PiRate Ratings College Basketball For Monday, March 11, 2019

Today’s PiRate Ratings Spreads

Home	Rating	HCA	Visitor	Rating	Spread
Savannah State	85.2	0.0	Delaware State	79.5	5.7
Hofstra	106.3	0.0	Delaware	95.0	11.3
Wofford	113.2	0.0	UNC Greensboro	105.8	7.4
North Dakota State	97.8	0.0	Western Illinois	92.6	5.2
Central Michigan	101.9	2.5	Western Michigan	94.6	9.8
Wright State	102.9	0.0	Green Bay	97.8	5.1
Eastern Michigan	100.3	3.0	Ball State	102.8	0.5
Akron	103.5	2.5	Miami (OH)	101.2	4.8
Charleston	103.4	1.5	Northeastern	105.8	-0.9
Gonzaga	124.4	0.0	Pepperdine	100.6	23.8
Iona	98.0	0.0	Monmouth	93.9	4.1
Northern Illinois	101.1	2.5	Ohio	98.4	5.2
Northern Kentucky	104.4	0.0	Oakland	98.3	6.1
Omaha	100.1	0.0	Purdue Fort Wayne	99.5	0.6
Saint Mary’s	110.4	0.0	San Diego	105.5	4.9

 

PiRate Ratings  (1-353)

Rk	Team	PiRate	Conf
1	Gonzaga	124.4	West Coast
2	Virginia	123.3	ACC
3	Duke	123.2	ACC
4	North Carolina	121.0	ACC
5	Michigan St.	120.5	Big Ten
6	Tennessee	118.9	SEC
7	Kentucky	118.3	SEC
8	Texas Tech	118.3	Big 12
9	Michigan	118.1	Big Ten
10	Purdue	117.6	Big Ten
11	Virginia Tech	116.5	ACC
12	Wisconsin	115.7	Big Ten
13	Auburn	115.7	SEC
14	Nevada	115.0	Mtn West
15	Houston	115.0	AAC
16	Kansas	114.9	Big 12
17	Florida St.	114.7	ACC
18	Iowa St.	114.1	Big 12
19	Louisville	114.0	ACC
20	LSU	114.0	SEC
21	Buffalo	113.6	MAC
22	Maryland	113.4	Big Ten
23	Mississippi St.	113.4	SEC
24	Villanova	113.3	Big East
25	Kansas St.	113.2	Big 12
26	Wofford	113.2	SoCon
27	North Carolina St.	112.9	ACC
28	Marquette	112.6	Big East
29	Clemson	112.2	ACC
30	Texas	112.0	Big 12
31	Florida	111.7	SEC
32	Cincinnati	111.4	AAC
33	Oklahoma	111.3	Big 12
34	Syracuse	111.3	ACC
35	Virginia Commonwealth	111.1	Atl 10
36	Iowa	110.9	Big Ten
37	Indiana	110.6	Big Ten
38	Baylor	110.6	Big 12
39	Central Florida	110.6	AAC
40	Nebraska	110.5	Big Ten
41	Saint Mary’s	110.4	West Coast
42	Ohio St.	110.3	Big Ten
43	Penn St.	110.2	Big Ten
44	Mississippi	110.1	SEC
45	Creighton	110.0	Big East
46	Utah St.	110.0	Mtn West
47	TCU	110.0	Big 12
48	Minnesota	109.3	Big Ten
49	Oregon	109.3	Pac-12
50	Belmont	109.0	Ohio Val
51	Murray St.	109.0	Ohio Val
52	Lipscomb	108.8	A-Sun
53	Arkansas	108.7	SEC
54	Seton Hall	108.4	Big East
55	Dayton	108.4	Atl 10
56	Arizona St.	108.4	Pac-12
57	Butler	108.2	Big East
58	Alabama	108.0	SEC
59	Toledo	107.9	MAC
60	Furman	107.8	SoCon
61	St. John’s	107.8	Big East
62	New Mexico St.	107.7	WAC
63	Miami (Fla)	107.5	ACC
64	Fresno St.	107.5	Mtn West
65	Northwestern	107.2	Big Ten
66	Temple	107.2	AAC
67	Xavier	107.2	Big East
68	San Francisco	107.0	West Coast
69	Colorado	107.0	Pac-12
70	Davidson	106.8	Atl 10
71	Memphis	106.8	AAC
72	South Carolina	106.8	SEC
73	Providence	106.7	Big East
74	Hofstra	106.3	Colonial
75	East Tennessee St.	106.3	SoCon
76	Georgetown	106.3	Big East
77	Liberty	106.2	A-Sun
78	Illinois	106.2	Big Ten
79	Oregon St.	106.2	Pac-12
80	Missouri	106.1	SEC
81	Rutgers	106.0	Big Ten
82	Yale	106.0	Ivy
83	Vermont	106.0	Amer East
84	Notre Dame	105.9	ACC
85	Arizona	105.9	Pac-12
86	UNC Greensboro	105.8	SoCon
87	Northeastern	105.8	Colonial
88	USC	105.7	Pac-12
89	South Dakota St.	105.6	Summit
90	BYU	105.6	West Coast
91	Washington	105.5	Pac-12
92	UC Irvine	105.5	Big West
93	San Diego	105.5	West Coast
94	Texas A&M	105.4	SEC
95	Connecticut	105.2	AAC
96	Pittsburgh	105.1	ACC
97	West Virginia	104.9	Big 12
98	DePaul	104.9	Big East
99	UCLA	104.9	Pac-12
100	Oklahoma St.	104.8	Big 12
101	Wichita St.	104.8	AAC
102	Grand Canyon	104.7	WAC
103	Georgia Tech	104.6	ACC
104	Georgia Southern	104.6	Sun Belt
105	Northern Kentucky	104.4	Horizon
106	Boston College	104.3	ACC
107	SMU	104.2	AAC
108	Utah	104.2	Pac-12
109	Utah Valley	104.0	WAC
110	Stanford	103.9	Pac-12
111	San Diego St.	103.8	Mtn West
112	Loyola (Chi)	103.8	Missouri Val
113	Old Dominion	103.8	CUSA
114	Penn	103.6	Ivy
115	Georgia St.	103.6	Sun Belt
116	Georgia	103.5	SEC
117	Akron	103.5	MAC
118	Charleston	103.4	Colonial
119	Southern Miss	103.4	CUSA
120	Saint Louis	103.3	Atl 10
121	South Florida	103.2	AAC
122	Texas St.	103.2	Sun Belt
123	Jacksonville St.	103.2	Ohio Val
124	Tulsa	103.2	AAC
125	Western Kentucky	103.1	CUSA
126	Austin Peay	103.0	Ohio Val
127	Bowling Green	103.0	MAC
128	Harvard	102.9	Ivy
129	St. Bonaventure	102.9	Atl 10
130	Wright St.	102.9	Horizon
131	Ball St.	102.8	MAC
132	Drake	102.8	Missouri Val
133	Montana	102.8	Big Sky
134	Boise St.	102.6	Mtn West
135	Rhode Island	102.4	Atl 10
136	Radford	102.4	Big South
137	Loyola Marymount	102.2	West Coast
138	Colgate	102.1	Patriot
139	Bucknell	102.0	Patriot
140	Vanderbilt	102.0	SEC
141	Central Michigan	101.9	MAC
142	Louisiana Tech	101.8	CUSA
143	Southern Illinois	101.6	Missouri Val
144	Washington St.	101.6	Pac-12
145	Kent St.	101.5	MAC
146	Brown	101.4	Ivy
147	George Mason	101.4	Atl 10
148	Louisiana Monroe	101.3	Sun Belt
149	Miami (O)	101.2	MAC
150	UNLV	101.1	Mtn West
151	Northern Illinois	101.1	MAC
152	UC Santa Barbara	101.0	Big West
153	North Texas	100.9	CUSA
154	Abilene Christian	100.9	Southland
155	Coastal Carolina	100.7	Sun Belt
156	Pepperdine	100.6	West Coast
157	Samford	100.5	SoCon
158	Northern Colorado	100.4	Big Sky
159	Wake Forest	100.3	ACC
160	Eastern Michigan	100.3	MAC
161	Stony Brook	100.1	Amer East
162	UAB	100.1	CUSA
163	Gardner Webb	100.1	Big South
164	Omaha	100.1	Summit
165	Duquesne	100.1	Atl 10
166	Bradley	99.9	Missouri Val
167	UT Arlington	99.8	Sun Belt
168	Lehigh	99.8	Patriot
169	UTSA	99.8	CUSA
170	Louisiana	99.7	Sun Belt
171	Marshall	99.7	CUSA
172	Missouri St.	99.6	Missouri Val
173	Purdue Fort Wayne	99.5	Summit
174	Saint Joseph’s	99.4	Atl 10
175	Charleston Southern	99.4	Big South
176	Princeton	99.3	Ivy
177	Northern Iowa	99.3	Missouri Val
178	New Mexico	99.3	Mtn West
179	Sam Houston St.	99.2	Southland
180	Winthrop	99.2	Big South
181	Colorado St.	99.2	Mtn West
182	Richmond	99.0	Atl 10
183	Cal St. Fullerton	98.9	Big West
184	NJIT	98.8	A-Sun
185	Hartford	98.8	Amer East
186	Campbell	98.8	Big South
187	Florida Atlantic	98.7	CUSA
188	Seattle	98.6	WAC
189	Presbyterian	98.5	Big South
190	Weber St.	98.5	Big Sky
191	Ohio	98.4	MAC
192	Hawaii	98.4	Big West
193	Rider	98.4	Metro Atl
194	Oakland	98.3	Horizon
195	Mercer	98.2	SoCon
196	Illinois St.	98.1	Missouri Val
197	Hampton	98.1	Big South
198	Iona	98.0	Metro Atl
199	IUPUI	98.0	Horizon
200	Santa Clara	98.0	West Coast
201	American	98.0	Patriot
202	Lamar	98.0	Southland
203	North Florida	98.0	A-Sun
204	Appalachian St.	97.9	Sun Belt
205	Valparaiso	97.8	Missouri Val
206	Green Bay	97.8	Horizon
207	North Dakota St.	97.8	Summit
208	UT Rio Grande Valley	97.6	WAC
209	California Baptist	97.5	WAC
210	Massachusetts	97.5	Atl 10
211	Florida Int’l.	97.4	CUSA
212	Dartmouth	97.4	Ivy
213	South Alabama	97.4	Sun Belt
214	Illinois Chicago	97.3	Horizon
215	William & Mary	97.3	Colonial
216	La Salle	97.2	Atl 10
217	Indiana St.	97.2	Missouri Val
218	Columbia	97.2	Ivy
219	Pacific	97.1	West Coast
220	Fairleigh Dickinson	97.1	Northeast
221	Maryland Baltimore Co.	97.0	Amer East
222	Long Beach St.	96.9	Big West
223	Texas Southern	96.9	SWAC
224	Cal St. Bakersfield	96.7	WAC
225	South Dakota	96.7	Summit
226	Quinnipiac	96.6	Metro Atl
227	Cornell	96.4	Ivy
228	Evansville	96.4	Missouri Val
229	Boston University	96.2	Patriot
230	High Point	96.2	Big South
231	Little Rock	96.1	Sun Belt
232	Prairie View A&M	96.1	SWAC
233	Florida Gulf Coast	96.0	A-Sun
234	Holy Cross	95.9	Patriot
235	St. Francis PA	95.8	Northeast
236	Army	95.8	Patriot
237	UC Davis	95.6	Big West
238	Troy	95.6	Sun Belt
239	Sacred Heart	95.5	Northeast
240	Eastern Washington	95.5	Big Sky
241	Eastern Kentucky	95.4	Ohio Val
242	Middle Tennessee	95.2	CUSA
243	Fordham	95.2	Atl 10
244	Drexel	95.2	Colonial
245	Montana St.	95.2	Big Sky
246	Siena	95.1	Metro Atl
247	Norfolk St.	95.1	MEAC
248	California	95.0	Pac-12
249	Long Island	95.0	Northeast
250	Delaware	95.0	Colonial
251	Missouri Kansas City	95.0	WAC
252	Robert Morris	94.9	Northeast
253	UMass Lowell	94.9	Amer East
254	Air Force	94.8	Mtn West
255	Morehead St.	94.8	Ohio Val
256	Southeastern Louisiana	94.7	Southland
257	Portland St.	94.7	Big Sky
258	Western Michigan	94.6	MAC
259	Canisius	94.6	Metro Atl
260	UNC Wilmington	94.6	Colonial
261	Arkansas St.	94.5	Sun Belt
262	North Dakota	94.5	Summit
263	The Citadel	94.5	SoCon
264	Jacksonville	94.4	A-Sun
265	Detroit	94.4	Horizon
266	Marist	94.4	Metro Atl
267	Rice	94.3	CUSA
268	Chattanooga	94.3	SoCon
269	Sacramento St.	94.2	Big Sky
270	New Orleans	94.0	Southland
271	Towson	94.0	Colonial
272	Albany	94.0	Amer East
273	Loyola (MD)	93.9	Patriot
274	St. Francis (BKN)	93.9	Northeast
275	Monmouth	93.9	Metro Atl
276	James Madison	93.9	Colonial
277	Grambling St.	93.7	SWAC
278	Texas A&M-CC	93.7	Southland
279	East Carolina	93.7	AAC
280	Cal St. Northridge	93.7	Big West
281	Youngstown St.	93.5	Horizon
282	Houston Baptist	93.3	Southland
283	George Washington	93.3	Atl 10
284	Fairfield	93.2	Metro Atl
285	Navy	93.1	Patriot
286	Southern Utah	93.0	Big Sky
287	Tulane	92.9	AAC
288	Western Carolina	92.9	SoCon
289	North Carolina Central	92.8	MEAC
290	Cleveland St.	92.8	Horizon
291	Milwaukee	92.6	Horizon
292	Oral Roberts	92.6	Summit
293	Western Illinois	92.6	Summit
294	UT Martin	92.5	Ohio Val
295	UTEP	92.5	CUSA
296	Bethune Cookman	92.5	MEAC
297	Tennessee St.	92.5	Ohio Val
298	Lafayette	92.4	Patriot
299	North Carolina A&T	92.2	MEAC
300	Longwood	92.2	Big South
301	Charlotte	92.2	CUSA
302	Wagner	92.1	Northeast
303	Stephen F. Austin	92.1	Southland
304	Northern Arizona	92.1	Big Sky
305	Saint Peter’s	92.0	Metro Atl
306	VMI	91.9	SoCon
307	Niagara	91.9	Metro Atl
308	Elon	91.9	Colonial
309	Eastern Illinois	91.7	Ohio Val
310	UC Riverside	91.6	Big West
311	Central Arkansas	91.6	Southland
312	Nicholls St.	91.5	Southland
313	Howard	91.4	MEAC
314	North Alabama	91.2	A-Sun
315	Southeast Missouri St.	91.2	Ohio Val
316	Denver	91.1	Summit
317	Manhattan	90.8	Metro Atl
318	Idaho St.	90.7	Big Sky
319	Wyoming	90.3	Mtn West
320	Arkansas Pine Bluff	90.2	SWAC
321	Central Connecticut	90.0	Northeast
322	Jackson St.	89.9	SWAC
323	Binghamton	89.8	Amer East
324	Mount St. Mary’s	89.7	Northeast
325	Portland	89.6	West Coast
326	Florida A&M	89.6	MEAC
327	Tennessee Tech	89.5	Ohio Val
328	Bryant	89.3	Northeast
329	McNeese St.	88.9	Southland
330	Alabama St.	88.8	SWAC
331	Maine	88.6	Amer East
332	Cal Poly	88.4	Big West
333	SIU Edwardsville	88.0	Ohio Val
334	Stetson	87.9	A-Sun
335	USC Upstate	87.7	Big South
336	Morgan St.	87.6	MEAC
337	Southern	87.3	SWAC
338	South Carolina St.	87.3	MEAC
339	Northwestern St.	86.4	Southland
340	New Hampshire	86.2	Amer East
341	Kennesaw St.	86.1	A-Sun
342	San Jose St.	85.4	Mtn West
343	Savannah St.	85.2	MEAC
344	Idaho	85.0	Big Sky
345	Coppin St.	84.9	MEAC
346	Incarnate Word	84.6	Southland
347	Alabama A&M	84.6	SWAC
348	UNC Asheville	84.1	Big South
349	Alcorn St.	84.0	SWAC
350	Mississippi Valley St.	82.8	SWAC
351	Maryland Eastern Shore	81.1	MEAC
352	Delaware St.	79.5	MEAC
353	Chicago St.	79.3	WAC

PiRate Ratings (Alphabetical)

Rk	Team	PiRate
154	Abilene Christian	100.9
254	Air Force	94.8
117	Akron	103.5
58	Alabama	108.0
347	Alabama A&M	84.6
330	Alabama St.	88.8
272	Albany	94.0
349	Alcorn St.	84.0
201	American	98.0
204	Appalachian St.	97.9
85	Arizona	105.9
56	Arizona St.	108.4
53	Arkansas	108.7
320	Arkansas Pine Bluff	90.2
261	Arkansas St.	94.5
236	Army	95.8
13	Auburn	115.7
126	Austin Peay	103.0
131	Ball St.	102.8
38	Baylor	110.6
50	Belmont	109.0
296	Bethune Cookman	92.5
323	Binghamton	89.8
134	Boise St.	102.6
106	Boston College	104.3
229	Boston University	96.2
127	Bowling Green	103.0
166	Bradley	99.9
146	Brown	101.4
328	Bryant	89.3
139	Bucknell	102.0
21	Buffalo	113.6
57	Butler	108.2
90	BYU	105.6
332	Cal Poly	88.4
224	Cal St. Bakersfield	96.7
183	Cal St. Fullerton	98.9
280	Cal St. Northridge	93.7
248	California	95.0
209	California Baptist	97.5
186	Campbell	98.8
259	Canisius	94.6
311	Central Arkansas	91.6
321	Central Connecticut	90.0
39	Central Florida	110.6
141	Central Michigan	101.9
118	Charleston	103.4
175	Charleston Southern	99.4
301	Charlotte	92.2
268	Chattanooga	94.3
353	Chicago St.	79.3
32	Cincinnati	111.4
29	Clemson	112.2
290	Cleveland St.	92.8
155	Coastal Carolina	100.7
138	Colgate	102.1
69	Colorado	107.0
181	Colorado St.	99.2
218	Columbia	97.2
95	Connecticut	105.2
345	Coppin St.	84.9
227	Cornell	96.4
45	Creighton	110.0
212	Dartmouth	97.4
70	Davidson	106.8
55	Dayton	108.4
250	Delaware	95.0
352	Delaware St.	79.5
316	Denver	91.1
98	DePaul	104.9
265	Detroit	94.4
132	Drake	102.8
244	Drexel	95.2
3	Duke	123.2
165	Duquesne	100.1
279	East Carolina	93.7
75	East Tennessee St.	106.3
309	Eastern Illinois	91.7
241	Eastern Kentucky	95.4
160	Eastern Michigan	100.3
240	Eastern Washington	95.5
308	Elon	91.9
228	Evansville	96.4
284	Fairfield	93.2
220	Fairleigh Dickinson	97.1
31	Florida	111.7
326	Florida A&M	89.6
187	Florida Atlantic	98.7
233	Florida Gulf Coast	96.0
211	Florida Int’l.	97.4
17	Florida St.	114.7
243	Fordham	95.2
64	Fresno St.	107.5
60	Furman	107.8
163	Gardner Webb	100.1
147	George Mason	101.4
283	George Washington	93.3
76	Georgetown	106.3
116	Georgia	103.5
104	Georgia Southern	104.6
115	Georgia St.	103.6
103	Georgia Tech	104.6
1	Gonzaga	124.4
277	Grambling St.	93.7
102	Grand Canyon	104.7
206	Green Bay	97.8
197	Hampton	98.1
185	Hartford	98.8
128	Harvard	102.9
192	Hawaii	98.4
230	High Point	96.2
74	Hofstra	106.3
234	Holy Cross	95.9
15	Houston	115.0
282	Houston Baptist	93.3
313	Howard	91.4
344	Idaho	85.0
318	Idaho St.	90.7
78	Illinois	106.2
214	Illinois Chicago	97.3
196	Illinois St.	98.1
346	Incarnate Word	84.6
37	Indiana	110.6
217	Indiana St.	97.2
198	Iona	98.0
36	Iowa	110.9
18	Iowa St.	114.1
199	IUPUI	98.0
322	Jackson St.	89.9
264	Jacksonville	94.4
123	Jacksonville St.	103.2
276	James Madison	93.9
16	Kansas	114.9
25	Kansas St.	113.2
341	Kennesaw St.	86.1
145	Kent St.	101.5
7	Kentucky	118.3
216	La Salle	97.2
298	Lafayette	92.4
202	Lamar	98.0
168	Lehigh	99.8
77	Liberty	106.2
52	Lipscomb	108.8
231	Little Rock	96.1
222	Long Beach St.	96.9
249	Long Island	95.0
300	Longwood	92.2
170	Louisiana	99.7
148	Louisiana Monroe	101.3
142	Louisiana Tech	101.8
19	Louisville	114.0
112	Loyola (Chi)	103.8
273	Loyola (MD)	93.9
137	Loyola Marymount	102.2
20	LSU	114.0
331	Maine	88.6
317	Manhattan	90.8
266	Marist	94.4
28	Marquette	112.6
171	Marshall	99.7
22	Maryland	113.4
221	Maryland Baltimore Co.	97.0
351	Maryland Eastern Shore	81.1
210	Massachusetts	97.5
329	McNeese St.	88.9
71	Memphis	106.8
195	Mercer	98.2
63	Miami (Fla)	107.5
149	Miami (O)	101.2
9	Michigan	118.1
5	Michigan St.	120.5
242	Middle Tennessee	95.2
291	Milwaukee	92.6
48	Minnesota	109.3
44	Mississippi	110.1
23	Mississippi St.	113.4
350	Mississippi Valley St.	82.8
80	Missouri	106.1
251	Missouri Kansas City	95.0
172	Missouri St.	99.6
275	Monmouth	93.9
133	Montana	102.8
245	Montana St.	95.2
255	Morehead St.	94.8
336	Morgan St.	87.6
324	Mount St. Mary’s	89.7
51	Murray St.	109.0
285	Navy	93.1
40	Nebraska	110.5
14	Nevada	115.0
340	New Hampshire	86.2
178	New Mexico	99.3
62	New Mexico St.	107.7
270	New Orleans	94.0
307	Niagara	91.9
312	Nicholls St.	91.5
184	NJIT	98.8
247	Norfolk St.	95.1
314	North Alabama	91.2
4	North Carolina	121.0
299	North Carolina A&T	92.2
289	North Carolina Central	92.8
27	North Carolina St.	112.9
262	North Dakota	94.5
207	North Dakota St.	97.8
203	North Florida	98.0
153	North Texas	100.9
87	Northeastern	105.8
304	Northern Arizona	92.1
158	Northern Colorado	100.4
151	Northern Illinois	101.1
177	Northern Iowa	99.3
105	Northern Kentucky	104.4
65	Northwestern	107.2
339	Northwestern St.	86.4
84	Notre Dame	105.9
194	Oakland	98.3
191	Ohio	98.4
42	Ohio St.	110.3
33	Oklahoma	111.3
100	Oklahoma St.	104.8
113	Old Dominion	103.8
164	Omaha	100.1
292	Oral Roberts	92.6
49	Oregon	109.3
79	Oregon St.	106.2
219	Pacific	97.1
114	Penn	103.6
43	Penn St.	110.2
156	Pepperdine	100.6
96	Pittsburgh	105.1
325	Portland	89.6
257	Portland St.	94.7
232	Prairie View A&M	96.1
189	Presbyterian	98.5
176	Princeton	99.3
73	Providence	106.7
10	Purdue	117.6
173	Purdue Fort Wayne	99.5
226	Quinnipiac	96.6
136	Radford	102.4
135	Rhode Island	102.4
267	Rice	94.3
182	Richmond	99.0
193	Rider	98.4
252	Robert Morris	94.9
81	Rutgers	106.0
269	Sacramento St.	94.2
239	Sacred Heart	95.5
174	Saint Joseph’s	99.4
120	Saint Louis	103.3
41	Saint Mary’s	110.4
305	Saint Peter’s	92.0
179	Sam Houston St.	99.2
157	Samford	100.5
93	San Diego	105.5
111	San Diego St.	103.8
68	San Francisco	107.0
342	San Jose St.	85.4
200	Santa Clara	98.0
343	Savannah St.	85.2
188	Seattle	98.6
54	Seton Hall	108.4
246	Siena	95.1
333	SIU Edwardsville	88.0
107	SMU	104.2
213	South Alabama	97.4
72	South Carolina	106.8
338	South Carolina St.	87.3
225	South Dakota	96.7
89	South Dakota St.	105.6
121	South Florida	103.2
315	Southeast Missouri St.	91.2
256	Southeastern Louisiana	94.7
337	Southern	87.3
143	Southern Illinois	101.6
119	Southern Miss	103.4
286	Southern Utah	93.0
129	St. Bonaventure	102.9
274	St. Francis (BKN)	93.9
235	St. Francis PA	95.8
61	St. John’s	107.8
110	Stanford	103.9
303	Stephen F. Austin	92.1
334	Stetson	87.9
161	Stony Brook	100.1
34	Syracuse	111.3
47	TCU	110.0
66	Temple	107.2
6	Tennessee	118.9
297	Tennessee St.	92.5
327	Tennessee Tech	89.5
30	Texas	112.0
94	Texas A&M	105.4
278	Texas A&M-CC	93.7
223	Texas Southern	96.9
122	Texas St.	103.2
8	Texas Tech	118.3
263	The Citadel	94.5
59	Toledo	107.9
271	Towson	94.0
238	Troy	95.6
287	Tulane	92.9
124	Tulsa	103.2
162	UAB	100.1
237	UC Davis	95.6
92	UC Irvine	105.5
310	UC Riverside	91.6
152	UC Santa Barbara	101.0
99	UCLA	104.9
253	UMass Lowell	94.9
348	UNC Asheville	84.1
86	UNC Greensboro	105.8
260	UNC Wilmington	94.6
150	UNLV	101.1
88	USC	105.7
335	USC Upstate	87.7
167	UT Arlington	99.8
294	UT Martin	92.5
208	UT Rio Grande Valley	97.6
108	Utah	104.2
46	Utah St.	110.0
109	Utah Valley	104.0
295	UTEP	92.5
169	UTSA	99.8
205	Valparaiso	97.8
140	Vanderbilt	102.0
83	Vermont	106.0
24	Villanova	113.3
2	Virginia	123.3
35	Virginia Commonwealth	111.1
11	Virginia Tech	116.5
306	VMI	91.9
302	Wagner	92.1
159	Wake Forest	100.3
91	Washington	105.5
144	Washington St.	101.6
190	Weber St.	98.5
97	West Virginia	104.9
288	Western Carolina	92.9
293	Western Illinois	92.6
125	Western Kentucky	103.1
258	Western Michigan	94.6
101	Wichita St.	104.8
215	William & Mary	97.3
180	Winthrop	99.2
12	Wisconsin	115.7
26	Wofford	113.2
130	Wright St.	102.9
319	Wyoming	90.3
67	Xavier	107.2
82	Yale	106.0
281	Youngstown St.	93.5

 

PiRate Ratings (Conference)

#	America East	PiRate
83	Vermont	106.0
161	Stony Brook	100.1
185	Hartford	98.8
221	Maryland Baltimore Co.	97.0
253	UMass Lowell	94.9
272	Albany	94.0
323	Binghamton	89.8
331	Maine	88.6
340	New Hampshire	86.2

 

 

#	American Athletic	PiRate
15	Houston	115.0
32	Cincinnati	111.4
39	Central Florida	110.6
66	Temple	107.2
71	Memphis	106.8
95	Connecticut	105.2
101	Wichita St.	104.8
107	SMU	104.2
121	South Florida	103.2
124	Tulsa	103.2
279	East Carolina	93.7
287	Tulane	92.9

 

 

#	Atlantic 10	PiRate
35	Virginia Commonwealth	111.1
55	Dayton	108.4
70	Davidson	106.8
120	Saint Louis	103.3
129	St. Bonaventure	102.9
135	Rhode Island	102.4
147	George Mason	101.4
165	Duquesne	100.1
174	Saint Joseph’s	99.4
182	Richmond	99.0
210	Massachusetts	97.5
216	La Salle	97.2
243	Fordham	95.2
283	George Washington	93.3

 

 

#	Atlantic Coast	PiRate
2	Virginia	123.3
3	Duke	123.2
4	North Carolina	121.0
11	Virginia Tech	116.5
17	Florida St.	114.7
19	Louisville	114.0
27	North Carolina St.	112.9
29	Clemson	112.2
34	Syracuse	111.3
63	Miami (Fla)	107.5
84	Notre Dame	105.9
96	Pittsburgh	105.1
103	Georgia Tech	104.6
106	Boston College	104.3
159	Wake Forest	100.3

 

 

#	Atlantic Sun	PiRate
52	Lipscomb	108.8
77	Liberty	106.2
184	NJIT	98.8
203	North Florida	98.0
233	Florida Gulf Coast	96.0
264	Jacksonville	94.4
314	North Alabama	91.2
334	Stetson	87.9
341	Kennesaw St.	86.1

 

 

#	Big 12	PiRate
8	Texas Tech	118.3
16	Kansas	114.9
18	Iowa St.	114.1
25	Kansas St.	113.2
30	Texas	112.0
33	Oklahoma	111.3
38	Baylor	110.6
47	TCU	110.0
97	West Virginia	104.9
100	Oklahoma St.	104.8

 

 

#	Big East	PiRate
24	Villanova	113.3
28	Marquette	112.6
45	Creighton	110.0
54	Seton Hall	108.4
57	Butler	108.2
61	St. John’s	107.8
67	Xavier	107.2
73	Providence	106.7
76	Georgetown	106.3
98	DePaul	104.9

 

 

#	Big Sky	PiRate
133	Montana	102.8
158	Northern Colorado	100.4
190	Weber St.	98.5
240	Eastern Washington	95.5
245	Montana St.	95.2
257	Portland St.	94.7
269	Sacramento St.	94.2
286	Southern Utah	93.0
304	Northern Arizona	92.1
318	Idaho St.	90.7
344	Idaho	85.0

 

 

#	Big South	PiRate
136	Radford	102.4
163	Gardner Webb	100.1
175	Charleston Southern	99.4
180	Winthrop	99.2
186	Campbell	98.8
189	Presbyterian	98.5
197	Hampton	98.1
230	High Point	96.2
300	Longwood	92.2
335	USC Upstate	87.7
348	UNC Asheville	84.1

 

 

#	Big Ten	PiRate
5	Michigan St.	120.5
9	Michigan	118.1
10	Purdue	117.6
12	Wisconsin	115.7
22	Maryland	113.4
36	Iowa	110.9
37	Indiana	110.6
40	Nebraska	110.5
42	Ohio St.	110.3
43	Penn St.	110.2
48	Minnesota	109.3
65	Northwestern	107.2
78	Illinois	106.2
81	Rutgers	106.0

 

 

#	Big West	PiRate
92	UC Irvine	105.5
152	UC Santa Barbara	101.0
183	Cal St. Fullerton	98.9
192	Hawaii	98.4
222	Long Beach St.	96.9
237	UC Davis	95.6
280	Cal St. Northridge	93.7
310	UC Riverside	91.6
332	Cal Poly	88.4

 

 

#	Colonial Athletic	PiRate
74	Hofstra	106.3
87	Northeastern	105.8
118	Charleston	103.4
215	William & Mary	97.3
244	Drexel	95.2
250	Delaware	95.0
260	UNC Wilmington	94.6
271	Towson	94.0
276	James Madison	93.9
308	Elon	91.9

 

 

#	Conference USA	PiRate
113	Old Dominion	103.8
119	Southern Miss	103.4
125	Western Kentucky	103.1
142	Louisiana Tech	101.8
153	North Texas	100.9
162	UAB	100.1
169	UTSA	99.8
171	Marshall	99.7
187	Florida Atlantic	98.7
211	Florida Int’l.	97.4
242	Middle Tennessee	95.2
267	Rice	94.3
295	UTEP	92.5
301	Charlotte	92.2

 

 

#	Horizon	PiRate
105	Northern Kentucky	104.4
130	Wright St.	102.9
194	Oakland	98.3
199	IUPUI	98.0
206	Green Bay	97.8
214	Illinois Chicago	97.3
265	Detroit	94.4
281	Youngstown St.	93.5
290	Cleveland St.	92.8
291	Milwaukee	92.6

 

 

#	Ivy	PiRate
82	Yale	106.0
114	Penn	103.6
128	Harvard	102.9
146	Brown	101.4
176	Princeton	99.3
212	Dartmouth	97.4
218	Columbia	97.2
227	Cornell	96.4

 

 

#	Metro Atlantic	PiRate
193	Rider	98.4
198	Iona	98.0
226	Quinnipiac	96.6
246	Siena	95.1
259	Canisius	94.6
266	Marist	94.4
275	Monmouth	93.9
284	Fairfield	93.2
305	Saint Peter’s	92.0
307	Niagara	91.9
317	Manhattan	90.8

 

 

#	Mid-American	PiRate
21	Buffalo	113.6
59	Toledo	107.9
117	Akron	103.5
127	Bowling Green	103.0
131	Ball St.	102.8
141	Central Michigan	101.9
145	Kent St.	101.5
149	Miami (O)	101.2
151	Northern Illinois	101.1
160	Eastern Michigan	100.3
191	Ohio	98.4
258	Western Michigan	94.6

 

 

#	Mideastern Athletic	PiRate
247	Norfolk St.	95.1
289	North Carolina Central	92.8
296	Bethune Cookman	92.5
299	North Carolina A&T	92.2
313	Howard	91.4
326	Florida A&M	89.6
336	Morgan St.	87.6
338	South Carolina St.	87.3
343	Savannah St.	85.2
345	Coppin St.	84.9
351	Maryland Eastern Shore	81.1
352	Delaware St.	79.5

 

 

#	Missouri Valley	PiRate
112	Loyola (Chi)	103.8
132	Drake	102.8
143	Southern Illinois	101.6
166	Bradley	99.9
172	Missouri St.	99.6
177	Northern Iowa	99.3
196	Illinois St.	98.1
205	Valparaiso	97.8
217	Indiana St.	97.2
228	Evansville	96.4

 

 

#	Mountain West	PiRate
14	Nevada	115.0
46	Utah St.	110.0
64	Fresno St.	107.5
111	San Diego St.	103.8
134	Boise St.	102.6
150	UNLV	101.1
178	New Mexico	99.3
181	Colorado St.	99.2
254	Air Force	94.8
319	Wyoming	90.3
342	San Jose St.	85.4

 

 

#	Northeast	PiRate
220	Fairleigh Dickinson	97.1
235	St. Francis PA	95.8
239	Sacred Heart	95.5
249	Long Island	95.0
252	Robert Morris	94.9
274	St. Francis (BKN)	93.9
302	Wagner	92.1
321	Central Connecticut	90.0
324	Mount St. Mary’s	89.7
328	Bryant	89.3

 

 

#	Ohio Valley	PiRate
50	Belmont	109.0
51	Murray St.	109.0
123	Jacksonville St.	103.2
126	Austin Peay	103.0
241	Eastern Kentucky	95.4
255	Morehead St.	94.8
294	UT Martin	92.5
297	Tennessee St.	92.5
309	Eastern Illinois	91.7
315	Southeast Missouri St.	91.2
327	Tennessee Tech	89.5
333	SIU Edwardsville	88.0

 

 

#	Pac-12	PiRate
49	Oregon	109.3
56	Arizona St.	108.4
69	Colorado	107.0
79	Oregon St.	106.2
85	Arizona	105.9
88	USC	105.7
91	Washington	105.5
99	UCLA	104.9
108	Utah	104.2
110	Stanford	103.9
144	Washington St.	101.6
248	California	95.0

 

 

#	Patriot	PiRate
138	Colgate	102.1
139	Bucknell	102.0
168	Lehigh	99.8
201	American	98.0
229	Boston University	96.2
234	Holy Cross	95.9
236	Army	95.8
273	Loyola (MD)	93.9
285	Navy	93.1
298	Lafayette	92.4

 

 

#	Southeastern	PiRate
6	Tennessee	118.9
7	Kentucky	118.3
13	Auburn	115.7
20	LSU	114.0
23	Mississippi St.	113.4
31	Florida	111.7
44	Mississippi	110.1
53	Arkansas	108.7
58	Alabama	108.0
72	South Carolina	106.8
80	Missouri	106.1
94	Texas A&M	105.4
116	Georgia	103.5
140	Vanderbilt	102.0

 

 

#	Southern	PiRate
26	Wofford	113.2
60	Furman	107.8
75	East Tennessee St.	106.3
86	UNC Greensboro	105.8
157	Samford	100.5
195	Mercer	98.2
263	The Citadel	94.5
268	Chattanooga	94.3
288	Western Carolina	92.9
306	VMI	91.9

 

#	Southland	PiRate
154	Abilene Christian	100.9
179	Sam Houston St.	99.2
202	Lamar	98.0
256	Southeastern Louisiana	94.7
270	New Orleans	94.0
278	Texas A&M-CC	93.7
282	Houston Baptist	93.3
303	Stephen F. Austin	92.1
311	Central Arkansas	91.6
312	Nicholls St.	91.5
329	McNeese St.	88.9
339	Northwestern St.	86.4
346	Incarnate Word	84.6

 

 

#	Southwestern Athletic	PiRate
223	Texas Southern	96.9
232	Prairie View A&M	96.1
277	Grambling St.	93.7
320	Arkansas Pine Bluff	90.2
322	Jackson St.	89.9
330	Alabama St.	88.8
337	Southern	87.3
347	Alabama A&M	84.6
349	Alcorn St.	84.0
350	Mississippi Valley St.	82.8

 

 

#	Summit	PiRate
89	South Dakota St.	105.6
164	Omaha	100.1
173	Purdue Fort Wayne	99.5
207	North Dakota St.	97.8
225	South Dakota	96.7
262	North Dakota	94.5
292	Oral Roberts	92.6
293	Western Illinois	92.6
316	Denver	91.1

 

 

#	Sun Belt	PiRate
104	Georgia Southern	104.6
115	Georgia St.	103.6
122	Texas St.	103.2
148	Louisiana Monroe	101.3
155	Coastal Carolina	100.7
167	UT Arlington	99.8
170	Louisiana	99.7
204	Appalachian St.	97.9
213	South Alabama	97.4
231	Little Rock	96.1
238	Troy	95.6
261	Arkansas St.	94.5

 

 

#	West Coast	PiRate
1	Gonzaga	124.4
41	Saint Mary’s	110.4
68	San Francisco	107.0
90	BYU	105.6
93	San Diego	105.5
137	Loyola Marymount	102.2
156	Pepperdine	100.6
200	Santa Clara	98.0
219	Pacific	97.1
325	Portland	89.6

 

 

#	Western Athletic	PiRate
62	New Mexico St.	107.7
102	Grand Canyon	104.7
109	Utah Valley	104.0
188	Seattle	98.6
208	UT Rio Grande Valley	97.6
209	California Baptist	97.5
224	Cal St. Bakersfield	96.7
251	Missouri Kansas City	95.0
353	Chicago St.	79.3

 

Conference Tournaments Update

Atlantic Sun Conference
*** Championship Game–Sunday, March 10 ***
Liberty	74	Lipscomb	68

 

 

Big South Conference
*** Championship Game–Sunday, March 10 (at Radford) ***
Gardner-Webb	76	Radford	65

 

 

Colonial Athletic Association
Site: North Charleston Coliseum, North Charleston, SC
Quarterfinals–Sunday, March 10
Hofstra	76	James Madison	67
Delaware	85	William & Mary	79
Northeastern	80	UNC Wilmington	59
Charleston	73	Drexel	61

 

Semifinals–Monday, March 11
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
1	Hofstra (26-6)	5	Delaware (17-15)
2	Northeastern (21-10)	3	Charleston (24-8)

 

 

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
Site: Times Union Center, Albany, NY (Siena)
Semifinals–Sunday, March 10
Iona	73	Siena	57
Monmouth	73	Canisius	59

Championship Game–Monday, March 11
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
1	Iona (16-15)	6	Monmouth (14-20)

 

 

Mid-American Conference (MACtion)
Site: 1st Rd @ Higher Seeds/ Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, OH
First Round–Monday, March 11
Seed	Home Team	Seed	Visitors
8	Akron (16-15)	9	Miami (O) (15-16)
5	Central Michigan (21-10)	12	Western Michigan (8-23)
7	Northern Illinois (15-16)	10	Ohio (14-16)
6	Eastern Michigan (15-16)	11	Ball St. (15-16)

 

 

Missouri Valley Conference (Arch Madness)
Site: Enterprise Center, St. Louis, MO
*** Championship Game–Sunday, March 10 ***
Bradley	57	Northern Iowa	54

 

 

Patriot League
All games at home floor of higher seeds
Semifinals–Sunday, March 10
Colgate	80	Navy	70
Bucknell	97	Lehigh	75

 

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

 

 

Southern Conference
Site: US Cellular Center, Asheville, NC
Semifinals–Sunday, March 10
Wofford	81	East Tennessee St.	72
UNC Greensboro	66	Furman	62

 

*** Championship Game–Monday, March 11 ***
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
1	Wofford (28-4)	2	UNC Greensboro (28-5)

 

 

Summit League
Site: Denny Sanford Premier Center, Sioux Falls, SD
Quarterfinals
North Dakota St.	86	Oral Roberts	73
Purdue Ft. Wayne	96	South Dakota	70

 

Semifinals–Monday, March 11
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
8	Western Illinois (10-20)	4	North Dakota St. (16-15)
2	Omaha (20-10)	3	Purdue Ft. Wayne (18-14)

 

West Coast Conference

Site: Orleans Arena, Las Vegas, NV

Semifinals–Monday, March 11
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
2	Saint Mary’s (20-11)	6	San Diego (21-13)
1	Gonzaga (29-2)	8	Pepperdine (16-17)

 

Teams With Automatic Bids

Team	Conf	W-L
Liberty	Atlantic Sun	28-6
Gardner-Webb	Big South	23-11
Murray St.	Ohio Valley	27-4
Bradley	Missouri Valley	20-14

 

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Selection Committee Got It Right–Only Because The Criteria Was Wrong

The NCAA Men’s Basketball Selection Committee is under fire today for how teams like Oklahoma, Arizona State,  and Syracuse made the tournament, while teams like Saint Mary’s, Middle Tennessee State, and USC did not.

Don’t blame this Committee.  They did not create the criteria that they use to select the teams.  You wouldn’t blame a jury if the judge orders them not to consider the most convincing evidence in a trial, and it produces the opposite verdict.

We are hearing interesting rumors that Louisville and USC received punitive treatment due to the impending FBI probe, but we do not buy into this rumor.

The reality is that Oklahoma, Arizona State, and Syracuse are in the field, and USC, Saint Mary’s, and Middle Tennessee are not.

The PiRate Bracket Gurus correctly picked 67 of the 68 teams, missing on USC versus Syracuse.  They don’t want to make this sound like sour grapes here, and they are not responsible in the least for our comments, but we find it a laughing joke that the Trojans did not make the tournament, while Arizona State did make the tournament.

Again, it is not the Committee’s fault that the most convincing evidence that would show the superior team was not admissible in this case.  USC finished in 2nd place in the Pac-12, while Arizona State finished tied for 8th place, with only three teams below the Sun Devils in the standings.  USC bested ASU by four games in the conference standings!

How can a team finish 22.2% better in the majority part of an identical schedule than another team and see the weaker team make the tournament, while they did not?  This is why March Madness is more mad due to inferior selection criteria.

We repeat a comparison we made earlier this season.  Take the NFL Playoffs.  Let’s say that during the first month of the season, The New York Giants beat Philadelphia, Dallas, Atlanta, and Pittsburgh and lead the NFC East at 4-0, while The Eagles are 2-2, with victories over Washington and Tampa Bay.

At this point in the season, the Giants are the best team in the NFL, while Philly is in the bottom half.  Now, from this point on, the Giants finish 5-7 for a 9-7 record.  The Eagles go 9-3 for an 11-5 record.

So, in the playoffs, the Giants are selected by the NFL Selection Committee due to their Quadrant 1 NFL wins in September, while the Eagles have to go to the Bert Bell Playoff Bowl in Miami (Google It–There really was a bowl game in the NFL).

If the NFL stages its playoffs this way, the league would be the laughingstock of sports.  The playoffs would be a big joke.  Yet, in college basketball, the public is brainwashed into believing that this giant tournament of mostly mediocrity is can’t miss entertainment.

The PiRates can easily miss seeing almost all these games where one or more of the combatants fared so poorly in the regular season that in decades past, their coaches might have been fired or put on a hot seat.

Allowing the 8th best team in a rather weak conference to have a chance to play for the national championship is par for the course in this everybody gets a trophy society.  When it comes down to it, neither USC nor Arizona State should have been invited to the NCAA Tournament.  Likewise, no team that did not win a conference championship should have been invited.  There are 32 conferences.  There should be 32 teams invited to the tournament, the 32 champions.

Before you say, “Hey Bucakroo, you cannot be serious about including Radford but not Duke,” let us preface that we favor just the 32 conference champions, but we also would favor handicapping the tournament so that the top 10 conference champions would receive byes to the Sweet 16, while the other 22 conference champions would have to compete in a play-in tournament to narrow from 22 to 12 to 6.  The 6 play-in winners would fill out the Sweet 16.

This is exactly how the NCAA Tournament used to be conducted.  Back in the 1960’s and early 1970’s, six to eight conference champions received automatic byes to the Sweet 16, while 14 to 18 other conference champions (and top Independents) were forced to play-in to the Sweet 16.  The bye conferences were determined by the past 5 years results in prior NCAA Tournaments.

Four plus decades ago, over half of the division 1 teams in the East were independents, playing in a loosely-knit organization called the ECAC (Eastern College Athletic Conference).  Prior to 1975, the ECAC was guaranteed two spots in the NCAA Tournament, while other Independents from the South, Midwest, and West could only be selected as at-large entries if and when the NCAA determined they were worthy.

Usually, 24 teams were selected for the NCAA Tournament.  There were eight teams that received byes and 16 teams that played into the Sweet 16.  On the third Saturday of March, the play-in games were played on neutral sites.  Then, on the following Thursday night (Friday night until 1968), the Sweet 16 Round was played, and the Elite 8 Round was played on Saturday.  There were regional consolation games to give each region four total games.

Then, the Final Four was played the following Thursday night with a consolation game and National Championship Game played on Saturday afternoon.  Starting in 1973, the Final Four moved to its present Saturday afternoon-Monday night format.

The explanation that the tournament became huge when it moved to 64 and then 68 teams is not actual fact.  The tournament was already big before it began to expand.  It would have continued to gain fan support if it had stayed exactly the same, and it is our opinion that it would be even bigger than it is today had it remained a tournament of conference champions.

With today’s format, a lot of really fantastic marquee games never happen.  The so-called media darling long shots that pull off a first round upset or sneak into the Sweet 16 eventually get blown out by a power conference team, giving the power conference team somewhat of a breather to the next round.  With 32 first round games, there are going to be a handful of upsets when a power team either overlooks the smaller school or comes out flat, while the other team plays the game of its lives.

The 1927 New York Yankees occasionally had an off day and lost to the Washington Senators (8 times that year).  They even lost a game to the St. Louis Browns.  There is always that odd day or night where things just don’t go the way they should 99% of the time.  It actually hurts the tournament when a #2 seed loses to a #15 seed, because the #15 seed isn’t going anywhere, while the #2 seed could have given the public a really incredible Elite 8 game against a #1 seed.

With that in mind, the PiRates have two separate ideas that would make the NCAA Basketball Tournament much better than it is now.  It would still give the Radford’s a real chance to compete for the title, and it would eliminate the ridiculous, human-error-laced, Selection Committee trying to create a reason why the 12-6 number two team from a power conference stays home, while the 8-10 number eight place (tied for 8th) team from that same conference makes the field.

Option A: Split Division 1 into D1 Large and D1 Small.  D1 Large would be the top 16 conferences, while D1 Small would be the bottom 16 conferences.

Conduct separate 16-team playoffs in the same manner that the NBA now uses.  4 rounds of best of 7 playoffs with the higher-ranked team getting home court advantage.  This option allows the home town fans a chance to see their team play on its home court, whereas only a handful of fans can afford to travel all over the map to watch them play in far away outposts.  How many Buffalo Bulls fans will make the trip to Boise, Idaho?

You could add a twist to the playoff formats and incorporate the relegation and promotion rules from soccer, where the conference of the Small Champion is promoted to Large, and the conference with the weakest-rated Large Champion being relegated to Small.

Imagine a Final Four with Arizona playing Kansas in a best of 7, and Virginia playing Michigan State in a best of 7.  What would the TV ratings be on these series rather than seeing a Sweet 16 game between one of these powers and a long shot low-major team that will lose by 20+ in the Sweet 16?  The two series would dwarf the ratings of today’s earlier rounds where teams are forced to play in the mornings and afternoons of weekdays.

Option B would be to revert back to how the tournament was conducted in the 1960’s and early 1970’s.  Take the 22 weakest conferences and send their champions to a 22 to 12 to 6 play-in.  Send the other 10 top conference champions expressly to the Sweet 16.

Sure, teams like North Carolina, Villanova, and Michigan would not be in the tournament, but then neither would be 8-10 Arizona State or 8-10 Syracuse.  Villanova, Michigan, Purdue, Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas Tech, West Virginia, and USC among others would give the 16-team (like it was when it was great) NIT a great group of teams, so great that they could return to playing all 15 games at Madison Square Garden.

Most of you reading this today are wondering what our schedule will be for the NCAA Tournament.  Usually, today is the day we release our annual Bracketnomics report showing what back-tested data has been successful in isolating past NCAA Tournament winners.

The PiRates have made some sweeping changes this year, as advanced metrics have made our past bracket-picking criteria somewhat obsolete.  We still have our exceptional R+T weighted rating, and it still represents a huge chunk of what works for us, but we have dropped a lot of the other former data.  With advanced metrics like true shooting% and a better way to compare teams based on strength of schedule, we will be releasing an all-inclusive, somewhat explanatory reveal Tuesday afternoon.

PiRate Ratings’ Bracket Gurus’ Final Predictions For the Field of 68

That Darn Davidson
Call it the Steph Curry Effect. It would happen that the one bid-stealing team in the Conference Tournament part of March Madness would be a team from a conference that played its championship game on Selection Sunday afternoon.

 
At least the Selection Committee had to deal with this contingency as well. If our Bracket Gurus know their stuff, they believe that bubble burst popping sound you just heard emanated from Moraga, California, and Saint Mary’s just became a number one seed in the NIT.

What about the other near miss teams?  Our gurus believe (but not unanimously) the bubbles had already burst on Louisville, Middle Tennessee State, Syracuse, Marquette, Baylor, Notre Dame, and Oklahoma St.

Now, with Davidson getting in with the automatic bid, some non-guru bracketologists might simple place the Wildcats in the NCAA Tournament and remove A-10 member St. Bonaventure. It doesn’t work like that. All of our Gurus already locked the Bonnies into the field. Saint Mary’s had the bottom score of the 68 teams, and with the Gaels sulking as they prepare to host an NIT game (or if our Gurus miss), now the #68 team is Arizona St. The Sun Devils are not really affected by the upset in D.C., if our Gurus have it right. They were already headed to Dayton as one of the Last Four in.

The team other than Saint Mary’s that suffered from Davidson’s win is the former last team in with a bye. USC was the number 64 team on the seed line, but after Davidson removed Saint Mary’s from the 11-seed line, it knocked the Trojans down to the fourth weakest Guru score. Thus, the Trojans are picked to join Arizona State, St. Bonaventure, and Texas in First Four games in Dayton.

Our Gurus had a difficult time narrowing the field of 68 from a field of 71. Word leaked out of the Selection Committee early Sunday morning, that all but one at-large spot had been determined prior to any games this afternoon. Our Gurus took that as a slap across 14 faces. If the Committee had it down to 69, then they could too. Between 8AM and Noon Eastern Time today, the Gurus agreed to vote Louisville, Middle Tennessee St., Marquette, and Syracuse off the Madness Island. Pending the outcome of the Davidson-Rhode Island game, the Gurus had the teams selected. A couple of late games might have affected a couple of seeds, as Cincinnati and Tennessee could swap with a Volunteer win and Bearcat loss. Tennessee lost to Kentucky in the SEC Championship, so Cincinnati should stay where they are, win or lose in the AAC Championship Game, which is about to tip off.
Since we are going to press before the American Athletic Conference Tournament ends, we told our Gurus to assume that Cincinnati wins the game and keeps their high seed.  There is a chance a Cinti loss could elevate another team from three to two seed, but we believe the Committee doesn’t want to mess with this contingency this late in the game.  We figured that time was more of the essence than waiting for the last game to finish.
So, with that in mind, here is the PiRate Ratings Bracket Gurus’ Final Prediction. If we get 68 out of 68 again this year, it will be a minor miracle. It wasn’t easy for the Gurus to come close to a consensus. Middle Tennessee, Louisville, Syracuse, Marquette, and Baylor all received at least one vote out of 14 Guru lists. Saint Mary’s, Arizona St., and Texas were left off at least 3 of the 14 ballots.

 

Seed	Team	Conference
1	Virginia	ACC
1	Villanova	B-EAST
1	Xavier	B-EAST
1	Kansas	B12
2	Duke	ACC
2	Purdue	B-TEN
2	North Carolina	ACC
2	Cincinnati	AAC
3	Michigan St.	B-TEN
3	Tennessee	SEC
3	Michigan	B-TEN
3	Auburn	SEC
4	West Virginia	B12
4	Arizona	PAC-12
4	Texas Tech	B12
4	Wichita St.	AAC
5	Clemson	ACC
5	Gonzaga	WCC
5	Kentucky	SEC
5	Ohio St.	B-TEN
6	Houston	AAC
6	Florida	SEC
6	Miami (Fla.)	ACC
6	Arkansas	SEC
7	Texas A&M	SEC
7	TCU	B12
7	Rhode Island	A-10
7	Seton Hall	B-EAST
8	Nevada	MWC
8	Virginia Tech	ACC
8	Missouri	SEC
8	Providence	B-EAST
9	Alabama	SEC
9	Butler	B-EAST
9	Florida St.	ACC
9	Creighton	B-EAST
10	North Carolina St.	ACC
10	Kansas St.	B12
10	UCLA	PAC-12
10	Oklahoma	B12
11	USC	PAC-12
11	Texas	B12
11	St. Bonaventure	A-10
11	Arizona St.	PAC-12
11	Loyola (Chi.)	MVC
11	San Diego St.	MWC
12	New Mexico St.	WAC
12	South Dakota St.	SUMMIT
12	Buffalo	MAC
12	Davidson	A-10
13	Murray St.	OVC
13	UNC-Greensboro	SOCON
13	Marshall	CUSA
13	Charleston	CAA
14	Bucknell	PATRIOT
14	Montana	B-SKY
14	Wright St.	HORIZON
14	Georgia St./UT-Arlington	SBC
15	Stephen F. Austin	SLC
15	Lipscomb	A-SUN
15	Iona	MAAC
15	Penn	IVY
16	MD-Baltimore Co.	A-EAST
16	Cal St. Fullerton	B-WEST
16	Long Island	NEC
16	Radford	B-SOUTH
16	UNC-Central	MEAC
16	Texas Southern	SWAC

Our Gurus’ Additional Picks

First Four Round in Dayton

11-seed line: Texas vs. Arizona St.

11-seed line: USC vs. St. Bonaventure

16-seed line: Long Island vs. Texas Southern

16-seed line: Radford vs. UNC-Central

 

Last 4 Byes

61. North Carolina St.

62. Kansas St.

63. UCLA

64. Oklahoma

 

First Four Out

69. Saint Mary’s

70. Middle Tennessee St.

71. Louisville

72. Syracuse

PiRate Ratings Conference Tournament Update–March 5, 2018

Today’s PiRate Rating Spreads for Conference Tournament Games 

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

Yesterday’s Championship Games

Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament
Lipscomb 108	Florida Gulf Coast 96

Big South Conference Tournament
Radford 55	Liberty 52

Big Ten Conference Tournament
Michigan 75	Purdue 66

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

Teams Already In The Field

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

Conference Tournament Championship Games Today

All Times EST

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

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

 

Other Conference Tournaments In Action Today

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

PiRate Ratings Bracket Gurus Report Coming Later Today

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PiRate Ratings Conference Tournament Update–March 4, 2018

Spreads For Sunday’s Games

Home Team	Visitor	Spread
Wichita St.	Cincinnati	-0.9
South Florida	SMU	-11.0
Tulsa	Temple	1.0
Memphis	East Carolina	11.0
Houston	Connecticut	15.2
Central Florida	Tulane	8.3
Florida Gulf Coast	Lipscomb	6.5
Radford	Liberty	3.8
Purdue	Michigan	3.9
Charleston	Drexel	9.8
William & Mary	Towson	-1.6
Northeastern	Delaware	8.9
Hofstra	UNC-Wilmington	6.4
Illinois-Chicago	Milwaukee	0.1
Oakland	IUPUI	7.3
Iona	St. Peter’s	5.1
Fairfield	Quinnipiac	3.7
Loyola (Chi.)	Illinois St.	7.9
Colgate	Holy Cross	4.8
Bucknell	Boston U	9.2
UNC-Greensboro	Wofford	4.9
East Tennessee St.	Furman	-0.3
Fort Wayne	North Dakota St.	0.9
Denver	Oral Roberts	1.5
Gonzaga	San Francisco	14.5
Saint Mary’s	BYU	4.5

Note:  Games in Bright Red are for Automatic NCAA Tournament Bids

Automatic NCAA Tournament Bids Awarded to Date

Murray State (26-5) 

Ohio Valley Conference Tournament
Murray St. 68	Belmont 51

Conference Tournaments Scores From Saturday with Updated Brackets

America East Conference Tournament
Quarterfinals–March 3
UMBC 89	UMass-Lowell 77
Hartford 71	New Hampshire 60
Vermont 75	Maine 60
Stony Brook 69	Albany 60

Semifinals–March 6
Time	Home	Visitors	TV
7:00 PM	#1 Vermont	#5 Stony Brook	ESPN3
7:30 PM	#2 UMBC	#3 Hartford	ESPN3
Championship–March 10
Time	Home	Visitors	TV
11:00 AM	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	ESPN2

 

Big Ten Conference Tournament
Michigan 75	Michigan St. 64
Purdue 78	Penn St. 70

Championship–March 4
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
4:30 PM	#3 Purdue	#5 Michigan	CBS

 

Colonial Athletic Association Tournament
First Round–March 3
Drexel 70	James Madison 62
Delaware 86	Elon 79

Quarterfinals–March 4
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM	#1 College of Charleston	#8 Drexel	CAA TV
2:30 PM	#4 William & Mary	#5 Towson	CAA TV
6:00 PM	#2 Northeastern	#7 Delaware	CAA TV
8:30 PM	#3 Hofstra	#6 UNC-Wilmington	CAA TV
Semifinals–March 5
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	CofC/Drex/JMU	W&M or Towson	CBSSN
8:30 PM	NE/Del/Elon	Hofstra or UNCW	CBSSN
Championship–March 6
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM			CBSSN

Horizon League Tournament
Wright St. 87	Green Bay 72
Cleveland St. 89	Northern Kentucky 80

Quarterfinals–March 4
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
5:00 PM	#3 UIC	#6 Milwaukee	ESPN3
7:30 PM	#4 Oakland	#5 IUPUI	ESPN3
Semifinals–March 5
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM	Oakland or IUPUI	#8 Cleveland St.	ESPNU
9:30 PM	#2 Wright St.	UIC or Milwaukee	ESPNU
Championship–March 6
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM			ESPN

 

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament
Fairfield 90	Niagara 77
Iona 72	Manhattan 60

Semifinals–March 4
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM	#4 Iona	#9 St. Peter’s	ESPN3
9:30 PM	#6 Fairfield	#7 Quinnipiac	ESPN3
Championship–March 5
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM			ESPN

 

Missouri Valley Conference Tournament
Loyola (Chi.) 62	Bradley 54
Illinois St. 76	Southern Illinois 68

Championship–March 4
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
1:00 PM	#1 Loyola (Chi.)	#3 Illinois St.	CBS

 

Northeast Conference Tournament
Wagner 75	Robert Morris 64
Long Island 78	Fairleigh-Dickinson 77

Championship–March 6
Time	Home Team	Visitors	TV
7:00 PM	#1 Wagner	#4 Long Island	ESPN2

 

Southern Conference Tournament
UNC-Greensboro 72	The Citadel 58
Wofford 73	Mercer 53
East Tennessee St. 77	Chattanooga 59
Furman 97	Western Carolina 73

Semifinals–March 4
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
4:00 PM	#1 UNC-Greensboro	#5 Wofford	ESPN3
6:30 PM	#2 East Tennessee St.	#3 Furman	ESPN3
Championship–March 5
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
9:00 PM			ESPN2

 

Summit League Tournament
Quarterfinals–March 3
South Dakota St. 66	Western Illiois 60
South Dakota 87	Omaha 73

Quarterfinals–March 4
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	#4 Fort Wayne	#5 North Dakota St.	ESPN3
8:30 PM	#3 Denver	#6 Oral Roberts	ESPN3
Semifinals–March 5
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	#1 South Dakota St.	Ft.Wayne or NDSU	ESPN3
8:30 PM	#2 South Dakota	Denver or ORU	ESPN3
Championship–March 6
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
8:00 PM			ESPN2

 

West Coast Conference Tournament
BYU 85	San Diego 79
San Francisco 71	Pacific 70 ot
Gonzaga 83	Loyola Marymount 69
Saint Mary’s 69	Pepperdine 66

Semifinals–March 4
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	#1 Gonzaga	#4 San Francisco	ESPN
8:00 PM	#2 Saint Mary’s	#3 BYU	ESPN2
Championship–March 6
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM			ESPN

Other Conference Tournaments Resuming Today

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

Big South Conference Tournament
Championship–March 4
Time	Home	Visitors	TV
1:00 PM	#2 Radford	#5 Liberty	ESPN

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

Bids That Will Be Awarded on Sunday

Big South Conference:  Radford or Liberty   1:00 PM EST on ESPN

Even with 2-seed Radford’s home court advantage, this game should be considered close to a toss-up.   Earlier in the season, these two teams had to play an extra five minutes to determine the outcome, as Radford won by a bucket 59-57.  Of the 20 players that appeared in that game, only one could find the basket consistently that night, as Radford’s Ed Polite, Jr. finished a perfect 7 for 7 from the field in that game.  It was no fluke, as in the return game at Liberty, Polite, Jr. went 7 for 10 from the field with a three-pointer and a perfect 8 for 8 at the line for 23 points, as Radford cruised to an easy win.  Any chance Liberty has of winning will come from limiting Radford’s ability to get second chance baskets and getting to the foul line, where they lead the Big South with a 78.5% accuracy rate.

Missouri Valley Conference:  Loyola (Chi.) or Illinois St.  2:00 PM EST on CBS

Loyola is the top seed, while Illinois State is the 3-seed.  During the regular season, Loyola won by identical 68-61 scores in a season sweep.  The Ramblers have won nine consecutive games and would be a formidable foe as an underdog in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.  They rank third nationally in field goal percentage at 51% per game, and they play competent defense without fouling.

Atlantic Sun Conference:  Florida Gulf Coast or Lipscomb   3:00 PM EST on ESPN

These are the top two seeds, and they split the season series, winning on the other team’s home floor.  This game will be played at FGCU, where Lipscomb beat the Eagles 90-87, despite being forced into 23 turnovers at the hands of 19 FGCU steals.  Lipscomb has won seven games in a row and 11 out of 12, but FGCU is tournament tough and has been there before.  The Eagles have owned this league since Belmont left for the OVC, while Lipscomb has never been to the NCAA Tournament and only appeared in one previous A-Sun Tournament Championship Game.  This game should be exciting.

Big Ten: Purdue or Michigan  4:30 PM EST on CBS

Obviously, both teams are going to the NCAA Tournament, as will be Michigan State and Ohio State.  Nebraska has little or no chance, while Penn State’s chances of getting in are only marginally better.

 

 

 

Conference Tournament Update–Sunday, March 7, 2017

New Dance Partners

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

 

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

 

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

Tickets Punched So Far

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

Big South Conference: WINTHROP (26-6)

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

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

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

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

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference: IONA (22-12)

 

Surprise Surprise–Last Place Team One Win Away From Dancing

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

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

 

Today’s Tournament Schedule

Championship Games–NCAA Bid on the Line

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

Other Tournament Games

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

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

 

The Bubble

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

 

Game of the Night

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