PiRate Ratings Bracketology For March 10, 2020

Tuesday’s Games

 

Home	Visitor	Spread
Delaware St.	Maryland Eastern Shore	0.4
Fairfield	Manhattan	-0.4
Gonzaga	Saint Mary’s	9.8
Hofstra	Northeastern	1.6
Ioina	Canisius	2.1
Jackson St.	Grambling	3.8
Niagara	Marist	1.2
North Dakota St.	North Dakota	6.0
Northern Kentucky	Illinois Chicago	4.3
Prairie View	Alabama A&M	13.9
Robert Morris	St. Francis (PA)	0.1
South Carolina St.	Howard	6.5
Southern	Alabama St.	9.3
Stony Brook	Hartford	8.2
Texas Southern	Alcorn St.	5.8
Vermont	UMBC	16.2
Virginia Tech	North Carolina	-3.1
Wake Forest	Pittsburgh	0.7

 

Tuesday’s TV Schedule

 

Time (EST)	Network	Team	Team
4:30 PM	ACCN	Wake Forest	Pittsburgh
5:00 PM	ESPN3	Fairfield	Manhattan
6:00 PM	Flohoops (pay)	Delaware St.	Maryland Eastern Shore
6:30 PM	ESPN3	Prairie View	Alabama A&M
7:00 PM	ESPN3	Stony Brook	Hartford
7:00 PM	CBSSN	Hofstra	Northeastern
7:00 PM	ESPN	Northern Kentucky	Illinois Chicago
7:00 PM	ACCN	Virginia Tech	North Carolina
7:00 PM	ESPN3	Vermont	UMBC
7:00 PM	ESPN3	Iona	Canisius
7:00 PM	ESPN2	Robert Morris	St. Francis (PA)
8:00 PM	Flohoops (pay)	South Carolina St.	Howard
8:30 PM	ESPN3	Southern U.	Alabama St.
8:30 PM	ESPN3	Texas So.	Grambling
9:00 PM	ESPN2	North Dakota St.	North Dakota
9:00 PM	ESPN3	Jackson St.	Alcorn St.
9:00 PM	ESPN3	Niagara	Marist

 

CONFERENCE TOURNAMENTS UPDATE

Color Code

Purple–Results From Yesterday

Red–Tournament Champion earned Automatic Bid

Brown–Tournament Games Scheduled Today

Blue–Next Round Scheduled After Today

 

America East Tournament
Semifinals	March 10	at Higher Seed’s Home Court
Home	Visitor	Time (ET)	TV
1 Vermont (25-7)	4 UMBC (16-16)	7:00 PM	ESPN+
2 Stony Brook (20-12)	3 Hartford (17-15)	7:00 PM	ESPN+

 

 

Atlantic Coast Tournament
1st Round	March 10	Greensboro, NC (Greensboro Coliseum)
Team	Team	Time (ET)	TV
12 Wake Forest (13-17)	13 Pittsburgh (15-16)	4:30 PM	ACCN
11 Virginia Tech (16-15)	14 North Carolina (13-18)	7:00 PM	ACCN

 

 

Colonial Athletic Tournament
Semifinals
Winner	Score	Loser	Score
Hofstra	75	Delaware	61
Northeastern	68	William & Mary	60

 

Championship	March 10	Washington, D.C. (Entertainment & Sports Arena)
Team	Team	Time (ET)	TV
1 Hofstra (25-8)	6 Northeastern (17-15)	8:00 PM	CBSSN

 

 

Horizon League Tournament
Semifinals
Winner	Score	Loser	Score
Illinois Chicago	73	Wright St.	56
Northern Kentucky	80	Green Bay	69

 

CHAMPIONSHIP	March 10	Indianapolis
Team	Team	Time (ET)	TV
2 Northern Kentucky (22-9)	Illinois Chicago (17-17)	7:00 PM	ESPN

 

 

 

Metro Atlantic Athletic Tournament
1st Round	March 10	Atlantic City, NJ (Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall)
Team	Team	Time (ET)	TV
8 Fairfield (12-19)	9 Manhattan (12-17)	5:00 PM	ESPN3
7 Iona (11-16)	10 Canisius (12-19)	7:00 PM	ESPN3
6 Niagara (11-20)	11 Marist (7-22)	9:00 PM	ESPN3

 

 

 

Mid-American Tournament (MACtion)
1st Round
Winner	Score	Loser	Score
Ohio U	85	Central Michigan	65
Miami (O)	85	Buffalo	79
Toledo	76	Western Michigan	73
Kent St.	86	Eastern Michigan	76

Quarterfinals	March 12	Cleveland (Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse)
Team	Team	Time (ET)	TV
1 Akron (24-7)	8 Ohio U (17-15)	12:00 PM	ESPN+
4 Northern Illinois (18-13)	12 Miami (O) (13-19)	2:30 PM	ESPN+
2 Bowling Green (21-10)	7 Toledo (17-15)	6:30 PM	ESPN+
3 Ball St. (18-13)	6 Kent St. (20-12)	9:00 PM	ESPN+

 

 

 

Mid-Eastern Athletic Tournament
1st Round	March 10	Norfolk, VA (Scope Arena)
Team	Team	Time (ET)	TV
8 Delaware St. (5-25)	9 Maryland Eastern Shore (5-26)	6:00 PM	Flohoops (pay)
7 South Carolina St. (11-17)	10 Howard (3-28)	8:00 PM	Flohoops (pay)

 

 

Northeast Tournament
Championship	March 10	at Higher Seed’s Home Court
Home	Visitor	Time (ET)	TV
1 Robert Morris (19-14)	2 St. Francis (PA) (22-9)	7:00 PM	ESPN2

 

 

Southern Tournament
Championship
Winner	Score	Loser	Score
East Tennessee St.	72	Wofford	58

 

 

 

Southwestern Athletic Tournament
Quarterfinals	March 10	at Higher Seed’s Home Court
Home	Visitor	Time (ET)	TV
1 Prairie View (18-13)	8 Alabama A&M (8-21)	8:30 PM	ESPN3
4 Jackson St. (14-17)	5 Grambling (17-14)	8:30 PM	ESPN3
2 Southern (16-15)	7 Alabama St. (8-23)	8:30 PM	ESPN3
3 Texas Southern (16-14)	6 Alcorn St. (14-14)	9:00 PM	ESPN3

 

 

 

Summit Tournament
Semifinals
Winner	Score	Loser	Score
North Dakota St.	75	Oral Roberts	69
North Dakota	73	Purdue Fort Wayne	56

 

Championship	March 10	Sioux Falls, SD (Sanford Premier Center)
Home	Visitor	Time (ET)	TV
1 North Dakota St. (24-8)	6 North Dakota (15-17)	9:00 PM	ESPN2

 

 

West Coast Tournament
Semifinals
Winner	Score	Loser	Score
Gonzaga	81	San Francisco	77
Saint Mary’s	51	BYU	50

 

Championship	March 10	Las Vegas (Orleans Arena)
Team	Team	Time (ET)	TV
1 Gonzaga (30-2)	3 Saint Mary’s (26-7)	9:00 PM	ESPN

 

Tickets Punched

Automatic Bids Earned
Team	Conference	Record
Utah St.	Mountain West	26-8
Belmont	Ohio Valley	26-7
Winthrop	Big South	24-10
Bradley	Missouri Valley	23-11
Liberty	Atlantic Sun	29-4
Southern	East Tennessee St.	30-4

 

 

 

PiRate Ratings College Basketball For January 13, 2020

Power Conference and Top 25 Teams Playing Monday

No Power Conference or Top 25 Teams Playing on Monday–There may be another college sporting event taking place tonight???

Non Power Conference Teams Playing Monday

Home	Visitor	Spread
Southern	Jackson St.	2.4
Loyola (MD)	Boston U	0.4
Bethune-Cookman	Morgan St.	5.6
Delaware St.	North Carolina A&T	-6.1
Howard	South Carolina St.	-2.8
MD Eastern Shore	North Carolina Central	-6.7
Florida A&M	Coppin St.	3.8
Alcorn St.	Grambling	0.1
Alabama A&M	Mississippi Valley	12.9
Alabama St.	Arkansas Pine Bluff	4.8
Montana	Portland St.	3.6

 

Monday’s PiRate Ratings

 

#	Team	PiRate	Conference
1	Duke	121.4	Atlantic Coast
2	Kansas	119.0	Big 12
3	Michigan St.	117.4	Big Ten
4	Gonzaga	116.8	West Coast
5	Baylor	115.7	Big 12
6	Ohio St.	115.4	Big Ten
7	Dayton	115.3	Atlantic 10
8	Butler	115.2	Big East
9	Louisville	114.9	Atlantic Coast
10	Arizona	114.7	Pac-12
11	Maryland	114.7	Big Ten
12	Auburn	114.2	Southeastern
13	West Virginia	114.2	Big 12
14	Florida St.	114.0	Atlantic Coast
15	Seton Hall	113.9	Big East
16	Oregon	113.7	Pac-12
17	San Diego St.	113.6	Mountain West
18	Purdue	113.1	Big Ten
19	Kentucky	113.0	Southeastern
20	Iowa	112.8	Big Ten
21	Michigan	112.5	Big Ten
22	Villanova	112.3	Big East
23	Wisconsin	112.1	Big Ten
24	Colorado	111.9	Pac-12
25	BYU	111.9	West Coast
26	LSU	111.7	Southeastern
27	Florida	111.7	Southeastern
28	Texas Tech	111.6	Big 12
29	Arkansas	111.4	Southeastern
30	Illinois	111.4	Big Ten
31	Penn St.	111.3	Big Ten
32	Wichita St.	111.3	Big East
33	Houston	111.1	American Athletic
34	Marquette	111.0	Big East
35	Memphis	110.9	American Athletic
36	Rutgers	110.9	Big Ten
37	Indiana	110.7	Big Ten
38	Minnesota	110.6	Big Ten
39	Saint Mary’s	110.4	West Coast
40	Creighton	110.4	Big East
41	Cincinnati	109.7	American Athletic
42	North Carolina St.	109.6	Atlantic Coast
43	VCU	109.5	Atlantic 10
44	Virginia	109.3	Atlantic Coast
45	Georgetown	109.1	Big East
46	Stanford	109.1	Pac-12
47	Xavier	109.1	Big East
48	Tennessee	109.0	Southeastern
49	Missouri	109.0	Southeastern
50	Oklahoma	108.9	Big 12
51	Alabama	108.9	Southeastern
52	Iowa St.	108.8	Big 12
53	Washington	108.7	Pac-12
54	TCU	108.7	Big 12
55	Utah St.	108.6	Mountain West
56	Virginia Tech	108.5	Atlantic Coast
57	Liberty	108.5	Atlantic Sun
58	Mississippi St.	108.3	Southeastern
59	Notre Dame	108.2	Atlantic Coast
60	Oregon St.	108.1	Pac-12
61	Yale	108.1	Ivy
62	Oklahoma St.	107.9	Big 12
63	Syracuse	107.8	Atlantic Coast
64	East Tennessee St.	107.8	Southern
65	Texas	107.4	Big 12
66	Duquesne	107.4	Atlantic 10
67	Rhode Island	107.3	Atlantic 10
68	Northern Iowa	107.3	Missouri Valley
69	Louisiana Tech	107.3	Conference USA
70	Vermont	107.2	American East
71	USC	107.2	Pac-12
72	UNC Greensboro	107.1	Southern
73	Providence	107.1	Big East
74	North Carolina	106.9	Atlantic Coast
75	Richmond	106.9	Atlantic 10
76	Furman	106.9	Southern
77	St. John’s	106.7	Big East
78	Belmont	106.7	Ohio Valley
79	Arizona St.	106.7	Pac-12
80	Georgia Tech	106.6	Atlantic Coast
81	Connecticut	106.6	American Athletic
82	Akron	106.6	Mid-American
83	Clemson	106.5	Atlantic Coast
84	Pittsburgh	106.3	Atlantic Coast
85	DePaul	106.2	Big East
86	Temple	106.2	American Athletic
87	Georgia	106.1	Southeastern
88	SMU	106.1	American Athletic
89	Davidson	105.9	Atlantic 10
90	Miami (Fla.)	105.8	Atlantic Coast
91	Harvard	105.4	Ivy
92	Nevada	105.2	Mountain West
93	New Mexico St.	105.1	Western Athletic
94	San Francisco	105.1	West Coast
95	Kansas St.	105.0	Big 12
96	Georgia St.	104.9	Sun Belt
97	New Mexico	104.8	Mountain West
98	Bradley	104.7	Missouri Valley
99	Kent St.	104.7	Mid-American
100	Mississippi	104.5	Southeastern
101	Boise St.	104.5	Mountain West
102	Loyola (Chi.)	104.4	Missouri Valley
103	Saint Louis	104.3	Atlantic 10
104	Western Kentucky	104.3	Conference USA
105	North Texas	104.0	Conference USA
106	Toledo	103.9	Mid-American
107	Utah	103.9	Pac-12
108	Wake Forest	103.9	Atlantic Coast
109	South Carolina	103.9	Southeastern
110	Ball St.	103.8	Mid-American
111	Northwestern	103.6	Big Ten
112	Northern Colorado	103.5	Big Sky
113	Wright St.	103.5	Horizon
114	UC Irvine	103.3	Big West
115	St. Bonaventure	103.2	Atlantic 10
116	Tulsa	103.2	American Athletic
117	Central Florida	103.1	American Athletic
118	Stony Brook	103.1	American East
119	South Florida	102.8	American Athletic
120	Texas St.	102.7	Sun Belt
121	Murray St.	102.7	Ohio Valley
122	Northern Kentucky	102.6	Horizon
123	UCLA	102.5	Pac-12
124	Nebraska	102.3	Big Ten
125	Colgate	102.2	Patriot
126	Indiana St.	102.2	Missouri Valley
127	Stephen F. Austin	102.2	Southland
128	Charleston	102.1	Colonial Athletic
129	Fresno St.	102.0	Mountain West
130	Radford	102.0	Big South
131	Northeastern	102.0	Colonial Athletic
132	Penn	102.0	Ivy
133	Santa Clara	101.9	West Coast
134	UNLV	101.9	Mountain West
135	Wofford	101.8	Southern
136	Hofstra	101.8	Colonial Athletic
137	Colorado St.	101.7	Mountain West
138	North Dakota St.	101.6	Summit
139	Tulane	101.5	American Athletic
140	Winthrop	101.5	Big South
141	Washington St.	101.5	Pac-12
142	Vanderbilt	101.4	Southeastern
143	George Mason	101.3	Atlantic 10
144	Texas A&M	101.3	Southeastern
145	South Dakota St.	101.3	Summit
146	William & Mary	101.2	Colonial Athletic
147	Marshall	101.2	Conference USA
148	UT Arlington	101.2	Southland
149	Southern Utah	101.2	Big Sky
150	Georgia Southern	101.1	Sun Belt
151	Coastal Carolina	101.1	Sun Belt
152	Oral Roberts	101.0	Summit
153	Boston College	101.0	Atlantic Coast
154	Western Carolina	100.9	Southern
155	UC Santa Barbara	100.9	Big West
156	Drake	100.8	Missouri Valley
157	Air Force	100.8	Mountain West
158	Pepperdine	100.8	West Coast
159	Missouri St.	100.7	Missouri Valley
160	UTEP	100.6	Conference USA
161	Buffalo	100.6	Mid-American
162	Pacific	100.6	West Coast
163	Towson	100.2	Colonial Athletic
164	Charlotte	100.0	Conference USA
165	UAB	100.0	Conference USA
166	Central Michigan	99.9	Mid-American
167	California Baptist	99.8	Western Athletic
168	Sacramento St.	99.7	Big Sky
169	Rider	99.7	Metro Atlantic
170	Chattanooga	99.7	Southern
171	California	99.7	Pac-12
172	Northern Illinois	99.7	Mid-American
173	Bowling Green	99.7	Mid-American
174	Hawaii	99.6	Big West
175	St. Francis (PA)	99.6	Northeast
176	Eastern Washington	99.6	Big Sky
177	Valparaiso	99.5	Missouri Valley
178	South Alabama	99.5	Sun Belt
179	Massachusetts	99.4	Atlantic 10
180	Nicholls St.	99.4	Southland
181	La Salle	99.3	Atlantic 10
182	North Florida	99.3	Atlantic Sun
183	Appalachian St.	99.2	Sun Belt
184	Sam Houston St.	99.0	Southland
185	Little Rock	99.0	Sun Belt
186	Montana	99.0	Big Sky
187	Old Dominion	99.0	Conference USA
188	Delaware	98.9	Colonial Athletic
189	Princeton	98.7	Ivy
190	Austin Peay	98.7	Ohio Valley
191	Florida Int’l.	98.5	Conference USA
192	Southern Illinois	98.4	Missouri Valley
193	Lafayette	98.4	Patriot
194	Sacred Heart	98.4	Northeast
195	Portland St.	98.4	Big Sky
196	Boston U	98.2	Patriot
197	UTSA	98.0	Conference USA
198	Dartmouth	97.9	Ivy
199	Omaha	97.9	Summit
200	Ohio	97.8	Mid-American
201	Abilene Christian	97.8	Southland
202	Miami (O)	97.8	Mid-American
203	Florida Atlantic	97.7	Conference USA
204	Quinnipiac	97.7	Metro Atlantic
205	Green Bay	97.6	Horizon
206	Eastern Illinois	97.6	Ohio Valley
207	UC Riverside	97.5	Big West
208	South Dakota	97.5	Summit
209	North Dakota	97.5	Summit
210	Brown	97.5	Ivy
211	San Diego	97.3	West Coast
212	Oakland	97.3	Horizon
213	Siena	97.3	Metro Atlantic
214	Monmouth	97.2	Metro Atlantic
215	Bryant	97.2	Northeast
216	Illinois St.	97.0	Missouri Valley
217	Montana St.	96.9	Big Sky
218	Seattle	96.9	Western Athletic
219	Missouri-KC	96.9	Western Athletic
220	Campbell	96.9	Big South
221	Loyola Marymount	96.9	West Coast
222	American	96.9	Patriot
223	Robert Morris	96.7	Northeast
224	Rice	96.7	Conference USA
225	Eastern Michigan	96.7	Mid-American
226	Prairie View A&M	96.7	Southwestern Athl.
227	Albany	96.6	American East
228	East Carolina	96.6	American Athletic
229	Youngstown St.	96.5	Horizon
230	Navy	96.3	Patriot
231	George Washington	96.3	Atlantic 10
232	Northern Arizona	96.3	Big Sky
233	Jacksonville St.	96.1	Ohio Valley
234	Bucknell	96.1	Patriot
235	Cal St. Bakersfield	96.1	Western Athletic
236	Iona	96.0	Metro Atlantic
237	Manhattan	95.9	Metro Atlantic
238	Canisius	95.9	Metro Atlantic
239	UC Davis	95.9	Big West
240	Gardner-Webb	95.9	Big South
241	Jacksonville	95.8	Atlantic Sun
242	Drexel	95.7	Colonial Athletic
243	Grand Canyon	95.7	Western Athletic
244	UT Rio Grande Valley	95.7	Western Athletic
245	Columbia	95.6	Ivy
246	Loyola (MD)	95.6	Patriot
247	Tennessee St.	95.6	Ohio Valley
248	Milwaukee	95.5	Horizon
249	UNC Asheville	95.5	Big South
250	Fairfield	95.5	Metro Atlantic
251	Purdue Fort Wayne	95.4	Summit
252	UMass Lowell	95.4	American East
253	Long Island	95.3	Northeast
254	Samford	95.3	Southern
255	Western Michigan	95.2	Mid-American
256	Lipscomb	95.1	Atlantic Sun
257	Portland	95.1	West Coast
258	McNeese St.	95.0	Southland
259	Arkansas St.	95.0	Sun Belt
260	Morehead St.	95.0	Ohio Valley
261	Evansville	94.9	Missouri Valley
262	Lehigh	94.9	Patriot
263	Louisiana	94.8	Sun Belt
264	Mercer	94.8	Southern
265	Saint Peter’s	94.7	Metro Atlantic
266	Saint Joseph’s	94.7	Atlantic 10
267	Louisiana Monroe	94.6	Sun Belt
268	Lamar	94.5	Southland
269	Troy	94.5	Sun Belt
270	Fordham	94.4	Atlantic 10
271	Cal St. Fullerton	94.3	Big West
272	Illinois Chicago	94.3	Horizon
273	Norfolk St.	94.3	Mideastern Athletic
274	Texas Southern	94.3	Southwestern Athl.
275	New Hampshire	94.2	American East
276	James Madison	94.2	Colonial Athletic
277	Bethune Cookman	94.2	Mideastern Athletic
278	VMI	94.1	Southern
279	North Alabama	94.1	Atlantic Sun
280	Citadel	94.1	Southern
281	Weber St.	93.9	Big Sky
282	Cal St. Northridge	93.8	Big West
283	Utah Valley	93.7	Western Athletic
284	Merrimack	93.6	Northeast
285	Idaho St.	93.5	Big Sky
286	Detroit	93.5	Horizon
287	Middle Tennessee	93.4	Conference USA
288	Grambling	93.3	Southwestern Athl.
289	Mount St. Mary’s	93.3	Northeast
290	NJIT	93.3	Atlantic Sun
291	Cornell	93.2	Ivy
292	Southern Miss.	93.2	Conference USA
293	UM Baltimore Co.	92.6	American East
294	Hartford	92.4	American East
295	UT-Martin	92.4	Ohio Valley
296	Texas A&M CC	92.2	Southland
297	Fairleigh Dickinson	92.1	Northeast
298	Niagara	92.0	Metro Atlantic
299	Wyoming	92.0	Mountain West
300	New Orleans	91.8	Southland
301	St. Francis (NY)	91.8	Northeast
302	Army	91.8	Patriot
303	Long Beach St.	91.7	Big West
304	Morgan St.	91.6	Mideastern Athletic
305	North Carolina A&T	91.5	Mideastern Athletic
306	San Jose St.	91.5	Mountain West
307	Elon	91.4	Colonial Athletic
308	Idaho	91.2	Big Sky
309	North Carolina Central	91.2	Mideastern Athletic
310	Eastern Kentucky	91.1	Ohio Valley
311	Longwood	91.0	Big South
312	Wagner	90.8	Northeast
313	Florida A&M	90.8	Mideastern Athletic
314	Cal Poly	90.7	Big West
315	Jackson St.	90.6	Southwestern Athl.
316	Central Arkansas	90.5	Southland
317	UNC Wilmington	90.5	Colonial Athletic
318	Alcorn St.	90.4	Southwestern Athl.
319	Charleston Southern	90.4	Big South
320	Cleveland St.	90.4	Horizon
321	USC Upstate	90.4	Big South
322	Stetson	90.4	Atlantic Sun
323	IUPUI	90.3	Horizon
324	Florida Gulf Coast	90.2	Atlantic Sun
325	Western Illinois	90.2	Summit
326	Hampton	90.1	Big South
327	SE Missouri	90.1	Ohio Valley
328	Southern	90.0	Southwestern Athl.
329	Coppin St.	90.0	Mideastern Athletic
330	Binghamton	89.5	American East
331	Denver	89.5	Summit
332	Alabama A&M	88.9	Southwestern Athl.
333	Presbyterian	88.9	Big South
334	South Carolina St.	88.9	Mideastern Athletic
335	Northwestern St.	88.9	Southland
336	SIU Edwardsville	88.7	Ohio Valley
337	SE Louisiana	88.7	Southland
338	Holy Cross	88.1	Patriot
339	Tennessee Tech	88.1	Ohio Valley
340	Marist	88.0	Metro Atlantic
341	Maine	87.7	American East
342	Houston Baptist	87.4	Southland
343	Alabama St.	87.3	Southwestern Athl.
344	High Point	85.9	Big South
345	Arkansas Pine Bluff	85.5	Southwestern Athl.
346	Kennesaw St.	85.2	Atlantic Sun
347	Incarnate Word	84.8	Southland
348	Howard	83.1	Mideastern Athletic
349	Delaware St.	82.4	Mideastern Athletic
350	Central Connecticut	82.3	Northeast
351	MD Eastern Shore	81.5	Mideastern Athletic
352	Mississippi Valley St.	79.0	Southwestern Athl.
353	Chicago St.	78.3	Western Athletic

Alphabetical 

 

#	Team	PiRate	Conf.
1	Abilene Christian	97.8	Southland
2	Air Force	100.8	Mountain West
3	Akron	106.6	Mid-American
4	Alabama	108.9	Southeastern
5	Alabama A&M	88.9	Southwestern Athl.
6	Alabama St.	87.3	Southwestern Athl.
7	Albany	96.6	American East
8	Alcorn St.	90.4	Southwestern Athl.
9	American	96.9	Patriot
10	Appalachian St.	99.2	Sun Belt
11	Arizona	114.7	Pac-12
12	Arizona St.	106.7	Pac-12
13	Arkansas	111.4	Southeastern
14	Arkansas Pine Bluff	85.5	Southwestern Athl.
15	Arkansas St.	95.0	Sun Belt
16	Army	91.8	Patriot
17	Auburn	114.2	Southeastern
18	Austin Peay	98.7	Ohio Valley
19	Ball St.	103.8	Mid-American
20	Baylor	115.7	Big 12
21	Belmont	106.7	Ohio Valley
22	Bethune Cookman	94.2	Mideastern Athletic
23	Binghamton	89.5	American East
24	Boise St.	104.5	Mountain West
25	Boston College	101.0	Atlantic Coast
26	Boston U	98.2	Patriot
27	Bowling Green	99.7	Mid-American
28	Bradley	104.7	Missouri Valley
29	Brown	97.5	Ivy
30	Bryant	97.2	Northeast
31	Bucknell	96.1	Patriot
32	Buffalo	100.6	Mid-American
33	Butler	115.2	Big East
34	BYU	111.9	West Coast
35	Cal Poly	90.7	Big West
36	Cal St. Bakersfield	96.1	Western Athletic
37	Cal St. Fullerton	94.3	Big West
38	Cal St. Northridge	93.8	Big West
39	California	99.7	Pac-12
40	California Baptist	99.8	Western Athletic
41	Campbell	96.9	Big South
42	Canisius	95.9	Metro Atlantic
43	Central Arkansas	90.5	Southland
44	Central Connecticut	82.3	Northeast
45	Central Florida	103.1	American Athletic
46	Central Michigan	99.9	Mid-American
47	Charleston	102.1	Colonial Athletic
48	Charleston Southern	90.4	Big South
49	Charlotte	100.0	Conference USA
50	Chattanooga	99.7	Southern
51	Chicago St.	78.3	Western Athletic
52	Cincinnati	109.7	American Athletic
53	Citadel	94.1	Southern
54	Clemson	106.5	Atlantic Coast
55	Cleveland St.	90.4	Horizon
56	Coastal Carolina	101.1	Sun Belt
57	Colgate	102.2	Patriot
58	Colorado	111.9	Pac-12
59	Colorado St.	101.7	Mountain West
60	Columbia	95.6	Ivy
61	Connecticut	106.6	American Athletic
62	Coppin St.	90.0	Mideastern Athletic
63	Cornell	93.2	Ivy
64	Creighton	110.4	Big East
65	Dartmouth	97.9	Ivy
66	Davidson	105.9	Atlantic 10
67	Dayton	115.3	Atlantic 10
68	Delaware	98.9	Colonial Athletic
69	Delaware St.	82.4	Mideastern Athletic
70	Denver	89.5	Summit
71	DePaul	106.2	Big East
72	Detroit	93.5	Horizon
73	Drake	100.8	Missouri Valley
74	Drexel	95.7	Colonial Athletic
75	Duke	121.4	Atlantic Coast
76	Duquesne	107.4	Atlantic 10
77	East Carolina	96.6	American Athletic
78	East Tennessee St.	107.8	Southern
79	Eastern Illinois	97.6	Ohio Valley
80	Eastern Kentucky	91.1	Ohio Valley
81	Eastern Michigan	96.7	Mid-American
82	Eastern Washington	99.6	Big Sky
83	Elon	91.4	Colonial Athletic
84	Evansville	94.9	Missouri Valley
85	Fairfield	95.5	Metro Atlantic
86	Fairleigh Dickinson	92.1	Northeast
87	Florida	111.7	Southeastern
88	Florida A&M	90.8	Mideastern Athletic
89	Florida Atlantic	97.7	Conference USA
90	Florida Gulf Coast	90.2	Atlantic Sun
91	Florida Int’l.	98.5	Conference USA
92	Florida St.	114.0	Atlantic Coast
93	Fordham	94.4	Atlantic 10
94	Fresno St.	102.0	Mountain West
95	Furman	106.9	Southern
96	Gardner-Webb	95.9	Big South
97	George Mason	101.3	Atlantic 10
98	George Washington	96.3	Atlantic 10
99	Georgetown	109.1	Big East
100	Georgia	106.1	Southeastern
101	Georgia Southern	101.1	Sun Belt
102	Georgia St.	104.9	Sun Belt
103	Georgia Tech	106.6	Atlantic Coast
104	Gonzaga	116.8	West Coast
105	Grambling	93.3	Southwestern Athl.
106	Grand Canyon	95.7	Western Athletic
107	Green Bay	97.6	Horizon
108	Hampton	90.1	Big South
109	Hartford	92.4	American East
110	Harvard	105.4	Ivy
111	Hawaii	99.6	Big West
112	High Point	85.9	Big South
113	Hofstra	101.8	Colonial Athletic
114	Holy Cross	88.1	Patriot
115	Houston	111.1	American Athletic
116	Houston Baptist	87.4	Southland
117	Howard	83.1	Mideastern Athletic
118	Idaho	91.2	Big Sky
119	Idaho St.	93.5	Big Sky
120	Illinois	111.4	Big Ten
121	Illinois Chicago	94.3	Horizon
122	Illinois St.	97.0	Missouri Valley
123	Incarnate Word	84.8	Southland
124	Indiana	110.7	Big Ten
125	Indiana St.	102.2	Missouri Valley
126	Iona	96.0	Metro Atlantic
127	Iowa	112.8	Big Ten
128	Iowa St.	108.8	Big 12
129	IUPUI	90.3	Horizon
130	Jackson St.	90.6	Southwestern Athl.
131	Jacksonville	95.8	Atlantic Sun
132	Jacksonville St.	96.1	Ohio Valley
133	James Madison	94.2	Colonial Athletic
134	Kansas	119.0	Big 12
135	Kansas St.	105.0	Big 12
136	Kennesaw St.	85.2	Atlantic Sun
137	Kent St.	104.7	Mid-American
138	Kentucky	113.0	Southeastern
139	La Salle	99.3	Atlantic 10
140	Lafayette	98.4	Patriot
141	Lamar	94.5	Southland
142	Lehigh	94.9	Patriot
143	Liberty	108.5	Atlantic Sun
144	Lipscomb	95.1	Atlantic Sun
145	Little Rock	99.0	Sun Belt
146	Long Beach St.	91.7	Big West
147	Long Island	95.3	Northeast
148	Longwood	91.0	Big South
149	Louisiana	94.8	Sun Belt
150	Louisiana Monroe	94.6	Sun Belt
151	Louisiana Tech	107.3	Conference USA
152	Louisville	114.9	Atlantic Coast
153	Loyola (Chi.)	104.4	Missouri Valley
154	Loyola Marymount	96.9	West Coast
155	Loyola (MD)	95.6	Patriot
156	LSU	111.7	Southeastern
157	Maine	87.7	American East
158	Manhattan	95.9	Metro Atlantic
159	Marist	88.0	Metro Atlantic
160	Marquette	111.0	Big East
161	Marshall	101.2	Conference USA
162	Maryland	114.7	Big Ten
163	Massachusetts	99.4	Atlantic 10
164	McNeese St.	95.0	Southland
165	MD Eastern Shore	81.5	Mideastern Athletic
166	Memphis	110.9	American Athletic
167	Mercer	94.8	Southern
168	Merrimack	93.6	Northeast
169	Miami (Fla.)	105.8	Atlantic Coast
170	Miami (O)	97.8	Mid-American
171	Michigan	112.5	Big Ten
172	Michigan St.	117.4	Big Ten
173	Middle Tennessee	93.4	Conference USA
174	Milwaukee	95.5	Horizon
175	Minnesota	110.6	Big Ten
176	Mississippi	104.5	Southeastern
177	Mississippi St.	108.3	Southeastern
178	Mississippi Valley St.	79.0	Southwestern Athl.
179	Missouri	109.0	Southeastern
180	Missouri-KC	96.9	Western Athletic
181	Missouri St.	100.7	Missouri Valley
182	Monmouth	97.2	Metro Atlantic
183	Montana	99.0	Big Sky
184	Montana St.	96.9	Big Sky
185	Morehead St.	95.0	Ohio Valley
186	Morgan St.	91.6	Mideastern Athletic
187	Mount St. Mary’s	93.3	Northeast
188	Murray St.	102.7	Ohio Valley
189	Navy	96.3	Patriot
190	Nebraska	102.3	Big Ten
191	Nevada	105.2	Mountain West
192	New Hampshire	94.2	American East
193	New Mexico	104.8	Mountain West
194	New Mexico St.	105.1	Western Athletic
195	New Orleans	91.8	Southland
196	Niagara	92.0	Metro Atlantic
197	Nicholls St.	99.4	Southland
198	NJIT	93.3	Atlantic Sun
199	Norfolk St.	94.3	Mideastern Athletic
200	North Alabama	94.1	Atlantic Sun
201	North Carolina	106.9	Atlantic Coast
202	North Carolina A&T	91.5	Mideastern Athletic
203	North Carolina Central	91.2	Mideastern Athletic
204	North Carolina St.	109.6	Atlantic Coast
205	North Dakota	97.5	Summit
206	North Dakota St.	101.6	Summit
207	North Florida	99.3	Atlantic Sun
208	North Texas	104.0	Conference USA
209	Northeastern	102.0	Colonial Athletic
210	Northern Arizona	96.3	Big Sky
211	Northern Colorado	103.5	Big Sky
212	Northern Illinois	99.7	Mid-American
213	Northern Iowa	107.3	Missouri Valley
214	Northern Kentucky	102.6	Horizon
215	Northwestern	103.6	Big Ten
216	Northwestern St.	88.9	Southland
217	Notre Dame	108.2	Atlantic Coast
218	Oakland	97.3	Horizon
219	Ohio	97.8	Mid-American
220	Ohio St.	115.4	Big Ten
221	Oklahoma	108.9	Big 12
222	Oklahoma St.	107.9	Big 12
223	Old Dominion	99.0	Conference USA
224	Omaha	97.9	Summit
225	Oral Roberts	101.0	Summit
226	Oregon	113.7	Pac-12
227	Oregon St.	108.1	Pac-12
228	Pacific	100.6	West Coast
229	Penn	102.0	Ivy
230	Penn St.	111.3	Big Ten
231	Pepperdine	100.8	West Coast
232	Pittsburgh	106.3	Atlantic Coast
233	Portland	95.1	West Coast
234	Portland St.	98.4	Big Sky
235	Prairie View A&M	96.7	Southwestern Athl.
236	Presbyterian	88.9	Big South
237	Princeton	98.7	Ivy
238	Providence	107.1	Big East
239	Purdue	113.1	Big Ten
240	Purdue Fort Wayne	95.4	Summit
241	Quinnipiac	97.7	Metro Atlantic
242	Radford	102.0	Big South
243	Rhode Island	107.3	Atlantic 10
244	Rice	96.7	Conference USA
245	Richmond	106.9	Atlantic 10
246	Rider	99.7	Metro Atlantic
247	Robert Morris	96.7	Northeast
248	Rutgers	110.9	Big Ten
249	Sacramento St.	99.7	Big Sky
250	Sacred Heart	98.4	Northeast
251	Saint Joseph’s	94.7	Atlantic 10
252	Saint Louis	104.3	Atlantic 10
253	Saint Mary’s	110.4	West Coast
254	Saint Peter’s	94.7	Metro Atlantic
255	Sam Houston St.	99.0	Southland
256	Samford	95.3	Southern
257	San Diego	97.3	West Coast
258	San Diego St.	113.6	Mountain West
259	San Francisco	105.1	West Coast
260	San Jose St.	91.5	Mountain West
261	Santa Clara	101.9	West Coast
262	SE Louisiana	88.7	Southland
263	SE Missouri	90.1	Ohio Valley
264	Seattle	96.9	Western Athletic
265	Seton Hall	113.9	Big East
266	Siena	97.3	Metro Atlantic
267	SIU Edwardsville	88.7	Ohio Valley
268	SMU	106.1	American Athletic
269	South Alabama	99.5	Sun Belt
270	South Carolina	103.9	Southeastern
271	South Carolina St.	88.9	Mideastern Athletic
272	South Dakota	97.5	Summit
273	South Dakota St.	101.3	Summit
274	South Florida	102.8	American Athletic
275	Southern	90.0	Southwestern Athl.
276	Southern Illinois	98.4	Missouri Valley
277	Southern Miss.	93.2	Conference USA
278	Southern Utah	101.2	Big Sky
279	St. Bonaventure	103.2	Atlantic 10
280	St. Francis (NY)	91.8	Northeast
281	St. Francis (PA)	99.6	Northeast
282	St. John’s	106.7	Big East
283	Stanford	109.1	Pac-12
284	Stephen F. Austin	102.2	Southland
285	Stetson	90.4	Atlantic Sun
286	Stony Brook	103.1	American East
287	Syracuse	107.8	Atlantic Coast
288	TCU	108.7	Big 12
289	Temple	106.2	American Athletic
290	Tennessee	109.0	Southeastern
291	Tennessee St.	95.6	Ohio Valley
292	Tennessee Tech	88.1	Ohio Valley
293	Texas	107.4	Big 12
294	Texas A&M	101.3	Southeastern
295	Texas A&M CC	92.2	Southland
296	Texas Southern	94.3	Southwestern Athl.
297	Texas St.	102.7	Sun Belt
298	Texas Tech	111.6	Big 12
299	Toledo	103.9	Mid-American
300	Towson	100.2	Colonial Athletic
301	Troy	94.5	Sun Belt
302	Tulane	101.5	American Athletic
303	Tulsa	103.2	American Athletic
304	UAB	100.0	Conference USA
305	UC Davis	95.9	Big West
306	UC Irvine	103.3	Big West
307	UC Riverside	97.5	Big West
308	UC Santa Barbara	100.9	Big West
309	UCLA	102.5	Pac-12
310	UM Baltimore Co.	92.6	American East
311	UMass Lowell	95.4	American East
312	UNC Asheville	95.5	Big South
313	UNC Greensboro	107.1	Southern
314	UNC Wilmington	90.5	Colonial Athletic
315	UNLV	101.9	Mountain West
316	USC	107.2	Pac-12
317	USC Upstate	90.4	Big South
318	UT Arlington	101.2	Southland
319	UT Rio Grande Valley	95.7	Western Athletic
320	UT-Martin	92.4	Ohio Valley
321	Utah	103.9	Pac-12
322	Utah St.	108.6	Mountain West
323	Utah Valley	93.7	Western Athletic
324	UTEP	100.6	Conference USA
325	UTSA	98.0	Conference USA
326	Valparaiso	99.5	Missouri Valley
327	Vanderbilt	101.4	Southeastern
328	VCU	109.5	Atlantic 10
329	Vermont	107.2	American East
330	Villanova	112.3	Big East
331	Virginia	109.3	Atlantic Coast
332	Virginia Tech	108.5	Atlantic Coast
333	VMI	94.1	Southern
334	Wagner	90.8	Northeast
335	Wake Forest	103.9	Atlantic Coast
336	Washington	108.7	Pac-12
337	Washington St.	101.5	Pac-12
338	Weber St.	93.9	Big Sky
339	West Virginia	114.2	Big 12
340	Western Carolina	100.9	Southern
341	Western Illinois	90.2	Summit
342	Western Kentucky	104.3	Conference USA
343	Western Michigan	95.2	Mid-American
344	Wichita St.	111.3	Big East
345	William & Mary	101.2	Colonial Athletic
346	Winthrop	101.5	Big South
347	Wisconsin	112.1	Big Ten
348	Wofford	101.8	Southern
349	Wright St.	103.5	Horizon
350	Wyoming	92.0	Mountain West
351	Xavier	109.1	Big East
352	Yale	108.1	Ivy
353	Youngstown St.	96.5	Horizon

 

PiRate Rating By Conference

 

#	American Athletic	PiRate
1	Houston	111.1
2	Memphis	110.9
3	Cincinnati	109.7
4	Connecticut	106.6
5	Temple	106.2
6	SMU	106.1
7	Tulsa	103.2
8	Central Florida	103.1
9	South Florida	102.8
10	Tulane	101.5
11	East Carolina	96.6
Avg	American Athletic	105.2
#	American East	PiRate
1	Vermont	107.2
2	Stony Brook	103.1
3	Albany	96.6
4	UMass Lowell	95.4
5	New Hampshire	94.2
6	UM Baltimore Co.	92.6
7	Hartford	92.4
8	Binghamton	89.5
9	Maine	87.7
Avg	American East	95.4
#	Atlantic 10	PiRate
1	Dayton	115.3
2	VCU	109.5
3	Duquesne	107.4
4	Rhode Island	107.3
5	Richmond	106.9
6	Davidson	105.9
7	Saint Louis	104.3
8	St. Bonaventure	103.2
9	George Mason	101.3
10	Massachusetts	99.4
11	La Salle	99.3
12	George Washington	96.3
13	Saint Joseph’s	94.7
14	Fordham	94.4
Avg.	Atlantic 10	103.2
#	Atlantic Coast	PiRate
1	Duke	121.4
2	Louisville	114.9
3	Florida St.	114.0
4	North Carolina St.	109.6
5	Virginia	109.3
6	Virginia Tech	108.5
7	Notre Dame	108.2
8	Syracuse	107.8
9	North Carolina	106.9
10	Georgia Tech	106.6
11	Clemson	106.5
12	Pittsburgh	106.3
13	Miami (Fla.)	105.8
14	Wake Forest	103.9
15	Boston College	101.0
Avg	Atlantic Coast	108.7
#	Atlantic Sun	PiRate
1	Liberty	108.5
2	North Florida	99.3
3	Jacksonville	95.8
4	Lipscomb	95.1
5	North Alabama	94.1
6	NJIT	93.3
7	Stetson	90.4
8	Florida Gulf Coast	90.2
9	Kennesaw St.	85.2
Avg	Atlantic Sun	94.6
#	Big 12	PiRate
1	Kansas	119.0
2	Baylor	115.7
3	West Virginia	114.2
4	Texas Tech	111.6
5	Oklahoma	108.9
6	Iowa St.	108.8
7	TCU	108.7
8	Oklahoma St.	107.9
9	Texas	107.4
10	Kansas St.	105.0
Avg	Big 12	110.7
#	Big East	PiRate
1	Butler	115.2
2	Seton Hall	113.9
3	Villanova	112.3
4	Wichita St.	111.3
5	Marquette	111.0
6	Creighton	110.4
7	Georgetown	109.1
8	Xavier	109.1
9	Providence	107.1
10	St. John’s	106.7
11	DePaul	106.2
Avg	Big East	110.2
#	Big Sky	PiRate
1	Northern Colorado	103.5
2	Southern Utah	101.2
3	Sacramento St.	99.7
4	Eastern Washington	99.6
5	Montana	99.0
6	Portland St.	98.4
7	Montana St.	96.9
8	Northern Arizona	96.3
9	Weber St.	93.9
10	Idaho St.	93.5
11	Idaho	91.2
#	Big Sky	97.6
#	Big South	PiRate
1	Radford	102.0
2	Winthrop	101.5
3	Campbell	96.9
4	Gardner-Webb	95.9
5	UNC Asheville	95.5
6	Longwood	91.0
7	Charleston Southern	90.4
8	USC Upstate	90.4
9	Hampton	90.1
10	Presbyterian	88.9
11	High Point	85.9
Avg	Big South	93.5
#	Big Ten	PiRate
1	Michigan St.	117.4
2	Ohio St.	115.4
3	Maryland	114.7
4	Purdue	113.1
5	Iowa	112.8
6	Michigan	112.5
7	Wisconsin	112.1
8	Illinois	111.4
9	Penn St.	111.3
10	Rutgers	110.9
11	Indiana	110.7
12	Minnesota	110.6
13	Northwestern	103.6
14	Nebraska	102.3
Avg	Big Ten	111.3
#	Big West	PiRate
1	UC Irvine	103.3
2	UC Santa Barbara	100.9
3	Hawaii	99.6
4	UC Riverside	97.5
5	UC Davis	95.9
6	Cal St. Fullerton	94.3
7	Cal St. Northridge	93.8
8	Long Beach St.	91.7
9	Cal Poly	90.7
Avg	Big West	96.4
#	Colonial Athletic	PiRate
1	Charleston	102.1
2	Northeastern	102.0
3	Hofstra	101.8
4	William & Mary	101.2
5	Towson	100.2
6	Delaware	98.9
7	Drexel	95.7
8	James Madison	94.2
9	Elon	91.4
10	UNC Wilmington	90.5
Avg	Colonial Athletic	97.8
#	Conference USA	PiRate
1	Louisiana Tech	107.3
2	Western Kentucky	104.3
3	North Texas	104.0
4	Marshall	101.2
5	UTEP	100.6
6	Charlotte	100.0
7	UAB	100.0
8	Old Dominion	99.0
9	Florida Int’l.	98.5
10	UTSA	98.0
11	Florida Atlantic	97.7
12	Rice	96.7
13	Middle Tennessee	93.4
14	Southern Miss.	93.2
Avg	Conference USA	99.6
#	Horizon	PiRate
1	Wright St.	103.5
2	Northern Kentucky	102.6
3	Green Bay	97.6
4	Oakland	97.3
5	Youngstown St.	96.5
6	Milwaukee	95.5
7	Illinois Chicago	94.3
8	Detroit	93.5
9	Cleveland St.	90.4
10	IUPUI	90.3
Avg	Horizon	96.2
#	Ivy	PiRate
1	Yale	108.1
2	Harvard	105.4
3	Penn	102.0
4	Princeton	98.7
5	Dartmouth	97.9
6	Brown	97.5
7	Columbia	95.6
8	Cornell	93.2
Avg	Ivy	99.8
#	Metro Atlantic	PiRate
1	Rider	99.7
2	Quinnipiac	97.7
3	Siena	97.3
4	Monmouth	97.2
5	Iona	96.0
6	Manhattan	95.9
7	Canisius	95.9
8	Fairfield	95.5
9	Saint Peter’s	94.7
10	Niagara	92.0
11	Marist	88.0
Avg	Metro Atlantic	95.4
#	Mid-American	PiRate
1	Akron	106.6
2	Kent St.	104.7
3	Toledo	103.9
4	Ball St.	103.8
5	Buffalo	100.6
6	Central Michigan	99.9
7	Northern Illinois	99.7
8	Bowling Green	99.7
9	Ohio	97.8
10	Miami (O)	97.8
11	Eastern Michigan	96.7
12	Western Michigan	95.2
Avg	Mid-American	100.5
#	Mideastern Athletic	PiRate
1	Norfolk St.	94.3
2	Bethune Cookman	94.2
3	Morgan St.	91.6
4	North Carolina A&T	91.5
5	North Carolina Central	91.2
6	Florida A&M	90.8
7	Coppin St.	90.0
8	South Carolina St.	88.9
9	Howard	83.1
10	Delaware St.	82.4
11	MD Eastern Shore	81.5
Avg	Mideastern Athletic	89.0
#	Missouri Valley	PiRate
1	Northern Iowa	107.3
2	Bradley	104.7
3	Loyola (Chi.)	104.4
4	Indiana St.	102.2
5	Drake	100.8
6	Missouri St.	100.7
7	Valparaiso	99.5
8	Southern Illinois	98.4
9	Illinois St.	97.0
10	Evansville	94.9
Avg	Missouri Valley	101.0
#	Mountain West	PiRate
1	San Diego St.	113.6
2	Utah St.	108.6
3	Nevada	105.2
4	New Mexico	104.8
5	Boise St.	104.5
6	Fresno St.	102.0
7	UNLV	101.9
8	Colorado St.	101.7
9	Air Force	100.8
10	Wyoming	92.0
11	San Jose St.	91.5
Avg	Mountain West	102.4
#	Northeast	PiRate
1	St. Francis (PA)	99.6
2	Sacred Heart	98.4
3	Bryant	97.2
4	Robert Morris	96.7
5	Long Island	95.3
6	Merrimack	93.6
7	Mount St. Mary’s	93.3
8	Fairleigh Dickinson	92.1
9	St. Francis (NY)	91.8
10	Wagner	90.8
11	Central Connecticut	82.3
Avg	Northeast	93.7
#	Ohio Valley	PiRate
1	Belmont	106.7
2	Murray St.	102.7
3	Austin Peay	98.7
4	Eastern Illinois	97.6
5	Jacksonville St.	96.1
6	Tennessee St.	95.6
7	Morehead St.	95.0
8	UT-Martin	92.4
9	Eastern Kentucky	91.1
10	SE Missouri	90.1
11	SIU Edwardsville	88.7
12	Tennessee Tech	88.1
Avg	Ohio Valley	95.2
#	Pac-12	PiRate
1	Arizona	114.7
2	Oregon	113.7
3	Colorado	111.9
4	Stanford	109.1
5	Washington	108.7
6	Oregon St.	108.1
7	USC	107.2
8	Arizona St.	106.7
9	Utah	103.9
10	UCLA	102.5
11	Washington St.	101.5
12	California	99.7
Avg	Pac-12	107.3
#	Patriot	PiRate
1	Colgate	102.2
2	Lafayette	98.4
3	Boston U	98.2
4	American	96.9
5	Navy	96.3
6	Bucknell	96.1
7	Loyola (MD)	95.6
8	Lehigh	94.9
9	Army	91.8
10	Holy Cross	88.1
Avg	Patriot	95.9
#	Southeastern	PiRate
1	Auburn	114.2
2	Kentucky	113.0
3	LSU	111.7
4	Florida	111.7
5	Arkansas	111.4
6	Tennessee	109.0
7	Missouri	109.0
8	Alabama	108.9
9	Mississippi St.	108.3
10	Georgia	106.1
11	Mississippi	104.5
12	South Carolina	103.9
13	Vanderbilt	101.4
14	Texas A&M	101.3
Avg	Southeastern	108.2
#	Southern	PiRate
1	East Tennessee St.	107.8
2	UNC Greensboro	107.1
3	Furman	106.9
4	Wofford	101.8
5	Western Carolina	100.9
6	Chattanooga	99.7
7	Samford	95.3
8	Mercer	94.8
9	VMI	94.1
10	Citadel	94.1
Avg	Southern	100.2
#	Southland	PiRate
1	Stephen F. Austin	102.2
2	UT Arlington	101.2
3	Nicholls St.	99.4
4	Sam Houston St.	99.0
5	Abilene Christian	97.8
6	McNeese St.	95.0
7	Lamar	94.5
8	Texas A&M CC	92.2
9	New Orleans	91.8
10	Central Arkansas	90.5
11	Northwestern St.	88.9
12	SE Louisiana	88.7
13	Houston Baptist	87.4
14	Incarnate Word	84.8
Avg	Southland	93.8
#	Southwestern Athletic	PiRate
1	Prairie View A&M	96.7
2	Texas Southern	94.3
3	Grambling	93.3
4	Jackson St.	90.6
5	Alcorn St.	90.4
6	Southern	90.0
7	Alabama A&M	88.9
8	Alabama St.	87.3
9	Arkansas Pine Bluff	85.5
10	Mississippi Valley St.	79.0
Avg	Southwestern Athletic	89.6
#	Summit	PiRate
1	North Dakota St.	101.6
2	South Dakota St.	101.3
3	Oral Roberts	101.0
4	Omaha	97.9
5	South Dakota	97.5
6	North Dakota	97.5
7	Purdue Fort Wayne	95.4
8	Western Illinois	90.2
9	Denver	89.5
Avg	Summit	96.9
#	Sun Belt	PiRate
1	Georgia St.	104.9
2	Texas St.	102.7
3	Georgia Southern	101.1
4	Coastal Carolina	101.1
5	South Alabama	99.5
6	Appalachian St.	99.2
7	Little Rock	99.0
8	Arkansas St.	95.0
9	Louisiana	94.8
10	Louisiana Monroe	94.6
11	Troy	94.5
Avg	Sun Belt	98.8
#	West Coast	PiRate
1	Gonzaga	116.8
2	BYU	111.9
3	Saint Mary’s	110.4
4	San Francisco	105.1
5	Santa Clara	101.9
6	Pepperdine	100.8
7	Pacific	100.6
8	San Diego	97.3
9	Loyola Marymount	96.9
10	Portland	95.1
Avg	West Coast	103.7
#	Western Athletic	PiRate
1	New Mexico St.	105.1
2	California Baptist	99.8
3	Seattle	96.9
4	Missouri-KC	96.9
5	Cal St. Bakersfield	96.1
6	Grand Canyon	95.7
7	UT Rio Grande Valley	95.7
8	Utah Valley	93.7
9	Chicago St.	78.3
Avg	Western Athletic	95.4

 

Conference Ratings

 

#	Conference	PiRate
1	Big Ten	111.3
2	Big 12	110.7
3	Big East	110.2
4	Atlantic Coast	108.7
5	Southeastern	108.2
6	Pac-12	107.3
7	American Athletic	105.2
8	West Coast	103.7
9	Atlantic 10	103.2
10	Mountain West	102.4
11	Missouri Valley	101.0
12	Mid-American	100.5
13	Southern	100.2
14	Ivy	99.8
15	Conference USA	99.6
16	Sun Belt	98.8
17	Colonial Athletic	97.8
18	Big Sky	97.6
19	Summit	96.9
20	Big West	96.4
21	Horizon	96.2
22	Patriot	95.9
23	Metro Atlantic	95.4
24	American East	95.4
25	Western Athletic	95.4
26	Ohio Valley	95.2
27	Atlantic Sun	94.6
28	Southland	93.8
29	Northeast	93.7
30	Big South	93.5
31	Southwestern Athletic	89.6
32	Mideastern Athletic	89.0

Coming Later Today–Updated Bracketology

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NCAA Basketball Conference Tournaments–March 12 Update

Bucknell Joins The Dance Party

The Bucknell Bison earned the Patriot League’s automatic bid Friday with a 72-54 victory over Lafayette.  Versatile big man Mike Muscala led the Bison with 18 points while sharpshooter Bryson Johnson added 15.

 

Bucknell improved to 25-8 on the season.  They project to be a 12 or 13-seed.

 

12 More Bids To Go Out Saturday

 

This is the busiest day of the tournament schedule.  13 conferences will crown their champion, and four other conferences will conduct semifinal rounds.  All told, every single one of the 21 games scheduled will be televised nationally.  Do you have enough televisions and a good high-speed computer?

 

Here is a conference-by-conference look at all the action.

 

All Game Times EST

 

Atlantic Coast Conference—Greensboro, NC

Quarterfinal Round

#1 North Carolina  61  #9 Miami  59

#4 Clemson  70  #5 Boston College  47

#2 Duke  87  #7 Maryland  71

#6 Virginia Tech  52  #3 Florida State  51 

 

Semifinal Round

#1 North Carolina (25-6)  vs. #4 Clemson (21-10)  1:30 PM  ESPN 

#2 Duke (28-4)  vs. #6 Virginia Tech (21-11)  3:45 PM  ESPN

 

All four teams are safely in the NCAA Tournament.  The Hokies secured a spot in the Dance with the nail-biting win over the Seminoles.

 

America East Conference

Championship Round

#5 Stony Brook (15-16)  at #2 Boston U (20-13)  12 Noon  ESPN2

 

Boston U won both regular season meetings.  The Terriers won 67-62 at home and 62-49 on the road.  They win with their defense, as they only shoot 40.6% from the field.

 

Atlantic 10 Conference—Atlantic City, NJ

Quarterfinal Round

#9 Dayton  68  #1 Xavier  67

#12 St. Joseph’s  93  #4 Duquesne  90  ot

#2 Temple  96  #10 LaSalle  76

#3 Richmond  55  #6 Rhode Island 45

 

Semifinal Round

#9 Dayton (21-12)  vs. #12 St. Joseph’s (11-21)  1 PM  CBS College

#2 Temple (25-6)  vs. #3 Richmond (24-7)  3:30 PM  CBS College

 

The Bubble teams will have to sweat it out all the way until Sunday.  At least one long shot will advance to the Championship Game.  Neither St. Joe’s nor Dayton is getting an at-large bid, and one of the two will be playing for an automatic bid Sunday.  Both Temple and Richmond are in the Dance.

 

Big 12 Conference—Kansas City

Semifinal Round

#1 Kansas  90  #5 Colorado  83

#2 Texas  70  #3 Texas A&M  58

 

Championship Game

#1 Kansas (31-2)  vs. #2 Texas (27-6)  6 PM  ESPN

 

The Jayhawks are still playing for the overall number one seed, while Texas is probably locked in on a number two seed.  However, with Notre Dame losing, a Longhorn win could put them in the conversation, especially if Duke does not win the ACC Tournament.

 

Big East Conference—New York City

Semifinal Round

#9 Connecticut  76  #4 Syracuse  71  ot

#3 Louisville 83  #2 Notre Dame  77  ot 

 

Championship Game

#3 Louisville (25-8)  vs. #9 Connecticut (25-9)  9 PM  ESPN

 

Connecticut becomes the first team ever to play five games in five days in modern college basketball history.  Will they have anything left in the tank next week when it really counts?  Louisville’s win more than likely killed any chance for the Irish getting a number one seed in the NCAA Tournament.

 

Big Ten Conference—Indianapolis

Quarterfinal Round

#1 Ohio State  67  #8 Northwestern  61 ot

#4 Michigan  60  #5 Illinois  55

#7 Michigan State  74  #2 Purdue  56

#6 Penn State  36  #3 Wisconsin 33

 

Semifinal Round

#1 Ohio State (30-2)  vs. #4 Michigan (20-12)  1:40 PM  CBS

#6 Penn State (18-13)  vs. #7 Michigan State (19-13)  4 PM  CBS

 

Michigan State has now earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament.  Penn State might move from the Bubble to in the tournament with a win over the Spartans.

 

Big West Conference—Anaheim

Semifinal Round

#1 Long Beach State  74  #7 UC-Riverside  63

#5 UC-Santa Barbara 83  #3 Cal State Northridge 63

 

Championship Game

#1 Long Beach State (22-10)  vs. #5 UC-Santa Barbara (17-13)  8 PM  ESPN2

 

Long Beach State won both meetings against the Gauchos in the regular season, and neither game was close.  The 49ers are not going to become another Butler or even repeat the exploits of Northern Iowa last year, but they could scare a favored team in the first round.  If UCSB wins, then they will make a quick exit in the first round.

 

Conference USA—El Paso, TX

Semifinal Round

#4 Memphis  76  #8 East Carolina  56

#3 U T E P  66  #2 Tulsa  54

 

Championship Game

#3 UTEP (25-8)  vs. #4 Memphis (24-9)  11:30 AM  CBS

 

The host Miners blew Memphis off the floor 74-47 in their only regular season meeting.  That game took place on this court.

 

Ivy League Playoff

Harvard (23-5)  vs. Princeton (24-6)  at Yale University  4 PM  ESPN3.com 

 

If Princeton wins a close game, there is an outside chance that the Ivy League could get two bids.

 

Mid-American Conference—Cleveland

Semifinal Round

#6 Akron  79  #2 Western Michigan  68

#1 Kent State 79  #4 Ball State 68

 

Championship Game

#1 Kent State (23-10)  vs. #6 Akron (22-12)  6 PM  ESPN2

 

The winner goes dancing, while the loser can only hope for a trip to Madison Square Garden in late March.

 

M E A C—Winston-Salem, NC

Semifinal Round

#4 Morgan State  61  #1 Bethune-Cookman  48

#2 Hampton  85  #6 Norfolk State  61

 

Championship Game

#2 Hampton (23-8)  vs. #4 Morgan State (17-13)  2 PM  ESPN2

 

Morgan State goes for a four-peat.  The Bears beat Hampton in the regular season 78-72.

 

Mountain West Conference—Las Vegas

Semifinal Round

#1 B Y U  87  #5 New Mexico  76

#2 San Diego State  74  #3 UNLV 72

 

Championship Game

#1 B Y U  (30-3)  vs. #2 San Diego State (31-2)  7 PM  Versus

 

Is the third time the charm for San Diego State?  The Aztecs’ two losses were to the Cougars.  If they can hold Jimmer Fredette under 35 points, we have a feeling that SDSU will cut down the nets. 

 

Both teams are legitimate threats to make it to the Sweet 16 and possibly a round or two farther.

 

Pac-10 Conference—Los Angeles

Semifinal Round

#1 Arizona  67  #4 Southern Cal  62

#3 Washington 69  #7 Oregon 51

 

Championship Game

#1 Arizona (27-6)  vs. #3 Washington (22-10)  6 PM  CBS

 

This should be an exciting game, even though it will not greatly affect the NCAA Tournament seedings.

 

The two teams split the season series, but the Huskies came close to sweeping.  UW won by 17 at home and fell by a single point in Tucson.  We think this is a tossup game.

 

Southeastern Conference—Atlanta

Quarterfinal Round

1W  Alabama 65  4E Georgia 59  ot

2E  Kentucky  75  3W  Ole Miss 66

1E  Florida  85  5E  Tennessee  74

3E  Vanderbilt  87  2W  Mississippi State  81

 

Semifinal Round

1W  Alabama (21-10)  vs. 2E  Kentucky (23-8)  1 PM  ABC

1E  Florida (25-6)  vs.  3E  Vanderbilt (23-9)  3:30 PM  ABC

 

Alabama played themselves into position to get one of the final at-large bids.  The Crimson Tide fans need to route against a Dayton or St. Joseph’s tournament championship in the Atlantic 10, because there is still little room for error for ‘Bama.

 

Kentucky looks unstoppable at times and then looks like a team that doesn’t belong in the tournament at others.  That’s what you get with a bunch of underclassmen and with no depth.

 

We believe this game will be close for most of the day, but the Wildcats will enjoy one nice spurt in both halves to hold off the Tide by six to 12 points.

 

Florida is playing about as well as either of their two National Champion teams.  It is hard to stop a team with five guys capable of scoring 20 points.  The Gators’ have few weaknesses.

 

Vanderbilt is a lot like Florida, but not as talented.  The Commodores have excellent outside shooters, but they cannot create their own shot like Florida’s outside shooters.  They have a couple of excellent inside scorers, but they can disappear against Florida’s inside players.  We look for the Gators to dominate this one from the beginning and win by double digits.

 

Southland Conference—Katy, TX

Championship Game

#1 McNeese State (21-10)  vs. #7 UT-San Antonio (18-13)  4 PM  ESPN2

 

S W A C—Garland, TX

Semifinal Round

#4 Alabama State  73  #1 Texas Southern  66

#6 Grambling  81  #2 Jackson State  75  ot

 

Championship Game

#4 Alabama State (16-17)  vs. #6 Grambling (12-20)  8:30 PM  ESPNU

 

The winner of this game can definitely plan on heading to Dayton for a First Four game.

 

W A C—Las Vegas

Semifinal Round

#1 Utah State  58  #8 San Jose State  54

#2 Boise State 81  #3 New Mexico State  63

 

Championship Game

#1 Utah State (29-3)  vs. #2 Boise State (20-11) 10 PM  ESPN2

 

Utah State is definitely in the Dance, so if the Broncos can pull off the big upset, another bubble will burst somewhere else.

 

Note: St. Mary’s defeated Weber State Friday night 77-54 in a non-conference game that was scheduled only two months ago.  The Gaels appear to be safe as an at-large team.

NCAA Basketball Conference Tournaments–March 11 Update

Patriot League Championship—4:45 PM EST On ESPN2

#6 Lafayette (13-18)  at #1 Bucknell (24-8)

 

Lafayette makes an appearance in the conference championship game for the second consecutive year.  The Leopards fell to rival Lehigh last season and were tabbed the best team in the league in the preseason.  They took a step backward and tumbled to sixth in the league.

 

Bucknell closed 2010 with an 8-2 finish and returned all five starters and most of their key reserves.  The Bison continued to play top-notch ball and ran away with the Patriot League title.  Bucknell is on fire, having won nine games in a row by an average of 72-60 and 22 of their last 24 games.

 

The Bison swept the series against their Keystone State rival, winning 75-56 in Lewisburg and 74-69 in overtime at Easton.  Tonight’s game is on the West Branch of the Susquehanna River, so Bucknell will enjoy the home court advantage.

 

In the earlier game in Lewisburg, Bucknell began the second half of a close game by going on a 20-3 run to put the game out of reach.  The Bison held Lafayette to 37% shooting and controlled the boards by 14.  In the game at Lafayette, Bucknell led 61-50 with four and a half minutes to go, but the Bison did not score another point in regulation.  Lafayette scored 11 consecutive points to force overtime and then briefly took a 64-61 lead at the start of the extra period.  The Leopards shot under 40% again and were outrebounded once again.

 

Bucknell goes just seven-deep, and all seven contribute to the offense.  Muscular big man Mike Muscala leads the way with 14.8 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.  The 6-11 Muscala has recorded six double-doubles in the last 15 games.  Bryson Johnson is an excellent long-range shooter, and he shoots 47% from three-point range.  As a team, Bucknell shoots 40.6% from behind the arc.

 

Lafayette led the entire game at Holy Cross in the conference tournament quarterfinal.  The Leopards placed five players in double figure scoring, and they stole the ball nine times to knock off the Crusaders.  In the semifinal round at number two seed American, the Leopards trailed by two points in the final seconds when Jim Mower buried a three-pointer as the clock expired to seal a double overtime victory.

 

If the Leopards are to pull off the big upset and advance to a First Four game in Dayton next week, big man Jared Mintz will have to neutralize Muscala.  Mintz gives away two inches in height, but he has the power to hold his own inside.  Mintz leads the Leopards with a 15.8 point scoring average and 5.8 rebound average.  Mower averages 12.4 points per game.

 

Thursday’s Results And Friday’s Games With NCAA Tournament Repercussions

All Times EST

Atlantic Coast Conference—Greensboro, NC

1^st Round

#9 Miami  69  #8 Virginia  62

#5 Boston College  81  #12 Wake Forest  67

#7 Maryland  75  #10 North Carolina State  67

#6 Virginia Tech  59  #11 Georgia Tech  43

 

Quarterfinal Round

#9 Miami (19-13)  vs. #1 North Carolina (24-6)  12 Noon  ESPN2

#5 Boston College (20-11)  vs. #4 Clemson (20-10)  Approx. 2:15 PM  ESPN2

#7 Maryland (19-13)  vs. #2 Duke (27-4)  7 PM  ESPN2

#6 Virginia Tech (20-10)  vs. #3 Florida State (21-9)  Approx. 9:15 PM  ESPN2

 

North Carolina, Duke, Florida State, Clemson, and Boston College are in.  Virginia Tech, Maryland, and Miami are on the bubble.  Miami and Maryland must win today, or they are NIT-bound.  Virginia Tech is in a near must-win situation.  They are on the middle of the bubble.

 

Atlantic 10 Conference—Atlantic City, NJ

No Games Played Thursday

Quarterfinal Round

#9 Dayton (20-12)  vs. #1 Xavier (24-6)  12 Noon  CBS College

#12 St. Joseph’s (10-21)  vs. #4 Duquesne (18-11)  2:30 PM  CBS College

#10 LaSalle (15-17)  vs. #2 Temple (24-6)  6:30 PM  CBS College

#6 Rhode Island (19-12)  vs. #3 Richmond (24-7)  9 PM  CBS College

 

Xavier, Temple, and Richmond are in.  Duquesne must win the tournament to get in, so the bubble teams will be pulling for Dayton or Xavier to stop them in the semifinals.  Keep an eye on Rhode Island.  The Rams are capable of upsetting Richmond and Temple to get to the finals.

 

Big 12 Conference—Kansas City

Quarterfinal Round

#1 Kansas  53  #9 Oklahoma State  52

#5 Colorado  87  #4 Kansas State  75

#2 Texas  74  #10 Oklahoma  54

#3 Texas A&M  86  #6 Missouri  71

 

Semifinal Round

#1 Kansas (30-2)  vs. #5 Colorado (21-12)  7 PM

#2 Texas (26-6)  vs. #3 Texas A&M (24-7)  9:30 PM

 

Kansas, Texas, Texas A&M, Missouri, Kansas State, and Colorado are in.  The Buffalos secured their bid yesterday, so the rest of this tournament is all about the seedings.

 

Big East Conference—New York City

Quarterfinal Round

#9 Connecticut  76  #1 Pittsburgh  74

#4 Syracuse  79  #5 St. John’s  73

#2 Notre Dame  89  #7 Cincinnati  51

#3 Louisville  81  #11 Marquette  56

 

Semifinal Round

#9 Connecticut (24-9)  vs. #4 Syracuse (26-6)  7 PM  ESPN

#2 Notre Dame (26-5)  vs. #3 Louisville (24-8)  Approx. 9:15 PM  ESPN

 

11, yes 11, teams will receive invitations Sunday evening.  This is the strongest league not just this year, but maybe since the Big East placed three teams in the Final Four in 1985.  This should be a great finish to the tournament, and Notre Dame has a chance to move to a number one seed if the Irish win it.  Any one of these four could still be playing in late March.

 

Big Ten Conference—Indianapolis

1^st Round

#8 Northwestern  75  #9 Minnesota  65

#7 Michigan State  66  #10 Iowa  61

#6 Penn State  61  #11 Indiana  55

 

Quarterfinal Round

#1 Ohio State (29-2)  vs. #8 Northwestern (18-12) 12 Noon  ESPN

#4 Michigan (19-12)  vs. #5 Illinois (19-12)  Approx 2:20  ESPN

#2 Purdue (25-6)  vs. #7 Michigan State (18-13)  6:30 PM  Big Ten Network

#3 Wisconsin (23-7)  vs. #6 Penn State (17-13)  Approx. 8:45  Big Ten Network

 

Ohio State, Purdue, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Illinois are in.  Michigan State can definitely punch a ticket with an upset over Purdue today, and they are still on the highest part of the bubble if they lose.  Northwestern and Penn State must win the tournament to get in, although the Nittany Lions could get in the discussion with a loss in the finals.  We would not be all that surprised if the Wildcats play Ohio State a close game, at least for 30 to 32 minutes.

 

Big West Conference—Anaheim

Quarterfinal Round

#1 Long Beach State 79  #8 UC-Irvine  72

#5 UC-Santa Barbara  79  #4 Pacific  67

#7 UC-Riverside  70  #2 Cal Poly  66  ot

#3 Cal State Northridge  75  #6 Cal State Fullerton  54

 

Semifinal Round

#1 Long Beach State (21-10)  vs. #5 UC-Santa Barbara (16-13)  9:30 PM  ESPNU

#3 Cal State Northridge (14-17)  vs. #7 UC-Riverside (12-18)  12 Midnight  ESPNU

 

The champion is the only team that will advance.  Long Beach State has a minimal at best chance of winning a first round game if they are the champion.

 

Conference USA—El Paso, TX

Quarterfinal Round

#8 East Carolina  75  #1 U A B  70  ot

#4 Memphis  66  #5 Southern Miss.  63

#3 U T E P  77  #6 Marshall  65

#2 Tulsa  81  #7 Rice  72

 

Semifinal Round

#2 Tulsa (19-12)  vs. #3 U T E P  (24-8)  3 PM 

#4 Memphis (23-9)  vs. #8 East Carolina (18-14)  5:30 PM

 

At this point, no team is guaranteed a spot in the Big Dance.  UAB played their way to the bottom half of the bubble with a loss to ECU.  Memphis and UTEP could possibly get into the conversation if they both advance to the championship game.  For now, we are projecting just the champion to make it into the tournament.  The host Miners enjoy a large home court advantage and should top Tulsa in a thriller today.

 

Mid-American Conference—Cleveland

Quarterfinal Round

#2 Western Michigan 67  #7 Bowling Green  56

#6 Akron  82  #3 Miami (O)  75  2ot

#1 Kent State  73  #8 Buffalo  62

#4 Ball State  76  #5 Ohio U  73  ot

 

Semifinal Round

#2 Western Michigan (20-11)  vs. #6 Akron (21-12)  7 PM

#1 Kent State (22-10)  vs. #4 Ball State (19-12)  9:30 PM

 

The MAC has been down in recent years, but the eventual champion of this tournament could be a formidable opponent as a number 13 or 14 seed for a better team in the first round. 

 

M E A C—Winston-Salem, NC

Quarterfinal Round

#4 Morgan State  77  #5 North Carolina A&T  59

#6 Norfolk State  55  #3 Coppin State 53

 

Semifinal Round

#1 Bethune-Cookman (21-11)  vs. #4 Morgan State (16-13)  6 PM

#2 Hampton (22-8) vs. #6 Norfolk State (12-19)  Approx. 8:15 PM

 

These teams are playing for a probable spot in the First Four.  The first semifinal will be a thriller; the top-seeded Wildcats face the three-time defending champion Bears.

 

Hampton has been a surprise team, and they should have an easier contest and be more rested for the championship.

 

Mountain West Conference—Las Vegas

Quarterfinal Round

#1 B Y U  64  #9 T C U  58

#5 New Mexico  67  #4 Colorado State 61

#2 San Diego State  64  #7 Utah  50

#3 U N L V  69  #6 Air Force 53

 

Semifinal Round

#1 B Y U (29-3)  vs. #5 New Mexico (21-11)  9 PM  CBS College

#2 San Diego State (30-2)  vs. #3 U N L V  (24-7)  11:30 PM  CBS College

 

BYU, San Diego State, and UNLV are in.  Colorado State played themselves into the NIT with the loss yesterday to New Mexico.  As for the Lobos, with a third win over BYU today, they could get into the conversation, but they probably need to earn the automatic bid to go dancing.

 

Pac-10 Conference—Los Angeles

Quarterfinal Round

#1 Arizona 78  #9 Oregon State  69

#4 Southern Cal  70  #5 California  56

#7 Oregon  76  #2 U C L A  59

#3 Washington 89  #6 Washington State 87

 

Semifinal Round

#1 Arizona (26-6)  vs. #4 Southern Cal (19-13)  9 PM  Fox Sports

#3 Washington (21-10)  vs. #7 Oregon (16-16)  11:30 PM  Fox Sports

 

Arizona, UCLA, and Washington are in.  Oregon must win this tournament to get in.  As for Southern Cal, the Trojans might work their way into one of the final bubble spots with an upset over the top-seeded Wildcats tonight.  Last night’s battle of the Evergreen State was one of the most exciting of the tournament season with the Huskies coming from behind to knock off arch-rival Washington State by two.

 

Southeastern Conference—Atlanta

1^st Round

#4E  Georgia  69  #5W  Auburn  51

#3W  Ole Miss  66  #6E  South Carolina  55

#5E  Tennessee  74  #4W  Arkansas  68

#3E  Vanderbilt  62  #6W  L S U  50

 

Quarterfinal Round

#1W  Alabama (21-10)  vs. #4E Georgia (20-10)  1 PM

#2E  Kentucky (22-8)  vs. #3W Ole Miss (20-12)  3:30 PM

#1E  Florida (24-6)  vs. #5E  Tennessee (19-13)  7:30 PM

#2W Mississippi State (17-13)  vs. #3E  Vanderbilt (22-9)  10 PM

 

Florida, Kentucky, and Vanderbilt are definitely in.  Tennessee is probably in and would only be out if a lot of surprise winners win the remaining conference tournaments.  The Vols would safely secure a spot with a win over the Gators. 

 

The big game in all of college basketball today is the Georgia-Alabama game.  Call this an extra play-in game.  The winner survives to the Dance, while the loser will be hosting an NIT game next week.

 

Southland Conference—Katy, TX

Semifinal Round

#1 McNeese State  91  #4 Texas State  83

#7 UT-San Antonio  79  #3 Sam Houston State 70

 

Championship Game on Saturday

 

S W A C—Garland, TX

Quarterfinal Round

#4 Alabama State  81  #5 Alabama A&M 61

#6 Grambling  65  #3 Mississippi Valley  62

 

Semifinal Round

#2 Jackson State (17-14)  vs. #6 Grambling (11-20)  3:30 PM

#1 Texas Southern (19-11)  vs. #4 Alabama State (15-17)  9 PM

 

The Champion will probably be forced to play in the First Four.  Jackson State is on a mission after losing in the first round last year as the number one seed.

 

W A C—Las Vegas

Quarterfinal Round

#8 San Jose State  74  #4 Idaho 68

#3 New Mexico State  66  #6 Nevada  60

 

Semifinal Round

#1 Utah State (28-3)  vs. #8 San Jose State (17-14)  9 PM

#2 Boise State (19-11)  vs. #3 New Mexico State (16-16)  11:30 PM  ESPN2

 

Utah State is in and should be the higher seed in their first round game.  If the Aggies are upset, then one more bubble will burst.  The one WAC team that beat USU (Idaho) was knocked out of the conference tournament yesterday.

NCAA Basketball Conference Tournaments–March 10 Update

Two Newest Dance Participants

 

Northeast Conference Championship

Long Island  85  Robert Morris  82 ot

 

In what may have been the most exciting championship game of the season, the home-standing Blackbirds and visiting Colonials exchanged leads all night.  Two missed three-point shots in the final seconds, one at the buzzer, was all that prevented this game from going to double overtime.

 

LIU opened with a cold shooting hand, and RMU took the lead.  Once the Blackbirds started hitting their shots, this became a game of runs.  LIU had the hot hand in the second half, but RMU kept getting enough offensive rebounds to keep the Colonials in the game.

 

Jamal Olasewere had a game-high 31 points to go with 11 rebounds; he scored seven points in the overtime.  Team leader Julian Boyd was held to just seven points, but the Blackbirds had excellent showings off the bench.  Jason Brickman tossed in 15 points and dished out eight big assists, while Kenny Onyechi added 13 points.

 

Russell Johnson and Velton Jones teamed up for 42 points for the losers.

 

LIU will be a formidable opponent for their favored foe in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.  Their style of play could cause severe matchup problems for a bigger, slower team, especially if that team is not the strongest ball-handling team.  If they were to be bracketed against BYU in the first round, it would be the thriller of the first round. 

 

Big Sky Conference Championship

Northern Colorado  65  Montana  60

 

This game was anticlimactic following the NEC Championship.  Montana kept the pace slow, and the Grizzlies shot out to a 7-0 lead in the first two and a half minutes.  UNC made a run to take its first lead at 17-16 on a three-point shot by Tate Unruh.

 

The lead switched hands several times the remainder of the half with the buzzer sending the teams to the locker tied at 31-31.

 

Montana maintained a small lead for most of the second half, until star guard Devon Beitzel took over.  His three-pointer at the 4:56 mark gave the Bears the lead for good.  Beitzel continued shooting and then forced Montana to foul him, and the Bears hung on to win.

 

Beitzel did not score until late in the first half, but the Big Sky Conference’s leading scorer finished with 27 points.

 

Montana center Brian Qvale hit a layup with 16 seconds remaining to cut the lead to 62-60, but following two made Beitzel free throws, Art Steward committed a turnover to seal the game. 

 

Steward led the Grizzlies with 16 points, while Qvale added 11.

 

Northern Colorado will be one of those teams that will be glad just to be there at the NCAA Tournament.  The Bears should make a quick exit in game one, unless they are chosen as one of the First Four #16 seeds.

 

13 Automatic Qualifiers To Date

Team	Conference	Record
Arkansas-Little Rock	Sunbelt	19-16
Belmont	Atlantic South	30-4
Butler	Horizon	23-9
Gonzaga	West Coast	24-9
Indiana State	Missouri Valley	20-13
Long Island	Northeast	27-4
Morehead State	Ohio Valley	24-9
Northern Colorado	Big Sky	21-10
Oakland	Summit	25-9
Old Dominion	Colonial	27-6
St. Peter’s	Metro Atlantic	20-13
UNC-Asheville	Big South	19-13
Wofford	Southern	21-12

 

No Championship Games Are Scheduled For Thursday

 

Wednesday’s Results/Thursday’s Schedule

All Times EST

Atlantic Coast Conference—Greensboro, NC

1^st Round

#8 Virginia (16-14)  vs. #9 Miami (Fla) (18-13)  12 Noon

#5 Boston College (19-11)  vs. #12 Wake Forest (8-23)  Approx. 2:15 PM

#7 Maryland (18-13)  vs. #10 North Carolina State (15-15)  7 PM  ESPN2

#6 Virginia Tech (19-10)  vs. #11 Georgia Tech (13-17)  Approx. 9:15 PM

 

Big 12 Conference—Kansas City

1^st Round

#9 Oklahoma State  53  #8 Nebraska  52

#5 Colorado  77  #12 Iowa State  75

#10 Oklahoma  84  #7 Baylor  67

#6 Missouri  88  #11 Texas Tech  84

 

Quarterfinal Round

#9 Oklahoma State (19-12)  vs. #1 Kansas (29-2)  12:30 PM on ESPN2

#5 Colorado (20-12)  vs. #4 Kansas State (22-9)  3PM

#10 Oklahoma (14-17) vs. #2 Texas (25-6)  7 PM

#6 Missouri (23-9) vs. #3 Texas A&M (23-7)  9:30 PM

 

Big East Conference—New York City

2^nd Round

#9 Connecticut  79  #8 Georgetown 62

#5 St. John’s  65  #13 Rutgers 63

#7 Cincinnati  87  #15 South Florida 61

#11 Marquette  67  #6 West Virginia  61

 

Quarterfinal Round

#9 Connecticut (23-9)  vs. #1 Pittsburgh (27-4)  12 Noon  ESPN

#5 St. John’s (21-10)  vs. #4 Syracuse (25-6)  Approx. 2:15 PM  ESPN

#7 Cincinnati (25-7)  vs. #2 Notre Dame (25-5)  7 PM  ESPN

#11 Marquette (20-13)  vs. #3 Louisville (23-8)  Approx. 9:15 PM  ESPN

 

Big Ten Conference—Indianapolis

1st Round

#8 Northwestern (17-12)  vs. #9 Minnesota (17-13)  2:30 PM  ESPN2

#7 Michigan State (17-13)  vs. #10 Iowa (11-19)  4:50 PM  ESPN2

#6 Penn State (16-13)  vs. #11 Indiana (12-19)  7:30 PM  Big Ten Network

 

Big West Conference—Anaheim

Quarterfinal Round

#1 Long Beach State (20-10)  vs. #8 UC-Irvine (13-18)  3 PM

#4 Pacific (16-14)  vs. #5 UC-Santa Barbara (15-13)  5:20 PM

#2 Cal Poly (15-14)  vs. #7 UC-Riverside (11-18)  9 PM

#3 Cal State Northridge (13-17)  vs. #6 Cal State Fullerton (11-19)  11:20 PM

 

Conference USA—El Paso, TX

1^st Round

#8 East Carolina  78  #9 Central Florida  60

#5 Southern Miss.  63  #12 Tulane  47

#6 Marshall  97  #11 Houston  87

#10 Rice  58  #7 S M U  57

 

Quarterfinal Round

#8 East Carolina (17-14)  vs. #1 U A B  (22-7)  1PM  CBSC

#5 Southern Miss (22-9)  vs. #4 Memphis (22-9)  3:30 PM  CBSC

#6 Marshall (22-10)  vs. #3 U T E P  (23-8)  7:30 PM  CBSC

#10 Rice (14-17)  vs. #2 Tulsa (18-12)  10 PM  CBSC

 

M A C—Cleveland

Quarterfinal Round

#7 Bowling Green (14-18)  vs. #2 Western Michigan (19-11)  12 Noon

#6 Akron (20-12)  vs. #3 Miami (O) (16-15)  2:30 PM

#8 Buffalo (18-12)  vs. #1 Kent State (21-10)  7 PM

#5 Ohio U (18-14)  vs. #4 Ball State (18-12)  9:30 PM

 

M E A C—Winston-Salem, NC

Note: The MEAC has a unique scheduling format which rewards its top three seeds.  Thus, yesterday, there were both first round and quarterfinal round games scheduled.  The quarterfinal round concludes today.

 

1^st Round

#6 Norfolk State  68  #11 Howard 53

 

Quarterfinal Round

#1 Bethune-Cookman  66  #9 South Carolina State 50

#2 Hampton  77  #10 Maryland-Eastern Shore  55

 

Quarterfinal Round Continues

#4 Morgan State (15-13)  vs. #5 North Carolina A&T (15-16)  8 PM

#3 Coppin State (16-13)  vs. #6 Norfolk State (11-19)  7 PM

 

Mountain West Conference—Las Vegas

1^st Round

#9 T C U  70  #8 Wyoming  61

 

Quarterfinal Round

#9 T C U (11-21)  vs. #1 Brigham Young (28-3)  3 PM

#5 New Mexico (20-11)  vs. #4 Colorado State (19-11)  5:30 PM

#7 Utah (13-17)  vs. #2 San Diego State (29-2)  9 PM

#6 Air Force (15-14)  vs. #3 U N L V  (23-7)  11:30 PM

 

Pac-10 Conference—Los Angeles

1^st Round

#9 Oregon State 69  #8 Stanford 67

#7 Oregon 76  #10 Arizona State 69

 

Quarterfinal Round

#4 Southern Cal (18-13)  vs. #5 California (17-13)  3 PM  Fox Sports

#1 Arizona (25-6)  vs. #9 Oregon State (11-19)  5:30 PM  Fox Sports

#2 U C L A  (22-9)  vs. #7 Oregon (15-16)  9 PM  Fox Sports

#3 Washington (20-10)  vs. #6 Washington State (19-11)  11:30 PM  Fox Sports

 

Southeastern Conference—Atlanta

1^st Round

#4E  Georgia (20-10)  vs. #5W  Auburn (11-19)  1 PM

#3W  Ole Miss (19-12)  vs. #6E  South Carolina (14-15)  3:30 PM

#4W  Arkansas (18-12)  vs. #5E  Tennessee (18-13)  7:30 PM

#3W  Vanderbilt (21-9)  vs. #6E L S U  (11-20)  10 PM

 

Southland Conference—Katy, TX

Quarterfinal Round

#1 McNeese State 61  #8 Nicholls State 54

#4 Texas State 72  #5 Southeastern Louisiana 68

#7 Texas-San Antonio 97  #2 Northwestern State (LA) 96

#3 Sam Houston State 61  #6 Stephen F. Austin 45

 

Semifinal Round

#3 Sam Houston State (18-12)  vs. #7 Texas-San Antonio (17-13)  7 PM

#1 McNeese State (20-10)  vs. #4 Texas State (16-15)  9:30 PM

 

S W A C–Garland, TX

Quarterfinal Round

#1 Texas Southern 50  #8 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 45

#2 Jackson State 50  #7 Prairie View 38

 

Quarterfinal Round Continues

#3 Mississippi Valley (13-18)  vs. #6 Grambling (10-20)  12:30 PM

#4 Alabama State (14-17)  vs. #5 Alabama A&M (13-14) 9 PM

 

W A C—Las Vegas

1^st Round

#8 San Jose State 75  #5 Hawaii 74

#6 Nevada 90  #7 Fresno State 80

 

2^nd Round

#4 Idaho (18-12)  vs. #8 San Jose State (16-14)  3 PM  ESPNU

#3 New Mexico State (15-16)  vs. #6 Nevada (13-18)  5:30 PM  ESPNU

NCAA Basketball Conference Tournaments–March 9 Update

Three More Tickets Punched

Horizon League Championship

Butler 59  Milwaukee 44

 The Bulldogs held Milwaukee to 30% shooting from the field, and Matt Howard connected on seven of nine shots to pace Butler with 18 points, as the defending National Final runner-up earned another spot in the Big Dance.

 Summit League Championship

Oakland 90  Oral Roberts 76 

The Golden Grizzlies displayed a great offensive show with the aid of numerous first half steals by Drew Valentine and Reggie Hamilton to build a double-digit lead by the break.  After withstanding an early second half run by the Golden Eagles, Oakland pulled away to win the automatic bid.  

Keith Benson topped Oakland with 28 points and 14 rebounds.  Hamilton added 25 with six assists, while Will Hudson recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

 

Sunbelt Conference Championship

U A L R  64  North Texas  63 

The Trojans won their first Sunbelt Championship and earned their first bid to the NCAA Tournament since 1990.

 

SBC Player of the Year Solomon Bozeman drove from the backcourt to the left side of the top of the key and drained a three-pointer with 1.5 seconds remaining to give UALR the decisive points.  Bozeman scored a game-high 20 points. 

North Texas had led by seven points with less than two minutes to go, but the Mean Green wilted under the Trojan pressure defense.  With one last chance to try to win, UNT committed a turnover on the inbounds pass. 

11 Automatic Qualifiers To Date

Team	Conference	Record
Arkansas-Little Rock	Sunbelt	19-16
Belmont	Atlantic South	30-4
Butler	Horizon	23-9
Gonzaga	West Coast	24-9
Indiana State	Missouri Valley	20-13
Morehead State	Ohio Valley	24-9
Oakland	Summit	25-9
Old Dominion	Colonial	27-6
St. Peter’s	Metro Atlantic	20-13
UNC-Asheville	Big South	19-13
Wofford	Southern	21-12

 

Two Tickets To Be Punched Tonight

Big Sky Tournament Championship @ 9PM ET On ESPN2

#2 Montana (21-9) at #1 Northern Colorado (20-10)

 

Semifinal Round

Montana 57  Weber State 40

Northern Colorado 73  Northern Arizona 70

 

These two split their regular season series with Northern Colorado winning 63-45 in Greeley, and Montana winning 55-42 in Missoula.  Tonight’s game will be played at Butler-Hancock Hall in Greeley, so Northern Colorado will enjoy the home court advantage. 

This game is a great study in contrasts.  Northern Colorado is a quicker team, but Montana is a stronger team.  Northern Colorado has one exceptionally dominant player, while Montana has more, albeit less exceptional, weapons.

 

The Bears’ offense runs through 6-1 senior guard Devon Beitzel.  Beitzel averages a league-best 21 points per game, and he is deadly at the free throw line, where he connects on 91% of his tosses. 

The rest of the team collectively shoots under 41% from the field and commits more turnovers than assists, so if the Grizzlies can stop Beitzel, or at least limit his touches, they have a chance of defending their crown.

 

Montana has the dominant big man in the conference in 6-11/260 senior center Brian Qvale.  If the Grizzlies can keep this game a half-court affair, they stand a great chance of winning with Qvale plugging the middle on defense and controlling the boards at both ends of the court.  Qvale averages 15 points and nine boards a game, and he had a double-double with 16 points and 17 rebounds in the semifinal round.  Montana likes to limit possessions, so those numbers are even more impressive than they look. 

In the win over UNC, Montana held the Bears to 23.3% shooting, while they shot just 32.6% in the loss at Greeley.

 

It is our opinion that the visiting number two seed will pull off the mild upset over the host numbone seed, but it is not a strong feeling. 

 Northeast Conference Tournament Championship @ 7PM ET On ESPN2

#3 Robert Morris (18-13) at #1 Long Island (26-5)

Semifinal Round

Long Island 69  Central Connecticut 67

Robert Morris 64  Quinnipiac 62

Brooklyn has not been this excited over one of their own sports teams since the Dodgers won the 1955 World Series.  Long Island is one of the most exciting teams in the nation, and their 26-5 record has throngs of Brooklynites cramming into the Wellness, Recreation, and Athletic Center.  The WRAC holds just 2,500 seats, but you can bet that more than that amount will find their way into the game tonight, as they “Pack the WRAC.” 

Those fans will be converging to the corner of Ashland and Dekalb tonight, dressed in all white, to watch what could be a blowout win for their team.   

LIU is on a roll.  The Blackbirds have won 12 games in a row (longest current streak in the nation) and 20 of their previous 21 games.  They average almost 83 points per game.  The Blackbirds have exceptional depth with eight players capable of scoring 15 or more points. 

 

The Blackbirds pose difficult matchups with their roster, as they rely on quick guards and medium-sized forwards with great leaping ability to play at a fast pace.  There is no center on the roster, but the two 6-7 forwards have controlled the boards in most games this year. 

Those forwards are Julian Boyd and Jamal Olasewere, who team up for 25.4 points and 15.7 rebounds per game.

 5-10 backup guard Jason Brickman plays just 22 minutes per game, but he leads the team with 5.3 assists per game.  When he comes in the game, the pace picks up, and the Blackbirds shoot a lot of threes in transition.

 

Robert Morris is definitely not cannon fodder.  The Colonials are the two-time defending NEC Tournament champions, and they believe they can three peat even on the road in hostile conditions. 

The Colonials have won eight games in a row, relying on a stellar defense that limits possessions and pressures the guards.  They are missing their leading scorer, as 5-9 guard Karon Abraham’s season ended two weeks ago with a torn Achilles Tendon.  On the positive side, Abraham missed RMU’s win at LIU on December 2, as he was serving a multi-game suspension. 

Velton Jones and Russell Johnson will have to shine tonight for the Colonials to pull off the upset.  The duo are the only double figure scorers left, but both shoot less than 39% from the field. 

Without Abraham, RMU shoots just 33.7% from behind the arc, so the only way they can possibly win tonight is to replicate the formula that was successful more than three months ago—control the tempo and prevent LIU from getting off any uncontested three-pointers. 

We believe this game will begin slowly with RMU taking the lead in the early stages.  Somewhere in the first half, LIU will go on one of their patented runs and gain the lead.  Then, a second spurt will give them a commanding lead.  RMU might cut into that lead, but we believe in the end, the Blackbirds will be celebrating at the WRAC.  We do not believe the Brooklynites will be crying “Wait ‘Til Next Year.”  This will be like October of 1955 in the borough.

 

Yesterday’s Other Tournament Results

Atlantic 10 Conference

First Round

LaSalle 75  St. Bonaventure 73  2ot

St. Joseph’s 71  George Washington 59  ot

Rhode Island 70  St. Louis 61

Dayton 78  U Mass 50

 

Big East Conference

First Round

Connecticut 97  DePaul 71

Rutgers 76  Seton Hall 70 ot

South Florida 70  Villanova 69

Marquette 87  Providence 66 

M A C

First Round

Bowling Green 74  Northern Illinois 54

Ohio U 74  Toledo 57

Akron 67  Eastern Michigan 53

Buffalo 64  Central Michigan 50

 

M E A C

First Round

MD-Eastern Shore 87  F A M U 85  2ot

S. C. State 64  Delaware State 59 

Ivy League Playoff Set

Princeton defeated rival Penn 70-58 last night in Philadelphia, forcing a one-game playoff for the Ivy League’s automatic berth.  Princeton (24-6) will take on co-champion Harvard (23-5) Saturday afternoon at 4PM Eastern Time.  The game will be played at Yale University in New Haven, CT, and it can be seen live on ESPN3.com.

Princeton has appeared in all seven Ivy League tiebreaking playoff games in the history of the league.  This is Harvard’s first Ivy League basketball championship of any kind.  The Crimson last appeared in the NCAA Tournament in 1946. 

There is a chance that the loser of this game could hold a slim chance of earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.  Harvard is ranked #35 in the RPI, while Princeton is ranked #49.  Harvard has two wins over top 50 teams as well as three losses.  Their biggest win was at Boston College.  Princeton has just one win against the top 50 and two losses.  For the Ivy to earn two bids, the Tigers have to win Saturday and hope Harvard’s high RPI is enough to earn the second bid. 

Conference Tournaments In Action Today

Big 12 Conference

Tournament Site: Kansas City

1^st Round Games

#8 Nebraska (19-11) vs. #9 Oklahoma State (18-12)  12:30 PM ET

#5 Colorado (19-12) vs. #12 Iowa State (16-15)  3 PM ET

#7 Baylor (18-12) vs. #10 Oklahoma (13-17)  7PM ET

#6 Missouri (22-9) vs. #11 Texas Tech (13-18) 9:30 PM ET 

Big East Conference

Tournament Site: New York City

2^nd Round Games

#8 Georgetown (21-9) vs. #9 Connecticut (22-9)  12 Noon ET on ESPN

#5 St. John’s (20-10) vs. #13 Rutgers (15-16)  Approx. 2:15 PM ET on ESPN

#7 Cincinnati (24-7) vs. #15 South Florida (10-22)  7 PM ET on ESPN

#6 West Virginia (20-10) vs. #11 Marquette (19-13)  Approx. 9:15 PM ET on ESPN 

Conference USA

Tournament Site: El Paso, TX

1^st Round Games

#8 East Carolina (16-14) vs. #9 Central Florida (19-10)  1 PM ET

#5 Southern Miss (21-9) vs. #12 Tulane (13-16)  3:30 PM ET

#6 Marshall (21-10) vs. #11 Houston (12-17)  7:30 PM ET

#7 S M U (17-13) vs. #10 Rice (13-17)  10 PM ET 

M E A C

Tournament Site: Winston-Salem, NC

Note: The MEAC has a unique way of scheduling their tournament.  As a result, one first round game will be played today as well as two quarterfinal round games.  The other two quarterfinal round games will be played Thursday. 

1^st Round

#6 Norfolk State () vs. #11 Howard ()  3 PM ET

Quarterfinal Round

#1 Bethune-Cookman (20-11) vs. #9 South Carolina State (10-21)  7 PM ET

#2 Hampton (21-8) vs. #10 Maryland-Eastern Shore (9-21)  9:30 PM ET 

Mountain West Conference

Tournament Site: Las Vegas

1^st Round

#8 Wyoming (10-20) vs. #9 T C U (10-21)  5 PM ET 

Pac-10 Conference

Tournament Site: Los Angeles

1^st Round

#8 Stanford (15-15) vs. #9 Oregon State (10-19)  9 PM ET on Fox Sports Net

#7 Oregon (14-16) vs. #10 Arizona State (12-18)  11:30 PM ET on Fox Sports Net 

Southland Conference

Tournament Site: Katy, TX (Houston Area)

Quarterfinal Round

#2 Northwestern State (LA) (18-13) vs. #7 Texas-San Antonio (16-13)  1 PM ET

#3 Sam Houston (17-12) vs. #6 Stephen F. Austin (18-10)  3:30 PM ET

#1 McNeese State (19-10) vs. #8 Nicholls State (14-13)  7 PM ET

#4 Texas State (15-15) vs. #5 Southeastern Louisiana (15-13)  9:30 PM ET 

S W A C

Tournament Site: Garland, TX (Dallas-Ft. Worth Area) 

Quarterfinal Round

#2 Jackson State (16-14) vs. #7 Prairie View (10-21)  12:30 PM ET

#1 Texas Southern (18-11) vs. #8 Arkansas-Pine Bluff (7-23)  9 PM ET

W A C

Tournament Site: Las Vegas

1^st Round

#5 Hawaii (18-11) vs. #8 San Jose State (15-14)  3 PM ET

#6 Nevada (12-18) vs. #7 Fresno State (14-16)  5:30 PM ET

NCAA Basketball Conference Tournaments–March 8 Update

 

The Four Newest Dance Invitees

Did you see those conference championship games last night?  Was this the Monday Night Fights or basketball?  There were more cut men and cut women than in your average boxing card.

 

When it is all or nothing for these smaller conferences, you get what we saw last night—teams playing like their lives were on the line.

 

Colonial Athletic Association

Old Dominion 70

Virginia Commonwealth 65

 

Old Dominion 27-6

 

The Monarchs are capable of making a semi-surprise run in the Big Dance.  They lead the nation in rebounding margin, and they can score points in the paint. 

 

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference

St. Peter’s 62

Iona 57

 

St. Peter’s 20-13

 

The Peacocks beat Alabama earlier in the season, and their defense could keep them within striking defense in an opening round game, but we cannot see SPC advancing to the second round.

 

Southern Conference

Wofford 77

College of Charleston 67

 

Wofford 21-12

 

The Terriers finally beat the Cougars (we predicted this yesterday), and they will not roll over and play dead in the first round.  This team returns to the Dance for the second consecutive season, and they will not back down.  They may not advance, but they will not be in awe of their heavily favored first round opponent.

 

West Coast Conference

Gonzaga 75

Saint Mary’s 63

 

Gonzaga 24-9

 

This edition of Zags may not be the most talented in the Coach Mark Few era, but they are playing their best ball at the right time.  It will depend on their bracket, but this team has Sweet 16 potential.

 

Three More Invitations Go Out Tonight

By 11:15 PM Eastern Time tonight, we will know the names of three more NCAA Tournament participants.  Let’s break down these games.

 

Horizon League Championship @ 9PM ET on ESPN

Butler (22-9)  at  Milwaukee (19-12)

 

Butler defeated Cleveland State in the semifinal round Saturday evening, while Milwaukee topped Valparaiso.  During the regular season, Milwaukee swept the Bulldogs, winning 76-52 at home and 86-80 in overtime on the road.  The top-seeded Panthers host this game.

 

Both teams are red hot coming into this title match.  Milwaukee has gone 10-1 in their last 11 games, and the only loss was in the Bracketbuster to Buffalo.  Their defense is what got them here, as they shoot only 43% from the field and 65% at the foul line.

 

Three Panthers average double figures in scoring, led by Anthony Hill.  Hill averages just under 16 points per game, but he broke out with a 24-point, 11-rebound performance in the semifinal game against Valpo.  Kaylon Williams is the X-factor for Panthers.  He can score when needed, rebound with the big men, and run the offense.  He recorded a triple-double earlier in the season against Butler (10 points-10 rebounds-10 assists), and he added a double-double in the second win over the Bulldogs.

 

Butler missed Gordon Hayward even more than most experts predicted.  The Bulldogs played a tough pre-conference schedule and limped into February.  With their backs against the wall, they reeled off eight consecutive victories to get to the title game tonight.

 

Most basketball fans know Matt Howard and Shelvin Mack from last year’s team that made the surprise run to the National Championship Game.  The duo has teamed for 32 points and 6.5 rebounds per game this year.  However, it has been the emergence of 6-11 sophomore center Andrew Smith that has allowed Butler to turn things around and look like a force to be reckoned with once again.  Smith averaged 11 points per game over the second half of the season.  In the eight game winning streak, he has averaged 32 minutes per game and pulled down close to eight rebounds per game.  His 63% field goal percentage has forced defenses to stop him first, giving Howard and Mack more room to get open.  Smith was a non-factor in the two games against Milwaukee, and he is the key to tonight’s game.  If he plays 32 minutes and gets double figure points and eight rebounds, Butler will be cutting down the nets yet again.

 

Summit League Championship @ 9PM ET on ESPN2

Site: Sioux Falls, SD

Oakland (24-9)  vs. Oral Roberts (19-14)

 

If you like high-scoring, fast-paced games, you will definitely clear your schedule to view this one.  Oakland is the second best offensive team in the nation, averaging 86 points per game (92 ppg in their last 10 games).  The Grizzlies connect on close to 50% of their field goal attempts, and they tend to hit spurts where they score 10 points in two minutes.  Oral Roberts averages 81 points per game and has no qualms running with Oakland.

 

Both teams are riding major winning streaks entering tonight’s title game.  Oakland has won 17 of their last 18 games, while the Golden Eagles have won 10 in a row.  In the regular season, Oakland won both high-scoring games, but both were nail-biters that went down to the wire. 

 

Oakland has a tall and short combination that has done a lot of the damage on opponents.  6-11 center Keith Benson is the best player in the league.  Benson averages 17.7 points and 10 rebounds per game.  He showed he can do it against the big schools, as he had 17 points and 12 rebounds in a close loss to Michigan State and 26 points and 10 rebounds in a big win at Tennessee. 

 

5-11 guard Reggie Hamilton is a threat to top 20 points any night.  He is quick and can get open without help from screens.

 

Oral Roberts has a star in its own right.  Dominique Morrison averages just under 20 points per game, and he doesn’t need to heave up 25 shots per game to get those points.  Morrison shoots 51.3% from the field, 40% from behind the three-point line, and 78.4% at the foul line.  He scored 56 points in the two games against Oakland.

 

This should be a great game, and we don’t believe Oakland is that much of a favorite.  ORU has been to the Big Dance four times in the last six years, while Oakland is the defending tournament champion.  We expect the winner to top 90 points in this game, and it is too close to call.  We say Oakland has about a 54% chance and Oral Roberts a 46% chance of winning.

 

Sunbelt Conference Championship @ 7PM ET on ESPN2

Site: Hot Springs, AR

 

North Texas (22-10)  vs. U A L R (18-16)

 

On paper this looks like a mismatch, even though the teams finished one game apart in the regular season.  North Texas finished fourth in the West with an 8-8 league mark, while Little Rock finished fifth at 7-9.

 

North Texas was one of the biggest underachievers this season.  The Mean Green returned four starters from their 2010 conference champion team and were expected to win again this year with the best backcourt and one of the best frontcourts in the league.  Instead, a 3-9 swoon in the middle of the season placed them out of contention for the West crown.  Since that awful slide, UNT has recovered with five consecutive victories.

 

6-5 senior guard Tristan Thompson has led the way for the Mean Green in the tournament, scoring 80 points in the first three games.  He has done a lot of the damage at the foul line, where he is 31-35 in Hot Springs, including an unbelievable 20-20 performance in the win over top-seed Florida Atlantic.  Thompson combines a quick move to the basket with a sweet shot from outside.  Beefy forward George Odufuwa averages 11 points and 10.2 rebounds per game, and UALR has a tough matchup problem against him.

 

The Trojans dropped both regular season games to North Texas, mostly because they could not compete under the basket.  Their chance to win this game will come down to limiting possessions and trying to win 55-50.  They have won three games in the tournament by getting to the foul line and hitting foul shots, while using the clock and taking 30 seconds to shoot on most possessions.  UALR’s big star in this tournament has been senior guard Solomon Bozeman.  Like Thompson, Bozeman has gotten to the free throw line and made the most of his opportunities.  He has connected on 37 of 42 attempts including an eye-popping 19 of 22 against Middle Tennessee last night.

 

We expect a low-possession, low-scoring game.  There may be fewer than 100 field goal attempts tonight.  North Texas has been there before, while UALR has never won the Sunbelt Conference Tournament.  We think that trend will continue, but it wouldn’t surprise us if this game stays relatively close for the entire 40 minutes.  We could see North Texas winning 60-54.

 

The Other Tournaments In Action Today

 

Atlantic 10 Conference

First Round At Higher Seed Home Court

 

#9 Dayton (19-12) at #8 U Mass (15-14)  9PM ET on CBSC

#12 St. Joseph’s (9-21) at #5 George Washington (17-13)  7PM ET on CBSC

#10 LaSalle (14-17) at #7 St. Bonaventure (16-13)  5 PM ET on CBSC

#11 St. Louis (12-18) at #6 Rhode Island (18-12)  7 PM ET no TV

 

Big East Conference

Madison Square Garden in New York City

 

#16 Depaul (7-23) vs. #9 Georgetown (21-9) 12 Noon ET on ESPN2

#13 Rutgers (14-16) vs. #12 Seton Hall (13-17) Approx. 2:15 PM ET on ESPN2

#15 South Florida (9-22) vs. #10 Villanova (21-10) 7PM ET on ESPNU

#14 Providence (15-16) vs. #11 Marquette (18-13) Approx 9:15 ET on ESPNU

 

Big Sky Conference

Semifinal Round At Higher Seed Home Court

#3 Weber State (18-11) at #2 Montana (20-9)

#4 Northern Arizona (19-11) at #1 Northern Colorado (19-10)

 

Mid-American Conference

1^st Round At Higher Seed Home Court  All Games At 7PM ET

 

#10 Northern Illinois (9-20) at #7 Bowling Green (13-18)

#11 Eastern Michigan (9-21) at #6 Akron (19-12)

#9 Central Michigan (10-20) at #8 Buffalo (17-12)

#12 Toledo (4-27) at #5 Ohio U (17-14)

 

Mideastern Athletic Conference

Lawrence Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem, NC

 

#9 South Carolina State (9-21) vs. #8 Delaware State (9-20)  9PM ET

#10 Maryland-Eastern Shore (8-21) vs. #7 Florida A&M (12-19)  6:30 PM ET

 

Note: One more 1^st round game Wednesday plus two quarterfinal games

 

 

March Madness Update For Monday, March 8, 2010

Here are the schedules for the remaining mid-major conference tournaments.  Coming tomorrow, we will break down the Big Six conference tournaments.

Atlantic 10 Conference

Site: 1^st round at higher seed home court, all others at Atlantic City

Dates: March 9, 12-14

First Round

G1 #9 Duquesne (16-14) at #8 St. Bonaventure (14-15)

G2 #12 St. Joseph’s (11-19) at #5 Rhode Island (21-8)

G3 #10 George Washington (16-13) at #7 Dayton (19-11)

G4 #11 Massachusetts (11-19) at #6 Charlotte (19-11)

Quarterfinals

G5 #1 Temple (26-5) vs. Game 1 Winner

G6 #4 St. Louis (20-10) vs. Game 2 Winner

G7 #2 Xavier (23-7) vs. Game 3 Winner

G8 #3 Richmond (24-7) vs. Game 4 Winner

Semifinals

Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner

Temple is one of two hot teams, winning their last seven to conclude the regular season.  The Owls hold teams to 56.8 points per game.  At the other end of the spectrum, Xavier has won seven straight, and the Musketeers are averaging 80 points per game.  A championship game involving these two teams would be one of the best in the entire week.

Richmond has out-of-conference wins over Mississippi State, Missouri, and Florida.  The Spiders will be in the Big Dance regardless of their outcome in this tournament, but they have the horses to beat Xavier and Temple on consecutive days.

Among the dark horses, keep an eye on U Mass.  The Minutemen have been close in a lot of games this year, and they upset Rhode Island down the stretch.

Big West Conference

Site: Anaheim

Dates: March 10-13

Opening Round

#5 Cal State Fullerton (15-14) vs. #8 Cal State Northridge (11-20)

#6 Cal Poly (11-18) vs. #7 UC-Irvine (14-17)

Quarterfinals

Higher Opening Round Winning Seed vs. #4 UC-Davis (13-17)

Lower Opening Round Winning Seed vs. #3 Long Beach St. (15-15)

Semifinals

Higher Quarterfinal Round Winning Seed vs. #2 Pacific (20-10)

Lower Quarterfinal Round Winning Seed vs. #1 UCSB (18-9)

The Big West is really down this season.  Even top-seeded UCSB is likely to be no better than a #15 seed in the Big Dance.  Pacific is the only team entering the tournament with a hot-hand, but any of the top five seeds could win this one.  Long Beach State played a tough schedule, losing on the road to Notre Dame, Texas, Kentucky, and Duke and at home to West Virginia and Clemson.  The 49ers beat UCLA and Utah State, and they scared Kentucky in that game at Rupp Arena.

Conference USA

Site: Tulsa

Dates: March 10-13

Opening Round

G1 #8 SMU (18-12) vs. #9 Central Florida (14-16)

G2 #5 Tulsa (21-10) vs. #12 Rice (8-22)

G3 #7 Houston (15-15) vs. #10 East Carolina (10-20)

G4 #6 Southern Miss. (18-12) vs. #11 Tulane (8-21)

Quarterfinals

G5 #1 UTEP (24-5) vs. Game 1 Winner

G6 #4 Marshall (23-8) vs. Game 2 Winner

G7 #2 Memphis (23-8) vs. Game 3 Winner

G8 #3 UAB (23-7) vs. Game 4 Winner

Semifinals

Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner

Game 7 Winner vs. Game 8 Winner

UTEP looks more like Memphis has looked the last few years, and it’s no surprise that the Miners are coached by a John Calipari protégé Tony Barbee.  UTEP enters the CUSA tourney on a 14-game winning streak and should waltz on through to a nice seed in the Big Dance.

Memphis probably needs to win their quarterfinal game to stay on the bubble, and needs to make it to the Championship Game to guarantee themselves a ticket to the Field of 65.

UAB was the hot team earlier in the year, but the Blazers appear to be NIT-bound.  Tulsa is the host team, but the Golden Hurricane have been a major disappointment this year.

Houston is very inconsistent.  When they are playing at their peak, they can beat anybody else in the league, including UTEP.  The Cougars dominated the Miners in their first game, and blew a 14-point lead at UTEP.  However, they also lost to 21-loss Tulane to end the season at 5-8 in their final 13 games.

MEAC

Site: Winston-Salem, NC

Dates: March 9-13

Opening Round

G1 #8 Howard (7-24) vs. #9 North Carolina A&T (10-21)

G2 #7 Bethune-Cookman (16-15) vs. #10 Florida A&M (9-21)

G3 #6 Md. Eastern Shore (10-20) vs. #11 Coppin State (8-21)

Quarterfinals

G4 #1 Morgan State (24-9) vs. Game 1 Winner

G5 #4 Norfolk St. (11-18) vs. #5 Hampton (13-17)

G6 #2 Delaware St. (16-11) vs. Game 2 Winner

G7 #3 South Carolina St. (16-13) vs. Game 3 Winner

Semifinals

Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner

Game 6 Winner vs. Game 7 Winner

If any team other than Morgan State wins the tournament and automatic bid, it will be Play-in time in the MEAC.  South Carolina State is the one team that played Morgan State evenly, penning the one loss on the Bears and taking the other game to the wire.

Mountain West Conference

Site: Las Vegas

Dates: March 10-13

Opening Round

G1 #8 Wyoming (10-20) vs. #9 Air Force (9-20)

Quarterfinals

G2 #1 New Mexico (28-3) vs. Game 1 Winner

G3 #4 San Diego St. (22-8) vs. #5 Colorado St. (16-14)

G4 #2 BYU (28-4) vs. #7 TCU (13-18)

G5 #3 UNLV (23-7) vs. #6 Utah (14-16)

Semifinals

Game 2 Winner vs. Game 3 Winner

Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner

The top four seeds offer interesting contrasting styles of play.  Top-seed New Mexico is coached by former Indiana star Steve Alford.  His team plays a lot like Bobby Knights former teams.  The guards can post up in the paint and rebound like Quinn Buckner and Bobby Wilkerson used to do for the Hoosiers.

BYU is a team of long-range bombers.  The Cougars can score points quickly and run teams out of the gym in a short amount of time.  Jimmer Fredette is a multi-tooled player.  He can outshoot anybody in the nation, can rebound much better than his 6-2 size would indicate, he can dish the ball, and he plays great defense.  Joe Paterno recruited him to play football at Penn State.

UNLV is a plodding, power team playing the way Coach Lon Kruger likes.  They are a lot like a thoroughbred race horse who comes from off the pace with one big run.  The Runnin’ Rebels usually have one good run in most games.  With a Kruger-coached team, you get tough man-to-man defense and patient offense.

San Diego State is the most physical team in the league.  The Aztecs, coached by former Michigan head man Steve Fisher, play a lot like the national championship team Fisher inherited in 1989.  They are the one team that really dominated New Mexico during the regular season, and we tend to believe they will oust the Lobos in a semifinal match.

Southland Conference

Site: Katy, TX

Dates: March 10-11, 13

Quarterfinals

G1 #1 Sam Houston (22-7) vs. #8 Nicholls State (11-18)

G2 #4 SE Louisiana (18-11) vs. #5 Texas State (15-15)

G3 #2 Stephen F. Austin (21-8) vs. #7 UT-Arlington (16-13)

G4 #3 Texas A&M CC (16-14) vs. #6 UT-San Antonio (19-10)

Semifinals

G1 Winner vs. G2 Winner

G3 Winner vs. G4 Winner

Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin have begun to become the big two of this league, and a championship game between the two would be worth watching.  Sam Houston likes to run and gun, while SFA is a defense and patient team.  When they squared off in January, Sam Houston won, but the game was played at SFA. 

Watch out for the number three through seven seeds.  These five teams are all capable of upsetting somebody in this tournament.

SWAC

Site: Shreveport, LA

Dates: March 10-13

Quarterfinals

G1 #2 Arkansas-Pine Bluff (14-15) vs. #7 Miss. Valley (9-22) (3/10)

G2 #1 Jackson State (19-11) vs. #8 Grambling (6-20) (3/10)

G3 #4 Prairie View (16-13) vs. #5 Texas Southern (15-15) (3/11)

G4 #3 Alabama State (15-14) vs. #6 Alabama A&M (11-15) (3/11)

Semifinals (3/12)

Game 1 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner

Game 2 Winner vs. Game 3 Winner

There is only one team in the SWAC capable of playing someone close in the first round of the Big Dance.  Jackson State started the season 0-10, and then proceeded to go 19-1 for the most unbelievable turnaround in NCAA Division 1 basketball history!  The Tigers only had a +7 point differential in league play, and even at 17-1, they were not dominating.

Texas Southern is just the five-seed, but they are the one team Jackson State doesn’t want to play in the conference tournament.  The Tigers held JSU to 44 points on 31% shooting in beating them and then in the rematch lost in overtime.  DeAndre Hall, Junior Treasure, and Travele Jones make up the finest trio in the league.

WAC

Site: Reno, NV

Dates: March 11-13

Quarterfinals

G1 #1 Utah State (25-6) vs. #8 Boise State (15-16)

G2 #4 Louisiana Tech (22-9) vs. #5 Fresno State (15-17)

G3 #2 Nevada (19-11) vs. #7 Idaho (15-15)

G4 #3 New Mexico State (19-11) vs. #6 San Jose St. (14-16)

Semifinals

Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner

Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner

This has the makings of a very interesting tournament.  Utah State is on the lower end of the bubble, and the Aggies could drop to the NIT with a quarterfinal loss.

If the top four seeds win their first game, it will be possibly the best final two rounds of any tournament.

Nevada is the host team, and the Wolf Pack went 14-1 at home this year.  That one loss was to Utah State.  Chances are better than average those two will play again Saturday.

A PiRate Look at the NCAA Basketball Conference Tournaments–March 16, 2008, 9th Update (Final Update)

 

A PiRate Look at the NCAA Basketball Conference Tournaments

March 16, 2008, 9^th Update (Final Update)

(NCAA Tournament Coverage Begins Monday)

Conference Tournament Results through Saturday, March 15, 2008

For many years, yours truly was an active member of the media, be it in radio, television, or print journalism.  Over the course of that career, I never once suffered from writer’s block or even had to think for more than a few seconds to decide what angle I would pursue in an article.

If I were still writing for print media or reporting in some form of broadcast media, I would have been lost for words to put something unique on the events of the last 36 hours in the college basketball world.  Sure, I could have given the 5 W’s and 1 H for any of the events, but unless I was stringing for the Associated Press, it wouldn’t have been what I hoped it could have been.

My only thought when all the events began to occur was a famous quote that has erroneously been attributed as Chinese.  “May you live in interesting times,” is supposed to be a Chinese curse for some poor schlemiel to endure many chaotic and tumultuous events in his lifetime. 

What has happened at the Southeastern Conference since Friday night is just another minor event of the 21^st Century when compared to the many true miseries throughout the world.  However, for those people who look forward to this annual three-week “holiday,” it’s like having a relative losing his dinner at the Thanksgiving table.  You can still eat more turkey, but it just doesn’t look as appetizing as it did prior to the incident.

For the one or two people reading this who do not know what I speak of, an EF-2 tornado struck the Georgia Dome in Atlanta late Friday night during the closing minutes of the Southeastern Conference Tournament.  Alabama and Mississippi State were in the final couple of minutes of overtime, when parts of the dome roof took direct hits, and debris littered the floor while several parts of the building shook.  The game was halted for more than an hour, and when play resumed, Mississippi State pulled out a close victory.  Kentucky and Georgia were supposed to play 25 minutes after that game, but after several minutes, SEC and Georgia Dome officials cancelled the game, believing correctly that the building was not safe.  The fans were given notice that the game was cancelled, but they were told they could not leave the building.  Eventually, they were allowed to leave and went outside to find what one reporter called “conditions looking like a war zone.”  Some fans discovered they no longer had automobiles.  Some fans discovered they no longer had accommodations at their hotel.  Many stayed out all night, and when the sun rose Saturday morning, they discovered that they had no access to the rest of the tournament.

The SEC moved the remainder of the tournament to Georgia Tech’s tiny coliseum.  They mandated that Georgia and Kentucky would play at noon on Saturday, and the winner would have to play a second game Saturday night (something that the SEC Tournament did with their semifinals and finals until 1952).

That’s just where the weird events began.  Georgia finished dead last in the SEC this year.  Head Coach Dennis Felton was on the type of bubble he didn’t want to end up on-his job status was up in the air.  To add to the difficulties, he has only eight scholarship players on his roster, and his team played a late overtime game in the first round Thursday night.

If you haven’t heard, Georgia won two games Saturday.  The Bulldogs defeated Kentucky in the early afternoon, and then they knocked off Mississippi State a few hours later.  That moves Georgia into the Championship Game of the tournament against Arkansas.  Georgia has a 16-16 record entering today’s title game.  They must either win and go to the Big Dance, or lose and end their season.  Oh, and one more thing:  Star player Sundiata Gaines suffered a hip pointer in the Mississippi State game, and he will be playing on a gimpy leg today. 

That’s not the only news.  More conference upsets have burst some additional bubbles.  A 20-loss team in a mid-major conference has won an automatic bid, and an automatic bid was doled out to a team that won in triple overtime.  Here’s a look at each conference. 

Previous Concluded Tournaments

Atlantic Sun

Quarterfinals

#4 East Tennessee 81 #5 Lipscomb 74

#6 Gardner-Webb 82  #3 Stetson 63

#2 Jacksonville 65  #7 Mercer 57

#1 Belmont 75  #8 Campbell 66

Semifinals

Jacksonville 89 Gardner-Webb 80

Belmont 69 East Tennessee 65

Saturday, March 8

Championship

Belmont 79  Jacksonville 61

Automatic Qualifier: Belmont 25-8  Avg. RPI 76.3

At-Large Teams:      0

Bubble:                      None

Big Sky                    

Saturday, March 8

Quarterfinals

#4 Idaho State 67  #5 Montana 65

#3 Weber State 65  #6 Montana State 49

Tuesday, March 11 @ Portland, OR

Semifinals

#1 Portland State 72  Idaho State 61

#2 Northern Arizona 75  Weber State 70

Wednesday, March 12 @ Portland, OR

Championship Game

Portland State 67  Northern Arizona 51

Automatic Qualifier: Portland State 23-9  Avg. RPI 87.3

Portland State will pose problems for a first-round opponent not used to playing against a team that overplays the passing lanes.  If the Vikings snatch away double figure steals, they can compete in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.  PSU will have problems with a physical, inside muscle team that knows how to take care of the ball, like a Michigan State.

At-Large Teams:      0

Bubble:                      None

Big South

Opening Round

#1 UNC-Asheville 87  #8 Charleston Southern 63

#4 Liberty 103  #5 VMI 88

#2 Winthrop 76  #7 Radford 45

#3 High Point 59  #6 Coastal Carolina 56

Semifinals

UNC-Asheville 75  Liberty 57

Winthrop 61  High Point 53

Saturday, March 8 @ Asheville, NC

Championship Game

Winthrop 66  UNC-Asheville 48

Automatic Qualifier: Winthrop 22-11  Avg. RPI 106.5

At-Large Teams:      0

Bubble:                      None

Colonial Athletic Association

All Games Played At Richmond, VA (Virginia Commonwealth host team)

#9 Towson State 81  #8 Towson State 66

#5 William & Mary 58 #12 Georgia State 57

#6 Delaware 60  #11 Drexel 51

#7 Northeastern 73 #10 James Madison 59

Saturday, March 8

Quarterfinals

#1 Virginia Commonwealth 57  Towson State 46

William & Mary 63  #4 Old Dominion 60

#3 UNC-Wilmington 82  Delaware 59

#2 George Mason 63  Northeastern 52

Sunday, March 9

Semifinals

William & Mary 56  Virginia Commonwealth 54

George Mason 53  UNC-Wilmington 41

Monday, March 10

Championship Game

George Mason 68  William & Mary 59

Automatic Qualifier: George Mason 23-10  Avg. RPI 59.5

At-Large Teams:      0 or 1

Bubble:                      Virginia Commonwealth 24-7  RPI Avg.: 55 [Still needs help]

Horizon League              

All Games Played At Indianapolis (Butler host team)

Opening Round

#3 Wright State 60  #10 Detroit 37

#6 Valparaiso 75  #7 UW-Green Bay 67

#4 Illinois-Chicago 70  #9 Youngstown State 59

#8 Loyola (Chi.) 57  #5 UW-Milwaukee 51

Quarterfinals

Valparaiso 72  Wright State 67

Illinois-Chicago 60 Loyola (Chi.) 49

Saturday, March 8

Semifinals

#2 Cleveland State 78  Valparaiso 73

#1 Butler 66  Illinois-Chicago 50

Tuesday, March 11

Championship

Butler 70  Cleveland State 55

Automatic Qualifier: Butler 29-3  Avg. RPI 16.8

At-Large Teams:      0

Bubble:                      None (Cleveland State is just below the Bubble and should get a bid to the NIT or the new CBI)

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference

All Games Played At Albany, NY (Siena host team)

Opening Round

#8 Manhattan 73  #9 St. Peter’s 59

#10 Canisius 64  #7 Iona 59

Saturday, March 8

Quarterfinals

#1 Siena 66  Manhattan 58

#4 Loyola (Md.) 64  #5 Fairfield 59

#2 Rider 75  Canisius 71

#6 Marist 66  #3 Niagara 62

Sunday, March 9

Semifinals

Siena 65  Loyola (Md.) 63

Rider 76  Marist 71

Monday, March 10

Championship Game

Siena 74  Rider 53

Automatic Qualifier: Siena 22-10  Avg. RPI 66.8

At-Large Teams:      0

Bubble:                      None

Missouri Valley @ St. Louis (Arch Madness)

Opening Round

#8 Indiana State 71  #9 Wichita State 67

#7 Missouri State 69 #10 Evansville 46

Quarterfinals

#1 Drake 68  Indiana State 46

#4 Creighton 74  #5 Bradley 70

#2 Illinois State 63  Missouri State 58

#6 Northern Iowa 54  #3 Southern Illinois 49

Saturday, March 8

Semifinals

Drake 75 Creighton 67

Illinois State 56 Northern Iowa 42

Sunday, March 9

Championship

Drake 79  Illinois State 49

Automatic Qualifier: Drake 28-4  Avg. RPI 10.3

At-Large Teams:      0 or 1

Bubble:                      Illinois State 23-9  RPI avg. 34 [Beginning to look safe]

                                    Creighton 21-10  RPI avg. 46.3 [added to bubble watch due to upsets]

Northeast

Quarterfinal

#1 Robert Morris 64  #8 Monmouth 50

#4 Mt. St. Mary’s 80  #5 Quinnipiac 70

#2 Wagner 71  #7 Long Island 62

#3 Sacred Heart 84  #6 Central Connecticut State 71

Sunday, March 9

Semifinals

Mt. St. Mary’s 83  Robert Morris 65

Sacred Heart 55  Wagner 49

Wednesday, March 12

Championship

Mt. St. Mary’s 68  Sacred Heart 55

Automatic Qualifier: Mount St. Mary’s 18-14  Avg. RPI 157

The Mount won its three tournament games by an average score of 77-63 thanks to great shooting and the ability to hustle on the boards.  That worked against the NEC, but it won’t be enough to get past the first round in the Big Dance.  This is a #16-seed that will make a quick exit.

At-Large Teams:      0

Bubble:                      None

Ohio Valley Conference

Quarterfinals @ Higher Seed

#1 Austin Peay 76  #8 Eastern Kentucky 51

#4 UT-Martin 101  #5 Samford 94  3ot

#2 Murray State 77  #7 Tennessee Tech 74

#6 Tennessee State 68  #3 Morehead State 61

Semifinals @ Nashville

Austin Peay 78  UT-Martin 77

Tennessee State 83 Murray State 75

Saturday, March 8

Championship

Austin Peay 82 Tennessee State 64

Automatic Qualifier: Austin Peay 24-10  Avg. RPI 82

At-Large Teams:      0

Bubble:                      None

Southern Conference

All Games Played At Charleston, SC (College of Charleston host team)

Opening Round

#8 Wofford 58  #9 Western Carolina 49

#7 Elon 52  #10 Furman 37

#6 Charleston 66  #11 Citadel 48

Saturday, March 8

Quarterfinals

#1 Davidson 82 Wofford 49

#5 UNC-Greensboro 63  #4 Appalachian State 46

Elon 60  #2 Chattanooga 57

Coll. of Charleston 87  #3 Georgia Southern 73

Sunday, March 9

Semifinals

Davidson 82 UNCG 52

Elon 75  Charleston 61

Monday, March 10

Championship Game

Davidson 65  Elon 49

Automatic Qualifier: Davidson 26-6  Avg. RPI 30.3

At-Large Teams:      0

Bubble:                      None

Summit League @ Tulsa (Oral Roberts host team)                  

Saturday, March 8

Quarterfinals

#1 Oral Roberts 84 #8 Centenary 56

#2 IUPUI 69  #7 Missouri-Kansas City 65

Sunday, March 9

Quarterfinals

#5 IPFW 66  #4 Southern Utah 62

#3 Oakland 80 #6 Western Illinois 66

Monday, March 10

Semifinals

Oral Roberts 58 IPFW 42

IUPUI 80 Oakland 65

Tuesday, March 11

Championship

Oral Roberts 71  IUPUI 64

Automatic Qualifier: Oral Roberts 24-8  Avg. RPI 49

At-Large Teams:      0

Bubble:                      None (IUPUI’s RPI is too low for consideration)

Sunbelt Conference                   

1^st Round

#8 New Orleans 65  #9 Denver 60

#4 Middle Tennessee 74  #13 Louisiana Monroe 69

#12 Troy 70  #5 Louisiana Lafayette 60

#6 North Texas 85  #11 Arkansas State 63

#7 Florida Atlantic 91  #10 Florida International 64

Sunday, March 9 @ Mobile, AL

Quarterfinals

South Alabama 81  New Orleans 77

Middle Tennessee 65  Troy 59

Western Kentucky 84  North Texas 70

Arkansas Little Rock 66  Florida Atlantic 60

Monday, March 10 @ Mobile, AL

Semifinals

Middle Tennessee 82  South Alabama 73

Western Kentucky 70 Arkansas-Little Rock 55

Tuesday, March 11 @ Mobile, AL

Championship

Western Kentucky 67  Middle Tennessee 57

Automatic Qualifier: Western Kentucky 27-6  Avg. RPI 37.3

At-Large Teams:      0 or 1

Bubble:                      South Alabama (Avg. RPI 37.3) [Looking Good after yesterday’s upsets]

 West Coast Conference

All Games Played At San Diego (San Diego host team)

Opening Round

#5 San Francisco 79  # 8 Loyola Marymount 60

#6 Pepperdine 50  #7 Portland 48  ot

Saturday, March 8

Quarterfinals

#4 Santa Clara 51  San Francisco 50

#3 San Diego 75  Pepperdine 55

Sunday, March 9

#1 Gonzaga 52  Santa Clara 48

San Diego 75  #2 St. Mary’s 69  2ot

Monday, March 10

Championship Game

San Diego 69 Gonzaga 62

Automatic Qualifier: San Diego 21-13  Avg. RPI 93.3

At-Large Teams:      0, 1 or 2 (Gonzaga & St. Mary’s)

Bubble:                      St. Mary’s 25-6  Avg. RPI 36.5 [Should be safe thanks to Pac-10 teams losing]

                                    Gonzaga 25-7  Avg. RPI 30 [Absolute certainty]

Ivy League Champion

Automatic Qualifier: Cornell 22-5  Avg. RPI 64.5

Recent Tournaments Concluded

America East

1^st Three Rounds At Binghamton, NY.  Championship Game At Higher Seed

Opening Round

#8 Stony Brook 73  vs. #9 Maine 65  ot

Saturday, March 8

Quarterfinals

#1 Md. Balt. Co. 76  Stony Brook 60

#4 Vermont 65  #5 Binghamton 57

#2 Hartford 68  #7 New Hampshire 65

#6 Boston U. 68  #3 Albany 64  ot

Sunday, March 9

Semifinals

Md. Balt. Co. 73  Vermont 64

Hartford 59  Boston U. 52

Saturday, March 15

Championship Game

Maryland-Baltimore Co. 82  Hartford 65

Automatic Qualifier: Maryland-Baltimore County 24-8  Avg. RPI 87.5

At-Large Teams:      0

Bubble:                      None

Atlantic Coast  @ Charlotte, NC

Thursday, March 13

Opening Round

#9 Florida State 70  #8 Wake Forest 60

#5 Miami 63  #12 North Carolina State 50

#7 Georgia Tech 94  #10 Virginia 76

#11 Boston College 71  #6 Maryland 68

Friday, March 14

Quarterfinals

#1 North Carolina 82  Florida State 70

#4 Virginia Tech 63  Miami 49

#2 Duke 82  Georgia Tech 70

#3 Clemson 82  Boston College 48

Saturday, March 15

Semifinals

North Carolina 68  Virginia Tech 66

Clemson 78  Duke 74

Sunday, March 16

Championship Game

North Carolina 31-2  vs. Clemson 24-8

At-large Teams:       3, 4, or 5 (UNC-2, Duke-6, Clem-19.5, Miami-34.8)        

Bubble:                      Virginia Tech (Avg RPI 54.5),  Florida State ( Avg RPI 59.3)

Atlantic 10  @ Atlantic City, NJ

Wednesday, March 12

Opening Round

#8 Dayton 63  St. Louis 62  ot

#5 St. Joseph’s 80 #12 Fordham 62

#7 LaSalle 82  #10 Duquesne 79

#6 Charlotte 75  #11 Rhode Island 73

Thursday, March 13

Quarterfinals

#1 Xavier 74  Dayton 65

 St. Joseph’s 61 #4 Richmond 47

#2 Temple 84  LaSalle 75

Charlotte 69  #3 Massachusetts 65

Friday, March 14

Semifinals

St. Joseph’s 61  Xavier 53

Temple 60  Charlotte 45

Saturday, March 15

Championship Game

Temple 69  St. Joseph’s 64

Automatic Qualifier: Temple 21-12  Avg. RPI

At-large Teams:       1 or 2 (Xavier [9 RPI] for sure

Bubble:                      U Mass (43.5 RPI), Dayton (great RPI Avg. of 33), St. Joe’s (42.5 RPI)

Big East  @ Madison Square Garden in NYC

Wednesday, March 12

Opening Round

#8 Villanova 82  #9 Syracuse 63

#5 West Virginia 58  #12 Providence 53

#7 Pittsburgh 70  #10 Cincinnati 64

#6 Marquette 67  #11 Seton Hall 54

Thursday, March 13

Quarterfinals

#1 Georgetown 82  Villanova 63

West Virginia 78  #4 Connecticut 72

Pittsburgh 76  #2 Louisville 69 ot

Marquette 89  #3 Notre Dame 79

Friday, March 14

Semifinals

Georgetown 72  West Virginia 55

Pittsburgh 68  Marquette 61

Saturday, March 15

Championship Game

Pittsburgh 74  Georgetown 65

Automatic Qualifier: Pittsburgh 26-9  Avg. RPI 15.8

At-large Teams:       6 or 7 (G’town-7.8, UL-13.3, ND-27.5, UConn-19.3, WVU-29.3, Marq.-22)

Bubble:                      Villanova (avg. RPI 51) [It looks iffy for the Wildcats-50-50]

Big 10  @ Indianapolis, IN

Thursday, March 13

Opening Round

#9 Michigan 55  #8 Iowa 47

#10 Illinois 64  #7 Penn State 63

#6 Minnesota 55  #11 Northwestern 52

Friday, March 14

Quarterfinals

#1 Wisconsin 51  Michigan 34

#4 Michigan State 67  #5 Ohio State 60

 Illinois 74  #2 Purdue 67 ot

Minnesota 59  Indiana 58

Saturday, March 15

Semifinals

Wisconsin 65  Michigan State 63

Illinois 54  Minnesota 50

Sunday, March 16

Championship Game

Wisconsin 28-4  vs. Illinois 16-18

At-large Teams:       4 or 5 (Wisconsin-11.5, Purdue-45, Indiana-22.5, Michigan State-14.5)          

Bubble:                      Ohio State-47.3

Big 12  @ Kansas City

Thursday, March 13

Opening Round

#9 Oklahoma State 76  #8 Texas Tech 72

#12 Colorado 91  #5 Baylor 84  2ot

#7 Nebraska 61  #10 Missouri 56

#6 Texas A&M 60  #11 Iowa State 47

Friday, March 14

Quarterfinals

#1 Texas 66  Oklahoma State 59

#4 Oklahoma 54  Colorado 49

#2 Kansas 64  Nebraska 54

 Texas A&M 63  #3 Kansas State 60

Saturday, March 15

Semifinals

Texas 77  Oklahoma 49

Kansas 77  Texas A&M 71

Sunday, March 16

Championship Game

Kansas 30-3  vs. Texas 28-5

At-large Teams:       4 or 5 (Texas-5, Kansas-6.8, Oklahoma-28.3)         

Bubble:                      Baylor-43.8, Kansas State-49.5, Texas A&M-40.3

Big West Tournament  @ Anaheim, CA

Wednesday, March 12

Opening Round

#5 UC-Irvine 77  #8 Long Beach State 63

#7 UC-Riverside 62  Cal Poly 54

Thursday, March 13

Quarterfinals

#3 Cal State Fullerton 81  UC-Riverside 69

UC-Irvine 57  #4 Pacific 56

Friday, March 14

Semifinals

UC-Irvine 55  #1 UC Santa Barbara 50

Cal State Fullerton 83  #2 Cal State Northridge 68 

Saturday, March 15

Championship Game

Cal State Fullerton 81  UC-Irvine 66

Automatic Qualifier: Cal State Fullerton 24-8  Avg RPI 80.5

At-large Teams:       0

Bubble:                      None

Conference USA  @ Memphis

Wednesday, March 12

Opening Round

#5 Southern Miss. 59  #12 Rice 50

#9 Tulane 48  #8 Marshall 47

#7 Tulsa 66  #10 East Carolina 49

#6 UTEP 71  #11 SMU 49

Thursday, March 13

Quarterfinals

#1 Memphis 75  Tulane 56

Southern Mississippi 68  #4 Central Florida 62

Tulsa 78  #2 Ala.-Birmingham 68 ot

UTEP 80  #3 Houston 77

Friday, March 14

Semifinals

Memphis 69  Southern Miss. 53

Tulsa 64  UTEP 62  ot

Saturday, March 15

Championship Game

Memphis 77  Tulsa 51

Automatic Qualifier: Memphis 33-1  Avg. RPI 3

At-large Teams:       0  

Bubble:                      None

Mid-American Conference @ Cleveland

Wednesday, March 12

Opening Round

#8 Toledo 52 #9 Bowling Green 48

#5 Miami (O) 69  #12 Buffalo 68

#7 Eastern Michigan 59  #10 Ball State 55

#6 Central Michigan 83  #11 Northern Illinois 71

Thursday, March 13

Quarterfinals

#1 Kent State 77  Toledo 57

Miami (O) 74  #4 Ohio U 61

#2 Western Michigan 70  Eastern Michigan 61

#3 Akron 81  Central Michigan 60

Friday, March 14

Semifinals

Kent State 49  Miami (O) 47

Akron 73  Western Michigan 62

Saturday, March 15

Championship Game

Kent State 74  Akron 55

Automatic Qualifier: Kent State 28-6  Avg. RPI 22.5

At-large Teams:       0

Bubble:                      None

MEAC @ Raleigh, NC

Tuesday, March 11

Opening Round

#7 Coppin State 55  #10 Howard 54

#8 South Carolina State 78  #9 Bethune Cookman 69

Wednesday, March 12

Opening Round

#6 Florida A&M 70  Maryland Eastern Shore 61

Quarterfinal Round

Coppin State 75  Hampton 74  ot

Morgan State 77 South Carolina State 68

Thursday, March 13

Quarterfinal Round

#3 Norfolk State 69  Florida A&M 61

#4 Delaware State 64  #5 North Carolina A&T 62

Friday, March 14

Semifinal Round

Morgan State 61  Delaware State 55

Coppin State 67  Norfolk State 65

Saturday, March 15

Championship Game

Coppin State 62  Morgan State 60

Automatic Qualifier: Coppin State 16-20  Avg. RPI 224.3 (I smell play-in round)

At-large Teams:       0

Bubble:                      None

Mountain West  @ Las Vegas

Wednesday, March 12

Opening Round

#9 Colorado State 68  #8 Wyoming 63

Thursday, March 13

Quarterfinals

#1 BYU 89  Colorado State 62

#4 San Diego State 53  #5 Air Force 49

#2 UNLV 89  #7 TCU 88

#6 Utah 82  #3 New Mexico 80 ot

Friday, March 14

Semifinals

BYU 63  San Diego State 54

UNLV 61  Utah 55

Saturday, March 15

Championship Game

UNLV 76  BYU 61

Automatic Qualifier: UNLV 26-7  Avg. RPI 23.8

At-large Teams:       1 BYU (Avg. RPI 25.5)

Bubble:                      New Mexico (Avg. RPI 59) [Almost assuredly out of contention]

Pac-10  @ The Staples Center in Los Angeles

Wednesday, March 12

Opening Round

#9 California 84  #8 Washington 81

#7 Arizona 87 #10 Oregon State 56

Thursday, March 13

Quarterfinals

#1 UCLA 88  California 66

#4 Southern Cal 59  #5 Arizona State 55

#2 Stanford 75  Arizona 64

#3 Washington State 75  Oregon 70

Friday, March 14

Semifinals

UCLA 57  Southern Cal 54

Stanford 75  Washington State 68

Saturday, March 15

Championship Game

UCLA 67  Stanford 64

Automatic Qualifier: UCLA 31-3  Avg. RPI 4.5

At-large Teams:       3 or 4 (Stanford-14.8, Washington State-20.5, Southern Cal-29.3)

Bubble:                      Arizona-38.5 , Oregon-57.3  Arizona State-79.3

Patriot League

Quarterfinals

#1 American 62  #8 Holy Cross 60

#5 Army 64  #4 Lehigh 61 ot

#7 Bucknell 87  #2 Navy 86 3ot

#3 Colgate 76  #6 Lafayette 74

Sunday, March 9

Semifinals

American  72 Army 60

Colgate 54  Bucknell 40

Friday, March 14

Championship

American 52  Colgate 46

Automatic Qualifier: American 21-11  Avg. RPI 91.8

At-Large Teams:      0

Bubble:                      None

Southeastern  @ Atlanta

Thursday, March 13

Opening Round

#5E South Carolina 77  #4W LSU 73

#3E Vanderbilt 93  #6W Auburn 82

#5W Alabama 80  #4E Florida 69

#6E Georgia 97  #3W Ole Miss 95  ot

Friday, March 14

Quarterfinals

#1E Tennessee 28-3  vs. South Carolina 14-17

#2W Arkansas 20-10  vs. Vanderbilt 26-6

#1W Mississippi St. 21-9  vs. Alabama 17-15

#2E Kentucky 18-11  vs. Georgia 14-16 (Postponed until Saturday @ Noon EDT)

Saturday, March 15

Quarterfinals

Georgia 60  Kentucky 56 ot

Semifinals

Arkansas 92  Tennessee 91

Georgia 64  Mississippi State 60

Sunday, March 16

Championship Game

Georgia 16-16  vs. Arkansas 22-10

At-large Teams:       5 (Tennessee-1, Miss. State-42.3, Kentucky-57.5, Arkansas-26.8, Vanderbilt-11.3)

Bubble:                      Florida-76, Ole Miss-48.8 (see ya in the NIT Gators and Rebels)

Southland  @ Katy, TX (near Houston)

Thursday, March 13

Quarterfinals

#1 Stephen F. Austin 71  #8 Texas San Antonio 60

#5 Northwestern State 71  #4 Southeast Louisiana 51

#7 UT-Arlington 81  #2 Lamar 75

#3 Sam Houston State 64  McNeese State 62 ot

Friday, March 14

Semifinals

Northwestern State 69  Stephen F. Austin 66

UT-Arlington 72  Sam Houston 66

Sunday, March 16

Championship Game

Northwestern State 15-17  vs. Texas-Arlington 20-11

At-large Teams:       0 or 1  (99% chance it will be 0)

Bubble:                      Stephen F. Austin-68.8 (road wins at Oklahoma and San Diego not enough)

S W A C  @ Birmingham

Wednesday, March 12

Quarterfinals

#1 Alabama State 67  #8 Texas Southern 49

#2 Mississippi Valley 79  #7 Grambling 73

Thursday, March 13

Quarterfinals

#6 Arkansas Pine Bluff 72  Alabama A&M 59

#4 Jackson State 56  #5 Southern 55

Friday, March 14

Semifinals

Jackson St.  77  Alabama State 72  ot

Mississippi Valley 70  Arkansas-Pine Bluff 59

Saturday, March 15

Championship Game

Mississippi Valley 59  Jackson State 58

Automatic Qualifier: Mississippi Valley 17-15  Avg. RPI 231 (the lowest in the field)

At-large Teams:       0         

Bubble:                      None

WAC @ Las Cruces, NM

Tuesday, March 11

Opening Round

#8 San Jose State 64  Louisiana Tech 62

Thursday, March 13

Quarterfinal Round

#1 Utah State 85  San Jose State 65

#4 Boise State 80  Hawaii 74

#2 Nevada 64  #7 Fresno State 57

#3 New Mexico State 73  #6 Idaho 53

Friday, March 14

Semifinal Round

Boise State 88  Utah State 78

New Mexico St. 83  Nevada 75

Saturday, March 15

Championship Game

Boise State 107  New Mexico State 102  3ot

Automatic Qualifier: Boise State 25-8  Avg. RPI 88

At-large Teams:       0

Bubble:                      None

My Guess At The Field of 65

I am not the expert at predicting the field on Sunday morning like some I know, but I did get 64 of the 65 correct last year.  So, even though that was probably luck, here goes again this season with my best guess.  Of course, as of know, I am sure to get 26 correct, since that’s how many automatic bids have been earmed.

Clinched Automatic Berth in NCAA Tournament (26)

 1. Cornell (22-5)-Ivy League Champion

 2. Winthrop (22-11)-Big South Champion

 3. Austin Peay (24-10)-Ohio Valley Champion

 4. Belmont (25-8)-Atlantic Sun Champion

 5. Drake (28-4)-Missouri Valley Champion

 6. George Mason (23-10)-Colonial Champion

 7. Siena (22-10)-Metro Atlantic Champion

 8. Davidson (26-6)-Southern Champion

 9. San Diego (21-13)-West Coast Champion

10. Oral Roberts (24-8)-Summit Champion

11. Western Kentucky (27-6)-Sunbelt Champion

12. Butler (29-3)-Horizon Champion

13. Mount St. Mary’s (18-14)-Northeast Champion

14. Portland State (23-9)-Big Sky Champion

15. American U. (21-11)-Patriot Champion

16. Maryland-Baltimore County (24-8)-America East Champion

17. Memphis (33-1)-Conference USA Champion

18. Pittsburgh (26-9)-Big East Champion

19. Boise State (25-8)-Western Athletic Champion

20. Temple (21-12)-Atlantic 10 Champion

21. Kent State (28-6)-Mid-American Champion

22. Coppin State (16-20)-Mideastern Athletic Champion

23. U N L V (26-7)-Mountain West Champion

24. U C L A (31-3)-Pac-10 Champion

25. Mississippi Valley (17-15)-Southwestern Athletic Champion

26. Cal State Fullerton (24-8)-Big West Champion

5 Automatic and 34 at-large bids still to be determined

My Guess at the Five Remaining Automatic Bids

27. North Carolina

28. Wisconsin

29. Kansas

30. Arkansas

31. Northwestern State

My Guess at the 34 At-large Teams

The Safe Picks

32. Duke

33. Clemson

34. Miami (Fla.)

35. Michigan State

36. Indiana

37. Texas

38. Tennessee

39. Mississippi State

40. Vanderbilt

41. Xavier

42. Georgetown

43. Louisville

44. Notre Dame

45. Marquette

46. West Virginia

47. Connecticut

48. B Y U

49. Stanford

50. Southern Cal

51. Washington State

52. Arizona

53. South Alabama

54. Gonzaga

55. St. Mary’s

56. Illinois State

57. Texas A&M

58. Oklahoma

59. Purdue

The Bubble-Picking the Final Six

Arizona State-RPI is in the high 70’s-Out

Baylor-RPI is less than 45/9-7 record in a top 3 conf./win @ Notre Dame–IN

Creighton-RPI just below 45/1-5 vs. RPI top 50-just barely misses

Dayton-RPI in low 30’s/4-6 vs. top 50/11-7 vs. top 100/8-8 in A-10-can’t justify it

Florida State-7-9 ACC record-Lost any chance by not upsetting UNC

Kansas State-RPI over 45/10-6 in conf./win over Kansas–IN

Kentucky-It doesn’t matter how low of an RPI; the voting is biased–IN

Massachusetts-RPI is less than 45 but A-10 won’t get 4 teams–Out

New Mexico-Not really on the bubble now–Out

Ohio State-RPI is iffy/3-9 vs. top 50/lost 7 of final 11/10 wins in B10-IN but just barely

Ole Miss-7-9 SEC mark and first-round loss–Out

Oregon-RPI in 50’s/4-9 vs. top 50/tough schedule/9-9 in P10-Out (one of last 2 out)

St. Joseph‘s-RPI better than 45/4-7 vs. top 50/2 wins over Xavier–IN

South Alabama-RPI in 30’s/beat Miss St./Swept WKU–IN

Villanova-8^th place tie in Big East is too much to overcome-Out but just barely

Virginia Commonwealth-Colonial is not good enough for 2 teams–Out

Virginia Tech-1-8 vs. top 50 will not get it done even in ACC–Out

So, here are the lucky bubblers:

60. Baylor

61. Kansas State

62. Kentucky

63. Ohio State

64. St. Joseph’s

65. South Alabama

Now, if either Illinois or Georgia win today, then who will have a burst bubble?  If one upset occurs, say bye bye to Ohio State.  If both teams pull off the upset, then out goes St. Joe’s.

A PiRate Look at the NCAA Basketball Conference Tournaments–March 14, 2008, 8th Update

 

A PiRate Look at the NCAA Basketball Conference Tournaments

March 14, 2008, 8^th Update

Conference Tournament Results through Thursday, March 13, 2008

Concluded Tournaments

Atlantic Sun

Quarterfinals

#4 East Tennessee 81 #5 Lipscomb 74

#6 Gardner-Webb 82  #3 Stetson 63

#2 Jacksonville 65  #7 Mercer 57

#1 Belmont 75  #8 Campbell 66

Semifinals

Jacksonville 89 Gardner-Webb 80

Belmont 69 East Tennessee 65

Saturday, March 8

Championship

Belmont 79  Jacksonville 61

Automatic Qualifier: Belmont 25-8  Avg. RPI 75.3

At-Large Teams:      0

Bubble:                       None

Big Sky                    

Saturday, March 8

Quarterfinals

#4 Idaho State 67  #5 Montana 65

#3 Weber State 65  #6 Montana State 49

Tuesday, March 11 @ Portland, OR

Semifinals

#1 Portland State 72  Idaho State 61

#2 Northern Arizona 75  Weber State 70

Wednesday, March 12 @ Portland, OR

Championship Game

Portland State 67  Northern Arizona 51

Automatic Qualifier: Portland State 23-9  Avg. RPI 84.3

Portland State will pose problems for a first-round opponent not used to playing against a team that overplays the passing lanes.  If the Vikings snatch away double figure steals, they can compete in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.  PSU will have problems with a physical, inside muscle team that knows how to take care of the ball, like a Michigan State.

At-Large Teams:      0

Bubble:                       None

Big South

Opening Round

#1 UNC-Asheville 87  #8 Charleston Southern 63

#4 Liberty 103  #5 VMI 88

#2 Winthrop 76  #7 Radford 45

#3 High Point 59  #6 Coastal Carolina 56

Semifinals

UNC-Asheville 75  Liberty 57

Winthrop 61  High Point 53

Saturday, March 8 @ Asheville, NC

Championship Game

Winthrop 66  UNC-Asheville 48

Automatic Qualifier: Winthrop 22-11  Avg. RPI 103.5

At-Large Teams:      0

Bubble:                       None

Colonial Athletic Association

All Games Played At Richmond, VA (Virginia Commonwealth host team)

#9 Towson State 81  #8 Towson State 66

#5 William & Mary 58 #12 Georgia State 57

#6 Delaware 60  #11 Drexel 51

#7 Northeastern 73 #10 James Madison 59

Saturday, March 8

Quarterfinals

#1 Virginia Commonwealth 57  Towson State 46

William & Mary 63  #4 Old Dominion 60

#3 UNC-Wilmington 82  Delaware 59

#2 George Mason 63  Northeastern 52

Sunday, March 9

Semifinals

William & Mary 56  Virginia Commonwealth 54

George Mason 53  UNC-Wilmington 41

Monday, March 10

Championship Game

George Mason 68  William & Mary 59

Automatic Qualifier: George Mason 23-10  Avg. RPI 57.3

At-Large Teams:      0 or 1

Bubble:                       Virginia Commonwealth 24-7  RPI Avg.: 57.8 [Still needs help]

Horizon League              

All Games Played At Indianapolis (Butler host team)

Opening Round

#3 Wright State 60  #10 Detroit 37

#6 Valparaiso 75  #7 UW-Green Bay 67

#4 Illinois-Chicago 70  #9 Youngstown State 59

#8 Loyola (Chi.) 57  #5 UW-Milwaukee 51

Quarterfinals

Valparaiso 72  Wright State 67

Illinois-Chicago 60 Loyola (Chi.) 49

Saturday, March 8

Semifinals

#2 Cleveland State 78  Valparaiso 73

#1 Butler 66  Illinois-Chicago 50

Tuesday, March 11

Championship

Butler 70  Cleveland State 55

Automatic Qualifier: Butler 29-3  Avg. RPI 15.5

At-Large Teams:      0

Bubble:                       None (Cleveland State is just below the Bubble and should get a bid to the NIT)

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference

All Games Played At Albany, NY (Siena host team)

Opening Round

#8 Manhattan 73  #9 St. Peter’s 59

#10 Canisius 64  #7 Iona 59

Saturday, March 8

Quarterfinals

#1 Siena 66  Manhattan 58

#4 Loyola (Md.) 64  #5 Fairfield 59

#2 Rider 75  Canisius 71

#6 Marist 66  #3 Niagara 62

Sunday, March 9

Semifinals

Siena 65  Loyola (Md.) 63

Rider 76  Marist 71

Monday, March 10

Championship Game

Siena 74  Rider 53

Automatic Qualifier: Siena 22-10  Avg. RPI 71.5

At-Large Teams:      0

Bubble:                       None

Missouri Valley @ St. Louis (Arch Madness)

Opening Round

#8 Indiana State 71  #9 Wichita State 67

#7 Missouri State 69 #10 Evansville 46

Quarterfinals

#1 Drake 68  Indiana State 46

#4 Creighton 74  #5 Bradley 70

#2 Illinois State 63  Missouri State 58

#6 Northern Iowa 54  #3 Southern Illinois 49

Saturday, March 8

Semifinals

Drake 75 Creighton 67

Illinois State 56 Northern Iowa 42

Sunday, March 9

Championship

Drake 79  Illinois State 49

Automatic Qualifier: Drake 28-4  Avg. RPI 11.3

At-Large Teams:      0 or 1

Bubble:                       Illinois State 23-9  RPI avg. 35.5 [Beginning to look safe]

                                    Creighton 21-10  RPI avg. 48.8 [added to bubble watch due to upsets]

Northeast

Quarterfinal

#1 Robert Morris 64  #8 Monmouth 50

#4 Mt. St. Mary’s 80  #5 Quinnipiac 70

#2 Wagner 71  #7 Long Island 62

#3 Sacred Heart 84  #6 Central Connecticut State 71

Sunday, March 9

Semifinals

Mt. St. Mary’s 83  Robert Morris 65

Sacred Heart 55  Wagner 49

Wednesday, March 12

Championship

Mt. St. Mary’s 68  Sacred Heart 55

Automatic Qualifier: Mount St. Mary’s 18-14  Avg. RPI 155.8

The Mount won its three tournament games by an average score of 77-63 thanks to great shooting and the ability to hustle on the boards.  That worked against the NEC, but it won’t be enough to get past the first round in the Big Dance.  This is a #16-seed that will make a quick exit.

At-Large Teams:      0

Bubble:                       None

Ohio Valley Conference

Quarterfinals @ Higher Seed

#1 Austin Peay 76  #8 Eastern Kentucky 51

#4 UT-Martin 101  #5 Samford 94  3ot

#2 Murray State 77  #7 Tennessee Tech 74

#6 Tennessee State 68  #3 Morehead State 61

Semifinals @ Nashville

Austin Peay 78  UT-Martin 77

Tennessee State 83 Murray State 75

Saturday, March 8

Championship

Austin Peay 82 Tennessee State 64

Automatic Qualifier: Austin Peay 24-10  Avg. RPI 79.5

At-Large Teams:      0

Bubble:                       None

Southern Conference

All Games Played At Charleston, SC (College of Charleston host team)

Opening Round

#8 Wofford 58  #9 Western Carolina 49

#7 Elon 52  #10 Furman 37

#6 Charleston 66  #11 Citadel 48

Saturday, March 8

Quarterfinals

#1 Davidson 82 Wofford 49

#5 UNC-Greensboro 63  #4 Appalachian State 46

Elon 60  #2 Chattanooga 57

Coll. of Charleston 87  #3 Georgia Southern 73

Sunday, March 9

Semifinals

Davidson 82 UNCG 52

Elon 75  Charleston 61

Monday, March 10

Championship Game

Davidson 65  Elon 49

Automatic Qualifier: Davidson 26-6  Avg. RPI 26.8

At-Large Teams:      0

Bubble:                       None

Summit League @ Tulsa (Oral Roberts host team)                

Saturday, March 8

Quarterfinals

#1 Oral Roberts 84 #8 Centenary 56

#2 IUPUI 69  #7 Missouri-Kansas City 65

Sunday, March 9

Quarterfinals

#5 IPFW 66  #4 Southern Utah 62

#3 Oakland 80 #6 Western Illinois 66

Monday, March 10

Semifinals

Oral Roberts 58 IPFW 42

IUPUI 80 Oakland 65

Tuesday, March 11

Championship

Oral Roberts 71  IUPUI 64

Automatic Qualifier: Oral Roberts 24-8  Avg. RPI 49.5

At-Large Teams:      0

Bubble:                       None (IUPUI’s RPI is too low for consideration)

Sunbelt Conference                   

1^st Round

#8 New Orleans 65  #9 Denver 60

#4 Middle Tennessee 74  #13 Louisiana Monroe 69

#12 Troy 70  #5 Louisiana Lafayette 60

#6 North Texas 85  #11 Arkansas State 63

#7 Florida Atlantic 91  #10 Florida International 64

Sunday, March 9 @ Mobile, AL

Quarterfinals

South Alabama 81  New Orleans 77

Middle Tennessee 65  Troy 59

Western Kentucky 84  North Texas 70

Arkansas Little Rock 66  Florida Atlantic 60

Monday, March 10 @ Mobile, AL

Semifinals

Middle Tennessee 82  South Alabama 73

Western Kentucky 70 Arkansas-Little Rock 55

Tuesday, March 11 @ Mobile, AL

Championship

Western Kentucky 67  Middle Tennessee 57

Automatic Qualifier: Western Kentucky 27-6  Avg. RPI 35

At-Large Teams:      0 or 1

Bubble:                       South Alabama (Avg. RPI 35.8) [Looking Good after yesterday’s upsets]

 West Coast Conference

All Games Played At San Diego (San Diego host team)

Opening Round

#5 San Francisco 79  # 8 Loyola Marymount 60

#6 Pepperdine 50  #7 Portland 48  ot

Saturday, March 8

Quarterfinals

#4 Santa Clara 51  San Francisco 50

#3 San Diego 75  Pepperdine 55

Sunday, March 9

#1 Gonzaga 52  Santa Clara 48

San Diego 75  #2 St. Mary’s 69  2ot

Monday, March 10

Championship Game

San Diego 69 Gonzaga 62

Automatic Qualifier: San Diego 21-13  Avg. RPI 90

At-Large Teams:      0, 1 or 2 (Gonzaga & St. Mary’s)

Bubble:                       St. Mary’s 25-6  Avg. RPI 37.3 [Should be safe thanks to Pac-10 teams losing]

                                    Gonzaga 25-7  Avg. RPI 27.8 [Absolute certainty]

Ivy League Champion

Automatic Qualifier: Cornell 22-5  Avg. RPI 67

Clinched Automatic Berth in NCAA Tournament (14)

 1. Cornell (22-5)-Ivy League Champion

 2. Winthrop (22-11)-Big South Champion

 3. Austin Peay (24-10)-Ohio Valley Champion

 4. Belmont (25-8)-Atlantic Sun Champion

 5. Drake (28-4)-Missouri Valley Champion

 6. George Mason (23-10)-Colonial Champion

 7. Siena (22-10)-Metro Atlantic Champion

 8. Davidson (26-6)-Southern Champion

 9. San Diego (21-13)-West Coast Champion

10. Oral Roberts (24-8)-Summit Champion

11. Western Kentucky (27-6)-Sunbelt Champion

12. Butler (29-3)-Horizon Champion

13. Mount St. Mary’s (18-14)-Northeast Champion

14. Portland State (23-9)-Big Sky Champion

17 Automatic and 34 at-large bids still to be determined

Active Tournaments

America East

1^st Three Rounds At Binghamton, NY.  Championship Game At Higher Seed

Opening Round

#8 Stony Brook 73  vs. #9 Maine 65  ot

Saturday, March 8

Quarterfinals

#1 Md. Balt. Co. 76  Stony Brook 60

#4 Vermont 65  #5 Binghamton 57

#2 Hartford 68  #7 New Hampshire 65

#6 Boston U. 68  #3 Albany 64  ot

Sunday, March 9

Semifinals

Md. Balt. Co. 73  Vermont 64

Hartford 59  Boston U. 52

Saturday, March 15

Championship Game

Hartford 18-15  at Maryland-Baltimore Co. 23-8

At-Large Teams:      0

Bubble:                       None

UMBC didn’t have to play Binghamton, and that made their task much easier.  Hartford had a tough time with two weak opponents to get this far, and the clock will strike midnight for them Saturday.  While these two teams split a pair of one-point games during the regular season, I believe UMBC should win this rubber match by 10 or more points and earn their first trip to the Big Dance, where they could be a #14 seed.  Of particular interest in this championship game will be the match-up of two, small, but beefy forwards.  Hartford’s Warren McLendon and UMBC’s Darryl Proctor will battle it out for close to 40 minutes and make this game worth watching.

Atlantic Coast  @ Charlotte, NC

Thursday, March 13

Opening Round

#9 Florida State 70  #8 Wake Forest 60

#5 Miami 63  #12 North Carolina State 50

#7 Georgia Tech 94  #10 Virginia 76

#11 Boston College 71  #6 Maryland 68

Friday, March 14

Quarterfinals

#1 North Carolina 29-2  vs. Florida State 19-13

#4 Virginia Tech 18-12  vs. Miami 22-9

#2 Duke 26-4  vs. Georgia Tech 15-16

#3 Clemson 22-8  vs. Boston College 14-16

Saturday, March 15

Semifinals

UNC-FSU  vs. VT-Mia.

Duke-GT  vs. Clem-BC

Sunday, March 16

Championship Game

Duke and North Carolina are more than likely headed to a rubber game Sunday, but keep an eye on Miami and Clemson.  The Hurricanes are a solid team capable of going deep into the NCAA Tournament, but they can be inconsistent and lose a game they should win.  Clemson has something to prove after last season’s crash and burn.

You can kiss Maryland’s chances goodbye after the Terps blew a nice lead against Boston College and lost.  Should American lose in the American Patriot League Championship game, they would be a great opening round NIT opponent for the Terps.

Virginia Tech and Florida State still have work to do and need upset wins today.

At-large Teams:       4, 5, or 6 (UNC-2, Duke-4, Clem-21, Miami-30.3)

Bubble:                       Virginia Tech (Avg RPI 61),  Florida State ( Avg RPI 64)

Atlantic 10  @ Atlantic City, NJ

Wednesday, March 12

Opening Round

#8 Dayton 63  St. Louis 62  ot

#5 St. Joseph’s 80 #12 Fordham 62

#7 LaSalle 82  #10 Duquesne 79

#6 Charlotte 75  #11 Rhode Island 73

Thursday, March 13

Quarterfinals

#1 Xavier 74  Dayton 65

 St. Joseph’s 61 #4 Richmond 47

#2 Temple 84  LaSalle 75

Charlotte 69  #3 Massachusetts 65

Friday, March 14

Semifinals

Xavier 27-5  vs. St. Joseph’s 20-11

Temple 19-12  vs. Charlotte 20-12

Saturday, March 15

Championship Game

At-large Teams:       1 or 2 (Xavier [9 RPI] for sure,

Bubble:                       U Mass (43 RPI), Dayton (great RPI Avg. of 31.3), St. Joe’s (52.3 RPI)

U Mass blew a huge lead and lost to Charlotte in a mild to moderate upset.  Now Charlotte gets Temple, and the winner will more than likely play Xavier for the title.  The Musketeers must first dispose of St. Joe’s, and it will be a tough game.  The Hawks are now one big upset win from moving squarely into bubbleville.

Temple needs to get to the finals to have any bubble chances, but the Owls are talented enough to earn the automatic bid.

I believe Dayton has the chance to be the team with the highest RPI that is left out of the Dance.

Big East  @ Madison Square Garden in NYC

Wednesday, March 12

Opening Round

#8 Villanova 82  #9 Syracuse 63

#5 West Virginia 58  #12 Providence 53

#7 Pittsburgh 70  #10 Cincinnati 64

#6 Marquette 67  #11 Seton Hall 54

Thursday, March 13

Quarterfinals

#1 Georgetown 82  Villanova 63

West Virginia 78  #4 Connecticut 72

Pittsburgh 76  #2 Louisville 69 ot

Marquette 89  #3 Notre Dame 79

Friday, March 14

Semifinals

Georgetown 26-4  vs. West Virginia 24-9

Pittsburgh 24-9  vs. Marquette 24-8

Saturday, March 15

Championship Game

West Virginia took control of the game early and held off to beat Connecticut.  I think the Mountaineers are going to give Georgetown a great game, and if their legs are not tired, WVU could pull off the upset.

Pittsburgh is playing its best ball since early in the season, and Marquette has possibly looked like the best team in the tournament to date.  The semifinal doubleheader today is going to be dynamite.

At-large Teams:       7 or 8 (G’town, UL, ND, UConn, WVU, Marq., Pitt  all have RPIs under 40)

Bubble:                       Villanova (avg. RPI 51.3) [It looks iffy for the Wildcats-50-50]

Big 10  @ Indianapolis, IN

Thursday, March 13

Opening Round

#9 Michigan 55  #8 Iowa 47

#10 Illinois 64  #7 Penn State 63

#6 Minnesota 55  #11 Northwestern 52

Friday, March 14

Quarterfinals

#1 Wisconsin 26-4  vs. Michigan 10-21

#4 Michigan State 24-7  vs. #5 Ohio State 19-12

#2 Purdue 24-7  vs. Illinois 14-18

#3 Indiana 25-6  vs. Minnesota 19-12

Saturday, March 15

Semifinals

Wisc.-Mich  vs. MSU-OSU

Purd-Ill.  Vs. IU-MN

Sunday, March 16

Championship Game

This tournament is about to get exciting.  I believe at least three of today’s lower seeds have a reasonable chance of pulling off the upset and giving some bubble teams’ coaches and players another couple of sleepless nights.  Ohio State beating Michigan State would only be a mild upset, but these two teams can both take advantage of the other’s weaknesses. 

Illinois has looked really good in many of their losses this year, and while they aren’t about to make a run to the Sweet 16, the Illini could upset Purdue today.  The Boilermakers didn’t finish strong, and I’m not sure they are going to pull out of this late-season tailspin.

Minnesota is not playing for an at-large bid, but Tubby Smith is an outstanding conference tournament preparer.  I think the Gophers have an outside shot at winning this thing and securing an automatic bid.  Indiana is not the same club they were with Kelvin Sampson, and the Hoosiers are ripe for the upset today.  The Gophers couldn’t have asked for a better draw (the same goes for Illinois).

Only Wisconsin appears safe today.  The Badgers should methodically and slowly pull away from Michigan.  I expect a final in the range of 65-50.

At-large Teams:       4 or 5 (Wisconsin–12, Purdue-35.8, Indiana-17.3, Michigan State-13.5)

Bubble:                       Ohio State-45 (still needs to prove their worth)

Big 12  @ Kansas City

Thursday, March 13

Opening Round

#9 Oklahoma State 76  #8 Texas Tech 72

#12 Colorado 91  #5 Baylor 84  2ot

#7 Nebraska 61  #10 Missouri 56

#6 Texas A&M 60  #11 Iowa State 47

Friday, March 14

Quarterfinals

#1 Texas 26-5  vs. Oklahoma State 17-14

#4 Oklahoma 21-10  vs. Colorado 12-19

#2 Kansas 28-3  vs. Nebraska 19-11

#3 Kansas State 20-10  vs. Texas A&M 23-9

Saturday, March 15

Semifinals

Texas-OK St  vs. Okla-Color

Kans-Nebr  vs. K-St-A&M

Sunday, March 16

Championship Game

We have a #12-seed still alive in the quarterfinals, and if Colorado upsets Oklahoma today, the fans in Boulder may have to light up a couch or two on Arapahoe and Broadway.  The loss hurt, but didn’t kill Baylor’s chances of getting an at-large berth.

An Oklahoma State upset over Texas could bump the Cowboys up enough spots in the RPI to get them into the discussion should they then beat Oklahoma or Colorado tomorrow.

At first glance, you’d think Kansas has an easy game today and will beat Nebraska by as much as they did in the football season.  However, this Cornhusker team is not that bad.  Diminutive 5-7 guard Cookie Miller is worth the price of admission to watch, but big man Aleks Maric is the reason the ‘Huskers have an outside chance against Kansas today.  Maric is probably the best player you have never heard of if you live outside the Big 12 region.  The Aussie averages better than 16 points and 10 boards per game, and he has gotten better as the season has progressed, recording double-doubles in 12 of the last 13 games.  In the last seven games, he has connected on better than 67% of his shots.  The 6-11 and 270-pound bruiser makes Billy Paultz (for you old geezers like me) and Bill Laimbeer (for you younger old geezers) look like lambs.

The Kansas State and Texas A&M game could be one of the five best games of the entire day.  State’s Michael Beasley wants to prove he is not only the best freshman in years, he wants to prove he’s the best power forward since Tim Duncan.  Texas A&M has no Acie Law, and the Aggies are a step down from last year, but Coach Mark Turgeon has his squad probably one win away from wrapping up an at-large bid.

At-large Teams:       4 or 5 (Texas-5, Kansas-9, Oklahoma-24.8) 

Bubble:                       Baylor-44.8, Kansas State-42.3, Texas A&M-47.3

Big West Tournament  @ Anaheim, CA

Wednesday, March 12

Opening Round

#5 UC-Irvine 77  #8 Long Beach State 63

#7 UC-Riverside 62  Cal Poly 54

Thursday, March 13

Quarterfinals

#3 Cal State Fullerton 81  UC-Riverside 69

UC-Irvine 57  #4 Pacific 56

Friday, March 14

Semifinals

#1 UC Santa Barbara 23-7 vs. UC-Irvine 17-15

#2 Cal State Northridge 21-8 vs. Cal State Fullerton 22-8

Saturday, March 15

Championship Game

UC-Irvine, coming off two wins in two days, faces a rested top-seeded UCSB team that should pummel them if the Anteaters are fatigued.  Cal State Fullerton and Cal State Northridge should hook up in a close game, and the winner of that game could be fatigued in the final.  Things are looking good for UCSB, but the other semifinal should produce a talented winner.

At-large Teams:       0

Bubble:                       None

Conference USA  @ Memphis

Wednesday, March 12

Opening Round

#5 Southern Miss. 59  #12 Rice 50

#9 Tulane 48  #8 Marshall 47

#7 Tulsa 66  #10 East Carolina 49

#6 UTEP 71  #11 SMU 49

Thursday, March 13

Quarterfinals

#1 Memphis 75  Tulane 56

Southern Mississippi 68  #4 Central Florida 62

Tulsa 78  #2 Ala.-Birmingham 68 ot

UTEP 80  #3 Houston 77

Friday, March 14

Semifinals

Memphis 31-1  vs. Southern Miss. 19-13

Tulsa 19-12  vs. UTEP 19-12

Saturday, March 15

Championship Game

The two teams that could have earned at-large bids both lost, so the only way CUSA will get two teams into the Dance is if someone knocks off Memphis.  I can’t see it happening.

At-large Teams:       0 or 1 (Memphis has 99.99% chance of winning automatic bid)

Bubble:                       None

Mid-American Conference @ Cleveland

Wednesday, March 12

Opening Round

#8 Toledo 52 #9 Bowling Green 48

#5 Miami (O) 69  #12 Buffalo 68

#7 Eastern Michigan 59  #10 Ball State 55

#6 Central Michigan 83  #11 Northern Illinois 71

Thursday, March 13

Quarterfinals

#1 Kent State 77  Toledo 57

Miami (O) 74  #4 Ohio U 61

#2 Western Michigan 70  Eastern Michigan 61

#3 Akron 81  Central Michigan 60

Friday, March 14

Semifinals

Kent State 26-6  vs. Miami (O) 17-14

Western Michigan 20-11  vs. Akron 22-9

Saturday, March 15

Championship Game

Can Miami upset Kent State and destroy another bubble team’s weekend?  They might have the right emotional oomph to pull off the trick.  The Golden Flashes are already in the tournament win or lose, while Miami must win the tournament. 

Akron is technically the lower seed in the other semifinal, but the Zips are clearly the favorite in their match with WMU and the team with the best shot of beating Kent State.

At-large Teams:       1 (Kent State avg. RPI 28.5)

Bubble:                       None

MEAC @ Raleigh, NC

Tuesday, March 11

Opening Round

#7 Coppin State 55  #10 Howard 54

#8 South Carolina State 78  #9 Bethune Cookman 69

Wednesday, March 12

Opening Round

#6 Florida A&M 70  Maryland Eastern Shore 61

Quarterfinal Round

Coppin State 75  Hampton 74  ot

Morgan State 77 South Carolina State 68

Thursday, March 13

Quarterfinal Round

#3 Norfolk State 69  Florida A&M 61

#4 Delaware State 64  #5 North Carolina A&T 62

Friday, March 14

Semifinal Round

Morgan State 21-9  vs. Delaware State 14-15

Coppin State 14-20 vs. Norfolk State 16-14

Saturday, March 15

Championship Game

Note: There will be a bonus game prior to the Championship Game to be played between North Carolina Central (3-26) and Winston-Salem State (12-17), two future MEAC teams.

Here is an example of how an abnormal seeding could hurt this conference.  Coppin State is the surprise team in this tournament.  They have made it to the semifinal round against Norfolk State.  Because Hampton was expected to win this game as the #2-seed, their loss to CSU gives the Eagles an extra day to rest and prepare for this game. 

Morgan State is still alive, and they represent the MEAC’s best chance of pulling off a first-round win.

At-large Teams:       0

Bubble:                       None

Mountain West  @ Las Vegas

Wednesday, March 12

Opening Round

#9 Colorado State 68  #8 Wyoming 63

Thursday, March 13

Quarterfinals

#1 BYU 89  Colorado State 62

#4 San Diego State 53  #5 Air Force 49

#2 UNLV 89  #7 TCU 88

#6 Utah 82  #3 New Mexico 80 ot

Friday, March 14

Semifinals

BYU 26-6  vs. San Diego State 20-11

UNLV 24-7  vs. Utah 17-13

Saturday, March 15

Championship Game

UNLV barely survived at home in the first round, while New Mexico saw its NCAA at-large dreams quashed.  Utah will catch a more focused Runnin’ Rebels squad today, and I expect Coach Lon Kruger to have his team ready against Utah.  The Utes were overly extended yesterday just like UNLV.  I expect the Rebs to win.

BYU will have a tougher time today against San Diego State than they did yesterday against Colorado State.  The Aztecs had a close, but not exerted, game with Air Force.

At-large Teams:       2 (BYU [Avg. RPI 25.3], UNLV [Avg. RPI 25.5)

Bubble:                       New Mexico (Avg. RPI 58.5) [Almost assuredly out of contention]

Pac-10  @ The Staples Center in Los Angeles

Wednesday, March 12

Opening Round

#9 California 84  #8 Washington 81

#7 Arizona 87 #10 Oregon State 56

Thursday, March 13

Quarterfinals

#1 UCLA 88  California 66

#4 Southern Cal 59  #5 Arizona State 55

#2 Stanford 75  Arizona 64

#3 Washington State 75  Oregon 70

Friday, March 14

Semifinals

UCLA 29-3  vs. Southern Cal 21-10

Stanford 25-6  vs. Washington State 24-7

Saturday, March 15

Championship Game

So much for the grudge match.  I guess UCLA had an axe to grind, and they sharpened their blades on Cal.  The sharp edges then did more damage, as two or three bubble teams heard the bursting sound.  Oregon, Arizona State, and possibly Arizona are now in trouble.

Today’s UCLA-USC semifinal match marks the first time the two Los Angeles schools have faced off in the Pac-10 Tournament.  Having the game at The Staples Center makes it all the more exciting.  The two teams won on the other’s home court this year.

The Stanford-Washington State nightcap will not be as exciting.  Washington State games generally are slow, passive games, and Stanford doesn’t have the type of talent to force the Cougars into a faster tempo.  It should be close, but not one to remember.

At-large Teams:       4 or 5 (UCLA-6, Stanford-16, Washington State-21.3, Southern Cal-28.5)

Bubble:                       Arizona-39.8 , Oregon-55.8  (‘Zona is probably okay, but Ducks are in trouble)

Patriot League

Quarterfinals

#1 American 62  #8 Holy Cross 60

#5 Army 64  #4 Lehigh 61 ot

#7 Bucknell 87  #2 Navy 86 3ot

#3 Colgate 76  #6 Lafayette 74

Sunday, March 9

Semifinals

American  72 Army 60

Colgate 54  Bucknell 40

Friday, March 14

Championship

Colgate 18-13 at American 20-11

At-Large Teams:      0

Bubble:                       None

This should be a close game, and it wouldn’t surprise me if it went to overtime.  American beat Colgate twice by eight points this year, and I expect the Red Raiders to be ready to exact some revenge. 

American has won nine of its last 10 games, and the Eagles have the best backcourt in the Patriot League.  In tournaments, guard play is very important, as the backcourt that makes more errors or forces the fewer errors usually comes from the losing team.  I’ll go with American in this one, which will allow Coach Jeff Jones to get back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since he was at Virginia in the 1990’s.

Southeastern  @ Atlanta

Thursday, March 13

Opening Round

#5E South Carolina 77  #4W LSU 73

#3E Vanderbilt 93  #6W Auburn 82

#5W Alabama 80  #4E Florida 69

#6E Georgia 97  #3W Ole Miss 95  ot

Friday, March 14

Quarterfinals

#1E Tennessee 28-3  vs. South Carolina 14-17

#2W Arkansas 20-10  vs. Vanderbilt 26-6

#1W Mississippi St. 21-9  vs. Alabama 17-15

#2E Kentucky 18-11  vs. Georgia 14-16

Saturday, March 15

UT-USC  vs. Ark-Vand.

MSU-Ala  vs. UK-UGa

Sunday, March 16

Championship Game

As Chester A. Riley (the 1940’s and 50’s radio character played by William Bendix) used to say, “What a revoltin’ development this is!”  Ole Miss and Florida took quick exits, and the SEC is down to five teams going dancing unless a surprise team cuts down the nets Sunday.

As Secret Agent Maxwell Smart used to say, “Would you believe,”  Would you believe Alabama and Georgia are still playing in Atlanta.  This Tide team looked more like C.M. Newton’s Alabama squads of the mid-1970’s, while Georgia looked like a team trying to save a coach they love from having to file unemployment insurance.

Agent 86 also was famous for saying, “Missed it by that much,” and that’s what I think Vanderbilt, Alabama, and Georgia will be saying today.  Arkansas, Mississippi State, and Kentucky should win close games that go down to the wire. 

As the Lone Ranger used to say, “Hi-yo Silver, Away!”  Today, we will be saying that to Dave Odom, as he coaches his last game at South Carolina and rides off into the sunset.  Even though Tennessee has performed lousy in the SEC Tournament for more than a decade, I think the Vols will come out and put a whippin’ on the garnet and black today.  Devan Downey would have to have a career day, and Evaldas Baniulis would have to hit about seven treys for the Gamecocks to have a chance.

And as Lieutenant Columbo used to say, “Just one more thing.”  Kentucky may end up with an RPI in the 50’s if they lose today, but we all know they will receive a bid to the Dance.  It’s just like selecting Willie Mays to the All-Star game in 1973 when he was barely hitting .200.  You will be able to “say hey” to Billy Gillispie’s team at a regional somewhere next week (I am not implying UK’s play to date has been like Willie Mays in 1973.  The Cats are good enough to make it to the Sweet 16).

At-large Teams:       5 (Tennessee-1, Miss. State-39.8, Kentucky-49.8, Arkansas-40.8, Vanderbilt-10)

Bubble:                       Florida-71, Ole Miss-53.5 (see ya in the NIT Gators and Rebels)

Southland  @ Katy, TX (near Houston)

Thursday, March 13

Quarterfinals

#1 Stephen F. Austin 71  #8 Texas San Antonio 60

#5 Northwestern State 71  #4 Southeast Louisiana 51

#7 UT-Arlington 81  #2 Lamar 75

#3 Sam Houston State 64  McNeese State 62 ot

Friday, March 14

Semifinals

Stephen F. Austin 26-4  vs. Northwestern State 14-17

UT-Arlington 19-11  vs. Sam Houston 23-7

Sunday, March 16

Championship Game

A Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston State final would be exactly what the doctor ordered for this conference tournament.  With all the upsets, SFA is back in the conversation as a possible at-large team, but only if they were to lose to Sam Houston.  If UT-Arlington beats the Bearkats, then all bets are off.

The Lumberjacks didn’t look like world beaters yesterday, but their defense gave them a comfortable 11-point win over UT-San Antonio.  They meet a Northwestern State team that will try to get them out of their comfort zone and into a running game.  SFA prevented this from happening in their regular season tilt, and I expect more of the same today.  The Lumberjacks have an overwhelming advantage inside and should control the boards and win by double digits.

Sam Houston walloped UT-Arlington twice during the regular season, dominating inside both times.  While it is hard to beat a conference rival thrice in one season, sometimes a team just doesn’t match up well with an opponent.  UTA hasn’t found an answer to SHS’s star player Ryan Bright or backcourt leader Shamir McDaniel.  In the game in Arlington, the Mavericks watched Bearkat backup DeLuis Ramirez come off the bench and score a double-double.

At-large Teams:       0 or 1

Bubble:                       Stephen F. Austin-57.5  (road wins against Oklahoma and San Diego)

S W A C  @ Birmingham

Wednesday, March 12

Quarterfinals

#1 Alabama State 67  #8 Texas Southern 49

#2 Mississippi Valley 79  #7 Grambling 73

Thursday, March 13

Quarterfinals

#6 Arkansas Pine Bluff 72  Alabama A&M 59

#4 Jackson State 56  #5 Southern 55

Friday, March 14

Semifinals

Alabama State 20-9  vs. Jackson St. 13-19

Mississippi Valley 15-15 vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff 13-17

Saturday, March 15

Championship Game

With the top two seeds enjoying a day off yesterday, they will be well-rested and prohibitive favorites today.  If Alabama State loses today or tomorrow, you can already put the SWAC Tournament Champion on the Play-in Bracket and do it in pen.  Even if Alabama State wins, you can pencil them in that slot.

At-large Teams:       0         

Bubble:                       None

WAC @ Las Cruces, NM

Tuesday, March 11

Opening Round

#8 San Jose State 64  Louisiana Tech 62

Thursday, March 13

Quarterfinal Round

#1 Utah State 85  San Jose State 65

#4 Boise State 80  Hawaii 74

#2 Nevada 64  #7 Fresno State 57

#3 New Mexico State 73  #6 Idaho 53

Friday, March 14

Semifinal Round

Utah State 24-9  vs. Boise State 23-8

Nevada 21-10  vs. New Mexico St. 20-13

Saturday, March 15

Championship Game

The top four seeds have made it to the semifinals, and that always makes for a great finish to a tournament.  New Mexico State dominated on their home floor, but the remaining teams have what it takes to win in Las Cruces.  Utah State looked strong yesterday, and the Aggies’ starters got some rest.  That just may be enough to get them by Boise State today. 

At-large Teams:       0

Bubble:                       None (Utah State has an avg. RPI of 65, which is too low)