Bracket Gurus Accuracy

Our Bracket Gurus had a rather nice day today.   It wasn’t the best year ever, but it beat last year by a few seedings.

We picked 67 of the 68 teams in the field.  This is the second year in a row, we were right on 67 of the 68 teams after picking a perfect 68 for 68 in 2017.

We had 39 of the 68 teams picked exactly where they were seeded.

We had 22 teams off by one seed line.

We had 6 teams off by two seed lines.

The one team we missed just so happened to be the team from the hometown of our Captain, Belmont.  We selected TCU and missed on that one.

Coming tomorrow evening, be sure to check back for our annual Bracketnomics Report.

PiRate Ratings Bracketnomics 505 Bracket Reveal & First Four Preview

For those that just want to see our Red-White-Blue Ratings for the First Four, here they are.

Team	Team	Red	White	Blue
New Orleans	Mount St. Mary’s	3	-1	1
Wake Forest	Kansas St.	1	1	1
UNC-Central	UC-Davis	4	3	6
Providence	USC	1	1	1

Now, for the rest of you:

Welcome one and all to our annually most viewed edition of the PiRate Ratings.  We have been working diligently for the past 42 hours getting this edition of March Madness Bracketnomics ready for you.

If you are new to this site today, there is something you need to do, and even if you are not, you should take this advice.  Open another window and bring up our primer from yesterday where we explain how we have come up with the numbers that we will show you today.  The link to the primer is:

https://piratings.wordpress.com/2017/03/13/bracketnomics-505-the-advanced-level-course-in-bracket-selection/

Before we begin picking winners in our bracket based on the PiRate Criteria, let us give you another little bit of advice in selecting your own brackets.

1. Do not select a lot of early upsets.  Realize that nobody ever has picked a perfect bracket.  The chances are so slim that nobody may ever pick one!  The key to winning bracket contests where you must choose all the games at the beginning and do not get to select new winners after every round is to pick the National Champion, the Final Four, and the Elite 8 teams.  Realize that in about 95% of the cases, the Final Four teams come from one, two, three, or four seeds.  There will frequently be a seed lower than 4, but good luck trying to pick one.  What you will most likely do is remove one of the favorites to get there, so select very few upsets early.
2. In the last 60+ years, only 2 times was the national champion a team from outside a major conference, and it has not happened since 1990.  So, go heavy on the best teams in the power conferences–Atlantic Coast, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-12, and SEC.  No Pac-12 team has won the title since Arizona beat Kentucky in 1997, so you might discount the Pac-12 a little.  No Big Ten team has won the title since Michigan State in 2000, so you might also want to discount the Big Ten a little.
3. The most likely spots for upsets early come from 10-11-12 seed lines for good reason.  The top lower and mid-major teams usually end up on one of these seed lines, and in actuality, some of these teams would beat their higher-seed opponent 7 times out of 10.  In other words, these upsets are not really upsets.  They are incorrect seedings by the Committee.

Okay, we will leave the rest of that strategy up to you.  Let’s get to the Bracketnomics Facts for 2017

 

Who Has The Statistical Criteria That Looks Like A Final Four Team

This is an unusual year.  There are no teams closely similar to the Connecticut women’s team.  There is no obvious best team like in some years out of the past.  On the other hand, there are an inordinate amount of teams this year that look like they would have trouble winning the NIT 10 years ago.  There is parity by virtue of mediocrity.  The way the game is played in 2017, and with the 30-second shot clock, the game has become harder to isolate on just two or three teams and call them the heavy favorites to make the Final Four.

Let’s eliminate some teams so that what we have left is a much easier group to compare.

A. First, let’s forget the chance that a low-major or mid-major conference team will make the Final Four this year.  This does not include Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s, or Wichita State, who we consider to be above mid-major.

B. Next, let’s take out any team that played a schedule too soft to prepare them for the top echelon of opponents.  From what’s left after (A), that will remove Wichita State and UCLA.

C. Next, let’s dump any team with a single-digit R+T rating after the Sweet 16 round.  Any single digit team in the Elite 8 gets knocked out, unless their opponent also has a single digit rating.  From this list of teams still in contention after (A) and (B), we now dump: South Carolina, Butler, Wake Forest, Arkansas, Minnesota, Michigan State, USC, Northwestern, Michigan, Notre Dame, Maryland, Marquette, Kansas State, Providence, Iowa State, Creighton, Vanderbilt, and Virginia Tech.

D. Let’s remove any teams that are missing key players and might be able to get to the Sweet 16 without these players, but they are most likely to bow out at this point when the competition is too strong.  Say good bye to Xavier and Oregon.  For now, Creighton and Florida stay in because they played a significant number of games without their key players.

Now we have a much more manageable list of Final Four and Elite 8 Contenders, down to just 21 teams.

But, we are not finished eliminating teams.  What about teams that have not played all that well away from home?  We can eliminate the 22-9 team that went 17-0 at home and 5-9 away from home, because these teams are not going to all of a sudden beat the nation’s finest teams away from their home floor, at least not 4 consecutive times.

Let’s now say bye bye to Florida State, Miami (Fla.), and Seton Hall, lowering the number to 19.

And, then there is the essential thing of having enough consistency to win four games in a row against quality competition.  We cannot keep any teams that did not sustain at least one long winning streak or two extended winning streaks.  Only West Virginia fails to meet this criterion from the remaining group, lowering our list to 18.

Now,  let’s look at how the remaining 18 teams rate in the criteria that matter.

Scoring Margin

There is a reason both Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s are still in this list.  They are serious contenders this year.  Gonzaga has the highest scoring margin and Saint Mary’s has the third highest among the 17 remaining teams.  From the list of 17, there are a couple teams that do not meet the 8 point minimum to be considered as a strong Final Four contender.  There are teams that make the Final Four with less than 8 point scoring margins, but they are the exception rather than the rule, and we are looking for angles that increase our percentage chance of hitting on Final Four teams.  It’s the end of the line here for Oklahoma State.

 

Field Goal Percentage Differential

Eventually, in order to get to the Final Four, a team is going to have to be superior when it comes to shooting and defending the shot, because eventually, being able to dominate the glass or force a lot of turnovers will not work against teams that can also rebound and force turnovers.  We are looking only for a difference of 5% or more to stay in the hunt for Final Four contention.  We must say adieu to three more teams that cannot meet this standard–Florida, Duke, and Wisconsin.  Now we have 14 teams on our list of Final Four contenders.

 

Rebound Margin

Remember that R+T rating is much more important than any of its components (Rebounding, Turnovers, and Steals), but for Final Four consideration, well over 90% of the past Final Four teams had positive rebound margin.  In what may help vindicate our selections to this point, all 14 teams remaining have positive rebounding margin.

 

Okay, Already, Who Is Left?

The following teams have resumes that could get them to the Final Four.  In alphabetical order, they are: Arizona, Baylor, Cincinnati, Gonzaga, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, North Carolina, Purdue, Saint Mary’s, SMU, Villanova, Virginia, and West Virginia.  If our criteria is worth anything these years, we expect the Final Four to come from this list of teams.  But, we need to do better.  You cannot select 14 teams to make the Final Four or even Elite 8.

 

What we need to do now is look at each game as it is played.  It won’t help us to go with the 4 best resumes if these teams cannot all make the Final Four because they will play each other prior to that round.

Here is how we see the First Four games according to PiRate Criteria.  Note that our criteria and our Red-White-Blue Ratings have no real correlation, so the teams we predict to win may not be the same as the teams our criteria says will win.

First Four

New Orleans over Mount St. Mary’s

UNC-Central over UC-Davis

USC over Providence

Kansas St. over Wake Forest

Most brackets allow you to miss here without penalty and start in earnest at 64 teams, but we don’t go for that.

Round of 64

You will not see us picking many upsets in this round.  Remember the important factoid we revealed at the beginning: you win your bracket contests by getting your teams into the Elite 8, Final 4, and National Championship.  If you pick a lot of upsets, you are liable to have very few teams left by the Elite 8.

Villanova over New Orleans (Mount St. Mary’s)

Wisconsin over Virginia Tech

Virginia over UNC-Wilmington (upset possible, but we’ll take the Cavs)

Florida over East Tennessee (like a home game for the Gators)

SMU over USC in a rematch (also over Providence) near tossup vs. USC close to 50-50

Baylor over New Mexico St.

South Carolina over Marquette in close one that will be like home game for Gamecocks.

Duke over Troy

Gonzaga over South Dakota St.

Northwestern over Vanderbilt (close game)

Notre Dame over Princeton

West Virginia over Bucknell (not this year for Bison as Mountaineers are too physical)

Maryland over Xavier (Chris Mack becomes an early candidate for other big openings)

Florida State over Florida Gulf Coast (FGCU not as strong as their Sweet 16 team)

Saint Mary’s over VCU (Will Wade comes free for promotion to power conference team)

Arizona over North Dakota

Kansas over UNC-Central (UC-Davis)

Miami over Michigan State (MSU one and done two years in a row)

Iowa State over Nevada (but this one should be nip and tuck)

Purdue over Vermont (Boilermakers finally have the right type of resume to advance)

Creighton over Rhode Island (freeing up Dan Hurley if a big school wants him)

Oregon over Iona (loss of Chris Boucher does not hurt yet)

Oklahoma State over Michigan (This upset we will pick.  Cowboys have better criteria resume)

Louisville over Jacksonville State (UL almost has a home game in Indy)

North Carolina over Texas Southern

Seton Hall over Arkansas (should be physical and close)

Minnesota over Middle Tennessee (Blue Raiders are the Vegas favorite, but Gophers can exploit interior defense)

Butler over Winthrop (we would not be shocked if Butler has to rally to win this one)

Cincinnati over Kansas State (Wake Forest)

UCLA over Kent State

Wichita St. over Dayton (Will Archie Miller be the next NC State coach?)

Kentucky over Northern Kentucky (Norse would be happy with a lead at under 16 timeout in 1st half)

 

Round of 32

Villanova over Wisconsin

Virginia over Florida (should be very close, maybe overtime)

Baylor over SMU (this one should be a great game–Tim Jankovich in play at Illinois)

Duke over South Carolina (We don’t see Frank Martin leaving the Palmetto State unless he has 4 million reasons)

Gonzaga over Northwestern (Cinderella season ends here–no Cubs repeat in the Windy City)

West Virginia over Notre Dame (Irish wear down in the second half)

Florida State over Maryland

Arizona over Saint Mary’s (expect a hard-fought game but Gaels are outmanned)

Kansas over Miami (closer than expected)

Purdue over Iowa State (Boilermakers look impressive to this point)

Oregon over Creighton (Boucher’s absence felt but not enough for Ducks to lose)

Louisville over Oklahoma St. (Brad Underwood vs. Rick Pitino–Brilliant!)

North Carolina over Seton Hall

Butler over Minnesota (Should be a great game)

Cincinnati over UCLA (Bruins numbers padded by substandard overall schedule–not strong enough inside)

Kentucky over Wichita State (because Wildcat players appear to be on a mission and if so are the class of the field)

 

Sweet 16 to Elite 8

Villanova over Virginia (Cavs do not have enough offense to win at this point)

Baylor over Duke (Our big upset pick in this round, because Duke has holes Bears can exploit)

West Virginia over Gonzaga (Sorry Bulldog fans, WVU style of play is not what you want to face)

Arizona over Florida State (We expect Wildcats to win big in this one)

Kansas over Purdue (KU will have to play lights out to put Boilermakers away)

Louisville over Oregon (Boucher’s absence is too much to overcome in this round

North Carolina over Butler (If Heels are rolling at this point, then next round is actual title game)

Kentucky over Cincinnati (Should be ultra-physical and highly emotional game)

 

Elite 8 to Final Four

Unfortunately, at this point the top two teams in the field will meet

Baylor over Villanova (no repeat for Wildcats but a great game)

Arizona over West Virginia (Mountaineers run out of gas at this point)

Louisville over Kansas (Cards win a sloppy game)

Kentucky over North Carolina (This should have been the National Championship Game)

 

Final Four Semifinals

Baylor over Arizona (tough to go against a team playing in its home state)

Kentucky over Louisville (how much will this ticket cost)

 

National Championship

Kentucky over Baylor

 

The Kentucky criteria best matches that of past national champions.  Add to the fact that they have the most talent and a coach that can use the right psychology to motivate these future millionaires to play like their draft status is to be determined in this tournament, and we believe the Wildcats will cut the nets in Arizona.

 

Here is how the 14 top Pirate Criteria teams rank overall

1. Kentucky
2. North Carolina
3. Baylor
4. Arizona
5. West Virginia
6. Gonzaga
7. Louisville
8. Villanova
9. Kansas
10. Purdue
11. Duke
12. Cincinnati
13. Saint Mary’s
14. SMU

 

TV Schedule For First Four in Dayton

Day	Time (EDT)	Network	Team	vs.	Team
Tuesday, March 14	6:40 PM	truTV	New Orleans	vs.	Mount St. Mary’s
Tuesday, March 14	9:10 PM	truTV	Wake Forest	vs.	Kansas St.
Wednesday, March 15	6:40 PM	truTV	UC-Davis	vs.	UNC-Central
Wednesday, March 15	9:10 PM	truTV	USC	vs.	Providence

 

 

 

 

Bracketnomics 505: The Advanced Level Course in Bracket Selection

PiRate Ratings Bracketnomics 505 for 2017: Money Ball on the Hardwoods
Welcome to Bracketnomics 505 for 2017–The Advanced Level Course in Picking NCAA Tournament winners. The best way to describe our PiRate Ratings NCAA Tournament Bracket-Picking formula is to compare it with the 10-K financial reports of publicly traded companies. Each team’s data serves as a prospectus showcasing their worth. Do you want to buy or sell based on what the data portrays?
If you have followed our statistical releases for the past 17 years, you will not see any real changes this year, as the PiRate Ratings have added only one minor statistical detail to our repertoire, and those are in our algorithm formulas and not in the data to be presented.

However, we have strengthened our beliefs in the idea that the NCAA Tournament is a different animal from the regular season, so there are teams that did well in the regular season and even won their conference, but they are ill-prepared for the postseason. Now, we actually have new incites into why, and it comes from our experiences with Major League Baseball.

Some of you reading this know that I, the Captain of the PiRate ship, am a baseball metric specialist. You can call me one of the “Moneyball” scouts or as some even say, a “Beane Counter.” If you read the book, Mr. Beane had a famous quote, that we will paraphrase to eliminate four-letter words: “My ‘stuff’ doesn’t work in the playoffs.”

Re-reading that statement sent me off on a long research project last Autumn leading to my spending way too many hours trying to put math formulas to Beane’s statement. What I came up with was this: in baseball, the offensive statistics that produce runs, for example weighted On-Base Average, works quite effectively during the regular season, when a team plays a certain number of games against every team in the league. Thus, a team will play a goodly number of games against mediocre and poor teams, and having an offense built on getting on base and hitting for power dominates against the weaker teams.

But, in the playoffs, all the opponents are very good. All of them have good offenses and usually very good pitching and defenses. Trying to win by getting a lot of runners on base by the walk and then hitting three-run homers might work against the number four and five starters of a pitching staff or the mediocre top level pitchers of the 90-loss teams, but in the playoffs, you see mostly top three starting pitchers from teams that won 90 or more games. And, Beane’s “stuff” does not work against these elite teams with the top pitchers. You have to be able to steal an extra base on a hit, steal a base, and execute the hit and run against the best of the best, which means you frequently play for just one run, because the pitching is too good to give up those three-run homers and will scatter baserunners over the course of 6 or 7 innings. Think Maury Wills scratching out a run for the 1965 Dodgers, while Sandy Koufax shuts out the opponent in a 1-0 win.

The same belief can be applied to college basketball in the NCAA Tournament. A team might win their conference by playing excellent half-court offense and defense, even if they do not rebound well nor force turnovers and pick up steals. Let’s use Purdue in the Gene Keady days as an example. Keady’s teams executed half-court offense and defense like precision clockwork. The Boilermakers almost always enjoyed better shooting opportunities than their opponents. They usually finished with a better field goal percentage than their opponents every year, and they won or shared a lot of Big Ten titles.

These Purdue teams were not all that strong on the offensive glass, and while they played intelligently and did not turn the ball over much, they did not force turnovers, nor did they steal the ball very much, frequently finishing at or near the bottom of the Big Ten in these stats.

Like Moneyball and the A’s, this “stuff” (excellent half-court offense and defense) worked just fine in the regular season, where Purdue easily handled the bottom half of the Big Ten year after year and did just well enough against the top half to finish 15-3 or 14-4. Then, the Boilermakers would get into the Big Dance looking like a Final Four contender. Unfortunately, their “stuff” didn’t work in the NCAA Tournament, and the Boilermakers lost as favorites early in the Dance to athletic underdogs with double-digit losses (Auburn, Florida, LSU), never making it to the Final Four in that time. They were no longer playing the 6-12 and 8-10 Big Ten teams Once their opponent was also good at getting open shots and preventing them on defense, the extra scoring opportunities derived from getting offensive rebounds and forcing turnovers, especially by steals, took on much more significance, just like running the bases and playing for one run in the Major League Playoffs.

Just in case you say that maybe Purdue was not capable of getting enough talent to go to the Final Four, remember that Purdue did make the Final Four under previous coach Lee Rose (he also led Charlotte to the Final Four in 1977), when Rose’s coaching philosophy included pressure defense with the hope of getting a lot of steals and an inside glass cleaner or two to dominate on the boards.
This year, we will give added weight to our special R+T metric along with schedule strength and ability to win away from home as serious factors to consider when picking teams to advance in the NCAA Tournament. These will be the three of our basic building blocks to begin the process of eliminating pretenders from the true contenders. Here are our basic blocks to begin our search for a national champion.

1. R+T Rating
2. Schedule Strength
3. Ability to win away from home
4. A member of a power conference (AAC, ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-12, and SEC)
5. One long winning streak against quality competition or two winning streaks of 6 or more games.
Don’t worry if this looks a bit challenging for you at this point. We will explain it all in this primer, and your test is an open book test, so you will pass with flying colors.

Here is a description of all the pertinent information you need to pick your brackets. We will explain each important statistic and tell you how it applies to the NCAA Tournament. Then in the next edition, we will apply it to all 68 teams in the Big Dance and let you use what you want to fill out your brackets. You can easily open two windows with this primer in one window, and the statistics in the other window, and voila, you have an exceptional reference at your disposal.

Remember one important bit of information–this process deals a lot with past tendencies trying to predict future outcomes. It is mechanical and includes limited subjective data. It will not include information such as how your team’s star player may have the flu this week, or he ended his season in the Pac-12 Championship Game with an ACL injury, so if you have other information, by all means include this in your selection process.

The PiRate Ratings Criteria Statistics
For 16 years, the PiRate Ratings have relied on specific back-tested data that showed us what stats have been important in selecting Final Four teams. We looked back in history to see how previous Final Four teams dominated in certain statistical areas while not dominating in other areas. Here is what we found.

Scoring Margin
For general bracket picking to the Final Four, look for teams that outscored their opponents by an average of 8 or more points per game. Over 85% of the Final Four teams since the 1950’s outscored their opponents by an average of 8 or more points per game.

More than 80% of the final four teams in the last 50 years outscored their opponents by double digit points per game. When you find a team with an average scoring margin in excess of 15 points per game, and said team is from one of the six power conferences, you have a team that can advance deep into the tournament.

This is an obvious statistic. If State U outscores opponents by an average of 85-70 and Tech outscores similar opposition by an average of 75-70, State figures to be better than Tech before you look at any other statistics.
In the days of the 64 to 68-team field, this statistic has become even more valuable. It’s very difficult and close to impossible for a team accustomed to winning games by one to five points per game to win four times in a row, much less six or seven consecutive games.

This statistic gives the same significance and weighting to a team that outscores its opposition 100-90 as it does to a team that outscores its opposition 60-50. As you can see from looking at all the NCAA Champions in the 2000’s, every team had a scoring margin of 8 or better, and 15 of 17 had double digit scoring margins (and all from power conferences).

A look at recent national champions’ scoring margins
2016 Villanova: 13
2015 Duke: 15
2014 UConn: 9
2013 Louisville: 16
2012 Kentucky: 17
2011 UConn: 8
2010 Duke: 16
2009 North Carolina: 18
2008 Kansas: 19
2007 Florida: 17
2006 Florida: 15
2005 North Carolina: 18
2004 UConn: 15
2003 Syracuse: 10
2002 Maryland: 14
2001 Duke: 20
2000 Michigan St.: 15

Field Goal Percentage Differential
Take each team’s field goal percentage minus their defensive field goal percentage to calculate this statistic. Throughout time, the differential among the most successful teams has been +7.5% or better, and for most Final Four teams, the differential has been positive by 3% or better. For example, a team that shoots 47% while their opponents shoot 39% has a FG% differential of 8%.

Teams that have singificantly positive field goal percentage differentials are consistently good teams. A team can win a game or two or possibly even three games with negative field goal percentage differentials, but in the Big Dance, they certainly are not going to win six games like this, and they have little chance to win four games.

This statistic holds true in back-tests of 50 years. Most teams that have won the tournament had FG% differentials above 3%, and many had more than a 7.5% field goal percentage advantage. In the years of the 64 to 68-team tournament, this stat has become a more accurate predictor, especially when the team comes from a power league. In the 21st Century, the teams from power conferences with field goal percentage margins in the double digits have dominated the field. For example, if you see an ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, or SEC team with a FG% differential of +10% or better, that team is going to be very hard to beat in large arenas with weird sight lines.

One caveat: in the most recent couple of years, shooting percentages have normalized somewhat, so overall, FG% differentials are moving closer to 0. More three-point shooting, a reduction in the shot clock, and more fast break offenses have led to more parity in shooting percentages. And, this has to be something to monitor closely this year; teams that had the best field goal differentials last year were upset early by teams that excelled in forcing turnovers and running the fast break. This could mean that shooting percentages are going to lose some of their importance, while extra scoring opportunities are going to become more important. Think about that as you read on.

Rebound Margin
This statistic holds up all the way back to the early days of basketball, in fact as far back to the days when rebounds were first recorded. The teams that consistently control the boards are the ones that advance past the first weekend in the tournament. What we are looking for here are teams that out-rebound their opposition by five or more per game. In the opening two rounds, a difference of three or more is just as important.

There are complete rebounding statistics back to 1954, and in the 61 NCAA Tournaments between 1954 and 2014, the National Champion out-rebounded their opponents for the season all 61 times! Yes, no team with a negative rebound margin in that season has ever won the NCAA title.

The reason this statistic becomes even more important in mid-March is that teams do not always shoot as well in the NCAA Tournament for a variety of reasons (better defense, abnormal sight lines and unfamiliar gymnasiums, nerves, new rims and nets, more physical play with the refs allowing it, etc.). The teams that can consistently get offensive put-backs are the teams that go on scoring runs in these games. The teams that prevent the opposition from getting offensive rebounds, holding them to one shot per possession, have a huge advantage. Again, there will be some teams that advance that were beaten on the boards, but as the number of teams drop from 64 to 32 to 16 to eight, it is rare for one of these teams to continue to advance. West Virginia in 2005 made it to the Elite Eight without being able to rebound, but not many other teams have been able to do so.

There have been years where all four Final Four participants were in the top 20 in rebounding margin, and there have been many years where the champion was in the top 5 in rebounding margin.

Use the rebounding rule in selecting your brackets, but think about this. Rebounding is only one way to obtain a possession. There is another way to get a possession–via a turnover. Bear that in mind as you read on. So, don’t just use rebounding margin alone, as it is only one part of the equation.

Turnover Margin & Steals Per Game
Turnover margin can give a weaker rebounding team a chance to advance. Any positive turnover margin is good. If a team cannot meet the rebound exceptionally well, they can get win if they have an excellent turnover margin. Not all turnover margin is the same though. A team can have an excellent turnover margin because they seldom turn the ball over. Committing 10 turnovers per game, while the opponent commits 12 leads to a positive turnover margin of 2 per game, but it seldom amounts to much in this instance. A team that forces a high number of turnovers by way of steals has a real advantage. A steal is better than a defensive rebound, because most of the time, a steal leads to a fast-break basket or foul (or both). When a team steals the ball, they are already facing their basket, and the defense must turn around and chase. Many steals occur on the perimeter where the ball-hawking team has an immediate numbers advantage. A steal with quick points can demoralize a team, especially one that plays patiently and limits possessions.

In NCAA Tournament play, one quick spurt can be like a three-run homer in the World Series, and teams that either steal the ball and/or control the boards are the ones who will get that spurt.

Like the rebounding margin, we must not judge turnover margin and steals as standalone criteria, as they are just part of an all-encompassing statistic to determine extra scoring opportunities and the ability to go on lethal scoring spurts. What follows is the criteria to use.

The All-Important PiRate Ratings R+T Margin
Using both rebounding and turnover margin, how best can we assign an extra scoring value and the ability to go on big scoring spurts? In a tight game, a 10-0 run in three minutes will usually lead to a win for the team that makes the spurt, so we need to have a stat that shows us how much a team has spurt potential.
Our answer is the PiRate Ratings’ “R+T Rating” The R+T Rating combines rebounding margin, turnovers, and steals, and weights the three stats so that the result is a number that indicates what Clark Kellogg calls “spurtability.”
The R+T Rating Formula is: (R * 2) + (S * .5) + (6 – Opp S) + T, where R is rebounding margin, S is average steals per game (Opp S is opponents steals per game), and T is turnover margin. The numbers are all rounded to one decimal point.
If a team’s R+T rating is 20 or better, and they hail from a power conference, this is a serious potential Final Four team. North Carolina had the top R+T rating last year among the power conference teams, and the Tar Heels came within a second of winning the title. In almost every year since steals have been officially kept as a statistic, the Final Four teams have enjoyed double-digit R+T Ratings.
Look for teams with R+T ratings at 15 or above. These are the teams that will get several additional opportunities to score points and go on scoring runs that put opponents away. When both teams have flashy R+T Ratings, this game becomes much harder to predict, because both teams could go on big scoring spurts.
When the R+T is 7.5 to 15, you have a team that can overcome a few other liabilities to win and still advance to the Final Four if they have exceptional FG% differentials, really difficult schedules, and an ability to win away from home. However, when they run into a team from the 15 or better R+T range with similar shooting percentages and defense, this frequently means the end of the line for the lower R+T rated team.
When the R+T is 4.5 to 7.5, you have a team good enough to win early and get to the Sweet 16 or Elite 8 but not advance past that round, unless said team has a very large field goal percentage difference margin.
When the R+T is 0 to 4.5, you have a team that cannot advance very far in the NCAA Tournament. They might win the Round of 64 and might have some chance to win in the Round of 32, but if they sneak into the Sweet 16, they are a candidate to lose big to a team with the right stuff in the R+T department.
When the R+T stat is negative, this team has the same chance of making the Final Four as a mule has of winning the Kentucky Derby. Many monumental early upsets where a double digit seed upsets a single digit seed frequently comes about when the favorite has a negative R+T rating, or the underdog has a decided R+T Rating advantage along with a halfway decent schedule strength.
A few years ago, Georgetown had a negative R+T rating but was a prohibitive favorite against Ohio U. The Bobcats had a positive R+T rating and decent numbers in the other PiRate criteria. We called for Ohio to upset Georgetown in the first round, and Ohio won by double digits.
The same thing occurred a couple years later when Georgetown once again had a negative R+T rating as the Hoyas faced unknown Florida Gulf Coast. FGCU not only pulled off the upset, they blew GU off the floor.
Last year’s negative R+T teams all lost their first games in the NCAA Tournament. In 2015, there were two Power Conference teams with negative R+T numbers, Oklahoma State and St. John’s. We pegged these two teams to lose immediately as 9-seeds against 8-seeds with positive R+T ratings, and they did just that.
The inferior R+T might win a game over the superior due to other factors, but a poor R+T rated team is eventually going to get thumped when their shots don’t fall, or they run up against a great defense (there are a lot of great defenses in the Dance).

Power Conference Plus Schedule Strength
Up to this point you might have been thinking that it is much easier for New Mexico State or North Dakota to own these gaudy statistics than it is for Arizona or Butler. And, of course, that is correct. We have to adjust this procedure so that teams that play tougher schedules get rewarded and teams that play softer schedules get punished.
Basically, the cut-off line for a Final Four team the way we rate schedule strength is 54.00, although there have been a few long shots like George Mason and Virginia Commonwealth that were below that mark. While the lowest National Champ was Florida in 2007 at 54.30, the average for the last 13 champions has been over 58. Also, bear in mind that of the 17 winners since 2000, 6 came from the ACC, 5 from the Big East , 3 from the SEC, and one each from the American, Big 12, and Big Ten. The Pac-12 has not produced the national champion since Arizona in 1997.

The last national champion that was not a member of a power conference was UNLV in 1990. Before that, it was Texas Western (UTEP) in 1966. In more than 60 seasons, just two teams that were not in power conferences have won the national title! Non-power teams have made it to the Final Four (VCU, Wichita State, George Mason, Penn), so don’t totally discount a team like Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s, and Wichita State to make the Final Four or at least the Elite 8.
In the most recent years, this stat has become quite a bit more important. Villanova and North Carolina were among the tops in schedule strength last year, with Syracuse and Oklahoma being ranked high as well. We have added a bit more weight to schedule strength this year.
Won-Loss percentage Away From Home Floor
This should be obvious. Except in the rarest of instances (like Dayton playing in a First Round Game in 2015), all NCAA Tournament games are played on neutral courts. Some teams play like titans on their home floor but become pansies when playing away from home. It is one thing to accumulate great statistics by scheduling 19 home games, three neutral site games, and eight away games and then going 18-1 at home, 1-2 on the neutral site, and 3-5 on the road to finish 22-8. However, we need to locate the teams that continue to dominate away from home. Combine the road and neutral games played and look at that percentage. When you find a team with a 75% or better win percentage away from home, this team is a legitimate contender in the Big Dance. When this number tops 85%, you have a tough team capable of winning four consecutive games and advancing to the Final Four.
Winning Streaks
The NCAA Tournament Championship requires one team to win six consecutive games (seven if in the First Four) to become the champion. It requires the other Final Four teams to win four or five times to get to the Final Four. Should we expect a team that has not been able to win five conseccutive games during the regular season against all weaker competition to win five games in a row against the elite competition? It is a major plus if a team has more than one 6-game winning streak or one 10-game winning streak during the season.

Putting It All Together
1. Begin with teams from power conferences and schedule strengths better than 54.0 (we will give you each team’s schedule strength in the stats reveal).
1A. If the team does not come from a power conference, but they have dominated this year and their schedule strength is better than 54, they should still be in your consideration as a Final Four contender.
2. Look for teams that had a winning streak of 10 games or more, or teams with both 5+ and 6+ winning streaks during the year. The minimum for two different winning streaks is that one needs to be at least six games and one at least five games.
3. Look for teams with winning records away from home when looking at Sweet 16 contenders and a winning percentage of 66.7% or better when looking for Final Four teams.
4. Look for teams with R+T Ratings of 15.0 or better when selecting Final Four teams, 10.0 or better when selecting Elite 8 teams, and 5.0 or better when selecting Sweet 16 teams. Of course, you have to look at their potential opposition and remember that the better R+T Rating has a big advantage when teams have comparable schedule strengths.
5. While relying more on R+T Rating than rebound margins, remember that no National Champion ever had a negative rebound margin.
6. Look at teams with positive FG% differentials and use this stat along with those above as a significant part of your method for picking winners.
7. Look for these power conference teams that have scoring margins of 8 or above along with schedule strengths of 54 or above.

These are the basic PiRate criteria. You might be shocked to see that there are some key statistics that are not included. Let’s look at some of these stats that the PiRates do not use.

Assists and Assists to Turnover Ratio
While a high number of assists means that a team is most likely a great passing team (and we love great passing teams), this can hide a potentially lethal problem in the Big Dance. Let’s say a team gets 28 field goals and has 24 assists. That may very well indicate this team can pass better than most others. However, it may also mean two other things. First, this team may not have players who can create their own offense and must get by on exceptional passing. That may not work against the best defensive teams in the nation (like the type that get into the Dance).

Second, and even more importantly, it may indicate that this team cannot get offensive put-backs. As explained earlier, the offensive rebound is about as important as any stat can be in the NCAA Tournament. So, rely on this stat only if you must decide on a toss-up after looking at the more important stats. We would much rather go with a team that has 15 offensive rebound potential than a team that has assists on 85% of its made field goals. The NCAA Tournament is full of tough defenses, weird site lines, tight rims, and even tighter nerves, and the offensive put-back is an even more potent weapon than in the regular season, especially in the Round of 64, the Sweet 16, and the Final Four games. The Round of 32 and Elite 8 rounds tend to be less tense, because it is the second game on the playing floor for the participants.

Free Throw Shooting
You might say we are contradicting the Four Factors with this, but we are not. It is the least important of the Four Factors, and we only apply this caveat to the NCAA Tournament. Free throw shooting is similar to a walk in baseball. During the regular season, a lot of walks lead to a lot of runs, and a lot of free throw shooting leads to a lot of points, but things change in the Big Dance.

Of course, free throw shooting in the clutch decides many ball games, even close NCAA Tournament games. However, history shows a long line of teams making it deep into the tournament with poor free throw shooting percentages, and teams that overly rely on free throws may find it tough getting to the line with the liberalized officiating in the tournament.

Let’s say a team shoots a paltry 60% at the foul line while their opponent hits a great 75% of their foul shots. Let’s say each team gets to the foul line 15 times in the game, with five of those chances coming as 1&1 attempts, three coming as one shot after made baskets, and the seven other trips to the line as two shot fouls.

For the 60% shooting team, they can be expected to hit 3 of 5 on the front end of the 1&1 and then 1.8 of the 3 bonus shots; they can be expected to hit 1.8 of 3 on the one foul shot after made baskets; and they can be expected to hit 8.4 of 14 on the two shot fouls for a total of 15 out of 25.

The 75% shooting team can be expected to connect on 3.75 of 5 on the front end of the 1&1 and then 2.8 of 3.75 on the bonus shot; they can be expected to hit 2.3 of 3 on the one foul shot after made baskets; and they can be expected to connect on 10.5 of 14 on the two shot fouls for a total of 19.35 out of 25.75.

A team with one of the top FT% only scores 4.35 more points at the foul line than a team with one of the worst. That is not a lot of points to make up, and when you consider that this is about the maximum possible difference in college basketball, this stat is not all that important. Also consider that teams that shoot 60% of their foul shots but still make the NCAA Tournament are almost always the teams that have the top R+T ratings, which is much more important after the Ides of March.

Teams that make the NCAA Tournament with gaudy free throw percentages frequently get there by winning close games at the line. In the NCAA Tournament, fouls just don’t get called as frequently as in the regular season. The referees let the teams play. So, looking at superior free throw percentage can almost lead you down the wrong path.
Ponder this: The 1973 UCLA Bruins are considered to be the best college basketball team ever. That team connected on just 63% of its free throws. They had a rebounding margin of 15.2, and they forced many turnovers via steals thanks to their vaunted 2-2-1 zone press. In the great UCLA dynasty years from 1964 through 1973 when the Bruins won nine titles in 10 seasons, they never once connected on 70% of their free throws in a single season and averaged just 66% during that stretch.

3-point shooting
You have to look at this statistic two different ways and consider that it is already part of field goal percentage and defensive field goal percentage. Contrary to popular belief, you do not count the difference in made three-pointers and multiply by three to see the difference in points scored. If two teams connect on 28 field goal attempts, and if Team A hits eight treys, while their Team B opponents hit three, that is not a difference of 15 points; it’s a difference of five points. Consider made three-pointers as one extra point because they are already figured as made field goals. A team with 28 made field goals and eight treys has scored only one more point than a team with 28 made field goals and seven treys.

The only time to give three-point shots any weight in this criteria is when you are looking at a toss-up game, and when you do look at this stat, look for the team that does not rely on threes to win, but instead dominates in the paint on both sides. To put it another way, teams that live and die by the outside shot will almost always die before they can get to the Final Four, if they cannot dominate inside. The tournament is won in the paint. This isn’t the NBA, and there are few Steph Curry’s in college ball.
One Big Star or Two Really Good Players
Teams that get to the Dance by riding one big star or a majority of scoring from two players are not solid enough to advance very far. Now, this does not apply to a team with one big star and four really good players. I’m referring to a team with one big star and four lemons or two big scorers with three guys who are allergic to the ball. Many times a team may have one big scorer or two guys who score 85% of the points, but the other three starters are capable of scoring 20 points if they are called on to do so. These teams are tough to stop. Usually, it is the mid-major teams that appear to be sleeper teams that could beat a favored opponent because they have one big talent that falls under this category. For instance, South Dakota State’s Mike Daum this year fits that category. He cannot carry the Jackrabbits to the Sweet 16 on his 25 points per game if the rest of the team does not produce as well.
If you have a team with five double figure scorers, they will be harder to defend and will be more consistent on the attack side. It is hard for all five players to slump at once. Also, if you have a team where four or more players have scored 20 or more points in a game, and this team hails from a power conference, this team presents defensive matchup problems for its opponents.
We hope this primer will help you when you fill out your brackets this year. The raw statistics on each of the 68 teams follows at the end of this primer. Coming later today, we will show you how we picked our bracket as well as issue our Red-White-Blue Power Ratings for the First Four Opening Round Games in Dayton on Tuesday and Wednesday.
For those of you new to this website, our Red-White-Blue Ratings are based on three different algorithms using Basketball’a Four Factors. If you don’t know what the Four Factors are, here is an in-depth primer.

THE FOUR FACTORS
Statistician and author Dean Oliver created this quartet of metrics. He did for basketball what the incredible Bill James did for baseball. Oliver wrote the excellent book Basketball on Paper, where he showed that four separate statistical metrics could show how winners beat losers in the NBA. Later experimentation showed that this metric worked for all levels of organized basketball when strength of schedule is factored into the metric, and the weighting of each factor was altered as the talent level of play decreased.

The four factors are:
1. Effective Field Goal Percentage
2. Rebound Rate
3. Turnover Rate
4. Free Throw Rate

Each factor applies to both offense and defense, so in essence, there are really eight factors.
Each Factor has a formula that can be calculated if you have the statistics. Don’t worry. Our team has compiled all the statistics for every one of the 68 teams in the Dance.

For those math lovers of statistics, and we know a lot of you from baseball, here are the Four Factor stats and their fomulas:

1. Effective FG% = (FGM + (.5 * 3ptM))/FGA where FGM is field goals made, 3ptM is three-pointers made, and FGA is field goals attempted.
If a team made 800 FG, 250 3-pointers, and attempted 1750 field goals, their EFG% is:
(800+(.5*250))/1750 = .529 or 52.9%

2. Offensive Rebound Rate = Offensive Rebounds/(Offensive Rebounds + Opponents’ Defensive Rebounds)
If a team has 500 offensive rebounds and their opponents have 850 defensive rebounds, their Offensive Rebound Rate is:
500/(500+850) = .370 or 37.0%
The defensive equivalent of this factor is defensive rebound rate (Opponents Offensive Rebounds/(Opponents Offensive Rebounds + The Defense’s Defensive Rebounds)
If a team’s opponents have 400 offensive rebounds, while the team has 800 defensive rebounds, the defensive rebound rate is: 400/(400+800) = .333 or 33.3%

3. Turnover Rate = Turnovers per 100 possessions that do not include offensive rebounds. Possessions at the college level can be estimated with incredible accuracy by this formula:
(FGA + (.475*FTA)-OR+TO)/G, where FGA is field goal attempts, FTA is free throw attempts, OR is offensive rebounds, TO is turnovers, and G is games played.
We remove offensive rebounds from the TO Rate formula, because very few turnovers occur following an offensive rebound. Most of the time a shot is taken immediately, and this would skew the factor.
If a team has 1700 FGA, 650 FTA, 425 OR, and 375 TO in 30 games played, their average actual possessions per game is:
(1700+(.475*650)-425+375)/30 = 65.3
Removing the offensive rebounds, their true possessions are:
1700+(.475*650)+375 = 2,384 (rounded from 2383.75)
Once again, the formula for TO Rate is: percentage of Turnovers per / possessions
(TO/Possessions) * 100
Thus for the team above with 375 TO in 2,384 Possessions, their TO Rate is:
100* (375/2384) = 15.7%

4. Free Throw Rate: Oliver and others determined that getting to the line was actually more important than making the foul shots, so they did not include made free throws in their equation.
Their formula was simply: FTA/FGA, as they believed that getting the other team in foul trouble was the most important part.
Later statisticans changed this formulas to FT Made/FGA, which included made free throws, but it also erred by making teams that do not attempt many field goals but lead late in games look much better than they really were. If a team like Northern Iowa attempted just 50 field goals per game and won a lot of games by three or four points, going to the foul line many times late in the game, they would pad this stat by making a lot of FT in the final minutes when the opponent was forced to foul.
A third group of statisticians, including the statheads at the PiRate Ratings, believe that free throws made per 100 possessions is a better metric, and thus we go with this rating, which we call FT Rate*:
If the team above with 65.3 possessions per game averages 17 made free throws per game, then their FT Rate* is:
17 / 65.3 * 100 = 26.0

**************************************

All The Stats On The 68 Teams

OFFENSE	G	FG	FGA	3pt	3ptA	FT	FTA	OReb	DReb	Reb	To	Stl	Pts
Arizona	34	891	1873	229	576	582	768	350	901	1251	390	187	2593
Arkansas	33	920	1991	218	592	590	774	375	832	1207	385	249	2648
Baylor	32	838	1738	216	601	435	607	412	807	1219	430	162	2327
Bucknell	34	915	1902	277	734	480	707	293	878	1171	451	244	2587
Butler	31	831	1740	237	652	466	630	272	723	995	315	193	2365
Cincinnati	33	897	1954	248	709	434	638	405	821	1226	336	248	2476
Creighton	34	1052	2072	297	743	391	573	278	908	1186	423	211	2792
Dayton	31	802	1705	251	649	515	748	267	801	1068	370	243	2370
Duke	35	968	2029	288	767	599	790	366	905	1271	395	207	2823
East Tennessee St.	34	935	1905	256	669	591	840	345	892	1237	502	284	2717
Florida	32	851	1892	248	685	555	764	367	826	1193	378	243	2505
Florida Gulf Coast	33	978	1947	213	608	452	644	370	873	1243	411	201	2621
Florida St.	33	982	2032	227	637	530	766	389	856	1245	390	243	2721
Gonzaga	33	1002	1934	241	631	546	740	308	1022	1330	372	236	2791
Iona	34	951	2091	332	836	502	652	326	897	1223	411	235	2736
Iowa St.	33	971	2072	329	818	398	572	308	845	1153	335	261	2669
Jacksonville St.	34	834	1823	248	666	455	639	349	872	1221	463	156	2371
Kansas	32	946	1943	279	689	476	715	385	859	1244	419	222	2647
Kansas St.	33	817	1782	234	649	499	724	314	766	1080	431	258	2367
Kent St.	35	955	2231	248	781	534	743	524	894	1418	458	227	2692
Kentucky	33	999	2096	234	664	608	873	416	911	1327	394	200	2840
Louisville	32	893	1960	228	635	467	682	425	845	1270	357	216	2481
Marquette	31	894	1834	325	755	445	571	274	756	1030	378	228	2558
Maryland	32	805	1786	265	730	498	713	344	805	1149	416	173	2373
Miami (Fla.)	32	792	1748	205	571	431	600	354	799	1153	407	204	2220
Michigan	34	893	1857	318	837	443	572	260	744	1004	322	201	2547
Michigan St.	33	850	1817	259	689	408	615	313	898	1211	467	147	2367
Middle Tennessee	34	961	1962	217	590	412	590	334	874	1208	355	233	2551
Minnesota	33	863	1985	203	589	555	785	374	943	1317	385	189	2484
Mount St. Mary’s	34	831	1873	246	690	415	615	260	770	1030	447	211	2323
Nevada	34	907	2017	312	811	593	843	374	949	1323	379	181	2719
New Mexico St.	33	885	1893	244	725	591	830	426	886	1312	454	160	2605
New Orleans	31	801	1701	138	429	525	737	375	737	1112	519	242	2265
North Carolina	34	1055	2239	246	672	531	753	537	941	1478	405	236	2887
North Dakota	31	894	1850	218	563	490	682	286	829	1115	413	245	2496
Northern Kentucky	34	902	1964	292	827	493	729	378	901	1279	460	194	2589
Northwestern	34	860	1975	242	709	455	606	366	865	1231	359	172	2417
Notre Dame	34	937	2033	320	830	458	573	317	831	1148	322	245	2652
Oklahoma St.	32	922	1986	287	716	606	770	438	737	1175	422	249	2737
Oregon	34	954	1982	292	773	489	688	355	885	1240	394	221	2689
Princeton	29	750	1659	290	758	301	410	239	731	970	289	198	2091
Providence	32	779	1744	230	625	460	666	287	787	1074	403	215	2248
Purdue	32	894	1864	288	709	488	639	315	902	1217	418	167	2564
Rhode Island	33	860	1902	207	610	494	752	391	844	1235	372	211	2421
Saint Mary’s	32	842	1698	282	706	338	452	308	830	1138	337	133	2304
Seton Hall	32	846	1880	196	581	458	712	418	848	1266	434	222	2346
SMU	33	864	1825	267	663	468	672	399	872	1271	361	193	2463
South Carolina	32	787	1897	216	637	516	747	398	765	1163	428	251	2306
South Dakota St.	34	863	1880	313	863	598	771	307	884	1191	439	177	2637
Texas Southern	34	844	1955	198	666	643	877	397	804	1201	397	244	2529
Troy	36	958	2094	306	844	602	833	392	933	1325	445	220	2824
UC-Davis	34	830	1898	212	599	524	788	347	866	1213	482	193	2396
UCLA	33	1113	2144	327	807	429	576	322	973	1295	381	202	2982
UNC-Central	33	886	1938	250	735	457	671	390	893	1283	397	199	2479
UNC-Wilmington	34	1046	2170	326	891	478	691	408	813	1221	354	230	2896
USC	33	897	1977	259	713	544	736	356	837	1193	367	239	2597
Vanderbilt	34	794	1841	337	895	498	642	279	899	1178	420	140	2423
VCU	34	916	1985	197	589	510	721	375	871	1246	426	256	2539
Vermont	34	916	1848	219	594	450	641	316	848	1164	383	193	2501
Villanova	34	913	1837	300	810	515	649	291	844	1135	381	246	2641
Virginia	32	797	1717	224	570	313	442	282	772	1054	305	181	2131
Virginia Tech	32	864	1764	283	703	525	715	234	809	1043	388	128	2536
Wake Forest	32	898	1902	259	670	590	763	342	836	1178	377	175	2645
West Virginia	34	986	2153	257	711	558	823	487	783	1270	417	353	2787
Wichita St.	34	949	2004	296	725	596	812	405	981	1386	379	233	2790
Winthrop	32	866	1895	304	814	515	715	313	884	1197	421	210	2551
Wisconsin	33	869	1915	251	707	401	624	407	830	1237	358	229	2390
Xavier	34	876	1929	239	703	546	793	415	864	1279	435	209	2537

 

DEFENSE	G	FG	FGA	3pt	3ptA	FT	FTA	OReb	DReb	Reb	To	Stl	Pts
Arizona	34	808	1945	218	712	391	567	319	700	1019	405	161	2225
Arkansas	33	824	1971	246	742	540	772	413	779	1192	430	162	2434
Baylor	32	713	1791	197	623	384	540	332	601	933	357	172	2007
Bucknell	34	830	1951	211	620	419	638	332	802	1134	474	239	2290
Butler	31	737	1661	209	625	437	623	277	695	972	420	153	2120
Cincinnati	33	689	1806	223	666	396	537	348	727	1075	457	116	1997
Creighton	34	907	2076	255	765	396	584	371	848	1219	481	226	2465
Dayton	31	712	1724	221	679	417	591	301	761	1062	463	139	2062
Duke	35	908	2096	175	594	453	647	376	795	1171	419	167	2444
East Tennessee St.	34	793	1908	267	751	505	702	329	756	1085	533	230	2358
Florida	32	754	1846	179	583	443	627	337	794	1131	479	174	2130
Florida Gulf Coast	33	800	1899	230	744	440	643	341	698	1039	425	200	2270
Florida St.	33	798	1936	240	698	516	723	374	753	1127	474	166	2352
Gonzaga	33	741	2015	192	641	344	523	348	726	1074	416	172	2018
Iona	34	916	2120	271	753	493	708	416	888	1304	449	162	2596
Iowa St.	33	876	2049	254	729	370	527	398	875	1273	474	153	2376
Jacksonville St.	34	785	1891	263	701	467	649	330	750	1080	375	203	2300
Kansas	32	825	1968	235	658	431	606	375	739	1114	430	226	2316
Kansas St.	33	775	1825	236	616	423	588	369	750	1119	503	208	2209
Kent St.	35	894	2080	258	747	485	690	380	825	1205	496	212	2531
Kentucky	33	850	2006	203	656	466	695	342	814	1156	482	157	2369
Louisville	32	709	1791	197	638	492	712	340	746	1086	440	164	2107
Marquette	31	823	1803	227	615	452	648	308	733	1041	409	199	2325
Maryland	32	772	1867	203	605	423	602	375	751	1126	403	194	2170
Miami (Fla.)	32	731	1764	202	611	374	508	309	698	1007	380	196	2038
Michigan	34	847	1821	198	525	346	508	305	760	1065	437	145	2238
Michigan St.	33	777	1911	217	626	485	672	338	753	1091	363	193	2256
Middle Tennessee	34	743	1783	205	642	462	656	281	755	1036	458	162	2153
Minnesota	33	829	2084	213	699	409	599	405	870	1275	421	188	2280
Mount St. Mary’s	34	863	1925	183	532	423	641	407	873	1280	507	215	2332
Nevada	34	890	2095	228	743	404	589	334	857	1191	384	189	2412
New Mexico St.	33	792	1911	184	632	451	667	361	724	1085	454	174	2219
New Orleans	31	767	1746	199	642	415	601	345	646	991	505	263	2148
North Carolina	34	838	2013	274	799	451	628	310	737	1047	464	214	2401
North Dakota	31	788	1796	211	601	470	687	303	780	1083	472	198	2257
Northern Kentucky	34	891	2026	224	682	422	600	313	806	1119	415	202	2428
Northwestern	34	770	1911	220	656	452	678	383	820	1203	406	192	2212
Notre Dame	34	865	2007	234	694	389	533	373	838	1211	435	180	2353
Oklahoma St.	32	846	1800	219	612	586	812	342	720	1062	487	208	2497
Oregon	34	803	2002	233	748	372	520	364	749	1113	468	160	2211
Princeton	29	631	1516	191	576	330	478	231	735	966	388	307	1783
Providence	32	786	1783	200	612	360	535	307	799	1106	447	202	2132
Purdue	32	811	1962	210	650	317	445	292	704	996	385	206	2149
Rhode Island	33	711	1758	152	524	567	799	350	790	1140	434	174	2141
Saint Mary’s	32	686	1676	143	472	293	427	227	615	842	300	176	1808
Seton Hall	32	783	1813	211	621	469	654	289	765	1054	393	219	2246
SMU	33	702	1817	270	826	304	442	304	658	962	392	160	1978
South Carolina	32	671	1686	168	574	553	778	344	789	1133	552	197	2063
South Dakota St.	34	938	2077	361	960	394	539	342	803	1145	391	230	2631
Texas Southern	34	902	2038	188	581	447	656	422	834	1256	463	176	2439
Troy	36	904	2120	282	841	490	680	367	864	1231	455	209	2580
UC-Davis	34	829	1955	237	717	448	633	330	836	1166	482	232	2343
UCLA	33	912	2179	284	784	378	563	383	777	1160	399	216	2486
UNC-Central	33	766	1959	205	708	355	554	410	775	1185	456	151	2092
UNC-Wilmington	34	912	1912	185	551	539	752	316	835	1151	496	166	2548
USC	33	893	2074	276	757	353	495	379	802	1181	424	184	2415
Vanderbilt	34	836	1975	220	655	425	604	333	839	1172	367	186	2317
VCU	34	775	1852	196	580	512	737	330	818	1148	500	187	2258
Vermont	34	781	1858	190	576	342	484	305	723	1028	443	184	2094
Villanova	34	799	1912	240	768	297	417	321	691	1012	452	176	2135
Virginia	32	610	1542	191	611	369	524	246	700	946	413	158	1780
Virginia Tech	32	876	1969	251	697	378	529	345	764	1109	375	175	2381
Wake Forest	32	860	1901	264	739	509	704	317	763	1080	370	193	2493
West Virginia	34	759	1791	227	650	510	755	374	806	1180	695	190	2255
Wichita St.	34	713	1887	227	735	470	680	307	782	1089	475	177	2123
Winthrop	32	787	1941	211	681	461	636	350	815	1165	450	195	2246
Wisconsin	33	723	1782	221	589	350	475	285	744	1029	433	175	2017
Xavier	34	862	1907	253	748	449	642	288	767	1055	416	218	2426

 

Team	PPG	Def PPG	Marg.	FG%-Marg	Reb-Marg.	TO Marg.	R+T	W-L Road	SOS	Off Poss	Def Poss	Poss/G	Seed
Arizona	76.3	65.4	10.8	6.0	6.8	0.4	18.1	15-3	58.18	2278	2300	67.3	2
Arkansas	80.2	73.8	6.5	4.4	0.5	1.4	7.1	10-6	55.53	2369	2355	71.6	8
Baylor	72.7	62.7	10.0	8.4	8.9	-2.3	18.8	10-5	59.46	2044	2073	64.3	3
Bucknell	76.1	67.4	8.7	5.6	1.1	0.7	5.4	9-6	48.90	2396	2396	70.5	13
Butler	76.3	68.4	7.9	3.4	0.7	3.4	9.0	10-5	59.10	2082	2100	67.5	4
Cincinnati	75.0	60.5	14.5	7.8	4.6	3.7	19.1	11-5	54.46	2188	2170	66.0	6
Creighton	82.1	72.5	9.6	7.1	-1.0	1.7	2.2	12-5	56.81	2489	2463	72.8	6
Dayton	76.5	66.5	9.9	5.7	0.2	3.0	8.8	9-6	54.65	2163	2167	69.8	7
Duke	80.7	69.8	10.8	4.4	2.9	0.7	10.6	12-7	59.78	2433	2446	69.7	2
East Tennessee St.	79.9	69.4	10.6	7.5	4.5	0.9	13.3	14-5	49.32	2461	2445	72.2	13
Florida	78.3	66.6	11.7	4.1	1.9	3.2	11.4	15-7	59.41	2266	2286	71.1	4
Florida Gulf Coast	79.4	68.8	10.6	8.1	6.2	0.4	15.8	10-4	47.19	2294	2288	69.4	14
Florida St.	82.5	71.3	11.2	7.1	3.6	2.5	14.3	7-8	58.36	2397	2379	72.4	3
Gonzaga	84.6	61.2	23.4	15.0	7.8	1.3	21.2	17-0	54.02	2350	2331	70.9	1
Iona	80.5	76.4	4.1	2.3	-2.4	1.1	1.0	14-8	49.90	2486	2489	73.2	14
Iowa St.	80.9	72.0	8.9	4.1	-3.6	4.2	2.3	11-7	58.18	2371	2375	71.9	5
Jacksonville St.	69.7	67.6	2.1	4.2	4.1	-2.6	8.0	15-9	46.93	2241	2244	66.0	15
Kansas	82.7	72.4	10.3	6.8	4.1	0.3	10.9	14-3	58.10	2317	2311	72.3	1
Kansas St.	71.7	66.9	4.8	3.4	-1.2	2.2	3.4	9-8	56.53	2243	2238	67.9	11
Kent St.	76.9	72.3	4.6	-0.2	6.1	1.1	16.4	12-7	48.67	2518	2524	72.0	14
Kentucky	86.1	71.8	14.3	5.3	5.2	2.7	17.3	14-3	58.27	2489	2476	75.2	2
Louisville	77.5	65.8	11.7	6.0	5.8	2.6	18.3	8-7	60.87	2216	2229	69.5	2
Marquette	82.5	75.0	7.5	3.1	-0.4	1.0	3.5	5-9	56.05	2209	2212	71.3	10
Maryland	74.2	67.8	6.3	3.7	0.7	-0.4	3.7	11-3	56.23	2197	2181	68.4	6
Miami (Fla.)	69.4	63.7	5.7	3.9	4.6	-0.8	11.3	7-9	56.85	2086	2076	65.0	8
Michigan	74.9	65.8	9.1	1.6	-1.8	3.4	4.5	9-8	57.52	2191	2194	64.5	7
Michigan St.	71.7	68.4	3.4	6.1	3.6	-3.2	6.5	5-12	59.07	2263	2255	68.5	9
Middle Tennessee	75.0	63.3	11.7	7.3	5.1	3.0	17.8	17-2	50.19	2263	2272	66.7	12
Minnesota	75.3	69.1	6.2	3.7	1.3	1.1	6.8	7-6	58.18	2369	2385	72.0	5
Mount St. Mary’s	68.3	68.6	-0.3	-0.5	-7.4	1.8	-10.2	8-11	48.10	2352	2329	68.8	16
Nevada	80.0	70.9	9.0	2.5	3.9	0.1	11.0	15-5	51.96	2422	2425	71.3	12
New Mexico St.	78.9	67.2	11.7	5.3	6.9	0.0	16.9	11-4	47.15	2315	2321	70.2	14
New Orleans	73.1	69.3	3.8	3.2	3.9	-0.5	8.8	9-8	46.14	2195	2191	70.8	16
North Carolina	84.9	70.6	14.3	5.5	12.7	1.7	30.3	11-7	59.04	2465	2465	72.5	1
North Dakota	80.5	72.8	7.7	4.4	1.0	1.9	7.5	11-7	44.82	2301	2291	74.1	15
Northern Kentucky	76.1	71.4	4.7	1.9	4.7	-1.3	11.0	12-8	48.18	2392	2413	70.7	15
Northwestern	71.1	65.1	6.0	3.3	0.8	1.4	5.9	9-7	55.60	2256	2256	66.4	8
Notre Dame	78.0	69.2	8.8	3.0	-1.9	3.3	3.9	9-7	57.33	2310	2322	68.1	5
Oklahoma St.	85.5	78.0	7.5	-0.6	3.5	2.0	12.5	9-7	58.52	2336	2331	72.9	10
Oregon	79.1	65.0	14.1	8.0	3.7	2.2	14.2	12-5	56.84	2348	2353	69.1	3
Princeton	72.1	61.5	10.6	3.6	0.1	3.4	2.5	13-5	49.91	1904	1900	65.6	12
Providence	70.3	66.6	3.6	0.6	-1.0	1.4	2.4	5-9	56.05	2176	2177	68.0	11
Purdue	80.1	67.2	13.0	6.6	6.9	-1.0	15.0	10-5	55.84	2271	2266	70.9	4
Rhode Island	73.4	64.9	8.5	4.8	2.9	1.9	11.6	11-6	55.20	2240	2222	67.6	11
Saint Mary’s	72.0	56.5	15.5	8.7	9.3	-1.2	19.9	13-2	54.34	1942	1952	60.8	7
Seton Hall	73.3	70.2	3.1	1.8	6.6	-1.3	14.6	9-9	56.38	2234	2228	69.7	9
SMU	74.6	59.9	14.7	8.7	9.4	0.9	23.7	12-4	53.27	2106	2115	64.0	6
South Carolina	72.1	64.5	7.6	1.7	0.9	3.9	9.5	7-7	56.25	2282	2264	71.0	7
South Dakota St.	77.6	77.4	0.2	0.7	1.4	-1.4	3.1	7-14	50.02	2378	2382	70.0	16
Texas Southern	74.4	71.7	2.6	-1.1	-1.6	1.9	3.1	13-11	44.79	2372	2391	70.0	16
Troy	78.4	71.7	6.8	3.1	2.6	0.3	8.8	12-10	47.40	2543	2531	70.5	15
UC-Davis	70.5	68.9	1.6	1.3	1.4	0.0	4.8	11-12	44.11	2407	2408	70.8	16
UCLA	90.4	75.3	15.0	10.1	4.1	0.5	11.2	12-3	53.96	2477	2462	74.8	3
UNC-Central	75.1	63.4	11.7	6.6	3.0	1.8	12.2	14-6	38.41	2264	2268	68.7	16
UNC-Wilmington	85.2	74.9	10.2	0.5	2.1	4.2	12.8	16-4	51.48	2444	2449	72.0	12
USC	78.7	73.2	5.5	2.3	0.4	1.7	6.5	9-6	54.42	2338	2354	71.1	11
Vanderbilt	71.3	68.1	3.1	0.8	0.2	-1.6	1.4	8-10	61.16	2287	2296	67.4	9
VCU	74.7	66.4	8.3	4.3	2.9	2.2	12.2	11-7	55.31	2378	2372	69.9	10
Vermont	73.6	61.6	12.0	7.5	4.0	1.8	13.2	13-4	49.16	2219	2226	65.4	13
Villanova	77.7	62.8	14.9	7.9	3.6	2.1	13.8	17-2	58.04	2235	2241	65.8	1
Virginia	66.6	55.6	11.0	6.9	3.4	3.4	14.0	10-6	59.73	1950	1958	61.1	5
Virginia Tech	79.3	74.4	4.8	4.5	-2.1	-0.4	-2.0	7-8	55.01	2258	2250	70.4	9
Wake Forest	82.7	77.9	4.8	2.0	3.1	-0.2	8.6	8-10	58.32	2299	2288	71.7	11
West Virginia	82.0	66.3	15.6	3.4	2.6	8.2	19.1	9-6	55.57	2474	2471	72.7	4
Wichita St.	82.1	62.4	19.6	9.6	8.7	2.8	24.5	14-3	50.79	2364	2378	69.7	10
Winthrop	79.7	70.2	9.5	5.2	1.0	0.9	6.1	12-3	47.36	2343	2343	73.2	13
Wisconsin	72.4	61.1	11.3	4.8	6.3	2.3	19.0	10-7	54.48	2162	2156	65.4	8
Xavier	74.6	71.4	3.3	0.2	6.6	-0.6	15.3	9-9	58.75	2326	2340	68.6	11

 

Team	EFG	DEFG	OR%	DOR%	TO%	DTO%	FT*	DFT*	Win Streaks
Arizona	53.7	47.1	33.3	26.1	14.8	15.5	25.6	17.0	15	5
Arkansas	51.7	48.0	32.5	33.2	14.0	15.5	24.9	22.9	8	5
Baylor	54.4	45.3	40.7	29.1	17.5	14.8	21.3	18.5	15	5
Bucknell	55.4	47.9	26.8	27.4	16.8	17.4	20.0	17.5	7	6
Butler	54.6	50.7	28.1	27.7	13.4	17.7	22.4	20.8	8	4
Cincinnati	52.3	44.3	35.8	29.8	13.0	18.1	19.8	18.2	15	5
Creighton	57.9	49.8	24.7	29.0	15.3	17.0	15.7	16.1	13	5
Dayton	54.4	47.7	26.0	27.3	15.2	18.8	23.8	19.2	9	5
Duke	54.8	47.5	31.5	29.4	14.1	14.8	24.6	18.5	10	7
East Tennessee St.	55.8	48.6	31.3	26.9	17.9	19.2	24.0	20.7	6	5
Florida	51.5	45.7	31.6	29.0	14.4	18.3	24.5	19.4	9	7
Florida Gulf Coast	55.7	48.2	34.6	28.1	15.4	16.2	19.7	19.2	7	7
Florida St.	53.9	47.4	34.1	30.4	14.0	17.2	22.1	21.7	12	4
Gonzaga	58.0	41.5	29.8	25.4	14.0	15.5	23.2	14.8	29	3
Iona	53.4	49.6	26.9	31.7	14.6	15.5	20.2	19.8	6	4
Iowa St.	54.8	49.0	26.0	32.0	12.5	17.1	16.8	15.6	6	5
Jacksonville St.	52.6	48.5	31.8	27.5	17.9	14.6	20.3	20.8	4	4
Kansas	55.9	47.9	34.3	30.4	15.5	16.0	20.5	18.7	18	8
Kansas St.	52.4	48.9	29.5	32.5	16.9	19.3	22.2	18.9	7	5
Kent St.	48.4	49.2	38.8	29.8	15.1	17.1	21.2	19.2	5	4
Kentucky	53.2	47.4	33.8	27.3	13.6	17.1	24.4	18.8	11	7
Louisville	51.4	45.1	36.3	28.7	13.5	17.1	21.1	22.1	6	5
Marquette	57.6	51.9	27.2	28.9	15.2	16.2	20.1	20.4	5	3
Maryland	52.5	46.8	31.4	31.8	16.4	15.8	22.7	19.4	7	7
Miami (Fla.)	51.2	47.2	33.7	27.9	16.7	15.9	20.7	18.0	7	4
Michigan	56.7	51.9	25.5	29.1	13.1	17.5	20.2	15.8	5	4
Michigan St.	53.9	46.3	29.4	27.3	18.1	14.0	18.0	21.5	4	3
Middle Tennessee	54.5	47.4	30.7	24.3	13.7	17.9	18.2	20.3	10	10
Minnesota	48.6	44.9	30.1	30.0	14.0	15.1	23.4	17.2	8	6
Mount St. Mary’s	50.9	49.6	22.9	34.6	17.1	18.5	17.6	18.2	8	4
Nevada	52.7	47.9	30.4	26.0	13.6	13.9	24.5	16.7	9	7
New Mexico St.	53.2	46.3	37.0	28.9	16.6	16.9	25.5	19.4	20	5
New Orleans	51.1	49.6	36.7	31.9	20.2	19.9	23.9	18.9	5	5
North Carolina	52.6	48.4	42.2	24.8	13.5	16.7	21.5	18.3	7	6
North Dakota	54.2	49.7	26.8	26.8	16.0	18.2	21.3	20.5	6	4
Northern Kentucky	53.4	49.5	31.9	25.8	16.6	15.2	20.6	17.5	6	6
Northwestern	49.7	46.0	30.9	30.7	13.7	15.4	20.2	20.0	9	6
Notre Dame	54.0	48.9	27.4	31.0	12.3	16.1	19.8	16.8	9	7
Oklahoma St.	53.7	53.1	37.8	31.7	15.2	18.2	25.9	25.1	5	5
Oregon	55.5	45.9	32.2	29.1	14.6	17.2	20.8	15.8	17	8
Princeton	53.9	47.9	24.5	24.0	13.5	18.2	15.8	17.4	19	2
Providence	51.3	49.7	26.4	28.1	16.4	18.0	21.1	16.5	6	6
Purdue	55.7	46.7	30.9	24.5	16.2	15.0	21.5	14.0	7	6
Rhode Island	50.7	44.8	33.1	29.3	14.1	16.9	22.1	25.5	8	4
Saint Mary’s	57.9	45.2	33.4	21.5	15.0	13.8	17.4	15.0	9	7
Seton Hall	50.2	49.0	35.3	25.4	16.4	15.6	20.5	21.1	6	5
SMU	54.7	46.1	37.7	25.9	14.4	16.2	22.2	14.4	16	10
South Carolina	47.2	44.8	33.5	31.0	16.0	21.2	22.6	24.4	8	5
South Dakota St.	54.2	53.9	27.7	27.9	16.3	14.4	25.1	16.5	6	3
Texas Southern	48.2	48.9	32.3	34.4	14.3	16.5	27.1	18.7	9	6
Troy	53.1	49.3	31.2	28.2	15.2	15.7	23.7	19.4	6	4
UC-Davis	49.3	48.5	29.3	27.6	17.5	17.6	21.8	18.6	4	4
UCLA	59.5	48.4	29.3	28.2	13.6	14.0	17.3	15.4	13	10
UNC-Central	52.2	44.3	33.5	31.5	15.0	17.0	20.2	15.7	13	5
UNC-Wilmington	55.7	52.5	32.8	28.0	12.4	17.9	19.6	22.0	9	8
USC	51.9	49.7	30.7	31.2	13.6	15.5	23.3	15.0	14	5
Vanderbilt	52.3	47.9	25.0	27.0	16.4	14.0	21.8	18.5	4	3
VCU	51.1	47.1	31.4	27.5	15.5	18.5	21.4	21.6	9	8
Vermont	55.5	47.1	30.4	26.5	15.1	17.5	20.3	15.4	21	4
Villanova	57.9	48.1	29.6	27.6	15.1	17.6	23.0	13.3	14	7
Virginia	52.9	45.8	28.7	24.2	13.7	18.7	16.1	18.8	7	5
Virginia Tech	57.0	50.9	23.4	29.9	15.6	14.4	23.3	16.8	8	4
Wake Forest	54.0	52.2	31.0	27.5	14.3	14.2	25.7	22.2	4	3
West Virginia	51.8	48.7	37.7	32.3	14.1	24.4	22.6	20.6	8	4
Wichita St.	54.7	43.8	34.1	23.8	13.7	17.7	25.2	19.8	15	6
Winthrop	53.7	46.0	27.7	28.4	15.9	16.7	22.0	19.7	8	7
Wisconsin	51.9	46.8	35.4	25.6	13.9	17.7	18.5	16.2	9	8
Xavier	51.6	51.8	35.1	25.0	15.9	15.8	23.5	19.2	7	6

Check back later Tuesday for our Round by Round Bracket Selections, as well as our Red-White-Blue Ratings for the First Four games in Dayton.

 

 

 

 

2016 NCAA Tournament Bracket Selection

The PiRate Ratings have been in existence for more than 40 years.  Only in the last 14, have we included college basketball in our menu, and only in the last 11 years, have we presented this website to the public.  In that time, there is one day each year where more people congregate to this site than on any other day.  It’s not the Super Bowl week, or the eve of the New Year’s Day Bowl games.  For many years running, it is this day and this entry that has brought more people here than any other.  Bracket picking has become part of the American and even international culture to the point where people that do not normally follow basketball can be found filling out brackets like they are scratching the $2 lottery cards.

 

One day more than a decade ago, our founder had some time on his hands, and he started researching the past statistics of the NCAA Basketball Champions.  Then, he began copying their statistics to a spreadsheet.  It then expanded to include all the Final Four teams, and eventually included the top teams in the nation that lost unexpectedly.

 

What he discovered was that there were specific statistical similarities in the Final Four teams and National Champions of past years.  Looking at that year’s NCAA Field, he isolated three of the Final Four teams by examining each team’s statistics and comparing them to Final Four teams of the past.

 

In 2006, this system found George Mason as a dark horse contender and in another medium, our founder wrote that the Patriots were a team to watch out for as a legitimate Final Four contender.  Overnight, the system was “discovered” by other media outlets that brought our founder a lot of notoriety, and when he started this site, many that had followed him, or had seen his system reported on by Yahoo and Fox, came here.

 

Now that the history lesson is over, let’s get into the meat of this system.  You can read about it more in depth in Monday’s submission:  https://piratings.wordpress.com/2016/03/14/bracketnomics-505-the-advanced-level-course-in-bracket-picking-2/

 

These are our criteria points.

1. A scoring margin of 8 or more points, with special credit going to 10 or more points
2. A field goal % margin of 7.5% or more  with special credit going to 10% or more
3. A rebound margin of 5 or more
4. A positive turnover margin (meaning they force more than they commit)
5. An average of 7 or more steals per game
6. An R+T Rating of 15 or more (the Bracketnomics 505 post for an explanation of R+T
7. A member of a Power Conference and a Strength of Schedule of 54.00 or more
8. A Won-Loss percentage in away and neutral games of 75% or more
9. A 10-game winning streak or 2, 6-game winning streaks during the season

Let’s get to it.  Here are the teams that qualify under each criterion.  Remember, as you look at these statistical criteria, that there is a large caveat.  The Stephen F. Austin’s and Stony Brook’s had schedules on average that were 10-15 points weaker than the Michigan State’s and Kansas’s.  Do not look at this data and make conclusions that are not meant to be made.  We will put the data into a bracket-picker for you at the conclusion.

Scoring Margin

Team	PPG	D PPG	Mar.
Stephen F. Austin	80.7	63.2	17.6
Michigan St.	79.8	63.4	16.4
Wichita St.	73.2	59.3	14.0
Kansas	81.6	67.6	13.9
Gonzaga	79.7	66.2	13.5
Indiana	82.3	68.9	13.4
Stony Brook	76.8	63.4	13.4
Villanova	77.0	63.7	13.3
Purdue	77.7	64.6	13.1
North Carolina	82.3	69.5	12.8
West Virginia	79.2	66.6	12.6
Arizona	81.2	68.9	12.3
Yale	75.2	63.1	12.0
Kentucky	79.7	68.3	11.4
UALR	70.9	59.6	11.3
Hawaii	77.6	66.5	11.1
Virginia	70.4	59.7	10.7
Texas A&M	75.9	65.5	10.4
Connecticut	73.4	63.1	10.3
Cincinnati	73.2	62.9	10.3
Xavier	81.3	71.0	10.3
Duke	79.1	68.8	10.3
Oklahoma	80.4	70.4	10.0
VCU	77.2	67.3	9.9
Weber St.	76.7	66.9	9.9
Cal State Bakersfield	73.0	63.2	9.8
Maryland	76.1	66.3	9.8
Oregon	78.8	69.1	9.7
Butler	80.6	71.2	9.4
Vanderbilt	76.8	67.3	9.4
Iowa	78.1	68.7	9.4
Chattanooga	75.8	66.6	9.2
Miami	75.6	66.8	8.8
South Dakota St.	76.3	67.8	8.5
Utah	77.6	69.1	8.5
UNC-Asheville	75.6	67.5	8.2
Pittsburgh	76.0	67.9	8.1
California	75.1	67.0	8.1

 

Field Goal % Margin

Team	FG-M
Michigan St.	10.7
Kansas	9.8
Gonzaga	8.7
Purdue	8.0
Maryland	8.0
Kentucky	7.8
Connecticut	7.8
Utah	7.6
Vanderbilt	7.5

 

Rebound Margin

Team	Rb-M
Michigan St.	11.7
Yale	11.1
Purdue	10.6
Arizona	9.2
Colorado	8.9
West Virginia	8.4
North Carolina	8.3
Baylor	7.9
Stony Brook	7.8
Xavier	7.5
Pittsburgh	7.4
Gonzaga	7.3
Indiana	7.3
California	6.7
Kentucky	5.4
South Dakota St.	5.4
Dayton	5.3
Kansas	5.2
Hampton	5.1
Florida Gulf Coast	5.0

 

Turnover Margin

Team	TO-M
Stephen F. Austin	6.2
Wichita St.	5.5
Green Bay	4.8
Fresno St.	4.3
West Virginia	4.1
VCU	4.0
UNC-Wilmington	3.8
Tulsa	3.5
UALR	3.5
Cal State Bakersfield	3.1
Providence	3.1
Butler	2.9
Cincinnati	2.8
Oregon	2.8
Villanova	2.7
Iowa	2.7
UNC-Asheville	2.7
Virginia	2.7
Southern	2.6
Texas A&M	2.6
Fairleigh Dickinson	2.4
Duke	2.4
North Carolina	2.2
Holy Cross	2.2
Michigan	2.1
Texas	2.1
Oregon St.	2.1
Northern Iowa	2.0
Temple	1.9
Chattanooga	1.8
Hawaii	1.5
Syracuse	1.4
Middle Tennessee	1.4
Stony Brook	1.4
Xavier	1.4
St. Joseph’s	1.3
Iona	1.3
Kentucky	1.3
Wisconsin	1.2
Connecticut	1.1
Miami	1.0
Kansas	0.9
Iowa St.	0.8
Baylor	0.8
Texas Tech	0.8
South Dakota St.	0.3
USC	0.2

 

Steals

Team	Avg.
West Virginia	9.9
Green Bay	9.5
UNC-Asheville	9.3
Stephen F. Austin	9.1
VCU	8.8
Fresno St.	8.2
Syracuse	8.1
Cal State Bakersfield	8.0
Cincinnati	7.9
Baylor	7.9
Hawaii	7.9
Chattanooga	7.8
Oregon	7.6
Fairleigh Dickinson	7.6
Iona	7.6
UNC-Wilmington	7.5
Southern	7.5
Oregon St.	7.5
Xavier	7.3
Seton Hall	7.3
Wichita St.	7.2

 

R+T

If you read our post yesterday, you  must know by now that the R+T rating is as valuable in the NCAA Tournament as raw meat at the tiger’s exhibit at the zoo.  No team wins the national title with low R+T ratings, and teams with negative and very low R+T ratings exit the tournament quickly.

This season, no major conference teams enter the Dance with negative R+T ratings.   However, there are a handful with low positive R+T ratings.

Unlike the other criteria, we include every team in this criterion.  It is PiRate Gold.  Basically, the higher the number, the more this team is likely to score easy baskets during the game and prevent the opponent from scoring.  When players tend to be tight at the beginning of the tournament, R+T ratings can tell you which are most likely to get dunks and layups, two shots that stay true when outside jumpers and even close-in jumpers tend to be off.  Also, when two excellent defensive teams face off against each other, and baskets are hard to come by, the high R+T teams will score some “cheap” points and most likely be the winner.

Remember, like in all other criteria here, schedule strength and power conference membership are as equally important at R+T rating and must be considered as the co-primary factor.

Team	R+T
Michigan St.	26.7
West Virginia	25.3
Yale	23.4
North Carolina	22.4
Purdue	20.9
Stony Brook	20.7
Arizona	20.3
Baylor	20.0
Xavier	19.9
Wichita St.	19.7
Stephen F. Austin	18.2
Pittsburgh	17.5
Indiana	17.3
Cincinnati	17.2
Kentucky	16.7
Colorado	16.6
Gonzaga	16.5
Cal State Bakersfield	15.9
Near Qualifiers
Hawaii	14.8
Texas A&M	14.7
Butler	14.6
Kansas	14.6
Oregon	14.4
Dayton	14.1
VCU	14.0
Good R+T
South Dakota St.	13.9
California	13.9
Virginia	13.2
Florida Gulf Coast	12.8
Fresno St.	12.4
Chattanooga	12.3
Hampton	11.7
St. Joseph’s	11.2
UNC-Asheville	11.2
Wisconsin	11.1
UNC-Wilmington	10.6
Seton Hall	10.5
Villanova	10.0
Best of the Rest
Miami	9.5
Iowa	9.5
Utah	9.4
Connecticut	9.4
Buffalo	9.3
Middle Tennessee	9.1
UALR	9.1
Weber St.	9.0
Notre Dame	8.1
Maryland	7.8
Duke	7.3
Austin Peay	7.3
Oklahoma	7.1
Okay in Early Rounds
USC	6.8
Green Bay	6.8
Providence	6.0
In Danger
Michigan	4.9
Texas Tech	4.3
Iona	4.2
Iowa St.	4.1
Tulsa	3.8
Southern	3.6
Vanderbilt	3.4
Temple	3.3
Texas	3.3
Oregon St.	2.4
Syracuse	2.2
Quick Losers
Northern Iowa	-1.9
Fairleigh Dickinson	-4.1
Holy Cross	-5.2

 

Strength of Schedule

These are the teams from Power Conferences with SOS of 54.00 or better.  No National Champion has ever had a SOS under 54.00, and all but a small number of Final Four teams in the 64 to 68-team field have possessed SOS under 54.00.

Team	SOS
Kansas	60.22
Virginia	60.05
Oregon	60.01
Texas	59.88
Baylor	59.49
Utah	59.33
Duke	58.97
Iowa St.	58.96
Texas Tech	58.94
Oregon St.	58.77
Oklahoma	58.74
West Virginia	58.59
Villanova	58.54
California	58.52
Miami	58.22
Wisconsin	58.14
North Carolina	57.74
Kentucky	57.45
Notre Dame	57.25
Pittsburgh	56.86
Xavier	56.82
USC	56.79
Maryland	56.77
Iowa	56.69
Purdue	56.54
Colorado	56.45
Vanderbilt	56.44
Seton Hall	56.24
Syracuse	56.21
Michigan	55.96
Michigan St.	55.75
Dayton	55.73
Providence	55.71
Connecticut	55.70
Texas A&M	55.70
St. Joseph’s	55.49
VCU	55.24
Tulsa	54.97
Cincinnati	54.70
Arizona	54.69
Butler	54.61
Temple	54.61

 

10-Game Winning Streak or 2, 6-Game Winning Streaks

Team	Win Streaks
Stephen F. Austin	20	5
Stony Brook	18	3
Kansas	13	13
Michigan St.	13	9
Wichita St.	12	6
Indiana	12	5
North Carolina	12	5
Xavier	12	5
Yale	12	5
Oklahoma	12	4
California	12	3
VCU	12	3
Virginia	11	7
Purdue	11	5
UNC-Wilmington	11	5
Colorado	11	3
Texas A&M	10	8
UALR	10	6
Texas Tech	10	5
Pittsburgh	10	4
Chattanooga	9	8
Villanova	9	7
West Virginia	8	7
Arizona	8	6
Hawaii	8	6
Oregon	8	6
Providence	8	6
Weber St.	8	6
St. Joseph’s	7	7
Gonzaga	7	6
Cal State Bakersfield	6	6
Middle Tennessee	6	6
Northern Iowa	6	6
South Dakota St.	6	6

 

Won-Loss Record Away From Home Floor

Team	Won	Lost	Pct
Gonzaga	15	3	83.3
Hawaii	10	2	83.3
Michigan St.	15	3	83.3
St. Joseph’s	15	3	83.3
Chattanooga	16	4	80.0
UALR	15	4	78.9
Villanova	14	4	77.8
Kansas	12	4	75.0
Xavier	12	4	75.0
Near Miss
Dayton	11	4	73.3
North Carolina	13	5	72.2
Stephen F. Austin	13	5	72.2
UNC-Wilmington	13	5	72.2
Seton Hall	12	5	70.6
Okay in Early Rounds
Stony Brook	11	5	68.8
Middle Tennessee	13	6	68.4
West Virginia	13	6	68.4
South Dakota St.	14	7	66.7
Weber St.	13	7	65.0
Oklahoma	11	6	64.7
Miami	10	6	62.5
Oregon	10	6	62.5
Providence	10	6	62.5
Yale	10	6	62.5
Virginia	11	7	61.1
Hampton	12	8	60.0
Cal State Bakersfield	10	7	58.8
Utah	10	7	58.8
Wichita St.	10	7	58.8
Iona	11	8	57.9
UNC-Asheville	11	8	57.9
Baylor	8	6	57.1
Green Bay	12	9	57.1
Connecticut	9	7	56.3
Fresno St.	9	7	56.3
Maryland	9	7	56.3
Purdue	9	7	56.3
Texas A&M	9	7	56.3
Temple	10	8	55.6
Northern Iowa	11	9	55.0
Duke	7	6	53.8
Arizona	8	7	53.3
Butler	8	7	53.3
Cincinnati	8	7	53.3
Indiana	8	7	53.3
Fairleigh Dickinson	9	8	52.9
Kentucky	9	8	52.9
Michigan	9	8	52.9
VCU	9	8	52.9
Buffalo	10	9	52.6
Austin Peay	11	10	52.4
Iowa	8	8	50.0
Tulsa	8	8	50.0
Wisconsin	7	7	50.0
Homers
Southern	10	11	47.6
Pittsburgh	6	7	46.2
Iowa St.	7	9	43.8
Notre Dame	7	9	43.8
Syracuse	6	9	40.0
Texas	6	9	40.0
Colorado	6	10	37.5
Oregon St.	5	9	35.7
Texas Tech	5	9	35.7
California	5	10	33.3
USC	5	10	33.3
Holy Cross	6	13	31.6
Vanderbilt	5	11	31.3
Florida Gulf Coast	4	9	30.8

 

Ranked by Criteria Met

After the number of criteria met, we have included “Alpha Dog” and repeated R+T ratings.  Alpha Dog refers to whether this team has played a difficult enough schedule and is a member of a power conference.  While there are cases where George Mason and Wichita State make the Final Four, the cases are very rare, and we go with the tendencies that have worked so well in the past.

 

The teams that qualify with 5 criteria and are also Alpha Dogs with qualifying R+T ratings have been highlighted in blue.  These are the top contenders this year.

Team	Criteria Met	Alpha Dog	R+T
Xavier	8	Yes	Yes
Kansas	7	Yes	No
Michigan St.	7	Yes	Yes
West Virginia	7	Yes	Yes
Gonzaga	6	Yes	Yes
Kentucky	6	Yes	Yes
North Carolina	6	Yes	Yes
Purdue	6	Yes	Yes
Arizona	5	Yes	Yes
Pittsburgh	5	Yes	Yes
Stony Brook	5	No	Yes
Villanova	5	Yes	No
Baylor	5	Yes	Yes
Chattanooga	5	No	No
Cincinnati	5	Yes	Yes
Hawaii	5	No	No
Oregon	5	Yes	No
Stephen F. Austin	5	No	Yes
VCU	5	Yes	No
California	4	Yes	No
Colorado	4	Yes	Yes
Connecticut	4	Yes	No
Indiana	4	Yes	Yes
South Dakota St.	4	No	No
St. Joseph’s	4	Yes	No
Texas A&M	4	Yes	No
UALR	4	No	No
Virginia	4	Yes	No
Wichita St.	4	No	Yes
Yale	4	No	Yes
Cal State Bakersfield	4	No	Yes
Butler	3	Yes	No
Duke	3	Yes	No
Iowa	3	Yes	No
Maryland	3	Yes	No
Miami	3	Yes	No
Oklahoma	3	Yes	No
Providence	3	Yes	No
Texas Tech	3	Yes	No
Utah	3	Yes	No
Vanderbilt	3	Yes	No
Oregon St.	3	Yes	No
Syracuse	3	Yes	No
UNC-Asheville	3	No	No
UNC-Wilmington	3	No	No
Iowa St.	2	Yes	No
Michigan	2	Yes	No
Middle Tennessee	2	No	No
Temple	2	Yes	No
Texas	2	Yes	No
Tulsa	2	Yes	No
USC	2	Yes	No
Weber St.	2	No	No
Wisconsin	2	Yes	No
Fairleigh Dickinson	2	No	No
Fresno St.	2	No	No
Green Bay	2	No	No
Iona	2	No	No
Seton Hall	2	Yes	No
Southern	2	No	No
Dayton	1	Yes	No
Florida Gulf Coast	1	No	No
Hampton	1	No	No
Holy Cross	1	No	No
Northern Iowa	1	No	No
Notre Dame	1	Yes	No
Austin Peay	0	No	No
Buffalo	0	No	No

 

Xavier rates as the top contender, but we are a bit concerned about the Big East Conference remaining as a Power Conference.  While three other Big East teams made the tournament, this league has not fared well since the break-up of the teams that formed the American Conference.

Last year, five Big East Teams made the NCAA Tournament.  St. John’s lost in the second round (round of 64) to San Diego State; Providence lost handily in their first game to Dayton; Butler lost in the third round to Notre Dame (round of 32); and 1-seed Villanova lost in the third round to North Carolina State.  Only Xavier made it to the Sweet 16, and the Musketeers had a relatively easy trip to the West Regional second weekend by defeating an Ole Miss team that just barely made the tournament as a play-in team from Dayton and then Georgia State after GSU upset Baylor.

We are not eliminating Xavier from consideration, but we are knocking them down a few notches.  Thus, our actual top-ranked team according to our Criteria ratings is Michigan State.

Now, before we drive you crazy, ponder this.  No Big Ten team has won the national title, since the Spartans pulled the trick in 2000.  Coach Tom Izzo has taken MSU to five subsequent Final Fours, and Illinois, Michigan, Ohio State, and Wisconsin have made it to the Final Four in recent years.

Concerning the Big 12, overall number one seed Kansas does not qualify under the R+T rating.  However, the Jayhawks just barely miss out with an R+T of 14.6, and after a first game breeze, KU’s R+T rating could easily hit 15.  We are not going to dismiss Kansas because they come up short by a hair of having a great Final Four resume.

Bob Huggins has guided two teams to the Final Four, one at Cincinnati and one at West Virginia.  This year’s Mountaineer squad is better than the one he took to the Final Four and about on par with the great Bearcat team with Nick Van Exel, Corey Blount, Anthony Buford, and Herb Jones in 1992, where Cinti led Michigan in the second half before falling late by a couple points in the National Semifinals.

The shorter shot clock combined with Huggie Bear’s incredible full-court press makes the Mountaineers awfully dangerous against teams that have not previously played WVU.  There was a time when a long string of pressing teams won the national championship, but with slower paces, that style of play stopped being as effective.  Now, with the pace increased by about 7.5% thanks to the shorter shot clock, the press is a more potent weapon.  Even when a team breaks the press, they have less time to set up their offense and find a good shot.  The liability of pressing is that it can wear a team down, but WVU goes deep off the bench, and in the NCAA Tournament, media time outs are longer, allowing players more time to recover from fatigue.

Gonzaga made it to the Elite 8 last year, the zenith of the Mark Few era.  The Bulldogs did not win any big games this year until they finally bested Saint Mary’s in the WCC Tournament Championship.  The Zags have a very formidable frontcourt, but they fall well short in schedule strength, where there 52.35 reduces their criteria score down to Sweet 16 or worse status.

Kentucky and North Carolina are sitting pretty in the Criteria Ratings, as both meet 6 of the criteria, come from Big Conferences with high schedule strength, and most importantly, both merit recognition based on R+T ratings.  Being two of the most elite programs is not part of our criteria, but we also don’t totally exclude that fact.  They are the New York Yankees and St. Louis Cardinals of college basketball.

Let’s look at how the PiRate Criteria see the brackets.  Wednesday night, after the last game in Dayton concludes, we will post our Red-White-Blue Picks for each game.  These are our everyday ratings and do not include the criteria listed herein.  These ratings use an algorithm incorporating the Four Factors.

As you will notice, while this season was tabbed a unique one with a lot of parity, we actually believe the top programs are more ready to dominate this tournament than in recent years.

First Four

Fairleigh Dickinson over Florida Gulf Coast

Wichita State over Vanderbilt

Southern over Holy Cross

Michigan over Tulsa

 

Round of 64

Kansas over Austin Peay

Colorado over Connecticut

Maryland over South Dakota St.

California over Hawaii (very close–almost a tossup)

Arizona over Wichita St. (or Vanderbilt)

Miami over Buffalo

Iowa over Temple

Villanova over UNC-Asheville

Oregon over Southern (or Holy Cross)

Cincinnati over St. Joseph’s [Lower Seed Picked]

Baylor over Yale

Duke over UNC-Wilmington (Criteria says this is closer than you might think)

Texas over Northern Iowa (very close)

Texas A&M over Green Bay

VCU over Oregon St. [Lower Seed Picked]

Oklahoma over Cal State Bakersfield (but watch out, CSUB has upset-worthy data)

North Carolina over Fairleigh Dickinson (or Florida Gulf Coast)

Providence over USC [Lower Seed Picked] (a weak game by criteria)

Indiana over Chattanooga (If UC still had Casey Jones, the Mocs would actually be favored)

Kentucky over Stony Brook (we do not see any chance that SBU will contend)

Michigan (or Tulsa) over Notre Dame [Lower Seed Picked] (Irish have lousy criteria numbers)

West Virginia over Stephen F. Austin (SFA got a lousy seed, as they are Sweet 16 worthy)

Pittsburgh over Wisconsin

Xavier over Weber St. (should be very ugly and possibly a 35+ point win)

Virginia over Hampton

Butler over Texas Tech [Lower Seed Picked]

Purdue over UALR

Iowa St. over Iona (expect a 90-80 type game)

Gonzaga over Seton Hall [Lower Seed Picked]

Utah over Fresno St. (could be close)

Syracuse over Dayton [Lower Seed Picked]

Michigan St. over Middle Tennessee

 

Round of 32

Kansas over Colorado (closer than expected)

California over Maryland

Arizona over Miami

Villanova over Iowa

Oregon over Cincinnati (almost dead even)

Baylor over Duke (Blue Devils missing defense in the paint)

Texas A&M over Texas

VCU over Oklahoma (big upset sends jump-shooting team home)

North Carolina over Providence

Kentucky over Indiana

West Virginia over Michigan

Xavier over Pittsburgh (should be excitingly close)

Virginia over Butler (should be close for 40 minutes)

Purdue over Iowa St.

Gonzaga over Utah (lowest seed in Sweet 16)

Michigan St. over Syracuse

 

Sweet 16

Kansas over California

Arizona over Villanova 

Baylor over Oregon (1 of 2 #1 seeds going out in this round)

VCU over Texas A&M

North Carolina over Kentucky (should be Final Four game)

West Virginia over Xavier (total toss-up and expected best game of the round)

Purdue over Virginia (2nd #1 seed going home in this round)

Michigan St. over Gonzaga

 

Elite 8

Kansas over Arizona

Baylor over VCU

West Virginia over North Carolina (3rd #1 seed departs)

Michigan St. over Purdue

 

Semifinals

Kansas over Baylor

Michigan St. over West Virginia

 

National Championship

Michigan St. over Kansas

Sweet 16 Preview

It hasn’t been the best year for our methodology, as we have just 11 teams remaining in the Sweet 16, while we have six teams still alive in our Elite 8 predictions, and three of the Final Four.  At least, our two finalists are still alive.

If you get to pick games anew with each round, here is the updated review of our bracketnomics 505 selection method.  If you need a primer on what the data means, please refer back to the previous article titled, “Bracketnomics 505–The Advanced Level Course in Bracket Picking,”  published on March 16.

Sweet 16 Schedule–All Times Listed are Eastern Daylight Time
Region	Seed	Team	W-L	Seed	Team	W-L	Day	Time	TV
Midwest	3	Notre Dame	31-5	7	Wichita St.	30-4	Thursday	7:15 PM	CBS
West	1	Wisconsin	33-3	4	North Carolina	26-11	Thursday	7:47 PM	TBS
Midwest	1	Kentucky	36-0	5	West Virginia	25-9	Thursday	9:45 PM	CBS
West	2	Arizona	33-3	6	Xavier	23-13	Thursday	10:17 PM	TBS
South	2	Gonzaga	34-2	11	UCLA	22-13	Friday	7:15 PM	CBS
East	4	Louisville	26-8	8	North Carolina St.	22-13	Friday	7:37 PM	TBS
South	1	Duke	31-4	5	Utah	26-8	Friday	9:45 PM	CBS
East	3	Oklahoma	24-10	7	Michigan St.	25-11	Friday	10:07 PM	TBS

OFFENSE STATS

Team	FG	FGA	3pt	3pta	FT	FTa	OR	DR	TO	Stl
Arizona	963	1971	184	508	655	925	398	946	401	261
Duke	1008	1989	266	683	531	771	415	890	391	251
Gonzaga	1035	1966	259	611	534	775	365	991	379	220
Kentucky	931	1999	192	554	636	881	464	923	381	237
Louisville	828	1930	191	621	491	736	432	844	394	272
Michigan St.	944	2009	269	693	417	662	402	946	410	193
N. C. St.	872	1994	227	641	489	713	424	909	368	135
North Carolina	1073	2253	176	501	559	796	517	996	477	248
Notre Dame	994	1951	289	742	539	728	294	877	339	247
Oklahoma	865	1980	232	671	481	652	375	919	412	235
UCLA	904	2032	220	593	500	739	428	900	423	234
Utah	828	1700	260	638	523	745	304	864	392	200
West Virginia	859	2084	225	704	560	844	562	678	440	372
Wichita St.	834	1868	236	652	486	696	400	809	320	244
Wisconsin	915	1905	255	713	517	679	344	869	267	162
Xavier	934	1960	231	649	553	759	356	895	435	216
DEFENSE STATS

Team	FG	FGA	3pt	3pta	FT	FTa	OR	DR	TO	Stl
Arizona	730	1855	191	580	472	681	273	740	502	168
Duke	872	2055	179	566	346	498	382	706	434	200
Gonzaga	794	2031	206	625	421	637	382	705	419	198
Kentucky	688	1958	162	600	404	618	425	696	503	172
Louisville	718	1838	171	580	406	618	379	800	487	198
Michigan St.	764	1935	214	674	531	738	342	790	393	200
N. C. St.	800	1998	209	631	483	685	395	818	344	186
North Carolina	863	2176	240	801	571	820	448	767	463	252
Notre Dame	895	2102	220	671	351	494	410	768	407	186
Oklahoma	772	2000	216	683	374	569	417	824	463	223
UCLA	828	1987	278	771	445	641	353	830	433	223
Utah	684	1787	166	528	402	591	304	864	394	189
West Virginia	738	1576	187	508	597	871	301	824	668	193
Wichita St.	661	1667	178	512	427	619	298	747	453	138
Wisconsin	796	1888	185	503	268	391	273	728	353	146
Xavier	864	1981	254	734	442	659	335	776	456	236

FOUR FACTORS

Team	EFG	DEFG	OR%	DOR%	TO%	DTU%	FT*	DFT*
Arizona	53.5	44.5	35.0	22.4	16.6	20.9	27.1	19.6
Duke	57.4	46.8	37.0	30.0	16.8	18.5	22.8	14.8
Gonzaga	59.2	44.2	34.1	27.8	16.1	17.7	22.7	17.8
Kentucky	51.4	39.3	40.0	31.5	16.3	21.6	27.2	17.3
Louisville	47.8	43.7	35.1	31.0	17.6	21.7	21.9	18.1
Michigan St.	53.7	45.0	33.7	26.6	17.6	16.8	17.9	22.7
N. C. St.	49.4	45.3	34.1	30.3	16.2	15.1	21.5	21.3
North Carolina	51.5	45.2	40.3	31.0	18.4	17.9	21.6	22.1
Notre Dame	58.4	47.8	27.7	31.9	14.5	17.4	23.0	15.0
Oklahoma	49.5	44.0	31.3	31.2	17.7	20.0	20.7	16.1
UCLA	49.9	48.7	34.0	28.2	17.8	18.3	21.0	18.8
Utah	56.4	42.9	26.0	26.0	18.3	18.3	24.4	18.6
West Virginia	46.6	52.8	40.5	30.7	18.6	28.3	23.7	25.3
Wichita St.	51.0	45.0	34.9	26.9	15.1	21.4	22.9	20.2
Wisconsin	54.7	47.1	32.1	23.9	12.4	16.4	24.0	12.4
Xavier	53.5	50.0	31.4	27.2	18.1	18.9	23.0	18.3

PiRate Ratings Criteria

Team	PPG	D PPG	Mar.	FG-M	Rb-M	TO-M	R+T	WLRd	W-L	SOS	Poss.
Arizona	76.8	59.0	17.8	9.5	9.2	2.8	26.2	10-3	33-3	58.1	67.0
Duke	80.4	64.8	15.5	8.2	6.2	1.2	17.5	12-2	31-4	61.3	66.6
Gonzaga	79.5	61.5	18.0	13.6	7.5	1.1	19.6	15-1	34-2	55.8	65.2
Kentucky	74.7	53.9	20.8	11.4	7.4	3.4	22.7	16-0	36-0	58.2	64.8
Louisville	68.8	59.2	9.6	3.8	2.9	2.7	12.6	10-3	26-8	66.3	65.9
Michigan St.	71.5	63.1	8.4	7.5	6.0	-0.5	14.7	11-6	25-11	66.2	64.8
N. C. St.	70.3	65.5	4.8	3.7	3.4	-0.7	8.8	9-9	22-13	67.5	65.0
North Carolina	77.9	68.6	9.3	8.0	8.1	-0.4	18.3	13-5	26-11	69.3	70.0
Notre Dame	78.2	65.6	12.6	8.4	-0.2	1.9	5.8	13-2	31-5	61.9	65.1
Oklahoma	71.9	62.8	9.1	5.1	1.6	1.5	7.5	8-7	24-10	66.4	68.4
UCLA	72.2	68.0	4.3	2.8	4.1	0.3	11.5	6-12	22-13	66.1	67.9
Utah	71.7	56.9	14.8	10.4	0.0	0.1	3.4	10-7	26-8	59.6	63.0
West Virginia	73.6	66.5	7.1	-5.6	3.4	6.7	19.3	13-6	25-9	65.4	69.5
Wichita St.	70.3	56.7	13.6	5.0	4.8	3.9	19.1	15-4	30-4	56.7	62.3
Wisconsin	72.3	56.8	15.5	5.9	5.9	2.4	18.4	18-2	33-3	60.2	59.7
Xavier	73.7	67.3	6.3	4.0	3.9	0.6	10.8	10-10	23-13	65.6	66.7

The PiRate Ratings

Team	Team	Red	White	Blue
Notre Dame	Wichita St.	1	1	4
Wisconsin	North Carolina	6	4	2
Kentucky	West Virginia	13	11	12
Arizona	Xavier	11	9	14
Gonzaga	UCLA	10	8	5
Louisville	North Carolina St.	4	2	-2
Duke	Utah	3	3	9
Oklahoma	Michigan St.	1	1	-2

Predicted Elite 8 Games

East: Michigan St. over Louisville

South: Duke over Gonzaga

Midwest: Kentucky over Notre Dame

West: Arizona over Wisconsin

Predicted Final 4 Games

Duke over Michigan St.

Kentucky over Arizona

Predicted National Championship Game

Kentucky over Duke

PiRate Ratings Bracketology Report for Sunday, March 16, 2014

Last Updated: March 16, 2014 7:45 AM EDT

 

Note: This will be the last update prior to the Selection Show on CBS-TV.  Our next update will be our bracketnomics report late Monday night/Tuesday morning.

 

Already In The Field of 68 

1. Harvard (26-4)

2. Eastern Kentucky (24-9)

3. Mercer (26-8)

4. Wichita St. (34-0)

5. Coastal Carolina (21-12)

6. Delaware (25-9)

7. Manhattan (25-7)

8. Wofford (20-12)

9. Mount St. Mary’s (16-16)

10. North Dakota St. (25-6)

11. Milwaukee (21-13)

12. Gonzaga (28-6)

13. American (20-12)

14. Louisville (29-5)

15. Albany (18-14)

16. Iowa St. (26-7)

17. Providence (23-11)

18. Weber St. (19-11)

19. Tulsa (21-12)

20. Western Michigan (23-9)

21. UNC-Central (28-5)

22. New Mexico (26-6)

23. U C L A (26-8)

24. Stephen F. Austin (31-2)

25. Texas Southern (19-14)

26. New Mexico St. (26-9)

27. Cal Poly (13-19)

 

Mount St. Mary’s and Cal Poly are virtually assured of going to Dayton for the First Round.  Albany and Texas Southern or Weber St. are the most likely teams to fill the other two #16 seed spots forced to play in the opening round.

 

The Bubbler

The higher up each team is on this bubble list, the better.  Providence moved off the Bubble with their Big East Championship Game win.  They cannot be an opening round team.  As of Sunday morning, the Bubble has shrunk to eight teams that will make the field and ten other Bubble teams hoping that the Committee will find some reason to include them in the field.  Teams five through eight are the last four in, and teams nine through 12 are the first four out.

 

1. Nebraska

2. Iowa

3. Tennessee

4. Oklahoma St.

——————————

5. Xavier

6. Dayton

7. S M U

8. B Y U

——————————

9. Minnesota

10. Missouri

11. Green Bay

12. Florida St.

——————————

13. Arkansas

14. Louisiana Tech

15. Clemson

16. North Carolina St.

17. California

18. St. John’s

 

CONFERENCE TOURNAMENTS

Tournament Championships Today

All times are Eastern Daylight

 

Atlantic 10

#2 V C U (12-4/26-7) vs. #4 St. Joseph’s (11-5/23-9)—1:00 PM on CBS

 

Atlantic Coast

#1 Virginia (16-2/27-6) vs. #3 Duke (13-5/26-7)—1:00 PM on ESPN

 

Big Ten

#1 Michigan (15-3/25-7) vs. Michigan St. (12-6/25-8)—3:30 PM on CBS

 

Southeastern

#1 Florida (18-0/31-2) vs. #2 Kentucky (12-6/24-9)—3:15 PM on ESPN

 

Sun Belt

#1 Georgia St. (17-1/25-7) vs. #3 UL-Lafayette (11-7/22-11)—1:00 PM on ESPN2

 

Previous Results

 

American Athletic Conference

Location—Fedex Forum, Memphis

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #7 Rutgers 72  #10 South Florida 68

G2: #9 Central Florida 94  #8 Temple 90  2 ot

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G3: #6 Houston 68  #3 S M U 64  

G4: #2 Louisville 92  #7 Rutgers 31

G5: #1 Cincinnati 61  #9 Central Florida 58

G6: #4 Connecticut 72  #5 Memphis 53

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G7: #2 Louisville 94  #6 Houston 65

G8: #4 Connecticut 58  #1 Cincinnati 56

 

Championship

#2 Louisville 71   #4 Connecticut 61

 

America East Conference

Location—SEFCU Arena, Albany, NY

 

Quarterfinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G1: #1 Vermont 77  #8 New Hampshire 60

G2: #4 Albany 86  #5 UMBC 56

G3: #2 Stony Brook 80  #7 Maine 54

G4: #3 Hartford 69  #6 Binghamton 42

 

Semifinal Round—Sunday, March 9

G5: #4 Albany 67  #1 Vermont 58  

G6: #2 Stony Brook 64  #3 Hartford 61

 

Championship

#4 Albany 69  #2 Stony Brook 60

 

Atlantic 10 Conference

Location—Barclay’s Center, Brooklyn

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #13 Fordham 70  #12 George Mason 67

 

2^nd Round—Thursday, March 13

G2: #9 St. Bonaventure 82  #8 La Salle 72  

G3: #5 Dayton 87  #13 Fordham 74

G4: #7 Richmond 76  #10 Duquesne 64

G5: #6 U Mass 65  #11 Rhode Island 61

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 14

G6: #9 St. Bonaventure 71  #1 St. Louis 68

G7: #4 St. Joseph’s 70  #5 Dayton 67

G8: #2 V C U 71  #7 Richmond 53

G9: #3 George Washington 85  #6 U Mass 77

 

Semifinals

G10: #4 St. Joseph’s 67 #9 St. Bonaventure 48 

G11: #2 V C U 74  #3 George Washington 55

 

Atlantic Coast Conference

Location—Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, NC

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #12 Wake Forest 81  #13 Notre Dame 69

G2: #10 Miami 57  #15 Virginia Tech 53

G3: #11 Georgia Tech 73  #14 Boston College 70 ot

 

2^nd Round—Thursday, March 13

G4: #9 Florida St. 76  #8 Maryland  65  

G5: #5 Pittsburgh 84  #12 Wake Forest 55

G6: #7 North Carolina St.  67  #10 Miami 58

G7: #6 Clemson 69  #11 Georgia Tech 65 ot

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 14

G8: #1 Virginia 64  #9 Florida St. 51

G9: #5 Pittsburgh 80  #4 North Carolina 75 

G10: #7 North Carolina St. 66  #2 Syracuse 63  

G11: #3 Duke 63  #6 Clemson 62

 

Semifinal Round

G12: #1 Virginia 51  #5 Pittsburgh 48

G13: #3 Duke 75  #7 North Carolina St. 67

 

 

Atlantic Sun Conference

Location—All Games Played on Campus Sites of Higher Seed

 

Quarterfinal Round—Tuesday, March 4

G1: #1 Florida Gulf Coast 77  #8 Stetson 55

G2: #4 East Tennessee 89  #5 Lipscomb 88 2ot

G3: #2 Mercer 85  #7 Jacksonville 64

G4: #3 USC-Upstate 80  #6 North Florida 74

 

Semifinal Round—Thursday, March 6

G5: #1 Florida Gulf Coast 69  #4 East Tennessee 64

G6: #2 Mercer 78  #3 USC-Upstate 75 2ot

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 9

#2 Mercer 68  #1 Florida Gulf Coast 60

 

Big 12 Conference

Location—Sprint Center, Kansas City

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #8 Oklahoma St. 80 (8-10/21-11)  #9 Texas Tech 62

G2: #7 Baylor 76  #10 T C U 68

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G3: #4 Iowa St. 91  #5 Kansas St. 85

G4: #1 Kansas 77  #8 Oklahoma St. 70 ot

G5: #7 Baylor 78  #2 Oklahoma 73

G6: #3 Texas 66  #6 West Virginia 49

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G7: #4 Iowa St. 94  #1 Kansas 83

G8: #7 Baylor 86  #3 Texas 69

 

Championship

#4 Iowa St. 74 (11-7/26-7)  #7 Baylor 65

 

Big East Conference

Location—Madison Square Garden, New York City

 

All Games Televised on Fox Sports 1

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #8 Seton Hall 51 (6-12/16-16)  #9 Butler 50

G2: #10 DePaul 60  #7 Georgetown 56  

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G3: #8 Seton Hall 64  #1 Villanova 63

G4: #4 Providence 79  #5 St. John’s 74

G5: #2 Creighton 84  #10 DePaul 62

G6: #3 Xavier 68  #6 Marquette 65

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G7: #4 Providence 80  #8 Seton Hall 74 

G8: #2 Creighton 86  #3 Xavier 78

 

Championship

#4 Providence 65  #2 Creighton 58

 

Big Sky Conference

Location: Dee Events Center (Weber St.), Ogden, UT

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G1: #2 North Dakota 79  #7 Sacramento St. 76

G2: #6 Northern Colorado 62  #3 Northern Arizona 60 

G3: #5 Portland St. 70  #4 Montana 63   

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G4: #2 North Dakota 79  #5 Portland St. 63

G5: #1 Weber St. 66  #6 Northern Colorado 63

 

Championship

#1 Weber St. 88  #2 North Dakota 67

 

Big South Conference

Location—The HTC Center, Conway, SC (Myrtle Beach)

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 5

G1: #4S Winthrop 77  vs. #5N Liberty 65

G2: #3N Radford 78  vs. #6S Presbyterian 73

G3: #5S Chas. Southern 81  #4N Campbell 71

G4: #3S Gardner-Webb 81  #6N Longwood 65

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 7

G5: #4S Winthrop 62  #1N High Point 60

G6: #2S UNC-Asheville 96  #3N Radford 87

G7: #1S Coastal Carolina 73  #5S Chas. Southern 68 2ot

G8: #2N VMI 90  #3S Gardner-Webb 77

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G9: #4S Winthrop 80  #2S UNC-Asheville 79

G10: #1S Coastal Carolina 66  #2N V M I 62

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 9

#1S Coastal Carolina 76  #4S Winthrop 61 

 

Big Ten Conference

Location—Banker’s Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis

 

Opening Round—Thursday, March 13

G1: #9 Illinois 64  #8 Indiana 54

G2: #5 Ohio St. 63   #12 Purdue 61

G3: #7 Minnesota 63   #10 Penn St. 56

G4: #11 Northwestern 67  #6 Iowa 62  

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 14

G5: #1 Michigan 64  #9 Illinois 63

G6: #5 Ohio St. 71  #4 Nebraska 67

G7: #2 Wisconsin 83  #7 Minnesota 57

G8: #3 Michigan St. 67  #11 Northwestern 51

 

Semifinals

G9: #1 Michigan 72 (15-3/25-7)  #5 Ohio St. 69

G10: #3 Michigan St. 83 (12-6/25-8)  #2 Wisconsin 75 

 

Big West Conference

Location—Honda Center, Anaheim

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G1: #7 Cal Poly 69  #2 U C S B 38  

G2: #3 Long Beach St. 66 (10-6/15-16)  #6 Cal St. Fullerton 56

G3: #1 UC-Irvine 63  #8 UC-Riverside 43

G4: #5 Cal St. Northridge 87  #4 Hawaii 84

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G5: #7 Cal Poly 61 (6-10/12-19)  #1 UC-Irvine 58 

G6: Cal St. Northridge 82  #3 Long Beach St. 77

 

Championship

#7 Cal Poly 61  #5 Cal St. Northridge 59

 

Colonial Athletic Association

Location—Baltimore Arena, Baltimore

 

Opening Round—Friday, March 7

G1: #8 Hofstra 78  #9 UNC-Wilmington 70

 

Quarterfinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G2: #1 Delaware 87 (14-2/23-9)  #8 Hofstra 76

G3: #5 Northeastern 90 (7-9/11-20) #4 Drexel 81

G4: #2 Towson 80 (13-3/23-9) #7 James Madison 71

G5: #3 William & Mary 70 (10-6/19-11) #6 Charleston 59

 

Semifinal Round—Sunday, March 9

G6: #1 Delaware 87  #5 Northeastern 74

G7: #3 William & Mary 75  #2 Towson 71

 

Championship Game—Monday, March 10

#1 Delaware 75  #3 William & Mary 74

 

Conference USA

Location—Don Haskins Center, El Paso, TX

 

Opening Round—Tuesday, March 11 (all games televised online @ C-USA DN)

G1: #10 North Texas 63  #15 Rice 62 ot

G2: #14 Marshall 63  #11 Florida Atlantic 59

G3: #12 East Carolina 79  #13 U T S A 76

 

2^nd Round—Wednesday, March 12 (all games televised online @ C-USA DN)

G4: #7 Tulane 66  #10 North Texas 61

G5: #6 Old Dominion 73  #14 Marshall 58

G6: #5 U T E P  77  #12 East Carolina 68

G7: #9 Charlotte 80  #8 U A B 70 

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13 (all games televised online @ C-USA DN)

G8: #2 Tulsa 70 (13-3/19-12)  #7 Tulane 49

G9: #3 Middle Tennessee 62 (13-3/24-8)  #6 Old Dominion 48

G10: #4 Southern Miss. 64 (13-3/27-5)  #5 U T E P 56

G11: #1 Louisiana Tech 86  #9 Charlotte 65

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14 (both games televised on CBS SN)

G12: #2 Tulsa 76  #3 Middle Tennessee 69

G13: #1 Louisiana Tech 88  #4 Southern Miss. 70

 

Championship

#2 Tulsa 69  #1 Louisiana Tech 60 

 

Horizon League

Location—First Round Games played at the higher seed.  The quarterfinal and semifinal round games will be played at Green Bay, and the championship game will be played at the higher seed.

 

Opening Round—Tuesday, March 4

G1: #5 Milwaukee 83  #8 Detroit 73

G2: #4 Valparaiso 73  #9 Illinois-Chicago 63

G3: #6 Oakland 96  #7 Youngstown St. 92 ot

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 7

G4: #3 Wright St. 73  #6 Oakland 57

G5: #5 Milwaukee 74  #4 Valparaiso 57

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G6: #3 Wright St. 68 (10-6/20-13) #2 Cleveland St. 63

G7: #5 Milwaukee 73  #1 Green Bay 66   ot

 

Championship Game—Tuesday, March 11

#5 Milwaukee 69  #3 Wright St. 63  

 

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference

Location—Mass Mutual Center, Springfield, MA

 

Opening Round—Thursday, March 6

G1: #8 Rider 71  #9 Monmouth 60

G2: #7 St. Peter’s 65  #10 Fairfield 62 ot

G3: #11 Niagara 78  #6 Marist 76

 

Quarterfinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G4: #1 Iona 94  #8 Rider 71

G5: #4 Canisius 71  #5 Siena 69

G6: #2 Manhattan 72  #7 St. Peter’s 58

G7: #3 Quinnipiac 89  #11 Niagara 80

 

Semifinal Round—Sunday, March 9

G8: #1 Iona 75  #4 Canisius 72

G9: #2 Manhattan 87  #3 Quinnipiac 68

 

Championship Game—Monday, March 10

#2 Manhattan  71  #1 Iona 68

 

Mid-American Conference

Location—Opening Round at higher seed; all other rounds at Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland

 

Opening Round—Monday, March 10

G1: #5 Ohio 76  #12 Ball St. 64

G2: #8 Miami (O) 71  #9 Kent St. 64

G3: #6 Eastern Michigan 72  #11 Central Michigan 60

G4: #7 Northern Illinois 54  #10 Bowling Green 51 ot

 

2^nd Round—Wednesday, March 12

G5: #5 Ohio 63  #8 Miami (O) 55

G6: #6 Eastern Michigan 53  #7 Northern Illinois 48

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G7: #4 Akron 83  #6 Ohio 77

G8: #6 Eastern Michigan 69  #3 Buffalo 64 

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G9: #1 Western Michigan 64  #4 Akron 60

G10: #2 Toledo 59  #6 Eastern Michigan 44

 

Championship

#1 Western Michigan 98  #2 Toledo 77

 

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference

Location: Norfolk Scope Arena, Norfolk, VA

 

Opening Round—Monday, March 10 & Tuesday, March 11

G1: #4 Norfolk St. 78  #13 Maryland-Eastern Shore 74

G2: #5 Savannah St. 61  #12 South Carolina St. 47

G3: #8 Howard 53  #9 North Carolina A&T 47

G4: #7 Coppin St. 75  #10 Bethune-Cookman 68

G5: #6 Florida A&M 65  #11 Delaware St. 61

 

Quarterfinal Round—Wednesday, March 12 & Thursday, March 13

G6: #1 UNC-Central 92  #8 Howard 46

G7: #7 Coppin St. 83  #2 Hampton 77 

G8: #3 Morgan St. 81  #6 Florida A&M 68

G9: #4 Norfolk St. 57  #5 Savannah St. 47

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G10: #1 UNC-Central 68  #4 Norfolk St. 45

G11: #3 Morgan St. 79  #7 Coppin St. 64

 

Championship

#1 UNC-Central 71  #3 Morgan St. 62

 

Missouri Valley Conference (Arch Madness)

Location: Scottrade Center, St. Louis

 

All Games until the Championship on MVC TV Network

 

Opening Round—Thursday, March 6

G1: #9 Evansville 69  #8 Drake 61  

G2: #10 Loyola (Chi) 74 (4-14/10-21) #7 Bradley 72  

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 7

G3: #1 Wichita St. 80  #9 Evansville 58

G4: #4 Missouri St. 53  #5 Illinois St. 48

G5: #2 Indiana St. 75  #10 Loyola (Chi) 62

G6: #6 Southern Illinois 63  #3 Northern Iowa 58 

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G7: #1 Wichita St. 67  Missouri St. 42

G8: #2 Indiana St. 62  #6 Southern Illinois 59

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 9

#1 Wichita St. 83  #2 Indiana St. 69

 

Mountain West Conference

Location—Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #8 Utah St. 73 (7-11/18-13)  #9 Colorado St. 69

G2: #7 Fresno St. 61  #10 Air Force 59

G3: #6 Boise St. 83  #11 San Jose St. 52

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G4: #1 San Diego St. 73  #8 Utah St. 39

G5: #4 U N L V 71   #5 Wyoming 67

G6: #2 New Mexico 93  #7 Fresno St. 77

G7: #6 Boise St. 75  #3 Nevada 62  

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G8: #1 San Diego St. 59  #4 U N L V 51

G9: #2 New Mexico 70  #6 Boise St. 67

 

Championship

#2 New Mexico 64  #1 San Diego St. 58 

 

Northeast Conference

Location—All Games Played On Campus Sites of Higher Seeds

Tournament Re-seeds teams after quarterfinal round (like NFL Playoffs)

 

Quarterfinal Round—Wednesday, March 5 (All Games at 7:00 PM)

G1: #1 Robert Morris 60  #8 Fairleigh-Dickinson 53

G2: #2 Wagner 83  #7 Central Connecticut 59

G3: #6 St. Francis (PA) 55  #3 Bryant 54 

G4: #5 Mount St. Mary’s 72  #4 St. Francis (NY) 71 

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G5: #5 Mount St. Mary’s 77  #2 Wagner 52

G6: #1 Robert Morris 60  #6 St. Francis (PA) 57

 

Championship Game—Tuesday, March 11

#5 Mount St. Mary’s 88  #1 Robert Morris 71

 

Ohio Valley Conference

Location—Municipal Auditorium, Nashville

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 5

G1: #5 Tennessee Tech 74  #8 SIU-Edwards. 67

G2: #6 Southeast Missouri 79  #7 E. Illinois 61

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 6

G3: #4 Morehead St. 76  #5 Tennessee Tech 61

G4: #3 Eastern Kentucky 84  #6 S.E. Missouri 76

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 7

G5: #1 Belmont 86  #4 Morehead St. 63

G6: #3 Eastern Kentucky 86  #2 Murray St. 83  

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 8

#3 Eastern Kentucky 79  #1 Belmont 73

 

Pac-12 Conference

Location—MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #8 Utah 67  #9 Washington 61

G2: #5 Colorado 59  #12 Southern Cal 56

G3: #7 Oregon 88  #10 Oregon St. 74

G4: #6 Stanford 74  #11 Washington St. 63

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G5: #1 Arizona 71  #8 Utah 39

G6: #5 Colorado 59   #4 California 56 

G7: #2 U C L A 82  #7 Oregon 63

G8: #6 Stanford 79  #3 Arizona St. 58

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G9: #1 Arizona 63 (15-3/30-3)  #5 Colorado 43

G10: #2 U C L A 84  #6 Stanford 59

 

Championship

#2 U C L A 75  #1 Arizona 71 

 

Patriot League

Location—All Games Played on Campus Sites at Higher Seed

 

Opening Round—Monday, March 3

G1: #9 Lafayette 84  #8 Loyola (MD) 71

G2: #7 Colgate  #10 Navy 51

 

Quarterfinal Round—Wednesday, March 5

G3: #1 Boston U. 91  #9 Lafayette 54

G4: #5 Army 72  #4 Bucknell 71

G5: #3 Holy Cross 54  #6 Lehigh 48

G6: #2 American 59  #7 Colgate 50

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G7: #1 Boston U 91  #5 Army 70

G8: #2 American 57  #3 Holy Cross 46

 

Championship Game—Wednesday, March 12

#2 American 55  #1 Boston U 36

 

Southeastern Conference

Location—Georgia Dome, Atlanta

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #13 South Carolina 74 (5-13/13-19)  #12 Auburn 56  

G2: #14 Mississippi St. 82  #11 Vanderbilt 68 

 

2^nd Round—Thursday, March 13

G3: #8 Missouri 91  #9 Texas A&M 83 2ot

G4: South Carolina 71  #5 Arkansas 69

G5: #7 L S U 68  #10 Alabama 56

G6: #6 Ole Miss 78  #14 Mississippi St. 66

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 14

G7: #1 Florida 72  #8 Missouri 49

G8: #4 Tennessee 59  #13 South Carolina 44

G9: #2 Kentucky 85  #7 L S U 67

G10: #3 Georgia 75  #6 Ole Miss 73

 

Semifinals

G11: #1 Florida 56  #4 Tennessee 49

G12: #2 Kentucky 70  #3 Georgia 58

 

Southern Conference

Location—U.S. Cellular Center, Asheville, NC

 

Opening Round—Friday, March 7

G1: #8 Samford 70  #9 Appalachian St. 56

G2: #7 Georgia Southern 65  #10 Furman 50

G3: #11 Citadel 86  #6 UNCG 76 

 

Quarterfinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G4: #1 Davidson 77  #8 Samford 54

G5: #5 Western Carolina 66  #4 Elon 64 

G6: #7 Georgia Southern 62  #2 Chattanooga 55 

G7: #3 Wofford 68  #11 Citadel 51

 

Semifinal Round—Sunday, March 9

G8: #5 Western Carolina 99  #1 Davidson 97  ot  

G9: #3 Wofford 71  #7 Georgia Southern 57 

 

Championship Game—Monday, March 10

#3 Wofford 56  #5 Western Carolina 53

 

Southland Conference

Location—Leonard E. Merrell Center, Katy, TX

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #8 Nicholls St. 71  #5 Southeast Louisiana 64 

G2: #6 Oral Roberts 66  #7 McNeese St. 62

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G3: #4 Northwestern St. 88  #8 Nicholls St. 72

G4: #3 Sam Houston St. 70  #6 Oral Roberts 61

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G5: #1 Stephen F. Austin 85  #4 Northwestern St. 78

G6: #3 Sam Houston St. 69  #2 Texas A&M—C.C. 62

 

Championship

#1 Stephen F. Austin 68  #3 Sam Houston St. 49

 

Southwestern Athletic Conference

Location—Toyota Center, Houston

 

Opening Round—Tuesday, March 11

G1: #10 Grambling 84  #7 Jackson St. 75  

G2: #8 Prairie View 79  #9 Mississippi Valley 63

 

Quarterfinal Round—Wednesday, March 12 & Thursday, March 13

G3: #2 Texas Southern 79  Grambling 54

G4: #8 Prairie View 64  #1 Southern 46  

G5: #3 Alabama St. 64  #6 Alcorn St. 51

G6: #5 Alabama A&M 69  #4 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 50

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G7: #2 Texas Southern 73  #3 Alabama St. 61

G8: #8 Prairie View 55   #5 Alabama A&M  49

 

Championship

#2 Texas Southern 78  #8 Prairie View 73

 

Summit League

Location—Sioux Falls Arena, Sioux Falls, SD

 

Quarterfinal Round—Saturday, March 8 & Sunday, March 9

G1: #2 IPFW 85  #7 IUPUI 47

G2: #4 Denver 71 (8-6/16-14)  #5 S. Dakota 55

G3: #3 S. Dakota St. 71  #6 W. Illinois 50

 

Semifinal Round—Monday, March 10

G4: #1 N. Dakota St. 83  #4 Denver 48

G5: #2 IPFW 64  #3 S. Dakota St. 60

 

Championship Game—Tuesday, March 11

#1 North Dakota St. 60  #2 IPFW 57

 

Sun Belt Conference

Location—Lakefront Arena, New Orleans

 

Opening Round—Thursday, March 13

G1: #5 U A L R 74  #8 Troy 61

G2: #6 UT-Arlington 68 (9-9/15-16)  #7 UL-Monroe 65

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 14

G3: #4 Arkansas St. 116  #5 U A L R 114 4ot

G4: #3 UL-Lafayette 91  #6 UT-Arlington 85

 

Semifinals

G5: #1 Georgia St. 72  #4 Arkansas St. 45

G6: #3 UL-Lafayette 73  #2 Western Kentucky 72

 

West Coast Conference

Location—Orleans Arena, Las Vegas

 

Opening Round—Thursday, March 6

G1: #10 Loyola Marymount 67  #7 Portland 64 

G2: #9 Santa Clara 81  #8 Pacific 64

 

Quarterfinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G3: #3 San Francisco 69  #6 San Diego 60

G4: #2 B Y U 85  #10 Loyola Marymount 74

G5: #1 Gonzaga 77  #9 Santa Clara 75

G6: #4 St. Mary’s 80  #5 Pepperdine 69

 

Semifinal Round—Monday, March 10

G7: #2 B Y U 79 ot  #3 San Francisco 77

G8: #1 Gonzaga 70  #4 St. Mary’s 54

 

Championship Game—Tuesday, March 11

#1 Gonzaga 75  #2 B Y U 64

 

Western Athletic Conference

Location—Orleans Arena, Las Vegas

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G1: #1 Utah Valley 83  #8 Texas-Pan American 63

G2: #5 Idaho 73  #4 Mo.-Kansas City 70

G3: #6 Cal St.-Bakersfield 68  #3 Chicago St. 62

G4: #2 New Mexico St. 70  #7 Seattle 68

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G5: #5 Idaho 74  #1 Utah Valley 69  

G6: #2 New Mexico St. 69  #6 Cal St.-Bakersfield 63  

 

Championship

#2 New Mexico St. 77  #5 Idaho 55

 

PiRate Ratings Bracketology Report for Saturday, March 15, 2014

Last Updated: March 15, 2014 7:55 AM EDT

Bubble Headlines

North Carolina St. moves into position to make a push to the Bubble

 

St. Bonaventure stays alive as a possible Bubble Buster.

 

Providence moves up the Bubble to last 4 in with Big East win

 

Clemson misses out on big upset to fall into NIT pool

 

St. Joe’s knocks off Dayton to solidify their hold on a bid and jeopardize the Flyers’ chances

 

Nebraska’s collapse against Ohio St. sends Cornhuskers down a few notches but still in the Dance

 

Louisiana Tech’s semifinal defeat of Southern Miss. gives Bulldogs a shot at an at-large should they lose

 

Toledo gets into Bubble mix with semifinal win in the MAC

 

LSU completely out of the mix after blowing early lead versus Kentucky

 

Georgia is an enigma—Bulldogs should be in the discussion with their record since November

 

Already In The Field of 68 

1. Harvard (26-4)

2. Eastern Kentucky (24-9)

3. Mercer (26-8)

4. Wichita St. (34-0)

5. Coastal Carolina (21-12)

6. Delaware (25-9)

7. Manhattan (25-7)

8. Wofford (20-12)

9. Mount St. Mary’s (16-16)

10. North Dakota St. (25-6)

11. Milwaukee (21-13)

12. Gonzaga (28-6)

13. American (20-12)

 

The Bubbler

The higher up each team is on this bubble list, the better.  St. Joseph’s has now moved from The Bubble to Safe status.  As of Saturday morning, just 10 teams on The Bubble will make the NCAA Tournament, while teams 11 through 20 are on the outside, looking in.  Teams listed at numbers 7 through 10 are the last four in.  Teams listed at numbers 11 through 14 comprise the first four out.  Keep an eye on St. Bonaventure, as the Bonnies could burst a bubble if they win the A-10 title.  North Carolina St. could do the same thing with a win over Duke today in the ACC Semifinals.  A Georgia win over Kentucky today has to get the Bulldogs moved into the discussion.  UGA finished tied for second in the SEC with a 12-6 record, and the Committee has to give that some serious thought.

 

1. Nebraska

2. Iowa

3. Tennessee

4. Oklahoma St.

5. Xavier

6. Oklahoma St.

——————————

7. Dayton

8. S M U

9. Providence

10. B Y U

——————————

11. Minnesota

12. Missouri

13. Green Bay

14. Florida St.

——————————

15. Arkansas

16. Louisiana Tech

17. Clemson

18. North Carolina St.

19. California

20. St. John’s

 

CONFERENCE TOURNAMENTS

Tournaments Playing Today

All times are Eastern Daylight

 

American Athletic—Championship

#2 Louisville (15-3/28-5) vs. #4 Connecticut (12-6/26-7)—6:00 PM on ESPN

 

America East—Championship

#4 Albany (9-7/17-14) vs. #2 Stony Brook (13-3/23-9)—11:30 AM on ESPN2

 

Atlantic 10—Semifinals

G10: #9 St. Bonaventure (6-10/18-14) vs. #4 St. Joseph’s (11-5/22-9)—1:30 PM on CBSSN

G11: #2 V C U (12-4/25-7) vs. #3 George Washington (11-5/24-7)—4:00 PM on CBSSN

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 16

Game 10 winner vs. Game 11 winner—1:00 PM on CBS

 

Atlantic Coast—Semifinals

G12: #1 Virginia (16-2/26-6) vs. #5 Pittsburgh (11-7/25-8)—1:00 PM on ESPN

G13: #7 North Carolina St. (8-8/21-12) vs. #3 Duke (13-5/25-7)—3:00 PM on ESPN

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 16

Game 12 winner vs. Game 13 winner—1:00 PM on ESPN

 

Big 12—Championship

#4 Iowa St. (11-7/25-7) vs. #7 Baylor (9-9/24-10)—9:00 PM on ESPN

 

Big East—Championship

#4 Providence (10-8/22-11) vs. #2 Creighton (14-4/26-6)—8:30 PM

 

Big Sky—Championship

#1 Weber St. (14-6/18-11) vs. #2 North Dakota (12-8/17-15)—8:00 PM on ESPNU

 

Big Ten—Semifinals

G9: #1 Michigan (15-3/24-7) vs. #5 Ohio St. (10-8/25-8)—1:40 PM on CBS

G10: #2 Wisconsin (12-6/26-6) vs. #3 Michigan St. (12-6/24-8)—4:20 PM on CBS

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 16

Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner—3:30 PM on CBS

 

Big West—Championship

#7 Cal Poly (6-10/12-19) vs. #5 Cal St. Northridge (7-9/17-17)—10:30 PM on ESPN2

 

Conference USA—Championship

#1 Louisiana Tech (13-3/27-6) vs. #2 Tulsa (13-3/20-12)—11:35 AM on CBS

 

Mid-American—Championship

#1 Western Michigan (14-4/22-9) vs. #2 Toledo (14-4/27-5)—6:30 PM on ESPN2

 

Mideastern Athletic—Championship

#1 UNC-Central (15-1/27-5) vs. #3 Morgan St. (11-5/15-15)—6:00 PM on ESPNU

 

Mountain West—Championship

#1 San Diego St. (16-2/29-3) vs. #2 New Mexico (15-3/25-6)—6:00 PM on CBS

 

Pac-12—Championship

#1 Arizona (15-3/30-3) vs. #2 U C L A (12-6/25-8)—6:00 PM on Fox Sports 1

 

Southeastern—Semifinals

G11: #1 Florida (18-0/30-2) vs. #4 Tennessee (11-7/21-11)—1:00 PM on ABC

G12: #2 Kentucky (12-6/23-9) vs. #3 Georgia (12-6/19-12)—3:30 PM on ABC

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 16

Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner—3:15 PM on ESPN

 

Southland—Championship

#1 Stephen F. Austin (18-0/30-2) vs. #3 Sam Houston St. (13-5/23-9)—8:30 PM on ESPN2

 

Southwestern Athletic—Championship

#2 Texas Southern (12-6/18-14) vs. #8 Prairie View (6-12/11-22)—4:30 PM on ESPN2

 

Sunbelt—Semifinals

G5: #1 Georgia St. (17-1/24-7) vs. #4 Arkansas St. (10-8/19-12)—3:00 PM on Sun Belt Network

G6: #2 Western Kentucky (12-6/20-11) vs. #3 UL-Lafayette (11-7/21-11)—5:30 PM on Sun Belt Network

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 16

Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner—1:00 PM on ESPN2

 

Western Athletic—Championship

#5 Idaho (7-9/16-17) vs. #2 New Mexico St. (12-4/25-9)—10:00 PM on ESPNU

 

 

Previous Results

 

American Athletic Conference

Location—Fedex Forum, Memphis

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #7 Rutgers 72  #10 South Florida 68

G2: #9 Central Florida 94  #8 Temple 90  2 ot

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G3: #6 Houston 68  #3 S M U 64  

G4: #2 Louisville 92  #7 Rutgers 31

G5: #1 Cincinnati 61  #9 Central Florida 58

G6: #4 Connecticut 72  #5 Memphis 53

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G7: #2 Louisville 94  #6 Houston 65

G8: #4 Connecticut 58  #1 Cincinnati 56

 

America East Conference

Location—SEFCU Arena, Albany, NY

 

Quarterfinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G1: #1 Vermont 77  #8 New Hampshire 60

G2: #4 Albany 86  #5 UMBC 56

G3: #2 Stony Brook 80  #7 Maine 54

G4: #3 Hartford 69  #6 Binghamton 42

 

Semifinal Round—Sunday, March 9

G5: #4 Albany 67  #1 Vermont 58  

G6: #2 Stony Brook 64  #3 Hartford 61

 

 

Atlantic 10 Conference

Location—Barclay’s Center, Brooklyn

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #13 Fordham 70  #12 George Mason 67

 

2^nd Round—Thursday, March 13

G2: #9 St. Bonaventure 82  #8 La Salle 72  

G3: #5 Dayton 87  #13 Fordham 74

G4: #7 Richmond 76  #10 Duquesne 64

G5: #6 U Mass 65  #11 Rhode Island 61

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 14

G6: #9 St. Bonaventure 71  #1 St. Louis 68

G7: #4 St. Joseph’s 70  #5 Dayton 67

G8: #2 V C U 71  #7 Richmond 53

G9: #3 George Washington 85  #6 U Mass 77

 

 

Atlantic Coast Conference

Location—Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, NC

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #12 Wake Forest 81  #13 Notre Dame 69

G2: #10 Miami 57  #15 Virginia Tech 53

G3: #11 Georgia Tech 73  #14 Boston College 70 ot

 

2^nd Round—Thursday, March 13

G4: #9 Florida St. 76  #8 Maryland  65  

G5: #5 Pittsburgh 84  #12 Wake Forest 55

G6: #7 North Carolina St.  67  #10 Miami 58

G7: #6 Clemson 69  #11 Georgia Tech 65 ot

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 14

G8: #1 Virginia 64  #9 Florida St. 51

G9: #5 Pittsburgh 80  #4 North Carolina 75 

G10: #7 North Carolina St. 66  #2 Syracuse 63  

G11: #3 Duke 63  #6 Clemson 62

 

 

Atlantic Sun Conference

Location—All Games Played on Campus Sites of Higher Seed

 

Quarterfinal Round—Tuesday, March 4

G1: #1 Florida Gulf Coast 77  #8 Stetson 55

G2: #4 East Tennessee 89  #5 Lipscomb 88 2ot

G3: #2 Mercer 85  #7 Jacksonville 64

G4: #3 USC-Upstate 80  #6 North Florida 74

 

Semifinal Round—Thursday, March 6

G5: #1 Florida Gulf Coast 69  #4 East Tennessee 64

G6: #2 Mercer 78  #3 USC-Upstate 75 2ot

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 9

#2 Mercer 68  #1 Florida Gulf Coast 60

 

Big 12 Conference

Location—Sprint Center, Kansas City

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #8 Oklahoma St. 80 (8-10/21-11)  #9 Texas Tech 62

G2: #7 Baylor 76  #10 T C U 68

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G3: #4 Iowa St. 91  #5 Kansas St. 85

G4: #1 Kansas 77  #8 Oklahoma St. 70 ot

G5: #7 Baylor 78  #2 Oklahoma 73

G6: #3 Texas 66  #6 West Virginia 49

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G7: #4 Iowa St. 94  #1 Kansas 83

G8: #7 Baylor 86  #3 Texas 69

 

Big East Conference

Location—Madison Square Garden, New York City

 

All Games Televised on Fox Sports 1

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #8 Seton Hall 51 (6-12/16-16)  #9 Butler 50

G2: #10 DePaul 60  #7 Georgetown 56  

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G3: #8 Seton Hall 64  #1 Villanova 63

G4: #4 Providence 79  #5 St. John’s 74

G5: #2 Creighton 84  #10 DePaul 62

G6: #3 Xavier 68  #6 Marquette 65

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G7: #4 Providence 80  #8 Seton Hall 74 

G8: #2 Creighton 86  #3 Xavier 78

 

Big Sky Conference

Location: Dee Events Center (Weber St.), Ogden, UT

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G1: #2 North Dakota 79  #7 Sacramento St. 76

G2: #6 Northern Colorado 62  #3 Northern Arizona 60 

G3: #5 Portland St. 70  #4 Montana 63   

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G4: #2 North Dakota 79  #5 Portland St. 63

G5: #1 Weber St. 66  #6 Northern Colorado 63

 

Big South Conference

Location—The HTC Center, Conway, SC (Myrtle Beach)

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 5

G1: #4S Winthrop 77  vs. #5N Liberty 65

G2: #3N Radford 78  vs. #6S Presbyterian 73

G3: #5S Chas. Southern 81  #4N Campbell 71

G4: #3S Gardner-Webb 81  #6N Longwood 65

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 7

G5: #4S Winthrop 62  #1N High Point 60

G6: #2S UNC-Asheville 96  #3N Radford 87

G7: #1S Coastal Carolina 73  #5S Chas. Southern 68 2ot

G8: #2N VMI 90  #3S Gardner-Webb 77

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G9: #4S Winthrop 80  #2S UNC-Asheville 79

G10: #1S Coastal Carolina 66  #2N V M I 62

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 9

#1S Coastal Carolina 76  #4S Winthrop 61 

 

Big Ten Conference

Location—Banker’s Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis

 

Opening Round—Thursday, March 13

G1: #9 Illinois 64  #8 Indiana 54

G2: #5 Ohio St. 63   #12 Purdue 61

G3: #7 Minnesota 63   #10 Penn St. 56

G4: #11 Northwestern 67  #6 Iowa 62  

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 14

G5: #1 Michigan 64  #9 Illinois 63

G6: #5 Ohio St. 71  #4 Nebraska 67

G7: #2 Wisconsin 83  #7 Minnesota 57

G8: #3 Michigan St. 67  #11 Northwestern 51

 

Big West Conference

Location—Honda Center, Anaheim

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G1: #7 Cal Poly 69  #2 U C S B 38  

G2: #3 Long Beach St. 66 (10-6/15-16)  #6 Cal St. Fullerton 56

G3: #1 UC-Irvine 63  #8 UC-Riverside 43

G4: #5 Cal St. Northridge 87  #4 Hawaii 84

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G5: #7 Cal Poly 61 (6-10/12-19)  #1 UC-Irvine 58 

G6: Cal St. Northridge 82  #3 Long Beach St. 77

 

Colonial Athletic Association

Location—Baltimore Arena, Baltimore

 

Opening Round—Friday, March 7

G1: #8 Hofstra 78  #9 UNC-Wilmington 70

 

Quarterfinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G2: #1 Delaware 87 (14-2/23-9)  #8 Hofstra 76

G3: #5 Northeastern 90 (7-9/11-20) #4 Drexel 81

G4: #2 Towson 80 (13-3/23-9) #7 James Madison 71

G5: #3 William & Mary 70 (10-6/19-11) #6 Charleston 59

 

Semifinal Round—Sunday, March 9

G6: #1 Delaware 87  #5 Northeastern 74

G7: #3 William & Mary 75  #2 Towson 71

 

Championship Game—Monday, March 10

#1 Delaware 75  #3 William & Mary 74

 

Conference USA

Location—Don Haskins Center, El Paso, TX

 

Opening Round—Tuesday, March 11 (all games televised online @ C-USA DN)

G1: #10 North Texas 63  #15 Rice 62 ot

G2: #14 Marshall 63  #11 Florida Atlantic 59

G3: #12 East Carolina 79  #13 U T S A 76

 

2^nd Round—Wednesday, March 12 (all games televised online @ C-USA DN)

G4: #7 Tulane 66  #10 North Texas 61

G5: #6 Old Dominion 73  #14 Marshall 58

G6: #5 U T E P  77  #12 East Carolina 68

G7: #9 Charlotte 80  #8 U A B 70 

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13 (all games televised online @ C-USA DN)

G8: #2 Tulsa 70 (13-3/19-12)  #7 Tulane 49

G9: #3 Middle Tennessee 62 (13-3/24-8)  #6 Old Dominion 48

G10: #4 Southern Miss. 64 (13-3/27-5)  #5 U T E P 56

G11: #1 Louisiana Tech 86  #9 Charlotte 65

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14 (both games televised on CBS SN)

G12: #2 Tulsa 76  #3 Middle Tennessee 69

G13: #1 Louisiana Tech 88  #4 Southern Miss. 70

 

Horizon League

Location—First Round Games played at the higher seed.  The quarterfinal and semifinal round games will be played at Green Bay, and the championship game will be played at the higher seed.

 

Opening Round—Tuesday, March 4

G1: #5 Milwaukee 83  #8 Detroit 73

G2: #4 Valparaiso 73  #9 Illinois-Chicago 63

G3: #6 Oakland 96  #7 Youngstown St. 92 ot

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 7

G4: #3 Wright St. 73  #6 Oakland 57

G5: #5 Milwaukee 74  #4 Valparaiso 57

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G6: #3 Wright St. 68 (10-6/20-13) #2 Cleveland St. 63

G7: #5 Milwaukee 73  #1 Green Bay 66   ot

 

Championship Game—Tuesday, March 11

#5 Milwaukee 69  #3 Wright St. 63  

 

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference

Location—Mass Mutual Center, Springfield, MA

 

Opening Round—Thursday, March 6

G1: #8 Rider 71  #9 Monmouth 60

G2: #7 St. Peter’s 65  #10 Fairfield 62 ot

G3: #11 Niagara 78  #6 Marist 76

 

Quarterfinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G4: #1 Iona 94  #8 Rider 71

G5: #4 Canisius 71  #5 Siena 69

G6: #2 Manhattan 72  #7 St. Peter’s 58

G7: #3 Quinnipiac 89  #11 Niagara 80

 

Semifinal Round—Sunday, March 9

G8: #1 Iona 75  #4 Canisius 72

G9: #2 Manhattan 87  #3 Quinnipiac 68

 

Championship Game—Monday, March 10

#2 Manhattan  71  #1 Iona 68

 

Mid-American Conference

Location—Opening Round at higher seed; all other rounds at Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland

 

Opening Round—Monday, March 10

G1: #5 Ohio 76  #12 Ball St. 64

G2: #8 Miami (O) 71  #9 Kent St. 64

G3: #6 Eastern Michigan 72  #11 Central Michigan 60

G4: #7 Northern Illinois 54  #10 Bowling Green 51 ot

 

2^nd Round—Wednesday, March 12

G5: #5 Ohio 63  #8 Miami (O) 55

G6: #6 Eastern Michigan 53  #7 Northern Illinois 48

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G7: #4 Akron 83  #6 Ohio 77

G8: #6 Eastern Michigan 69  #3 Buffalo 64 

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G9: #1 Western Michigan 64  #4 Akron 60

G10: #2 Toledo 59  #6 Eastern Michigan 44

 

 

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference

Location: Norfolk Scope Arena, Norfolk, VA

 

Opening Round—Monday, March 10 & Tuesday, March 11

G1: #4 Norfolk St. 78  #13 Maryland-Eastern Shore 74

G2: #5 Savannah St. 61  #12 South Carolina St. 47

G3: #8 Howard 53  #9 North Carolina A&T 47

G4: #7 Coppin St. 75  #10 Bethune-Cookman 68

G5: #6 Florida A&M 65  #11 Delaware St. 61

 

Quarterfinal Round—Wednesday, March 12 & Thursday, March 13

G6: #1 UNC-Central 92  #8 Howard 46

G7: #7 Coppin St. 83  #2 Hampton 77 

G8: #3 Morgan St. 81  #6 Florida A&M 68

G9: #4 Norfolk St. 57  #5 Savannah St. 47

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G10: #1 UNC-Central 68  #4 Norfolk St. 45

G11: #3 Morgan St. 79  #7 Coppin St. 64

 

 

 

Missouri Valley Conference (Arch Madness)

Location: Scottrade Center, St. Louis

 

All Games until the Championship on MVC TV Network

 

Opening Round—Thursday, March 6

G1: #9 Evansville 69  #8 Drake 61  

G2: #10 Loyola (Chi) 74 (4-14/10-21) #7 Bradley 72  

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 7

G3: #1 Wichita St. 80  #9 Evansville 58

G4: #4 Missouri St. 53  #5 Illinois St. 48

G5: #2 Indiana St. 75  #10 Loyola (Chi) 62

G6: #6 Southern Illinois 63  #3 Northern Iowa 58 

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G7: #1 Wichita St. 67  Missouri St. 42

G8: #2 Indiana St. 62  #6 Southern Illinois 59

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 9

#1 Wichita St. 83  #2 Indiana St. 69

 

Mountain West Conference

Location—Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #8 Utah St. 73 (7-11/18-13)  #9 Colorado St. 69

G2: #7 Fresno St. 61  #10 Air Force 59

G3: #6 Boise St. 83  #11 San Jose St. 52

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G4: #1 San Diego St. 73  #8 Utah St. 39

G5: #4 U N L V 71   #5 Wyoming 67

G6: #2 New Mexico 93  #7 Fresno St. 77

G7: #6 Boise St. 75  #3 Nevada 62  

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G8: #1 San Diego St. 59  #4 U N L V 51

G9: #2 New Mexico 70  #6 Boise St. 67

 

 

Northeast Conference

Location—All Games Played On Campus Sites of Higher Seeds

Tournament Re-seeds teams after quarterfinal round (like NFL Playoffs)

 

Quarterfinal Round—Wednesday, March 5 (All Games at 7:00 PM)

G1: #1 Robert Morris 60  #8 Fairleigh-Dickinson 53

G2: #2 Wagner 83  #7 Central Connecticut 59

G3: #6 St. Francis (PA) 55  #3 Bryant 54 

G4: #5 Mount St. Mary’s 72  #4 St. Francis (NY) 71 

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G5: #5 Mount St. Mary’s 77  #2 Wagner 52

G6: #1 Robert Morris 60  #6 St. Francis (PA) 57

 

Championship Game—Tuesday, March 11

#5 Mount St. Mary’s 88  #1 Robert Morris 71

 

Ohio Valley Conference

Location—Municipal Auditorium, Nashville

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 5

G1: #5 Tennessee Tech 74  #8 SIU-Edwards. 67

G2: #6 Southeast Missouri 79  #7 E. Illinois 61

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 6

G3: #4 Morehead St. 76  #5 Tennessee Tech 61

G4: #3 Eastern Kentucky 84  #6 S.E. Missouri 76

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 7

G5: #1 Belmont 86  #4 Morehead St. 63

G6: #3 Eastern Kentucky 86  #2 Murray St. 83  

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 8

#3 Eastern Kentucky 79  #1 Belmont 73

 

Pac-12 Conference

Location—MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #8 Utah 67  #9 Washington 61

G2: #5 Colorado 59  #12 Southern Cal 56

G3: #7 Oregon 88  #10 Oregon St. 74

G4: #6 Stanford 74  #11 Washington St. 63

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G5: #1 Arizona 71  #8 Utah 39

G6: #5 Colorado 59   #4 California 56 

G7: #2 U C L A 82  #7 Oregon 63

G8: #6 Stanford 79  #3 Arizona St. 58

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G9: #1 Arizona 63 (15-3/30-3)  #5 Colorado 43

G10: #2 U C L A 84  #6 Stanford 59

 

Patriot League

Location—All Games Played on Campus Sites at Higher Seed

 

Opening Round—Monday, March 3

G1: #9 Lafayette 84  #8 Loyola (MD) 71

G2: #7 Colgate  #10 Navy 51

 

Quarterfinal Round—Wednesday, March 5

G3: #1 Boston U. 91  #9 Lafayette 54

G4: #5 Army 72  #4 Bucknell 71

G5: #3 Holy Cross 54  #6 Lehigh 48

G6: #2 American 59  #7 Colgate 50

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G7: #1 Boston U 91  #5 Army 70

G8: #2 American 57  #3 Holy Cross 46

 

Championship Game—Wednesday, March 12

#2 American 55  #1 Boston U 36

 

Southeastern Conference

Location—Georgia Dome, Atlanta

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #13 South Carolina 74 (5-13/13-19)  #12 Auburn 56  

G2: #14 Mississippi St. 82  #11 Vanderbilt 68 

 

2^nd Round—Thursday, March 13

G3: #8 Missouri 91  #9 Texas A&M 83 2ot

G4: South Carolina 71  #5 Arkansas 69

G5: #7 L S U 68  #10 Alabama 56

G6: #6 Ole Miss 78  #14 Mississippi St. 66

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 14

G7: #1 Florida 72  #8 Missouri 49

G8: #4 Tennessee 59  #13 South Carolina 44

G9: #2 Kentucky 85  #7 L S U 67

G10: #3 Georgia 75  #6 Ole Miss 73

 

 

Southern Conference

Location—U.S. Cellular Center, Asheville, NC

 

Opening Round—Friday, March 7

G1: #8 Samford 70  #9 Appalachian St. 56

G2: #7 Georgia Southern 65  #10 Furman 50

G3: #11 Citadel 86  #6 UNCG 76 

 

Quarterfinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G4: #1 Davidson 77  #8 Samford 54

G5: #5 Western Carolina 66  #4 Elon 64 

G6: #7 Georgia Southern 62  #2 Chattanooga 55 

G7: #3 Wofford 68  #11 Citadel 51

 

Semifinal Round—Sunday, March 9

G8: #5 Western Carolina 99  #1 Davidson 97  ot  

G9: #3 Wofford 71  #7 Georgia Southern 57 

 

Championship Game—Monday, March 10

#3 Wofford 56  #5 Western Carolina 53

 

Southland Conference

Location—Leonard E. Merrell Center, Katy, TX

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #8 Nicholls St. 71  #5 Southeast Louisiana 64 

G2: #6 Oral Roberts 66  #7 McNeese St. 62

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G3: #4 Northwestern St. 88  #8 Nicholls St. 72

G4: #3 Sam Houston St. 70  #6 Oral Roberts 61

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G5: #1 Stephen F. Austin 85  #4 Northwestern St. 78

G6: #3 Sam Houston St. 69  #2 Texas A&M—C.C. 62

 

 

Southwestern Athletic Conference

Location—Toyota Center, Houston

 

Opening Round—Tuesday, March 11

G1: #10 Grambling 84  #7 Jackson St. 75  

G2: #8 Prairie View 79  #9 Mississippi Valley 63

 

Quarterfinal Round—Wednesday, March 12 & Thursday, March 13

G3: #2 Texas Southern 79  Grambling 54

G4: #8 Prairie View 64  #1 Southern 46  

G5: #3 Alabama St. 64  #6 Alcorn St. 51

G6: #5 Alabama A&M 69  #4 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 50

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G7: #2 Texas Southern 73  #3 Alabama St. 61

G8: #8 Prairie View 55   #5 Alabama A&M  49

 

Summit League

Location—Sioux Falls Arena, Sioux Falls, SD

 

Quarterfinal Round—Saturday, March 8 & Sunday, March 9

G1: #2 IPFW 85  #7 IUPUI 47

G2: #4 Denver 71 (8-6/16-14)  #5 S. Dakota 55

G3: #3 S. Dakota St. 71  #6 W. Illinois 50

 

Semifinal Round—Monday, March 10

G4: #1 N. Dakota St. 83  #4 Denver 48

G5: #2 IPFW 64  #3 S. Dakota St. 60

 

Championship Game—Tuesday, March 11

#1 North Dakota St. 60  #2 IPFW 57

 

Sun Belt Conference

Location—Lakefront Arena, New Orleans

 

Opening Round—Thursday, March 13

G1: #5 U A L R 74  #8 Troy 61

G2: #6 UT-Arlington 68 (9-9/15-16)  #7 UL-Monroe 65

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 14

G3: #4 Arkansas St. 116  #5 U A L R 114 4ot

G4: #3 UL-Lafayette 91  #6 UT-Arlington 85

 

West Coast Conference

Location—Orleans Arena, Las Vegas

 

Opening Round—Thursday, March 6

G1: #10 Loyola Marymount 67  #7 Portland 64 

G2: #9 Santa Clara 81  #8 Pacific 64

 

Quarterfinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G3: #3 San Francisco 69  #6 San Diego 60

G4: #2 B Y U 85  #10 Loyola Marymount 74

G5: #1 Gonzaga 77  #9 Santa Clara 75

G6: #4 St. Mary’s 80  #5 Pepperdine 69

 

Semifinal Round—Monday, March 10

G7: #2 B Y U 79 ot  #3 San Francisco 77

G8: #1 Gonzaga 70  #4 St. Mary’s 54

 

Championship Game—Tuesday, March 11

#1 Gonzaga 75  #2 B Y U 64

 

Western Athletic Conference

Location—Orleans Arena, Las Vegas

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G1: #1 Utah Valley 83  #8 Texas-Pan American 63

G2: #5 Idaho 73  #4 Mo.-Kansas City 70

G3: #6 Cal St.-Bakersfield 68  #3 Chicago St. 62

G4: #2 New Mexico St. 70  #7 Seattle 68

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G5: #5 Idaho 74  #1 Utah Valley 69  

G6: #2 New Mexico St. 69  #6 Cal St.-Bakersfield 63  

 

 

PiRate Ratings College Basketball Report for Friday, March 14, 2014

Last Updated: March 14, 2014 6:05 AM EDT

Bubble Headlines

Clemson, Florida St., and North Carolina St. all stay alive in the ACC and Bubble race

Dayton and Richmond advance in the A-10

Providence and Xavier win in the Big East, but Villanova’s upset loss ends a #1 seed bid for the ‘Cats

Minnesota stays alive with an opening Big Ten win over Penn St.

Top 4 seeds in CUSA advance—Southern Miss. and La. Tech still in Bubble contention

Stanford & Colorado solidify their spots in the Dance with Pac-12 Tourney wins

Arkansas loses to #13 seed South Carolina in SEC 2^nd round action

 

Already In The Field of 68  (5 Teams)

1. Harvard (26-4)

2. Eastern Kentucky (24-9)

3. Mercer (26-8)

4. Wichita St. (34-0)

5. Coastal Carolina (21-12)

6. Delaware (25-9)

7. Manhattan (25-7)

8. Wofford (20-12)

9. Mount St. Mary’s (16-16)

10. North Dakota St. (25-6)

11. Milwaukee (21-13)

12. Gonzaga (28-6)

13. American (20-12)

 

Who’s Bubble Burst Thursday

St. John’s

Utah

California

Arkansas

West Virginia

 

The Bubbler

The higher up each team is on this bubble list, the better.  Colorado has now moved from The Bubble to Safe status.  Pittsburgh has probably now done enough, but we are leaving the Panthers at the top of the Bubble Teams.  As of today, just 10 teams on The Bubble will make the NCAA Tournament, while teams 11 through 17 are on the outside, looking in.  Teams listed at numbers 7 through 10 are the last four in.  Teams listed at numbers 11 through 14 comprise the first four out.  As conference tournament upsets occur, the bubble teams in the tournament will begin to shrink.  So, far, no major upsets have occurred that would add teams to the field and remove the number of Bubble teams from the “in” list.

 

1. Pittsburgh

2. St. Joseph’s

3. Nebraska

4. Tennessee

5. S M U

6. Oklahoma St.

——————————

7. Dayton

8. Xavier

9. Providence

10. Missouri

——————————

11. Minnesota

12. B Y U

13. Green Bay

14. Florida St.

——————————

15. Southern Miss.

16. Louisiana Tech

17. Clemson

 

CONFERENCE TOURNAMENTS

 

Schedules & Results

All times are Eastern Daylight

 

American Athletic Conference

Location—Fedex Forum, Memphis

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #7 Rutgers 72  #10 South Florida 68

G2: #9 Central Florida 94  #8 Temple 90  2 ot

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G3: #6 Houston 68  #3 S M U 64  

G4: #2 Louisville 92  #7 Rutgers 31

G5: #1 Cincinnati 61  #9 Central Florida 58

G6: #4 Connecticut 72  #5 Memphis 53

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G7: #6 Houston (8-10/17-15) vs. #2 Louisville (15-3/27-5)—6:00 PM on ESPN or ESPN2

G8: #1 Cincinnati (15-3/27-5) vs. #4 Connecticut (12-6/25-7)—8:00 PM on ESPN or ESPN2

 

Championship Game

Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner—6:00 PM on ESPN

 

America East Conference

Location—SEFCU Arena, Albany, NY

 

Quarterfinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G1: #1 Vermont 77  #8 New Hampshire 60

G2: #4 Albany 86  #5 UMBC 56

G3: #2 Stony Brook 80  #7 Maine 54

G4: #3 Hartford 69  #6 Binghamton 42

 

Semifinal Round—Sunday, March 9

G5: #4 Albany 67  #1 Vermont 58  

G6: #2 Stony Brook 64  #3 Hartford 61

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 15

#4 Albany (9-7/17-14) vs. #2 Stony Brook (13-3/23-9)—11:30 AM on ESPN2

 

Atlantic 10 Conference

Location—Barclay’s Center, Brooklyn

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #13 Fordham 70  #12 George Mason 67

 

2^nd Round—Thursday, March 13

G2: #9 St. Bonaventure 82  #8 La Salle 72  

G3: #5 Dayton 87  #13 Fordham 74

G4: #7 Richmond 76  #10 Duquesne 64

G5: #6 U Mass 65  #11 Rhode Island 61

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 14

G6: #1 St. Louis (13-3/26-5) vs. #9 St. Bonaventure (6-10/17-14)—12:00 Noon on NBCSN

G7: #4 St. Joseph’s (11-5/21-9) vs. #5 Dayton (10-6/23-9)—2:30 PM on NBCSN

G8: #2 V C U (12-4/24-7) vs. #7 Richmond (8-8/19-13)—6:30 PM on NBCSN

G9: #3 George Washington (11-5/23-7) vs. #6 U Mass (10-6/24-7)—9:00 PM on NBCSN

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 15

G10: Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 winner—1:30 PM on CBSSN

G11: Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner—4:00 PM on CBSSN

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 16

Game 10 winner vs. Game 11 winner—1:00 PM on CBS

 

Atlantic Coast Conference

Location—Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, NC

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #12 Wake Forest 81  #13 Notre Dame 69

G2: #10 Miami 57  #15 Virginia Tech 53

G3: #11 Georgia Tech 73  #14 Boston College 70 ot

 

2^nd Round—Thursday, March 13

G4: #9 Florida St. 76  #8 Maryland  65  

G5: #5 Pittsburgh 84  #12 Wake Forest 55

G6: #7 North Carolina St.  67  #10 Miami 58

G7: #6 Clemson 69  #11 Georgia Tech 65 ot

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 14

G8: #1 Virginia (16-2/25-6) vs. #9 Florida St. (9-9/19-12)—12:00 Noon on ESPN2

G9: #4 North Carolina (13-5/23-8) vs. #5 Pittsburgh (11-7/24-8)—2:00 PM on ESPN2

G10: #2 Syracuse (14-4/27-4) vs. #7 North Carolina St. (9-9/20-12)—7:00 PM on ESPN2

G11: #3 Duke (13-5/24-7) vs. #6 Clemson (10-8/20-11)—9:00 PM on ESPN2

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 15

G12: Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner—1:00 PM on ESPN

G13: Game 10 winner vs. Game 11 winner—3:00 PM on ESPN

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 16

Game 12 winner vs. Game 13 winner—1:00 PM on ESPN

 

Atlantic Sun Conference

Location—All Games Played on Campus Sites of Higher Seed

 

Quarterfinal Round—Tuesday, March 4

G1: #1 Florida Gulf Coast 77  #8 Stetson 55

G2: #4 East Tennessee 89  #5 Lipscomb 88 2ot

G3: #2 Mercer 85  #7 Jacksonville 64

G4: #3 USC-Upstate 80  #6 North Florida 74

 

Semifinal Round—Thursday, March 6

G5: #1 Florida Gulf Coast 69  #4 East Tennessee 64

G6: #2 Mercer 78  #3 USC-Upstate 75 2ot

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 9

#2 Mercer 68  #1 Florida Gulf Coast 60

 

Big 12 Conference

Location—Sprint Center, Kansas City

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #8 Oklahoma St. 80 (8-10/21-11)  #9 Texas Tech 62

G2: #7 Baylor 76  #10 T C U 68

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G3: #4 Iowa St. 91  #5 Kansas St. 85

G4: #1 Kansas 77  #8 Oklahoma St. 70 ot

G5: #7 Baylor 78  #2 Oklahoma 73

G6: #3 Texas 66  #6 West Virginia 49

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G7: #4 Iowa St. (11-7/24-7) vs. #1 Kansas (14-4/24-8)—7:00 PM on ESPNU or ESPN3

G8: #7 Baylor (9-9/23-10) vs. #3 Texas (11-7/23-9)—9:30 PM on ESPNU or ESPN3

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 15

Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner—9:00 PM on ESPN

 

Big East Conference

Location—Madison Square Garden, New York City

 

All Games Televised on Fox Sports 1

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #8 Seton Hall 51 (6-12/16-16)  #9 Butler 50

G2: #10 DePaul 60  #7 Georgetown 56  

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G3: #8 Seton Hall 64  #1 Villanova 63

G4: #4 Providence 79  #5 St. John’s 74

G5: #2 Creighton 84  #10 DePaul 62

G6: #3 Xavier 68  #6 Marquette 65

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G7: #8 Seton Hall (6-12/17-16) vs. #4 Providence (10-8/21-11)—7:00 PM

G8: #2 Creighton (14-4/25-6) vs. #3 Xavier (10-8/21-11)

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 15

Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner—8:30 PM

 

Big Sky Conference

Location: Dee Events Center (Weber St.), Ogden, UT

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G1: #2 North Dakota 79  #7 Sacramento St. 76

G2: #6 Northern Colorado 62  #3 Northern Arizona 60 

G3: #5 Portland St. 70  #4 Montana 63   

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G4: #2 North Dakota (12-8/16-15) vs. #5 Portland St. (11-9/17-13)—6:30 PM

G5: Weber St. (14-6/17-11) vs. #6 Northern Colorado (11-9/18-12)—9:05 PM

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 15

Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner—8:00 PM on ESPNU

 

Big South Conference

Location—The HTC Center, Conway, SC (Myrtle Beach)

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 5

G1: #4S Winthrop 77  vs. #5N Liberty 65

G2: #3N Radford 78  vs. #6S Presbyterian 73

G3: #5S Chas. Southern 81  #4N Campbell 71

G4: #3S Gardner-Webb 81  #6N Longwood 65

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 7

G5: #4S Winthrop 62  #1N High Point 60

G6: #2S UNC-Asheville 96  #3N Radford 87

G7: #1S Coastal Carolina 73  #5S Chas. Southern 68 2ot

G8: #2N VMI 90  #3S Gardner-Webb 77

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G9: #4S Winthrop 80  #2S UNC-Asheville 79

G10: #1S Coastal Carolina 66  #2N V M I 62

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 9

#1S Coastal Carolina 76  #4S Winthrop 61 

 

Big Ten Conference

Location—Banker’s Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis

 

Opening Round—Thursday, March 13

G1: #9 Illinois 64  #8 Indiana 54

G2: #5 Ohio St. 63   #12 Purdue 61

G3: #7 Minnesota 63   #10 Penn St. 56

G4: #11 Northwestern 67  #6 Iowa 62  

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 14

G5: #1 Michigan (15-3/23-7) vs. #9 Illinois (7-11/19-13)—12:00 Noon on ESPN or ESPN2

G6: #4 Nebraska (11-7/19-11) vs. #5 Ohio St. (10-8/24-8)—2:30 PM on ESPN or ESPN2

G7: #2 Wisconsin (12-6/25-6) vs. #7 Minnesota (8-10/20-12)—6:30 PM on Big Ten Network

G8: #3 Michigan St. (12-6/23-8) vs. #11 Northwestern (6-12/14-18)—9:00 PM on Big Ten Network

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 15

G9: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner—1:40 PM on CBS

G10: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner—4:20 PM on CBS

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 16

Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner—3:30 PM on CBS

 

Big West Conference

Location—Honda Center, Anaheim

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G1: #7 Cal Poly 69  #2 U C S B 38  

G2: #3 Long Beach St. 66 (10-6/15-16)  #6 Cal St. Fullerton 56

G3: #1 UC-Irvine 63  #8 UC-Riverside 43

G4: #5 Cal St. Northridge 87  #4 Hawaii 84

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G5: #1 UC-Irvine (13-3/23-10) vs. #7 Cal Poly (6-10/11-19)—9:30 PM on ESPN3

G6: #3 Long Beach St. (10-6/15-16) vs. Cal St. Northridge (7-9/16-17)—12:00 Midnight on ESPNU

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 15

Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner—10:30 PM on ESPN2

 

Colonial Athletic Association

Location—Baltimore Arena, Baltimore

 

Opening Round—Friday, March 7

G1: #8 Hofstra 78  #9 UNC-Wilmington 70

 

Quarterfinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G2: #1 Delaware 87 (14-2/23-9)  #8 Hofstra 76

G3: #5 Northeastern 90 (7-9/11-20) #4 Drexel 81

G4: #2 Towson 80 (13-3/23-9) #7 James Madison 71

G5: #3 William & Mary 70 (10-6/19-11) #6 Charleston 59

 

Semifinal Round—Sunday, March 9

G6: #1 Delaware 87  #5 Northeastern 74

G7: #3 William & Mary 75  #2 Towson 71

 

Championship Game—Monday, March 10

#1 Delaware 75  #3 William & Mary 74

 

Conference USA

Location—Don Haskins Center, El Paso, TX

 

Opening Round—Tuesday, March 11 (all games televised online @ C-USA DN)

G1: #10 North Texas 63  #15 Rice 62 ot

G2: #14 Marshall 63  #11 Florida Atlantic 59

G3: #12 East Carolina 79  #13 U T S A 76

 

2^nd Round—Wednesday, March 12 (all games televised online @ C-USA DN)

G4: #7 Tulane 66  #10 North Texas 61

G5: #6 Old Dominion 73  #14 Marshall 58

G6: #5 U T E P  77  #12 East Carolina 68

G7: #9 Charlotte 80  #8 U A B 70 

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13 (all games televised online @ C-USA DN)

G8: #2 Tulsa 70 (13-3/19-12)  #7 Tulane 49

G9: #3 Middle Tennessee 62 (13-3/24-8)  #6 Old Dominion 48

G10: #4 Southern Miss. 64 (13-3/27-5)  #5 U T E P 56

G11: #1 Louisiana Tech 86  #9 Charlotte 65

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14 (both games televised on CBS SN)

G12: #2 Tulsa (13-3/19-12) vs. #3 Middle Tennessee (13-3/24-8)—4:00 PM

G13: #4 Southern Miss. (13-3/27-5) vs. #1 Louisiana Tech (13-3/26-6)—6:30 PM

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 15 (on CBS)

Game 12 winner vs. Game 13 winner—11:35 AM

 

Horizon League

Location—First Round Games played at the higher seed.  The quarterfinal and semifinal round games will be played at Green Bay, and the championship game will be played at the higher seed.

 

Opening Round—Tuesday, March 4

G1: #5 Milwaukee 83  #8 Detroit 73

G2: #4 Valparaiso 73  #9 Illinois-Chicago 63

G3: #6 Oakland 96  #7 Youngstown St. 92 ot

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 7

G4: #3 Wright St. 73  #6 Oakland 57

G5: #5 Milwaukee 74  #4 Valparaiso 57

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G6: #3 Wright St. 68 (10-6/20-13) #2 Cleveland St. 63

G7: #5 Milwaukee 73  #1 Green Bay 66   ot

 

Championship Game—Tuesday, March 11

#5 Milwaukee 69  #3 Wright St. 63  

 

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference

Location—Mass Mutual Center, Springfield, MA

 

Opening Round—Thursday, March 6

G1: #8 Rider 71  #9 Monmouth 60

G2: #7 St. Peter’s 65  #10 Fairfield 62 ot

G3: #11 Niagara 78  #6 Marist 76

 

Quarterfinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G4: #1 Iona 94  #8 Rider 71

G5: #4 Canisius 71  #5 Siena 69

G6: #2 Manhattan 72  #7 St. Peter’s 58

G7: #3 Quinnipiac 89  #11 Niagara 80

 

Semifinal Round—Sunday, March 9

G8: #1 Iona 75  #4 Canisius 72

G9: #2 Manhattan 87  #3 Quinnipiac 68

 

Championship Game—Monday, March 10

#2 Manhattan  71  #1 Iona 68

 

Mid-American Conference

Location—Opening Round at higher seed; all other rounds at Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland

 

Opening Round—Monday, March 10

G1: #5 Ohio 76  #12 Ball St. 64

G2: #8 Miami (O) 71  #9 Kent St. 64

G3: #6 Eastern Michigan 72  #11 Central Michigan 60

G4: #7 Northern Illinois 54  #10 Bowling Green 51 ot

 

2^nd Round—Wednesday, March 12

G5: #5 Ohio 63  #8 Miami (O) 55

G6: #6 Eastern Michigan 53  #7 Northern Illinois 48

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G7: #4 Akron 83  #6 Ohio 77

G8: #6 Eastern Michigan 69  #3 Buffalo 64 

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G9: #1 Western Michigan (14-4/21-9) vs. #4 Akron (12-6/21-11)—6:30 PM

G10: #2 Toledo (14-4/26-5) vs. #6 Eastern Michigan (10-8/21-13)—9:00 PM

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 15

Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner—6:30 PM on ESPN2

 

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference

Location: Norfolk Scope Arena, Norfolk, VA

 

Opening Round—Monday, March 10 & Tuesday, March 11

G1: #4 Norfolk St. 78  #13 Maryland-Eastern Shore 74

G2: #5 Savannah St. 61  #12 South Carolina St. 47

G3: #8 Howard 53  #9 North Carolina A&T 47

G4: #7 Coppin St. 75  #10 Bethune-Cookman 68

G5: #6 Florida A&M 65  #11 Delaware St. 61

 

Quarterfinal Round—Wednesday, March 12 & Thursday, March 13

G6: #1 UNC-Central 92  #8 Howard 46

G7: #7 Coppin St. 83  #2 Hampton 77 

G8: #3 Morgan St. 81  #6 Florida A&M 68

G9: #4 Norfolk St. 57  #5 Savannah St. 47

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G10: #1 UNC-Central (15-1/26-5) vs. #4 Norfolk St. (11-5/19-13)—6:00 PM

G11: #7 Coppin St. (7-9/12-19) vs. #3 Morgan St. (11-5/14-15)—8:30 PM

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 15

Game 10 winner vs. Game 11 winner—6:00 PM on ESPNU

 

 

Missouri Valley Conference (Arch Madness)

Location: Scottrade Center, St. Louis

 

All Games until the Championship on MVC TV Network

 

Opening Round—Thursday, March 6

G1: #9 Evansville 69  #8 Drake 61  

G2: #10 Loyola (Chi) 74 (4-14/10-21) #7 Bradley 72  

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 7

G3: #1 Wichita St. 80  #9 Evansville 58

G4: #4 Missouri St. 53  #5 Illinois St. 48

G5: #2 Indiana St. 75  #10 Loyola (Chi) 62

G6: #6 Southern Illinois 63  #3 Northern Iowa 58 

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G7: #1 Wichita St. 67  Missouri St. 42

G8: #2 Indiana St. 62  #6 Southern Illinois 59

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 9

#1 Wichita St. 83  #2 Indiana St. 69

 

Mountain West Conference

Location—Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #8 Utah St. 73 (7-11/18-13)  #9 Colorado St. 69

G2: #7 Fresno St. 61  #10 Air Force 59

G3: #6 Boise St. 83  #11 San Jose St. 52

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G4: #1 San Diego St. 73  #8 Utah St. 39

G5: #4 U N L V 71   #5 Wyoming 67

G6: #2 New Mexico 93  #7 Fresno St. 77

G7: #6 Boise St. 75  #3 Nevada 62  

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G8: #1 San Diego St. (16-2/28-3) vs. #4 U N L V (10-8/20-12)—9:00 PM on CBSSN

G9: #2 New Mexico (15-3/25-6) vs. #6 Boise St, (9-9/21-12)—11:30 PM on CBSSN

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 15

Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner—6:00 PM on CBS

 

Northeast Conference

Location—All Games Played On Campus Sites of Higher Seeds

Tournament Re-seeds teams after quarterfinal round (like NFL Playoffs)

 

Quarterfinal Round—Wednesday, March 5 (All Games at 7:00 PM)

G1: #1 Robert Morris 60  #8 Fairleigh-Dickinson 53

G2: #2 Wagner 83  #7 Central Connecticut 59

G3: #6 St. Francis (PA) 55  #3 Bryant 54 

G4: #5 Mount St. Mary’s 72  #4 St. Francis (NY) 71 

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G5: #5 Mount St. Mary’s 77  #2 Wagner 52

G6: #1 Robert Morris 60  #6 St. Francis (PA) 57

 

Championship Game—Tuesday, March 11

#5 Mount St. Mary’s 88  #1 Robert Morris 71

 

Ohio Valley Conference

Location—Municipal Auditorium, Nashville

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 5

G1: #5 Tennessee Tech 74  #8 SIU-Edwards. 67

G2: #6 Southeast Missouri 79  #7 E. Illinois 61

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 6

G3: #4 Morehead St. 76  #5 Tennessee Tech 61

G4: #3 Eastern Kentucky 84  #6 S.E. Missouri 76

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 7

G5: #1 Belmont 86  #4 Morehead St. 63

G6: #3 Eastern Kentucky 86  #2 Murray St. 83  

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 8

#3 Eastern Kentucky 79  #1 Belmont 73

 

Pac-12 Conference

Location—MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #8 Utah 67  #9 Washington 61

G2: #5 Colorado 59  #12 Southern Cal 56

G3: #7 Oregon 88  #10 Oregon St. 74

G4: #6 Stanford 74  #11 Washington St. 63

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G5: #1 Arizona 71  #8 Utah 39

G6: #5 Colorado 59   #4 California 56 

G7: #2 U C L A 82  #7 Oregon 63

G8: #6 Stanford 79  #3 Arizona St. 58

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G9: #1 Arizona (15-3/29-3) vs. #5 Colorado (10-8/23-10)—9:00 PM on Pac-12 Network

G10: #2 U C L A (12-6/24-8) vs. #6 Stanford (10-8/21-11)—11:30 PM on Fox Sports 1

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 15

Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner—6:00 PM on Fox Sports 1

 

Patriot League

Location—All Games Played on Campus Sites at Higher Seed

 

Opening Round—Monday, March 3

G1: #9 Lafayette 84  #8 Loyola (MD) 71

G2: #7 Colgate  #10 Navy 51

 

Quarterfinal Round—Wednesday, March 5

G3: #1 Boston U. 91  #9 Lafayette 54

G4: #5 Army 72  #4 Bucknell 71

G5: #3 Holy Cross 54  #6 Lehigh 48

G6: #2 American 59  #7 Colgate 50

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G7: #1 Boston U 91  #5 Army 70

G8: #2 American 57  #3 Holy Cross 46

 

Championship Game—Wednesday, March 12

#2 American 55  #1 Boston U 36

 

Southeastern Conference

Location—Georgia Dome, Atlanta

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #13 South Carolina 74 (5-13/13-19)  #12 Auburn 56  

G2: #14 Mississippi St. 82  #11 Vanderbilt 68 

 

2^nd Round—Thursday, March 13

G3: #8 Missouri 91  #9 Texas A&M 83 2ot

G4: South Carolina 71  #5 Arkansas 69

G5: #7 L S U 68  #10 Alabama 56

G6: #6 Ole Miss 78 (9-9/19-13)  #14 Mississippi St. 66

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 14

G7: #1 Florida (18-0/29-2) vs. #8 Missouri (9-9/22-10)—1:00 PM on ESPNU

G8: #4 Tennessee (11-7/20-11) vs. South Carolina (5-13/14-19)—3:30 PM on ESPNU

G9: #2 Kentucky (12-6/22-9) vs. #7 L S U (9-9/19-12)—7:00 PM on SEC-TV/ESPN3

G10: #3 Georgia (12-6/18-12) vs. #6 Ole Miss (9-9/19-13)—9:30 PM on SEC-TV/ESPN3

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 15

G11: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner—1:00 PM on ABC

G12: Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner—3:30 PM on ABC

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 16

Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner—3:15 PM on ESPN

 

Southern Conference

Location—U.S. Cellular Center, Asheville, NC

 

Opening Round—Friday, March 7

G1: #8 Samford 70  #9 Appalachian St. 56

G2: #7 Georgia Southern 65  #10 Furman 50

G3: #11 Citadel 86  #6 UNCG 76 

 

Quarterfinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G4: #1 Davidson 77  #8 Samford 54

G5: #5 Western Carolina 66  #4 Elon 64 

G6: #7 Georgia Southern 62  #2 Chattanooga 55 

G7: #3 Wofford 68  #11 Citadel 51

 

Semifinal Round—Sunday, March 9

G8: #5 Western Carolina 99  #1 Davidson 97  ot  

G9: #3 Wofford 71  #7 Georgia Southern 57 

 

Championship Game—Monday, March 10

#3 Wofford 56  #5 Western Carolina 53

 

Southland Conference

Location—Leonard E. Merrell Center, Katy, TX

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #8 Nicholls St. 71  #5 Southeast Louisiana 64 

G2: #6 Oral Roberts 66  #7 McNeese St. 62

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G3: #4 Northwestern St. 88  #8 Nicholls St. 72

G4: #3 Sam Houston St. 70  #6 Oral Roberts 61

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G5: #1 Stephen F. Austin (18-0/29-2) vs. #4 Northwestern St. (12-6/17-13)—6:00 PM on ESPN3

G6: #2 Texas A&M—C.C. (14-4/17-14) vs. #3 Sam Houston St. (13-5/22-9)—8:30 PM on ESPN3

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 15

Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner—8:30 PM on ESPN2

 

Southwestern Athletic Conference

Location—Toyota Center, Houston

 

Note: Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Grambling, Mississippi Valley St., and Southern are ineligible for the NCAA Tournament, and if one of these teams wins the SWAC Tournament, the league will select its representative for the automatic bid.

 

Opening Round—Tuesday, March 11

G1: #10 Grambling 84  #7 Jackson St. 75  

G2: #8 Prairie View 79  #9 Mississippi Valley 63

 

Quarterfinal Round—Wednesday, March 12 & Thursday, March 13

G3: #2 Texas Southern 79  Grambling 54

G4: #8 Prairie View 64  #1 Southern 46  

G5: #3 Alabama St. 64  #6 Alcorn St. 51

G6: #5 Alabama A&M 69  #4 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 50

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G7: #2 Texas Southern (12-6/17-14) vs. #3 Alabama St. (12-6/19-11)—3:30 PM

G8: #8 Prairie View (6-12/10-22) vs. #5 Alabama A&M (10-8/14-15)—9:30 PM

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 15

Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner—4:30 PM on ESPN2

 

Summit League

Location—Sioux Falls Arena, Sioux Falls, SD

 

Quarterfinal Round—Saturday, March 8 & Sunday, March 9

G1: #2 IPFW 85  #7 IUPUI 47

G2: #4 Denver 71 (8-6/16-14)  #5 S. Dakota 55

G3: #3 S. Dakota St. 71  #6 W. Illinois 50

 

Semifinal Round—Monday, March 10

G4: #1 N. Dakota St. 83  #4 Denver 48

G5: #2 IPFW 64  #3 S. Dakota St. 60

 

Championship Game—Tuesday, March 11

#1 North Dakota St. 60  #2 IPFW 57

 

Sun Belt Conference

Location—Lakefront Arena, New Orleans

 

Opening Round—Thursday, March 13

G1: #5 U A L R 74  #8 Troy 61

G2: #6 UT-Arlington 68 (9-9/15-16)  #7 UL-Monroe 65

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 14

G3: #4 Arkansas St. (10-8/18-12) vs. #5 U A L R (9-9/15-16)—7:00 PM on Sun Belt Network

G4: #3 UL-Lafayette (11-7/20-11) vs. #6 UT-Arlington (9-9/15-16)—9:30 PM on Sun Belt Network

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 15

G5: #1 Georgia St. (17-1/24-7) vs. Game 3 winner—3:00 PM on Sun Belt Network

G6: #2 Western Kentucky (12-6/20-11) vs. Game 4 winner—5:30 PM on Sun Belt Network

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 16

Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner—1:00 PM on ESPN2

 

West Coast Conference

Location—Orleans Arena, Las Vegas

 

Opening Round—Thursday, March 6

G1: #10 Loyola Marymount 67  #7 Portland 64 

G2: #9 Santa Clara 81  #8 Pacific 64

 

Quarterfinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G3: #3 San Francisco 69  #6 San Diego 60

G4: #2 B Y U 85  #10 Loyola Marymount 74

G5: #1 Gonzaga 77  #9 Santa Clara 75

G6: #4 St. Mary’s 80  #5 Pepperdine 69

 

Semifinal Round—Monday, March 10

G7: #2 B Y U 79 ot  #3 San Francisco 77

G8: #1 Gonzaga 70  #4 St. Mary’s 54

 

Championship Game—Tuesday, March 11

#1 Gonzaga 75  #2 B Y U 64

 

Western Athletic Conference

Location—Orleans Arena, Las Vegas

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G1: #1 Utah Valley 83  #8 Texas-Pan American 63

G2: #5 Idaho 73  #4 Mo.-Kansas City 70

G3: #6 Cal St.-Bakersfield 68  #3 Chicago St. 62

G4: #2 New Mexico St. 70  #7 Seattle 68

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G5: #1 Utah Valley (13-3/20-10) vs. #5 Idaho (7-9/15-17)—9:00 PM

G6: #6 Cal St.-Bakersfield (5-11/13-18) vs. #2 New Mexico St. (12-4/24-9)—11:30 PM

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 15

Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner—10:00 PM on ESPNU

 

PiRate Ratings College Basketball Report for Thursday, March 13, 2014

Last Updated: March 13, 2014 6:20 AM EDT

Headlines

American holds top-seed Boston U to 36 points to win the Patriot League’s automatic bid

Oklahoma St. wins impressively in opening round Big 12 Conference Tournament game

Colorado’s win over Southern Cal moves the Buffs into the safe zone off The Bubble

Utah defeats Washington to stay in the race

Oregon drops rival Oregon St. to secure a berth

Georgetown’s bubble bursts

Baylor becomes Safe for sure with opening round Big 12 victory

Stanford tops Washington St. to move from Bubble to Safe.

 

Already In The Field of 68  (5 Teams)

1. Harvard (26-4)

2. Eastern Kentucky (24-9)

3. Mercer (26-8)

4. Wichita St. (34-0)

5. Coastal Carolina (21-12)

6. Delaware (25-9)

7. Manhattan (25-7)

8. Wofford (20-12)

9. Mount St. Mary’s (16-16)

10. North Dakota St. (25-6)

11. Milwaukee (21-13)

12. Gonzaga (28-6)

13. American (20-12)

 

The Bubbler

The higher up each team is on this bubble list, the better.  Colorado has now moved from The Bubble to Safe status.  As of today, just 10 teams on The Bubble will make the NCAA Tournament, while teams 11 through 20 are on the outside, looking in.  Teams listed at numbers 7 through 10 are the last four in.  Teams listed at numbers 11 through 14 comprise the first four out.  As conference tournament upsets occur, the bubble teams in the tournament will begin to shrink.  So, far, no major upsets have occurred that would add teams to the field and remove the number of Bubble teams from the “in” list.

 

1. S M U

2. Pittsburgh

3. Oklahoma St.

4. St. Joseph’s

5. Tennessee

6. Nebraska

——————————

7. B Y U

8. Dayton

9. Xavier

10. Arkansas

——————————

11. Minnesota

12. California

13. Providence

14. St. John’s

——————————

15. Missouri

16. Utah

17. Green Bay

18. West Virginia

19. Southern Mississippi

20. Louisiana Tech

 

CONFERENCE TOURNAMENTS

Leagues Earning A Dance Ticket Today

None

 

Lower Seed Upsets

Big East–#10 DePaul ends Georgetown’s NCAA Tourney hopes

MEAC–#7 Coppin St. upsets #2 Hampton and now gets a day off before the semifinals

SWAC–#8 Prairie View, a 9-22 team, eliminates top-seed Southern U

 

 

Schedules & Results

All times are Eastern Daylight

 

American Athletic Conference

Location—Fedex Forum, Memphis

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #7 Rutgers 72  #10 South Florida 68

G2: #9 Central Florida 94  #8 Temple 90  2 ot

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G3: #3 S M U (12-6/23-8) vs. #6 Houston (8-10/16-15)—1:00 PM on ESPNU

G4: #2 Louisville (15-3/26-5) vs. #7 Rutgers (5-13/12-20)—3:00 PM on ESPNU

G5: #1 Cincinnati (15-3/26-5) vs. #9 Central Florida (4-14/13-17)—7:00 PM on ESPNU

G6: #4 Connecticut (12-6/24-7) vs. #5 Memphis (12-6/23-8)—9:00 PM on ESPNU

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G7: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner—6:00 PM on ESPN or ESPN2

G8: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner—8:00 PM on ESPN or ESPN2

 

Championship Game

Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner—6:00 PM on ESPN

 

America East Conference

Location—SEFCU Arena, Albany, NY

 

Quarterfinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G1: #1 Vermont 77  #8 New Hampshire 60

G2: #4 Albany 86  #5 UMBC 56

G3: #2 Stony Brook 80  #7 Maine 54

G4: #3 Hartford 69  #6 Binghamton 42

 

Semifinal Round—Sunday, March 9

G5: #4 Albany 67  #1 Vermont 58  

G6: #2 Stony Brook 64  #3 Hartford 61

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 15

#4 Albany (9-7/17-14) vs. #2 Stony Brook (13-3/23-9)—11:30 AM on ESPN2

 

Atlantic 10 Conference

Location—Barclay’s Center, Brooklyn

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #13 Fordham 70  #12 George Mason 67

 

2^nd Round—Thursday, March 13

G2: #8 La Salle (7-9/15-15) vs. #9 St. Bonaventure (6-10/16-14)—12:00 Noon on NBC Sports Regional

G3: #5 Dayton (10-6/22-9) vs. #13 Fordham (2-14/10-20)—2:30 PM on NBCSN

G4: #7 Richmond (8-8/18-13) vs. #10 Duquesne (5-11/13-16)—6:30 PM on NBCSN

G5: #6 U Mass (10-6/23-7) vs. #11 Rhode Island (5-11/14-17)—9:00 PM on NBC Sports Regional

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 14

G6: #1 St. Louis (13-3/26-5) vs. Game 2 winner—12:00 Noon on NBCSN

G7: #4 St. Joseph’s (11-5/21-9) vs. Game 3 winner—2:30 PM on NBCSN

G8: #2 V C U (12-4/24-7) vs. Game 4 winner—6:30 PM on NBCSN

G9: #3 George Washington (11-5/23-7) vs. Game 5 winner—9:00 PM on NBCSN

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 15

G10: Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 winner—1:30 PM on CBSSN

G11: Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner—4:00 PM on CBSSN

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 16

Game 10 winner vs. Game 11 winner—1:00 PM on CBS

 

Atlantic Coast Conference

Location—Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, NC

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #12 Wake Forest 81  #13 Notre Dame 69

G2: #10 Miami 57  #15 Virginia Tech 53

G3: #11 Georgia Tech 73  #14 Boston College 70 ot

 

2^nd Round—Thursday, March 13

G4: #8 Maryland (9-9/17-14) vs. #9 Florida St. (9-9/18-12)—12:00 Noon on ESPNU

G5: #5 Pittsburgh (11-7/23-8) vs. #12 Wake Forest (6-12/17-15)—2:00 PM on ESPNU

G6: #7 North Carolina St. (9-9/19-12) vs. #10 Miami (7-11/17-15)—7:00 PM on ESPNU

G7: #6 Clemson (10-8/19-11) vs. #11 Georgia Tech (6-12/16-16)—9:00 PM on ESPNU

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 14

G8: #1 Virginia (16-2/25-6) vs. Game 4 winner—12:00 Noon on ESPN2

G9: #4 North Carolina (13-5/23-8) vs. Game 5 winner—2:00 PM on ESPN2

G10: #2 Syracuse (14-4/27-4) vs. Game 6 winner—7:00 PM on ESPN2

G11: #3 Duke (13-5/24-7) vs. Game 7 winner—9:00 PM on ESPN2

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 15

G12: Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner—1:00 PM on ESPN

G13: Game 10 winner vs. Game 11 winner—3:00 PM on ESPN

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 16

Game 12 winner vs. Game 13 winner—1:00 PM on ESPN

 

Atlantic Sun Conference

Location—All Games Played on Campus Sites of Higher Seed

 

Quarterfinal Round—Tuesday, March 4

G1: #1 Florida Gulf Coast 77  #8 Stetson 55

G2: #4 East Tennessee 89  #5 Lipscomb 88 2ot

G3: #2 Mercer 85  #7 Jacksonville 64

G4: #3 USC-Upstate 80  #6 North Florida 74

 

Semifinal Round—Thursday, March 6

G5: #1 Florida Gulf Coast 69  #4 East Tennessee 64

G6: #2 Mercer 78  #3 USC-Upstate 75 2ot

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 9

#2 Mercer 68  #1 Florida Gulf Coast 60

 

Big 12 Conference

Location—Sprint Center, Kansas City

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #8 Oklahoma St. 80 (8-10/21-11)  #9 Texas Tech 62

G2: #7 Baylor 76  #10 T C U 68

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G3: #4 Iowa St. (11-7/23-7) vs. #5 Kansas St. (10-8/20-11)—12:30 PM on ESPN2

G4: #1 Kansas (14-4/23-8) vs. #8 Oklahoma St. (8-10/21-11)—3:00 PM on ESPN2

G5: #2 Oklahoma (12-6/23-8) vs. #7 Baylor (9-9/22-10)—7:00 PM on ESPN3

G6: #3 Texas (11-7/22-9) vs. #6 West Virginia (9-9/17-14)—9:30 PM on ESPN3

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G7: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner—7:00 PM on ESPNU or ESPN3

G8: Game 5 winner vs. Game 9 winner—9:30 PM on ESPNU or ESPN3

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 15

Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner—9:00 PM on ESPN

 

Big East Conference

Location—Madison Square Garden, New York City

 

All Games Televised on Fox Sports 1

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #8 Seton Hall 51 (6-12/16-16)  #9 Butler 50

G2: #10 DePaul 60  #7 Georgetown 56  

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G3: #1 Villanova (16-2/28-3) vs. #8 Seton Hall (6-12/16-16)—12:00 Noon

G4: #4 Providence (10-8/20-11) vs. #5 St. John’s (10-8/20-11)—2:30 PM

G5: #2 Creighton (14-4/24-6) vs. #10 DePaul (3-15/12-20)—7:00 PM

G6: #3 Xavier (10-8/20-11) vs. #6 Marquette (9-9/17-14)—9:30 PM

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G7: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner—7:00 PM

G8: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner—9:30 PM

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 15

Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner—8:30 PM

 

Big Sky Conference

Location: Dee Events Center (Weber St.), Ogden, UT

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G1: #2 North Dakota (12-8/15-15) vs. #7 Sacramento St. (10-10/14-15)—4:05 PM

G2: #3 Northern Arizona (12-8/15-16) vs. #6 Northern Colorado (11-9/17-12)—6:30 PM

G3: #4 Montana (12-8/17-12) vs. #5 Portland St. (11-9/16-13)—9:00 PM

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G4: Highest Remaining seed vs. 2^nd Highest Remaining seed—6:30 PM

G5: Weber St. (14-6/17-11) vs. Lowest Remaining seed—9:05 PM

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 15

Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner—8:00 PM on ESPNU

 

Big South Conference

Location—The HTC Center, Conway, SC (Myrtle Beach)

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 5

G1: #4S Winthrop 77  vs. #5N Liberty 65

G2: #3N Radford 78  vs. #6S Presbyterian 73

G3: #5S Chas. Southern 81  #4N Campbell 71

G4: #3S Gardner-Webb 81  #6N Longwood 65

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 7

G5: #4S Winthrop 62  #1N High Point 60

G6: #2S UNC-Asheville 96  #3N Radford 87

G7: #1S Coastal Carolina 73  #5S Chas. Southern 68 2ot

G8: #2N VMI 90  #3S Gardner-Webb 77

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G9: #4S Winthrop 80  #2S UNC-Asheville 79

G10: #1S Coastal Carolina 66  #2N V M I 62

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 9

#1S Coastal Carolina 76  #4S Winthrop 61 

 

Big Ten Conference

Location—Banker’s Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis

 

Opening Round—Thursday, March 13

G1: #8 Indiana (7-11/17-14) vs. #9 Illinois (7-11/18-13)—12:00 Noon on Big Ten Network

G2: #5 Ohio St. (10-8/23-8) vs. #12 Purdue (5-13/15-16)—2:30 PM on Big Ten Network

G3: #7 Minnesota (8-10/19-12) vs. #10 Penn St. (6-12/15-16)—6:30 PM on ESPN2

G4: #6 Iowa (9-9/20-11) vs. #11 Northwestern (6-12/13-18)—9:00 PM on ESPN2

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 14

G5: #1 Michigan (15-3/23-7) vs. Game 1 winner—12:00 Noon on ESPN or ESPN2

G6: #4 Nebraska (11-7/19-11) vs. Game 2 winner—2:30 PM on ESPN or ESPN2

G7: #2 Wisconsin (12-6/25-6) vs. Game 3 winner—6:30 PM on Big Ten Network

G8: #3 Michigan St. (12-6/23-8) vs. Game 4 winner—9:00 PM on Big Ten Network

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 15

G9: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner—1:40 PM on CBS

G10: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner—4:20 PM on CBS

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 16

Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner—3:30 PM on CBS

 

Big West Conference

Location—Honda Center, Anaheim

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G1: #2 U C S B (12-4/21-8) vs. #7 Cal Poly (6-10/10-19)—3:00 PM on Prime Ticket

G2: #3 Long Beach St. (10-6/14-16) vs. #6 Cal St. Fullerton (6-10/11-19)—5:30 PM on Prime Ticket

G3: #1 UC-Irvine (13-3/22-10) vs. #8 UC-Riverside (5-11/10-20)—9:00 PM on Prime Ticket

G4: #4 Hawaii (9-7/20-10) vs. #5 Cal St. Northridge (7-9/15-17)—11:30 PM on Prime Ticket

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G5: Highest Remaining Seed vs. Lowest Remaining Seed—9:30 PM on ESPN3

G6: 2^nd Highest Remaining Seed vs. 3^rd Highest Remaining Seed—12:00 Midnight on ESPNU

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 15

Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner—10:30 PM on ESPN2

 

Colonial Athletic Association

Location—Baltimore Arena, Baltimore

 

Opening Round—Friday, March 7

G1: #8 Hofstra 78  #9 UNC-Wilmington 70

 

Quarterfinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G2: #1 Delaware 87 (14-2/23-9)  #8 Hofstra 76

G3: #5 Northeastern 90 (7-9/11-20) #4 Drexel 81

G4: #2 Towson 80 (13-3/23-9) #7 James Madison 71

G5: #3 William & Mary 70 (10-6/19-11) #6 Charleston 59

 

Semifinal Round—Sunday, March 9

G6: #1 Delaware 87  #5 Northeastern 74

G7: #3 William & Mary 75  #2 Towson 71

 

Championship Game—Monday, March 10

#1 Delaware 75  #3 William & Mary 74

 

Conference USA

Location—Don Haskins Center, El Paso, TX

 

Opening Round—Tuesday, March 11 (all games televised online @ C-USA DN)

G1: #10 North Texas 63  #15 Rice 62 ot

G2: #14 Marshall 63  #11 Florida Atlantic 59

G3: #12 East Carolina 79  #13 U T S A 76

 

2^nd Round—Wednesday, March 12 (all games televised online @ C-USA DN)

G4: #7 Tulane 66  #10 North Texas 61

G5: #6 Old Dominion 73  #14 Marshall 58

G6: #5 U T E P  77  #12 East Carolina 68

G7: #9 Charlotte 80  #8 U A B 70 

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13 (all games televised online @ C-USA DN)

G8: #2 Tulsa (13-3/18-12) vs. #7 Tulane (8-8/17-15)—2:00 PM

G9: #3 Middle Tennessee (13-3/23-8) vs. #6 Old Dominion (9-7/17-16)—4:30 PM

G10: #4 Southern Miss. (13-3/26-5) vs. #5 U T E P (12-4/23-9)—8:00 PM

G11: #1 Louisiana Tech (13-3/25-6) vs. #9 Charlotte (7-9/17-13)—10:30 PM

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14 (both games televised on CBS SN)

G12: Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner—4:00 PM

G13: Game 10 winner vs. Game 11 winner—6:30 PM

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 15 (on CBS)

Game 12 winner vs. Game 13 winner—11:35 AM

 

Horizon League

Location—First Round Games played at the higher seed.  The quarterfinal and semifinal round games will be played at Green Bay, and the championship game will be played at the higher seed.

 

Opening Round—Tuesday, March 4

G1: #5 Milwaukee 83  #8 Detroit 73

G2: #4 Valparaiso 73  #9 Illinois-Chicago 63

G3: #6 Oakland 96  #7 Youngstown St. 92 ot

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 7

G4: #3 Wright St. 73  #6 Oakland 57

G5: #5 Milwaukee 74  #4 Valparaiso 57

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G6: #3 Wright St. 68 (10-6/20-13) #2 Cleveland St. 63

G7: #5 Milwaukee 73  #1 Green Bay 66   ot

 

Championship Game—Tuesday, March 11

#5 Milwaukee 69  #3 Wright St. 63  

 

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference

Location—Mass Mutual Center, Springfield, MA

 

Opening Round—Thursday, March 6

G1: #8 Rider 71  #9 Monmouth 60

G2: #7 St. Peter’s 65  #10 Fairfield 62 ot

G3: #11 Niagara 78  #6 Marist 76

 

Quarterfinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G4: #1 Iona 94  #8 Rider 71

G5: #4 Canisius 71  #5 Siena 69

G6: #2 Manhattan 72  #7 St. Peter’s 58

G7: #3 Quinnipiac 89  #11 Niagara 80

 

Semifinal Round—Sunday, March 9

G8: #1 Iona 75  #4 Canisius 72

G9: #2 Manhattan 87  #3 Quinnipiac 68

 

Championship Game—Monday, March 10

#2 Manhattan  71  #1 Iona 68

 

Mid-American Conference

Location—Opening Round at higher seed; all other rounds at Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland

 

Opening Round—Monday, March 10

G1: #5 Ohio 76  #12 Ball St. 64

G2: #8 Miami (O) 71  #9 Kent St. 64

G3: #6 Eastern Michigan 72  #11 Central Michigan 60

G4: #7 Northern Illinois 54  #10 Bowling Green 51 ot

 

2^nd Round—Wednesday, March 12

G5: #5 Ohio 63  #8 Miami (O) 55

G6: #6 Eastern Michigan 53  #7 Northern Illinois 48

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G7: #4 Akron (12-6/20-11) vs. #6 Ohio (11-7/23-10)—6:30 PM

G8: #3 Buffalo (13-5/19-9) vs. #6 Eastern Michigan (10-8/20-13)—9:00 PM

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G9: #1 Western Michigan (14-4/21-9) vs. Game 7 winner—6:30 PM

G10: #2 Toledo (14-4/26-5) vs. Game 8 winner—9:00 PM

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 15

Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner—6:30 PM on ESPN2

 

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference

Location: Norfolk Scope Arena, Norfolk, VA

 

Opening Round—Monday, March 10 & Tuesday, March 11

G1: #4 Norfolk St. 78  #13 Maryland-Eastern Shore 74

G2: #5 Savannah St. 61  #12 South Carolina St. 47

G3: #8 Howard 53  #9 North Carolina A&T 47

G4: #7 Coppin St. 75  #10 Bethune-Cookman 68

G5: #6 Florida A&M 65  #11 Delaware St. 61

 

Quarterfinal Round—Wednesday, March 12 & Thursday, March 13

G6: #1 UNC-Central 92  #8 Howard 46

G7: #7 Coppin St. 83  #2 Hampton 77 

G8: #3 Morgan St. (11-5/13-15) vs. #6 Florida A&M (8-8/14-17)—3/13 @ 6:00 PM

G9: #4 Norfolk St. (11-5/18-13) vs. #5 Savannah St. (10-6/18-13)—3/13 @ 8:30 PM

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G10: #1 UNC-Central (15-1/26-5) vs. Game 9 winner—6:00 PM

G11: #7 Coppin St. (7-9/12-19) vs. Game 8 winner—8:30 PM

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 15

Game 10 winner vs. Game 11 winner—6:00 PM on ESPNU

 

 

Missouri Valley Conference (Arch Madness)

Location: Scottrade Center, St. Louis

 

All Games until the Championship on MVC TV Network

 

Opening Round—Thursday, March 6

G1: #9 Evansville 69  #8 Drake 61  

G2: #10 Loyola (Chi) 74 (4-14/10-21) #7 Bradley 72  

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 7

G3: #1 Wichita St. 80  #9 Evansville 58

G4: #4 Missouri St. 53  #5 Illinois St. 48

G5: #2 Indiana St. 75  #10 Loyola (Chi) 62

G6: #6 Southern Illinois 63  #3 Northern Iowa 58 

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G7: #1 Wichita St. 67  Missouri St. 42

G8: #2 Indiana St. 62  #6 Southern Illinois 59

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 9

#1 Wichita St. 83  #2 Indiana St. 69

 

Mountain West Conference

Location—Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #8 Utah St. 73 (7-11/18-13)  #9 Colorado St. 69

G2: #7 Fresno St. 61  #10 Air Force 59

G3: #6 Boise St. 83  #11 San Jose St. 52

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G4: #1 San Diego St. (16-2/27-3) vs. #8 Utah St. (7-11/18-13)—3:00 PM on CBSSN

G5: #4 U N L V (10-8/19-12) vs. #5 Wyoming (9-9/18-13)—5:30 PM on CBSSN

G6: #2 New Mexico (15-3/24-6) vs. #7 Fresno St. (9-9/17-15)—9:00 PM on CBSSN

G7: #3 Nevada (10-8/15-16) vs. #6 Boise St. (9-9/20-12)—11:30 PM on CBSSN

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G8: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner—9:00 PM on CBSSN

G9: Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 winner—11:30 PM on CBSSN

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 15

Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner—6:00 PM on CBS

 

Northeast Conference

Location—All Games Played On Campus Sites of Higher Seeds

Tournament Re-seeds teams after quarterfinal round (like NFL Playoffs)

 

Quarterfinal Round—Wednesday, March 5 (All Games at 7:00 PM)

G1: #1 Robert Morris 60  #8 Fairleigh-Dickinson 53

G2: #2 Wagner 83  #7 Central Connecticut 59

G3: #6 St. Francis (PA) 55  #3 Bryant 54 

G4: #5 Mount St. Mary’s 72  #4 St. Francis (NY) 71 

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G5: #5 Mount St. Mary’s 77  #2 Wagner 52

G6: #1 Robert Morris 60  #6 St. Francis (PA) 57

 

Championship Game—Tuesday, March 11

#5 Mount St. Mary’s 88  #1 Robert Morris 71

 

Ohio Valley Conference

Location—Municipal Auditorium, Nashville

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 5

G1: #5 Tennessee Tech 74  #8 SIU-Edwards. 67

G2: #6 Southeast Missouri 79  #7 E. Illinois 61

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 6

G3: #4 Morehead St. 76  #5 Tennessee Tech 61

G4: #3 Eastern Kentucky 84  #6 S.E. Missouri 76

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 7

G5: #1 Belmont 86  #4 Morehead St. 63

G6: #3 Eastern Kentucky 86  #2 Murray St. 83  

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 8

#3 Eastern Kentucky 79  #1 Belmont 73

 

Pac-12 Conference

Location—MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #8 Utah 67  #9 Washington 61

G2: #5 Colorado 59  #12 Southern Cal 56

G3: #7 Oregon 88  #10 Oregon St. 74

G4: #6 Stanford 74  #11 Washington St. 63

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G5: #1 Arizona (15-3/28-3) vs. #8 Utah (9-9/21-10)—3:00 PM on Pac-12 Network

G6: #4 California (10-8/19-12) vs. #5 Colorado (10-8/22-10)—5:30 PM on Pac-12 Network

G7: #2 U C L A (12-6/23-8) vs. #7 Oregon (10-8/23-8)—9:00 PM on Pac-12 Network

G8: #3 Arizona St. (10-8/21-10) vs. #6 Stanford (10-8/20-11)—11:30 PM on Fox Sports 1

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G9: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner—9:00 PM on Pac-12 Network

G10: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner—11:30 PM on Fox Sports 1

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 15

Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner—6:00 PM on Fox Sports 1

 

Patriot League

Location—All Games Played on Campus Sites at Higher Seed

 

Opening Round—Monday, March 3

G1: #9 Lafayette 84  #8 Loyola (MD) 71

G2: #7 Colgate  #10 Navy 51

 

Quarterfinal Round—Wednesday, March 5

G3: #1 Boston U. 91  #9 Lafayette 54

G4: #5 Army 72  #4 Bucknell 71

G5: #3 Holy Cross 54  #6 Lehigh 48

G6: #2 American 59  #7 Colgate 50

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G7: #1 Boston U 91  #5 Army 70

G8: #2 American 57  #3 Holy Cross 46

 

Championship Game—Wednesday, March 12

#2 American 55  #1 Boston U 36

 

Southeastern Conference

Location—Georgia Dome, Atlanta

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #13 South Carolina 74 (5-13/13-19)  #12 Auburn 56  

G2: #14 Mississippi St. 82  #11 Vanderbilt 68 

 

2^nd Round—Thursday, March 13

G3: #8 Missouri (9-9/21-10) vs. #9 Texas A&M (8-10/17-14)—1:00 PM on SEC-TV/ESPN3

G4: #5 Arkansas (10-8/21-10) vs. South Carolina (5-13/13-19)—3:30 PM on SEC-TV/ESPN3

G5: #7 L S U (9-9/18-12) vs. #10 Alabama (7-11/13-18)—7:00 PM on SEC-TV/ESPN3

G6: #6 Ole Miss (9-9/18-13) vs. #14 Mississippi St. (3-15/14-18)—9:30 PM on SEC-TV/ESPN3

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 14

G7: #1 Florida (18-0/29-2) vs. Game 3 winner—1:00 PM on ESPNU

G8: #4 Tennessee (11-7/20-11) vs. Game 4 winner—3:30 PM on ESPNU

G9: #2 Kentucky (12-6/22-9) vs. Game 5 winner—7:00 PM on SEC-TV/ESPN3

G10: #3 Georgia (12-6/18-12) vs. Game 6 winner—9:30 PM on SEC-TV/ESPN3

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 15

G11: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner—1:00 PM on ABC

G12: Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner—3:30 PM on ABC

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 16

Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner—3:15 PM on ESPN

 

Southern Conference

Location—U.S. Cellular Center, Asheville, NC

 

Opening Round—Friday, March 7

G1: #8 Samford 70  #9 Appalachian St. 56

G2: #7 Georgia Southern 65  #10 Furman 50

G3: #11 Citadel 86  #6 UNCG 76 

 

Quarterfinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G4: #1 Davidson 77  #8 Samford 54

G5: #5 Western Carolina 66  #4 Elon 64 

G6: #7 Georgia Southern 62  #2 Chattanooga 55 

G7: #3 Wofford 68  #11 Citadel 51

 

Semifinal Round—Sunday, March 9

G8: #5 Western Carolina 99  #1 Davidson 97  ot  

G9: #3 Wofford 71  #7 Georgia Southern 57 

 

Championship Game—Monday, March 10

#3 Wofford 56  #5 Western Carolina 53

 

Southland Conference

Location—Leonard E. Merrell Center, Katy, TX

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #8 Nicholls St. 71  #5 Southeast Louisiana 64 

G2: #6 Oral Roberts 66  #7 McNeese St. 62

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G3: #4 Northwestern St. (12-6/16-13) vs. #8 Nicholls St. (10-8/14-14)—6:00 PM at southland.org

G4: #3 Sam Houston St. (13-5/21-9) vs. #6 Oral Roberts (10-8/17-15)—8:30 PM at southland.org

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G5: #1 Stephen F. Austin (18-0/29-2) vs. Game 3 winner—6:00 PM on ESPN3

G6: #2 Texas A&M—C.C. (14-4/17-14) vs. Game 4 winner—8:30 PM on ESPN3

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 15

Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner—8:30 PM on ESPN2

 

Southwestern Athletic Conference

Location—Toyota Center, Houston

 

Note: Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Grambling, Mississippi Valley St., and Southern are ineligible for the NCAA Tournament, and if one of these teams wins the SWAC Tournament, the league will select its representative for the automatic bid.

 

Opening Round—Tuesday, March 11

G1: #10 Grambling 84  #7 Jackson St. 75  

G2: #8 Prairie View 79  #9 Mississippi Valley 63

 

Quarterfinal Round—Wednesday, March 12 & Thursday, March 13

G3: #2 Texas Southern 79  Grambling 54

G4: #8 Prairie View 64  #1 Southern 46  

G5: #3 Alabama St. (12-6/18-11) vs. #6 Alcorn St. (9-9/12-18)—1:30 PM on Thu

G6: #4 Arkanas-Pine Bluff (11-7/13-17) vs. #5 Alabama A&M (10-8/13-15) 9:00 PM on Thu

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G7: #2 Texas Southern (12-6/17-14) vs. Game 5 winner—3:30 PM

G8: #8 Prairie View (6-12/10-22) vs. Game 6 winner—9:30 PM

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 15

Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner—4:30 PM on ESPN2

 

Summit League

Location—Sioux Falls Arena, Sioux Falls, SD

 

Quarterfinal Round—Saturday, March 8 & Sunday, March 9

G1: #2 IPFW 85  #7 IUPUI 47

G2: #4 Denver 71 (8-6/16-14)  #5 S. Dakota 55

G3: #3 S. Dakota St. 71  #6 W. Illinois 50

 

Semifinal Round—Monday, March 10

G4: #1 N. Dakota St. 83  #4 Denver 48

G5: #2 IPFW 64  #3 S. Dakota St. 60

 

Championship Game—Tuesday, March 11

#1 North Dakota St. 60  #2 IPFW 57

 

Sun Belt Conference

Location—Lakefront Arena, New Orleans

 

Opening Round—Thursday, March 13

G1: #5 U A L R (9-9/14-16) vs. #8 Troy (6-12/11-19)—7:00 PM on Sun Belt Network

G2: #6 UT-Arlington (9-9/14-16) vs. #7 UL-Monroe (7-11/10-16)—9:30 PM on Sun Belt Network

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 14

G3: #4 Arkansas St. (10-8/18-12) vs. Game 1 winner—7:00 PM on Sun Belt Network

G4: #3 UL-Lafayette (11-7/20-11) vs. Game 2 winner—9:30 PM on Sun Belt Network

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 15

G5: #1 Georgia St. (17-1/24-7) vs. Game 3 winner—3:00 PM on Sun Belt Network

G6: #2 Western Kentucky (12-6/20-11) vs. Game 4 winner—5:30 PM on Sun Belt Network

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 16

Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner—1:00 PM on ESPN2

 

West Coast Conference

Location—Orleans Arena, Las Vegas

 

Opening Round—Thursday, March 6

G1: #10 Loyola Marymount 67  #7 Portland 64 

G2: #9 Santa Clara 81  #8 Pacific 64

 

Quarterfinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G3: #3 San Francisco 69  #6 San Diego 60

G4: #2 B Y U 85  #10 Loyola Marymount 74

G5: #1 Gonzaga 77  #9 Santa Clara 75

G6: #4 St. Mary’s 80  #5 Pepperdine 69

 

Semifinal Round—Monday, March 10

G7: #2 B Y U 79 ot  #3 San Francisco 77

G8: #1 Gonzaga 70  #4 St. Mary’s 54

 

Championship Game—Tuesday, March 11

#1 Gonzaga 75  #2 B Y U 64

 

Western Athletic Conference

Location—Orleans Arena, Las Vegas

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G1: #1 Utah Valley (13-3/19-10) vs. #8 Texas-Pan American (5-11/9-22)—3:00 PM

G2: #4 Mo.-Kansas City (7-9/10-19) vs. #5 Idaho (7-9/14-17)—5:30 PM

G3: #3 Chicago St. (8-8/13-18) vs. #6 Cal St.-Bakersfield (5-11/12-18)—9:00 PM

G4: #2 New Mexico St. (12-4/23-9) vs. #7 Seattle (5-11/13-16)—11:30 PM

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G5: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner—9:00 PM

G6: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner—11:30 PM

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 15

Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner—10:00 PM on ESPNU

 

PiRate Ratings College Basketball Report for Wednesday, March 12

Last Updated: March 12, 2014 6:10 AM EDT

Headlines

Milwaukee defeats Wright St. to take the Horizon League title

Mount St. Mary’s shocks Robert Morris to return to the Dance for the first time in six years

North Dakota St. edges IPFW to take the Summit League title

Gonzaga holds off a 2^nd half BYU rally to take the West Coast Conference title

Already In The Field of 68  (5 Teams)

1. Harvard—Ivy League (26-4)

2. Eastern Kentucky—Ohio Valley (24-9)

3. Mercer (26-8)

4. Wichita St. (34-0)

5. Coastal Carolina (21-12)

6. Delaware (25-9)

7. Manhattan (25-7)

8. Wofford (20-12)

9. Mount St. Mary’s (16-16)

10. North Dakota St. (25-6)

11. Milwaukee (21-13)

12. Gonzaga (28-6)

The Bubbler

The higher up each team is on this bubble list, the better.  With last night’s win over St. Mary’s, Gonzaga moved from The Bubble to Safe status.  As of today, 12 teams on The Bubble will make the NCAA Tournament, while teams 13 through 22 are on outside, looking in.  Teams listed at numbers 9 through 12 are the last four in.  Teams listed #13 through #16 comprise the first four out.  As conference tournament upsets occur, the bubble teams in the tournament will begin to shrink.  So, far, no major upsets have occurred, as Wichita State and Gonzaga won automatic bids.  Mount St. Mary’s upset win over Robert Morris only affects the NIT.

1. Stanford

2. Colorado

3. S M U

4. St. Joseph’s

5. B Y U

6. Pittsburgh

7. Oklahoma St.

8. Xavier

——————————

9. Tennessee

10. Dayton

11. Nebraska

12. Arkansas

——————————

13. Minnesota

14. California

15. Georgetown

16. St. John’s

——————————

17. Providence

18. Missouri

19. Utah

20. West Virginia

21. Green Bay

22. Southern Mississippi

 

Games Affecting The Bubble Today

CONFERENCE TOURNAMENTS

Leagues Earning A Dance Ticket Today

Patriot League

 

Semifinal Rounds

None

Quarterfinal Rounds

MEAC—2 of 4 quarterfinal games

SWAC—2 of 4 quarterfinal games

Second Round

Conference USA

Mid-American

Opening Round

American Athletic

Atlantic 10

ACC

Big 12

Big East

Mountain West

Pac-12

SEC

Southland

 

Schedules & Results

All times are Eastern Daylight

 

American Athletic Conference

Location—Fedex Forum, Memphis

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #7 Rutgers (5-13/11-20) vs. #10 South Florida (3-15/12-19)—7:00 PM on ESPNU

G2: #8 Temple (4-14/9-21) vs. #9 Central Florida (4-14/12-17)—9:30 PM on ESPN2

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G3: #3 S M U (12-6/23-8) vs. #6 Houston (8-10/16-15)—1:00 PM on ESPNU

G4: #2 Louisville (15-3/26-5) vs. Game 1 winner—3:00 PM on ESPNU

G5: #1 Cincinnati (15-3/26-5) vs. Game 2 winner—7:00 PM on ESPNU

G6: #4 Connecticut (12-6/24-7) vs. #5 Memphis (12-6/23-8)—9:00 PM on ESPNU

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G7: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner—6:00 PM on ESPN or ESPN2

G8: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner—8:00 PM on ESPN or ESPN2

 

Championship Game

Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner—6:00 PM on ESPN

 

America East Conference

Location—SEFCU Arena, Albany, NY

 

Quarterfinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G1: #1 Vermont 77  #8 New Hampshire 60

G2: #4 Albany 86  #5 UMBC 56

G3: #2 Stony Brook 80  #7 Maine 54

G4: #3 Hartford 69  #6 Binghamton 42

 

Semifinal Round—Sunday, March 9

G5: #4 Albany 67  #1 Vermont 58  

G6: #2 Stony Brook 64  #3 Hartford 61

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 15

#4 Albany (9-7/17-14) vs. #2 Stony Brook (13-3/23-9)—11:30 AM on ESPN2

 

Atlantic 10 Conference

Location—Barclay’s Center, Brooklyn

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #12 George Mason (4-12/11-19) vs. #13 Fordham (2-14/9-20)—7:00 PM on A-10 Network

 

2^nd Round—Thursday, March 13

G2: #8 La Salle (7-9/15-15) vs. #9 St. Bonaventure (6-10/16-14)—12:00 Noon on NBC Sports Regional

G3: #5 Dayton (10-6/22-9) vs. Game 1 winner—2:30 PM on NBCSN

G4: #7 Richmond (8-8/18-13) vs. #10 Duquesne (5-11/13-16)—6:30 PM on NBCSN

G5: #6 U Mass (10-6/23-7) vs. #11 Rhode Island (5-11/14-17)—9:00 PM on NBC Sports Regional

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 14

G6: #1 St. Louis (13-3/26-5) vs. Game 2 winner—12:00 Noon on NBCSN

G7: #4 St. Joseph’s (11-5/21-9) vs. Game 3 winner—2:30 PM on NBCSN

G8: #2 V C U (12-4/24-7) vs. Game 4 winner—6:30 PM on NBCSN

G9: #3 George Washington (11-5/23-7) vs. Game 5 winner—9:00 PM on NBCSN

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 15

G10: Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 winner—1:30 PM on CBSSN

G11: Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner—4:00 PM on CBSSN

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 16

Game 10 winner vs. Game 11 winner—1:00 PM on CBS

 

Atlantic Coast Conference

Location—Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, NC

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #12 Wake Forest (6-12/16-15) vs. #13 Notre Dame (6-12/15-16)—1:00 PM on ESPN2/U

G2: #10 Miami (7-11/16-15) vs. #15 Virginia Tech (2-16/9-21)—3:30 PM on ESPN2/U

G3: #11 Georgia Tech (6-12/15-16) vs. #14 Boston College (4-14/8-23)—7:00 PM on ESPN2/U

 

2^nd Round—Thursday, March 13

G4: #8 Maryland (9-9/17-14) vs. #9 Florida St. (9-9/18-12)—12:00 Noon on ESPNU

G5: #5 Pittsburgh (11-7/23-8) vs. Game 1 winner—2:00 PM on ESPNU

G6: #7 North Carolina St. (9-9/19-12) vs. Game 2 winner—7:00 PM on ESPNU

G7: #6 Clemson (10-8/19-11) vs. Game 3 winner—9:00 PM on ESPNU

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 14

G8: #1 Virginia (16-2/25-6) vs. Game 4 winner—12:00 Noon on ESPN2

G9: #4 North Carolina (13-5/23-8) vs. Game 5 winner—2:00 PM on ESPN2

G10: #2 Syracuse (14-4/27-4) vs. Game 6 winner—7:00 PM on ESPN2

G11: #3 Duke (13-5/24-7) vs. Game 7 winner—9:00 PM on ESPN2

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 15

G12: Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner—1:00 PM on ESPN

G13: Game 10 winner vs. Game 11 winner—3:00 PM on ESPN

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 16

Game 12 winner vs. Game 13 winner—1:00 PM on ESPN

 

Atlantic Sun Conference

Location—All Games Played on Campus Sites of Higher Seed

 

Quarterfinal Round—Tuesday, March 4

G1: #1 Florida Gulf Coast 77  #8 Stetson 55

G2: #4 East Tennessee 89  #5 Lipscomb 88 2ot

G3: #2 Mercer 85  #7 Jacksonville 64

G4: #3 USC-Upstate 80  #6 North Florida 74

 

Semifinal Round—Thursday, March 6

G5: #1 Florida Gulf Coast 69  #4 East Tennessee 64

G6: #2 Mercer 78  #3 USC-Upstate 75 2ot

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 9

#2 Mercer 68  #1 Florida Gulf Coast 60

 

Big 12 Conference

Location—Sprint Center, Kansas City

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #8 Oklahoma St. (8-10/20-11) vs. #9 Texas Tech (6-12/14-17)—7:00 PM on ESPN3

G2: #7 Baylor (9-9/21-10) vs. #10 T C U (0-18/9-21)—9:30 PM on ESPN3

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G3: #4 Iowa St. (11-7/23-7) vs. #5 Kansas St. (10-8/20-11)—12:30 PM on ESPN2

G4: #1 Kansas (14-4/23-8) vs. Game 1 winner—3:00 PM on ESPN2

G5: #2 Oklahoma (12-6/23-8) vs. Game 2 winner—7:00 PM on ESPN3

G6: #3 Texas (11-7/22-9) vs. #6 West Virginia (9-9/17-14)—9:30 PM on ESPN3

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G7: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner—7:00 PM on ESPNU or ESPN3

G8: Game 5 winner vs. Game 9 winner—9:30 PM on ESPNU or ESPN3

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 15

Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner—9:00 PM on ESPN

 

Big East Conference

Location—Madison Square Garden, New York City

 

All Games Televised on Fox Sports 1

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #8 Seton Hall (6-12/15-16) vs. #9 Butler (4-14/14-16)—7:00 PM

G2: #7 Georgetown (8-10/17-13) vs. #10 DePaul (3-15/11-20)—9:30 PM

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G3: #1 Villanova (16-2/28-3) vs. Game 1 winner—12:00 Noon

G4: #4 Providence (10-8/20-11) vs. #5 St. John’s (10-8/20-11)—2:30 PM

G5: #2 Creighton (14-4/24-6) vs. Game 2 winner—7:00 PM

G6: #3 Xavier (10-8/20-11) vs. #6 Marquette (9-9/17-14)—9:30 PM

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G7: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner—7:00 PM

G8: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner—9:30 PM

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 15

Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner—8:30 PM

 

Big Sky Conference

Location: Dee Events Center (Weber St.), Ogden, UT

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G1: #2 North Dakota (12-8/15-15) vs. #7 Sacramento St. (10-10/14-15)—4:05 PM

G2: #3 Northern Arizona (12-8/15-16) vs. #6 Northern Colorado (11-9/17-12)—6:30 PM

G3: #4 Montana (12-8/17-12) vs. #5 Portland St. (11-9/16-13)—9:00 PM

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G4: Highest Remaining seed vs. 2^nd Highest Remaining seed—6:30 PM

G5: Weber St. (14-6/17-11) vs. Lowest Remaining seed—9:05 PM

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 15

Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner—8:00 PM on ESPNU

 

Big South Conference

Location—The HTC Center, Conway, SC (Myrtle Beach)

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 5

G1: #4S Winthrop 77  vs. #5N Liberty 65

G2: #3N Radford 78  vs. #6S Presbyterian 73

G3: #5S Chas. Southern 81  #4N Campbell 71

G4: #3S Gardner-Webb 81  #6N Longwood 65

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 7

G5: #4S Winthrop 62  #1N High Point 60

G6: #2S UNC-Asheville 96  #3N Radford 87

G7: #1S Coastal Carolina 73  #5S Chas. Southern 68 2ot

G8: #2N VMI 90  #3S Gardner-Webb 77

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G9: #4S Winthrop 80  #2S UNC-Asheville 79

G10: #1S Coastal Carolina 66  #2N V M I 62

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 9

#1S Coastal Carolina 76  #4S Winthrop 61 

 

Big Ten Conference

Location—Banker’s Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis

 

Opening Round—Thursday, March 13

G1: #8 Indiana (7-11/17-14) vs. #9 Illinois (7-11/18-13)—12:00 Noon on Big Ten Network

G2: #5 Ohio St. (10-8/23-8) vs. #12 Purdue (5-13/15-16)—2:30 PM on Big Ten Network

G3: #7 Minnesota (8-10/19-12) vs. #10 Penn St. (6-12/15-16)—6:30 PM on ESPN2

G4: #6 Iowa (9-9/20-11) vs. #11 Northwestern (6-12/13-18)—9:00 PM on ESPN2

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 14

G5: #1 Michigan (15-3/23-7) vs. Game 1 winner—12:00 Noon on ESPN or ESPN2

G6: #4 Nebraska (11-7/19-11) vs. Game 2 winner—2:30 PM on ESPN or ESPN2

G7: #2 Wisconsin (12-6/25-6) vs. Game 3 winner—6:30 PM on Big Ten Network

G8: #3 Michigan St. (12-6/23-8) vs. Game 4 winner—9:00 PM on Big Ten Network

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 15

G9: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner—1:40 PM on CBS

G10: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner—4:20 PM on CBS

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 16

Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner—3:30 PM on CBS

 

Big West Conference

Location—Honda Center, Anaheim

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G1: #2 U C S B (12-4/21-8) vs. #7 Cal Poly (6-10/10-19)—3:00 PM on Prime Ticket

G2: #3 Long Beach St. (10-6/14-16) vs. #6 Cal St. Fullerton (6-10/11-19)—5:30 PM on Prime Ticket

G3: #1 UC-Irvine (13-3/22-10) vs. #8 UC-Riverside (5-11/10-20)—9:00 PM on Prime Ticket

G4: #4 Hawaii (9-7/20-10) vs. #5 Cal St. Northridge (7-9/15-17)—11:30 PM on Prime Ticket

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G5: Highest Remaining Seed vs. Lowest Remaining Seed—9:30 PM on ESPN3

G6: 2^nd Highest Remaining Seed vs. 3^rd Highest Remaining Seed—12:00 Midnight on ESPNU

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 15

Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner—10:30 PM on ESPN2

 

Colonial Athletic Association

Location—Baltimore Arena, Baltimore

 

Opening Round—Friday, March 7

G1: #8 Hofstra 78  #9 UNC-Wilmington 70

 

Quarterfinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G2: #1 Delaware 87 (14-2/23-9)  #8 Hofstra 76

G3: #5 Northeastern 90 (7-9/11-20) #4 Drexel 81

G4: #2 Towson 80 (13-3/23-9) #7 James Madison 71

G5: #3 William & Mary 70 (10-6/19-11) #6 Charleston 59

 

Semifinal Round—Sunday, March 9

G6: #1 Delaware 87  #5 Northeastern 74

G7: #3 William & Mary 75  #2 Towson 71

 

Championship Game—Monday, March 10

#1 Delaware 75  #3 William & Mary 74

 

Conference USA

Location—Don Haskins Center, El Paso, TX

 

Opening Round—Tuesday, March 11 (all games televised online @ C-USA DN)

G1: #10 North Texas 63  #15 Rice 62 ot

G2: #14 Marshall 63  #11 Florida Atlantic 59

G3: #12 East Carolina 79  #13 U T S A 76

 

2^nd Round—Wednesday, March 12 (all games televised online @ C-USA DN)

G4: #7 Tulane (8-8/16-15) vs. #10 North Texas (6-10/16-15)—2:00 PM

G5: #6 Old Dominion (9-7/15-16) vs. #14 Marshall (4-12/11-21)—4:30 PM

G6: #5 U T E P (12-4/22-9) vs. #12 East Carolina (5-11/17-15)—8:00 PM

G7: #8 U A B (7-9/18-12) vs. #9 Charlotte (7-9/16-13)—10:30 PM

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13 (all games televised online @ C-USA DN)

G8: #2 Tulsa (13-3/18-12) vs. Game 4 winner—2:00 PM

G9: #3 Middle Tennessee (13-3/23-8) vs. Game 5 winner—4:30 PM

G10: #4 Southern Miss. (13-3/26-5) vs. Game 6 winner—8:00 PM

G11: #1 Louisiana Tech (13-3/25-6) vs/ Game 7 winner—10:30 PM

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14 (both games televised on CBS SN)

G12: Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner—4:00 PM

G13: Game 10 winner vs. Game 11 winner—6:30 PM

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 15 (on CBS)

Game 12 winner vs. Game 13 winner—11:35 AM

 

Horizon League

Location—First Round Games played at the higher seed.  The quarterfinal and semifinal round games will be played at Green Bay, and the championship game will be played at the higher seed.

 

Opening Round—Tuesday, March 4

G1: #5 Milwaukee 83  #8 Detroit 73

G2: #4 Valparaiso 73  #9 Illinois-Chicago 63

G3: #6 Oakland 96  #7 Youngstown St. 92 ot

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 7

G4: #3 Wright St. 73  #6 Oakland 57

G5: #5 Milwaukee 74  #4 Valparaiso 57

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G6: #3 Wright St. 68 (10-6/20-13) #2 Cleveland St. 63

G7: #5 Milwaukee 73  #1 Green Bay 66   ot

 

Championship Game—Tuesday, March 11

#5 Milwaukee 69  #3 Wright St. 63  

 

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference

Location—Mass Mutual Center, Springfield, MA

 

Opening Round—Thursday, March 6

G1: #8 Rider 71  #9 Monmouth 60

G2: #7 St. Peter’s 65  #10 Fairfield 62 ot

G3: #11 Niagara 78  #6 Marist 76

 

Quarterfinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G4: #1 Iona 94  #8 Rider 71

G5: #4 Canisius 71  #5 Siena 69

G6: #2 Manhattan 72  #7 St. Peter’s 58

G7: #3 Quinnipiac 89  #11 Niagara 80

 

Semifinal Round—Sunday, March 9

G8: #1 Iona 75  #4 Canisius 72

G9: #2 Manhattan 87  #3 Quinnipiac 68

 

Championship Game—Monday, March 10

#2 Manhattan  71  #1 Iona 68

 

Mid-American Conference

Location—Opening Round at higher seed; all other rounds at Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland

 

Opening Round—Monday, March 10

G1: #5 Ohio 76  #12 Ball St. 64

G2: #8 Miami (O) 71  #9 Kent St. 64

G3: #6 Eastern Michigan 72  #11 Central Michigan 60

G4: #7 Northern Illinois 54  #10 Bowling Green 51 ot

 

2^nd Round—Wednesday, March 12

G5: Ohio (11-7/22-10) vs. Miami (O) (8-10/13-17)—6:00 PM

G6: Eastern Michigan (10-8/19-13) vs. Northern Illinois (8-10/15-16)—8:30 PM

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G7: #4 Akron (12-6/20-11) vs. Game 5 winner—6:30 PM

G8: #3 Buffalo (13-5/19-9) vs. Game 6 winner—9:00 PM

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G9: #1 Western Michigan (14-4/21-9) vs. Game 7 winner—6:30 PM

G10: #2 Toledo (14-4/26-5) vs. Game 8 winner—9:00 PM

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 15

Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner—6:30 PM on ESPN2

 

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference

Location: Norfolk Scope Arena, Norfolk, VA

 

Opening Round—Monday, March 10 & Tuesday, March 11

G1: #4 Norfolk St. 78  #13 Maryland-Eastern Shore 74

G2: #5 Savannah St. 61  #12 South Carolina St. 47

G3: #8 Howard 53  #9 North Carolina A&T 47

G4: #7 Coppin St. 75  #10 Bethune-Cookman 68

G5: #6 Florida A&M 65  #11 Delaware St. 61

 

Quarterfinal Round—Wednesday, March 12 & Thursday, March 13

G6: #1 UNC-Central (15-1/25-5) vs. #8 Howard (5-11/8-24)—3/12 @ 6:00 PM

G7: #2 Hampton (13-3/18-11) vs. #7 Coppin St. (7-9/11-19)—3/12 @ 8:30 PM

G8: #3 Morgan St. (11-5/13-15) vs. #6 Florida A&M (8-8/14-17)—3/13 @ 6:00 PM

G9: #4 Norfolk St. (11-5/18-13) vs. #5 Savannah St. (10-6/18-13)—3/13 @ 8:30 PM

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G10: Game 6 winner vs. Game 9 winner—6:00 PM

G11: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner—8:30 PM

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 15

Game 10 winner vs. Game 11 winner—6:00 PM on ESPNU

 

 

Missouri Valley Conference (Arch Madness)

Location: Scottrade Center, St. Louis

 

All Games until the Championship on MVC TV Network

 

Opening Round—Thursday, March 6

G1: #9 Evansville 69  #8 Drake 61  

G2: #10 Loyola (Chi) 74 (4-14/10-21) #7 Bradley 72  

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 7

G3: #1 Wichita St. 80  #9 Evansville 58

G4: #4 Missouri St. 53  #5 Illinois St. 48

G5: #2 Indiana St. 75  #10 Loyola (Chi) 62

G6: #6 Southern Illinois 63  #3 Northern Iowa 58 

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G7: #1 Wichita St. 67  Missouri St. 42

G8: #2 Indiana St. 62  #6 Southern Illinois 59

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 9

#1 Wichita St. 83  #2 Indiana St. 69

 

Mountain West Conference

Location—Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #8 Utah St. (7-11/17-13) vs. #9 Colorado St. (7-11/16-15)—5:00 PM on MW Network

G2: #7 Fresno St. (9-9/16-15) vs. #10 Air Force (6-12/12-17)—7:30 PM on MW Network

G3: #6 Boise St. (9-9/19-12) vs. #11 San Jose St. (1-17/7-23)—10:00 PM on MW Network

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G4: #1 San Diego St. (16-2/27-3) vs. Game 1 winner—3:00 PM on CBSSN

G5: #4 U N L V (10-8/19-12) vs. #5 Wyoming (9-9/18-13)—5:30 PM on CBSSN

G6: #2 New Mexico (15-3/24-6) vs. Game 2 winner—9:00 PM on CBSSN

G7: #3 Nevada (10-8/15-16) vs. Game 3 winner—11:30 PM on CBSSN

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G8: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner—9:00 PM on CBSSN

G9: Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 winner—11:30 PM on CBSSN

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 15

Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner—6:00 PM on CBS

 

Northeast Conference

Location—All Games Played On Campus Sites of Higher Seeds

Tournament Re-seeds teams after quarterfinal round (like NFL Playoffs)

 

Quarterfinal Round—Wednesday, March 5 (All Games at 7:00 PM)

G1: #1 Robert Morris 60  #8 Fairleigh-Dickinson 53

G2: #2 Wagner 83  #7 Central Connecticut 59

G3: #6 St. Francis (PA) 55  #3 Bryant 54 

G4: #5 Mount St. Mary’s 72  #4 St. Francis (NY) 71 

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G5: #5 Mount St. Mary’s 77  #2 Wagner 52

G6: #1 Robert Morris 60  #6 St. Francis (PA) 57

 

Championship Game—Tuesday, March 11

#5 Mount St. Mary’s 88  #1 Robert Morris 71

 

Ohio Valley Conference

Location—Municipal Auditorium, Nashville

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 5

G1: #5 Tennessee Tech 74  #8 SIU-Edwards. 67

G2: #6 Southeast Missouri 79  #7 E. Illinois 61

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 6

G3: #4 Morehead St. 76  #5 Tennessee Tech 61

G4: #3 Eastern Kentucky 84  #6 S.E. Missouri 76

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 7

G5: #1 Belmont 86  #4 Morehead St. 63

G6: #3 Eastern Kentucky 86  #2 Murray St. 83  

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 8

#3 Eastern Kentucky 79  #1 Belmont 73

 

Pac-12 Conference

Location—MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #8 Utah (9-9/20-10) vs. #9 Washington (9-9/17-14)—3:00 PM on Pac-12 Network

G2: #5 Colorado (10-8/21-10) vs. #12 Southern Cal (2-16/11-20)—5:30 PM on Pac-12 Network

G3: #7 Oregon (10-8/22-8) vs. #10 Oregon St. (8-10/16-14)—9:00 PM on Pac-12 Network

G4: #6 Stanford (10-8/19-11) vs. #11 Washington St. (3-15/10-20)—11:30 PM on Pac-12 Network

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G5: #1 Arizona (15-3/28-3) vs. Game 1 winner—3:00 PM on Pac-12 Network

G6: #4 California (10-8/19-12) vs. Game 2 winner—5:30 PM on Pac-12 Network

G7: #2 U C L A (12-6/23-8) vs. Game 3 winner—9:00 PM on Pac-12 Network

G8: #3 Arizona St. (10-8/21-10) vs. Game 4 winner—11:30 PM on Fox Sports 1

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G9: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner—9:00 PM on Pac-12 Network

G10: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner—11:30 PM on Fox Sports 1

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 15

Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner—6:00 PM on Fox Sports 1

 

Patriot League

Location—All Games Played on Campus Sites at Higher Seed

 

Opening Round—Monday, March 3

G1: #9 Lafayette 84  #8 Loyola (MD) 71

G2: #7 Colgate  #10 Navy 51

 

Quarterfinal Round—Wednesday, March 5

G3: #1 Boston U. 91  #9 Lafayette 54

G4: #5 Army 72  #4 Bucknell 71

G5: #3 Holy Cross 54  #6 Lehigh 48

G6: #2 American 59  #7 Colgate 50

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G7: #1 Boston U 91  #5 Army 70

G8: #2 American 57  #3 Holy Cross 46

 

Championship Game—Wednesday, March 12

#1 Boston U (15-3/24-9) vs. #2 American (13-5/19-12)—7:30 PM on CBS SN

 

Southeastern Conference

Location—Georgia Dome, Atlanta

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #12 Auburn (6-12/14-15) vs. #13 South Carolina (5-13/12-19)—7:00 PM on SEC-TV/ESPN3

G2: #11 Vanderbilt (7-11/15-15) vs. #14 Mississippi St. (3-15/13-18)—9:30 PM on SEC-TV/ESPN3

 

2^nd Round—Thursday, March 13

G3: #8 Missouri (9-9/21-10) vs. #9 Texas A&M (8-10/17-14)—1:00 PM on SEC-TV/ESPN3

G4: #5 Arkansas (10-8/21-10) vs. Game 1 winner—3:30 PM on SEC-TV/ESPN3

G5: #7 L S U (9-9/18-12) vs. #10 Alabama (7-11/13-18)—7:00 PM on SEC-TV/ESPN3

G6: #6 Ole Miss (9-9/18-13) vs. Game 2 winner—9:30 PM on SEC-TV/ESPN3

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 14

G7: #1 Florida (18-0/29-2) vs. Game 3 winner—1:00 PM on ESPNU

G8: #4 Tennessee (11-7/20-11) vs. Game 4 winner—3:30 PM on ESPNU

G9: #2 Kentucky (12-6/22-9) vs. Game 5 winner—7:00 PM on SEC-TV/ESPN3

G10: #3 Georgia (12-6/18-12) vs. Game 6 winner—9:30 PM on SEC-TV/ESPN3

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 15

G11: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner—1:00 PM on ABC

G12: Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner—3:30 PM on ABC

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 16

Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner—3:15 PM on ESPN

 

Southern Conference

Location—U.S. Cellular Center, Asheville, NC

 

Opening Round—Friday, March 7

G1: #8 Samford 70  #9 Appalachian St. 56

G2: #7 Georgia Southern 65  #10 Furman 50

G3: #11 Citadel 86  #6 UNCG 76 

 

Quarterfinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G4: #1 Davidson 77  #8 Samford 54

G5: #5 Western Carolina 66  #4 Elon 64 

G6: #7 Georgia Southern 62  #2 Chattanooga 55 

G7: #3 Wofford 68  #11 Citadel 51

 

Semifinal Round—Sunday, March 9

G8: #5 Western Carolina 99  #1 Davidson 97  ot  

G9: #3 Wofford 71  #7 Georgia Southern 57 

 

Championship Game—Monday, March 10

#3 Wofford 56  #5 Western Carolina 53

 

Southland Conference

Location—Leonard E. Merrell Center, Katy, TX

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #5 Southeast Louisiana (7-11/12-17) vs. #8 Nicholls St. (10-8/13-14)—6:00 PM at southland.org

G2: #6 Oral Roberts (10-8/16-15) vs. #7 McNeese St. (9-9/11-19)—8:30 PM at southland.org

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G3: #4 Northwestern St. (12-6/16-13) vs. Game 1 winner—6:00 PM at southland.org

G4: #3 Sam Houston St. (13-5/21-9) vs. Game 2 winner—8:30 PM at southland.org

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G5: #1 Stephen F. Austin (18-0/29-2) vs. Game 3 winner—6:00 PM on ESPN3

G6: #2 Texas A&M—C.C. (14-4/17-14) vs. Game 4 winner—8:30 PM on ESPN3

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 15

Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner—8:30 PM on ESPN2

 

Southwestern Athletic Conference

Location—Toyota Center, Houston

 

Note: Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Grambling, Mississippi Valley St., and Southern are ineligible for the NCAA Tournament, and if one of these teams wins the SWAC Tournament, the league will select its representative for the automatic bid.

 

Opening Round—Tuesday, March 11

G1: #10 Grambling 84  #7 Jackson St. 75  

G2: #8 Prairie View 79 (6-12/9-22)  #9 Mississippi Valley 63

 

Quarterfinal Round—Wednesday, March 12 & Thursday, March 13

G3: #2 Texas Southern (12-6/16-14) vs. Grambling (3-15/5-23)—1:30 PM on Wed

G4: #1 Southern (15-3/19-12) vs. #8 Prairie View (6-12/9-22)—9:00 PM on Wed

G5: #3 Alabama St. (12-6/18-11) vs. #6 Alcorn St. (9-9/12-18)—1:30 PM on Thu

G6: #4 Arkanas-Pine Bluff (11-7/13-17) vs. #5 Alabama A&M (10-8/13-15) 9:00 PM on Thu

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G7: Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner—3:30 PM

G8: Game 4 winner vs. Game 6 winner—9:30 PM

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 15

Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner—4:30 PM on ESPN2

 

Summit League

Location—Sioux Falls Arena, Sioux Falls, SD

 

Quarterfinal Round—Saturday, March 8 & Sunday, March 9

G1: #2 IPFW 85  #7 IUPUI 47

G2: #4 Denver 71 (8-6/16-14)  #5 S. Dakota 55

G3: #3 S. Dakota St. 71  #6 W. Illinois 50

 

Semifinal Round—Monday, March 10

G4: #1 N. Dakota St. 83  #4 Denver 48

G5: #2 IPFW 64  #3 S. Dakota St. 60

 

Championship Game—Tuesday, March 11

#1 North Dakota St. 60  #2 IPFW 57

 

Sun Belt Conference

Location—Lakefront Arena, New Orleans

 

Opening Round—Thursday, March 13

G1: #5 U A L R (9-9/14-16) vs. #8 Troy (6-12/11-19)—7:00 PM on Sun Belt Network

G2: #6 UT-Arlington (9-9/14-16) vs. #7 UL-Monroe (7-11/10-16)—9:30 PM on Sun Belt Network

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 14

G3: #4 Arkansas St. (10-8/18-12) vs. Game 1 winner—7:00 PM on Sun Belt Network

G4: #3 UL-Lafayette (11-7/20-11) vs. Game 2 winner—9:30 PM on Sun Belt Network

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 15

G5: #1 Georgia St. (17-1/24-7) vs. Game 3 winner—3:00 PM on Sun Belt Network

G6: #2 Western Kentucky (12-6/20-11) vs. Game 4 winner—5:30 PM on Sun Belt Network

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 16

Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner—1:00 PM on ESPN2

 

West Coast Conference

Location—Orleans Arena, Las Vegas

 

Opening Round—Thursday, March 6

G1: #10 Loyola Marymount 67  #7 Portland 64 

G2: #9 Santa Clara 81  #8 Pacific 64

 

Quarterfinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G3: #3 San Francisco 69  #6 San Diego 60

G4: #2 B Y U 85  #10 Loyola Marymount 74

G5: #1 Gonzaga 77  #9 Santa Clara 75

G6: #4 St. Mary’s 80  #5 Pepperdine 69

 

Semifinal Round—Monday, March 10

G7: #2 B Y U 79 ot  #3 San Francisco 77

G8: #1 Gonzaga 70  #4 St. Mary’s 54

 

Championship Game—Tuesday, March 11

#1 Gonzaga 75  #2 B Y U 64

 

Western Athletic Conference

Location—Orleans Arena, Las Vegas

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G1: #1 Utah Valley (13-3/19-10) vs. #8 Texas-Pan American (5-11/9-22)—3:00 PM

G2: #4 Mo.-Kansas City (7-9/10-19) vs. #5 Idaho (7-9/14-17)—5:30 PM

G3: #3 Chicago St. (8-8/13-18) vs. #6 Cal St.-Bakersfield (5-11/12-18)—9:00 PM

G4: #2 New Mexico St. (12-4/23-9) vs. #7 Seattle (5-11/13-16)—11:30 PM

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G5: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner—9:00 PM

G6: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner—11:30 PM

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 15

Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner—10:00 PM on ESPNU