PiRate Ratings College Basketball Spreads

Saturday, March 13, 2021

Team 1	Team 2	Spread
Hartford	U Mass-Lowell	3.4
Wichita St.	Cincinnati	3.9
Houston	Memphis	6.4
Florida St.	Georgia Tech	3.7
Saint Bonaventure	VCU	1.7
Creighton	Georgetown	7.9
Eastern Washington	Montana St.	7.9
Michigan	Ohio St.	4.0
Illinois	Iowa	0.2
Texas	Oklahoma St.	1.1
UCSB	UC-Irvine	3.0
Western Kentucky	North Texas	-1.3
Iona	Fairfield	7.4
Buffalo	Ohio	3.5
Norfolk St.	Morgan St.	2.6
San Diego St.	Utah St.	2.3
Colorado	Oregon St.	9.1
Colgate	Loyola (MD)	12.2
Alabama	Tennessee	3.9
Arkansas	LSU	2.5
Nicholls	Abilene Christian	-7.6
Prairie View A&M	Texas Southern	0.6
Grand Canyon	New Mexico St.	1.7

Conference Tournaments Update

Saturday, March 13

Bids Awarded Today

America East: UMass-Lowell vs. Hartford

Atlantic 10: Saint Bonaventure vs/ VCU

Big East: Creighton vs. Georgetown (Hoyas would pop a bubble for the at-large field if they win)

Big Sky: Eastern Washington vs. Montana St.

Big 12: Texas vs. Oklahoma St.

Big West: UCSB vs. UC-Irvine

Conference USA: Western Kentucky vs. North Texas

Metro Atlantic: Fairfield vs. Iona

Mid-American: Buffalo vs. Ohio U

Mideastern Athletic: Norfolk St. vs. Morgan St.

Mountain West: San Diego St. vs. Utah St.

Pac-12: Colorado vs. Oregon St. (Beavers win would pop a bubble in the at-large field)

Southland: Nicholls vs. Abilene Christian

Southwestern Athletic: Prairie View A&M vs. Texas Southern

Western Athletic: Grand Canyon vs. New Mexico St.

America East Conference

Championship Game– 11 AM EST, ESPN2

6 U Mass-Lowell at 4 Hartford

American Athletic Conference

Semifinals @ Fort Worth, TX

1 Wichita St. vs. 5 Cincinnati 

2 Houston vs. 3 Memphis 

Atlantic Coast Conference

Championship Game, 8:30 PM EST. ESPN

2 Florida St. vs. 4 Georgia Tech

Atlantic 10 Conference

Championship Game–Tomorrow, 1PM EDT, CBS @ Dayton, OH

1 Saint Bonaventure vs. 2 Virginia Commonwealth

Big East Conference

Championship Game, 6:30 PM EST FOX

2 Creighton vs. 8 Georgetown 

Big Sky Conference

Championship Game, 8 PM EST, ESPNU

2 Eastern Washington vs. 5 Montana St.

 

Big Ten Conference

Semfinals @ Indianapolis, IN

1 Michigan vs. 5 Ohio St.

2 Illinois vs. 3 Iowa 

Big 12 Conference

Championship Game, 6PM EST, ESPN

3 Texas vs. 5 Oklahoma St.

Big West Conference

Championship Game, 11:30 PM EST, ESPN2

1 UCSB vs. 2 UC-Irvine

Conference USA

Championship Game, 9PM EST, CBSSN

1E Western Kentucky vs. 3W North Texas

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference

Championship Game, 4 PM EST, ESPNU

7 Fairfield vs. 9 Iona

Mid-American Conference

Championship Game, 7:30 PM EST, ESPN2

2 Buffalo vs. 5 Ohio U

Mideastern Athletic Conference

Championship Game, 1PM EST, ESPN2

2N Norfolk St. vs. 3N Morgan St. 

Mountain West Conference

Championship Game, 6PM EST, CBS

1 San Diego St. vs. 2 Utah St.

Pac-12 Conference

Championship Game, 10:30 PM EST, ESPN

3 Colorado vs. 5 Oregon St.

Patriot League

Championship Game, Tomorrow, 12 PM EDT, CBSSN

9 Loyola (MD) at 2 Colgate

Southeastern Conference

Semifinals @ Nashville, TN

1 Alabama vs. 4 Tennessee

2 Arkansas vs. 3 LSU 

Southland Conference

Championship Game, 9:30 PM EST, ESPN2

1 Nicholls vs.2 Abilene Christian 

Southwestern Athletic Conference

Championship Game, 6PM EST, ESPNU

1 Prairie View A&M vs. 3 Texas Southern 

Western Athletic Conference

Championship Game, 10PM, ESPNU

1 Grand Canyon vs. 3 New Mexico St.

Automatic Qualifiers

Liberty 23-5

Winthrop 23-1

Loyola (Chi.) 24-4

Morehead St. 23-7

UNC-Greensboro 21-8

Appalachian St. 17-11

Drexel 12-7

Cleveland St. 19-7

Mount St. Mary’s 12-10

Oral Roberts 16-10

Gonzaga 26-0

PiRate Ratings Conference Tournament Update–March 5, 2018

Today’s PiRate Rating Spreads for Conference Tournament Games 

Home Team	Visitor
or Higher Seed	Lower Seed	Spread
Charleston	William & Mary	4.1
Northeastern	UNC-Wilmington	9.6
Oakland	Cleveland St.	8.4
Wright St.	Milwaukee	4.0
Iona	Fairfield	4.7
Central Michigan	Bowling Green	7.6
Kent St.	Northern Illinois	5.5
Miami (O)	Ohio	2.7
Western Michigan	Akron	7.8
North Carolina A&T	Delaware St.	10.4
Norfolk St.	Md. Eastern Shore	12.2
UNC-Greensboro	East Tennessee St.	-0.3
South Dakota St.	North Dakota St.	6.4
South Dakota	Denver	10.5
Gonzaga	San Francisco	14.5
Saint Mary’s	BYU	4.5

Yesterday’s Championship Games

Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament
Lipscomb 108	Florida Gulf Coast 96

Big South Conference Tournament
Radford 55	Liberty 52

Big Ten Conference Tournament
Michigan 75	Purdue 66

Missouri Valley Conference Tournament
Loyola (Chi.) 65	Illinois St. 49

Teams Already In The Field

Team	Conf.	W-L
Murray St.	OVC	26-5
Radford	B-South	22-12
Loyola (Chi.)	MVC	28-5
Lipscomb	A-SUN	23-9
Michigan	BTen	28-7

Conference Tournament Championship Games Today

All Times EST

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament
Championship–March 5
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM	#4 Iona	#6 Fairfield	ESPN

Southern Conference Tournament
Championship–March 5
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
9:00 PM	#1 UNC-Greensboro	#2 East Tennessee St.	ESPN2

 

Other Conference Tournaments In Action Today

Colonial Athletic Association Tournament
Semifinals–March 5
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	#1 Charleston	#4 William & Mary	CBSSN
8:30 PM	#2 Northeastern	#6 UNC-Wilmington	CBSSN

Championship–March 6
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM	Chas/W&M	NE/UNCW	CBSSN

 

Horizon League Tournament
Semifinals–March 5
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM	#4 Oakland	#8 Cleveland St.	ESPNU
9:30 PM	#2 Wright St.	#6 Milwaukee	ESPNU

Championship–March 6
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM	Oak/CSU	WSU/Milw	ESPN

 

Mid-American Conference Tournament
Cleveland (First Round at Higher Seeds)
All Times EST
First Round–March 5
Time	Home	Visitors	TV
7:00 PM	#8 Central Michigan	#9 Bowling Green	ESPN3
7:00 PM	#5 Kent St.	#12 Northern Illinois	ESPN3
7:00 PM	#7 Miami (O)	#10 Ohio U	ESPN3
7:45 PM	#6 Western Michigan	#11 Akron	ESPN3
Quarterfinals–March 8
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM	#1 Buffalo	CMU or BGU	ESPN3
2:30 PM	#4 Ball St.	Kent or NIU	ESPN3
6:30 PM	#2 Toledo	Mia or Ohio	ESPN3
9:00 PM	#3 Eastern Michigan	WMU or Akron	ESPN3
Semifinals–March 9
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:30 PM	Buff/CMU/BGU	Ball/Kent/NIU	CBSSN
9:00 PM	Tol/Mia/Ohio	EMU/WMU/Akron	CBSSN *
* This game will be available at cbssports.com
Championship–March 10
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM			ESPN2

 

Mideastern Athletic Conference Tournament
Norfolk, VA
All Times EST
First Round–March 5
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:30 PM	#4 North Carolina A&T	#13 Delaware St.	ESPN3
9:00 PM	#5 Norfolk St.	#12 Md-Eastern Shore	ESPN3
First Round–March 6
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
4:00 PM	#8 Howard	#9 Florida A&M	ESPN3
6:30 PM	#6 UNC-Central	#11 Coppin St.	ESPN3
9:00 PM	#7 Morgan St.	#10 South Carolina St.	ESPN3
Quarterfinals–March 7
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	#1 Hampton	Howard or FAMU	ESPN3
8:00 PM	#2 Bethune-Cookman	MSU or SCSU	ESPN3
Quarterfinals–March 8
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	#3 Savannah St.	UNCC or Coppin	ESPN3
8:00 PM	NCAT or Dela St.	Norf St or UMES	ESPN3
Semifinals–March 9
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	Hampton/Howard/FAMU	NCAT/DelSt/NorfSt/UMES	ESPN3
8:00 PM	BCU/MSU/SCSU	Sav/UNCC/Coppin	ESPN3
Championship–March 10
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
1:00 PM			ESPN2

 

Summit League Tournament
Semifinals–March 5
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM	#1 South Dakota St.	#5 North Dakota St.	ESPN3
9:30 PM	#2 South Dakota	#3 Denver	ESPN3
Championship–March 6
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
9:00 PM	SDSU/NDSU	USD/Denver	ESPN2

 

West Coast Conference Tournament
Semifinals–March 5
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
9:00 PM	#1 Gonzaga	#4 San Francisco	ESPN
11:00 PM	#2 Saint Mary’s	#3 BYU	ESPN2
Championship–March 6
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
9:00 PM	Gonzaga/USF	SMU/BYU	ESPN

PiRate Ratings Bracket Gurus Report Coming Later Today

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PiRate Ratings Conference Tournament Update–March 2, 2018

Championship Fortnight is now in full force, as in just a little over 24 hours from this writing, the first automatic bid to the Big Dance will be awarded.  That bid will go to the winner of the Ohio Valley Conference, which is now down to four teams.  Murray State and Belmont have yet to play in the tournament, as the top two seeds receive byes to the semifinals.  It will be a major surprise if Austin Peay or Jacksonville St. steal this bid, as both Murray and Belmont have the talent to win an opening round game in the NCAA Tournament.

Here’s a look at Thursday’s exciting conference tournament action.  A lot of games came down to the last minute.

Atlantic Sun Semifinals

Florida Gulf Coast   95     North Florida   72

Lipscomb   77                     Jacksonville   62

Championship–March 4
Time	Home	Visitors	TV
3:00 PM	#1 Florida Gulf Coast	#2 Lipscomb	ESPN

 

Big South Quarterfinals

Radford   59               Longwood   53

Winthrop   72            Gardner-Webb   68

UNC-Asheville   71   Charleston Southern   66

Liberty   73                  Campbell   59

Semifinals–March 2
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	#2 Radford	#3 Winthrop	ESPN3
8:30 PM	#1 UNC-Asheville	#5 Liberty	ESPN3
Championship–March 4
Time	Home	Visitors	TV
1:00 PM	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	ESPN

 

Big Ten Second Round

Wisconsin   59   Maryland 54

Michigan   77     Iowa   71   ot

Penn St.   65       Northwestern   57

Rutgers   76        Indiana   69

Quarterfinals–March 2
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM	#1 Michigan St.	#9 Wisconsin	Big Ten
2:15 PM	#4 Nebraska	#5 Michigan	Big Ten
6:30 PM	#2 Ohio St.	#7 Penn St.	Big Ten
8:45 PM	#3 Purdue	#14 Rutgers	Big Ten
Semifinals–March 3
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
2:00 PM	Michigan St. or Wisconsin	Nebraska or Michigan	CBS
4:30 PM	Ohio St. or Penn St.	Purdue or Rutgers	CBS
Championship–March 4
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
4:30 PM			CBS

 

Metro Atlantic First Round

St. Peter’s   60      Monmouth   58

Quinnipiac   67    Siena   58

Fairfield   71        Marist   57

Quarterfinals–March 2
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM	#1 Rider	#9 St. Peter’s	ESPN3
9:30 PM	#2 Canisius	#7 Quinnipiac	ESPN3
Quarterfinals–March 3
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM	#3 Niagara	#6 Fairfield	ESPN3
9:30 PM	#4 Iona	#5 Manhattan	ESPN3
Semifinals–March 4
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM	Rider or St. Peter’s	Iona or Manhattan	ESPN3
9:30 PM	Canisius or Quinnipiac	Niagara or Fairfield	ESPN3
Championship–March 5
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM			TBA

 

Missouri Valley First Round

Northern Iowa   60    Evansville   50

Missouri St.   83          Valparaiso   79

Quarterfinals–March 2
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM	#1 Loyola (Chi.)	#9 Northern Iowa	ESPN3
2:30 PM	#4 Drake	#5 Bradley	ESPN3
6:00 PM	#2 Southern Illinois	#7 Missouri St.	ESPN3
8:30 PM	#3 Illinois St.	#6 Indiana St.	ESPN3
Semifinals–March 3
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
2:30 PM	Loyola/Evans/UNI	Drake or Bradley	CBSSN
5:00 PM	SIU/MSU/Valpo	Ill St. or Ind St.	CBSSN
Championship–March 4
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
1:00 PM			CBS

 

Ohio Valley Quarterfinals

Jacksonville St.   73     Tennessee Tech   70

Austin Peay   73           Eastern Illinois   66

Semifinals–March 2
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM	#1 Murray St.	#4 Jacksonville St.	ESPNU
9:30 PM	#2 Belmont	#3 Austin Peay	ESPNU
Championship–March 3
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM			ESPN2

 

Patriot League Quarterfinals

Bucknell   83        Loyola (MD)   78

Boston U   88        Lehigh   82

Colgate   76           Lafayette   54

Holy Cross   81     Navy   65

Semifinals–March 4
Time	Home	Visitors	TV
12:00 PM	#2 Colgate	#6 Holy Cross	CBSSN
2:00 PM	#1 Bucknell	#5 Boston U	CBSSN
Championship–March 7
Time	Home	Visitors	TV
7:30 PM			CBSSN

 

 

Conference Tournaments Beginning Today

Horizon League Tournament
Detroit (Motor City Madness)
All Times EST
First Round–March 2
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
5:30 PM	#7 Green Bay	#10 Detroit	ESPN3
8:00 PM	#8 Cleveland St.	#9 Youngstown St.	ESPN3
Quarterfinals–March 3
5:30 PM	#2 Wright St.	GB or Detroit	ESPN3
8:00 PM	#1 Northern Kentucky	Clev St or Youngs St.	ESPN3
Quarterfinals–March 4
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
5:00 PM	#3 UIC	#6 Milwaukee	ESPN3
7:30 PM	#4 Oakland	#5 IUPUI	ESPN3
Semifinals–March 5
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM	NKU/CSU/YSU	Oakland or IUPUI	ESPNU
9:30 PM	Wright St./GB/Det	UIC or Milwaukee	ESPNU
Championship–March 6
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM			TBA

 

Southern Conference Tournament
Asheville, NC
All Times EST
First Round–March 2
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
5:00 PM	#8 The Citadel	#9 VMI	ESPN3
7:30 PM	#7 Samford	#10 Chattanooga	ESPN3
Quarterfinals–March 3
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM	#1 UNC-Greensboro	Citadel or VMI	ESPN3
2:30 PM	#4 Mercer	#5 Wofford	ESPN3
6:00 PM	#2 East Tennessee St.	Samford or Chatt.	ESPN3
8:30 PM	#3 Furman	#6 Western Carolina	ESPN3
Semifinals–March 4
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
4:00 PM	UNCG/Cit/VMI	Mercer or Wofford	ESPN3
6:30 PM	ETSU/Sam/Chatt	Furman or WCU	ESPN3
Championship–March 5
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
9:00 PM			ESPN2

 

West Coast Conference Tournament
Las Vegas
All Times PST
First Round–March 2
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	#8 Loyola Marymount	#9 Portland	NBCSN
8:00 PM	#7 Santa Clara	#10 Pepperdine	NBCSN
Quarterfinals–March 3
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
1:00 PM	#3 BYU	#6 San Diego	NBCSN
3:00 PM	#4 San Francisco	#5 Pacific	NBCSN
7:00 PM	#1 Gonzaga	LMU or Portland	ESPN2
9:00 PM	#2 Saint Mary’s	Santa Clara or Pepperdine	ESPN2
Semifinals–March 4
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	Gonz/LMU/Portland	USF or Pacific	ESPN
8:00 PM	SMU/SCU/Pepperdine	BYU or USD	ESPN2
Championship–March 6
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM			ESPN

This Week’s PiRate Ratings Top 25

Rank	Team	PiRate Rating	Conf.
1	Virginia	118.0	ACC
2	Villanova	117.8	BIGE
3	Duke	117.3	ACC
4	Purdue	116.9	BTEN
5	Michigan St.	116.6	BTEN
6	Cincinnati	116.5	AAC
7	Kansas	114.3	B12
8	West Virginia	113.8	B12
9	North Carolina	113.8	ACC
10	Texas Tech	113.7	B12
11	Gonzaga	113.5	WCC
12	Tennessee	113.1	SEC
13	Xavier	112.5	BIGE
14	Auburn	112.4	SEC
15	Nevada	112.4	MWC
16	Wichita St.	112.1	AAC
17	Ohio St.	111.9	BTEN
18	Michigan	111.8	BTEN
19	Clemson	111.7	ACC
20	Kentucky	111.4	SEC
21	Houston	111.2	AAC
22	Florida	111.2	SEC
23	Butler	111.0	BIGE
24	Creighton	110.9	BIGE
25	TCU	110.6	B12

This Week’s PiRate Ratings For Power Conferences

And Top Mid-Majors

Team	PiRate	Conf.
Rhode Island	108.9	A10
Davidson	106.5	A10
St. Bonaventure	105.1	A10
St. Louis	102.8	A10
St. Joseph’s	101.5	A10
VCU	100.5	A10
LaSalle	100.2	A10
Dayton	99.2	A10
George Washington	98.0	A10
Duquesne	98.0	A10
Richmond	97.6	A10
George Mason	96.9	A10
Massachusetts	96.6	A10
Fordham	94.0	A10
Cincinnati	116.5	AAC
Wichita St.	112.1	AAC
Houston	111.2	AAC
SMU	106.0	AAC
Temple	104.9	AAC
UCF	104.4	AAC
Tulsa	102.4	AAC
Connecticut	99.5	AAC
Memphis	99.5	AAC
Tulane	99.1	AAC
South Florida	92.0	AAC
East Carolina	92.0	AAC
Virginia	118.0	ACC
Duke	117.3	ACC
North Carolina	113.8	ACC
Clemson	111.7	ACC
Louisville	110.4	ACC
Miami FL	109.6	ACC
Florida St.	109.5	ACC
Virginia Tech	109.3	ACC
Notre Dame	109.3	ACC
Syracuse	108.0	ACC
North Carolina St.	107.9	ACC
Boston College	105.2	ACC
Wake Forest	104.1	ACC
Georgia Tech	102.7	ACC
Pittsburgh	96.2	ACC
Kansas	114.3	B12
West Virginia	113.8	B12
Texas Tech	113.7	B12
TCU	110.6	B12
Baylor	110.3	B12
Texas	109.6	B12
Oklahoma	108.7	B12
Kansas St.	108.4	B12
Oklahoma St.	107.1	B12
Iowa St.	103.7	B12
Villanova	117.8	BIGE
Xavier	112.5	BIGE
Butler	111.0	BIGE
Creighton	110.9	BIGE
Seton Hall	109.9	BIGE
Marquette	107.1	BIGE
St. John’s	106.8	BIGE
Providence	106.5	BIGE
Georgetown	103.9	BIGE
DePaul	103.4	BIGE
Purdue	116.9	BTEN
Michigan St.	116.6	BTEN
Ohio St.	111.9	BTEN
Michigan	111.8	BTEN
Penn St.	110.2	BTEN
Maryland	108.5	BTEN
Nebraska	107.3	BTEN
Indiana	106.2	BTEN
Wisconsin	106.0	BTEN
Northwestern	105.5	BTEN
Illinois	103.9	BTEN
Iowa	103.5	BTEN
Minnesota	103.5	BTEN
Rutgers	102.8	BTEN
Arizona	110.1	PAC12
Arizona St.	108.9	PAC12
USC	108.3	PAC12
UCLA	106.9	PAC12
Oregon	106.8	PAC12
Utah	106.3	PAC12
Stanford	104.3	PAC12
Washington	103.8	PAC12
Oregon St.	103.1	PAC12
Colorado	102.7	PAC12
Washington St.	97.8	PAC12
California	95.4	PAC12
Tennessee	113.1	SEC
Auburn	112.4	SEC
Kentucky	111.4	SEC
Florida	111.2	SEC
Texas A&M	110.6	SEC
Arkansas	109.7	SEC
Missouri	108.9	SEC
Alabama	108.3	SEC
Mississippi St.	107.3	SEC
Georgia	106.7	SEC
South Carolina	106.4	SEC
LSU	105.8	SEC
Vanderbilt	103.9	SEC
Mississippi	103.7	SEC
Gonzaga	113.5	WCC
Saint Mary’s	109.2	WCC
BYU	105.6	WCC
San Diego	101.8	WCC
San Francisco	100.8	WCC
Pacific	98.4	WCC
Loyola Marymount	94.5	WCC
Portland	93.6	WCC
Santa Clara	93.5	WCC
Pepperdine	91.5	WCC
Middle Tennessee	109.4	CUSA
Loyola (Chi.)	108.2	MVC
Nevada	112.4	MWC
Boise St.	108.7	MWC
New Mexico St.	107.4	WAC

Today’s PiRate Rating Spreads For Power Conference Games

and Conference Tournament Games

Home Team or Higher Seed	Visitor or Lower Seed	Spread
Belmont	Austin Peay	6.9
Canisius	Quinnipiac	8.4
Citadel	VMI	-2.7
Cleveland St.	Youngstown St.	1.2
Davidson	Rhode Island	1.1
Drake	Bradley	-0.7
Green Bay	Detroit	2.8
Illinois St.	Indiana St.	-0.3
Loyola (Chi.)	Northern Iowa	6.5
Michigan St.	Wisconsin	10.6
Murray St.	Jacksonville St.	5.2
Nebraska	Michigan	-4.5
Ohio St.	Penn St.	1.7
Oklahoma	Iowa St.	8.5
Purdue	Rutgers	14.1
Radford	Winthrop	-3.2
Rider	St. Peter’s	6.4
Samford	Chattanooga	3.0
Santa Clara	Pepperdine	2.0
Southern Illinois	Missouri St.	-0.9
UNCA	Liberty	4.1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PiRate Ratings Conference Tournament Update–March 1, 2018

Conference Tournament Action From Last Night

Big Ten Conference Tournament
First Round–February 28
Iowa 96	Illinois 87
Rutgers 65	Minnesota 54

Updated Big Ten Bracket

Second Round–March 1
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM	#8 Maryland	#9 Wisconsin	Big Ten
2:15 PM	#5 Michigan	Iowa	Big Ten
6:30 PM	#7 Penn St.	#10 Northwestern	Big Ten
8:45 PM	#6 Indiana	Rutgers	Big Ten
Quarterfinals–March 2
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM	#1 Michigan St.	Mary or Wisc	Big Ten
2:15 PM	#4 Nebraska	Michigan or Iowa	Big Ten
6:30 PM	#2 Ohio St.	PSU or N’Western	Big Ten
8:45 PM	#3 Purdue	Indiana or Rutgers	Big Ten
Semifinals–March 3
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
2:00 PM	MSU/Mary/Wisc	Neb/Mich/Iowa	CBS
4:30 PM	OSU/Purd/NW	Purd/Ind/Rutg	CBS
Championship–March 4
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
4:30 PM			CBS

 

Northeast Conference Tournament
First Round–February 28
Wagner 73	Central Connecticut 61
Robert Morris 60	Mount St. Mary’s 56
Fairleigh-Dickinson 84	St. Francis (Pa) 75
Long Island 73	St. Francis (Bkn) 50

Updated Northeast Conference Bracket

Semifinals–March 3
Time	Home Team	Visitors	TV
12:00 PM	#1 Wagner	#7 Robert Morris	ESPN3
2:00 PM	#4 Long Island	#6 Fairleigh-Dickinson	ESPN3
Championship–March 6
Time	Home Team	Visitors	TV
7:00 PM	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	ESPN2

 

Ohio Valley Conference Tournament
First Round–February 28
Tennessee Tech 60	SIU-Edwardsville 51
Eastern Illinois 73	Tennessee St. 71

Updated Ohio Valley Conference Bracket

Quarterfinals–March 1
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:30 PM	#4 Jacksonville St.	Tennessee Tech	OVC
9:00 PM	#3 Austin Peay	Eastern Illinois	OVC
Semifinals–March 2
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM	#1 Murray St.	Jax. St. or Tenn Tech	ESPNU
9:30 PM	#2 Belmont	APSU or E. Illinois	ESPNU
Championship–March 3
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM			ESPN2

 

Other Conference Tournaments in Action Today

Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament

All Games Played at Higher Seed

All Times EST

Semifinals–March 1
Time	Home	Visitors	TV
7:00 PM	#1 Florida Gulf Coast	#5 North Florida	ESPN3
8:00 PM	#2 Lipscomb	#3 Jacksonville	ESPN3

 

Big South Conference Tournament

Championship Game at Higher Seed

Quarterfinals and Semfinals at #1 Seed UNC-Asheville

All Times EST

Quarterfinals–March 1
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
1:00 PM	#2 Radford	#10 Longwood	ESPN3
3:30 PM	#3 Winthrop	#6 Gardner-Webb	ESPN3
7:00 PM	#1 UNC-Asheville	#8 Charleston Southern	ESPN3
9:30 PM	#4 Campbell	#5 Liberty	ESPN3

 

Patriot League Tournament

All Games Played at Higher Seed

All Times EST

Quarterfinals–March 1
Time	Home	Visitors	TV
7:00 PM	#1 Bucknell	#8 Loyola (MD)	Stadium
7:00 PM	#4 Lehigh	#5 Boston U	Stadium
7:00 PM	#2 Colgate	#7 Lafayette	Stadium
7:00 PM	#3 Navy	#6 Holy Cross	Stadium

 

Conference Tournaments Beginning Today

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament
Albany, NY
All Times EST
First Round–March 1
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
5:00 PM	#8 Monmouth	#9 St. Peter’s	ESPN3
7:30 PM	#7 Quinnipiac	#10 Siena	ESPN3
10:00 PM	#6 Fairfield	#11 Marist	ESPN3
Quarterfinals–March 2
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM	#1 Rider	Monmouth or St. Peter’s	ESPN3
9:30 PM	#2 Canisius	Quinn. or Siena	ESPN3
Quarterfinals–March 3
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM	#3 Niagara	Fair. or Marist	ESPN3
9:30 PM	#4 Iona	#5 Manhattan	ESPN3
Semifinals–March 4
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM	Rider/Monm/St. P	Iona or Manhattan	ESPN3
9:30 PM	Can/Quinn/Siena	Niag/Fair/Marist	ESPN3
Championship–March 5
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM			TBA

While Rider and Canisius tied for the regular season conference championship, there are two other teams to watch closely in this tournament.  Iona has the best offense in the league, and in a tournament, sometimes the team that plays loose and can fill it up from outside will get a large lead against the other team that begins tight and cannot hit their perimeter shots.  Iona is the two-time defending tournament champion, and until the Gaels lose, they are our favorite to win it again, even as the four-seed.

The other team to watch from back of the pack is Fairfield, the hottest team in the league entering the tournament.  The Stags match up quite well with Niagara, who they would face in the quarterfinal round if they win tonight.

 

Missouri Valley Conference Tournament
St. Louis (Arch Madness)
All Times CST
First Round–March 1
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	#8 Evansville	#9 Northern Iowa	ESPN3
8:30 PM	#7 Missouri St.	#10 Valparaiso	ESPN3
Quarterfinals–March 2
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM	#1 Loyola (Chi.)	Evansville or UNI	ESPN3
2:30 PM	#4 Drake	#5 Bradley	ESPN3
6:00 PM	#2 Southern Illinois	MSU or Valpo	ESPN3
8:30 PM	#3 Illinois St.	#6 Indiana St.	ESPN3
Semifinals–March 3
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
2:30 PM	Loyola/Evans/UNI	Drake or Bradley	CBSSN
5:00 PM	SIU/MSU/Valpo	Ill St. or Ind St.	CBSSN
Championship–March 4
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
1:00 PM			CBS

Without Wichita State playing bully on the rest of the league, it was thought that the Valley would be a wide open race this year with a host of teams competing for the regular season and tournament championships.  However, Loyola (Chi.), with five players averaging double figure scoring, has been nearly unstoppable in conference play this year.  The Ramblers have only been to a single NCAA Tournament since their heydays of the 1960’s,   Loyola enters Arch Madness on a 14 for 15 winning streak.

If any other team wins this tournament, it will be a major upset and will produce a 15-seed or worse.  Loyola could be a 13-seed as the Tournament Champions.

There is one team from way back in the pack that has the potential to sneak into the semifinals.  Northern Iowa is the number 9 seed.  If they beat Evansville tonight, they might be the team that can match up best with Loyola, who they would face tomorrow.  If they were to eliminate the Goliath, then there isn’t another team in the field any better than the Panthers.

 

Conference Tournament Update–Friday, March 10, 2017

Bubble Update

Iowa, Illinois, and Utah clinched bids yesterday, but it’s to the junior prom rather than the senior prom.  The trio are NIT-bound.  USC lost a close one to rival UCLA last night, but we believe the Trojans are rather safe for now.

Some interesting upsets has made it a nerve-wracking day for a few teams that thought they were on the good side of the Bubble.  Let’s take a look at those teams that received Bubble invitations Thursday.

A. TCU–The Horned Frogs pulled the big upset over Kansas, although the Jayhawks were missing a key player due to suspension.  Kansas will remain a #1 seed, but they could move down to the fourth top-seed.  Meanwhile, Jamie Dixon is looking like a genius, taking a program that has been down for a long time and bringing it to the precipice of NCAA Tournament membership.  A Frog win today over Iowa State would give TCU 20 wins with a better than average schedule strength.  It would be mighty impressive on a resume, and the Committee would probably move that piece of paper up into the “accepted pile.”

B. Kansas State–The surprises kept coming in Kansas City, as the Wildcats knocked off Baylor in the nightcap of the Big 12 Quarterfinals.  At this point, K-State may have done enough to earn a bid, so this is probably the end of the line for Illinois State, and it could put a Friday Bubble loser in jeopardy.

C. Indiana demolished Iowa yesterday, and the Hoosiers looked more like the team they were suppose to be this year.  If IU drops Wisconsin today, the Hoosier will have a chance to make the field.  However, the Committee does not seem to favor the Big Ten this year, and it would be difficult to substantiate Indiana making the field if they do not advance to the Championship Game.  Purdue may be fortunate to become a 4-seed, and with Maryland, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Northwestern, Michigan, and Michigan State all expected to make the field, an eighth Big Ten team would have to be very impressive in the next couple of days in order to make the field.  The interesting plot line here is that IU can win this tournament if they continue to play like they did yesterday, and then it would almost be a given that the Big Ten sent eight teams.  That would definitely burst a Bubble down the line.

D. Xavier had played itself down to the Bubble prior to Big East Tournament play, but the Musketeers moved back to the safe zone with their win over Butler Thursday.  XU will get a bid even if Creighton tops them tonight.

Bubblelicious Games on Friday

If your favorite team is still in that gray area,  and another upset or two makes the Committee order more ice cream, it could be a nervous 48 hours if your team loses today.  Here are the teams that should consider today must win games, even if some Bracketologists consider these teams to be in the field.  The key is that our 13 Bracketology Gurus are not unanimous in their beliefs that these teams are safe even with a loss today.

A. Vanderbilt:  The Commodores made it three for three over Texas A&M, and they bombed away from the perimeter to bury the Aggies with a second half barrage of threes.  Vandy must now do the same thing to the highly-ranked Florida Gators today to become a safe Bubble team.  A loss would leave the Commodores at 18-15, and that would give VU two negatives.  No 15-loss team has ever received and at-large bid, and almost all at-large teams have won four more games than they have lost.  19-15 improves Vandy’s chances by leaps and bounds over 18-15.

B. Houston: The Cougars still need more than one win to have any chance to make the Field.  They must beat UConn today, and then they will need an upset of Cincinnati tomorrow to even move into serious consideration.  Of course, that means Cinti must win their game against Tulsa.

C. Rhode Island is in the same boat with Houston.  Not only must the Rams take out St. Bonaventure today to have a shot at the Dance, they also must upset Dayton tomorrow and thus need Dayton to beat Davidson to set up that game.

D. TCU will move into the Field with a win over Iowa State today.  Of course, it will be a probationary invitation, because they could then be leapfrogged if a team like Indiana or Alabama should win an automatic bid.

E. Speaking of Indiana, the Hoosiers will become an official Bubbler today if they beat Wisconsin.

F. All four SEC games today have Bubble Implications.  We already told you about Vanderbilt.  Georgia has a chance to make some noise if the Bulldogs can find a way to upset Kentucky.  UGA came close to sweeping the Wildcats in the regular season only to lose two heartbreakers.  If UK wants to win this tournament, they will waltz through with three double-digit wins, but if the players are already thinking about the NBA Draft and don’t want to jeopardize their chances by giving their all and risking injury, then any team left in the field can beat the Wildcats.

G. Ole Miss has 20 wins, and a win today over Arkansas, followed by a possible win tomorrow over Florida (if UF beat Vandy), could move the Rebels into contention for a bid.

H. Alabama is the forgotton team in the SEC Tournament.  The Crimson Tide have the potential to play with any league member when they take smart shots.  Coach Avery Johnson knows how to prepare his team to compete, and it all comes down to FG% for the Tide.  Until somebody beats the Crimson, they cannot be overlooked–even if they are.  If the Tide beats South Carolina today and then gets a semifinal game with Kentucky tomorrow, a win over the Wildcats would have to make ‘Bama a serious contender.

I. The three Mid-Major Players: Middle Tennessee, Nevada, and Texas-Arlington are still alive in the at-large race, but the way the trio is playing, they will really have to lay an egg to lose in their conference tournaments.  MTSU faces the one team that beat them in conference play today, and we expect the Blue Raiders to punish UTEP with a blowout win.

Nevada faces a somewhat tougher task facing Fresno State, and if the men from Reno win, they are no guarantee in the Championship against either Colorado State or San Diego State.  In fact, the way the Aztecs played yesterday, they looked similar to all their past teams that advanced into the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament.  This is possibly the best tournament to watch tonight if you are a basketball junkie from another league.

UT-Arlington is the least likely of the three in this group to get an at-large bid if they fail to win their conference tournament, but they do own the one victory over Saint Mary’s other than the three Gonzaga pinned on the Gaels.  There isn’t a lot to add to their schedule strength, so UTA really needs to win the Sun Belt title.

Friday’s Schedule

Conference Tournament Schedule–All Times Eastern Standard
American Athletic Conference
Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	SMU	27-4	vs.	9	East Carolina	15-17	12:00 PM	ESPN2
4	Central Florida	20-10	vs.	5	Memphis	19-12	2:00 PM	ESPN2
2	Cincinnati	27-4	vs.	7	Tulsa	15-16	7:00 PM	ESPNU
3	Houston	21-9	vs.	6	Connecticut	15-16	9:00 PM	ESPNU
Atlantic Coast Conference
Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	North Carolina	27-6	vs.	5	Duke	25-8	7:00 PM	ESPN
2	Florida St.	25-7	vs.	3	Notre Dame	24-8	9:00 PM	ESPN
Atlantic 10 Conference
Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	Dayton	24-6	vs.	9	Davidson	16-14	12:00 PM	NBCSN
4	Rhode Island	21-9	vs.	5	St. Bonaventure	20-11	2:30 PM	NBCSN
2	VCU	24-7	vs.	7	George Mason	20-12	6:00 PM	NBCSN
3	Richmond	19-11	vs.	6	George Washington	19-13	8:30 PM	NBCSN
Big 12 Conference
Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
8	TCU	19-14	vs.	4	Iowa St.	21-10	7:00 PM	ESPN2
2	West Virginia	25-7	vs.	6	Kansas St.	20-12	9:00 PM	ESPN2
Big East Conference
Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	Villanova	29-3	vs.	5	Seton Hall	21-10	6:30 PM	FS1
7	Xavier	21-12	vs.	6	Creighton	24-8	9:00 PM	FS1
Big Sky Conference
Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	North Dakota	20-9	vs.	4	Idaho	18-12	8:35 PM	Big Sky
2	Eastern Washington	22-10	vs.	3	Weber St.	18-12	11:05 PM	Big Sky
Big Ten Conference
Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	Purdue	25-6	vs.	8	Michigan	21-11	12:00 PM	ESPN
4	Minnesota	23-8	vs.	5	Michigan St.	19-13	2:20 PM	ESPN
2	Wisconsin	23-8	vs.	10	Indiana	18-14	6:30 PM	BTN
3	Maryland	24-7	vs.	6	Northwestern	22-10	8:50 PM	BTN
Big West Conference
Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
2	UC-Davis	20-12	vs.	3	Cal St. Fullerton	17-13	9:30 PM	ESPN3
1	UC-Irvine	20-13	vs.	4	Long Beach St.	15-18	12:00 AM	ESPN3
Conference USA
Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	Middle Tennessee	28-4	vs.	4	UTEP	15-16	12:30 PM	CBSSN
2	Louisiana Tech	23-9	vs.	6	Marshall	19-14	3:00 PM	CBSSN
Mid-American Conference
Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	Akron	25-7	vs.	4	Ball St.	21-11	5:30 PM	CBSSN
2	Ohio U	20-10	vs.	6	Kent St.	20-13	8:00 PM	CBSSN
Mideastern Athletic Conference
Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	UNC-Central	23-8	vs.	5	Md.–Eastern Shore	13-19	6:00 PM	ESPN3
2	Norfolk St.	16-15	vs.	11	Howard	10-23	8:00 PM	ESPN3
Mountain West Conference
Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	Nevada	26-6	vs.	4	Fresno St.	20-11	10:00 PM	CBSSN
2	Colorado St.	22-10	vs.	6	San Diego St.	20-13	12:30 AM	CBSSN
Pac-12 Conference
Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	Oregon	28-4	vs.	5	California	21-11	9:00 PM	P12 Net.
2	Arizona	28-4	vs.	3	UCLA	29-3	11:30 PM	ESPN
Southeastern Conference
Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	Kentucky	26-5	vs.	8	Georgia	19-13	1:00 PM	SECN
4	South Carolina	22-9	vs.	5	Alabama	18-13	3:20 PM	SECN
2	Florida	24-7	vs.	7	Vanderbilt	18-14	7:00 PM	SECN
3	Arkansas	23-8	vs.	6	Ole Miss	20-12	9:20 PM	SECN
Southland Conference
Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	New Orleans	18-11	vs.	5	Sam Houston St.	21-12	6:00 PM	ESPN3
2	Texas A&M-CC	19-10	vs.	3	Stephen F. Austin	18-13	8:30 PM	ESPN3
Southwestern Athletic Conference
Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	Texas Southern	21-11	vs.	5	Grambling	16-16	3:30 PM	None
2	Alcorn St. *	17-13	vs.	3	Southern	15-17	9:30 PM	None
*Alcorn St. is ineligible for postseason play due to low APR scores.
If the Braves win the tourney, Texas Sou. wins the bid.
Sun Belt Conference
Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	UT-Arlington	24-7	vs.	8	Coastal Carolina	16-16	1:30 PM	ESPN3
4	Texas St.	18-12	vs.	12	Louisiana-Monroe	9-23	3:00 PM	ESPN3
2	Georgia St.	19-11	vs.	7	Louisiana-Lafayette	21-11	6:00 PM	ESPN3
3	Georgia Southern	18-13	vs.	6	Troy	19-14	8:30 PM	ESPN3
Western Athletic Conference
Seed	Team	W-L	vs.	Seed	Team	W-L	Time	TV
1	Cal St. Bakersfield	21-8	vs.	4	Utah Valley	15-15	9:00 PM	ESPN3
2	New Mexico St.	26-5	vs.	3	Missouri-KC	17-15	11:30 PM	ESPN3

NOTE: We are getting several inquiries about our Red-White-Blue ratings and why we do not post them for every game.  The computing of these ratings are quite laborious; it takes upwards of 7 to 8 minutes to do just one game, and even with five or six people retrieving the stats, it limits us to once per week and just the Power Conference games.  We are not issuing any this weekend, as we are spending all our extra time getting this information for the teams that have clinched bids and finished regular season play.

We will issue picks for all NCAA Tournament games, commencing with the First Four at Dayton.  We hope to have the First Four previews on this site by Monday Night Eastern Daylight Time.  

 

Conference Tournament Update–Wednesday, March 8, 2017

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

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

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

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

Teams That Clinched Automatic Bids Tuesday

Making The Field 100% of the Time???

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

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

 

Top of the Mountain Again

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

 

Reaching the Summit

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

 

Bulldog Tough Again

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

 

Other Conference Tournament Games

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

 

Last Place Team Watch

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

 

SWAC’s Best Advance

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

 

Big Conference Action Today

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

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

 

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

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

Today’s TV Schedule

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

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

 

 

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

 

 

 

Conference Tournament Update–Sunday, March 7, 2017

New Dance Partners

UNC-Wilmington won the Colonial Athletic Association once again, and the Seahawks seem to have recovered from their February swoon that saw them lose four times.  UNCW will be a formidable seed, be it from the 11, 12, or 13 hole.  Coach Kevin Keatts has established himself as a future star in the business, destined to end up at a power conference school.

 

Steve Forbes is quickly developing into a top-flight coach as well.  The former assistant at Tennessee under Bruce Pearl guided his East Tennessee State Buccaneers to the Southern Conference title last night, and this ETSU team has a lot of the traits that the Volunteers possessed when Pearl and Forbes were in Knoxville.  The Bucs will be a hard team for a 3 or 4-seed to get past in the second round.

 

Iona repeats as conference champions, as the Gaels fought off Siena in a close game to win the MAAC title on the loser’s home court.  The Gaels will be a 14 or 15-seed, but they look like a one and done team this year.

Tickets Punched So Far

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)

 

Surprise Surprise–Last Place Team One Win Away From Dancing

The Horizon League had a couple of worthy teams this year that could have won an opening game in the NCAA Tournament.  Valparaiso looked like a Sweet 16 dark horse in early February, but the Crusaders lost a couple of games and then lost their version of Lebron and quickly exited the tournament in the opening game.  Oakland appeared to have an easy road to the Horizon championship, but the Grizzlies fell to a feisty Youngstown State team in their first game.

What’s left for the title game tonight?  Last-place and 23-loss Milwaukee has advanced to the championship game to face a Northern Kentucky team that picked the right time to play its best ball of the year.  The Norse ended the regular season on a roll and have parlayed that into where they are now one win away from making their first ever NCAA Tournament berth at the Division 1 level.  They were a dominant Division II team for more than a dozen years before moving up to the big time.

 

Today’s Tournament Schedule

Championship Games–NCAA Bid on the Line

Time (ET)	Network	Conference	Team	vs.	Team
7:00 PM	ESPN	Horizon	Northern Kentucky	vs.	Milwaukee
7:00 PM	ESPN2	Northeast	Mount St. Mary’s	vs.	St. Francis (PA)
9:00 PM	ESPN2	Summit	South Dakota St.	vs.	Omaha
9:00 PM	ESPN	West Coast	Gonzaga	vs.	Saint Mary’s

Other Tournament Games

Time (ET)	Network	Conference	Team	vs.	Team
12:00 PM	ESPN2	ACC	Clemson	vs.	North Carolina St.
2:00 PM	ESPN2	ACC	Wake Forest	vs.	Boston College
4:00 PM	ESPN3	MEAC	Delaware St.	vs.	Bethune-Cookman
5:35 PM	Watch Big Sky	Big Sky	Portland St.	vs.	Northern Arizona
6:00 PM	ESPN3	MEAC	South Carolina St.	vs.	Florida A&M
7:00 PM	ESPNU	ACC	Georgia Tech	vs.	Pittsburgh
7:00 PM	Radio Only	SWAC	Alcorn St. *	vs.	Mississippi Valley
8:30 PM	Radio Only	SWAC	Texas Southern	vs.	Alabama St.
8:30 PM	Radio Only	SWAC	Southern	vs.	Jackson St.
8:35 PM	Watch Big Sky	Big Sky	Sacramento St.	vs.	Idaho St.
9:00 PM	Radio Only	SWAC	Prairie View A&M	vs.	Grambling
11:05 PM	Watch Big Sky	Big Sky	Montana St.	vs.	Southern Utah

* Alcorn State is ineligible for postseason play, and if the Braves win the SWAC Tournament, regular season champion Texas Southern will get the automatic bid.

 

The Bubble

Keep an eye on the ACC Tournament opening round in Brooklyn.  All three games involve teams on the Bubble–Clemson plays in the first game, Wake Forest plays in the second game, and Georgia Tech plays in the third game.  All three must win today to stay on the Bubble, but a win will not get any of the three into the field.  They all need multiple wins to earn at-large bids.

 

Game of the Night

Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s face off for a third time tonight, when the two Pacific powers meet in the West Coast Conference Tournament Championship Game yet again.  Gonzaga has not looked like a Final Four team since losing to BYU in their regular season finale, while SMC looks like a team ready to make a long run in the NCAA Tournament with a stifling defense and improving offense.  If SMC pulls the upset tonight, Gonzaga could fall to a 2-seed, allowing Kentucky or Oregon to move up to a 1-seed.  SMC could move up to a 5 or even 4-seed with a win tongiht.

 

 

 

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.

PiRate Ratings Bracketology Report for Sunday, March 16, 2014

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

 

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

 

Already In The Field of 68 

1. Harvard (26-4)

2. Eastern Kentucky (24-9)

3. Mercer (26-8)

4. Wichita St. (34-0)

5. Coastal Carolina (21-12)

6. Delaware (25-9)

7. Manhattan (25-7)

8. Wofford (20-12)

9. Mount St. Mary’s (16-16)

10. North Dakota St. (25-6)

11. Milwaukee (21-13)

12. Gonzaga (28-6)

13. American (20-12)

14. Louisville (29-5)

15. Albany (18-14)

16. Iowa St. (26-7)

17. Providence (23-11)

18. Weber St. (19-11)

19. Tulsa (21-12)

20. Western Michigan (23-9)

21. UNC-Central (28-5)

22. New Mexico (26-6)

23. U C L A (26-8)

24. Stephen F. Austin (31-2)

25. Texas Southern (19-14)

26. New Mexico St. (26-9)

27. Cal Poly (13-19)

 

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

 

The Bubbler

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

 

1. Nebraska

2. Iowa

3. Tennessee

4. Oklahoma St.

——————————

5. Xavier

6. Dayton

7. S M U

8. B Y U

——————————

9. Minnesota

10. Missouri

11. Green Bay

12. Florida St.

——————————

13. Arkansas

14. Louisiana Tech

15. Clemson

16. North Carolina St.

17. California

18. St. John’s

 

CONFERENCE TOURNAMENTS

Tournament Championships Today

All times are Eastern Daylight

 

Atlantic 10

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

 

Atlantic Coast

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

 

Big Ten

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

 

Southeastern

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

 

Sun Belt

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

 

Previous Results

 

American Athletic Conference

Location—Fedex Forum, Memphis

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #7 Rutgers 72  #10 South Florida 68

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

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G3: #6 Houston 68  #3 S M U 64  

G4: #2 Louisville 92  #7 Rutgers 31

G5: #1 Cincinnati 61  #9 Central Florida 58

G6: #4 Connecticut 72  #5 Memphis 53

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G7: #2 Louisville 94  #6 Houston 65

G8: #4 Connecticut 58  #1 Cincinnati 56

 

Championship

#2 Louisville 71   #4 Connecticut 61

 

America East Conference

Location—SEFCU Arena, Albany, NY

 

Quarterfinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G1: #1 Vermont 77  #8 New Hampshire 60

G2: #4 Albany 86  #5 UMBC 56

G3: #2 Stony Brook 80  #7 Maine 54

G4: #3 Hartford 69  #6 Binghamton 42

 

Semifinal Round—Sunday, March 9

G5: #4 Albany 67  #1 Vermont 58  

G6: #2 Stony Brook 64  #3 Hartford 61

 

Championship

#4 Albany 69  #2 Stony Brook 60

 

Atlantic 10 Conference

Location—Barclay’s Center, Brooklyn

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #13 Fordham 70  #12 George Mason 67

 

2^nd Round—Thursday, March 13

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

G3: #5 Dayton 87  #13 Fordham 74

G4: #7 Richmond 76  #10 Duquesne 64

G5: #6 U Mass 65  #11 Rhode Island 61

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 14

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

G7: #4 St. Joseph’s 70  #5 Dayton 67

G8: #2 V C U 71  #7 Richmond 53

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

 

Semifinals

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

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

 

Atlantic Coast Conference

Location—Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, NC

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

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

G2: #10 Miami 57  #15 Virginia Tech 53

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

 

2^nd Round—Thursday, March 13

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

G5: #5 Pittsburgh 84  #12 Wake Forest 55

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

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

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 14

G8: #1 Virginia 64  #9 Florida St. 51

G9: #5 Pittsburgh 80  #4 North Carolina 75 

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

G11: #3 Duke 63  #6 Clemson 62

 

Semifinal Round

G12: #1 Virginia 51  #5 Pittsburgh 48

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

 

 

Atlantic Sun Conference

Location—All Games Played on Campus Sites of Higher Seed

 

Quarterfinal Round—Tuesday, March 4

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

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

G3: #2 Mercer 85  #7 Jacksonville 64

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

 

Semifinal Round—Thursday, March 6

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

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

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 9

#2 Mercer 68  #1 Florida Gulf Coast 60

 

Big 12 Conference

Location—Sprint Center, Kansas City

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

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

G2: #7 Baylor 76  #10 T C U 68

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G3: #4 Iowa St. 91  #5 Kansas St. 85

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

G5: #7 Baylor 78  #2 Oklahoma 73

G6: #3 Texas 66  #6 West Virginia 49

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G7: #4 Iowa St. 94  #1 Kansas 83

G8: #7 Baylor 86  #3 Texas 69

 

Championship

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

 

Big East Conference

Location—Madison Square Garden, New York City

 

All Games Televised on Fox Sports 1

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

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

G2: #10 DePaul 60  #7 Georgetown 56  

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G3: #8 Seton Hall 64  #1 Villanova 63

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

G5: #2 Creighton 84  #10 DePaul 62

G6: #3 Xavier 68  #6 Marquette 65

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G7: #4 Providence 80  #8 Seton Hall 74 

G8: #2 Creighton 86  #3 Xavier 78

 

Championship

#4 Providence 65  #2 Creighton 58

 

Big Sky Conference

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

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

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

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

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

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

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

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

 

Championship

#1 Weber St. 88  #2 North Dakota 67

 

Big South Conference

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

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 5

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

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

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

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

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 7

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

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

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

G8: #2N VMI 90  #3S Gardner-Webb 77

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 8

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

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

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 9

#1S Coastal Carolina 76  #4S Winthrop 61 

 

Big Ten Conference

Location—Banker’s Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis

 

Opening Round—Thursday, March 13

G1: #9 Illinois 64  #8 Indiana 54

G2: #5 Ohio St. 63   #12 Purdue 61

G3: #7 Minnesota 63   #10 Penn St. 56

G4: #11 Northwestern 67  #6 Iowa 62  

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 14

G5: #1 Michigan 64  #9 Illinois 63

G6: #5 Ohio St. 71  #4 Nebraska 67

G7: #2 Wisconsin 83  #7 Minnesota 57

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

 

Semifinals

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

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

 

Big West Conference

Location—Honda Center, Anaheim

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G1: #7 Cal Poly 69  #2 U C S B 38  

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

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

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

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

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

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

 

Championship

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

 

Colonial Athletic Association

Location—Baltimore Arena, Baltimore

 

Opening Round—Friday, March 7

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

 

Quarterfinal Round—Saturday, March 8

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

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

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

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

 

Semifinal Round—Sunday, March 9

G6: #1 Delaware 87  #5 Northeastern 74

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

 

Championship Game—Monday, March 10

#1 Delaware 75  #3 William & Mary 74

 

Conference USA

Location—Don Haskins Center, El Paso, TX

 

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

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

G2: #14 Marshall 63  #11 Florida Atlantic 59

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

 

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

G4: #7 Tulane 66  #10 North Texas 61

G5: #6 Old Dominion 73  #14 Marshall 58

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

G7: #9 Charlotte 80  #8 U A B 70 

 

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

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

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

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

G11: #1 Louisiana Tech 86  #9 Charlotte 65

 

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

G12: #2 Tulsa 76  #3 Middle Tennessee 69

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

 

Championship

#2 Tulsa 69  #1 Louisiana Tech 60 

 

Horizon League

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

 

Opening Round—Tuesday, March 4

G1: #5 Milwaukee 83  #8 Detroit 73

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

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

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 7

G4: #3 Wright St. 73  #6 Oakland 57

G5: #5 Milwaukee 74  #4 Valparaiso 57

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 8

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

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

 

Championship Game—Tuesday, March 11

#5 Milwaukee 69  #3 Wright St. 63  

 

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference

Location—Mass Mutual Center, Springfield, MA

 

Opening Round—Thursday, March 6

G1: #8 Rider 71  #9 Monmouth 60

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

G3: #11 Niagara 78  #6 Marist 76

 

Quarterfinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G4: #1 Iona 94  #8 Rider 71

G5: #4 Canisius 71  #5 Siena 69

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

G7: #3 Quinnipiac 89  #11 Niagara 80

 

Semifinal Round—Sunday, March 9

G8: #1 Iona 75  #4 Canisius 72

G9: #2 Manhattan 87  #3 Quinnipiac 68

 

Championship Game—Monday, March 10

#2 Manhattan  71  #1 Iona 68

 

Mid-American Conference

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

 

Opening Round—Monday, March 10

G1: #5 Ohio 76  #12 Ball St. 64

G2: #8 Miami (O) 71  #9 Kent St. 64

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

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

 

2^nd Round—Wednesday, March 12

G5: #5 Ohio 63  #8 Miami (O) 55

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

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G7: #4 Akron 83  #6 Ohio 77

G8: #6 Eastern Michigan 69  #3 Buffalo 64 

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G9: #1 Western Michigan 64  #4 Akron 60

G10: #2 Toledo 59  #6 Eastern Michigan 44

 

Championship

#1 Western Michigan 98  #2 Toledo 77

 

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference

Location: Norfolk Scope Arena, Norfolk, VA

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

G6: #1 UNC-Central 92  #8 Howard 46

G7: #7 Coppin St. 83  #2 Hampton 77 

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

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

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

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

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

 

Championship

#1 UNC-Central 71  #3 Morgan St. 62

 

Missouri Valley Conference (Arch Madness)

Location: Scottrade Center, St. Louis

 

All Games until the Championship on MVC TV Network

 

Opening Round—Thursday, March 6

G1: #9 Evansville 69  #8 Drake 61  

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

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 7

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

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

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

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

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 8

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

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

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 9

#1 Wichita St. 83  #2 Indiana St. 69

 

Mountain West Conference

Location—Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

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

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

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

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

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

G5: #4 U N L V 71   #5 Wyoming 67

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

G7: #6 Boise St. 75  #3 Nevada 62  

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

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

G9: #2 New Mexico 70  #6 Boise St. 67

 

Championship

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

 

Northeast Conference

Location—All Games Played On Campus Sites of Higher Seeds

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

 

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

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

G2: #2 Wagner 83  #7 Central Connecticut 59

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

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

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 8

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

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

 

Championship Game—Tuesday, March 11

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

 

Ohio Valley Conference

Location—Municipal Auditorium, Nashville

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 5

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

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

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 6

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

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

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 7

G5: #1 Belmont 86  #4 Morehead St. 63

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

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 8

#3 Eastern Kentucky 79  #1 Belmont 73

 

Pac-12 Conference

Location—MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #8 Utah 67  #9 Washington 61

G2: #5 Colorado 59  #12 Southern Cal 56

G3: #7 Oregon 88  #10 Oregon St. 74

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

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G5: #1 Arizona 71  #8 Utah 39

G6: #5 Colorado 59   #4 California 56 

G7: #2 U C L A 82  #7 Oregon 63

G8: #6 Stanford 79  #3 Arizona St. 58

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

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

G10: #2 U C L A 84  #6 Stanford 59

 

Championship

#2 U C L A 75  #1 Arizona 71 

 

Patriot League

Location—All Games Played on Campus Sites at Higher Seed

 

Opening Round—Monday, March 3

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

G2: #7 Colgate  #10 Navy 51

 

Quarterfinal Round—Wednesday, March 5

G3: #1 Boston U. 91  #9 Lafayette 54

G4: #5 Army 72  #4 Bucknell 71

G5: #3 Holy Cross 54  #6 Lehigh 48

G6: #2 American 59  #7 Colgate 50

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G7: #1 Boston U 91  #5 Army 70

G8: #2 American 57  #3 Holy Cross 46

 

Championship Game—Wednesday, March 12

#2 American 55  #1 Boston U 36

 

Southeastern Conference

Location—Georgia Dome, Atlanta

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

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

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

 

2^nd Round—Thursday, March 13

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

G4: South Carolina 71  #5 Arkansas 69

G5: #7 L S U 68  #10 Alabama 56

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

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 14

G7: #1 Florida 72  #8 Missouri 49

G8: #4 Tennessee 59  #13 South Carolina 44

G9: #2 Kentucky 85  #7 L S U 67

G10: #3 Georgia 75  #6 Ole Miss 73

 

Semifinals

G11: #1 Florida 56  #4 Tennessee 49

G12: #2 Kentucky 70  #3 Georgia 58

 

Southern Conference

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

 

Opening Round—Friday, March 7

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

G2: #7 Georgia Southern 65  #10 Furman 50

G3: #11 Citadel 86  #6 UNCG 76 

 

Quarterfinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G4: #1 Davidson 77  #8 Samford 54

G5: #5 Western Carolina 66  #4 Elon 64 

G6: #7 Georgia Southern 62  #2 Chattanooga 55 

G7: #3 Wofford 68  #11 Citadel 51

 

Semifinal Round—Sunday, March 9

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

G9: #3 Wofford 71  #7 Georgia Southern 57 

 

Championship Game—Monday, March 10

#3 Wofford 56  #5 Western Carolina 53

 

Southland Conference

Location—Leonard E. Merrell Center, Katy, TX

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

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

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

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

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

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

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

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

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

 

Championship

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

 

Southwestern Athletic Conference

Location—Toyota Center, Houston

 

Opening Round—Tuesday, March 11

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

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

 

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

G3: #2 Texas Southern 79  Grambling 54

G4: #8 Prairie View 64  #1 Southern 46  

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

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

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

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

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

 

Championship

#2 Texas Southern 78  #8 Prairie View 73

 

Summit League

Location—Sioux Falls Arena, Sioux Falls, SD

 

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

G1: #2 IPFW 85  #7 IUPUI 47

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

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

 

Semifinal Round—Monday, March 10

G4: #1 N. Dakota St. 83  #4 Denver 48

G5: #2 IPFW 64  #3 S. Dakota St. 60

 

Championship Game—Tuesday, March 11

#1 North Dakota St. 60  #2 IPFW 57

 

Sun Belt Conference

Location—Lakefront Arena, New Orleans

 

Opening Round—Thursday, March 13

G1: #5 U A L R 74  #8 Troy 61

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

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 14

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

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

 

Semifinals

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

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

 

West Coast Conference

Location—Orleans Arena, Las Vegas

 

Opening Round—Thursday, March 6

G1: #10 Loyola Marymount 67  #7 Portland 64 

G2: #9 Santa Clara 81  #8 Pacific 64

 

Quarterfinal Round—Saturday, March 8

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

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

G5: #1 Gonzaga 77  #9 Santa Clara 75

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

 

Semifinal Round—Monday, March 10

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

G8: #1 Gonzaga 70  #4 St. Mary’s 54

 

Championship Game—Tuesday, March 11

#1 Gonzaga 75  #2 B Y U 64

 

Western Athletic Conference

Location—Orleans Arena, Las Vegas

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

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

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

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

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

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G5: #5 Idaho 74  #1 Utah Valley 69  

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

 

Championship

#2 New Mexico St. 77  #5 Idaho 55

 

PiRate Ratings Bracketology Report for Saturday, March 15, 2014

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

Bubble Headlines

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

 

St. Bonaventure stays alive as a possible Bubble Buster.

 

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

 

Clemson misses out on big upset to fall into NIT pool

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Toledo gets into Bubble mix with semifinal win in the MAC

 

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

 

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

 

Already In The Field of 68 

1. Harvard (26-4)

2. Eastern Kentucky (24-9)

3. Mercer (26-8)

4. Wichita St. (34-0)

5. Coastal Carolina (21-12)

6. Delaware (25-9)

7. Manhattan (25-7)

8. Wofford (20-12)

9. Mount St. Mary’s (16-16)

10. North Dakota St. (25-6)

11. Milwaukee (21-13)

12. Gonzaga (28-6)

13. American (20-12)

 

The Bubbler

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

 

1. Nebraska

2. Iowa

3. Tennessee

4. Oklahoma St.

5. Xavier

6. Oklahoma St.

——————————

7. Dayton

8. S M U

9. Providence

10. B Y U

——————————

11. Minnesota

12. Missouri

13. Green Bay

14. Florida St.

——————————

15. Arkansas

16. Louisiana Tech

17. Clemson

18. North Carolina St.

19. California

20. St. John’s

 

CONFERENCE TOURNAMENTS

Tournaments Playing Today

All times are Eastern Daylight

 

American Athletic—Championship

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

 

America East—Championship

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

 

Atlantic 10—Semifinals

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

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

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 16

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

 

Atlantic Coast—Semifinals

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

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

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 16

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

 

Big 12—Championship

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

 

Big East—Championship

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

 

Big Sky—Championship

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

 

Big Ten—Semifinals

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

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

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 16

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

 

Big West—Championship

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

 

Conference USA—Championship

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

 

Mid-American—Championship

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

 

Mideastern Athletic—Championship

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

 

Mountain West—Championship

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

 

Pac-12—Championship

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

 

Southeastern—Semifinals

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

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

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 16

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

 

Southland—Championship

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

 

Southwestern Athletic—Championship

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

 

Sunbelt—Semifinals

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

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

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 16

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

 

Western Athletic—Championship

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

 

 

Previous Results

 

American Athletic Conference

Location—Fedex Forum, Memphis

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #7 Rutgers 72  #10 South Florida 68

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

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G3: #6 Houston 68  #3 S M U 64  

G4: #2 Louisville 92  #7 Rutgers 31

G5: #1 Cincinnati 61  #9 Central Florida 58

G6: #4 Connecticut 72  #5 Memphis 53

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G7: #2 Louisville 94  #6 Houston 65

G8: #4 Connecticut 58  #1 Cincinnati 56

 

America East Conference

Location—SEFCU Arena, Albany, NY

 

Quarterfinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G1: #1 Vermont 77  #8 New Hampshire 60

G2: #4 Albany 86  #5 UMBC 56

G3: #2 Stony Brook 80  #7 Maine 54

G4: #3 Hartford 69  #6 Binghamton 42

 

Semifinal Round—Sunday, March 9

G5: #4 Albany 67  #1 Vermont 58  

G6: #2 Stony Brook 64  #3 Hartford 61

 

 

Atlantic 10 Conference

Location—Barclay’s Center, Brooklyn

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #13 Fordham 70  #12 George Mason 67

 

2^nd Round—Thursday, March 13

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

G3: #5 Dayton 87  #13 Fordham 74

G4: #7 Richmond 76  #10 Duquesne 64

G5: #6 U Mass 65  #11 Rhode Island 61

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 14

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

G7: #4 St. Joseph’s 70  #5 Dayton 67

G8: #2 V C U 71  #7 Richmond 53

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

 

 

Atlantic Coast Conference

Location—Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, NC

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

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

G2: #10 Miami 57  #15 Virginia Tech 53

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

 

2^nd Round—Thursday, March 13

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

G5: #5 Pittsburgh 84  #12 Wake Forest 55

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

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

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 14

G8: #1 Virginia 64  #9 Florida St. 51

G9: #5 Pittsburgh 80  #4 North Carolina 75 

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

G11: #3 Duke 63  #6 Clemson 62

 

 

Atlantic Sun Conference

Location—All Games Played on Campus Sites of Higher Seed

 

Quarterfinal Round—Tuesday, March 4

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

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

G3: #2 Mercer 85  #7 Jacksonville 64

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

 

Semifinal Round—Thursday, March 6

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

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

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 9

#2 Mercer 68  #1 Florida Gulf Coast 60

 

Big 12 Conference

Location—Sprint Center, Kansas City

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

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

G2: #7 Baylor 76  #10 T C U 68

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G3: #4 Iowa St. 91  #5 Kansas St. 85

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

G5: #7 Baylor 78  #2 Oklahoma 73

G6: #3 Texas 66  #6 West Virginia 49

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G7: #4 Iowa St. 94  #1 Kansas 83

G8: #7 Baylor 86  #3 Texas 69

 

Big East Conference

Location—Madison Square Garden, New York City

 

All Games Televised on Fox Sports 1

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

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

G2: #10 DePaul 60  #7 Georgetown 56  

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G3: #8 Seton Hall 64  #1 Villanova 63

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

G5: #2 Creighton 84  #10 DePaul 62

G6: #3 Xavier 68  #6 Marquette 65

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G7: #4 Providence 80  #8 Seton Hall 74 

G8: #2 Creighton 86  #3 Xavier 78

 

Big Sky Conference

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

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

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

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

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

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

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

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

 

Big South Conference

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

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 5

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

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

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

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

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 7

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

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

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

G8: #2N VMI 90  #3S Gardner-Webb 77

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 8

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

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

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 9

#1S Coastal Carolina 76  #4S Winthrop 61 

 

Big Ten Conference

Location—Banker’s Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis

 

Opening Round—Thursday, March 13

G1: #9 Illinois 64  #8 Indiana 54

G2: #5 Ohio St. 63   #12 Purdue 61

G3: #7 Minnesota 63   #10 Penn St. 56

G4: #11 Northwestern 67  #6 Iowa 62  

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 14

G5: #1 Michigan 64  #9 Illinois 63

G6: #5 Ohio St. 71  #4 Nebraska 67

G7: #2 Wisconsin 83  #7 Minnesota 57

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

 

Big West Conference

Location—Honda Center, Anaheim

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G1: #7 Cal Poly 69  #2 U C S B 38  

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

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

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

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

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

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

 

Colonial Athletic Association

Location—Baltimore Arena, Baltimore

 

Opening Round—Friday, March 7

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

 

Quarterfinal Round—Saturday, March 8

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

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

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

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

 

Semifinal Round—Sunday, March 9

G6: #1 Delaware 87  #5 Northeastern 74

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

 

Championship Game—Monday, March 10

#1 Delaware 75  #3 William & Mary 74

 

Conference USA

Location—Don Haskins Center, El Paso, TX

 

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

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

G2: #14 Marshall 63  #11 Florida Atlantic 59

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

 

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

G4: #7 Tulane 66  #10 North Texas 61

G5: #6 Old Dominion 73  #14 Marshall 58

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

G7: #9 Charlotte 80  #8 U A B 70 

 

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

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

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

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

G11: #1 Louisiana Tech 86  #9 Charlotte 65

 

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

G12: #2 Tulsa 76  #3 Middle Tennessee 69

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

 

Horizon League

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

 

Opening Round—Tuesday, March 4

G1: #5 Milwaukee 83  #8 Detroit 73

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

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

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 7

G4: #3 Wright St. 73  #6 Oakland 57

G5: #5 Milwaukee 74  #4 Valparaiso 57

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 8

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

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

 

Championship Game—Tuesday, March 11

#5 Milwaukee 69  #3 Wright St. 63  

 

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference

Location—Mass Mutual Center, Springfield, MA

 

Opening Round—Thursday, March 6

G1: #8 Rider 71  #9 Monmouth 60

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

G3: #11 Niagara 78  #6 Marist 76

 

Quarterfinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G4: #1 Iona 94  #8 Rider 71

G5: #4 Canisius 71  #5 Siena 69

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

G7: #3 Quinnipiac 89  #11 Niagara 80

 

Semifinal Round—Sunday, March 9

G8: #1 Iona 75  #4 Canisius 72

G9: #2 Manhattan 87  #3 Quinnipiac 68

 

Championship Game—Monday, March 10

#2 Manhattan  71  #1 Iona 68

 

Mid-American Conference

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

 

Opening Round—Monday, March 10

G1: #5 Ohio 76  #12 Ball St. 64

G2: #8 Miami (O) 71  #9 Kent St. 64

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

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

 

2^nd Round—Wednesday, March 12

G5: #5 Ohio 63  #8 Miami (O) 55

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

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G7: #4 Akron 83  #6 Ohio 77

G8: #6 Eastern Michigan 69  #3 Buffalo 64 

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G9: #1 Western Michigan 64  #4 Akron 60

G10: #2 Toledo 59  #6 Eastern Michigan 44

 

 

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference

Location: Norfolk Scope Arena, Norfolk, VA

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

G6: #1 UNC-Central 92  #8 Howard 46

G7: #7 Coppin St. 83  #2 Hampton 77 

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

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

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

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

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

 

 

 

Missouri Valley Conference (Arch Madness)

Location: Scottrade Center, St. Louis

 

All Games until the Championship on MVC TV Network

 

Opening Round—Thursday, March 6

G1: #9 Evansville 69  #8 Drake 61  

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

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 7

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

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

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

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

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 8

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

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

 

Championship Game—Sunday, March 9

#1 Wichita St. 83  #2 Indiana St. 69

 

Mountain West Conference

Location—Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

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

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

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

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

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

G5: #4 U N L V 71   #5 Wyoming 67

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

G7: #6 Boise St. 75  #3 Nevada 62  

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

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

G9: #2 New Mexico 70  #6 Boise St. 67

 

 

Northeast Conference

Location—All Games Played On Campus Sites of Higher Seeds

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

 

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

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

G2: #2 Wagner 83  #7 Central Connecticut 59

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

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

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 8

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

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

 

Championship Game—Tuesday, March 11

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

 

Ohio Valley Conference

Location—Municipal Auditorium, Nashville

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 5

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

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

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 6

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

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

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 7

G5: #1 Belmont 86  #4 Morehead St. 63

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

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 8

#3 Eastern Kentucky 79  #1 Belmont 73

 

Pac-12 Conference

Location—MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

G1: #8 Utah 67  #9 Washington 61

G2: #5 Colorado 59  #12 Southern Cal 56

G3: #7 Oregon 88  #10 Oregon St. 74

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

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

G5: #1 Arizona 71  #8 Utah 39

G6: #5 Colorado 59   #4 California 56 

G7: #2 U C L A 82  #7 Oregon 63

G8: #6 Stanford 79  #3 Arizona St. 58

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

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

G10: #2 U C L A 84  #6 Stanford 59

 

Patriot League

Location—All Games Played on Campus Sites at Higher Seed

 

Opening Round—Monday, March 3

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

G2: #7 Colgate  #10 Navy 51

 

Quarterfinal Round—Wednesday, March 5

G3: #1 Boston U. 91  #9 Lafayette 54

G4: #5 Army 72  #4 Bucknell 71

G5: #3 Holy Cross 54  #6 Lehigh 48

G6: #2 American 59  #7 Colgate 50

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G7: #1 Boston U 91  #5 Army 70

G8: #2 American 57  #3 Holy Cross 46

 

Championship Game—Wednesday, March 12

#2 American 55  #1 Boston U 36

 

Southeastern Conference

Location—Georgia Dome, Atlanta

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

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

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

 

2^nd Round—Thursday, March 13

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

G4: South Carolina 71  #5 Arkansas 69

G5: #7 L S U 68  #10 Alabama 56

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

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 14

G7: #1 Florida 72  #8 Missouri 49

G8: #4 Tennessee 59  #13 South Carolina 44

G9: #2 Kentucky 85  #7 L S U 67

G10: #3 Georgia 75  #6 Ole Miss 73

 

 

Southern Conference

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

 

Opening Round—Friday, March 7

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

G2: #7 Georgia Southern 65  #10 Furman 50

G3: #11 Citadel 86  #6 UNCG 76 

 

Quarterfinal Round—Saturday, March 8

G4: #1 Davidson 77  #8 Samford 54

G5: #5 Western Carolina 66  #4 Elon 64 

G6: #7 Georgia Southern 62  #2 Chattanooga 55 

G7: #3 Wofford 68  #11 Citadel 51

 

Semifinal Round—Sunday, March 9

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

G9: #3 Wofford 71  #7 Georgia Southern 57 

 

Championship Game—Monday, March 10

#3 Wofford 56  #5 Western Carolina 53

 

Southland Conference

Location—Leonard E. Merrell Center, Katy, TX

 

Opening Round—Wednesday, March 12

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

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

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

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

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

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

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

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

 

 

Southwestern Athletic Conference

Location—Toyota Center, Houston

 

Opening Round—Tuesday, March 11

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

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

 

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

G3: #2 Texas Southern 79  Grambling 54

G4: #8 Prairie View 64  #1 Southern 46  

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

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

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

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

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

 

Summit League

Location—Sioux Falls Arena, Sioux Falls, SD

 

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

G1: #2 IPFW 85  #7 IUPUI 47

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

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

 

Semifinal Round—Monday, March 10

G4: #1 N. Dakota St. 83  #4 Denver 48

G5: #2 IPFW 64  #3 S. Dakota St. 60

 

Championship Game—Tuesday, March 11

#1 North Dakota St. 60  #2 IPFW 57

 

Sun Belt Conference

Location—Lakefront Arena, New Orleans

 

Opening Round—Thursday, March 13

G1: #5 U A L R 74  #8 Troy 61

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

 

Quarterfinal Round—Friday, March 14

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

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

 

West Coast Conference

Location—Orleans Arena, Las Vegas

 

Opening Round—Thursday, March 6

G1: #10 Loyola Marymount 67  #7 Portland 64 

G2: #9 Santa Clara 81  #8 Pacific 64

 

Quarterfinal Round—Saturday, March 8

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

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

G5: #1 Gonzaga 77  #9 Santa Clara 75

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

 

Semifinal Round—Monday, March 10

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

G8: #1 Gonzaga 70  #4 St. Mary’s 54

 

Championship Game—Tuesday, March 11

#1 Gonzaga 75  #2 B Y U 64

 

Western Athletic Conference

Location—Orleans Arena, Las Vegas

 

Quarterfinal Round—Thursday, March 13

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

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

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

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

 

Semifinal Round—Friday, March 14

G5: #5 Idaho 74  #1 Utah Valley 69  

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