	vs.	BYU
Idaho Potato	MAC	MWC	Eastern Mich.	vs.	Wyoming
Bahamas	AAC/CUSA	MAC/CUSA	South Florida	vs.	Toledo
Armed Forces	Navy	Big 12	Navy	vs.	Texas Tech
Dollar General	MAC	SBC	Ohio U	vs.	Arkansas St.
Hawaii	CUSA	MWC	Middle Tenn.	vs.	Boise St.
St. Petersburg	AAC	ACC/ND	Memphis	vs.	Miami (Fla.)
Quick Lane	ACC/ND	Big Ten	[Akron]	vs.	Indiana
Independence	SEC	ACC/ND	Ole Miss	vs.	[Idaho]
Heart of Dallas	Big Ten	CUSA	{Hawaii}	vs.	Sou. Miss.
Military	ACC/ND	AAC	[Army]	vs.	Tulsa
Holiday	Big Ten	Pac-12	Minnesota	vs.	Utah
Cactus	Big 12	Pac-12	Kansas St.	vs.	{Vanderbilt}
Pinstripe	ACC/ND	Big Ten	Pittsburgh	vs.	Maryland
Russell Athletic	ACC/ND	Big 12	Va. Tech	vs.	Oklahoma St.
Foster Farms	Big Ten	Pac-12	Iowa	vs.	Wash. St.
Texas	Big 12	SEC	West Virginia	vs.	Tennessee
Birmingham	AAC	SEC	[Ga. Sou.]	vs.	S. Carolina
Belk	ACC/ND	SEC	Wake Forest	vs.	Florida
Alamo	Big 12	Pac-12	Baylor	vs.	USC
Liberty	Big 12	SEC	Texas	vs.	Arkansas
Sun	ACC/ND	Pac-12	Georgia Tech	vs.	Stanford
Arizona	CUSA/SBC	MWC/SBC	Old Dominion	vs.	Air Force
Music City	ACC/ND/B10	SEC	Northwestern	vs.	Georgia
Orange	ACC/ND	B10/SEC	Louisville	vs.	Nebraska
Citrus	ACC/ND/B10	SEC	Wisconsin	vs.	Auburn
TaxSlayer	ACC/ND/B10	SEC	Florida St.	vs.	Kentucky
Peach	Semifinal	Semifinal	Alabama	vs.	Washington
Fiesta	Semifinal	Semifinal	Michigan	vs.	Clemson
Outback	Big Ten	SEC	Ohio St.	vs.	LSU
Cotton	At-Large	At-Large	N. Carolina	vs.	Western Mich.
Rose	Big Ten	Pac-12	Penn St.	vs.	Colorado
Sugar	Big 12	SEC	Oklahoma	vs.	Texas A&M
Championship	Semifinal	Winners	Alabama	vs.	Michigan
[Team]	At-Large Selection
{Team}	At-Large Selection of projected 7-Loss Team

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NCAA Men’s Basketball Conference Tournament Update: 3/6/16

Teams Earning Automatic Bids

Ohio Valley: Austin Peay (18-17)

Ivy League: Yale (22-6)

 

Automatic Bids To Be Awarded Today

Atlantic Sun: Florida Gulf Coast vs. Stetson 12:30 PM ESPN2 *

Stetson is ineligible for the postseason. North Florida will go if the Hatters win.

Big South: Winthrop vs. UNC-Asheville 2:30 PM ESPN2

Missouri Valley: Evansville vs. Northern Iowa 2:00 PM on CBS

 

Results of Tournaments Played To Date

America East Conference Tournament	Score
Site: Campus Sites @ Higher Seeds
Quarterfinal Round
Wednesday, March 2
#8 UMBC (7-24) @ #1 Stony Brook (23-6)	76-86
#7 Hartford (9-22) @ #2 Albany (24-7)	68-59
#6 Maine (8-21) @ #3 Vermont (19-12)	82-99
#5 Binghamton (8-21) @ #4 New Hampshire (18-11)	51-56
Semifinal Round
Monday, March 7
#7 Hartford (10-22) @ #1 Stony Brook (24-6)
#4 New Hampshire (19-11) @ #3 Vermont (20-12)
Championship
Saturday, March 12
11:00 AM EST on ESPN2
Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament
Site: Campus Sites @ Higher Seeds
Quarterfinal Round
Tuesday, March 1
G1: #8 USC-Upstate (10-21) @ #1 North Florida (21-10)	69-92
G2: #5 Kennesaw St. (11-19) @ #4 Florida Gulf Coast (17-13)	64-74
G3: #7 Stetson (10-21) @ #2 NJIT (17-13)	82-67
G4: #6 Lipscomb (11-20) @ #3 Jacksonville (16-15)	92-89
Semifinal Round
Thursday, March 3
#4 Florida Gulf Coast (18-13) @ #1 North Florida (22-10)	89-56
#7 Stetson (11-21) @ #6 Lipscomb (12-20)	96-75
Championship
Sunday, March 6 12:30 PM on ESPN2
#7 Stetson (12-21) @ #4 Florida Gulf Coast (19-13)
Note: If Stetson wins the tournament, then North Florida will
represent the A-Sun in the NCAA Tournament due to Stetson
being ineligible for the postseason.
Big South Conference Tournament
Site: Buies Creek, NC (Campbell)
1st Round
Thursday, March 3
G1: #8 Longwood (9-22) vs. #9 Charleston Southern (9-20)	75-69
G2: #7 Radford (16-14) vs. #10 Presbyterian (10-19)	64-65
G3: #6 Gardner-Webb (15-15) vs. #11 Campbell (12-17)	79-69
Quarterfinal Round
Friday, March 4
G4: #1 High Point (20-9) vs. #8 Longwood (10-22)	89-78
G5: #4 UNC-Asheville (19-11) vs. #5 Liberty (13-18)	80-49
G6: #2 Winthrop (21-8) vs. #10 Presbyterian (11-19)	67-53
G7: #3 Coastal Carolina (18-10) vs. #6 Gardner-Webb (16-15)	65-69
Semifinal Round
Saturday, March 5
#1 High Point (21-9) vs. #4 UNC-Asheville (20-11)	69-80
#2 Winthrop (22-8) vs. #6 Gardner-Webb (17-15)	82-69
Championship
Sunday, March 6
#2 Winthrop (23-8) vs. #4 UNC-Asheville (21-11)
Colonial Athletic Association Tournament
Site: Baltimore
1st Round
Friday, March 4
G1: #8 Elon (16-15) vs. #9 Drexel (5-24)	56-57
G2: #7 Charleston (16-13) vs. #10 Delaware (7-22)	67-63
Quarterfinal Round
Saturday, March 5
G3: #1 Hofstra (22-8) vs. #9 Drexel (6-24)	80-67
G4: #4 James Madison (21-10) vs. #5 William & Mary (19-10)	64-79
G5: #2 UNC-Wilmington (22-7) vs. #7 Charleston (17-13)	66-64
G6: #3 Towson (20-11) vs. #6 Northeastern (17-14)	60-71
Semifinal Round
Sunday, March 6
#1 Hofstra (23-8) vs. #5 William & Mary (20-10)
#2 UNC-Wilmington (23-7) vs. #6 Northeastern (18-14)
Championship
Monday, March 7
7:00 PM on NBC Sports Network
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament
Site: Albany (Siena)
1st Round
Thursday, March 3
G1: #8 Rider (12-19) vs. #9 Quinnipiac (9-20)	60-57
G2: #7 Canisius (13-18) vs. #10 Niagara (7-24)	102-97
G3: #6 Manhattan (12-17) vs. #11 Marist (7-22)	81-63
Quarterfinal Round
Friday, March 4
G4: #1 Monmouth (25-6) vs. #8 Rider (13-19)	59-48
G6: #2 Iona (19-10) vs. #7 Canisius (14-18)	71-55
Saturday, March 5
G5: #4 Saint Peter’s (14-15) vs. #5 Fairfield (18-12)	64-55
G7: #3 Siena (20-11) vs. #6 Manhattan (13-17)	89-76
Semifinal Round
Sunday, March 6
#1 Monmouth (26-6) vs. #4 Saint Peter’s (15-15)
#2 Iona (20-10) vs. #3 Siena (21-11)
Championship Round
Monday, March 7
7:00 PM on ESPN
Missouri Valley Conference Tournament
Site: St. Louis
1st Round
Thursday, March 3
G1: #8 Loyola (Chi.) (14-16) vs. #9 Bradley (5-26)	74-66
G2: #7 MIssouri St. (12-18) vs. #10 Drake (7-23)	69-67
Quarterfinal Round
Friday, March 4
G3: #1 Wichita St. (23-7) vs. #8 Loyola (Chi.) (15-16)	66-58
G4: #4 Northern Iowa (19-12) vs. #5 Southern Illinois (22-9)	66-60
G5: #2 Evansville (23-8) vs. #7 Missouri St. (13-18)	66-56
G6: #3 Illinois St. (18-13) vs. #6 Indiana St. (14-16)	57-65
Semifinal Round
Saturday, March 5
#1 Wichita St. (24-7) vs. #4 Northern Iowa (20-12)	52-57
#2 Evansville (24-8) vs. #6 Indiana St. (15-16)	68-42
Championship Game
Sunday, March 6
#2 Evansville (25-8) vs. #4 Northern Iowa (21-12)
Northeast Conference
Site: Campus Sites @ Higher Seeds
Quarterfinal Round
Wednesday, March 2
G1: #8 Robert Morris (10-21) @ #1 Wagner (20-9)	50-59
G2: #5 Mount St. Mary’s (13-18) @ #4 St. Francis (Bklyn) (15-16)	60-51
G3: #7 St. Francis (Pa.) (13-16) @ #2 Fairleigh Dickinson (15-14)	72-74
G4: #6 Long Island (15-14) @ #3 Sacred Heart (12-17)	84-76
Semifinal Round
Saturday, March 5
#6 Long Island (16-14) @ #1 Wagner (21-9)	65-81
#5 Mount St. Mary’s (14-18) @ #2 Fairleigh Dickinson (16-14)	75-80
Championship
Tuesday, March 8
#2 Fairleigh Dickinson (17-14) at @1 Wagner (22-9)
Ohio Valley Conference Tournament
Site: Nashville
1st Round
Wednesday, March 2
G1: #5 Tennessee Tech (19-10) vs. #8 Austin Peay (14-17)	72-92
G2: #6 Murray St. (16-13) vs. #7 Eastern Illinois (13-16)	78-62
Quarterfinal Round
Thursday, March 3
G3: #4 Tennessee St. (20-9) vs. #8 Austin Peay (15-17)	72-74
G4: #3 Morehead St. (18-11) vs. #6 Murray St. (17-13)	75-66
Semifinal Round
Friday, March 4
G5: #1 Belmont (20-10) vs. #8 Austin Peay (16-17)	96-97
G6: #2 UT-Martin (18-13) vs. #3 Morehead St. (19-11)	83-70
Championship
Saturday, March 5 6:00 PM on ESPN2
#2 UT-Martin (19-13) vs. #8 Austin Peay (17-17)	73-83
Patriot League Tournament
Site: Campus Sites @ Higher Seeds
1st Round
Monday, March 1
G1: #9 Holy Cross (10-19) @ #8 Loyola (Md.) (9-20)	72-67
G2: #10 Lafayette (6-23) @ #7 Navy (18-13)	70-78
Quarterfinal Round
Wednesday, March 3
G3: #9 Holy Cross (11-19) @ #1 Bucknell (17-12)	77-72
G4: #5 Colgate (13-16) @ #4 Army (18-12)	69-82
G5: #6 American (11-18) @ #3 Boston U (18-13)	69-64
G6: #7 Navy (19-13) @ #2 Lehigh (15-14)	63-65
Semifinal Round
Sunday, March 6
#9 Holy Cross (12-19) @ #4 Army (19-12)
#6 American (12-18) @ #2 Lehigh (16-14)
Championship
Wednesday, March 9 @ Higher Seed
7:30 PM on CBS Sports Network
Southern Conference
Site: Asheville, NC
1st Round
Friday, March 4
G1: #8 Samford (13-18) vs. #9 VMI (9-20)	92-85
G2: #7 Mercer (18-13) vs. #10 Citadel (10-21)	71-69
Quarterfinal Round
Saturday, March 5
G3: #1 Chattanooga (26-5) vs. #8 Samford (14-18)	59-54
G4: #4 Wofford (15-16) vs. #5 Western Carolina (15-16)	83-88
G5: #2 East Tennessee (21-10) Vs. Mercer (19-13)	81-65
G6: #3 Furman (17-14) vs. #6 UNC-Greensboro (14-17)	80-64
Semifinal Round
Sunday, March 6
#1 Chattanooga (27-5) vs. #5 Western Carolina (16-16)
#2 East Tennessee (22-10) vs. #3 Furman (18-14)
Championship
Monday, March 7
9:00 PM on ESPN2
West Coast Conference Tournament
Site: Las Vegas
1st Round
Friday, March 4
G1: #8 Loyola Marymount (13-16) vs. #9 San Diego (9-20)	64-61
Quarterfinal Round
Saturday, March 5
G2: #3 BYU (22-9) vs. #6 Santa Clara (11-19)	72-60
G3: #4 Pepperdine (17-12) vs. #5 San Francisco (15-14)	90-86
G4: #1 Saint Mary’s (24-4) vs. #8 Loyola Marymount (14-16)	60-48
G5: #2 Gonzaga (23-7) vs. #7 Portland (12-19)	92-67
Semifinal Round
Monday, March 7
#1 Saint Mary’s (25-4) vs. #4 Pepperdine (18-12)
#2 Gonzaga (24-7) vs. #3 BYU (23-9)
Championship
Tuesday, March 8
9:00 PM on ESPN

 

Brackets For Tournaments Not Yet Underway

Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament

Sites: Washington, DC

1st Round

Tuesday, March 8

G1: #12 North Carolina St. (15-16) vs. #13 Wake Forest (11-19)

G2: #11 Florida St. (18-12) vs. #14 Boston College (7-24)

2nd Round

Wednesday, March 9

G3: #8 Pittsburgh (20-10) vs. #9 Syracuse (19-12)

G4: #5 Duke (22-9) vs. G1 Winner

G5: #7 Clemson (17-13) vs. #10 Georgia Tech (18-13)

G6: #6 Virginia Tech (18-13) vs. G2 Winner

Quarterfinal Round

Thursday, March 10

G7: #1 North Carolina (25-6) vs. G3 Winner

G8: #4 Notre Dame (20-10) vs. G4 Winner

G9: #2 Virginia (24-6) vs. G5 Winner

G10: #3 Miami (24-6) vs. G6 Winner

Semifinal Round

Friday, March 11

G7 Winner vs. G8 Winner

G9 Winner vs. G10 Winner

Championship Round

Saturday, March 12

9:00 PM on ESPN

Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament

Site: Brooklyn

1st Round

Wednesday, March 9

G1: #12 George Mason (11-20) vs. #13 St. Louis (10-20)

G2: #11 Duquesne (16-15) vs. #14 LaSalle (8-21)

2nd Round

Thursday, March 10

G3: #8 Fordham (17-12) vs. #9 Richmond (15-15)

G4: #5 George Washington (22-9) vs. G1 Winner

G5: #7 Rhode Island (17-14) vs. #10 U Mass (13-17)

G6: #6 Davidson (18-11) vs. G2 Winner

Quarterfinal Round

Friday, March 11

G7: #1 Dayton (24-6) vs. G3 Winner

G8: #4 St. Joseph’s (24-7) vs. G4 Winner

G9: #2 VCU (22-9) vs. G5 Winner

G10: #3 St. Bonaventure (22-7) vs. G6 Winner

Semifinal Round

Saturday, March 12

G7 Winner vs. G8 Winner

G9 Winner vs. G10 Winner

Championship

Sunday, March 13

12:30 PM on CBS

Big 12 Conference Tournament

Site: Kansas City

1st Round

Wednesday, March 9

G1: #8 Kansas St. (16-15) vs. #9 Oklahoma St. (12-19)

G2: #7 Texas Tech (19-11) vs. #10 TCU (11-20)

Quarterfinal Round

Thursday, March 10

G3: #4 Texas (20-11) vs. #5 Baylor (21-10)

G4: #1 Kansas (27-4) vs. G1 Winner

G5: #2 West Virginia (24-7) vs. G2 Winner

G6: #3 Oklahoma (24-6) vs. #6 Iowa St. (21-10)

Semifinal Round

Friday, March 11

G3 Winner vs. G4 Winner

G5 Winner vs. G6 Winner

Championship Game

Saturday, March 12

6:00 PM on ESPN

Big East Conference Tournament

Site: New York

1st Round

Wednesday, March 9

G1: #8 Georgetown (14-17) vs. #9 DePaul (9-21)

G2: #7 Marquette (19-12) vs. #10 St. John’s (8-23)

Quarterfinal Round

Thursday, March 10

G3: #1 Villanova (27-4) vs. G1 Winner

G4: #4 Providence (22-9) vs. #5 Butler (21-9)

G5: #2 Xavier (26-4) vs. G2 Winner

G6: #3 Seton Hall (22-8) vs. #6 Creighton (18-13)

Semifinal Round

Friday, March 11

G3 Winner vs. G4 Winner

G5 Winner vs. G6 Winner

Championship Round

Saturday, March 12

5:30 PM on Fox

Big Sky Conference Tournament

Site: Reno, NV

1st Round

Tuesday, March 8

G1: #8 Portland St. (12-17) vs. #9 Northern Colorado (10-20)

G2: #5 North Dakota (15-14) vs. #12 Southern Utah (5-23)

G3: #7 Montana St. (14-16) vs. #10 Sacramento St. (13-16)

G4: #6 Eastern Washington (16-14) vs. #11 Northern Arizona (5-24)

Quarterfinal Round

Thursday, March 10

G5: #1 Weber St. (23-8) vs. G1 Winner

G6: #4 Idaho St. (16-14) vs. G2 Winner

G7: #2 Montana (19-10) vs. G3 Winner

G8: #3 Idaho (20-11) vs. G4 Winner

Semifinal Round

Friday, March 11

G5 Winner vs. G6 Winner

G7 Winner vs. G8 Winner

Championship

Saturday, March 12

8:45 PM on ESPNU

Big West Conference Tournament

Site: Anaheim

Quarterfinal Round

Thursday, March 10

#4 UCSB (17-12) vs. #5 UC Davis (10-18)

#1 Hawaii (24-5) vs. #8 Cal St. Fullerton (10-19)

#2 UC-Irvine (24-8) vs. #7 Cal Poly (10-19)

#3 Long Beach St. (18-13) vs. #6 UC Riverside (14-18)

Semifinal Round

Friday, March 11

Highest Remaining Seed vs. Lowest Remaining Seed

2nd Highest Remaining Seed vs. 3rd Highest Remaining Seed

Championship

Saturday, March 12

11:30 PM on ESPN2

Conference USA Tournament

Site: Birmingham

1st Round

Tuesday, March 8

G1: #12 Florida Atlantic (7-24) vs. #13 UTSA (5-26)

2nd Round

Wednesday, March 9

G2: #8 Western Kentucky (16-15) vs. #9 North Texas (12-19)

G3: #5 Old Dominion (19-12) vs. G1 Winner

G4: #7 Charlotte (13-18) vs. #10 Rice (12-19)

G5: #6 UTEP (18-13) vs. #11 Florida Int’l (13-18)

Quarterfinal Round

Thursday, March 10

G6: #1 UAB (26-5) vs. G2 Winner

G7: #4 Louisiana Tech (23-8) vs. G3 Winner

G8: #2 Middle Tennessee (21-9) vs. G4 Winner

G9: #3 Marshall (16-15) vs. G5 Winner

Semifinal Round

Friday, March 11

G6 Winner vs. G7 Winner

Championship

Saturday, March 12

2:30 PM on Fox Sports 1

Horizon League Tournament

Site: Detroit

1st Round

Saturday, March 5

G1: #4 Green Bay (19-12) vs. #9 Cleveland St. (9-22)

G2: #5 Milwaukee (19-12) vs. #8 Northern Kentucky (9-20)

G3: #3 Wright St. (19-12) vs. #10 Illinois-Chicago (5-24)

G4: #6 Detroit (15-14) vs. #7 Youngstown St. (11-20)

Quarterfinal Round

Sunday, March 6

G5: G1 Winner vs. G2 Winner

G6: G3 Winner vs. G4 Winner

Semifinal Round

Monday, March 7

G5 Winner vs. #1 Valparaiso (26-5)

G6 Winner vs. #2 Oakland (21-10)

Championship

Tuesday, March 8

7:00 PM on ESPN

Mid-American Conference Tournament

Site: Cleveland, 1st Round at Higher Seed

1st Round

Monday, March 7

G1:#9 Toledo (17-14) at #8 Eastern Michigan (17-14)

G2: #12 Bowling Green (14-17) at #5 Kent St. (19-12)

G3: #10 Western Michigan (13-18) at #7 Northern Illinois (20-11)

G4: #11 Miami (O) (12-19) at #6 Ball St. (19-12)

Quarterfinal Round

Thursday, March 10

G5: #1 Akron (24-7) vs. G1 Winner

G6: #4 Central Michigan (17-14) vs. G2 Winner

G7: #2 Ohio (20-10) vs. G3 Winner

G8: #3 Buffalo (17-14) vs. G4 Winner

Semfinal Round

Friday, March 11

G5 Winner vs. G6 Winner

G7 Winner vs. G8 Winner

Championship Round

Saturday, March 12

7:30 PM on ESPN

Mid-eastern Athletic Conference Tournament

Site: Norfolk, VA

1st Round

Monday, March 7

G1: #5 Savannah St. (14-14) vs. #12 Delaware St. (7-24)

G2: #6 North Carolina A&T (10-21) vs. #11 Coppin St. (8-21)

Tuesday, March 8

G3: #8 UM-Eastern Shore (10-21) vs. #9 Morgan St. (8-21)

G4: #7 UNC-Central (12-18) vs. #10 Howard (12-19)

Quarterfinal Round

Wednesday, March 9

G5: #1 Hampton (18-10) vs. G3 Winner

G6: #2 Norfolk St. (16-15) vs. G4 Winner

Thursday, March 10

G7: #3 South Carolina St. (17-13) vs. G2 Winner

G8: #4 Bethune-Cookman (14-17) vs. G1 Winner

Semifinal Round

Friday, March 11

G5 Winner vs. G8 Winner

G6 Winner vs. G7 Winner

Championship Game

Saturday, March 12

1:00 PM on ESPN2

Mountain West Conference Tournament

Site: Las Vegas

1st Round

Wednesday, March 9

G1: #8 Wyoming (14-17) vs. #9 Utah St. (15-14)

G2: #7 UNLV (17-14) vs. #10 Air Force (14-17)

G3: #6 Colorado St. (16-15) vs. #11 San Jose St. (9-21)

Quarterfinal Round

Thursday, March 10

G4: #1 San Diego St. (23-8) vs. G1 Winner

G5: #4 New Mexico (17-14) vs. #5 Nevada (18-12)

G6: #2 Fresno St. (22-9) vs. G2 Winner

G7: #3 Boise St. (20-11) vs. G3 Winner

Semifinal Round

Friday, March 11

G4 Winner vs. G5 Winner

G6 Winner vs. G7 Winner

Championship

Saturday, March 12

5:00 PM on CBS

Pac-12 Conference Tournament

Site: Las Vegas

1st Round

Wednesday, March 9

G1: #8 Washington (17-13) vs. #9 Stanford (15-14)

G2: #5 Colorado (21-10) vs. #12 Washington St. (9-21)

G3: #7 USC (20-11) vs. #10 UCLA (15-16)

G4: #6 Oregon St. (18-11) vs. #11 Arizona St. (15-16)

Quarterfinal Round

Thursday, March 10

G5: #1 Oregon (25-6) vs. G1 Winner

G6: #4 Arizona (24-7) vs. G2 Winner

G7: #2 Utah (24-7) vs. G3 Winner

G8: #3 California (22-9) vs. G4 Winner

Semifinal Round

Friday, March 11

G5 Winner vs. G6 Winner

G7 Winner vs. G8 Winner

Championship

Saturday, March 12

10:15 PM on FS1

Southeastern Conference Tournament

Site: Nashville

1st Round

Wednesday, March 9

G1: #12 Tennessee (13-18) vs. #13 Auburn (11-19)

2nd Round

Thursday, March 10

G2: #8 Florida (18-13) vs. #9 Arkansas (16-15)

G3: #5 Vanderbilt (19-12) vs. G1 Winner

G4: #7 Ole Miss (20-11) vs. #10 Alabama (17-13)

G5: #6 Georgia (17-12) vs. #11 Mississippi St. (14-16)

Quarterfinal Round

Friday, March 11

G6: #1 Texas A&M (24-7) vs. G2 Winner

G7: #4 LSU (18-13) vs. G3 Winner

G8: #2 Kentucky (23-8) vs. G4 Winner

G9: #3 South Carolina (24-7) vs. G5 Winnerr

Semifinal Round

Saturday, March 12

G6 Winner vs. G7 Winner

G8 Winner vs. G9 Winner

Championship

Sunday, March 13

2:00 PM on ESPN

Southland Conference Tournament

Site: Katy, TX

1st Round

Wednesday, March 9

G1: #5 Southeastern Louisiana (11-20) vs. #8 New Orleans (10-19)

G2: #6 McNeese St. (9-19) vs. #7 Nicholls St. (10-22)

Quarterfinal Round

Thursday, March 10

G3: #4 Houston Baptist (16-15) vs. G1 Winner

G4: #3 Sam Houston (17-14) vs. G2 Winner

Semifinal Round

Friday, March 11

#1 Stephen F. Austin (25-5) vs. G3 Winner

#2 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (24-6) vs. G4 Winner

Championship

Saturday, March 12

9:30 PM on ESPN2

Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament

Site: Houston

1st Round

Tuesday, March 8

G1: #7 Mississippi Valley St. (6-26) vs. #10 Grambling (7-23)

G2: #8 Alabama A&M (10-17) vs. #9 Arkansas-Pine Bluff (8-24)

Quarterfinal Round

Wedneday, March 9

G3: #2 Alcorn St. (15-14) vs. G1 Winner

G4: #1 Texas Southern (17-13) vs. G2 Winner

Thursday, March 10

G5: #3 Jackson St. (17-14) vs. #6 Prairie View A&M (7-23)

G6; #4 Southern (19-12) vs. #5 Alabama St. (14-16)

Semifinal Round

Friday, March 11

G3 Winner vs. G5 Winner

G4 Winner vs. G6 Winner

Championship

Saturday, March 12

6:30 PM on ESPNU

Summit League Tournament

Site: Sioux Falls, SD

Quarterfinal Round

Saturday, March 5

G1: #1 IPFW (23-8) vs. #8 South Dakota (14-17)

G2: #2 South Dakota St. (23-7) vs. #7 Oral Roberts (14-16)

Sunday, March 6

G3: #4 IUPUI (13-18) vs. #5 North Dakota St. (18-12)

G4: #3 Omaha (18-12) vs. #6 Denver (15-14)

Semifinal Round

Monday, March 7

G5: G1 Winner vs. G3 Winner

G6: G2 Winner vs. G4 Winner

Championship

Tuesday, March 8

9:00 PM on ESPN2

Sun Belt Conference Tournament

Site: New Orleans

1st Round

Thursday, March 10

G1: #5 Georgia Southern (14-16) vs. #8 South Alabama (13-18)

G2: #6 Georgia St. (16-13) vs. #7 Texas St. (14-15)

Quarterfinal Round

Friday, March 11

G3: #4 UL-Lafayette (16-13) vs. G1 Winner

G4: #3 UT-Arlington (22-9) vs. G2 Winner

Semifinal Round

Saturday, March 12

#1 UALR (27-4) vs. G3 Winner

#2 UL-Monroe (19-12) vs. G4 Winner

Championship

Sunday, March 13

1:00 PM on ESPN2

Western Athletic Conference Tournament

Site: Las Vegas

Quarterfinal Round

Thursday, March 10

G1: #4 Utah Valley (12-17) vs. #5 Missouri-KC (11-18)

G2: #2 Cal St. Bakersfield (21-8) vs. #7 Chicago St. (4-27)

G3: #3 Seattle (13-15) vs. #6 UT-Rio Grande Valley (8-21)

Semifinal Round

Friday, March 11

#1 New Mexico St. (22-9) vs. G1 Winner

G2 Winner vs. G3 Winner

Championship

Saturday, March 12

11:00 PM on ESPNU

 

The American Athletic Conference and Big Ten Conference brackets will be determined later today after their regular season schedules conclude.

 

 

 

 

PiRate Ratings College Basketball Picks For February 6-7, 2016

Breaking News: The University of Louisville has self-imposed a ban on the postseason for this year.  This means one extra bubble team just benefitted greatly.

 

Here are this weekend’s picks from the top 6 conferences.

 

Remember:

Red= An algorithm based 100% on the Four Factors

White= An algorithm combining the Four Factors and a Least Squares formula on who beat who where and when

Blue= A 100% ratings’ based algorithm concentrating on scoring margin and strength of schedule

All ratings rounded to nearest whole number except when that number is 0.  Then, even if the rating is 1/1000 of a point different, the team 1/1000 of a point better is listed as a 1-point favorite.

Games Scheduled for:	Saturday, February 6, 2016
Home	Visitor	Red	White	Blue
Pittsburgh	Virginia	-2	1	1
Wake Forest	Florida St.	-4	-5	-3
Louisville	Boston College	24	26	19
Duke	North Carolina St.	12	12	10
Virginia Tech	Clemson	1	1	-1
Notre Dame	North Carolina	-3	-1	-5
TCU	Kansas	-10	-10	-12
Oklahoma St.	Iowa St.	-4	-4	1
Texas	Texas Tech	7	6	8
Kansas St.	Oklahoma	-7	-3	-7
West Virginia	Baylor	8	8	10
Xavier	Marquette	15	14	12
Creighton	Depaul	12	15	17
Providence	Villanova	-4	-2	-5
St. John’s	Butler	-11	-14	-8
Seton Hall	Georgetown	6	16	9
Michigan	Michigan St.	-3	-3	-5
Nebraska	Rutgers	16	17	14
Maryland	Purdue	5	5	6
Penn St.	Indiana	-10	-24	-15
California	Stanford	8	8	7
Washington	Arizona	-3	-2	-9
Washington St.	Arizona St.	-3	-5	-3
Oregon St.	Colorado	2	-1	-1
Alabama	Missouri	11	10	10
Kentucky	Florida	6	4	7
Texas A&M	South Carolina	9	7	10
Georgia	Auburn	10	13	7
LSU	Mississippi St.	8	9	14
Arkansas	Tennessee	7	7	8
Ole Miss	Vanderbilt	-2	-3	2

 

Games Schedule for:	Sunday, February 7 2016
Home	Visitor	Red	White	Blue
Georgia Tech	Miami (Fl.)	-3	-2	-5
Illinois	Iowa	-13	-11	-16
Oregon	Utah	11	9	12