PiRate Ratings Bracketology Gurus Pitch a Perfect Game

A shout out to our Bracketology Gurus here at the PiRate Ratings.  The guys (and one gal) successfully/correctly selected all 68 teams this morning in our final Bracketology Report.

Way to go team!  We knew you could do it.

 

68 for 68–100%!!!

Conference Tournament Update–Saturday, March 11, 2017

Joining The Field

You might be thinking, “Wait, there were no conference championship games Friday, so how could there be an addition to the automatic bid list?”

It is a technicality issue.  In the SWAC, Alcorn State is ineligible for postseason play, but they were eligible for the conference tournament.  The Braves have made it to the Championship Game of the SWAC Tournament, but they cannot receive a bid to the NCAA Tournament.  Their opponent tonight is Texas Southern, the regular season SWAC champion.  The rules in the SWAC state that if the conference tournament champion is ineligible for the postseason, the regular season champion gets the automatic bid.  Thus, Texas Southern is in the Dance no matter what happens tonight in the conference championship game.

We rarely issue opinions on matters like this, but this one seems obvious.  The conference championship game is now meaningless, and leagues like the SWAC struggle to fill seats in tournament games if they do not put them on the home courts of the higher seeds.  This league does not include all their members in the conference tournament, yet they included an ineligible team.  It seems obvious that the SWAC should have kept Alcorn State out of the conference tournament and allowed Arkansas-Pine Bluff (one of two teams left out) to participate.  That at least would make the Championship Game mean something.

Today’s Schedule

All times Eastern Standard 

America East Conference Tournament Championship — Vermont Hosts
Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	Vermont	28-5	vs.	3	Albany	21-12	11:00 AM	ESPN2

Vermont has a perfect America East record this year, now at 16-0, as they prepare to host Albany.  The last time these two teams met, Albany took a seven-point first half lead in Burlington, before the Catamounts clawed back into the lead in the second half.  The game was still close with less than four minutes remaining before a big closing run by VU produced a 12-point victory.  David Nichols kept Albany in that game with his three-point shooting, and if the Great Danes are to pull off the upset, they will need to be hot from behind the arc.  Vermont should win its 21st consecutive game and become a feisty lower-seed foe for a second round biggie.

 

American Athletic Conference Tournament Semifinals–Hartford,CT
Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	SMU	28-4	vs.	4	Central Florida	21-10	3:00 PM	ESPN2
2	Cincinnati	28-4	vs.	6	Connecticut	16-16	5:00 PM	ESPN2

One might think that SMU and Cincinnati have this tournament semifinals all wrapped up and will face off tomorrow in a rubber game to decide the conference tournament title winner.  Think again.  Central Florida and Connecticut are worthy competitors, and both teams have the ability to pull off upsets.

Cincinnati destroyed UConn both times they played, but the Huskies have a knack for becoming a different team in conference tournament play.  They looked like they were poised for a repeat performance after smashing a good Houston team and ending the Couagars’ hopes of an at-large bid.

Central Florida presents incredible matchup problems with 7-6 behemoth Tacko Fall able to alter gameplans all by himself.  UCF has won six consecutive games, and Coach Johnny Dawkins knows how to use Fall to suck defenders in so that his prime long-range shooters, Matt Williams, B J Taylor, and Nick Banyard, can get open looks.  UCF hit 14 three-pointers in their decimation of Memphis.

 

Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament Championship–Brooklyn
Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
5	Duke	26-8	vs.	3	Notre Dame	25-8	9:00 PM	ESPN

Neither team was picked by most of the ACC media experts to make it to the championship game of this tournament.  Duke dropped Louisville and North Carolina to make it here, while Notre Dame took care of business against Virginia and Florida St.  Both teams are safely in the NCAA Tournament, so the two are playing for pride and a chance to move up one seed line in the Dance.  Duke won at Notre Dame in their only meeting this year, and this win occurred during Coach K’s absence with Jeff Capel guiding the team.  The Blue Devils had a hot streak in that game, hitting over 50% from the field and an amazing 23 of 24 at the foul line.

 

Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament Semifinals–Pittsburgh (Duquense)
Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
9	Davidson	17-14	vs.	4	Rhode Island	22-9	1:00 PM	CBSSN
2	VCU	25-7	vs.	3	Richmond	20-11	3:30 PM	CBSSN

Nervous fans of teams on the Bubble will be watching this league the next two days.  With top-seed Dayton dismissed by Davidson, there are three teams left in this quartet that can burst some bubbles elsewhere.  Rhode Island may have already played itself in to the NCAA Tournament, but Richmond and Davidson must win the automatic bid.  This tournament should be must watch this afternoon if your team still needs some help.

 

Big 12 Conference Tournament Championship–Kansas City
Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
4	Iowa St.	22-10	vs.	2	West Virginia	26-7	6:00 PM	ESPN

They hit just 26.7% of their shots, and their press was not very effective yesterday, but West Virginia found a way to beat Kansas State, doing so by dominating on the glass.  Now, the Mountaineers go for the Big 12 Title against an Iowa State team that did not fare well against WVU in two previous tries.

In both games, the Cyclones wore out with fatigue from facing full-court pressure.  WVU went on big runs both times to win by double digits.  ISU might have more fatigue problems tonight, since this is their third game in three days.  The Mountaineers seemed to look a little tired as well last night, but Coach Huggins provided the adrenaline needed to get over the hump.

 

Big East Conference Tournament Championship–New York City
Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	Villanova	30-3	vs.	6	Creighton	25-8	5:30 PM	Fox

Villanova already knows they will be a #1 seed as they attempt to defend their National Championship, but the Wildcats can secure the overall top-seed with a win over the Blue Jays this afternoon.  Both teams were down a key player when they met most recently, but VU has its key player back now in power forward Darryl Reynolds.  Reynolds has been pulling down the tough rebounds in his three games back, and the Wildcats once again have the look of a Final Four team.

 

Big Sky Conference Tournament Championship–Reno, NV
Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	North Dakota	21-9	vs.	3	Weber St.	19-12	8:30 PM	ESPNU

North Dakota swept the season series with Weber State, including the big win back in February that put the Fighting Hawks in control of the Big Sky race.  UND won with their incredible guard tandem of Quinton Hooker and Geno Crandall, and WSU will have to come up with an incredible defensive gameplan to keep UND out of the Big Dance.  The Hawks are hoping a convincing win can help them avoid a layover in Dayton.

 

Big Ten Conference Tournament Semifinals–Washington, DC
Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
8	Michigan	22-11	vs.	4	Minnesota	24-8	1:00 PM	CBS
2	Wisconsin	24-8	vs.	6	Northwestern	23-10	3:30 PM	CBS

The four teams remaining will not hurt anybody else’s Bubble chances, as they will all receive Dance invitations, but there is still drama remaining in this tournament.  Michigan survived a travel nightmare just to get to this tournament.  Northwestern has never been a factor in this tournament and has not won a Big Ten title of any kind.  Meanwhile, it would make for a terrific championship game tomorrow if neighboring rivals Minnesota and Wisconsin played for the trophy.  It also would give the Big Ten a chance to move a team into the 4-seed line.

 

Big West Conference Tournament Championship–Anaheim
Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	UC-Irvine	21-13	vs.	2	UC-Davis	21-12	11:30 PM	ESPN2

The top two seeds split their two regular season meetings, but UC-Irvine thoroughly embarrassed UC-Davis when they met in Irvine last week with the regular season title on the line.  The Anteaters opened the game with a 22-3 lead, and the Aggies never threatened the rest of the way.  UCI connected on 14 treys in that game.

 

Conference USA Tournament Championship–Birmingham, AL
Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	Middle Tennessee	29-4	vs.	6	Marshall	20-14	8:30 PM	CBSSN

This game might be the most exciting one of the entire day, and the fact that Middle Tennessee might already have done enough to lock up an at-large bid will not take anything away from the excitement this game promises.  Expect the shot clock to play very little factor in this game, as both teams like to push the tempo.

If you like to follow the Houston Rockets with James Harden, Lou Williams, and Eric Gordon playing like thoroughbred race horses, then Marshall is the team for you.  There is a good reason why the Thundering Herd plays like the Rockets, as they are coached by Dan D’Antoni, Mike’s brother.  The Thundering Herd run up and down the floor like UNLV from the 1970’s, but they have one huge Achilles’ Heel.  They cannot rebound very well.  Middle Tennessee is an average rebounding team, but the Blue Raiders swept Marshall in the regular season thanks to spreading the wealth around.  In their most recent game against the Herd, MTSU placed six players in double figures, while a seventh had nine points in a 97-86 win.  Get your popcorn and soda ready for this one, as it will give you two hours of pure viewing pleasure.

 

Ivy League Tournament Semifinals–Philadelphia
Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	Princeton	21-6	vs.	4	Penn	13-14	1:30 PM	ESPNU
2	Harvard	18-9	vs.	3	Yale	17-10	4:00 PM	ESPNU

We aren’t going to hide our joy over this tournament finally becoming a reality.  The Ivy League plays quality fundamental basketball.  If you play or coach at a lower level and must use sound principles and intelligence for your team to win, this is the league for you to watch.

Princeton aced the field this year with a perfect 14-0 league mark, and if the Tigers knock off rival Penn tonight and then win tomorrow, they should be a 13-seed in the Tournament with a somewhat decent chance to knock off the right type of 4-seed (not West Virginia or Cincinnati).  Having legendary rivals Harvard and Yale play in the second game just makes this inaugural affair perfect.

Harvard took Princeton to the wire in both games, but the Tigers handled the Bulldogs rather easily.  Few fans are giving Penn much chance in this tournament, but they are getting to host this thing at the Palestra, which should give the Quakers about 5-6 points in home court advantage.

 

Mid-American Conference Tournament Championship–Cleveland
Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	Akron	26-7	vs.	6	Kent St.	21-13	7:30 PM	ESPN2

A February swoon cost Akron any chance of qualifying as an at-large team should they not win the MAC automatic bid.  Included in that fall was a three-point loss at home to Kent State, as the Golden Flashes put an end to the Zips’ 30-game home winning streak.  Akron recovered to win at Kent State last week, so this should be an interesting rematch and close to a 50-50 tossup.

 

Mideast Athletic Conference Tournament Championship–Norfolk, VA (Norfolk St.)
Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	UNC-Central	24-8	vs.	2	Norfolk St.	17-15	1:00 PM	ESPN2

UNC-Central has remained unnoticed among the nation’s basketball fans outside of the MEAC, but the Eagles have gone 15-2 in their last 17 games and fared rather well in its road games against the power conference teams.  Should UNCC win and then be forced to head to Dayton, the Eagles would most likely emerge victorious and advance, but a win today coupled with an upset somewhere else could be all that it takes to keep Central out of Dayton.  If Norfolk State pulls off the upset, they can send their laundry to Dayton on the next express out of Norfolk.  It does help that the Spartans get to play this game on their home floor.

 

Mountain West Conference Tournament Championship–Las Vegas (UNLV)
Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	Nevada	27-6	vs.	2	Colorado St.	28-6	6:00 PM	CBS

These two teams squared off last Saturday in Reno with the top seed in this tournament on the line.  Nevada won by 13, controlling the tempo and going on a big 20-3 run in the middle of the game.  Nevada is a team without a glaring weakness, albeit not on the same page with Kentucky and Oregon.  The Wolf Pack have a lineup similar to SMU in that all five starters can play in the wing positions and can post up inside.  It reminds us a lot of Louisville during Denny Crum’s time when he had big-time stars like Junior Bridgman, Darrel Griffith, Jim Price, and Ron Thomas.

Colorado State plays a muscle power game and tries to grind opponents down.  The Rams rely on senior guard Gian Clavell to score points, and when his shots are off, CSU can struggle to score.  In the Rams’ favor tonight is the fact that they just played Nevada a week ago and know what they are going to face, as there has not been time to tweak the gameplans all that much.

 

Pac-12 Conference Tournament Championship–Las Vegas
Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	Oregon	29-4	vs.	2	Arizona	29-4	11:00 PM	ESPN

Our Red-White-Blue Ratings that we will not publish today actually indicate that this game is a true tossup.  In fact, two of the ratings show the spread at 0!  The top two seeds met just once in the regular season, and Oregon used a 36-9 run in the first half to put the game away quickly.  The Ducks have the top home court advantage in America, so the 27-point margin of victory can be tossed out the window, and you can give the Wildcats a little more incentive to seek revenge tonight.  However, we think the Ducks have the better roster, and that gives Oregon the slight edge.

 

Southeastern Conference Tournament Semifinals–Nashville
Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	Kentucky	27-5	vs.	5	Alabama	19-13	1:00 PM	ESPN
7	Vanderbilt	19-14	vs.	3	Arkansas	24-8	3:20 PM	ESPN

Vanderbilt played its way into the NCAA Tournament with its third win over Florida.  The Commodores should be able to avoid a First Four game in Dayton as well.

Alabama has the potential to give Kentucky all it can handle.  Had the Tide hit their free throws in their one contest against the Wildcats, they could have won their regular season game in Tuscaloosa.  This is Nashville, and the last time we checked, Nashville was about halfway between these two schools’ campuses, but it will look more like Rupp Arena this afternoon as the Music City is crawling with Royal Blue clothed tourists up and down Broadway and in Hatty B’s Hot Chicken.

Arkansas and Vanderbilt played two close games this year, with the visiting team winning both times.  Since the Commodores won at Bud Walton, Arkansas has been a different team.  The Razorbacks have won seven of eight games, including a road victory over South Carolina.

 

Southland Conference Tournament Championship–Katy, TX (Greater Houston area)
Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	New Orleans	19-11	vs.	2	Texas A&M-CC	20-10	9:30 PM	ESPN2

Disclaimer: We cannot preview this game in an impartial manner.  We will not withhold the secret that we are rooting like crazy for Coach Willis Wilson to guide TAMCCU to the Big Dance.  A finer man in the coaching business does not exist, and Wilson has not been given the accolades that should have been afforded to him.  The Rice alum coached at his alma mater for 18 years, taking the Owls to the near edge of NCAA qualification only to come up a tad short, having to make do with the NIT.  Trying to win at Rice is extremely tough, as the high-academic standards and having to be the number two team in the city of Houston did not help the Owls recruit players to Main Street, where on a sunny day, more folks turn out to the zoo across the street than come to the Rice basketball games.

Wilson has built up the TAMCCU program to the point where the Islanders have made consecutive trips to the CIT, as Stephen F. Austin dominated the league under former coach Brad Underwood.  Tonight, the Islanders have their best shot at making the Dance, where they have been just once before, back in 2007.

New Orleans also has a nice story that needs to be told.  The basketball program shut down after the 2009-2010 season and stayed dark for two seasons before re-emerging as one of the final two teams to play as an independent (Cal State Bakersfield is the other).  The Privateers have had a somewhat storied history with a bevy of excellent coaches working in the Crescent City (Ron Greene, Butch van Breda Kolff, Bennie Dees, Tim Floyd, and Buzz Williams).  They have made it to four NCAA Tournaments, albeit none in the last 20 years, and they actually have won Dance win over BYU in 1987.  There will be emotions running wild on both sides tonight, so check this game out if only for a little bit of your time.

 

Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament Championship–Houston
Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	Texas Southern	22-11	vs.	2	Alcorn St. *	18-13	6:30 PM	ESPNU
*	Alcorn St. is ineligible for the postseason. Texas Southern earns automatic bid win or lose tonight.

We have already spoken about this game and the fact that it does not matter if TSU wins or loses, since they already own the automatic bid.  However, it will help the Tigers to win this game, because we believe they will definitely avoid Dayton with a win tonight, and they could be punished and sent to Dayton if they lose.

The game should be entertaining and nip and tuck, as TSU had difficulty beating Alcorn twice this year, once by a bucket, and once in overtime.  Unfortunately, the one player that might have made a difference for the Tigers against a power conference team, muscular forward and former SWAC POY Derrick Griffin, decided to leave school to prepare for the pro draft–not the NBA, but the NFL, where he stands a good chance of being drafted as a mighty big receiver target.

 

Sun Belt Conference Tournament Semifinals–New Orleans
Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	UT-Arlington	25-7	vs.	4	Texas St.	19-12	12:30 PM	ESPN3
2	Georgia St.	20-11	vs.	6	Troy	20-14	3:00 PM	ESPN3

There are some Bracketologists that believe UT-Arlington will have done enough to get an at-large bid if they beat Texas State this afternoon and lose tomorrow, but 12 of our 13 Bracketology Gurus beg to differ.  The Mavericks are the team to beat in this tourney, but the other three teams don’t fear UTA.  In fact, Texas State and Troy both know they can beat the top seed, as they did so convincingly during the regular season.  Still, UTA is a team that defeated Saint Mary’s and had a double-digit lead at Arkansas before the Razorbacks nipped them in the final minute.  If the Mavericks win the automatic bid, it would not surprise us at all if they move up to a 12-seed, the one seed that has become the seed of upsets.

 

Western Athletic Conference Tournament Championship–Las Vegas
Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	Cal St. Bakersfield	22-8	vs.	2	New Mexico St.	27-5	11:00 PM	ESPNU

When we think of Bakersfield, we think of the “Bakersfield Sound” that produced stars like Merle Haggard, Buck Owens, and Jean Shepard.  Our founder also thinks of some great Bakersfield Dodgers baseball teams in the Class A California League that produced future Dodgers stars like Ron Cey, Steve Yeager, Doug Rau, Eric Karros, Pedro and Ramon Martinez, John Wetteland, and Mike Piazza.

Others might think of all the farmland in and around the area or the giant arch just off Highway 99.  Basketball does not come to mind when one thinks of Bakersfield.  Yet, the Roadrunners, under former Ole Miss coach Rod Barnes, are just one win away from making their second consecutive trip to the Big Dance.

It will be no cakewalk tonight for the top-seeded Roadrunners.  Their opponent is a formidable foe, and New Mexico State might even be considered the favorite in this game.  The teams match up favorably well, and this looks like a championship game where if they played a best of seven series, it would go seven games.

CSUB has one big disadvantage tonight.  The Roadrunners were forced to play an extra half last night, when Utah Valley took them to 4 overtimes.  The Roadrunners shot less than 30% from the field, gave up an astronomical 68 rebounds to Utah Valley, and they still won, because they forced the Wolverines into committing 28 turnovers and stole the ball 11 times.

 

PiRate Ratings Bracketology Gurus Update for Saturday AM

1. Villanova, Kansas, North Carolina, Gonzaga
2. Kentucky, Oregon, Duke, Arizona
3. Baylor, Louisville, West Virginia, Florida St.
4. UCLA, Notre Dame, Butler, Minnesota
5. Florida, Cincinnati, Iowa St., SMU
6. Virginia, Purdue, Wisconsin, Creighton
7. Maryland, Saint Mary’s, Michigan, Wichita St.
8. Virginia Tech, Miami, Northwestern, VCU
9. Arkansas, South Carolina, Dayton, Oklahoma St.
10. Middle Tennessee, Marquette, Michigan St., Seton Hall
11. Providence, Vanderbilt, Xavier, Wake Forest, USC
12. UT-Arlington, UNC-Wilmington, Nevada, Kansas St., Syracuse
13. Vermont, Princeton, Akron, Bucknell
14. East Tennessee St., Florida Gulf Coast, New Mexico St., Winthrop
15. Iona, Texas Southern, Northern Kentucky, UC-Irvine
16. South Dakota St., UNC-Central, Jacksonville St., Texas A&M CC, North Dakota, Mount St. Mary’s

Last Four Byes

Seton Hall

Providence

Vanderbilt

Xavier

Last Four In–Headed to Dayton

Wake Forest vs. USC

Kansas St. vs. Syracuse

First Four Out

Rhode Island–can jump into the field with a win Saturday

Illinois State

California

Alabama–we jumped the Tide up here, because they are the only team still playing with a chance to move up.  All others in this spot have no chance to make the field and have no games left to play (Illinois, Iowa, Houston, TCU, Georgia, Indiana)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Conference Tournament Update–Thursday, March 9, 2017

New Dance Teams

Only one conference champion was decided Wednesday night, as Bucknell took care of business in the Patriot League with a home win over Lehigh.  The Bison have upset higher-seeded teams in the past, and they own a road win at Vanderbilt this year.  They cannot be overlooked.

There are no automatic bids up for grabs today.

 

Thursday Morning Mimosas

Break out the bubbly, or the Bubble teams.  Today, a host of Bubble teams will be in action.  Let’s look at what happened last night and what games affect the Bubble today.

ACC

Clemson played a sloppy game and lost to Duke, and the Tigers are now NIT-Bound.  Coach Brad Brownell could be skating on thin ice, as CU fans do not tolerate losing for long.  The football national championship may provide just enough Soma for the fans to forgive the basketball program for one more year.

Wake Forest lost to Virginia Tech, but the Demon Deacons should be okay for an at-large bid.  Wake plus Syracuse should join the eight quarterfinal teams to give the ACC 10 teams in the field, but there is no guarantee that either Wake Forest or Syracuse will get an at-large bid should other leagues start producing surprise winners.

 

Big 12

Kansas, Baylor, West Virginia, Iowa State, and Oklahoma State are safely in the field.  Kansas State is on the Bubble and needs an additional win or more.  The Wildcats are in action tonight against Baylor, and an upset over the Bears would go a long way in getting the guys from the Little Apple in the field.  A loss would put K-State in serious jeopardy of missing the tournament

 

Big East

Xavier was almost safely in the field a month ago before injuries sent the Musketeers on a downward slide to the point where they began the Big East Tournament on the Bubble.  Last night, Xavier had to come from behind to defeat bottom-feeder DePaul, and the win should probably earn the Musketeers a bid, but an upset win over Butler tonight would definitely be their elixir.

At 2:30 PM Eastern Time today, Marquette and Seton Hall face off in what could almost be called a fifth First Four game.  The winner of this game will move to the highest shelf on the Bubble seed line, while the loser will have to sweat it out until Sunday afternoon hoping that teams like Nevada and Middle Tennessee win their tournaments.

Providence faces Creighton in the nightcap of today’s Big East action, and a Friar win most likely cinches their Dancing destination.  A loss would knock them down a few notches to where they too would have to do a little sweating for three days.

 

Big Ten

We are probably being a bit cautious here, but we feel the need to based on the preliminary 4-deep seeds issues a month ago that failed to include a single team from this league.  So, with the belief that the committee has discounted the success of the Big Ten this year, we are placing teams we would consider safe in other years as not-so-safe this year.

Michigan and Michigan State would be safe if we were the committee, but the Wolverines and Spartans may not be as safe as one might think.  This should be an interesting day in D.C. with the first three games on the slate directly affecting the Bubble.  At Noon Eastern, Michigan plays Illinois.  Illinois could still get into the at-large mix with a big run this weekend, while Michigan can wrap up a safe spot with a win today.

The next game features Michigan State playing Penn State.  The Spartans and Nittany Lions hooked up in January at the Palestra in Philadelphia, and Penn State played its best game of the season, beating Sparty by nine and leading for about 39 minutes.  A repeat performance in the nation’s capital would cause Coach Tom Izzo to open the Maalox bottle.

The 6:30 PM Eastern game pits Iowa and Indiana.  The Hawkeyes are much closer than the Hoosiers into becoming part of the Bubble mix, but both teams need multiple wins.  A loss by Indiana could be the last time you see Coach Tom Crean coaching IU in a meaningful game.

 

Conference USA

Middle Tennessee is the current top mid-major team if you do not count Gonzaga and Wichita State as mid-majors.  The Blue Raiders are better this year than they were last year when they upset Michigan State in the second round.  However, an early exit upset loss today would probably make MTSU the top seed in the NIT.  They face 9-seed UTSA in the quarterfinal round today at 12:30 PM Eastern.  If MTSU loses in the CUSA Championship Game, the Blue Raiders would be 29-5 and a strong at-large candidate.

 

Mountain West

Nevada is right there with Middle Tennessee in the mid-major Bubble group.  The Wolf Pack can ill afford to lose today to Utah State, and if the boys from Reno advance to the MWC Championship Game and lose to a good team (Boise State or Colorado State), Nevada would be in the conversation at Committee Central.

 

Pac-12

California and USC both looked like NIT teams yesterday, but the Bears and Trojans escaped with ugly wins over the bottom two teams in the league.  Both may have a little work to do to convince the Committee of their worthiness.  Cal could earn a lot of brownie points with a win over Utah today, while USC could virtually clinch a bid if they can beat UCLA tonight, giving the Trojans two out of three wins against the Bruins.

 

SEC

This is the toughest league to figure out, basically because the one true Bubble team is such an anomaly.  Vanderbilt enters tonight’s game with Texas A&M with a 10-8 league mark and 17-14 record overall.  The SEC is not a top 5 league this year, but it is still a power league.  Four teams know they will get invitations, and Vanderbilt beat three of the four, including a sweep over Florida.  The Commodores beat Iowa State out of the league, and their six non-conference losses came to teams that should all be in the Tournament (Marquette, Dayton, Bucknell, Middle Tennessee, Butler, and Minnesota.)

Vanderbilt swept both the Aggies and Gators, and they will have to make it three for three against both teams to advance to the semifinals, where at that point, the Commodores would be expected to be safe.  However, there is the issue of 15 losses, which VU would have if they do not win the automatic bid.  Seven of our 13 Gurus believe Vandy is on the good side of the Bubble starting today, while six say they are a #1 NIT Seed entering today.  Coach Bryce Drew’s club definitely needs to beat A&M again tonight.  A loss puts the Commodores probably a spot below Illinois State and Syracuse.

Georgia might still have an at-large hope if the Bulldogs can top Tennessee today and then pull off the big upset of Kentucky tomorrow.

Does Ole Miss still have a chance?  We are quite bearish on the Rebels’ chances, but if Andy Kennedy’s team can get on a run and make it to Sunday, and then lose a close game to Kentucky, at 22-13, they might have a slim chance.  We’ll believe it when we see it.

 

Tournaments Beginning Action Thursday

 

American Athletic Conference Tournament–Hartford,CT
First Round, Thursday, March 9
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	8	Temple	16-15	vs.	9	East Carolina	14-17	3:30 PM	ESPNU
2	7	Tulsa	14-16	vs.	10	Tulane	6-24	6:00 PM	ESPNNews
3	6	Connecticut	14-16	vs.	11	South Florida	7-22	8:00 PM	ESPNNews
Quarterfinal Round, Friday, March 10
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
4	1	SMU	27-4	vs.		Game 1 winner		12:00 PM	ESPN2
5	4	Central Florida	20-10	vs.	5	Memphis	19-12	2:00 PM	ESPN2
6	2	Cincinnati	27-4	vs.		Game 2 winner		7:00 PM	ESPNU
7	3	Houston	21-9	vs.		Game 3 winner		9:00 PM	ESPNU
Semifinal Round, Saturday, March 11
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
8		Game 4 winner		vs.		Game 5 winner		3:00 PM	ESPN2
9		Game 6 winner		vs.		Game 7 winner		5:00 PM	ESPN2
Championship Game, Sunday, March 12
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
10		Game 8 winner		vs.		Game 9 winner		3:15 PM	ESPN

 

Big West Conference Tournament–Anaheim
Quarterfinal Round–Thursday, March 9
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	2	UC-Davis	19-12	vs.	7	Cal Poly	11-19	3:00 PM	FSW
2	3	Cal St. Fullerton	16-13	vs.	6	Cal St. Northridge	11-18	5:30 PM	FSW
3	1	UC-Irvine	19-13	vs.	8	UC-Riverside	7-20	9:00 PM	Prime
4	4	Long Beach St.	14-18	vs.	5	Hawaii	14-15	11:30 PM	Prime
Semifinal Round–Friday, March 10
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
5		Game 1 winner		vs.		Game 2 winner		9:30 PM	ESPN3
6		Game 3 winner		vs.		Game 4 winner		12:00 AM	ESPN3
Championship Game–Saturday, March 11
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
7		Game 5 winner		vs.		Game 6 winner		11:30 PM	ESPN2

 

Western Athletic Conference Tournament–Las Vegas
Quarterfinal Round–Thursday, March 9
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	4	Utah Valley	14-15	vs.	5	Seattle	13-16	5:00 PM	WAC Digital
2	2	New Mexico St.	25-5	vs.	7	Chicago St.	6-25	7:30 PM	WAC Digital
3	3	Missouri-KC	16-15	vs.	6	UT Rio Grande Valley	10-21	10:00 PM	WAC Digital
Semifinal Round–Friday, March 10
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
4	1	Cal State Bakersfield	21-8	vs.		Game 1 winner		9:00 PM	ESPN3
5		Game 2 winner		vs.		Game 3 winner		11:30 PM	ESPN3
Championship Game–Saturday, March 11
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
6		Game 4 winner		vs.		Game 5 winner		11:00 PM	ESPNU

 

Today’s Tournament Schedule

Time (ET)	Network	Conference	Team	vs.	Team
3:30 PM	ESPNU	American	Temple	vs.	East Carolina
6:00 PM	ESPNNews	American	Tulsa	vs.	Tulane
8:00 PM	ESPNNews	American	Connecticut	vs.	South Florida
12:00 PM	ESPN	ACC	North Carolina	vs.	Miami (Fla.)
2:00 PM	ESPN	ACC	Louisville	vs.	Duke
7:00 PM	ESPN	ACC	Florida St.	vs.	Virginia Tech
9:00 PM	ESPN	ACC	Notre Dame	vs.	Virginia
12:00 PM	NBCSN	A-10	LaSalle	vs.	Davidson
2:30 PM	NBCSN	A-10	St. Bonaventure	vs.	Massachusetts
6:00 PM	NBCSN	A-10	George Mason	vs.	Fordham
8:30 PM	NBCSN	A-10	George Washington	vs.	St. Louis
12:30 PM	ESPN2	Big 12	Iowa St.	vs.	Oklahoma St.
2:30 PM	ESPN2	Big 12	Kansas	vs.	TCU
7:00 PM	ESPNU	Big 12	West Virginia	vs.	Texas
9:00 PM	ESPNU	Big 12	Baylor	vs.	Kansas St.
12:00 PM	FS1	Big East	Villanova	vs.	St. John’s
2:30 PM	FS1	Big East	Marquette	vs.	Seton Hall
7:00 PM	FS1	Big East	Butler	vs.	Xavier
9:30 PM	FS1	Big East	Providence	vs.	Creighton
3:05 PM	Watch Big Sky	Big Sky	North Dakota	vs.	Portland St.
5:35 PM	Watch Big Sky	Big Sky	Idaho	vs.	Montana
8:35 PM	Watch Big Sky	Big Sky	Eastern Washington	vs.	Sacramento St.
11:05 PM	Watch Big Sky	Big Sky	Weber St.	vs.	Southern Utah
12:00 PM	BTN	Big Ten	Michigan	vs.	Illinois
2:20 PM	BTN	Big Ten	Michigan St.	vs.	Penn St.
6:30 PM	ESPN2	Big Ten	Iowa	vs.	Indiana
8:50 PM	ESPN2	Big Ten	Northwestern	vs.	Rutgers
3:00 PM	FSW	Big West	UC-Davis	vs.	Cal Poly
5:30 PM	FSW	Big West	Cal St. Fullerton	vs.	Cal St. Northridge
9:00 PM	Prime	Big West	UC-Irvine	vs.	UC-Riverside
11:30 PM	Prime	Big West	Long Beach St.	vs.	Hawaii
12:30 PM	ASN	CUSA	Middle Tennessee	vs.	UTSA
3:00 PM	ASN	CUSA	UTEP	vs.	Rice
6:30 PM	ASN	CUSA	Louisiana Tech	vs.	UAB
9:00 PM	ASN	CUSA	Old Dominion	vs.	Marshall
12:00 PM	ESPN3	MAC	Akron	vs.	Eastern Michigan
2:30 PM	ESPN3	MAC	Ball St.	vs.	Western Michigan
6:30 PM	ESPN3	MAC	Ohio U	vs.	Toledo
9:00 PM	ESPN3	MAC	Buffalo	vs.	Kent St.
6:00 PM	ESPN3	MEAC	Morgan St.	vs.	Howard
8:00 PM	ESPN3	MEAC	Hampton	vs.	Md.-Eastern Shore
3:00 PM	CBSSN	MWC	Nevada	vs.	Utah St.
5:30 PM	CBSSN	MWC	Fresno St.	vs.	New Mexico
9:00 PM	CBSSN	MWC	Colorado St.	vs.	Air Force
11:30 PM	CBSSN	MWC	Boise St.	vs.	San Diego St.
3:00 PM	P12 Net.	Pac-12	Oregon	vs.	Arizona St.
5:30 PM	P12 Net.	Pac-12	Utah	vs.	California
9:00 PM	P12 Net.	Pac-12	Arizona	vs.	Colorado
11:30 PM	ESPN	Pac-12	UCLA	vs.	USC
1:00 PM	SECN	SEC	Georgia	vs.	Tennessee
3:20 PM	SECN	SEC	Alabama	vs.	Mississippi St.
7:00 PM	SECN	SEC	Vanderbilt	vs.	Texas A&M
9:20 PM	SECN	SEC	Ole Miss	vs.	Missouri
6:00 PM	ESPN3	Southland	Houston Baptist	vs.	Sam Houston St.
8:30 PM	ESPN3	Southland	Stephen F. Austin	vs.	Lamar
5:00 PM	WAC Digital	WAC	Utah Valley	vs.	Seattle
7:30 PM	WAC Digital	WAC	New Mexico St.	vs.	Chicago St.
10:00 PM	WAC Digital	WAC	Missouri-KC	vs.	UT Rio Grande Valley

 

Teams With Automatic Bids

Teams Earning Automatic Bids

Ohio Valley Conference: JACKSONVILLE ST. (20-14)

Big South Conference: WINTHROP (26-6)

Missouri Valley Conference: WICHITA ST. (30-4)

Atlantic Sun Conference: FLORIDA GULF COAST (26-7)

Colonial Athletic Association: UNC-WILMINGTON (29-5)

Southern Conference: EAST TENNESSEE ST. (27-7)

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference: IONA (22-12)

Horizon League: NORTHERN KENTUCKY: (24-10)

Northeast Conference: MOUNT ST. MARY’S (19-15)

Summit League: SOUTH DAKOTA ST. (18-16)

West Coast Conference: GONZAGA (32-1)

Patriot League: BUCKNELL (26-8)

 

 

 

The Pirate Ratings Bracketology Gurus Report For March 6, 2017

NOTE: Today, we combine our Bracketology Gurus Report with our conference tournament updates.

Automatic Bids Awarded

Ohio Valley Conference: JACKSONVILLE ST. (20-14)

Big South Conference: WINTHROP (26-6)

Missouri Valley Conference: WICHITA ST. (30-4)

Atlantic Sun Conference: FLORIDA GULF COAST (26-7)

Today’s TV Schedule

Championship Games–Winner Gets Automatic Bid

Time (ET)	Network	Conference	Team	vs.	Team
7:00 PM	CBSSN	Colonial	UNC-Wilmington	vs.	College of Charleston
7:00 PM	ESPN2	SoCon	UNC-Greensboro	vs.	East Tennessee St.
9:00 PM	ESPN2	MAAC	Siena	vs.	Iona

Other Conference Tournament Games Today

Time (ET)	Network	Conference	Team	vs.	Team
5:00 PM	ESPN3	MEAC	MD-Eastern Shore	vs.	N.C. A&T
7:00 PM	ESPN3	Summit	South Dakota	vs.	South Dakota St.
7:00 PM	ESPN3	Amer. East	Vermont	vs.	New Hampshire
7:00 PM	ESPNU	Horizon	Northern Kentucky	vs.	Youngstown St.
7:00 PM	ESPN3	MAC	Eastern Michigan	vs.	Northern Illinois
7:00 PM	Kent St. Sports	MAC	Kent St.	vs.	Central Michigan
7:00 PM	ESPN3	MEAC	Coppin St.	vs.	Howard
7:30 PM	ESPN3	Amer. East	Stony Brook	vs.	Albany
7:30 PM	ESPN3	MAC	Western Michigan	vs.	Miami (O)
8:00 PM	ESPN3	MAC	Toledo	vs.	Bowling Green
9:00 PM	ESPN	WCC	Gonzaga	vs.	Santa Clara
9:30 PM	ESPN3	Summit	IUPUI	vs.	Omaha
9:30 PM	ESPNU	Horizon	Illinois-Chicago	vs.	Milwaukee
11:30 PM	ESPN2	WCC	Saint Mary’s	vs.	BYU

 

The Bubble As of Monday, 3/6/2017 12 Noon ET

Getting Closer to Safe (Probably Still In With 1 & Done in Conference Tournament) 

Michigan

Arkansas

Seton Hall

Michigan St.

In Good Shape but Need Another Win in Conference Tournament

VCU

Marquette

Providence

Xavier

In Today, But Might Need 2 Conference Tournament Wins to Stay In

USC

Vanderbilt

Wake Forest

Syracuse

In For Now, But Likely To Fall With Just One Upset In Power Conference Tournament

Illinois St.

Out For Now, But With A Chance To Play In With Big Conference Tournament Wins (in order)

Kansas St.

Rhode Island

Illinois

Iowa

California

Ole Miss

Houston 

Georgia

Must Now Win Automatic Bid (or Definitely Make Conference Championship Game)

Georgia

Georgia Tech

Indiana

This Week’s Guru Seeds

Seed	Team
1	Villanova
1	Kansas
1	North Carolina
1	Gonzaga
2	Kentucky
2	Oregon
2	Louisville
2	Baylor
3	UCLA
3	Arizona
3	Florida St.
3	Butler
4	Duke
4	Florida
4	Purdue
4	West Virginia
5	Virginia
5	Notre Dame
5	Minnesota
5	Cincinnati
6	SMU
6	Saint Mary’s
6	Iowa St.
6	Maryland
7	Creighton
7	Wisconsin
7	Oklahoma St.
7	South Carolina
8	Miami
8	Northwestern
8	Dayton
8	Virginia Tech
9	Michigan
9	Arkansas
9	Wichita St.
9	Seton Hall
10	Michigan St.
10	VCU
10	Marquette
10	Providence
11	Xavier
11	USC
11	Middle Tennessee
11	Vanderbilt
11	Wake Forest
12	Syracuse
12	Illinois St.
12	Nevada
12	UNC-Wilmington
12	UT-Arlington
13	Princeton
13	Vermont
13	Winthrop
13	Akron
14	Bucknell
14	New Mexico St.
14	FGCU
14	UNC-Greensboro
15	Iona
15	South Dakota
15	Northern Kentucky
15	UC-Irvine
16	North Dakota
16	Texas Southern
16	Jacksonville St.
16	New Orleans
16	UNC-Central
16	Mount St. Mary’s

Last Four Byes: Marquette, Providence, Xavier, USC

Last Four In (headed to Dayton): Vanderbilt vs. Wake Forest, Syracuse vs. Illinois St.

First Four Out (#1 NIT Seeds): Kansas St., Rhode Island, Illinois, Iowa

Next Four Out (#2 NIT Seeds): California, Ole Miss, Houston, Utah

All Conference Tournament Brackets Up to Date

America East Tournament–Higher Seed at Home
Quarterfinal Round, Wednesday, March 1
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
1	1	Vermont	26-5	vs.	8	Maine	7-24	86-41
2	2	Stony Brook	17-12	vs.	7	Binghamton	12-19	70-60
3	3	Albany	19-12	vs.	6	Hartford	9-22	100-71
4	4	New Hampshire	19-11	vs.	5	Md.-Baltimore Co.	18-11	74-65
Semifinal Round, Monday, March 6
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
5	1	Vermont	27-5	vs.	4	New Hampshire	20-11	7:00 PM	ESPN3
6	2	Stony Brook	18-12	vs.	3	Albany	20-12	7:30 PM	ESPN3
Championship Game, Saturday, March 11
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
7		Game 5 winner				Game 6 winner		11:00 AM	ESPN2
	* This Tournament Re-seeds after the quarterfinals like the NFL Playoffs
American Athletic Conference Tournament–Hartford,CT
First Round, Thursday, March 9
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	8	Temple	16-15	vs.	9	East Carolina	14-17	3:30 PM	ESPNU
2	7	Tulsa	14-16	vs.	10	Tulane	6-24	6:00 PM	ESPNNews
3	6	Connecticut	14-16	vs.	11	South Florida	7-22	8:00 PM	ESPNNews
Quarterfinal Round, Friday, March 10
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
4	1	SMU	27-4	vs.		Game 1 winner		12:00 PM	ESPN2
5	4	Central Florida	20-10	vs.	5	Memphis	19-12	2:00 PM	ESPN2
6	2	Cincinnati	27-4	vs.		Game 2 winner		7:00 PM	ESPNU
7	3	Houston	21-9	vs.		Game 3 winner		9:00 PM	ESPNU
Semifinal Round, Saturday, March 11
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
8		Game 4 winner		vs.		Game 5 winner		3:00 PM	ESPN2
9		Game 6 winner		vs.		Game 7 winner		5:00 PM	ESPN2
Championship Game, Sunday, March 12
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
10		Game 8 winner		vs.		Game 9 winner		3:15 PM	ESPN
Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament–Brooklyn
First Round, Tuesday, March 7
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	12	Clemson	16-14	vs.	13	North Carolina St.	15-16	12:00 PM	ESPN2
2	10	Wake Forest	18-12	vs.	15	Boston College	9-22	2:00 PM	ESPN2
3	11	Georgia Tech	17-14	vs.	14	Pittsburgh	15-16	7:00 PM	ESPNU
Second Round, Wednesday, March 8
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
4	8	Syracuse	18-13	vs.	9	Miami (Fla.)	20-10	12:00 PM	ESPN
5	5	Duke	23-8	vs.		Game 1 winner		2:00 PM	ESPN
6	7	Virginia Tech	21-9	vs.		Game 2 winner		7:00 PM	ESPN2
7	6	Virginia	21-9	vs.		Game 3 winner		9:00 PM	ESPN2
Quarterfinal Round, Thursday, March 9
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
8	1	North Carolina		vs.		Game 4 winner		12:00 PM	ESPN
9	4	Louisville		vs.		Game 5 winner		2:00 PM	ESPN
10	2	Florida St.		vs.		Game 6 winner		7:00 PM	ESPN
11	3	Notre Dame		vs.		Game 7 winner		9:00 PM	ESPN
Semfinal Round, Friday, March 10
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
12		Game 8 winner		vs.		Game 9 winner		7:00 PM	ESPN or 2
13		Game 10 winner		vs.		Game 11 winner		9:00 PM	ESPN or 2
Championship Game, Saturday, March 11
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
14		Game 12 winner		vs.		Game 13 winner		9:00 PM	ESPN
Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament–Higher Seed at Home
Quarterfinal Round, Monday, February 27
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
1	1	Florida Gulf Coast	23-7	vs.	8	Stetson	11-20	87-57
2	2	Lipscomb	19-12	vs.	7	NJIT	11-19	97-66
3	3	North Florida	13-18	vs.	6	Jacksonville	17-14	77-74
4	4	USC-Upstate	17-14	vs.	5	Kennesaw St.	13-17	78-80
Semifinal Round, Thursday, March 2
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
5	1	Florida Gulf Coast	24-7	vs.	5	Kennesaw St.	14-17	74-62
6	2	Lipscomb	20-12	vs.	3	North Florida	14-18	85-91
Championship Game, Sunday, March 5
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
7	1	Florida Gulf Coast	25-7	vs.	3	North Florida	15-18	77-61
Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament–Pittsburgh (Duquense)
1st Round, Wednesday, March 8
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	12	Massachusetts	14-17	vs.	13	St. Joseph’s	11-19	6:00 PM	ASN
2	11	St. Louis	11-20	vs.	14	Duquesne	10-21	8:30 PM	ASN
2nd Round, Thursday, March 9
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
3	8	LaSalle	15-14	vs.	9	Davidson	15-14	12:00 PM	NBCSN
4	5	St. Bonaventure	19-11	vs.		Game 1 winner		2:30 PM	NBCSN
5	7	George Mason		vs.	10	Fordham		6:00 PM	NBCSN
6	6	George Washington	18-13	vs.		Game 2 winner		8:30 PM	NBCSN
Quarterfinal Round, Friday, March 10
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
7	1	Dayton	24-6	vs.		Game 3 winner		12:00 PM	NBCSN
8	4	Rhode Island	21-9	vs.		Game 4 winner		2:30 PM	NBCSN
9	2	VCU	24-7	vs.		Game 5 winner		6:00 PM	NBCSN
10	3	Richmond	19-11	vs.		Game 6 winner		8:30 PM	NBCSN
Semifinal Round, Saturday, March 11
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
11		Game 7 winner		vs.		Game 8 winner		1:00 PM	CBSSN
12		Game 9 winner		vs.		Game 10 winner		3:30 PM	CBSSN
Championship Game, Sunday, March 12
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
13		Game 11 winner		vs.		Game 12 winner		12:30 PM	CBS
Big 12 Conference Tournament–Kansas City
1st Round, Wednesday, March 8
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	8	TCU	17-14	vs.	9	Oklahoma	11-19	7:00 PM	ESPNU
2	7	Texas Tech	18-13	vs.	10	Texas	10-21	9:00 PM	ESPNU
Quarterfinal Round, Thursday, March 9
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
3	4	Iowa St.	20-10	vs.	5	Oklahoma St.	20-11	12:30 PM	ESPN2
4	1	Kansas	28-3	vs.		Game 1 winner		2:30 PM	ESPN2
5	2	West Virginia	24-7	vs.		Game 2 winner		7:00 PM	ESPNU
6	3	Baylor	25-6	vs.	6	Kansas St.	19-12	9:00 PM	ESPNU
Semifinal Round, Friday, March 10
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
7		Game 4 winner		vs.		Game 3 winner		7:00 PM	ESPN or 2
8		Game 5 winner		vs.		Game 6 winner		9:00 P<	ESPN or 2
Semifinal Round, Friday, March 10
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
9		Game 7 winner		vs.		Game 8 winner		6:00 PM	ESPN
Big East Conference Tournament–New York City
1st Round, Wednesday, March 8
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	8	St. John’s	13-18	vs.	9	Georgetown	14-17	7:00 PM	FS1
2	7	Xavier	19-12	vs.	10	DePaul	9-21	9:30 PM	FS1
Quarterfinal Round, Thursday, March 9
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
3	1	Villanova	28-3	vs.				12:00 PM	FS1
4	4	Marquette	19-11	vs.	5	Seton Hall	20-10	2:30 PM	FS1
5	2	Butler	23-7	vs.				7:00 PM	FS1
6	3	Providence	20-11	vs.	6	Creighton	23-8	9:30 PM	FS1
Semifinal Round, Friday, March 10
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
7		Game 1 winner		vs.		Game 2 winner		6:30 PM	FS1
8		Game 3 winner		vs.		Game 4 winner		9:00 PM	FS1
Championship Game, Saturday, March 11
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
9		Game 7 winner		vs.		Game 8 winner		5:30 PM	Fox
Big Sky Conference Tournament–Reno, NV
1st Round, Tuesday, March 7
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	8	Portland St.	14-15	vs.	9	Northern Arizona	9-22	5:35 PM	Watch Big Sky
2	7	Sacramento St.	12-17	vs.	10	Idaho St.	5-25	8:35 PM	Watch Big Sky
3	6	Montana St.	16-15	vs.	11	Southern Utah	5-26	11:05 PM	Watch Big Sky
Quarterfinal Round, Thursday, March 9
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
4	1	North Dakota	19-9	vs.		Game 1 winner		3:05 PM	Watch Big Sky
5	4	Idaho	17-12	vs.	5	Montana	16-15	5:35 PM	Watch Big Sky
6	2	Eastern Washington	21-10	vs.		Game 2 winner		8:35 PM	Watch Big Sky
7	3	Weber St.	17-12	vs.		Game 3 winner		11:05 PM	Watch Big Sky
Semifinal Round, Friday, March 10
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
8		Game 4 winner		vs.		Game 5 winner		8:35 PM	Watch Big Sky
9		Game 6 winner		vs.		Game 7 winner		11:05 PM	Watch Big Sky
Championship Round, Saturday, March 11
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
10		Game 8 winner		vs.		Game 9 winner		8:30 PM	ESPNU
Big South Conference Tournament—Winthrop
1st Round, Tuesday, February 28 (at Higher Seed)
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
1	7	Campbell	14-16	vs.	10	Presbyterian	5-24	81-62
2	8	Charleston Southern	11-18	vs.	9	Longwood	6-23	79-74
Quarterfinal Round, Thursday, March 2 (at Winthrop)
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
3	2	UNC-Asheville	23-8	vs.	7	Campbell	15-16	79-81
4	3	Liberty	19-12	vs.	6	Radford	13-17	52-56
5	1	Winthrop	23-6	vs.	8	Charleston Southern	12-18	92-78
6	4	Gardner-Webb	18-13	vs.	5	High Point	15-15	91-55
Semifinal Round, Friday, March 3 (at Winthrop)
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
7	6	Radford	14-17	vs.	7	Campbell	16-16	50-66
8	1	Winthrop	24-6	vs.	4	Gardner-Webb	19-13	80-77 ot
Championship Game, Sunday, March 5 (at Higher Seed)
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
9	1	Winthrop	25-6	vs.	7	Campbell	17-16	76-59
Big Ten Conference Tournament–Washington, DC
1st Round, Wednesday, March 8
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	12	Nebraska	12-18	vs.	13	Penn St.	14-17	4:30 PM	ESPN
2	11	Ohio St.	17-14	vs.	14	Rutgers	14-17	7:00 PM	BTN
2nd Round, Thursday, March 9
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
3	8	Michigan	20-11	vs.	9	Illinois	18-13	12:00 PM	BTN
4	5	Michigan St.	18-13	vs.		Game 1 winner		2:20 PM	BTN
5	7	Iowa	18-13	vs.	10	Indiana	17-14	6:30 PM	ESPN2
6	6	Northwestern	21-10	vs.		Game 2 winner		8:50 PM	ESPN2
Quarterfinal Round, Friday, March 10
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
7	1	Purdue	25-6	vs.		Game 3 winner		12:00 PM	ESPN
8	4	Minnesota	23-8	vs.		Game 4 winner		2:20 PM	ESPN
9	2	Wisconsin	23-8	vs.		Game 5 winner		6:30 PM	BTN
10	3	Maryland	24-7	vs.		Game 6 winner		8:50 PM	BTN
Semifinal Round, Saturday, March 11
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
11		Game 7 winner		vs.		Game 8 winner		1:00 PM	CBS
12		Game 9 winner		vs.		Game 10 winner		3:30 PM	CBS
Championship Game, Sunday, March 12
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
13		Game 11 winner		vs.		Game 12 winner		3:00 PM	CBS
Big West Conference Tournament–Anaheim
Quarterfinal Round–Thursday, March 9
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	2	UC-Davis	19-12	vs.	7	Cal Poly	11-19	3:00 PM	FSW
2	3	Cal St. Fullerton	16-13	vs.	6	Cal St. Northridge	11-18	5:30 PM	FSW
3	1	UC-Irvine	19-13	vs.	8	UC-Riverside	7-20	9:00 PM	Prime
4	4	Long Beach St.	14-18	vs.	5	Hawaii	14-15	11:30 PM	Prime
Semifinal Round–Friday, March 10
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
5		Game 1 winner		vs.		Game 2 winner		9:30 PM	ESPN3
6		Game 3 winner		vs.		Game 4 winner		12:00 AM	ESPN3
Championship Game–Saturday, March 11
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
7		Game 5 winner		vs.		Game 6 winner		11:30 PM	ESPN2
Colonial Athletic Association Tournament–Charleston, SC
1st Round, Friday, March 3
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
1	8	Hofstra	15-16	vs.	9	Delaware	12-19	76-81
2	7	James Madison	9-22	vs.	10	Drexel	9-22	80-70
Quarterfinal Round, Saturday, March 4
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
3	1	UNC-Wilmington	26-5	vs.	9	Delaware	13-19	91-82
4	4	William & Mary	16-13	vs.	5	Elon	18-13	71-66
5	2	College of Charleston	23-8	vs.	7	James Madison	10-22	67-62
6	3	Towson St.	19-12	vs.	6	Northeastern	15-15	82-54
Semifinal Round, Sunday, March 5
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
7	1	UNC-Wilmington	27-5	vs.	4	William & Mary	17-13	105-94
8	2	College of Charleston	24-8	vs.	6	Northeastern	16-15	67-59
Championship Game, Monday, March 6
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
9	1	UNC-Wilmington	28-5	vs.	2	College of Charleston	25-8	7:00 PM	CBSSN
Conference USA Tournament–Birmingham, AL
1st Round, Wednesday, March 8
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	8	Western Kentucky	15-16	vs.	9	UTSA	13-18	12:30 PM	Camp. Insiders
2	5	Rice	21-10	vs.	12	Southern Miss.	9-21	3:00 PM	Camp. Insiders
3	7	UAB	16-15	vs.	10	Charlotte	13-16	6:30 PM	Camp. Insiders
4	6	Marshall	17-14	vs.	11	Florida Atlantic	10-19	9:00 PM	Camp. Insiders
Quarterfinal Round, Thursday, March 9
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
5	1	Middle Tennessee	27-4	vs.		Game 1 winner		12:30 PM	ASN
6	4	UTEP	14-16	vs.		Game 2 winner		3:00 PM	ASN
7	2	Louisiana Tech	22-9	vs.		Game 3 winner		6:30 PM	ASN
8	3	Old Dominion	19-11	vs.		Game 4 winner		9:00 PM	ASN
Semifinal Round, Friday, March 10
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
9		Game 5 winner		vs.		Game 6 winner		12:30 PM	CBSSN
10		Game 7 winner		vs.		Game 8 winner		3:00 PM	CBSSN
Championship Game, Saturday, March 11
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
11		Game 9 winner		vs.		Game 10 winner		8:30 PM	CBSSN
Horizon League Tournament (Motor City Madness)–Detroit
1st Round, Friday, March 3
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
1	7	Detroit Mercy	8-22	vs.	10	Milwaukee	8-23	60-85
2	8	Cleveland St.	9-21	vs.	9	Youngstown St.	11-20	69-84
Quarterfinal Round–Day 1, Saturday, March 4
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
3	1	Oakland	24-7	vs.	9	Youngstown St.	12-20	80-81
4	2	Valparaiso	24-7	vs.	10	MIlwaukee	9-23	41-43
Quarterfinal Round–Day 2, Sunday, March 5
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
5	3	Green Bay	18-12	vs.	6	Illinois-Chicago	14-17	70-79
6	4	Northern Kentucky	21-10	vs.	5	Wright St.	20-11	82-77
Semifinal Round, Monday, March 6
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
7		Northern Kentucky	22-10	vs.	9	Youngstown St.	13-20	7:00 PM	ESPNU
8		Illinois-Chicago	15-17	vs.	10	Milwaukee	10-23	9:30 PM	ESPNU
Championship Game, Tuesday, March 7
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
9		Game 7 winner		vs.		Game 8 winner		7:00 PM	ESPN
Ivy League Tournament–Philadelphia
Semifinal Round, Saturday, March 11
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	1	Princeton	21-6	vs.	4	Penn	13-14	1:30 PM	ESPNU
2	2	Harvard	18-9	vs.	3	Yale	17-10	4:00 PM	ESPNU
Championship Game, Sunday, March 12
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
3		Game 1 winner		vs.		Game 2 winner		12:00 PM	ESPN2
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament at Albany (Siena)
1st Round, Thursday, March 2
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
1	8	Quinnipiac	10-20	vs.	9	Niagara	9-22	69-88
2	7	Canisius	17-14	vs.	10	Marist	8-23	77-73
3	6	Rider	17-14	vs.	11	Manhattan	10-21	69-68
Quarterfinal Round–Day 1, Friday, March 3
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
4	1	Mounmouth	26-5	vs.	9	Niagara	10-22	84-59
5	2	St. Peter’s	18-12	vs.	7	Canisius	18-14	61-58
Quarterfinal Round–Day 2, Saturday, March 4
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
6	3	Iona	19-12	vs.	6	Rider	18-14	88-70
7	4	Siena	15-16	vs.	5	Fairfield	16-13	78-66
Semifinal Round–Sunday, March 5
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
8	1	Monmouth	27-5	vs.	4	Siena	16-16	85-89
9	2	St. Peter’s	19-12	vs.	3	Iona	20-12	65-73
Championship Game–Monday, March 6
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
10	3	Iona	21-12	vs.	4	Siena	17-16	9:00 PM	ESPN2
Mid-American Conference Tournament (1st Round at Higher Seed, All Others at Cleveland)
1st Round, Monday, March 6
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	8	Eastern Michigan	15-16	vs.	9	Northern Illinois	15-16	7:00 PM	ESPN
2	5	Western Michigan	15-15	vs.	12	Miami (O)	11-20	7:30 PM	ESPN
3	7	Toledo	16-15	vs.	10	Bowling Green	13-18	8:00 PM	ESPN
4	6	Kent St.	18-13	vs.	11	Central Michigan	16-15	7:00 PM	None
Quarterfinal Round, Thursday, March 9
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
5	1	Akron	24-7	vs.		Game 1 winner		12:00 PM	ESPN3
6	4	Ball St.	20-11	vs.		Game 2 winner		2:30 PM	ESPN3
7	2	Ohio U	19-10	vs.		Game 3 winner		6:30 PM	ESPN3
8	3	Buffalo	17-14	vs.		Game 4 winner		9:00 PM	ESPN3
Semifinal Round, Friday, March 10
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
9		Game 5 winner		vs.		Game 6 winner		5:30 PM	CBSSN
10		Game 7 winner		vs.		Game 8 winner		8:00 PM	CBSSN
Mideast Athletic Conference Tournament at Norfolk, VA (Norfolk St.)
1st Round, Day 1–Monday, March 6
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	5	Maryland-Eastern Shore	12-19	vs.	12	N. Carolina A&T	3-28	5:00 PM	ESPN3
2	6	Coppin St.	8-23	vs.	11	Howard	8-23	7:00 PM	ESPN3
1st Round, Day 2–Tuesday, March 7
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
3	8	Delaware St.	10-21	vs.	9	Bethune-Cookman	9-21	4:00 PM	ESPN3
4	7	South Carolina St.	10-19	vs.	10	Florida A&M	7-22	6:00 PM	ESPN3
Quarterfinal Round–Day 1, Wednesday, March 8
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
5	1	UNC-Central	22-8	vs.		Game 3 winner		6:00 PM	ESPN3
6	2	Norfolk St.	15-15	vs.		Game 4 winner		8:00 PM	ESPN3
Quarterfinal Round–Day 2, Thursday, March 9
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
7	3	Morgan St.	14-15	vs.		Game 2 winner		6:00 PM	ESPN3
8	4	Hampton	14-15	vs.		Game 1 winner		8:00 PM	ESPN3
Semifinal Round, Friday, March 10
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
9		Game 5 winner		vs.		Game 8 winner		6:00 PM	ESPN3
10		Game 6 winner		vs.		Game 7 winner		8:00 PM	ESPN3
Championship Game, Saturday, March 11
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
11		Game 9 winner		vs.		Game 10 winner		1:00 PM	ESPN2
Missouri Valley Conference Tournament (Arch Madness) at St. Louis
1st Round, Thursday, March 2
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
1	8	Evansville	15-16	vs.	9	Indiana St.	11-19	83-72
2	7	Bradley	12-19	vs.	10	Drake	7-23	67-58
Quarterfinal Round, Friday, March 3
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
3	1	Illinois St.	25-5	vs.	8	Evansville	16-16	80-69
4	4	Southern Illinois	16-15	vs.	5	Loyola (Chi.)	18-13	55-50
5	2	Wichita St.	27-4	vs.	7	Bradley	13-19	82-56
6	3	Northern Iowa	14-15	vs.	6	Missouri St.	16-15	64-70
Semifinal Round, Saturday, March 4
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
7	1	Illinois St.	26-5	vs.	4	Southern Illinois	17-15	63-50
8	2	Wichita St.	28-4	vs.	6	Missouri St.	17-15	78-63
Championship Game, Sunday, March 5
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
9	1	Illinois St.	27-5	vs.	2	Wichita St.	29-4	51-71
Mountain West Conference Tournament–Las Vegas (UNLV)
1st Round, Wednesday, March 8
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	8	Utah St.		vs.	9	San Jose St.		2:00 PM	MWN
2	7	Wyoming		vs.	10	Air Force		4:30 PM	MWN
3	6	San Diego St.		vs.	11	UNLV		7:00 PM	MWN
Quarterfinal Round, Thursday, March 9
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
4	1	Nevada	25-6	vs.		Game 1 winner		3:00 PM	CBSSN
5	4	Fresno St.	19-11	vs.	5	New Mexico	17-13	5:30 PM	CBSSN
6	2	Colorado St.	21-10	vs.		Game 2 winner		9:00 PM	CBSSN
7	3	Boise St.	19-10	vs.		Game 3 winner		11:30 PM	CBSSN
Semifinal Round, Friday, March 10
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
8		Game 4 winner		vs.		Game 5 winner		10:00 PM	CBSSN
9		Game 6 winner		vs.		Game 7 winner		12:30 AM	CBSSN
Championship Game, Saturday, March 11
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
10		Game 8 winner		vs.		Game 9 winner		6:00 PM	CBS
Northeast Conference Tournament–All Games at Higher Seed
Quarterfinal Round, Wednesday, March 1
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
1	1	Mount St. Mary’s	16-15	vs.	8	Sacred Heart	13-18	76-73
2	2	Long Island	20-11	vs.	7	Robert Morris	13-18	68-69
3	3	Wagner	15-13	vs.	6	Fairleigh-Dickinson	11-18	72-70
4	4	St. Francis (PA)	14-15	vs.	5	Bryant	12-19	100-78
Semifinal Round, Saturday, March 4
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
5	3	Wagner	16-13	vs.	4	St. Francis (PA)	15-15	70-71
6	1	Mount St. Mary’s	17-15	vs.	7	Robert Morris	14-18	75-66
Championship Game, Tuesday, March 7
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
7	1	Mount St. Mary’s	18-15		4	St. Francis (PA)	16-15	11:00 AM	ESPN2
	* This Tournament Re-seeds after the quarterfinals like the NFL Playoffs
Ohio Valley Conference Tournament at Nashville
1st Round, Wednesday, March 1
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
1	5	Southeast Missouri	14-17	vs.	8	Tennessee St.	17-12	78-75 ot
2	6	Tennessee Tech	12-19	vs.	7	Murray St.	14-16	84-85 2ot
Quarterfinal Round, Thursday, March 2
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
3	4	Jacksonville St.	17-14	vs.	5	Southeast Missouri	15-17	74-51
4	3	Morehead St.	14-15	vs.	7	Murray St.	15-16	69-75
Semifinal Round, Friday, March 3
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
5	1	Belmont	22-5	vs.	4	Jacksonville St.	18-14	59-65
6	2	UT-Martin	20-11	vs.	7	Murray St.	16-16	73-67
Championship Game, Saturday, March 4
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
7	2	UT-Martin	21-11	vs.	4	Jacksonville St.	19-14	55-66
Pac-12 Conference Tournament–Las Vegas
1st Round, Wednesday, March 8
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	8	Arizona St.	14-17	vs.	9	Stanford	14-16	3:00 PM	P12 Net.
2	5	California	19-11	vs.	12	Oregon St.	5-26	5:30 PM	P12 Net.
3	7	Colorado	18-13	vs.	10	Washington St.	13-17	9:00 PM	P12 Net.
4	6	USC	23-8	vs.	11	Washington	9-21	11:30 PM	P12 Net.
Quarterfinal Round, Thursday, March 9
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
5	1	Oregon	27-4	vs.		Game 1 winner		3:00 PM	P12 Net.
6	4	Utah	20-10	vs.		Game 2 winner		5:30 PM	P12 Net.
7	2	Arizona	27-4	vs.		Game 3 winner		9:00 PM	P12 Net.
8	3	UCLA	28-3	vs.		Game 4 winner		11:30 PM	ESPN
Semifinal Round, Friday, March 10
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
9		Game 5 winner		vs.		Game 6 winner		9:00 PM	P12 Net.
10		Game 7 winner		vs.		Game 8 winner		11:30 PM	ESPN
Championship Game, Saturday, March 11
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
11		Game 9 winner		vs.		Game 10 winner		11:00 PM	ESPN
Patriot League Tournament–All Games at Higher Seed
1st Round, Tuesday, February 28
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
1	7	Loyola (MD.)	14-15	vs.	10	Lafayette	9-20	67-64
2	8	Army	12-18	vs.	9	American	8-21	74-58
Quarterfinal Round, Thursday, March 2
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
3	2	Boston U	23-8	vs.	7	Loyola (MD.)	15-15	64-60
4	3	Lehigh	19-12	vs.	6	Colgate	10-21	77-72
5	1	Bucknell	23-6	vs.	8	Army	13-18	78-62
6	4	Navy	18-13	vs.	5	Holy Cross	15-16	49-42
Semifinal Round, Sunday, March 5
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
7	2	Boston U	24-8	vs.	3	Lehigh	20-12	88-91 ot
8	1	Bucknell	24-6	vs.	4	Navy	19-13	70-65
Championship Game, Wednesday, March 8
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
9	1	Bucknell	25-6	vs.	3	Lehigh	21-12	7:30 PM	CBSSN
Southeastern Conference Tournament–Nashville
1st Round, Wednesday, March 8
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	12	Mississippi St.	15-15	vs.	13	LSU	10-20	7:00 PM	SECN
2	11	Auburn	18-13	vs.	14	MIssouri	7-23	9:00 PM	SECN
2nd Round, Thursday, March 9
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
3	8	Georgia	18-13	vs.	9	Tennessee	16-15	1:00 PM	SECN
4	5	Alabama	17-13	vs.		Game 1 winner		3:20 PM	SECN
5	7	Vanderbilt	17-14	vs.	10	Texas A&M	16-14	7:00 PM	SECN
6	6	Ole Miss	19-12	vs.		Game 2 winner		9:20 PM	SECN
Quarterfinal Round, Friday, March 10
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
7	1	Kentucky	26-5	vs.		Game 3 winner		1:00 PM	SECN
8	4	South Carolina	22-9	vs.		Game 4 winner		3:20 PM	SECN
9	2	Florida	24-7	vs.		Game 5 winner		7:00 PM	SECN
10	3	Arkansas	23-8	vs.		Game 6 winner		9:20 PM	SECN
Semifinal Round, Saturday, March 11
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
11		Game 7 winner		vs.		Game 8 winner		1:00 PM	ESPN
12		Game 9 winner		vs.		Game 10 winner		3:20 PM	ESPN
Championship Game, Sunday, March 12
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
13		Game 11 winner		vs.		Game 12 winner		1:00 PM	ESPN
Southern Conference Tournament–Asheville, NC
1st Round, Friday, March 3
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
1	8	Western Carolina	9-22	vs.	9	The Citadel	11-20	72-78
2	7	Samford	17-14	vs.	10	VMI	6-23	79-61
Quarterfinal Round, Saturday, March 4
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
3	1	UNC-Greensboro	23-8	vs.	9	The Citadel	12-20	76-67
4	4	Chattanooga	19-11	vs.	5	Wofford	15-16	67-79
5	2	Furman	21-10	vs.	7	Samford	18-14	63-67
6	3	East Tennessee St.	24-7	vs.	6	Mercer	15-16	73-66
Semifinal Round, Sunday, March 5
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
7	1	UNC-Greensboro	24-8	vs.	5	Wofford	16-16	77-73
8	3	East Tennessee St.	25-7	vs.	7	Samford	19-14	81-72
Championship Game, Monday, March 6
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
9	1	UNC-Greensboro	25-8	vs.	3	East Tennessee St.	26-7	7:00 PM	ESPN2
Southland Conference Tournament–Katy, TX (Greater Houston area)
1st Round, Wednesday, March 8
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	5	Sam Houston St.	19-12	vs.	8	Central Arkansas	8-23	6:00 PM	ESPN3
2	6	Lamar	18-13	vs.	7	Southeastern Louisiana	16-15	8:30 PM	ESPN3
Quarterfinal Round, Thursday, March 9
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
3	4	Houston Baptist	17-12	vs.		Game 1 winner		6:00 PM	ESPN3
4	3	Stephen F. Austin	17-13	vs.		Game 2 winner		8:30 PM	ESPN3
Semifinal Round, Friday, March 10
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
5	1	New Orleans	18-11	vs.		Game 3 winner		6:00 PM	ESPN3
6	2	Texas A&M-CC	19-10	vs.		Game 4 winner		8:30 PM	ESPN3
Championship Game, Saturday, March 11
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
7		Game 5 winner		vs.		Game 6 winner		9:30 PM	ESPN2
Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament–1st round at higher seed, Semis and Finals at Houston
Quarterfinal Round–Tuesday, March 7 at higher seed
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	1	Texas Southern	20-11	vs.	8	Alabama St.	8-22	8:30 PM	None
2	4	Prairie View A&M	13-19	vs.	5	Grambling	15-16	9:00 PM	None
3	2	Alcorn St. *	16-13	vs.	7	Mississippi Valley	7-24	7:00 PM	None
4	3	Southern	14-17	vs.	6	Jackson St.	14-17	8:30 PM	None
Semifinal Round–Friday, March 10
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
5		Game 1 winner		vs.		Game 2 winner		3:30 PM	None
6		Game 3 winner		vs.		Game 4 winner		9:30 PM	None
Championship Game–Saturday, March 11
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
7		Game 5 winner		vs.		Game 6 winner		6:30 PM	ESPNU
*Alcorn St. is ineligible for postseason play due to low APR scores. If the Braves win the tourney, Texas Sou. wins the bid.
Summit League Tournament–Sioux Falls, SD
Quarterfinal Round–Day 1, Saturday, March 4
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
1	1	South Dakota	21-10		8	Western Illinois	8-19	78-69 ot
2	2	North Dakota St.	19-10		7	IUPUI	13-17	57-76
Quarterfinal Round–Day 2, Sunday, March 5
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
3	4	South Dakota St.	15-16		5	Denver	16-13	83-73
4	3	Omaha	16-13		6	Fort Wayne	19-11	84-80
Semifinal Round–Monday, March 6
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
5	1	South Dakota	22-10		4	South Dakota St.	16-16	7:00 PM	ESPN3
6	7	IUPUI	14-17		3	Omaha	17-13	9:30 PM	ESPN3
Championship–Tuesday, March 7
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
7		Game 5 winner				Game 6 winner		9:00 PM	ESPN2
Sun Belt Conference Tournament–New Orleans
1st Round, Wednesday, March 8
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	8	Coastal Carolina	15-16	vs.	9	South Alabama	14-17	1:30 PM	ESPN3
2	5	Arkansas St.	20-11	vs.	12	Louisiana-Monroe	8-23	3:00 PM	ESPN3
3	7	Louisiana-Lafayette	20-11	vs.	10	Arkansas-Little Rock	15-16	6:00 PM	ESPN3
4	6	Troy	18-14	vs.	11	Appalachian St.	9-20	8:30 PM	ESPN3
Quarterfinal Round, Friday, March 10
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
5	1	UT-Arlington	24-7	vs.		Game 1 winner		1:30 PM	ESPN3
6	4	Texas St.	18-12	vs.		Game 2 winner		3:00 PM	ESPN3
7	2	Georgia St.	19-11	vs.		Game 3 winner		6:00 PM	ESPN3
8	3	Georgia Southern	18-13	vs.		Game 4 winner		8:30 PM	ESPN3
Semifinal Round, Saturday, March 11
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
9		Game 5 winner		vs.		Game 6 winner		12:30 PM	ESPN3
10		Game 7 winner		vs.		Game 8 winner		3:00 PM	ESPN3
Championship Game, Sunday, March 12
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
11		Game 9 winner		vs.		Game 10 winner		2:00 PM	ESPN2
West Coast Conference Tournament at Las Vegas
1st Round, Friday, March 3
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
1	8	Pepperdine	9-21	vs.	9	Pacific	10-21	84-89
2	7	San Diego	13-17	vs.	10	Portland	10-21	55-60
Quarterfinal Round, Saturday, March 4
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
3	3	BYU	21-10	vs.	6	Loyola Marymount	15-14	89-81
4	4	Santa Clara	16-15	vs.	5	San Francisco	20-11	76-69
5	1	Gonzaga	29-1	vs.	9	Pacific	11-21	82-50
6	2	Saint Mary’s	26-3	vs.	10	Portland	11-21	81-58
Semifinal Round, Monday, March 6
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
7	3	BYU	22-10	vs.	2	Saint Mary’s	27-3	9 or 11:30	ESPN/ESPN2
8	1	Gonzaga	30-1	vs.	4	Santa Clara	17-15	9 or 11:30	ESPN/ESPN2
Championship Game, Tuesday, March 7
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
9		Game 7 winner		vs.		Game 8 winner		9:00 PM	ESPN
Western Athletic Conference Tournament–Las Vegas
Quarterfinal Round–Thursday, March 9
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	4	Utah Valley	14-15	vs.	5	Seattle	13-16	5:00 PM	WAC Digital
2	2	New Mexico St.	25-5	vs.	7	Chicago St.	6-25	7:30 PM	WAC Digital
3	3	Missouri-KC	16-15	vs.	6	UT Rio Grande Valley	10-21	10:00 PM	WAC Digital
Semifinal Round–Friday, March 10
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
4	1	Cal State Bakersfield	21-8	vs.		Game 1 winner		9:00 PM	ESPN3
5		Game 2 winner		vs.		Game 3 winner		11:30 PM	ESPN3
Championship Game–Saturday, March 11
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
6		Game 4 winner		vs.		Game 5 winner		11:00 PM	ESPNU

 

Conference Tournament Update–Sunday, March 5, 2017

First Ticket Punched

Welcome Jacksonville State to the giant Dance Studio of March.  The Gamecocks have been a small football factory at the FCS level, noted for upsetting Ole Miss and almost knocking off Auburn in recent years.  As a basketball member of Division 1, JSU has never been a contender for the NCAA Tournament.  In fact, in a score of seasons at the D1 level, the school has produced just four overall winning records with no conference championships.

Last year, the Gamecocks finished just 8-23 and parted ways with Coach James Green.  Enter Coach Ray Harper, who had just resigned from Western Kentucky following a WKU School suspension of three key players.  Harper came to JSU with two Division II national titles, two NAIA national titles, and two D1 NCAA appearances while with the Hilltoppers.

Even with such a stellar resume, not even Coach K himself could have made the so-called media experts select the Gamecocks to finish first in the Ohio Valley Conference this year, nor even make the upper half of the standings.  JSU was a consensus 12th-place pick out of 12 teams in the league.

Not only did Harper guide the Gamecocks well above last place, he took JSU to a winning record in the league and winning record overall.  Then, he upset top-seed Belmont to make it to the OVC Championship Game, where the Gamecocks looked like they were definitely the best team in the league at this point of the season.

Jacksonville State thus becomes team number one in the NCAA Tournament with an overall record of 20-14.  They are likely to be a #16 seed and at best a #15, but they will not lay down and allow a #1 seed to walk all over them.  Expect a tough fight from these Gamecocks.

 

Three More Tickets Issued Today

By the end of the day, there will be a quartet of teams in the Field of 68.  Surprise 7th-seed Campbell (17-16) faces a challenging task, as the Camels must go to top-seed Winthrop (25-6) to decide the Big South Championship.  That game will air on ESPN at 1:00PM Eastern Time.  If Campbell wins, the Camels are virtually assured of knowing they will have to go to Dayton for a First Four game.  If Winthrop wins, the Eagles just might move up to a 13-seed and should be no worse than a 14-seed, and a formidable one at that.

 

An hour later, the finale of Arch Madness (Missouri Valley Conference) tips off on CBS, and the top two seeds have made it to the championship round for their rubber game grudge match.  Top-seed Illinois State (27-5) is actually an underdog to second-seed Wichita State (29-4) and for good reason.  The Shockers look as strong at this point of the season as they did when they advanced to the Final Four a few years back.  Coach Greg Marshall’s WSU team has won 14 games in a row, including an incredible 41-point win over ISU four weeks ago.  Some bracketologists believe that the loser of this game could move outside of the good part of the bubble, but most of our Bracketology Gurus have the Valley sending both teams to the Dance.

 

At 3:00 PM Eastern today, the Atlantic Sun Title Game will tip off in a game between rivals from the Sunshine State.  3-seed North Florida (15-18) visits perennial league champion and top-seed Florida Gulf Coast (25-7).  The two teams played in Fort Myers at the end of January, and FGCU pulled away in the second half to win by 15 thanks to a hot night from guard Brandon Goodwin.  In a semifinal win at 2-seed Lipscomb, you might have been confused and thought that the names on the back of the UNF jerseys read, “Curry,” “Harden,” and “Korver,” as the Ospreys hit three-pointer after three-pointer to pull away from Lipscomb quickly.  They will have to have a repeat performance to have a chance to upset FGCU today.

 

Have We Got Offense For You

We are true hardwood junkies here on the PiRate Ship.  And, we keep a close watch on all the low and mid-major conferences, where there are teams operating under the radar and not getting any national publicity.  If you really love basketball and especially love the style of play that was prevalent in the 1960s and 1970s, when teams raced up and down the floor with 80-possession games, then there is a must watch game for you tonight.

In the Summit League, at 9:30 PM Eastern Time, Fort Wayne will take on Omaha in a quarterfinal match.  The last time these two teams squared off, Ft. Wayne won 108-101 in overtime, and there is no reason to think tonight’s game will be much different.  That 45-minute game saw both teams accumulate 91 possessions, and even if they only play 40 minutes tonight, they could easily top 80 possessions apiece.

 

The Inaugural Ivy League Tournament Is Finally Set

Call us snobbish or traditional, but most of us buckaroos and buckarettes here really like the Ivy League basketball season.  Our head Captain here can remember Bill Bradley playing at Princeton and Jim McMillan playing at Columbia, and he has followed this league like he is the commissioner himself.

Last night, Penn upset Harvard, while Columbia fell to Yale.  The Lions could not protect a five-point second half lead, and then after Yale took a four-point lead, Columbia fought back to tie the game with less than 90 seconds to go.  A missed three-pointer when there was a possible high-percentage two-pointer available led to Yale getting the rebound with the lead in the final minute, and the Bulldogs then held onto the ball, forcing Columbia to foul.  Unfortunately for the Lions, they had yet to put Yale in the bonus, and they did not force the seventh foul until there were less than five seconds remaining.  Miye Oni hit both foul shots for Yale to put the dagger in CU’s hopes.

So, the first ever Ivy League Tournament will feature top-seed Princeton, who went a perfect 14-0 in the league facing fourth-seed Penn in one semifinal match, while Harvard and Yale meet in the other semifinal.  If the Ivy League had wanted to script the perfect first ever tournament, they would have wanted it exactly like this.  Two sets of arch-rivals with the weakest of the four teams hosting the thing at the most venerable Eastern gymnasium, the Palestra.  Hey Ivy League brass–we are waiting for our media pass!  We’ll sit anywhere and even move the dust mop across the floor at halftime and during timeouts.

Today’s Tournament Schedule (by Conference)

Time	Network	Conference	Team	vs.	Team
3:00 PM	ESPN	A_Sun TITLE	Florida Gulf Coast	vs.	North Florida
1:00 PM	ESPN	B-South TITLE	Winthrop	vs.	Campbell
2:00 PM	Comcast SN	Colonial	UNC-Wilmington	vs.	William & Mary
4:30 PM	Comcast SN	Colonial	College of Charleston	vs.	Northeastern
5:00 PM	ESPN3	Horizon	Green Bay	vs.	Illinois-Chicago
7:30 PM	ESPN3	Horizon	Northern Kentucky	vs.	Wright St.
4:30 PM	ESPN3	MAAC	Monmouth	vs.	Siena
7:00 PM	ESPN3	MAAC	St. Peter’s	vs.	Iona
2:00 PM	CBS	MVC  TITLE	Illinois St.	vs.	Wichita St.
12:00 PM	CBSSN	Patriot	Boston U	vs.	Lehigh
2:00 PM	CBSSN	Patriot	Bucknell	vs.	Navy
5:00 PM	ESPN3	SoCon	UNC-Greensboro	vs.	Wofford
7:30 PM	ESPN3	SoCon	East Tennessee St.	vs.	Samford
7:00 PM	ESPN3	Summit	South Dakota St.	vs.	Denver
9:30 PM	ESPN3	Summit	Omaha	vs.	Fort Wayne

Schedule by Tip-off Time

Time	Network	Conference	Team	vs.	Team
12:00 PM	CBSSN	Patriot	Boston U	vs.	Lehigh
1:00 PM	ESPN	Big South	Winthrop	vs.	Campbell
2:00 PM	Comcast SN	Colonial	UNC-Wilmington	vs.	William & Mary
2:00 PM	CBS	MVC	Illinois St.	vs.	Wichita St.
2:00 PM	CBSSN	Patriot	Bucknell	vs.	Navy
3:00 PM	ESPN	Atlantic Sun	Florida Gulf Coast	vs.	North Florida
4:30 PM	Comcast SN	Colonial	College of Charleston	vs.	Northeastern
4:30 PM	ESPN3	MAAC	Monmouth	vs.	Siena
5:00 PM	ESPN3	Horizon	Green Bay	vs.	Illinois-Chicago
5:00 PM	ESPN3	SoCon	UNC-Greensboro	vs.	Wofford
7:00 PM	ESPN3	MAAC	St. Peter’s	vs.	Iona
7:00 PM	ESPN3	Summit	South Dakota St.	vs.	Denver
7:30 PM	ESPN3	Horizon	Northern Kentucky	vs.	Wright St.
7:30 PM	ESPN3	SoCon	East Tennessee St.	vs.	Samford
9:30 PM	ESPN3	Summit	Omaha	vs.	Fort Wayne

Coming Tomorrow: An updated Bracketology Gurus report plus all the tournament brackets and the schedule of games for Monday.

Conference Tournament Update–Saturday, March 4, 2017

One #1 Seed Falls

Regular season Ohio Valley Conference Champion Belmont has become the first number one seed to fall in their conference tournament, relegating the Bruins to the NIT with an automatic bid.  Jacksonville State, picked to finish dead last in the OVC this year, has shocked many under first-year head coach Ray Harper, who previously guided Western Kentucky to consecutive NCAA Tournament berths.  JSU upset Belmont in Nashville last night to set up a championship game with UT-Martin.  By 10:30 PM EST tonight the winner of this game will become the first official team in the Big Dance.

The Ivy League Tournament Situation

Princeton secured the regular season Ivy League Championship last night, when the Tigers completed a sweep of Harvard.  The Crimson are set in the number two slot, while Yale has clinched the third of the four conference tournament seeds.

The fourth and final spot up for grabs in the inaugural Ivy League Tournament to be played in the Palestra in Philadelphia is still to be decided with three of the remaining five teams still in the race with tonight’s games remaining.  Let’s look at the possible scenarios.

First, at the moment, Penn and Columbia are tied with 5-8 league records.  Dartmouth and Brown are tied at 4-9, but Brown has been eliminated from qualifying on all possible outcomes.  So, we are talking Penn, Columbia, and Dartmouth still with a chance to earn the number four seed.

1. If Penn beats Harvard and Yale beats Columbia, then Penn gets the #4 seed
2. If Columbia beats Yale and Harvard beats Penn, then Columbia gets the #4 seed
3. If Both Penn and Columbia win tonight, and Brown and Dartmouth both win, then Penn gets the #4 Seed
4. If Both Penn and Columbia lose tonight, and Dartmouth beats Princeton, then Dartmouth gets the #4 Seed
5. If Both Penn and Columbia lose tonight and Brown beats Cornell, then Columbia gets the #4 Seed

Today’s Conference Tournament Games–Times–TV

Time	Network	Conference	Team	vs.	Team
12:00 PM	Comcast SN	Colonial	UNC-Wilmington	vs.	Delaware
2:30 PM	Comcast SN	Colonial	William & Mary	vs.	Elon
6:00 PM	Comcast SN	Colonial	College of Charleston	vs.	James Madison
8:30 PM	Comcast SN	Colonial	Towson St.	vs.	Northeastern
5:30 PM	ESPN3	Horizon	Oakland	vs.	Youngstown St.
8:00 PM	ESPN3	Horizon	Valparaiso	vs.	MIlwaukee
7:00 PM	ESPN3	MAAC	Iona	vs.	Rider
9:30 PM	ESPN3	MAAC	Siena	vs.	Fairfield
3:30 PM	CBSSN	MVC	Illinois St.	vs.	Southern Illinois
6:00 PM	CBSSN	MVC	Wichita St.	vs.	Missouri St.
12:00 PM	MSG/FCS	NEC	Wagner	vs.	St. Francis (PA)
2:00 PM	MSG/FCS	NEC	Mount St. Mary’s	vs.	Robert Morris
8:00 PM	ESPN2	OVC–TITLE	UT-Martin	vs.	Jacksonville St.
12:00 PM	ESPN3	SoCon	UNC-Greensboro	vs.	The Citadel
2:30 PM	ESPN3	SoCon	Chattanooga	vs.	Wofford
6:00 PM	ESPN3	SoCon	Furman	vs.	Samford
8:30 PM	ESPN3	SoCon	East Tennessee St.	vs.	Mercer
7:00 PM	ESPN3	Summit	South Dakota	vs.	Western Illinois
9:30 PM	ESPN3	Summit	North Dakota St.	vs.	IUPUI
4:00 PM	BYUtv	WCC	BYU	vs.	Loyola Marymount
6:00 PM	BYUtv	WCC	Santa Clara	vs.	San Francisco
10:00 PM	ESPN2	WCC	Gonzaga	vs.	Pacific
12:00 AM	ESPN2	WCC	Saint Mary’s	vs.	Portland

Schedule By Tip-off Time

Time	Network	Conference	Team	vs.	Team
12:00 PM	Comcast SN	Colonial	UNC-Wilmington	vs.	Delaware
12:00 PM	MSG/FCS	NEC	Wagner	vs.	St. Francis (PA)
12:00 PM	ESPN3	SoCon	UNC-Greensboro	vs.	The Citadel
2:00 PM	MSG/FCS	NEC	Mount St. Mary’s	vs.	Robert Morris
2:30 PM	Comcast SN	Colonial	William & Mary	vs.	Elon
2:30 PM	ESPN3	SoCon	Chattanooga	vs.	Wofford
3:30 PM	CBSSN	MVC	Illinois St.	vs.	Southern Illinois
4:00 PM	BYUtv	WCC	BYU	vs.	Loyola Marymount
5:30 PM	ESPN3	Horizon	Oakland	vs.	Youngstown St.
6:00 PM	Comcast SN	Colonial	College of Charleston	vs.	James Madison
6:00 PM	CBSSN	MVC	Wichita St.	vs.	Missouri St.
6:00 PM	ESPN3	SoCon	Furman	vs.	Samford
6:00 PM	BYUtv	WCC	Santa Clara	vs.	San Francisco
7:00 PM	ESPN3	MAAC	Iona	vs.	Rider
7:00 PM	ESPN3	Summit	South Dakota	vs.	Western Illinois
8:00 PM	ESPN3	Horizon	Valparaiso	vs.	MIlwaukee
8:00 PM	ESPN2	OVC–TITLE	UT-Martin	vs.	Jacksonville St.
8:30 PM	Comcast SN	Colonial	Towson St.	vs.	Northeastern
8:30 PM	ESPN3	SoCon	East Tennessee St.	vs.	Mercer
9:30 PM	ESPN3	MAAC	Siena	vs.	Fairfield
9:30 PM	ESPN3	Summit	North Dakota St.	vs.	IUPUI
10:00 PM	ESPN2	WCC	Gonzaga	vs.	Pacific
12:00 AM	ESPN2	WCC	Saint Mary’s	vs.	Portland

 

PiRate Ratings College Basketball Preview For March 4-5, 2017

This Week’s PiRate Ratings

Games Scheduled for:	Saturday, March 4, 2017
Home	Visitor	Red	White	Blue
Virginia	Pittsburgh	13	15	13
Louisville	Notre Dame	10	9	12
Florida St.	Miami (Fla.)	10	8	9
Syracuse	Georgia Tech	7	10	6
Clemson	Boston College	14	13	10
Virginia Tech	Wake Forest	2	3	2
North Carolina	Duke	9	7	7
SMU	Memphis	15	16	16
Kansas St.	Texas Tech	5	4	5
Oklahoma	TCU	2	2	-1
Texas	Baylor	-4	-4	-6
Oklahoma St.	Kansas	2	-1	-1
Georgetown	Villanova	-8	-9	-5
St. John’s	Providence	1	-1	-1
DePaul	Xavier	-6	-7	-9
Butler	Seton Hall	10	10	10
Marquette	Creighton	3	3	1
Rutgers	Illinois	-3	-3	-5
Ohio St.	Indiana	2	1	1
Maryland	Michigan St.	4	3	1
Colorado	California	2	-1	-3
Utah	Stanford	10	10	9
Arizona St.	Arizona	-9	-10	-11
Oregon St.	Oregon	-19	-20	-17
USC	Washington	12	12	9
UCLA	Washington St.	24	25	18
Texas A&M	Kentucky	-9	-7	-4
Tennessee	Alabama	4	3	4
Arkansas	Georgia	5	6	2
Vanderbilt	Florida	-6	-7	-3
Auburn	Missouri	10	9	7
LSU	Mississippi St.	-1	-1	1
Ole Miss	South Carolina	-2	-1	-3

 

Games Scheduled for:	Sunday, March 5, 2017
Home	Visitor	Red	White	Blue
Connecticut	Cincinnati	-6	-7	-4
Iowa	Penn St.	6	5	5
Northwestern	Purdue	1	-4	-4
Wisconsin	Minnesota	5	9	2
Nebraska	Michigan	-4	-7	-1

 

This Week’s PiRate Ratings Top 25

1. Villanova
2. Gonzaga
3. North Carolina
4. Kansas
5. Kentucky
6. UCLA
7. Wichita St.
8. Purdue
9. Florida
10. West Virginia
11. Baylor
12. Duke
13. Oregon
14. Louisville
15. Saint Mary’s
16. SMU
17. Florida St.
18. Cincinnati
19. Butler
20. Virginia
21. Iowa St.
22. Oklahoma St.
23. Wisconsin
24. Arizona
25. Creighton

ACC

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

Big 12

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

Big East

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

Big Ten

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

Pac-12

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

SEC

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

Current Bubble Teams

Top 10 Bubble Teams (IN THE DANCE)

1. VCU
2. Providence
3. Seton Hall
4. Marquette
5. Xavier
6. USC
7. Syracuse
8. Wake Forest 
9. Illinois
10. Illinois St.

Top Bubble Teams (OUT OF THE FIELD & NIT-BOUND)

1. California
2. Kansas St.
3. Rhode Island
4. Georgia
5. Houston
6. Georgia Tech
7. Vanderbilt
8. TCU
9. Utah
10. Iowa

Conference Tournament Update

America East Tournament–Higher Seed at Home
Quarterfinal Round, Wednesday, March 1
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
1	1	Vermont	26-5	vs.	8	Maine	7-24	86-41
2	2	Stony Brook	17-12	vs.	7	Binghamton	12-19	70-60
3	3	Albany	19-12	vs.	6	Hartford	9-22	100-71
4	4	New Hampshire	19-11	vs.	5	Md.-Baltimore Co.	18-11	74-65
Semifinal Round, Monday, March 6
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
5	1	Vermont	27-5	vs.	4	New Hampshire	20-11	7:00 PM	ESPN3
6	2	Stony Brook	18-12	vs.	3	Albany	20-12	7:30 PM	ESPN3
Championship Game, Saturday, March 11
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
7		Game 5 winner				Game 6 winner		11:00 AM	ESPN2
	* This Tournament Re-seeds after the quarterfinals like the NFL Playoffs
Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament–Higher Seed at Home
Quarterfinal Round, Monday, February 27
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
1	1	Florida Gulf Coast	23-7	vs.	8	Stetson	11-20	87-57
2	2	Lipscomb	19-12	vs.	7	NJIT	11-19	97-66
3	3	North Florida	13-18	vs.	6	Jacksonville	17-14	77-74
4	4	USC-Upstate	17-14	vs.	5	Kennesaw St.	13-17	78-80
Semifinal Round, Thursday, March 2
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
5	1	Florida Gulf Coast	24-7	vs.	5	Kennesaw St.	14-17	74-62
6	2	Lipscomb	20-12	vs.	3	North Florida	14-18	85-91
Championship Game, Sunday, March 5
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
7	1	Florida Gulf Coast	25-7	vs.	3	North Florida	15-18	3:00 PM	ESPN
Big South Conference Tournament–1st Round & Championship at Higher Seed, Middle 2 Rounds at #1 Winthrop
1st Round, Tuesday, February 28 (at Higher Seed)
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
1	7	Campbell	14-16	vs.	10	Presbyterian	5-24	81-62
2	8	Charleston Southern	11-18	vs.	9	Longwood	6-23	79-74
Quarterfinal Round, Thursday, March 2 (at Winthrop)
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
3	2	UNC-Asheville	23-8	vs.	7	Campbell	15-16	79-81
4	3	Liberty	19-12	vs.	6	Radford	13-17	52-56
5	1	Winthrop	23-6	vs.	8	Charleston Southern	12-18	92-78
6	4	Gardner-Webb	18-13	vs.	5	High Point	15-15	91-55
Semifinal Round, Friday, March 3 (at Winthrop)
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
7	6	Radford	14-17	vs.	7	Campbell	16-16	6:00 PM	ESPN3
8	1	Winthrop	24-6	vs.	4	Gardner-Webb	19-13	8:00 PM	ESPN3
Championship Game, Sunday, March 5 (at Higher Seed)
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
9		Game 7 winner		vs.		Game 8 winner		1:00 PM	ESPN
Colonial Athletic Association Tournament–Charleston, SC
1st Round, Friday, March 3
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	8	Hofstra	15-16	vs.	9	Delaware	12-19	6:00 PM	CAA.tv
2	7	James Madison	9-22	vs.	10	Drexel	9-22	8:30 PM	CAA.tv
Quarterfinal Round, Saturday, March 4
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
3	1	UNC-Wilmington	26-5	vs.				12:00 PM	Comcast SN
4	4	William & Mary	16-13	vs.	5	Elon	18-13	2:30 PM	Comcast SN
5	2	College of Charleston	23-8	vs.				6:00 PM	Comcast SN
6	3	Towson St.	19-12	vs.	6	Northeastern	15-15	8:30 PM	Comcast SN
Semifinal Round, Sunday, March 5
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
7		Game 3 winner		vs.		Game 4 winner		2:00 PM	Comcast SN
8		Game 5 winner		vs.		Game 6 winner		4:30 PM	Comcast SN
Championship Game, Monday, March 6
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
9		Game 7 winner		vs.		Game 8 winner		7:00 PM	CBSSN
Horizon League Tournament (Motor City Madness)–Detroit
1st Round, Friday, March 3
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	7	Detroit Mercy	8-22	vs.	10	Milwaukee	8-23	5:30 PM	ESPN3
2	8	Cleveland St.	9-21	vs.	9	Youngstown St.	11-20	8:00 PM	ESPN3
Quarterfinal Round–Day 1, Saturday, March 4
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
3	1	Oakland	24-7	vs.		Game 2 winner		5:30 PM	ESPN3
4	2	Valparaiso	24-7	vs.		Game 1 winner		8:00 PM	ESPN3
Quarterfinal Round–Day 2, Sunday, March 5
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
5	3	Green Bay	18-12	vs.	6	Illinois-Chicago	14-17	5:00 PM	ESPN3
6	4	Northern Kentucky	21-10	vs.	5	Wright St.	20-11	7:30 PM	ESPN3
Semifinal Round, Monday, March 6
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
7		Game 3 winner		vs.		Game 6 winner		7:00 PM	ESPNU
8		Game 4 winner		vs.		Game 5 winner		9:30 PM	ESPNU
Championship Game, Tuesday, March 7
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
9		Game 7 winner		vs.		Game 8 winner		7:00 PM	ESPN
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament at Albany (Siena)
1st Round, Thursday, March 2
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
1	8	Quinnipiac	10-20	vs.	9	Niagara	9-22	69-88
2	7	Canisius	17-14	vs.	10	Marist	8-23	77-73
3	6	Rider	17-14	vs.	11	Manhattan	10-21	69-68
Quarterfinal Round–Day 1, Friday, March 3
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
4	1	Mounmouth	26-5	vs.	9	Niagara	10-22	7:00 PM	ESPN3
5	2	St. Peter’s	18-12	vs.	7	Canisius	18-14	9:30 PM	ESPN3
Quarterfinal Round–Day 2, Saturday, March 4
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
6	3	Iona	19-12	vs.	6	Rider	18-14	7:00 PM	ESPN3
7	4	Siena	15-16	vs.	5	Fairfield	16-13	9:30 PM	ESPN3
Semifinal Round–Sunday, March 5
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
8		Game 4 winner		vs.		Game 7 winner		4:30 PM	ESPN3
9		Game 5 winner		vs.		Game 6 winner		7:00 PM	ESPN3
Championship Game–Monday, March 6
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
10		Game 8 winner		vs.		Game 9 winner		9:00 PM	ESPN2
Mideast Athletic Conference Tournament at Norfolk, VA (Norfolk St.)
1st Round, Day 1–Monday, March 6
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	5	Maryland-Eastern Shore	12-19	vs.	12	N. Carolina A&T	3-28	5:00 PM	ESPN3
2	6	Coppin St.	8-23	vs.	11	Howard	8-23	7:00 PM	ESPN3
1st Round, Day 2–Tuesday, March 7
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
3	8	Delaware St.	10-21	vs.	9	Bethune-Cookman	9-21	4:00 PM	ESPN3
4	7	South Carolina St.	10-19	vs.	10	Florida A&M	7-22	6:00 PM	ESPN3
Quarterfinal Round. Day 1, March 8
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
5	1	UNC-Central	22-8	vs.		Game 3 winner		6:00 PM	ESPN3
6	2	Norfolk St.	15-15	vs.		Game 4 winner		8:00 PM	ESPN3
Quarterfinal Round. Day 2, March 9
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
7	3	Morgan St.	14-15	vs.		Game 2 winner		6:00 PM	ESPN3
8	4	Hampton	14-15	vs.		Game 1 winner		8:00 PM	ESPN3
Semifinal Round, March 10
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
9		Game 5 winner		vs.		Game 8 winner		6:00 PM	ESPN3
10		Game 6 winner		vs.		Game 7 winner		8:00 PM	ESPN3
Championship Game, March 11
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
11		Game 9 winner		vs.		Game 10 winner		1:00 PM	ESPN2
Missouri Valley Conference Tournament (Arch Madness) at St. Louis
1st Round, Thursday, March 2
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
1	8	Evansville	15-16	vs.	9	Indiana St.	11-19	83-72
2	7	Bradley	12-19	vs.	10	Drake	7-23	67-58
Quarterfinal Round, Friday, March 3
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
3	1	Illinois St.	25-5	vs.	8	Evansville	16-16	1:00 PM	MVC TV
4	4	Southern Illinois	16-15	vs.	5	Loyola (Chi.)	18-13	3:30 PM	MVC TV
5	2	Wichita St.	27-4	vs.	7	Bradley	13-19	7:00 PM	MVC TV
6	3	Northern Iowa	14-15	vs.	6	Missouri St.	16-15	9:30 PM	MVC TV
Semifinal Round, Saturday, March 4
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
7		Game 3 winner		vs.		Game 4 winner		3:30 PM	CBSSN
8		Game 5 winner		vs.		Game 6 winner		6:00 PM	CBSSN
Championship Game, Sunday, March 5
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
9		Game 7 winner		vs.		Game 8 winner		2:00 PM	CBS
Northeast Conference Tournament–All Games at Higher Seed
Quarterfinal Round, Wednesday, March 1
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
1	1	Mount St. Mary’s	16-15	vs.	8	Sacred Heart	13-18	76-73
2	2	Long Island	20-11	vs.	7	Robert Morris	13-18	68-69
3	3	Wagner	15-13	vs.	6	Fairleigh-Dickinson	11-18	72-70
4	4	St. Francis (PA)	14-15	vs.	5	Bryant	12-19	100-78
Semifinal Round, Saturday, March 4
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
5	1	Mount St. Mary’s	17-15	vs.	7	Robert Morris	14-18	12 or 2 PM	MSG/FCS
6	3	Wagner	16-13	vs.	4	St. Francis (PA)	15-15	12 or 2 PM	MSG/FCS
Championship Game, Tuesday, March 7
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
7		Game 5 winner				Game 6 winner		11:00 AM	ESPN2
	* This Tournament Re-seeds after the quarterfinals like the NFL Playoffs
Ohio Valley Conference Tournament at Nashville
1st Round, Wednesday, March 1
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
1	5	Southeast Missouri	14-17	vs.	8	Tennessee St.	17-12	78-75 ot
2	6	Tennessee Tech	12-19	vs.	7	Murray St.	14-16	84-85 2ot
Quarterfinal Round, Thursday, March 2
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
3	4	Jacksonville St.	17-14	vs.	5	Southeast Missouri	15-17	74-51
4	3	Morehead St.	14-15	vs.	7	Murray St.	15-16	69-75
Semifinal Round, Friday, March 3
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
5	1	Belmont	22-5	vs.	4	Jacksonville St.	18-14	7:30 PM	ESPNU
6	2	UT-Martin	20-11	vs.	7	Murray St.	16-16	10:00 PM	ESPNU
Championship Game, Saturday, March 4
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
7		Game 5 winner				Game 6 winner		8:00 PM	ESPN2
Patriot League Tournament–All Games at Higher Seed
1st Round, Tuesday, February 28
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
1	7	Loyola (MD.)	14-15	vs.	10	Lafayette	9-20	67-64
2	8	Army	12-18	vs.	9	American	8-21	74-58
Quarterfinal Round, Thursday, March 2
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Score
3	2	Boston U	23-8	vs.	7	Loyola (MD.)	15-15	64-60
4	3	Lehigh	19-12	vs.	6	Colgate	10-21	77-72
5	1	Bucknell	23-6	vs.	8	Army	13-18	78-62
6	4	Navy	18-13	vs.	5	Holy Cross	15-16	49-42
Semifinal Round, Sunday, March 5
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
7	2	Boston U	24-8	vs.	3	Lehigh	20-12	12 or 2 PM	CBSSN
8	1	Bucknell	24-6	vs.	4	Navy	19-13	12 or 2 PM	CBSSN
Championship Game, Wednesday, March 8
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
9		Game 7 winner		vs.		Game 8 winner		7:30 PM	CBSSN
Southern Conference Tournament–Asheville, NC
1st Round, Friday, March 3
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	8	Western Carolina	9-22	vs.	9	The Citadel	11-20	5:00 PM	ESPN3
2	7	Samford	17-14	vs.	10	VMI	6-23	7:30 PM	ESPN3
Quarterfinal Round, Saturday, March 4
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
3	1	UNC-Greensboro	23-8	vs.		Game 1 winner		12:00 PM	ESPN3
4	4	Chattanooga	19-11	vs.	5	Wofford	15-16	2:30 PM	ESPN3
5	2	Furman	21-10	vs.		Game 2 winner		6:00 PM	ESPN3
6	3	East Tennessee St.	24-7	vs.	6	Mercer	15-16	8:30 PM	ESPN3
Semifinal Round, Sunday, March 5
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
7		Game 3 winner		vs.		Game 4 winner		5:00 PM	ESPN3
8		Game 5 winner		vs.		Game 6 winner		7:30 PM	ESPN3
Championship Game, Monday, March 6
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
9		Game 7 winner		vs.		Game 8 winner		7:00 PM	ESPN2
Summit League Tournament–Sioux Falls, SD
Quarterfinal Round–Day 1, Saturday, March 4
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	1	South Dakota	21-10		8	Western Illinois	8-19	7:00 PM	ESPN3
2	2	North Dakota St.	19-10		7	IUPUI	13-17	9:30 PM	ESPN3
Quarterfinal Round–Day 2, Sunday, March 5
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
3	4	South Dakota St.	15-16		5	Denver	16-13	7:00 PM	ESPN3
4	3	Omaha	16-13		6	Fort Wayne	19-11	9:30 PM	ESPN3
Semifinal Round–Monday, March 6
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
5		Game 1 winner				Game 3 winner		7:00 PM	ESPN3
6		Game 2 winner				Game 4 winner		9:30 PM	ESPN3
Championship–Tuesday, March 7
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
7		Game 5 winner				Game 6 winner		9:00 PM	ESPN2
West Coast Conference Tournament at Las Vegas
1st Round, Friday, March 3
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	8	Pepperdine	9-21	vs.	9	Pacific	10-21	BYUtv	9:00 PM
2	7	San Diego	13-17	vs.	10	Portland	10-21	BYUtv	11:00 PM
Quarterfinal Round, Saturday, March 4
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
3	3	BYU	21-10	vs.	6	Loyola Marymount	15-14	4:00 PM	BYUtv
4	4	Santa Clara	16-15	vs.	5	San Francisco	20-11	6:00 PM	BYUtv
5	1	Gonzaga	29-1	vs.		Game 1 winner		10:00 PM	ESPN2
6	2	Saint Mary’s	26-3	vs.		Game 2 winner		12:00 AM	ESPN2
Semifinal Round, Monday, March 6
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
7		Game 3 winner		vs.		Game 4 winner		9 or 11:30	ESPN/ESPN2
8		Game 5 winner		vs.		Game 6 winner		9 or 11:30	ESPN/ESPN2
Championship Game, Tuesday, March 7
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
9		Game 7 winner		vs.		Game 8 winner		9:00 PM	ESPN

 

 

The Pirate Ratings Bracketology Gurus Report For February 27, 2017

Gonzaga’s Loss–Good or Bad

Minutes after Gonzaga lost their home finale Saturday night, we began hearing the so-called experts talk about how a loss might help the Bulldogs rather than keep the pressure on them to stay undefeated.  We have heard this statement many times in the past, and we believe it is hogwash.  A loss never really helps a team, even if coaches and others say it may help focus attention and force players to play harder.

The team that goes 29-0 before losing is not one that needs help focusing or one that can find a way to improve on the loss.  As a matter of fact, we believe this loss hurts Gonzaga more than what it looks like on face value.  Their players lost a lot of confidence, and any self-doubt can create weaker play.  Look at it in baseball.  When a player has to think about facing Aroldis Chapman, or before him Randy Johnson, Rob Dibble, or Sandy Koufax, the thought of facing a pitcher than they cannot possibly hit oftentimes leads to the batter not being able to hit these stars.  The all-time hits leader, Pete Rose, didn’t believe he could hit Koufax’s curve ball, and he didn’t.  He hit below .175 against him.

In the basketball world, we see a close correlation between Gonzaga and the 1977 San Francisco Dons.  That USF team had four stars that would matriculate to the NBA, including future Chicago Bulls’ center Bill Cartwright, who had been considered the nation’s top high school prospect when he signed with the Dons.

The 1977 USF team played in the West Coast Athletic Conference, the predecessor of today’s West Coast Conference, of which Gonzaga is a member (as is USF).  The Dons were the odds-on favorite to win the WCAC title, but nobody expected USF to do what they did that year.  Starting just outside the top 10, USF began winning game after game.  Their early schedule featured several power conference teams, including eventual SEC champion Tennessee and WAC Champion Utah.  The Dons stayed undefeated throughout November and December, and with a win over St. John’s and a second win over Houston, USF moved to the top of the polls in early January.  There was no real competition in conference play as the Dons won the league by five games.  With a 29-0 record and a scoring margin near 20 points per game, USF closed out the regular season with a road game against a good but not great Notre Dame team.

In the second half, the Irish began to wear down the USF stars, and they were able to neutralize the Dons’ best factor–their rebounding ability.  Notre Dame went on a run and knocked USF out of the unbeaten ranks just before NCAA Tournament play began.  USF fell to number three in the nation behind Michigan and UCLA, but the experts of the day said that the loss would help USF be able to focus and recover.  It wasn’t to be.  In their very first tournament game, USF ran up against the Runnin’ Rebels of UNLV, and Coach Jerry Tarkanian was about to take his team to its first Final Four.  UNLV ran out to a quick double-digit lead and cruised to a 121-95 victory to end USF’s year at 29-2.

We are not saying that Gonzaga will lose its first tournament game, and remember that when USF lost to UNLV, there were just 32 Tournament teams.  What we are saying is that Gonzaga’s chances of making the Final 4 are now less by several percentage points than it was prior to Saturday.  In fact, we are willing to state that we do not believe the Bulldogs will make it to the Elite 8 this year, because their confidence level has dropped.  They may not even win the WCC Tournament.  Saint Mary’s might advance further in the Dance.  That’s how much we believe this loss hurt the Zags.

 

Our Weekly Look at the Conferences

To many basketball fans, the next five weeks equates to summer vacation. Conference tournament action commences today with the opening round of the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament tipping off in Fort Myers, Florida, Nashville, Spartanburg, South Carolina, and Jacksonville, as the four higher seeded teams host the four lower seeded teams.

Starting today, our Bracketology Report merges with the Conference Tournament Coverage, so you will get a bit of both. In total 10 different leagues have their tournament brackets in place, so instead of showing you the records of the top teams in those leagues, we will show you the tournament schedules along with a brief look at who is hot, who is not, and who we think might win.
Our Bracketology Gurus have sent their selections to us this week, and many of them plan to update every time their bracket changes in the last two weeks before Selection Sunday.

ONE BID CONFERENCES
America East

America East Tournament–Higher Seed at Home
Quarterfinal Round, Wednesday, March 1
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	1	Vermont	26-5	vs.	8	Maine	7-24	7:00 PM	ESPN3
2	2	Stony Brook	17-12	vs.	7	Binghamton	12-19	7:00 PM	ESPN3
3	3	Albany	19-12	vs.	6	Hartford	9-22	7:30 PM	ESPN3
4	4	New Hampshire	19-11	vs.	5	Md.-Baltimore Co.	18-11	7:30 PM	ESPN3
Semifinal Round, Monday, March 6
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
5		Highest Remaining Seed		vs.		Lowest Remaining Seed		7:00 PM	ESPN3
6		2nd Highest Remaining Seed		vs.		2nd Lowest Remaining Seed		7:30 PM	ESPN3
Championship Game, Saturday, March 11
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
7		Game 5 winner				Game 6 winner		11:00 AM	ESPN2
	* This Tournament Re-seeds after the quarterfinals like the NFL Playoffs

Vermont finished the regular season with a perfect 16-0 record in the league, and there is only one other team remaining that has an undefeated conference record (Princeton is 12-0 in the Ivy League with two games remaining). So, the Catamounts must be considered prohibitive favorites, especially since they have home court advantage throughout the tournament. Only one league opponent gabe Vermont any real difficulty this year, and that was Maryland-Baltimore County. However, UMBC finished as the fifth seed, and the Retrievers will have to win a road game against New Hampshire to get a chance at the Catamounts. UNH lost at Vermont by just eight points after playing to a stalemate in the first half, and the Wildcats did not lose another game afterwards, finishing on a five-game winning streak.

Atlantic Sun

Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament–Higher Seed at Home
Quarterfinal Round, Monday, February 27
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	1	Florida Gulf Coast	23-7	vs.	8	Stetson	11-20	7:00 PM	WatchESPN
2	2	Lipscomb	19-12	vs.	7	NJIT	11-19	8:00 PM	WatchESPN
3	3	North Florida	13-18	vs.	6	Jacksonville	17-14	7:00 PM	WatchESPN
4	4	USC-Upstate	17-14	vs.	5	Kennesaw St.	13-17	7:00 PM	WatchESPN
Semifinal Round, Thursday, March 2
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
5		Game 1 winner		vs.		Game 4 winner		TBA	WatchESPN
6		Game 2 winner		vs.		Game 3 winner		TBA	WatchESPN
Championship Game, Sunday, March 5
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
7		Game 5 winner		vs.		Game 6 winner		3:00 PM	ESPN

Florida Gulf Coast has been in this spot before, and the Eagles have come through as the favorite more than once. They did lose at home to second seed Lipscomb in an ugly game where defense dominated, but the Bisons will most likely have to beat North Florida in the semifinals to get to Fort Myers for the title game. North Florida swept Lipscomb during the regular season, with their star Dallas Moore scoring 75 points in the two contests. FGCU is looking pretty and the Eagles would be competitive if they make the Big Dance. They beat UT-Arlington and lost close games to Michigan St. and Baylor.

Big Sky
North Dakota 13-3/18-8
Eastern Washington 12-4/20-9
Weber St. 11-5/16-11
Idaho 10-6/16-12
Montana St. 10-6/15-14

Weber State dropped three straight games, while the two teams above them in the standings are enjoying nice winning streaks. Montana State is the hot team from the next waive, but keep an eye on 8th place Portland State (7-9/14-13). The Vikings have lost a lot of close games, five in overtime, and they have the ability to score points in big spurts. It would not be a surprise if PSU upset a team or two in this tournament, which in our opinion is wide open.

Big South

Big South Conference Tournament–1st Round & Championship at Higher Seed, Middle 2 Rounds at #1 Winthrop
1st Round, Tuesday, February 28 (at Higher Seed)
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	7	Campbell	14-16	vs.	10	Presbyterian	5-24	7:00 PM	BSouth Net.
2	8	Charleston Southern	11-18	vs.	9	Longwood	6-23	7:00 PM	BSouth Net.
Quarterfinal Round, Thursday, March 2 (at Winthrop)
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
3	2	UNC-Asheville	23-8	vs.		Game 1 winner		1:00 PM	ESPN3
4	3	Liberty	19-12	vs.	6	Radford	13-17	3:00 PM	ESPN3
5	1	Winthrop	23-6	vs.		Game 2 winner		7:00 PM	ESPN3
6	4	Gardner-Webb	18-13	vs.	5	High Point	15-15	9:00 PM	ESPN3
Semifinal Round, Friday, March 3 (at Winthrop)
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
7		Game 3 winner		vs.		Game 4 winner		6:00 PM	ESPN3
8		Game 5 winner		vs.		Game 6 winner		8:00 PM	ESPN3
Championship Game, Sunday, March 5 (at Higher Seed)
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
9		Game 7 winner		vs.		Game 8 winner		1:00 PM	ESPN

Winthrop and UNC-Asheville could be on a collision course for a rematch of last year’s championship game, where UNCA won on a neutral floor and then became fodder for eventual National Champion Villanova in the Round of 64. Winthrop has the edge this year, as the Eagles will play at home as long as they remain in the tournament. The two games between these teams were both nip and tuck games that went to the wire, with the game in Asheville needing an extra 10 minutes to decide the winner (UNCA won to earn a split). If you are looking for a dark horse, Gardner-Webb is playing its best ball of the year at the present time, and the Bulldogs upset UNCA to give the regular season title to Winthrop.

Big West
UC-Davis 10-4/18-11
UC-Irvine 10-4/17-13
Cal St. Fullerton 8-6/14-13

No team has been able to dominate in this league this year, and the tournament should be competitive. The current co-leaders meet in Irvine to close the regular season, and the winner should take the top seed. Long Beach St. (8-7/13-18) has been dreadful away from home this year, but Anaheim is almost like being at home in the Pyramid, so the 49ers might be worth looking at as a dark horse.

Colonial Athletic

Colonial Athletic Association Tournament–Charleston, SC
1st Round, Friday, March 3
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	8	Hofstra	15-16	vs.	9	Delaware	12-19	6:00 PM	CAA.tv
2	7	James Madison	9-22	vs.	10	Drexel	9-22	8:30 PM	CAA.tv
Quarterfinal Round, Saturday, March 4
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
3	1	UNC-Wilmington	26-5	vs.				12:00 PM	Comcast SN
4	4	William & Mary	16-13	vs.	5	Elon	18-13	2:30 PM	Comcast SN
5	2	College of Charleston	23-8	vs.				6:00 PM	Comcast SN
6	3	Towson St.	19-12	vs.	6	Northeastern	15-15	8:30 PM	Comcast SN
Semifinal Round, Sunday, March 5
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
7		Game 3 winner		vs.		Game 4 winner		2:00 PM	Comcast SN
8		Game 5 winner		vs.		Game 6 winner		4:30 PM	Comcast SN
Championship Game, Monday, March 6
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
9		Game 7 winner		vs.		Game 8 winner		7:00 PM	CBSSN

A month ago, we could have just ceded this tournament to defending champ UNC-Wilmington, but that was before the Seahawks lost to William and Mary, Charleston, and Elon. Now, this looks like a tournament that is much more up for grabs. UNCW is still the favorite, but they will not win this is a cake walk. Expect some competitive games, and it would not be a surprise if somebody other than the top two teams emerges as the eventual champion. We are keeping an eye on 8-seed Hofstra. The Gaels lost a lot of close games and then won a couple on the road at the end. They have to play in the opening round and would need to win four games to take the NCAA bid, but they could sneak into the semifinals.

Conference USA
Note: Middle Tennessee is closing in on moving into the Bubble should they win out and make it to the CUSA Championship Game and lose. For now, we keep CUSA as a one-team bid.

Middle Tennessee 15-1/25-4
Louisiana Tech 13-4/21-9
Old Dominion 11-5/18-10
UTEP 11-5/13-15
Rice 10-6/20-9

Middle Tennessee clinched the CUSA regular season title yesterday, and with two home games over bottom-feeders, the Blue Raiders should enter the conference tournament at 27-4. The good news for MTSU is the host team looks like they are headed for a 7th place finish, and UAB could not face the Blue Raiders until the Championship Game from that spot. The Blazers took the Raiders to the wire yesterday in the Magic City. UTEP was the lone team to beat the Raiders, but Rice and Louisiana Tech played MTSU close and could pose a challenge.

Horizon
Oakland 14-4/24-7
Valparaiso 14-4/24-7
Northern Kentucky 12-6/21-10
Green Bay 12-6/18-12
Wright St. 11-7/20-11

Imagine how the Cleveland Cavaliers would respond if Lebron James were lost just prior to the start of the playoffs. That’s how Valpo feels right now, as their big star is out of action, and the Crusaders are just an average team without him. Will Alec Peters return 100% healthy from his leg injury that cost him to miss the last two games? Without him yesterday, Valpo lost at Northern Kentucky to fall into a first place tie with Oakland.

Oakland has won nine consecutive games, while Northern Kentucky is making a name for itself for the first time since it became the third Cincinnati-area team to play Division 1 basketball. NKU Head Coach John Brannen is one of the up and coming coaches with a future at a bigger program sometime down the road, and his Norse could be ready to make some noise in Motor City Madness.

Ivy
Princeton 12-0/19-6
Harvard 10-2/18-7
Yale 7-5/15-10
Columbia 5-7/11-14
Penn 5-7/12-13

The top four teams in the Ivy League qualify for the inaugural Ivy League Tournament at the Palestra in Philadelphia. Princeton and Harvard have clinched spots, while Yale needs another win to clinch a spot. The final spot is still to be decided, as Columbia beat Penn Saturday night to move back into a tie for fourth place. At present, Columbia holds the tiebreaker, but Penn has the more advantageous closing schedule with two home games, while the Lions must play two road games.

Princeton must still get by Harvard at home to finish 14-0 and then most likely will have to beat Harvard a third time to make it to the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers played a couple of good non-conference foes close, but this does not look like the year where an Ivy team will win an NCAA Tournament game.

Metro Atlantic

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament at Albany (Siena)
1st Round, Thursday, March 2
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	8	Quinnipiac	10-20	vs.	9	Niagara	9-22	5:00 PM	ESPN3
2	7	Canisius	17-14	vs.	10	Marist	8-23	7:00 PM	ESPN3
3	6	Rider	17-14	vs.	11	Manhattan	10-21	9:00 PM	ESPN3
Quarterfinal Round–Day 1, Friday, March 3
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
4	1	Mounmouth	26-5	vs.		Game 1 winner		7:00 PM	ESPN3
5	2	St. Peter’s	18-12	vs.		Game 2 winner		9:30 PM	ESPN3
Quarterfinal Round–Day 2, Saturday, March 4
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
6	3	Iona	19-12	vs.		Game 3 winner		7:00 PM	ESPN3
7	4	Siena	15-16	vs.	5	Fairfield	16-13	9:30 PM	ESPN3
Semifinal Round–Sunday, March 5
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
8		Game 4 winner		vs.		Game 7 winner		4:30 PM	ESPN3
9		Game 5 winner		vs.		Game 6 winner		7:00 PM	ESPN3
Championship Game–Monday, March 6
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
10		Game 8 winner		vs.		Game 9 winner		9:00 PM	ESPN2

An interesting factoid here: The MAAC tiebreaker system forced a coin flip to determine the bottom two seeds. Marist and Manhattan tied for last at 5-15. Using the MAAC tiebreaker system, the two teams split their games. The second tiebreaker resorts in seeing who had the better record against the top-ranked team and downward until one team finished with a better record against the teams in order. Unfortunately, both Marist and Manhattan were swept by the top 5 teams. The 6th and 7th place teams tied, and Marist and Manhattan both went 1-3 against those two teams. Both teams swept Niagara, so that left no choice but to flip a coin to decide which team would be the #10 seed and which team would be the #11 seed.
Marist won the coin flip and will be the #10 seed, while Manhattan will be the #11 seed.

As for the other end of the standings, Monmouth tries to make up for stumbling in this tournament last year when the Hawks had enough talent to do some damage in the Big Dance. They may get there a year late, but the 2017 Hawks do not look to be as strong as last year’s team; they do enter the tournament riding a 16-game winning streak. Siena has to be considered a contender, since the tournament will be played on their home floor. Iona and St. Peter’s will not go down without a fight, so if the bracket holds, the semifinal round should be one worth watching.

Mid-American
Akron 13-3/23-6
Ohio 10-6/18-9
Ball St. 9-7/18-11
Kent St. 9-7/17-12
Buffalo 9-7/15-14
Western Michigan 9-7/13-15

The MAC Tournament is always a wide-open event, and the regular season champ is rarely a big favorite. Buffalo has won the last two MAC Tournaments, and the Bulls have to be considered a contender to “three-peat.” Akron failed as the top seed last year, and the Zips have lost the magic touch they had earlier in the season when they ran off a dozen victories in a row. Kent State is the hot team in the East, while Western Michigan is trying to become the MAC basketball version of the 1914 Miracle Boston Braves. WMU was in last place at 3-7 in the league, but the Broncos have won six consecutive games to move into a tie for first in the West.

Mideastern Athletic
UNC-Central 13-1/22-6
Norfolk St. 12-3/15-14
Morgan St. 10-4/13-14

MEAC hopes for avoiding Dayton rest on UNC-Central winning the conference tournament. The Eagles could even concievably move up to a 15-seed if they win out.

Mountain West
Nevada 12-4/23-6
Colorado St. 12-4/20-9
Boise St. 11-5/18-9
Fresno St. 9-7/17-11

Every week, we see a different team looking like the best in this league, but what the last few weeks have really told us is there is no really great MWC team this year like San Diego State and New Mexico have been in recent years. Then again, the top four this year are not chopped liver, and even though this figures to be a one-bid league in 2017, don’t automatically select this league’s representative to fall in their first NCAA Tournament game. Nevada has a very good offense. Colorado State has a very good defense. Boise State and Fresno State have better than average offenses and defenses. And, then there is always the possibility that one of the two recent teams that have controlled this league (San Diego St. and New Mexico) could get hot and take the conference tournament crown.

Northeast

Northeast Conference Tournament–All Games at Higher Seed
Quarterfinal Round, Wednesday, March 1
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	1	Mount St. Mary’s	16-15	vs.	8	Sacred Heart	13-18	7:00 PM	NEC Frontrow
2	2	Long Island	20-11	vs.	7	Robert Morris	13-18	9:00 PM	MSG+/FCS
3	3	Wagner	15-13	vs.	6	Fairleigh-Dickinson	11-18	7:00 PM	MSG+/FCS
4	4	St. Francis (PA)	14-15	vs.	5	Bryant	12-19	7:00 PM	NEC Frontrow
Semifinal Round, Saturday, March 4
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
5		Highest Remaining Seed		vs.		Lowest Remaining Seed		12 or 2 PM	MSG/FCS
6		2nd Highest Remaining Seed		vs.		2nd Lowest Remaining Seed		12 or 2 PM	MSG/FCS
Championship Game, Tuesday, March 7
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
7		Game 5 winner				Game 6 winner		11:00 AM	ESPN2
	* This Tournament Re-seeds after the quarterfinals like the NFL Playoffs

In the last four years, four different teams have won the NEC regular season championship, and four different teams have won the conference tournament. In the four cases, the regular season champion did not win the conference tournament. The last team to win both the regular season and conference tournament was Long Island five years ago. Mount St. Mary’s won the regular season title, but LIU looks like the team to beat once again, as the Blackbirds enter tourney play riding a six-game winning streak that includes a victory at MSM.

Ohio Valley

Ohio Valley Conference Tournament at Nashville
1st Round, Wednesday, March 1
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	5	Southeast Missouri	14-17	vs.	8	Tennessee St.	17-12	7:30 PM	OVC Digital
2	6	Tennessee Tech	12-19	vs.	7	Murray St.	14-16	9:30 PM	OVC Digital
Quarterfinal Round, Thursday, March 2
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
3	4	Jacksonville St.	17-14			Game 1 winner		7:30 PM	OVC Digital
4	3	Morehead St.	14-15			Game 2 winner		9:30 PM	OVC Digital
Semifinal Round, Friday, March 3
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
5	1	Belmont	22-5			Game 3 winner		7:30 PM	ESPNU
6	2	UT-Martin	20-11			Game 4 winner		10:00 PM	ESPNU
Championship Game, Saturday, March 4
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
7		Game 5 winner				Game 6 winner		8:00 PM	ESPN2

Belmont has been in the NCAA Tournament seven times in the last 11 years, and if the Bruins do not make it eight out of 12 this year, it will be a major shock. Last year, Austin Peay came from the lowest seed to upset the field, and if you are looking for a team to repeat that, keep an eye on Tennessee State.

Patriot

Patriot League Tournament–All Games at Higher Seed
1st Round, Tuesday, February 28
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	7	Loyola (MD.)	14-15	vs.	10	Lafayette	9-20	7:30 PM	Patriot Lg Net
2	8	Army	12-18	vs.	9	American	8-21	7:00 PM	Patriot Lg Net
Quarterfinal Round, Thursday, March 2
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
3	2	Boston U	23-8	vs.		Game 1 winner		7:00 PM	Patriot Lg Net
4	3	Lehigh	19-12	vs.	6	Colgate	10-21	7:00 PM	Patriot Lg Net
5	1	Bucknell	23-6	vs.		Game 2 winner		7:00 PM	Patriot Lg Net
6	4	Navy	18-13	vs.	5	Holy Cross	15-16	7:00 PM	Patriot Lg Net
Semifinal Round, Sunday, March 5
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
7		Game 3 winner		vs.		Game 4 winner		12 or 2 PM	CBSSN
8		Game 5 winner		vs.		Game 6 winner		12 or 2 PM	CBSSN
Championship Game, Wednesday, March 8
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
9		Game 7 winner		vs.		Game 8 winner		7:30 PM	CBSSN

Bucknell is tough to beat at home, and the Bison will get home court advantage throughout the tournament, but Lehigh swept the Bison during the regular season. The Explorers were swept by Boston U, and they will most likely have to win in Boston to get to Bucknell. Boston was swept by Bucknell, so the top three were like Rock, Paper, Scissors. Might another team be in the mix? It would be a very long shot, because the top three ended the season looking double-digit points better than the rest of the league.

Southern
East Tennessee 14-3/24-6
Furman 14-4/21-10
UNC-Greensboro 13-4/22-8
Chattanooga 10-7/19-10

The two hot teams meet tonight to decide the regular season champion, with ETSU visiting UNCG. Both teams enter with six-game winning streaks, and both teams have been playing defense like champions. The loser of this game will probably get a chance for revenge when the outcome is much more important.

Southland
New Orleans 12-4/17-10
Texas A&M-CC 11-5/18-9
Stephen F. Austin 11-5/16-12
Houston Baptist 10-6/15-12

This is a weak year in the SLC, and the eventural league representative in the NCAA has a high probability of heading to Dayton as a 16-seed in a first four game. The two hot teams as conference play comes to the end are Texas A&M-CC with a nine-game winning streak and Houston Baptist with a seven-game winning streak. TAMCC coach Willis Wilson came close to getting into the Dance many times with Rice, and he has slowly built the Islanders into a contender. It would be touching if Wilson finally made it to the NCAA Tournament in his 22nd season as a Division I head coach.

Southwestern Athletic
Texas Southern 13-2/17-11
Southern 10-6/14-15
Grambling 8-7/13-15

Unfortunately for this league, the hottest team is the one ineligible to go to the NCAA Tournament (Alcorn State). Texas Southern will be the heavy favorite, but even if the Tigers win the tournament, they will almost assuredly have to play in the First Four in Dayton.

Summit

Summit League Tournament–Sioux Falls, SD
Quarterfinal Round–Day 1, Saturday, March 4
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	1	South Dakota	21-10		8	Western Illinois	8-19	7:00 PM	ESPN3
2	2	North Dakota St.	19-10		7	IUPUI	13-17	9:30 PM	ESPN3
Quarterfinal Round–Day 2, Sunday, March 5
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
3	4	South Dakota St.	15-16		5	Denver	16-13	7:00 PM	ESPN3
4	3	Omaha	16-13		6	Fort Wayne	19-11	9:30 PM	ESPN3
Semifinal Round–Monday, March 6
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
5		Game 1 winner				Game 3 winner		7:00 PM	ESPN3
6		Game 2 winner				Game 4 winner		9:30 PM	ESPN3
Championship–Tuesday, March 7
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
7		Game 5 winner				Game 6 winner		9:00 PM	ESPN2

This should be a rather interesting tournament. 4-seed South Dakota State and 6-seed Fort Wayne cannot be overlooked, but the top three seeds are clearly the co-favorites. Omaha and Fort Wayne can light up the scoreboard, and their quarterfinal game could see one or both teams top the century mark.

Sun Belt
UT-Arlington 12-3/22-6
Georgia St. 11-5/18-10
Georgia Southern 11-5/18-11
Arkansas St. 10-5/18-9

UT-Arlington has the lone signature win in this league this year (beat St. Mary’s), and the Mavericks could be this year’s version of UALR. The top four in this league could play each other 10 times, and the final records might range from just 17-13 to 13-17, so UTA cannot automatically waltz through to the NCAA Tournament.

Western Athletic
Cal St. Bakersfield 12-1/21-7
New Mexico St. 10-3/24-5

One of these two teams should win the conference tournament, mostly because the only other quality team (Grand Canyon) is still a year away from becoming a full-fledge Division I member. CSUB has won 10 games in a row by an average of 11.5 points per game, which includes a win over New Mexico St.

MULTIPLE BID LEAGUES

American
In: SMU, Cincinnati
Bubble: Houston

Atlantic 10
In: Dayton, VCU
Bubble: Rhode Island

Atlantic Coast
In: North Carolina, Florida St., Louisville, Notre Dame, Duke, Miami, Virginia Tech, Virginia
Bubble: Syracuse, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech

Big 12
In: Kansas, West Virginia, Baylor, Iowa St., Oklahoma St.
Bubble: Kansas St., TCU, Texas Tech

Big East
In: Villanova, Butler, Creighton
Bubble: Seton Hall, Providence, Xavier, Marquette

Big Ten
In: Purdue, Wisconsin, Maryland, Minnesota, Michigan St., Northwestern, Michigan
Bubble: Iowa

Missouri Valley

Missouri Valley Conference Tournament (Arch Madness) at St. Louis
1st Round, Thursday, March 2
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	8	Evansville	15-16	vs.	9	Indiana St.	11-19	7:00 PM	MVC TV
2	7	Bradley	12-19	vs.	10	Drake	7-23	9:30 PM	MVC TV
Quarterfinal Round, Friday, March 3
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
3	1	Illinois St.	25-5	vs.		Game 1 winner		1:00 PM	MVC TV
4	4	Southern Illinois	16-15	vs.	5	Loyola (Chi.)	18-13	3:30 PM	MVC TV
5	2	Wichita St.	27-4	vs.		Game 2 winner		7:00 PM	MVC TV
6	3	Northern Iowa	14-15	vs.	6	Missouri St.	16-15	9:30 PM	MVC TV
Semifinal Round, Saturday, March 4
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
7		Game 3 winner		vs.		Game 4 winner		3:30 PM	CBSSN
8		Game 5 winner		vs.		Game 6 winner		6:00 PM	CBSSN
Championship Game, Sunday, March 5
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
9		Game 7 winner		vs.		Game 8 winner		2:00 PM	CBS

In: Wichita St.
Bubble: Illinois St.

Pac-12
In: Oregon, Arizona, UCLA
Bubble: California, Utah, USC

SEC
In: Kentucky, Florida, Arkansas, South Carolina
Bubble: Vanderbilt, Georgia

West Coast

West Coast Conference Tournament at Las Vegas
1st Round, Friday, March 3
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	8	Pepperdine	9-21	vs.	9	Pacific	10-21	BYUtv	9:00 PM
2	7	San Diego	13-17	vs.	10	Portland	10-21	BYUtv	11:00 PM
Quarterfinal Round, Saturday, March 4
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
3	3	BYU	21-10	vs.	6	Loyola Marymount	15-14	4:00 PM	BYUtv
4	4	Santa Clara	16-15	vs.	5	San Francisco	20-11	6:00 PM	BYUtv
5	1	Gonzaga	29-1	vs.		Game 1 winner		10:00 PM	ESPN2
6	2	Saint Mary’s	26-3	vs.		Game 2 winner		12:00 AM	ESPN2
Semifinal Round, Monday, March 6
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
7		Game 3 winner		vs.		Game 4 winner		9 or 11:30	ESPN/ESPN2
8		Game 5 winner		vs.		Game 6 winner		9 or 11:30	ESPN/ESPN2
Championship Game, Tuesday, March 7
Gm #	Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
9		Game 7 winner		vs.		Game 8 winner		9:00 PM	ESPN

In: Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s
Bubble: None

The PiRate Ratings Bracketology Gurus Composite For February 27, 2017
1. North Carolina, Kansas, Villanova, Oregon
2. Gonzaga, Louisville, Kentucky, Baylor
3. Arizona, UCLA, Butler, Florida St.
4. West Virginia, SMU, Purdue, Florida
5. Duke, Notre Dame, Cincinnati, Creighton
6. Virginia, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Oklahoma St.
7. Saint Mary’s, Miami, Maryland, Iowa St.
8. South Carolina, Dayton, Michigan St., Virginia Tech
9. Michigan, Wichita St., Arkansas, VCU
10. Middle Tennessee, Northwestern, Seton Hall, Syracuse
11. Providence, Seton Hall, Xavier, California, Marquette
12. UNC-Wilmington, Nevada, UT-Arlington, Illinois St., Wake Forest
13. Vermont, Monmouth, Bucknell, East Tennessee
14. Western Michigan, Belmont, Princeton, UNC-Asheville
15. Oakland, Cal St. Bakersfield, Florida Gulf Coast, South Dakota
16. Eastern Washington, UNC-Central, Texas Southern, UC-Davis, Long Island, Texas A&M-CC

Last Four Byes: Xavier, Seton Hall, Providence, Syracuse
Last Four In/Dayton Bound: Wake Forest vs. Illinois St. / Marquette vs. California
First Four Out/#1 NIT Seeds: Vanderbilt, Rhode Island, Kansas St., TCU
Next Four Out: Georgia Tech, Houston, Texas Tech, Georgia

PiRate Ratings College Basketball Preview For February 25-26, 2017

This Week’s PiRate Ratings Red-White-Blue Spreads *

Games Scheduled for:	Saturday, February 25, 2017
Home	Visitor	Red	White	Blue
Clemson	Florida St.	-3	-1	-3
Pittsburgh	North Carolina	-10	-9	-6
North Carolina St.	Virginia	-8	-9	-9
Boston College	Virginia Tech	-6	-5	-2
Miami	Duke	-1	-1	-1
Connecticut	SMU	-6	-6	-4
TCU	West Virginia	-7	-7	1
Oklahoma St.	Texas Tech	10	6	8
Iowa St.	Baylor	3	2	-4
Texas	Kansas	-7	-6	-5
Oklahoma	Kansas St.	-1	-1	-2
St. John’s	Georgetown	1	-1	-4
DePaul	Seton Hall	-5	-5	-7
Villanova	Creighton	8	10	8
Providence	Marquette	2	2	9
Minnesota	Penn St.	10	9	11
Michigan	Purdue	-2	-1	-2
Maryland	Iowa	7	8	9
Indiana	Northwestern	3	6	8
Missouri St.	Wichita St.	-12	-9	-10
Northern Iowa	Illinois St.	-5	-3	-5
Stanford	Oregon	-7	-10	-8
Arizona	UCLA	2	2	7
Arizona St.	USC	-3	-4	-4
Washington St.	Washington	2	1	1
South Carolina	Tennessee	6	5	4
Kentucky	Florida	5	3	3
Ole Miss	Missouri	11	10	10
Vanderbilt	Mississippi St.	7	7	10
Georgia	LSU	14	12	13
Texas A&M	Alabama	4	3	6
Auburn	Arkansas	1	1	-1
Gonzaga	BYU	23	19	19
Saint Mary’s	Santa Clara	17	18	19

 

Games Scheduled for:	Sunday, February 26, 2017
Home	Visitor	Red	White	Blue
Louisville	Syracuse	14	12	15
Notre Dame	Georgia Tech	12	14	10
Central Florida	Cincinnati	-4	-5	-2
Xavier	Butler	1	1	2
Michigan St.	Wisconsin	-1	-1	6
Nebraska	Illinois	2	1	1

* Red, White, and Blue Ratings are 3 different algorithmic formulas using basketball’s Four Factors, Strength of Schedule, and where the game is played as the predominant data to come up with a game spread.  The Red and White Ratings closely mirror each other, while the Blue Rating uses considerably more data and is time-consuming to calculate.  Thus, we are limited with the amount of games we can predict.

This Week’s PiRate Ratings Top 25

1. Gonzaga
2. North Carolina
3. Kansas
4. Villanova
5. Florida
6. Kentucky
7. Louisville
8. West Virginia
9. Wichita St.
10. Oregon
11. Duke
12. Purdue
13. UCLA
14. Saint Mary’s
15. Baylor
16. Cincinnati
17. Florida St.
18. Wisconsin
19. SMU
20. Arizona
21. Notre Dame
22. Creighton
23. Virginia
24. Butler
25. Oklahoma St.

ACC

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

Big 12

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

Big East

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

Big Ten

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

Pac-12

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

SEC

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

Oh, have we got some great games for you this weekend

Every week, we seem to tell you there are some great games to watch for that weekend.  This one is no different.  There are more than enough interesting games this week for you to watch.  Most of the Bubble teams are playing, and we have the crucial ones you can see on TV or online.  Then, you have some big games where both teams will be in the NCAA no matter what, so these games are big just to see who looks the part.  You also have a couple of rival games, and in one case there is a low-major conference rivalry game that ended in a fight the last time the two teams played on the same court where they will play this weekend.  You will see that we have compared this game to the 1965 Giants and Dodgers, but at least no baseball bats will be present (at least we hope).

All Times Eastern
Time	Home	Visitor	TV	Why to Watch
Friday Night
7:00 PM	Green Bay	Oakland	ESPNU	2nd place in Horizon on the line
7:00 PM	Monmouth	Siena	ESPN2	Monmouth G Justin Robinson
8:00 PM	Harvard	Yale	ESPN3	These two rivals will meet in Ivy Semis too
Saturday
Time	Home	Visitor	TV	Why to Watch
12:00 PM	Clemson	Florida St.	ACC Net.	Must win for CU on the Bubble
12:00 PM	Connecticut	SMU	CBS	SMU vying for #3 Seed
1:00 PM	New Hampshire	Md.-Baltimore Co.	ESPN3	AmEst #3 Seed to avoid Verm. til finals
2:00 PM	Kentucky	Florida	CBS	SEC Reg. Season Championhip on the line
2:00 PM	TCU	West Virginia	ESPN	TCU needs win for Bubble Advancement
2:00 PM	Oklahoma St.	Texas Tech	ESPNU	TTU needs win for Bubble Advancement
2:00 PM	Northern Iowa	Illinois St.	CBSSN	ISU trying to stay on good part of Bubble
2:00 PM	Rhode Island	VCU	ESPN2	URI needs win stay at bottom of Bubble
2:00 PM	Vermont	Stony Brook	ESPN3	Top 2 teams in AmEst–Title preview?
3:00 PM	Villanova	Creighton	Fox	Top 20 Matchup
4:00 PM	Vanderbilt	Mississippi St.	ESPNU	VU needs win to stay on Bubble
4:00 PM	Michigan	Purdue	ESPN2	Mich. trying to stay on good part of Bubble
4:00 PM	Miami (Fla.)	Duke	CBS	Miami can clinch NCAA w/win
4:00 PM	Stanford	Oregon	Pac-12 Net.	Ducks competing for #2 Seed
4:00 PM	Iowa St.	Baylor	ESPN	Baylor competing for #2 Seed
4:00 PM	Providence	Marquette	CBSSN	Both teams on Bubble–Marq in better pos.
6:00 PM	Oklahoma	Kansas St.	ESPNU	KSU must win to stay in Bubble
7:00 PM	Columbia	Penn	ESPN3	Last Ivy League Tournament spot on line
8:00 PM	Indiana	Northwestern	Big 10 Net.	IU loss could be final straw for Crean
8:15 PM	Arizona	UCLA	ESPN	Game of the Day
10:00 PM	Gonzaga	BYU	ESPN2	Zags Last resume builder until WCCT
Sunday
Time	Home	Visitor	TV	Why to Watch
1:00 PM	UAB	Middle Tennessee	CBSSN	MTSU slim chance for at-large if needed
2:00 PM	Louisville	Syracuse	CBS	Orange win secures NCAA bid
3:00 PM	Central Florida	Cincinnati	CBSSN	Will Tacko make Cinti Fall
3:30 PM	Xavier	Butler	FS1	Game of the Day
4:00 PM	Michigan St.	Wisconsin	CBS	MSU win & on the “in” part of the Bubble
4:00 PM	Iona	Monmouth	ESPN3	Mad Rivalry like 1965 Dodgers-Giants
6:30 PM	Notre Dame	Georgia Tech	ESPNU	Tech needs more W’s for NCAA bid

Conference Tournaments Begin Monday

One conference tournament commences play Monday night.  The Atlantic Sun Bracket is finalized, and the quarterfinal round begins on the 27th.  The A-Sun does not have one hosting site.  All games will be played on the home floor of the higher seed, and Florida Gulf Coast owns home court advantage throughout.

Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament–Higher Seed at Home
Quarterfinal Round, Monday, February 27
Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	Florida Gulf Coast	23-7	vs.	8	Stetson	11-20	7:00 PM	WatchESPN
2	Lipscomb	19-12	vs.	7	NJIT	11-19	8:00 PM	WatchESPN
3	North Florida	13-18	vs.	6	Jacksonville	17-14	7:00 PM	WatchESPN
4	USC-Upstate	17-14	vs.	5	Kennesaw St.	13-17	7:00 PM	WatchESPN

 

 

The Pirate Ratings Bracketology Gurus Report For February 20, 2017

Championship Fortnight starts in just one week! Can you believe it? It has been a quick season this year, and depending on where you live, the weather outside might make you feel like Major League Baseball opening day starts in just one week. However, the Spring-like temperatures and rain that has produced the early return of daffodils, honeysuckle, redbud tree blooms and the budding out of oak, hickory, and ash trees, and which has given the lawn services an early bonanza with grass-cutting galore, might fool some of the people into believing Spring has arrived a month early, but most of the people know the cold hard facts. Those poor little plants are going to be in for a rude awakening when the yet to arrive cold spell blankets them with a late snow or a hard freeze. It might be 75 degrees today, but by the 12th of March, there is sure to be a surprise or two or ten to the vegetation.

Just like the weather, the fortnight of conference championships in men’s college basketball will produce its own surprises by March 12, Selection Sunday. That low-major conference team that today has a three-game lead over its nearest rival may find itself becoming the recipient of not an automatic NCAA bid, but an automatic NIT bid, when the fourth place team gets hot for three days. That mid-major team that underachieved and struggled to finish fourth in its conference may be ready to put it all together and win three games in three days to save the coach’s job.

What about that team from the big conference that will go 7-11 or 5-13 or even 2-14 in league play and then get on a roll while the top teams enjoy byes? It has happened before. Connecticut got hot at the right time a few years back and won five games in five days. For good measure, the Huskies then won six more to take the national title back to Storrs.

Many of you readers were not yet born in 1976, but it was quite an interesting season in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The ACC had just seven teams then, as South Carolina had left the league and Georgia Tech had not yet joined. Of the seven teams, four were ranked in the top 20–North Carolina, Maryland, North Carolina St., and Wake Forest. It was a lean year in Durham, as Duke was the last place team. The Blue Devils would return to prominence in two more years.
Second to last place Virginia won just four ACC games during the regular season, but nobody, not even the ranked ACC teams, beat them by more than eight points. Top-seeded North Carolina, who has stayed in the Top 5 for the entire season, only beat UVA by two in Chapel Hill and by three in Charlottesville.
When the seven teams convened in Greensboro for the ACC Tournament, Virginia was faced with the task of having to beat the #3 seed and #15 nationally North Carolina St. in the quarterfinals, then most likely the #2 seed and #9 nationally Maryland in the semifinals, and then most likely top seed and #4 nationally North Carolina in the Championship Game. If the Cavs lost at all, not only would they not be in the NCAA Tournament in what was then just a 32-team field, but they would not make the NIT either.
Up to this point, no team with a conference record under .500 had ever won the ACC Tournament, and only one team had ever won it with a .500 mark in league play. In almost every season since the ACC formed in 1952-53, either the first or second place team had won the conference tournament.
On the opening night of the tournament, Virginia came out hustling on defense and controlling the boards. North Carolina State could not get uncontested shots and turned the ball over against the tough pressure man-to-man defense the Cavs played. It was a huge upset, as Virginia cruised to a 12-point victory to move into the semifinals. The other top teams relished the fact that the Wolf Pack had been put out, as State had recently been the dominant team in the league.
In the semfinals, Maryland was a prohibitive favorite over the Cavaliers, even though the Terps had needed to fight and claw their way to a three-point and eight-point victory. But, the Terps had played a tough overtime game over last place Duke the night before, and they came out a bit sluggish. Virginia, playing with nothing to lose, took command in the second half and pulled away to a double digit lead before Maryland cut it to eight points at the buzzer. Now UVA had made it to the finals, expected to be fodder for North Carolina and their cavalcade of star players, seven of whom would become future NBA players, including the entire starting five: Phil Ford, Walter Davis, Mitch Kupchak, Tom Lagarde, and John Kuester.
Virginia had a pair of future NBA players in Wally Walker and Marc Iavaroni, and on this afternoon, the Cavaliers got support from a host of players destined to work in the real world when they graduated. Coach Terry Holland kept possessions at a minimum, and Virginia once again played exceptional team defense, as the Cavaliers completed the sweep of top three teams, beating Carolina by five points to earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament with a record of 16-11.

Lightning almost struck twice for the Cavs. In 1977, they finished just 2-10 in ACC play and once again faced a road where they would have to beat three ranked teams to win the ACC Tournament. They came really close, knocking off #2 seed Wake Forest and #3 seed Clemson before falling late to #1 seed North Carolina in the Championship Round.

So, if your team won just four conference games or even two this season, there is still hope. It can happen.

By this time next week, the Atlantic Sun will be set to begin conference tournament play, with the Big South and Patriot League just one day away from commencing play. You do not have to go searching for the conference tournament schedules, as we will have it all here for you.

Today, we give you the schedules for every conference tournament, as well as the list of who is ineligible (due to transitioning to Division 1, low Academic Progress Rate, or Infractions), and the format each conference tournament will have. For instance, if you see a conference tournament format of “12 to 8 to 4 to 2 to 1 (The top 4 teams receive 1st round byes),” then you know that on the opening day of the tournament, seed 5 will play 12, 6 will play 11, 7 will play 10, and 8 will play 9. The winners of those four games will then join the 4 receiving byes to continue play in the quarterfinals.

 

Conference	Site	Dates	Format
America East	Higher Seeds	March 1, 6, 11	UMass-Lowell Ineligible 8 to 4 to 2 to 1
American Athletic	Hartford, CT	March 9-12	11 to 8 to 4 to 2 to 1 (Top 5 get 1st round byes)
Atlantic 10	Pittsburgh	March 8-12	14 to 12 to 8 to 4 to 2 to 1 (top 4 get double byes/5-10 get 1st round byes)
Atlantic Coast	Brooklyn	March 7-11	15 to 12 to 8 to 4 to 2 to 1 (top 4 get double byes/5-9 get 1st round byes)
Atlantic Sun	Higher Seeds	Feb 27, March 2 & 5	8 to 4 to 2 to 1
Big 12	Kansas City	March 8-11	10 to 8 to 4 to 2 to 1 (top 6 get 1st round byes)
Big East	New York	March 8-11	10 to 8 to 4 to 2 to 1 (top 6 get 1st round byes)
Big Sky	Reno	March 7, 9-11	N. Colorado Ineligible 11 to 8 to 4 to 2 to 1 (top 5 get 1st round byes)
Big South	Campus Sites (1)	Feb 28, March 2-3,5	10 to 8 to 4 to 2 to 1 (top 6 get 1st round byes)
Big Ten	Washington, D.C.	March 8-12	14 to 12 to 8 to 4 to 2 to 1 (top 4 get double byes/5-10 get 1st round byes)
Big West	Anaheim, CA	March 9-11	CSU-Northridge & Hawaii are ineligible 8 to 4 to 2 to 1
Colonial Athletic	North Charleston, SC	March 3-6	10 to 8 to 4 to 2 to 1 (top 6 get 1st round byes)
Conference USA	Birmingham	March 8-11	Top 12 Qualify 12 to 8 to 4 to 2 to 1 (top 4 get 1st round byes)
Horizon	Detroit	March 3-7	10 to 8 to 4 to 2 to 1 (top 6 get 1st round byes)
Ivy	Philadelphia	March 11-12	Top 4 Qualify 4 to 2 to 1
Metro Atlantic	Albany	March 2-6	11 to 8 to 4 to 2 to 1 ((top 5 get 1st round byes)
Mid-American	Cleveland (2)	March 6, 9-11	12 to 8 to 4 to 2 to 1 (top 4 get 1st round byes)
Mideastern Athletic	Norfolk, VA	March 6-11	Savannah St. Ineligible 12 to 8 to 4 to 2 to 1 (top 4 get 1st round byes)
Missouri Valley	St. Louis	March 2-5	10 to 8 to 4 to 2 to 1 (top 6 get 1st round byes)
Mountain West	Las Vegas (@UNLV)	March 8-11	11 to 8 to 4 to 2 to 1 ((top 5 get 1st round byes)
Northeast	Higher Seeds	March 1, 4, 7	Top 8 Qualify 8 to 4 to 2 to 1
Ohio Valley	Nashville	March 1-4	Top 8 Qualify 8 to 6 to 4 to 2 to 1 (Top 2 seeds get double bye/#3 & 4 get byes)
Pac-12	Las Vegas	March 8-11	12 to 8 to 4 to 2 to 1 (top 4 get 1st round byes)
Patriot	Higher Seeds	Feb 28, Mar 2, 5, 8	10 to 8 to 4 to 2 to 1 (top 6 get 1st round byes)
Southeastern	Nashville	March 8-12	14 to 12 to 8 to 4 to 2 to 1 (top 4 get double byes/5-10 get 1st round byes)
Southern	Asheville, NC	March 3-6	10 to 8 to 4 to 2 to 1 (top 6 get 1st round byes)
Southland	Katy, TX	March 8-11	Abilene Chr. and Incarnate Word Ineligible Top 8 Qualify 8 to 6 to 4 to 2 to 1 (Top 2 seeds get double byes, #3 & 4 get 1st round bye)
Southwestern Athl.	Houston (3)	March 7, 10-11	Alcorn St. Ineligible 8 to 4 to 2 to 1
Summit	Sioux Falls, SD	March 4-7	Top 8 Qualify 8 to 4 to 2 to 1
Sun Belt	New Orleans	March 8, 10-12	12 to 8 to 4 to 2 to 1 (top 4 get 1st round byes)
West Coast	Las Vegas	March 3-7	10 to 8 to 4 to 2 to 1 (top 6 get 1st round byes)
Western Athletic	Las Vegas	March 9-11	Grand Canyon Ineligible 7 to 4 to 2 to 1 (#1 seed gets bye to semifinals)
(1) Big South Tournament 1st round will be played at higher seeds. The quarterfinals and semifinals will be played at #1 seed, and then the
championship game will be played on the home court of the higher seeded team
(2) The Mid-American 1st round will be played at higher seeds. The remaining 3 rounds will be played in Cleveland
(3) Southwestern Athletic Tournament 1st round will be played at higher seeds. Semifinals and Finals will be played in Houston

 

The Bracketology Gurus And Their Headaches
Our Gurus tell us this week that they are having a tough time with the Bubble. They tell us there is too much medicority this season, and that after the top 30 teams, there are about 120 others that differ by so little. You have teams with some nice talent but they have never put it all together. You have some teams like the 1976 Virginia team that have the potential to win, but they have lost a lot of close ones in conference play. Then, you had the committee putting out its list of top 16 teams last week, and it looked like they reverted to the old bracket-selection method where the RPI ratings mattered more than it should.

Our Conference Breakdown
It is our personal opinion that conference records should matter for something. If the 6th place team in one conference gets an at-large bid because they played a tough non-league schedule, while the 3rd place team in the same conference does not get a bid, this just seems foolish to us. The third place team played the same conference schedule as the 6th place team and finished three places ahead in the standings. For example, there are some bracketologists (not our gurus) that have Michigan seeded higher than Maryland due to having such a tough schedule. The Terps are 10-4 in the Big Ten, while Michigan is 7-7. And, Maryland won at Michigan! Worse, Michigan gets rewarded for playing a tougher Maryland than Maryland gets for playing a weaker Michigan. It is nonsense! Conference action should mean a lot more than it does, especially when you look at the power conferences. If a team finishes 3 games ahead of another team in one of these conferences, there should be no discussion about which team is better. The number three team in a power conference is always better than the number seven team, no matter what the RPI or any other rating says.

Now that our rant is over, let’s look at each conference.

THE ONE-BID LEAGUES

American East
Vermont 14-0/24-5
Stony Brook 12-2/17-10
Albany 9-5/18-11
UMBC 8-6/17-10
New Hampshire 8-6/17-11

Vermont’s 16-game winning streak has not come without some bumps in the road. The Catamounts close out the regular season with home games against Albany and Stony Brook, and just one more win or one Stony Brook loss will give Vermont home court advantage for the tournament. The Catamounts have outscored their conference foes in Burlington by an average of 17.2 points per game, so it is going to be quite a challenge for another team to keep the Catamounts out of the Dance. At 29-5, Vermont could move up to as high as a 10-seed and probably not lower than a 13-seed.

Atlantic Sun
Florida Gulf Coast 11-2/22-7
Lipscomb 10-3/18-12
South Carolina Upstate 7-6/17-13
Kennesaw St. 7-6/13-16
North Florida 7-6/12-18

The A-Sun is another league where all conference tournament games are played on the home floor of the higher-seeded team. FGCU split with Lipscomb, but each team won on the other team’s home floor. Both the Eagles and Bisons have played well on the road this year, so home court advantage may not be all that pertinent if these two teams advance like they should.

Big Sky
North Dakota 12-3/17-8
Weber St. 11-3/16-9
Eastern Washington 10-4/18-9
Montana 9-6/14-14
Montana St. 9-6/14-14
Idaho 8-6/13-12

With 12 wins in their last 14, including a sweep of Weber State, North Dakota looks like a tough out, but the FIghting Hawks are not prohibitive favorites to grab the Big Sky Conference Tournament Title, just slight favorites. This league has some balance, and there are five or six rivals capable of beating UND. 10th place Northern Arizona at 4-10/7-20 beat North Dakota in Flagstaff after earlier in the season leading the Hawks in the second half in Grand Forks.

Big South
UNC-Asheville 14-2/22-7
Winthrop 13-3/21-6
Liberty 13-3/18-11
Gardner-Webb 9-7/16-13

This league may be just a small pond in the scheme of things, but there are a couple of potential piranhas swimming around in UNCA and Winthrop. If the top two teams meet in the championship game of the tournament, expect an exciting must-watch affair. They had to go to two overtimes when they played 11 days ago in Asheville, with UNCA winning 104-101.

Big West
UC Irvine 9-3/16-12
UC Davis 8-4/16-11
Long Beach St. 8-5/13-16
Cal St. Fullerton 7-5/13-12

UC-Irvine has not secured the top seed just yet, as the Anteaters close with three losable games in their last four. Long Beach and Fullerton are two teams of notice, as they have the talent to win the conference tournament and appear to be starting to gel at the right time.

Colonial Athletic
UNC Wilmington 13-3/24-5
College of Charleston 12-4/21-8
Towson St. 11-5/19-10
Elon 9-7/17-12
William & Mary 9-7/15-12

A month ago, it was a foregone conclusion that UNCW would waltz back to the NCAA Tournament, but the Seahawks hit a spell where they looked very vulnerable. They lost to three of the top contenders in William & Mary, Charleston, and Elon, and the William & Mary defeat was by 18 points. UNCW faces Towson State in Wilmington Thursday night, and a win will most likely secure the top-seed, but this conference tournament has become an interesting one to watch, as the Seahawks do not look like a sure thing now. Another thing that could distract UNCW is the fact that Coach Kevin Keatts is considered a strong candidate in the North Carolina State opening. That won’t be the only school that shows an interest in the former Louisville assistant with a proven record in recruiting.

Conference USA
Middle Tennessee 14-1/24-4
Louisiana Tech 12-3/20-8
Old Dominion 9-5/16-10
UTEP 9-5/11-15
Rice 8-6/18-9
Marshall 8-6/15-12

After a 14-1 run in their last 15 games, and with wins at Ole Miss and Belmont as well as a neutral site win in Nashville over UNC-Wilmington and a slaughter at home over Vanderbilt, Middle Tennessee could almost be considered a legitimate at-large team should they fail to win the CUSA Tournament, but the Blue Raiders probably needed to add a road win over VCU, and they came up short. If they do win out to enter the Dance at 30-4, they could very well be the higher seed in their first tournament game. After losing by 10 at Middle, Louisiana Tech has quietly reeled off six consecutive wins to sew up second place in the league.

Horizon
Valparaiso 12-3/22-6
Oakland 11-4/21-7
Wright St. 10-5/19-9
Green Bay 10-5/16-11
Northern Kentucky 9-6/18-10

Oakland swept Valpo, winning both games by double digits, and the Grizzlies now own a six-game winning streak after yesterday’s victory over UIC. Wright St. is the other hot team with a four game winning streak and an 8-2 record in their last 10. Green Bay can go on big scoring spurts, and if they are hot for three days, they can put the rest of the field away. It should be an interesting semifinals and finals in the Horizon.

Ivy
Princeton 10-0/17-6
Harvard 8-2/16-7
Yale 6-4/14-9
Penn 4-6/11-12
Columbia 4-6/10-13
Cornell 3-7/7-18
Dartmouth 3-7/6-17
Brown 2-8/11-15

Why have we included all eight teams in this write-up? The inaugural Ivy League Tournament will be a four-team event. At the present time, Princeton and Harvard have wrapped up half the spots. Yale was almost safe until the Bulldogs stumbled against Princeton and Penn at home to fall out of race for the top. They are still a good bet to get to the Palestra. The fight for spot number four is up for grabs, and even last place Brown is still very much alive, since Columbia has taken a dive with four consecutive losses, while Penn has won four straight to pull into a tie for the fourth spot. This coming weekend is a big one, as Yale visits Harvard and Princeton visits Columbia Friday Night. Penn is on the road for games with Cornell and Columbia. Dartmouth gets two big home games, and by next Monday, a 3-7 team could be 5-7 with the number four spot in sight.

Metro Atlantic
Monmouth 15-2/23-5
Saint Peter’s 12-6/16-12
Iona 11-7/18-11
Siena 11-7/14-15
Canisius 10-8/17-12
Fairfield 9-8/14-12

With a 13-game winning streak, Monmouth has already clinched the regular season title for the second consecutive year. Last year, the Hawks looked like a team that could do a little damage in the NCAA Tournament. They beat UCLA USC, Notre Dame, and Georgetown on the way to a 25-6 regular season record, but Iona beat them in the MAAC Tournament Championship Game, and Monmouth had to settle for an NIT berth, where they lost to George Washington in the second round. This year, the biggest wins the Hawks own are over Memphis and Princeton. Monmouth might win the MAAC Tournament, but this does not look like a team capable of winning in the NCAA Tournament. And, there are five other teams in the MAAC that could send the Hawks back to the NIT.

Mid-American
East
Akron 12-2/22-5
Ohio 9-5/17-8
Buffalo 9-5/15-12
Kent St. 7-7/15-12

West
Ball St. 8-6/17-10
Toledo 7-7/14-13

Akron looked invincible in league play until recently, and now the Zips have dropped two games, including a home game against Kent St. that ended Akron’s 30-game winning streak. The team that beat Akron last year in the MAC Championship Game is the hot team in the league. Buffalo has won six games in a row and eight out of ten with both of the losses coming on the road by one point. The Bulls might be the team to beat at this moment. The West Division is all aflutter. At one point in the season, Eastern Michigan was number one and Western Michigan was in last place. Now, EMU is in last, and WMU is in second just a game behind Ball St.

Mideastern Athletic
UNC-Central 11-1/20-6
Norfolk St. 11-2/14-13
Hampton 8-4/11-14
Morgan St. 8-4/11-14

UNC-Central gives the MEAC a fighting chance to avoid a first-four game in Dayton if the Eagles win the MEAC Tournament. If UNCC gets there, they will be quite a headache for their opening game opponent, because Coach LeVelle Moton’s teams play defense like the players are magnetized to their opponents. Central almost always finishes among the national leaders in points allowed and defensive FG%, and this year is no different. Norfolk State has made the 2017 MEAC race a two-team runaway, but they did not challenge Central in their only meeting this year.

Mountain West
Nevada 10-4/21-6
Boise St. 10-4/17-8
Colorado St. 10-4/18-9
New Mexico 9-6/16-11
San Diego St. 8-6/16-10
Fresno St. 8-7/16-11
San Jose St. 7-7/14-11

This will be a very interesting conference tournament, and there will be all kinds of gossip going on backstage and at official events. Colorado State is currently in a three-way tie for first in the MWC, but they could be forced into making a head coaching change. Larry Eustachy, the former Iowa State head coach who lost his job to do fraternizing with college coeds, has seen his name splattered throughout the news for allegations that he berated and belittled players, calling them all sorts of names. He already had a zero-tolerance policy in place in Fort Collins, so it could be reason to terminate his contract just as he has a team on the cusp of taking the top seed in the conference tournament.

There’s more to this league than just the controversy. Boise State coach Leon Rice is beginning to draw notice from bigger conference teams. There are rumors he could be in the mix at North Carolina State, but there will be other openings in March, and the former Gonzaga assistant will get serious consideration, after making the Broncos a perennial contender in the MWC. Another coach that could draw consideration for a higher-profile job is Nevada’s Eric Musselman, who also has experience coaching the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings in the NBA.

Then, there is the old man by the sea. San Diego State’s Steve Fisher has a national title and two other Final Fours in his past experience, and his Aztecs are starting to play like the defensive powerhouses in recent years that saw SDSU make it to the Elite 8. In their recent 14-point victory over Nevada, they held the Wolfpack under 30% shooting from the field.

Northeast
Mount St. Mary’s 13-3/15-14
Long Island 11-5/18-11
Wagner 10-6/14-12
St Francis (PA) 9-7/12-15
Fairleigh Dickinson 9-7/11-16

Mount St. Mary’s is up two games with two games to play, but one of those two games comes against second place LIU, so the Mountaineers still have a little bit of work to do to wrap up home court advantage throughout the tournament (All NEC Tournament games are played on the home floor of the higher seeds. Wagner has won six of their last seven, including a four-point win over MSM. The Seahawks beat Connectictut earlier this year, and they only lost at MSM by a point.

Ohio Valley
East
Belmont 14-1/20-5
Jacksonville St. 9-5/17-12
Morehead St. 9-5/13-14
Tennessee St. 8-7/17-11
Tennessee Tech 7-7/11-18

West
UT Martin 8-6/18-11
Murray St. 8-6/14-14
SE Missouri St. 8-6/13-16

Only the top eight teams qualify for the tournament, and as of this morning, the eight teams we have shown above seem to have their berths secured. Belmont’s lone loss came at Tennessee Tech. The Bruins have been in the Dance seven times in the last 11 years, but they are 0-7 in those seven trips. Jacksonville St. has played better away from home than at home, so this could be a plus for the Gamecocks. They did lose at Belmont by 17 points.

Patriot
Bucknell 13-3/21-8
Boston U. 11-5/16-12
Lehigh 10-6/16-11
Navy 10-6/15-13

Bucknell has impressive non-conference road wins against Vanderbilt and Richmond, but the Bison were swept by Lehigh. Although they will have home court advantage as long as they stay alive in the Patriot League Tournament, they are still vulnerable against teams that can dominate on the glass.

Southern
Furman 13-3/20-9
East Tennessee St. 12-3 /22-6
UNC-Greensboro 11-4/20-8
Chattanooga 10-5/19-8

It was a rude awakening as Furman’s 10-game winning streak ended with a 21-point home loss to UNCG Saturday. The Paladins must get over that one quickly, because they must travel to Johnson City to take on ETSU Wednesday night with first place up for grabs. Any of the top four could win this tournament, and the SoCon tends to come up with champions that were not the top seed.

Southland
New Orleans 11-3/16-9
Stephen F. Austin 10-4/15-11
Texas A&M-CC 9-5/16-9
Sam Houston St. 9-6/18-10
Houston Bapt. 8-6/13-12

Sam Houston had the lead in the SLC before losing four of their last five games. Meanwhile, the other contenders above have all enjoyed some nice winning streaks as the race heads into its final week. UNO and SFA have won four consecutive games. HBU has won five in a row, and TACC has a seven-game streak.

Southwestern Athletic
Texas Southern 11-2/15-11
Southern 9-5/13-14
Grambling 7-7/12-15
Jackson St. 7-7/11-16

The SWAC Champion is going to be in the First Four in Dayton unless multiple upset winners from other low-major conferences force them into the second round. The hottest team in the league is Alcorn State, as the Braves have a nine-game winning streak. Alas, they are ineligible for postseason play this season.

Summit
North Dakota St. 10-4/18-9
South Dakota 10-4/19-10
Denver 8-6/16-11
Fort Wayne 7-7/18-10
Omaha 7-7/14-13

South Dakota is peaking at the right time. The Coyotes look like the best team in the league in February, and the tournament will be played up the road in Sioux Falls, but USD will have a lot of competition in this competitive league.

Sun Belt
UT Arlington 10-3/20-6
Arkansas St. 10-4/19-8
Georgia Southern 10-4/17-10
Georgia St. 9-5/16-10
Texas St. 8-5/15-10

With a four-game winning streak and eight wins in the last nine outings, UTA has vaulted past its rivals into first place. The Mavericks have the signature win among the SBC teams this year, as they are the only team besides Gonzaga to have beaten Saint Mary’s. The last two conference tournament champions (UALR and Georgia State) went on to upset power conference teams in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Western Athletic
Cal St. Bakersfield 10-1/19-7
New Mexico St. 9-2/23-4
UM-Kansas City 7-4/15-13

In their current eight-game winning streak, CSUB has limited its opponents to just 59.3 points per game. Not only do the Roadrunners hold opponents to 38% shooting from the field, they win the battle of the boards and the turnover margin with consistency. It’s hard to beat a team when they only let you shoot one time per possession and keep you under 40% from the field. Bakersfield went on a 17-0 run to almost win at Arizona, and they led SMU in Dallas, before the Mustangs went on a run to win by six, so if the Roadrunners make the Dance, they will go down fighting, if they go down at all in their first game.

MULTIPLE BID LEAGUES

American Athletic
In: SMU 14-1/24-4, Cincinnati 13-1/24-3
Bubble: None

Houston’s chance to move into consideration fell when they could not pull off the upset of SMU.

Atlantic 10
In: Dayton 12-2/21-5, VCU 12-2/22-5
Bubble: Rhode Island 9-5/17-9

URI won at George Mason over the weekend, and the Rams have a big game against VCU on Saturday.

Atlantic Coast
In: North Carolina 11-3/23-5, Louisville 10-4/22-5, Duke 10-4/22-5, Notre Dame 10-5/21-7, Florida St. 9-5/21-6, Virginia 8-6/18-8
Bubble: Miami 8-6/18-8, Virginia Tech 7-7/18-8, Georgia Tech 7-7/16-11, Syracuse 8-7/16-12, Wake Forest 6-9/15-12, Pittsburgh 4-10/15-12

The ACC figures to send nine teams to the Dance, and at the moment Miami and Virginia Tech are in as Bubble teams, while Georgia Tech is right there on the cut-off line with a few others. Check the seeding below to see if the Gurus agree.
Syracuse, Wake Forest, and Pitt look like strong NIT candidates at this time. The ‘Cuse has a strenuous closing schedule that includes games with Duke and Louisville, and the Orangemen will have to upset one of the two to have a chance.

Big 12
In: Kansas 12-2/24-3, Baylor 9-5/22-5, West Virginia 9-5/21-6, Iowa St. 9-5/17-9
Bubble: Oklahoma St. 7-7/18-9, TCU 6-8/17-10, Kansas St. 6-8/17-10, Texas Tech 5-9/17-10

Oklahoma State started the year in conference play at 0-6, and now the Cowboys look like Sweet 16 material. Coach Brad Underwood should receive consideration for National Coach of the Year in his first season in Stillwater. With a mediocre Bubble to say the least, it figures that the Big 12 will be a conference that can send a team with a losing league record to the Tournament. Texas Tech had a golden opportunity to move onto the good side of the Bubble after upsetting Baylor, but the Red Raiders could not complete the deal at West Virginia, following previous one-point losses the week before to TCU and Kansas. TTU must finish 3-1 in the league and then win at least a game in the B12 Tournament.

Big East
In: Villanova 13-2/26-2, Butler 10-5/21-6, Creighton 9-5/22-5
Bubble: Xavier 8-6/18-9, Marquette 7-7/16-10, Seton Hall 6-8/16-10

Injuries have hit this conference hard. Xavier looked like a Final Four contender before injuries to their top two players weakened the Musketeers to the point where they may have to sneak into the field. One of those injuries, to top player Trevon Bluiett, is not season-ending, so when (if) he returns to 100% health, Xavier should recover somewhat.

Marquette is right there in the final tier of teams hovering on the last in line. Coach Steve Wojciechowski has become the top former Coach K assistant, and when he finally lands a couple of aircraft carriers that can attack the glass, Marquette is going to return to its glory it acheived under Al McGuire–if another school doesn’t steal him away (like Duke if Coach K retires).

Big Ten
In: Wisconsin 11-3/22-5, Purdue 11-3/22-5, Maryland 10-4/22-5, Northwestern 9-5/20-7, Minnesota 8-6/20-7
Bubble: Michigan St. 8-6/16-11, Michigan 7-7/17-10

The Selection Committee did not think much of this league last week, and we have to believe that their feelings go deeper than just the top of the conference. If Wisconsin and Purdue did not garner four-seeds, it stands to reason that the Michigan teams are not in as of now. We do not think Michigan State is going to make it now after losing Eron Harris to a season-ending knee injury that looked gruesome in the Spartans’ loss to Purdue. Michigan hurt their chances in their overtime loss to Minnesota, and the Wolverines are going to have to win a couple of road games (close with 3 of 4 on the road) to get back in the good graces of the Dance judges.

Missouri Valley
Wichita St. 15-1/25-4
Illinois St. 15-1/23-5
In: Whichever team wins Arch Madness
Bubble: Whichever team does not win Arch Madness

If you put the top teams not in the Power Conferences and put them in a super Mid-Major league (Gonzaga, St. Mary’s, Wichita State, Illinois State, Middle Tennessee, Monmouth, UNC-Wilmington, Boise St., and others), the two Valley teams would finish in the upper half of the standings and probably beat Gonzaga on their home floors. Both the Shockers and Redbirds are good enough to advance to the second weekend of the tournament, and the only reason they both won’t be in the NCAA Tournament would be political. The Committee will not be able to explain excluding one of the MVC powers over a 12 or 13-loss team from a power league. It would be a lot easier if both teams won out until the Championship Game of the MVC Tournament.

Pac-12
In: Arizona 14-1/25-3, Oregon 13-2/24-4, UCLA 11-3/24-3
Bubble: California 9-5/18-8, USC 8-6/21-6, Utah 8-7/17-10

When you live east of the Mississippi River, you sometimes discount the teams on the West Coast because you don’t always see these teams play. However, the Buckaroos on the PiRate Ship have tuned in enough games to hear Bill Walton in our sleep. The “Conference of Champions” has three really good teams, but all three must take a back seat to that team up in the Inland Empire of Northeast Washington. UCLA just abused rival USC over the weekend. While the City of Angels flooded from the heavy rains, UCLA clouded up and rained all over the Trojans in a 102-70 pasting.

The Trojans were not the only team to take a beating and hurt their at-large chances. Cal travelled across the Bay and lost to rival Stanford, while Utah most likely received a lethal dagger in their upset loss to an Oregon State team that entered the game with a record of 0-14/4-23.

Southeastern
In: Florida 12-2/22-5, Kentucky 12-2/22-5, South Carolina 10-4/20-7, Arkansas 9-5/20-7
Bubble: Alabama 9-5/16-10, Tennessee 7-7/15-12

We removed a couple teams from the Bubble list, as Georgia and Auburn failed to pick up victories they had to have. Alabama is not on a lot of other folks’ bubble, but the Crimson Tide has a favorable schedule that could find them 12-5/19-10 before their regular season finale at Tennessee. If Alabama wins out and then makes it to the semifinals of the SEC Tournament, we feel that the Selection Committee would have to give Avery Johnson’s club serious consideration for one of the final spots in the Dance, especially if there are no big upset champions in other power leagues. Half of their losses came to teams that will be in the Tournament (Dayton, Oregon, Florida, Kentucky, Arkansas).

Tennessee is in a position where they most likely must win out to finish 11-7/19-12, and then the Vols will have to win at least one SEC Tournament game. This means that only one of the two Bubble teams from the SEC actually has a chance to make the Tournament.

West Coast
In: Gonzaga 16-0/28-0, Saint Mary’s 14-2/24-3
Bubble: None

Saint Mary’s wrapped up their at-large bid with an impressive weekend win at BYU. The only possible fly in the ointment would be if BYU, San Francisco, or Santa Clara played lights out and made a run to the WCC Tournament title, but at this point we think the San Diego Padres have a better chance of winning 110 games and then sweeping through to the World Series title than any team other than Gonzaga or Saint Mary’s has of winning the WCC Tournament.

The Bracketology Gurus Seeding For February 20, 2017
1. Villanova, Kansas, Gonzaga, North Carolina
2. Baylor, Arizona, Oregon, Louisville
3. Duke, Florida, Kentucky, Florida St.
4. UCLA, West Virginia, Butler, Purdue
5. Virginia, Cincinnati, Notre Dame, Wisconsin
6. Creighton, SMU, Saint Mary’s, Maryland
7. Minnesota, South Carolina, Northwestern, Oklahoma St.
8. Dayton, VCU, Xavier, USC
9. Miami (Fla.), Virginia Tech, Iowa St., Arkansas
10. Wichita St., Michigan, Michigan St., Kansas St.
11. Middle Tennessee, Marquette, California, Seton Hall, Syracuse
12. Illinois St., TCU, Boise St., UNC-Wilmington, UT-Arlington
13. Vermont, Monmouth, Florida Gulf Coast, Oakland
14. Belmont, UNC-Asheville, Princeton, Akron
15. Bucknell, Cal St. Bakersfield, South Dakota, East Tennessee St.
16. UC-Irvine, North Dakota, UNC-Central, Stephen F. Austin, Texas Southern, Mount St. Mary’s

First Four in Dayton
11: Seton Hall vs. Syracuse
12: TCU vs. Illinois St.
16: North Dakota vs. Mount St. Mary’s
16: Stephen F. Austin vs. Texas Southern

Last Four Byes
California, Marquette, Kansas St., Michigan St.

First Four Out
Georgia Tech, Texas Tech, Wake Forest, Rhode Island

Next Four Out
Providence, Alabama, Clemson, Tennessee

Note: Georgia Tech, TCU, Syracuse, Seton Hall, and Illinois St. all finished within two points of each other in our Guru tabulation. We would call this a very close Bubble. Texas Tech and Wake Forest are only four and five points back. Now, you see why our baker’s dozen of Gurus have headaches. Maybe, the fact that all the flowers are blooming and the trees are budding as the temperature challenges 80 degrees has something to do with it as well, since the Guru that just texted said he has a runny nose, watery eyes, and needs a new box of tissues.