PiRate Ratings College Basketball For Friday, March 1, 2019

PiRate Rating Spreads for Friday, March 1, 2019

Home	Rating	HCA	Visitor	Rating	Spread
Brown	101.3	2.5	Columbia	96.0	7.8
Bowling Green	103.5	3.0	Kent St.	101.0	5.5
Dartmouth	98.5	2.0	Princeton	100.1	0.4
Harvard	103.5	3.0	Penn	103.0	3.5
NJIT	99.1	2.5	Liberty	106.0	-4.4
Jacksonville	94.5	2.5	Florida Gulf Coast	96.1	0.9
Manhattan	90.5	2.0	Monmouth	93.0	-0.5
Dayton	108.1	3.0	Rhode Island	101.6	9.5
Saint Peter’s	92.1	2.0	Quinnipiac	96.9	-2.8
Kennesaw St.	85.8	2.5	Stetson	87.9	0.4
North Alabama	91	2.5	Lipscomb	109.2	-15.7
Rider	98.6	2.5	Iona	97.3	3.8
Yale	106.2	2.5	Cornell	96.2	12.5
Fairfield	93.4	2.5	Marist	95.5	0.4
Miami (O)	101.8	3.0	Buffalo	114.2	-9.4
Canisius	94.9	2.5	Siena	95.3	2.1

Pirate Ratings (1-353)

Rk	Team	PiRate	Conf
1	Gonzaga	124.2	West Coast
2	Duke	123.9	ACC
3	Virginia	122.7	ACC
4	North Carolina	120.7	ACC
5	Michigan St.	120.5	Big Ten
6	Kentucky	118.7	SEC
7	Tennessee	118.0	SEC
8	Michigan	117.8	Big Ten
9	Texas Tech	117.1	Big 12
10	Purdue	116.8	Big Ten
11	Virginia Tech	116.5	ACC
12	Auburn	115.5	SEC
13	Iowa St.	115.4	Big 12
14	Wisconsin	115.3	Big Ten
15	Kansas	115.3	Big 12
16	Nevada	115.0	Mtn West
17	Houston	114.9	AAC
18	Florida St.	114.4	ACC
19	Buffalo	114.2	Mid-Amer
20	Mississippi St.	113.6	SEC
21	Louisville	113.5	ACC
22	Marquette	113.5	Big East
23	Maryland	113.4	Big Ten
24	LSU	113.3	SEC
25	Villanova	113.0	Big East
26	North Carolina St.	112.7	ACC
27	Wofford	112.5	SoCon
28	Texas	112.4	Big 12
29	Florida	112.4	SEC
30	Kansas St.	112.4	Big 12
31	Cincinnati	112.1	AAC
32	Clemson	111.9	ACC
33	Iowa	111.8	Big Ten
34	Ohio St.	111.8	Big Ten
35	Syracuse	111.5	ACC
36	Oklahoma	111.1	Big 12
37	Baylor	110.9	Big 12
38	Saint Mary’s	110.6	West Coast
39	Virginia Commonwealth	110.5	Atlantic 10
40	Nebraska	110.5	Big Ten
41	Central Florida	110.3	AAC
42	Washington	110.2	Pac-12
43	TCU	110.2	Big 12
44	Utah St.	109.9	Mtn West
45	Mississippi	109.9	SEC
46	Indiana	109.6	Big Ten
47	Penn St.	109.6	Big Ten
48	Creighton	109.5	Big East
49	Lipscomb	109.2	Atlantic Sun
50	Minnesota	108.9	Big Ten
51	Butler	108.9	Big East
52	Belmont	108.6	OH Valley
53	St. John’s	108.6	Big East
54	Murray St.	108.5	OH Valley
55	Alabama	108.4	SEC
56	San Francisco	108.2	West Coast
57	Oregon	108.2	Pac-12
58	Dayton	108.1	Atlantic 10
59	Arizona St.	108.0	Pac-12
60	Seton Hall	108.0	Big East
61	New Mexico St.	107.6	WAC
62	Toledo	107.6	Mid-Amer
63	Miami (Fla)	107.5	ACC
64	Furman	107.5	SoCon
65	Arkansas	107.4	SEC
66	Fresno St.	107.2	Mtn West
67	Illinois	106.9	Big Ten
68	East Tennessee St.	106.9	SoCon
69	Arizona	106.8	Pac-12
70	Temple	106.8	AAC
71	Northwestern	106.7	Big Ten
72	Georgetown	106.6	Big East
73	Xavier	106.6	Big East
74	Memphis	106.6	AAC
75	Vermont	106.3	Amer East
76	Oregon St.	106.2	Pac-12
77	Yale	106.2	Ivy
78	Colorado	106.2	Pac-12
79	Providence	106.2	Big East
80	South Dakota St.	106.1	Summit
81	USC	106.0	Pac-12
82	Liberty	106.0	Atlantic Sun
83	BYU	105.9	West Coast
84	Texas A&M	105.9	SEC
85	Davidson	105.9	Atlantic 10
86	Hofstra	105.9	Colonial
87	South Carolina	105.9	SEC
88	Notre Dame	105.9	ACC
89	UCLA	105.6	Pac-12
90	Grand Canyon	105.6	WAC
91	Rutgers	105.5	Big Ten
92	Connecticut	105.5	AAC
93	Pittsburgh	105.3	ACC
94	Georgia Southern	105.0	Sun Belt
95	Northeastern	105.0	Colonial
96	Missouri	104.9	SEC
97	Boston College	104.8	ACC
98	UNC Greensboro	104.7	SoCon
99	San Diego	104.7	West Coast
100	UC Irvine	104.7	Big West
101	Old Dominion	104.5	CUSA
102	Stanford	104.5	Pac-12
103	Northern Kentucky	104.5	Horizon
104	West Virginia	104.4	Big 12
105	Wichita St.	104.3	AAC
106	SMU	104.3	AAC
107	San Diego St.	104.1	Mtn West
108	Oklahoma St.	104.1	Big 12
109	Georgia	104.1	SEC
110	Texas St.	104.0	Sun Belt
111	Akron	104.0	Mid-Amer
112	Georgia Tech	103.9	ACC
113	DePaul	103.9	Big East
114	Utah	103.9	Pac-12
115	Utah Valley	103.7	WAC
116	Loyola (Chi)	103.6	Mo Valley
117	Ball St.	103.5	Mid-Amer
118	Bowling Green	103.5	Mid-Amer
119	Harvard	103.5	Ivy
120	South Florida	103.4	AAC
121	Montana	103.4	Big Sky
122	Saint Louis	103.3	Atlantic 10
123	Charleston	103.3	Colonial
124	Western Kentucky	103.3	CUSA
125	Georgia St.	103.3	Sun Belt
126	Austin Peay	103.2	OH Valley
127	St. Bonaventure	103.1	Atlantic 10
128	Vanderbilt	103.0	SEC
129	Tulsa	103.0	AAC
130	Penn	103.0	Ivy
131	Jacksonville St.	102.8	OH Valley
132	Wright St.	102.8	Horizon
133	Radford	102.6	Big South
134	Central Michigan	102.6	Mid-Amer
135	Drake	102.2	Mo Valley
136	Southern Miss	102.2	CUSA
137	Boise St.	102.1	Mtn West
138	Colgate	102.0	Patriot
139	George Mason	101.9	Atlantic 10
140	Loyola Marymount	101.9	West Coast
141	Miami (O)	101.8	Mid-Amer
142	Louisiana Tech	101.7	CUSA
143	Southern Illinois	101.7	Mo Valley
144	Bucknell	101.7	Patriot
145	North Texas	101.6	CUSA
146	Rhode Island	101.6	Atlantic 10
147	Brown	101.3	Ivy
148	UC Santa Barbara	101.2	Big West
149	Louisiana Monroe	101.2	Sun Belt
150	Lehigh	101.1	Patriot
151	Kent St.	101.0	Mid-Amer
152	UNLV	100.8	Mtn West
153	Northern Illinois	100.8	Mid-Amer
154	Northern Colorado	100.6	Big Sky
155	Stony Brook	100.5	Amer East
156	Coastal Carolina	100.4	Sun Belt
157	Duquesne	100.4	Atlantic 10
158	Samford	100.2	SoCon
159	Missouri St.	100.1	Mo Valley
160	Princeton	100.1	Ivy
161	Abilene Christian	100.1	Southland
162	UTSA	100.1	CUSA
163	Louisiana	100.0	Sun Belt
164	Pepperdine	99.9	West Coast
165	Omaha	99.9	Summit
166	Wake Forest	99.8	ACC
167	Cal St. Fullerton	99.8	Big West
168	Winthrop	99.8	Big South
169	Bradley	99.7	Mo Valley
170	UAB	99.7	CUSA
171	Northern Iowa	99.7	Mo Valley
172	Colorado St.	99.6	Mtn West
173	Eastern Michigan	99.6	Mid-Amer
174	Sam Houston St.	99.5	Southland
175	Hartford	99.3	Amer East
176	New Mexico	99.3	Mtn West
177	Saint Joseph’s	99.2	Atlantic 10
178	Florida Atlantic	99.2	CUSA
179	Purdue Fort Wayne	99.2	Summit
180	UT Arlington	99.1	Sun Belt
181	NJIT	99.1	Atlantic Sun
182	Richmond	99.0	Atlantic 10
183	Weber St.	99.0	Big Sky
184	Gardner Webb	98.9	Big South
185	Mercer	98.9	SoCon
186	Campbell	98.8	Big South
187	Marshall	98.7	CUSA
188	Charleston Southern	98.7	Big South
189	Rider	98.6	Metro Atl
190	Illinois St.	98.5	Mo Valley
191	IUPUI	98.5	Horizon
192	Dartmouth	98.5	Ivy
193	Presbyterian	98.3	Big South
194	Seattle	98.2	WAC
195	Oakland	98.2	Horizon
196	Hawaii	98.1	Big West
197	Santa Clara	97.9	West Coast
198	Hampton	97.8	Big South
199	American	97.8	Patriot
200	Green Bay	97.8	Horizon
201	Lamar	97.7	Southland
202	Appalachian St.	97.7	Sun Belt
203	North Florida	97.7	Atlantic Sun
204	Valparaiso	97.7	Mo Valley
205	UT Rio Grande Valley	97.7	WAC
206	Washington St.	97.6	Pac-12
207	Massachusetts	97.5	Atlantic 10
208	La Salle	97.5	Atlantic 10
209	Texas Southern	97.5	SWAC
210	Indiana St.	97.5	Mo Valley
211	North Dakota St.	97.4	Summit
212	William & Mary	97.4	Colonial
213	Maryland Baltimore Co.	97.4	Amer East
214	Iona	97.3	Metro Atl
215	California Baptist	97.1	WAC
216	South Dakota	97.1	Summit
217	Illinois Chicago	97.0	Horizon
218	Pacific	97.0	West Coast
219	Quinnipiac	96.9	Metro Atl
220	Florida Int’l.	96.9	CUSA
221	Little Rock	96.8	Sun Belt
222	South Alabama	96.8	Sun Belt
223	Long Beach St.	96.8	Big West
224	Cal St. Bakersfield	96.7	WAC
225	Ohio	96.7	Mid-Amer
226	Boston University	96.5	Patriot
227	High Point	96.4	Big South
228	Holy Cross	96.4	Patriot
229	Evansville	96.3	Mo Valley
230	Cornell	96.2	Ivy
231	Florida Gulf Coast	96.1	Atlantic Sun
232	St. Francis (PA)	96.1	Northeast
233	Fairleigh Dickinson	96.1	Northeast
234	Columbia	96.0	Ivy
235	UC Davis	96.0	Big West
236	Drexel	95.8	Colonial
237	Fordham	95.8	Atlantic 10
238	Sacred Heart	95.6	Northeast
239	Army	95.5	Patriot
240	Troy	95.5	Sun Belt
241	Marist	95.5	Metro Atl
242	Siena	95.3	Metro Atl
243	Eastern Kentucky	95.3	OH Valley
244	The Citadel	95.3	SoCon
245	UMass Lowell	95.2	Amer East
246	Air Force	95.2	Mtn West
247	Norfolk St.	95.2	MEAC
248	Montana St.	95.1	Big Sky
249	Missouri Kansas City	95.1	WAC
250	Delaware	95.1	Colonial
251	Canisius	94.9	Metro Atl
252	Sacramento St.	94.9	Big Sky
253	Middle Tennessee	94.9	CUSA
254	Morehead St.	94.9	OH Valley
255	Robert Morris	94.9	Northeast
256	North Dakota	94.9	Summit
257	Towson	94.8	Colonial
258	Prairie View A&M	94.8	SWAC
259	Western Michigan	94.7	Mid-Amer
260	Long Island	94.6	Northeast
261	Detroit	94.6	Horizon
262	UNC Wilmington	94.6	Colonial
263	Jacksonville	94.5	Atlantic Sun
264	Eastern Washington	94.5	Big Sky
265	Southeast Louisiana	94.5	Southland
266	California	94.5	Pac-12
267	Rice	94.4	CUSA
268	St. Francis (Bklyn)	94.4	Northeast
269	Arkansas St.	94.4	Sun Belt
270	Chattanooga	94.3	SoCon
271	New Orleans	94.1	Southland
272	Portland St.	94.1	Big Sky
273	James Madison	93.9	Colonial
274	George Washington	93.9	Atlantic 10
275	Southern Utah	93.8	Big Sky
276	Youngstown St.	93.7	Horizon
277	North Carolina Central	93.7	MEAC
278	Grambling St.	93.7	SWAC
279	East Carolina	93.6	AAC
280	Wagner	93.6	Northeast
281	Albany	93.4	Amer East
282	Texas A&M CC	93.4	Southland
283	Loyola (MD)	93.4	Patriot
284	Fairfield	93.4	Metro Atl
285	UTEP	93.3	CUSA
286	Houston Baptist	93.2	Southland
287	Bethune Cookman	93.2	MEAC
288	Cal St. Northridge	93.0	Big West
289	Monmouth	93.0	Metro Atl
290	Western Carolina	93.0	SoCon
291	Oral Roberts	92.9	Summit
292	Tennessee St.	92.7	OH Valley
293	Lafayette	92.6	Patriot
294	Milwaukee	92.5	Horizon
295	UT Martin	92.5	OH Valley
296	Stephen F. Austin	92.4	Southland
297	Cleveland St.	92.4	Horizon
298	Longwood	92.4	Big South
299	Tulane	92.3	AAC
300	Navy	92.3	Patriot
301	Western Illinois	92.3	Summit
302	Eastern Illinois	92.2	OH Valley
303	Niagara	92.2	Metro Atl
304	Saint Peter’s	92.1	Metro Atl
305	UC Riverside	91.8	Big West
306	Charlotte	91.7	CUSA
307	Idaho St.	91.5	Big Sky
308	VMI	91.5	SoCon
309	Nicholls St.	91.3	Southland
310	Denver	91.3	Summit
311	Northern Arizona	91.3	Big Sky
312	Central Arkansas	91.1	Southland
313	Howard	91.1	MEAC
314	Southeastern Missouri	91.1	OH Valley
315	Elon	91.1	Colonial
316	North Carolina A&T	91.0	MEAC
317	North Alabama	91.0	Atlantic Sun
318	Alabama St.	90.9	SWAC
319	Central Connecticut	90.6	Northeast
320	Manhattan	90.5	Metro Atl
321	McNeese St.	90.3	Southland
322	Portland	90.3	West Coast
323	Wyoming	89.9	Mtn West
324	Maine	89.9	Amer East
325	Florida A&M	89.7	MEAC
326	Arkansas Pine Bluff	89.5	SWAC
327	Bryant	89.5	Northeast
328	Mount St. Mary’s	89.4	Northeast
329	Jackson St.	89.2	SWAC
330	Tennessee Tech	89.1	OH Valley
331	Cal Poly	89.0	Big West
332	Binghamton	88.9	Amer East
333	Morgan St.	88.3	MEAC
334	SIU Edwardsville	88.2	OH Valley
335	USC Upstate	88.2	Big South
336	Stetson	87.9	Atlantic Sun
337	South Carolina St.	87.4	MEAC
338	Northwestern St.	87.3	Southland
339	Southern	86.8	SWAC
340	San Jose St.	86.2	Mtn West
341	New Hampshire	85.8	Amer East
342	Kennesaw St.	85.8	Atlantic Sun
343	Alcorn St.	85.3	SWAC
344	Savannah St.	85.2	MEAC
345	Idaho	84.9	Big Sky
346	Alabama A&M	84.9	SWAC
347	UNC Asheville	84.8	Big South
348	Incarnate Word	84.8	Southland
349	Coppin St.	84.7	MEAC
350	Mississippi Valley St.	83.5	SWAC
351	Maryland Eastern Shore	80.9	MEAC
352	Delaware St.	79.9	MEAC
353	Chicago St.	79.7	WAC

 

PiRate Ratings (Alphabetical)

Rk	Team	PiRate	Conf
161	Abilene Christian	100.1	Southland
246	Air Force	95.2	Mtn West
111	Akron	104.0	Mid-Amer
55	Alabama	108.4	SEC
346	Alabama A&M	84.9	SWAC
318	Alabama St.	90.9	SWAC
281	Albany	93.4	Amer East
343	Alcorn St.	85.3	SWAC
199	American	97.8	Patriot
202	Appalachian St.	97.7	Sun Belt
69	Arizona	106.8	Pac-12
59	Arizona St.	108.0	Pac-12
65	Arkansas	107.4	SEC
326	Arkansas Pine Bluff	89.5	SWAC
269	Arkansas St.	94.4	Sun Belt
239	Army	95.5	Patriot
12	Auburn	115.5	SEC
126	Austin Peay	103.2	OH Valley
117	Ball St.	103.5	Mid-Amer
37	Baylor	110.9	Big 12
52	Belmont	108.6	OH Valley
287	Bethune Cookman	93.2	MEAC
332	Binghamton	88.9	Amer East
137	Boise St.	102.1	Mtn West
97	Boston College	104.8	ACC
226	Boston University	96.5	Patriot
118	Bowling Green	103.5	Mid-Amer
169	Bradley	99.7	Mo Valley
147	Brown	101.3	Ivy
327	Bryant	89.5	Northeast
144	Bucknell	101.7	Patriot
19	Buffalo	114.2	Mid-Amer
51	Butler	108.9	Big East
83	BYU	105.9	West Coast
331	Cal Poly	89.0	Big West
224	Cal St. Bakersfield	96.7	WAC
167	Cal St. Fullerton	99.8	Big West
288	Cal St. Northridge	93.0	Big West
266	California	94.5	Pac-12
215	California Baptist	97.1	WAC
186	Campbell	98.8	Big South
251	Canisius	94.9	Metro Atl
312	Central Arkansas	91.1	Southland
319	Central Connecticut	90.6	Northeast
41	Central Florida	110.3	AAC
134	Central Michigan	102.6	Mid-Amer
123	Charleston	103.3	Colonial
188	Charleston Southern	98.7	Big South
306	Charlotte	91.7	CUSA
270	Chattanooga	94.3	SoCon
353	Chicago St.	79.7	WAC
31	Cincinnati	112.1	AAC
32	Clemson	111.9	ACC
297	Cleveland St.	92.4	Horizon
156	Coastal Carolina	100.4	Sun Belt
138	Colgate	102.0	Patriot
78	Colorado	106.2	Pac-12
172	Colorado St.	99.6	Mtn West
234	Columbia	96.0	Ivy
92	Connecticut	105.5	AAC
349	Coppin St.	84.7	MEAC
230	Cornell	96.2	Ivy
48	Creighton	109.5	Big East
192	Dartmouth	98.5	Ivy
85	Davidson	105.9	Atlantic 10
58	Dayton	108.1	Atlantic 10
250	Delaware	95.1	Colonial
352	Delaware St.	79.9	MEAC
310	Denver	91.3	Summit
113	DePaul	103.9	Big East
261	Detroit	94.6	Horizon
135	Drake	102.2	Mo Valley
236	Drexel	95.8	Colonial
2	Duke	123.9	ACC
157	Duquesne	100.4	Atlantic 10
279	East Carolina	93.6	AAC
68	East Tennessee St.	106.9	SoCon
302	Eastern Illinois	92.2	OH Valley
243	Eastern Kentucky	95.3	OH Valley
173	Eastern Michigan	99.6	Mid-Amer
264	Eastern Washington	94.5	Big Sky
315	Elon	91.1	Colonial
229	Evansville	96.3	Mo Valley
284	Fairfield	93.4	Metro Atl
233	Fairleigh Dickinson	96.1	Northeast
29	Florida	112.4	SEC
325	Florida A&M	89.7	MEAC
178	Florida Atlantic	99.2	CUSA
231	Florida Gulf Coast	96.1	Atlantic Sun
220	Florida Int’l.	96.9	CUSA
18	Florida St.	114.4	ACC
237	Fordham	95.8	Atlantic 10
66	Fresno St.	107.2	Mtn West
64	Furman	107.5	SoCon
184	Gardner Webb	98.9	Big South
139	George Mason	101.9	Atlantic 10
274	George Washington	93.9	Atlantic 10
72	Georgetown	106.6	Big East
109	Georgia	104.1	SEC
94	Georgia Southern	105.0	Sun Belt
125	Georgia St.	103.3	Sun Belt
112	Georgia Tech	103.9	ACC
1	Gonzaga	124.2	West Coast
278	Grambling St.	93.7	SWAC
90	Grand Canyon	105.6	WAC
200	Green Bay	97.8	Horizon
198	Hampton	97.8	Big South
175	Hartford	99.3	Amer East
119	Harvard	103.5	Ivy
196	Hawaii	98.1	Big West
227	High Point	96.4	Big South
86	Hofstra	105.9	Colonial
228	Holy Cross	96.4	Patriot
17	Houston	114.9	AAC
286	Houston Baptist	93.2	Southland
313	Howard	91.1	MEAC
345	Idaho	84.9	Big Sky
307	Idaho St.	91.5	Big Sky
67	Illinois	106.9	Big Ten
217	Illinois Chicago	97.0	Horizon
190	Illinois St.	98.5	Mo Valley
348	Incarnate Word	84.8	Southland
46	Indiana	109.6	Big Ten
210	Indiana St.	97.5	Mo Valley
214	Iona	97.3	Metro Atl
33	Iowa	111.8	Big Ten
13	Iowa St.	115.4	Big 12
191	IUPUI	98.5	Horizon
329	Jackson St.	89.2	SWAC
263	Jacksonville	94.5	Atlantic Sun
131	Jacksonville St.	102.8	OH Valley
273	James Madison	93.9	Colonial
15	Kansas	115.3	Big 12
30	Kansas St.	112.4	Big 12
342	Kennesaw St.	85.8	Atlantic Sun
151	Kent St.	101.0	Mid-Amer
6	Kentucky	118.7	SEC
208	La Salle	97.5	Atlantic 10
293	Lafayette	92.6	Patriot
201	Lamar	97.7	Southland
150	Lehigh	101.1	Patriot
82	Liberty	106.0	Atlantic Sun
49	Lipscomb	109.2	Atlantic Sun
221	Little Rock	96.8	Sun Belt
223	Long Beach St.	96.8	Big West
260	Long Island	94.6	Northeast
298	Longwood	92.4	Big South
163	Louisiana	100.0	Sun Belt
149	Louisiana Monroe	101.2	Sun Belt
142	Louisiana Tech	101.7	CUSA
21	Louisville	113.5	ACC
116	Loyola (Chi)	103.6	Mo Valley
283	Loyola (MD)	93.4	Patriot
140	Loyola Marymount	101.9	West Coast
24	LSU	113.3	SEC
324	Maine	89.9	Amer East
320	Manhattan	90.5	Metro Atl
241	Marist	95.5	Metro Atl
22	Marquette	113.5	Big East
187	Marshall	98.7	CUSA
23	Maryland	113.4	Big Ten
213	Maryland Baltimore Co.	97.4	Amer East
351	Maryland Eastern Shore	80.9	MEAC
207	Massachusetts	97.5	Atlantic 10
321	McNeese St.	90.3	Southland
74	Memphis	106.6	AAC
185	Mercer	98.9	SoCon
63	Miami (Fla)	107.5	ACC
141	Miami (O)	101.8	Mid-Amer
8	Michigan	117.8	Big Ten
5	Michigan St.	120.5	Big Ten
253	Middle Tennessee	94.9	CUSA
294	Milwaukee	92.5	Horizon
50	Minnesota	108.9	Big Ten
45	Mississippi	109.9	SEC
20	Mississippi St.	113.6	SEC
350	Mississippi Valley St.	83.5	SWAC
96	Missouri	104.9	SEC
249	Missouri Kansas City	95.1	WAC
159	Missouri St.	100.1	Mo Valley
289	Monmouth	93.0	Metro Atl
121	Montana	103.4	Big Sky
248	Montana St.	95.1	Big Sky
254	Morehead St.	94.9	OH Valley
333	Morgan St.	88.3	MEAC
328	Mount St. Mary’s	89.4	Northeast
54	Murray St.	108.5	OH Valley
300	Navy	92.3	Patriot
40	Nebraska	110.5	Big Ten
16	Nevada	115.0	Mtn West
341	New Hampshire	85.8	Amer East
176	New Mexico	99.3	Mtn West
61	New Mexico St.	107.6	WAC
271	New Orleans	94.1	Southland
303	Niagara	92.2	Metro Atl
309	Nicholls St.	91.3	Southland
181	NJIT	99.1	Atlantic Sun
247	Norfolk St.	95.2	MEAC
317	North Alabama	91.0	Atlantic Sun
4	North Carolina	120.7	ACC
316	North Carolina A&T	91.0	MEAC
277	North Carolina Central	93.7	MEAC
26	North Carolina St.	112.7	ACC
256	North Dakota	94.9	Summit
211	North Dakota St.	97.4	Summit
203	North Florida	97.7	Atlantic Sun
145	North Texas	101.6	CUSA
95	Northeastern	105.0	Colonial
311	Northern Arizona	91.3	Big Sky
154	Northern Colorado	100.6	Big Sky
153	Northern Illinois	100.8	Mid-Amer
171	Northern Iowa	99.7	Mo Valley
103	Northern Kentucky	104.5	Horizon
71	Northwestern	106.7	Big Ten
338	Northwestern St.	87.3	Southland
88	Notre Dame	105.9	ACC
195	Oakland	98.2	Horizon
225	Ohio	96.7	Mid-Amer
34	Ohio St.	111.8	Big Ten
36	Oklahoma	111.1	Big 12
108	Oklahoma St.	104.1	Big 12
101	Old Dominion	104.5	CUSA
165	Omaha	99.9	Summit
291	Oral Roberts	92.9	Summit
57	Oregon	108.2	Pac-12
76	Oregon St.	106.2	Pac-12
218	Pacific	97.0	West Coast
130	Penn	103.0	Ivy
47	Penn St.	109.6	Big Ten
164	Pepperdine	99.9	West Coast
93	Pittsburgh	105.3	ACC
322	Portland	90.3	West Coast
272	Portland St.	94.1	Big Sky
258	Prairie View A&M	94.8	SWAC
193	Presbyterian	98.3	Big South
160	Princeton	100.1	Ivy
79	Providence	106.2	Big East
10	Purdue	116.8	Big Ten
179	Purdue Fort Wayne	99.2	Summit
219	Quinnipiac	96.9	Metro Atl
133	Radford	102.6	Big South
146	Rhode Island	101.6	Atlantic 10
267	Rice	94.4	CUSA
182	Richmond	99.0	Atlantic 10
189	Rider	98.6	Metro Atl
255	Robert Morris	94.9	Northeast
91	Rutgers	105.5	Big Ten
252	Sacramento St.	94.9	Big Sky
238	Sacred Heart	95.6	Northeast
177	Saint Joseph’s	99.2	Atlantic 10
122	Saint Louis	103.3	Atlantic 10
38	Saint Mary’s	110.6	West Coast
304	Saint Peter’s	92.1	Metro Atl
174	Sam Houston St.	99.5	Southland
158	Samford	100.2	SoCon
99	San Diego	104.7	West Coast
107	San Diego St.	104.1	Mtn West
56	San Francisco	108.2	West Coast
340	San Jose St.	86.2	Mtn West
197	Santa Clara	97.9	West Coast
344	Savannah St.	85.2	MEAC
194	Seattle	98.2	WAC
60	Seton Hall	108.0	Big East
242	Siena	95.3	Metro Atl
334	SIU Edwardsville	88.2	OH Valley
106	SMU	104.3	AAC
222	South Alabama	96.8	Sun Belt
87	South Carolina	105.9	SEC
337	South Carolina St.	87.4	MEAC
216	South Dakota	97.1	Summit
80	South Dakota St.	106.1	Summit
120	South Florida	103.4	AAC
265	Southeast Louisiana	94.5	Southland
314	Southeastern Missouri	91.1	OH Valley
339	Southern	86.8	SWAC
143	Southern Illinois	101.7	Mo Valley
136	Southern Miss	102.2	CUSA
275	Southern Utah	93.8	Big Sky
127	St. Bonaventure	103.1	Atlantic 10
268	St. Francis (Bklyn)	94.4	Northeast
232	St. Francis (PA)	96.1	Northeast
53	St. John’s	108.6	Big East
102	Stanford	104.5	Pac-12
296	Stephen F. Austin	92.4	Southland
336	Stetson	87.9	Atlantic Sun
155	Stony Brook	100.5	Amer East
35	Syracuse	111.5	ACC
43	TCU	110.2	Big 12
70	Temple	106.8	AAC
7	Tennessee	118.0	SEC
292	Tennessee St.	92.7	OH Valley
330	Tennessee Tech	89.1	OH Valley
28	Texas	112.4	Big 12
84	Texas A&M	105.9	SEC
282	Texas A&M CC	93.4	Southland
209	Texas Southern	97.5	SWAC
110	Texas St.	104.0	Sun Belt
9	Texas Tech	117.1	Big 12
244	The Citadel	95.3	SoCon
62	Toledo	107.6	Mid-Amer
257	Towson	94.8	Colonial
240	Troy	95.5	Sun Belt
299	Tulane	92.3	AAC
129	Tulsa	103.0	AAC
170	UAB	99.7	CUSA
235	UC Davis	96.0	Big West
100	UC Irvine	104.7	Big West
305	UC Riverside	91.8	Big West
148	UC Santa Barbara	101.2	Big West
89	UCLA	105.6	Pac-12
245	UMass Lowell	95.2	Amer East
347	UNC Asheville	84.8	Big South
98	UNC Greensboro	104.7	SoCon
262	UNC Wilmington	94.6	Colonial
152	UNLV	100.8	Mtn West
81	USC	106.0	Pac-12
335	USC Upstate	88.2	Big South
180	UT Arlington	99.1	Sun Belt
295	UT Martin	92.5	OH Valley
205	UT Rio Grande Valley	97.7	WAC
114	Utah	103.9	Pac-12
44	Utah St.	109.9	Mtn West
115	Utah Valley	103.7	WAC
285	UTEP	93.3	CUSA
162	UTSA	100.1	CUSA
204	Valparaiso	97.7	Mo Valley
128	Vanderbilt	103.0	SEC
75	Vermont	106.3	Amer East
25	Villanova	113.0	Big East
3	Virginia	122.7	ACC
39	Virginia Commonwealth	110.5	Atlantic 10
11	Virginia Tech	116.5	ACC
308	VMI	91.5	SoCon
280	Wagner	93.6	Northeast
166	Wake Forest	99.8	ACC
42	Washington	110.2	Pac-12
206	Washington St.	97.6	Pac-12
183	Weber St.	99.0	Big Sky
104	West Virginia	104.4	Big 12
290	Western Carolina	93.0	SoCon
301	Western Illinois	92.3	Summit
124	Western Kentucky	103.3	CUSA
259	Western Michigan	94.7	Mid-Amer
105	Wichita St.	104.3	AAC
212	William & Mary	97.4	Colonial
168	Winthrop	99.8	Big South
14	Wisconsin	115.3	Big Ten
27	Wofford	112.5	SoCon
132	Wright St.	102.8	Horizon
323	Wyoming	89.9	Mtn West
73	Xavier	106.6	Big East
77	Yale	106.2	Ivy
276	Youngstown St.	93.7	Horizon

 

PiRate Ratings (Conference)

#	America East	PiRate
75	Vermont	106.3
155	Stony Brook	100.5
175	Hartford	99.3
213	Maryland Baltimore Co.	97.4
245	UMass Lowell	95.2
281	Albany	93.4
324	Maine	89.9
332	Binghamton	88.9
341	New Hampshire	85.8

#	American Athletic	PiRate
17	Houston	114.9
31	Cincinnati	112.1
41	Central Florida	110.3
70	Temple	106.8
74	Memphis	106.6
92	Connecticut	105.5
105	Wichita St.	104.3
106	SMU	104.3
120	South Florida	103.4
129	Tulsa	103.0
279	East Carolina	93.6
299	Tulane	92.3

#	Atlantic 10	PiRate
39	Virginia Commonwealth	110.5
58	Dayton	108.1
85	Davidson	105.9
122	Saint Louis	103.3
127	St. Bonaventure	103.1
139	George Mason	101.9
146	Rhode Island	101.6
157	Duquesne	100.4
177	Saint Joseph’s	99.2
182	Richmond	99.0
207	Massachusetts	97.5
208	La Salle	97.5
237	Fordham	95.8
274	George Washington	93.9

#	Atlantic Coast	PiRate
2	Duke	123.9
3	Virginia	122.7
4	North Carolina	120.7
11	Virginia Tech	116.5
18	Florida St.	114.4
21	Louisville	113.5
26	North Carolina St.	112.7
32	Clemson	111.9
35	Syracuse	111.5
63	Miami (Fla)	107.5
88	Notre Dame	105.9
93	Pittsburgh	105.3
97	Boston College	104.8
112	Georgia Tech	103.9
166	Wake Forest	99.8

#	Atlantic Sun	PiRate
49	Lipscomb	109.2
82	Liberty	106.0
181	NJIT	99.1
203	North Florida	97.7
231	Florida Gulf Coast	96.1
263	Jacksonville	94.5
317	North Alabama	91.0
336	Stetson	87.9
342	Kennesaw St.	85.8

#	Big 12	PiRate
9	Texas Tech	117.1
13	Iowa St.	115.4
15	Kansas	115.3
28	Texas	112.4
30	Kansas St.	112.4
36	Oklahoma	111.1
37	Baylor	110.9
43	TCU	110.2
104	West Virginia	104.4
108	Oklahoma St.	104.1

#	Big East	PiRate
22	Marquette	113.5
25	Villanova	113.0
48	Creighton	109.5
51	Butler	108.9
53	St. John’s	108.6
60	Seton Hall	108.0
72	Georgetown	106.6
73	Xavier	106.6
79	Providence	106.2
113	DePaul	103.9

#	Big Sky	PiRate
121	Montana	103.4
154	Northern Colorado	100.6
183	Weber St.	99.0
248	Montana St.	95.1
252	Sacramento St.	94.9
264	Eastern Washington	94.5
272	Portland St.	94.1
275	Southern Utah	93.8
307	Idaho St.	91.5
311	Northern Arizona	91.3
345	Idaho	84.9

#	Big South	PiRate
133	Radford	102.6
168	Winthrop	99.8
184	Gardner Webb	98.9
186	Campbell	98.8
188	Charleston Southern	98.7
193	Presbyterian	98.3
198	Hampton	97.8
227	High Point	96.4
298	Longwood	92.4
335	USC Upstate	88.2
347	UNC Asheville	84.8

#	Big Ten	PiRate
5	Michigan St.	120.5
8	Michigan	117.8
10	Purdue	116.8
14	Wisconsin	115.3
23	Maryland	113.4
33	Iowa	111.8
34	Ohio St.	111.8
40	Nebraska	110.5
46	Indiana	109.6
47	Penn St.	109.6
50	Minnesota	108.9
67	Illinois	106.9
71	Northwestern	106.7
91	Rutgers	105.5

#	Big West	PiRate
100	UC Irvine	104.7
148	UC Santa Barbara	101.2
167	Cal St. Fullerton	99.8
196	Hawaii	98.1
223	Long Beach St.	96.8
235	UC Davis	96.0
288	Cal St. Northridge	93.0
305	UC Riverside	91.8
331	Cal Poly	89.0

#	Colonial Athletic	PiRate
86	Hofstra	105.9
95	Northeastern	105.0
123	Charleston	103.3
212	William & Mary	97.4
236	Drexel	95.8
250	Delaware	95.1
257	Towson	94.8
262	UNC Wilmington	94.6
273	James Madison	93.9
315	Elon	91.1

#	Conference USA	PiRate
101	Old Dominion	104.5
124	Western Kentucky	103.3
136	Southern Miss	102.2
142	Louisiana Tech	101.7
145	North Texas	101.6
162	UTSA	100.1
170	UAB	99.7
178	Florida Atlantic	99.2
187	Marshall	98.7
220	Florida Int’l.	96.9
253	Middle Tennessee	94.9
267	Rice	94.4
285	UTEP	93.3
306	Charlotte	91.7

#	Horizon	PiRate
103	Northern Kentucky	104.5
132	Wright St.	102.8
191	IUPUI	98.5
195	Oakland	98.2
200	Green Bay	97.8
217	Illinois Chicago	97.0
261	Detroit	94.6
276	Youngstown St.	93.7
294	Milwaukee	92.5
297	Cleveland St.	92.4

#	Ivy	PiRate
77	Yale	106.2
119	Harvard	103.5
130	Penn	103.0
147	Brown	101.3
160	Princeton	100.1
192	Dartmouth	98.5
230	Cornell	96.2
234	Columbia	96.0

#	Metro Atlantic	PiRate
189	Rider	98.6
214	Iona	97.3
219	Quinnipiac	96.9
241	Marist	95.5
242	Siena	95.3
251	Canisius	94.9
284	Fairfield	93.4
289	Monmouth	93.0
303	Niagara	92.2
304	Saint Peter’s	92.1
320	Manhattan	90.5

#	Mid-American	PiRate
19	Buffalo	114.2
62	Toledo	107.6
111	Akron	104.0
117	Ball St.	103.5
118	Bowling Green	103.5
134	Central Michigan	102.6
141	Miami (O)	101.8
151	Kent St.	101.0
153	Northern Illinois	100.8
173	Eastern Michigan	99.6
225	Ohio	96.7
259	Western Michigan	94.7

#	Mideastern Athletic	PiRate
247	Norfolk St.	95.2
277	North Carolina Central	93.7
287	Bethune Cookman	93.2
313	Howard	91.1
316	North Carolina A&T	91.0
325	Florida A&M	89.7
333	Morgan St.	88.3
337	South Carolina St.	87.4
344	Savannah St.	85.2
349	Coppin St.	84.7
351	Maryland Eastern Shore	80.9
352	Delaware St.	79.9

#	Missouri Valley	PiRate
116	Loyola (Chi)	103.6
135	Drake	102.2
143	Southern Illinois	101.7
159	Missouri St.	100.1
169	Bradley	99.7
171	Northern Iowa	99.7
190	Illinois St.	98.5
204	Valparaiso	97.7
210	Indiana St.	97.5
229	Evansville	96.3

#	Mountain West	PiRate
16	Nevada	115.0
44	Utah St.	109.9
66	Fresno St.	107.2
107	San Diego St.	104.1
137	Boise St.	102.1
152	UNLV	100.8
172	Colorado St.	99.6
176	New Mexico	99.3
246	Air Force	95.2
323	Wyoming	89.9
340	San Jose St.	86.2

#	Northeast	PiRate
232	St. Francis (PA)	96.1
233	Fairleigh Dickinson	96.1
238	Sacred Heart	95.6
255	Robert Morris	94.9
260	Long Island	94.6
268	St. Francis (Bklyn)	94.4
280	Wagner	93.6
319	Central Connecticut	90.6
327	Bryant	89.5
328	Mount St. Mary’s	89.4

#	Ohio Valley	PiRate
52	Belmont	108.6
54	Murray St.	108.5
126	Austin Peay	103.2
131	Jacksonville St.	102.8
243	Eastern Kentucky	95.3
254	Morehead St.	94.9
292	Tennessee St.	92.7
295	UT Martin	92.5
302	Eastern Illinois	92.2
314	Southeastern Missouri	91.1
330	Tennessee Tech	89.1
334	SIU Edwardsville	88.2

#	Pac-12	PiRate
42	Washington	110.2
57	Oregon	108.2
59	Arizona St.	108.0
69	Arizona	106.8
76	Oregon St.	106.2
78	Colorado	106.2
81	USC	106.0
89	UCLA	105.6
102	Stanford	104.5
114	Utah	103.9
206	Washington St.	97.6
266	California	94.5

#	Patriot	PiRate
138	Colgate	102.0
144	Bucknell	101.7
150	Lehigh	101.1
199	American	97.8
226	Boston University	96.5
228	Holy Cross	96.4
239	Army	95.5
283	Loyola (MD)	93.4
293	Lafayette	92.6
300	Navy	92.3

#	Southeastern	PiRate
6	Kentucky	118.7
7	Tennessee	118.0
12	Auburn	115.5
20	Mississippi St.	113.6
24	LSU	113.3
29	Florida	112.4
45	Mississippi	109.9
55	Alabama	108.4
65	Arkansas	107.4
84	Texas A&M	105.9
87	South Carolina	105.9
96	Missouri	104.9
109	Georgia	104.1
128	Vanderbilt	103.0

#	Southern	PiRate
27	Wofford	112.5
64	Furman	107.5
68	East Tennessee St.	106.9
98	UNC Greensboro	104.7
158	Samford	100.2
185	Mercer	98.9
244	The Citadel	95.3
270	Chattanooga	94.3
290	Western Carolina	93.0
308	VMI	91.5

#	Southland	PiRate
161	Abilene Christian	100.1
174	Sam Houston St.	99.5
201	Lamar	97.7
265	Southeast Louisiana	94.5
271	New Orleans	94.1
282	Texas A&M CC	93.4
286	Houston Baptist	93.2
296	Stephen F. Austin	92.4
309	Nicholls St.	91.3
312	Central Arkansas	91.1
321	McNeese St.	90.3
338	Northwestern St.	87.3
348	Incarnate Word	84.8

#	Southwestern Athletic	PiRate
209	Texas Southern	97.5
258	Prairie View A&M	94.8
278	Grambling St.	93.7
318	Alabama St.	90.9
326	Arkansas Pine Bluff	89.5
329	Jackson St.	89.2
339	Southern	86.8
343	Alcorn St.	85.3
346	Alabama A&M	84.9
350	Mississippi Valley St.	83.5

#	Summit	PiRate
80	South Dakota St.	106.1
165	Omaha	99.9
179	Purdue Fort Wayne	99.2
211	North Dakota St.	97.4
216	South Dakota	97.1
256	North Dakota	94.9
291	Oral Roberts	92.9
301	Western Illinois	92.3
310	Denver	91.3

#	Sun Belt	PiRate
94	Georgia Southern	105.0
110	Texas St.	104.0
125	Georgia St.	103.3
149	Louisiana Monroe	101.2
156	Coastal Carolina	100.4
163	Louisiana	100.0
180	UT Arlington	99.1
202	Appalachian St.	97.7
221	Little Rock	96.8
222	South Alabama	96.8
240	Troy	95.5
269	Arkansas St.	94.4

#	West Coast	PiRate
1	Gonzaga	124.2
38	Saint Mary’s	110.6
56	San Francisco	108.2
83	BYU	105.9
99	San Diego	104.7
140	Loyola Marymount	101.9
164	Pepperdine	99.9
197	Santa Clara	97.9
218	Pacific	97.0
322	Portland	90.3

#	Western Athletic	PiRate
61	New Mexico St.	107.6
90	Grand Canyon	105.6
115	Utah Valley	103.7
194	Seattle	98.2
205	UT Rio Grande Valley	97.7
215	California Baptist	97.1
224	Cal St. Bakersfield	96.7
249	Missouri Kansas City	95.1
353	Chicago St.	79.7

 

Rating of Conferences

#	League		PiRate Avg.
1	Big Ten		111.8
2	Atlantic Coast		111.7
3	Big 12		111.3
4	Southeastern		110.1
5	Big East		108.5
6	Pac-12		104.8
7	American Athletic		104.8
8	West Coast		104.1
9	Mid-American		102.5
10	Atlantic 10		101.3
11	Mountain West		100.9
12	Ivy		100.6
13	Southern		100.5
14	Missouri Valley		99.7
15	Sun Belt		99.5
16	Conference USA		98.7
17	Western Athletic		97.9
18	Colonial Athletic		97.7
19	Horizon		97.2
20	Patriot		96.9
21	Summit		96.8
22	Big West		96.7
23	Ohio Valley		96.6
24	Atlantic Sun		96.4
25	Big South		96.0
26	America East		95.2
27	Big Sky		94.8
28	Metro Atlantic		94.5
29	Northeast		93.5
30	Southland		93.1
31	Southwestern Athletic		89.6
32	Mideastern Athletic		88.4

 

PiRate Ratings Expand For March Madness

Beginning today, March 1, 2019, The PiRate Ratings begin to expand our coverage of college basketball for the remainder of the season.

You see our ratings and spreads for Friday’s games rather than the weekend.  Fear not, for we will begin issuing daily ratings’ selections from this point on, along with daily Bracketology updates.

Conference Tournament action commences with the March 4 quarterfinals round of the Atlantic Sun Conference.  We will have daily updates of all ongoing conference tournaments.

Then, on the eve of Selection Sunday, our Bracketology Gurus will return to issue their composite picks for the field of 68.  The Bracketology updates you see today through Friday, March 15, are our in-house selections.  The Captain here is one of the 13 gurus, so the final selections on Selection Sunday mid-morning will be similar but different from the Bracketology you see daily here.

Bracketology updates usually publish in the late afternoon in the Eastern Time Zone.  Daily spreads should publish in the early afternoon if not late morning in the Eastern Time Zone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

This Week’s PiRate Ratings

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

 

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

 

This Week’s PiRate Ratings Top 25

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

ACC

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

Big 12

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

Big East

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

Big Ten

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

Pac-12

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

SEC

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

Current Bubble Teams

Top 10 Bubble Teams (IN THE DANCE)

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

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

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

Conference Tournament Update

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

 

 

PiRate Ratings Final Four Criteria Preview

We only made it to North Texas with one of our Final Four participants, and we did not pick Florida to win the National Championship, so this year is a bust. Nevertheless, we will go ahead and preview the remaining games.

Overall, we are 43-17 (72%) in the prediction of tournament games to this point.

Here is our preview of the National Semifinal round.

Time (ET) Team vs. Team
6:09 PM #1 Florida (36-2) vs. #7 Connecticut (30-8)
8:49 PM #2 Wisconsin (30-7) vs. #8 Kentucky (28-10)

Florida vs. Connecticut–Criteria Components
Strength of Schedule: Tie
Field Goal % Margin: Florida by 0.7
Rebound Margin: Florida by 13.6
Turnover Margin: Florida by 2.3
Steal Margin: Florida by 0.1
R+T Rating: Florida by 12.4

PiRate Criteria: Florida by 7 criteria points
Estimated Spread: Florida by 17
Predicted Score: Florida 75 Connecticut 58

Kentucky vs. Wisconsin—Criteria Components
Strength of Schedule: Wisconsin by 0.9
Field Goal % Margin: Wisconsin by 2.0
Rebound Margin: Kentucky by 11.5
Turnover Margin: Wisconsin by 3.4
Steal Margin: Wisconsin by 0.1
R+T Rating: Kentucky by 13.2

PiRate Criteria: Kentucky by 2 criteria points
Estimated Spread: Kentucky by 4
Predicted Score: Kentucky 71 Wisconsin 67

 

PiRate Ratings Top 30 Bracketologists Report

Two weeks from today, the first postseason conference tournament will swing into action.  No, it will not be the big power conferences, but even an opening round game in a one-bid league is enough to stir up dance fever.

 

Selection Sunday is less than a month away, so it is time to break out the PiRate Ratings’ Bracketology report.

 

We do not have a Bracketologist on staff here.  We concentrate on Bracketnomics, the study of how to pick winners in the bracket based on reverse-engineered statistical data of past Final Four participants with an emphasis on the most recent successes.

 

This year, our Bracketnomics’ data has been drastically changed to meet the changes in the way the game has been played in recent years.  Be sure to look for our Bracketnomics primer on Selection Sunday.

 

For Bracketology, we search for little known bloggers (like us) who actually have a history of better forecasting than the big named guys like Lunardi, Palm, and The USA Today.  Yes, there are math geniuses that forecast the field of 68 with more accuracy than the guys you probably know.

 

How do we know this?  It is the same thing as the college and NFL football experts.  You may know about Sagarin and Dunkel, but there are a couple dozen (including the PiRate Ratings) with a long history of outperforming these two major computer rankings.

 

We have chosen 30 little known (nationally) Bracketologists with better predictive histories than the big guys and put them together into what we here call the “Bracket Braintrust.”

 

From this list, we then assign the competing teams one of five grades: Lock, Safe, Bubble—In, Bubble, and Bubble—Out.  “Lock” means the team is guaranteed of making the tournament even if they lose the rest of their games.  “Safe” means the team is safely in the tournament unless it totally collapses (like a 20-5 ACC team losing its last seven games to finish 20-12).  “Bubble—In” means this team is on the bubble, but if the season ended today, they would be in the tournament.  “Bubble” means this team is on the bubble and would be one of the last 4-8 out if the tournament began today.  “Bubble—Out” means the team is on the bubble, but if the season ended today, they would not be in the tournament, and they need multiple teams in front of them to fall back while they win big at the end.  We use the initials, “L, S, Bi, B, and Bo” in our conference-by-conference look.

 

Let’s Start With the One-Bid Leagues.  No matter which team wins these conference tournaments, only one team from each league will get a bid.  This does not include conferences like the MVC, where if Wichita State wins the automatic bid, the Valley will be a one-bid league.

 

We list the top contenders and a possible dark horse candidate for each of these leagues.

 

One-Bid Leagues (21)

 

American East

Vermont 11-1/17-9

Stony Brook 10-2/18-8

Albany 7-6/13-13

 

Vermont lost by one point at Duke and owns a win over Yale.

 

Atlantic Sun

Mercer 12-2/21-6

Florida Gulf Coast 11-3/17-10

East Tennessee 9-6/16-12

 

Mercer won at Ole Miss and played well in losses at Texas and Oklahoma.  FGCU has no impressive wins this year.

 

Big Sky

Weber St. 11-2/14-7

Northern Colorado 9-5/15-8

 

Northern Colorado won at Kansas St.  The winner here faces a probably trip to Dayton for the opening round.

 

Big South

Coastal Carolina 9-3/16-10

V M I  8-4/15-10

High Point 7-4/11-13

Radford 7-5/17-10

Winthrop 7-5/14-11

Gardner-Webb 7-5/14-13

UNC-Asheville 7-5/13-13

 

You can see this league is quite balanced.  Of these teams, VMI might be the toughest matchup for an opponent, because the Keydets play an unorthodox style of up-tempo ball.  There are no impressive wins here to report, and this looks like a possible opening round conference.

 

Big West

UC-Irvine 8-2/17-9

UCSB 7-3/16-7

Hawaii 7-4/18-7

Long Beach St. 7-4/11-14

 

UCI won at Washington, and UCSB beat California at home.  This league will avoid the opening round unless an upset winner takes the bid.

 

Colonial

Delaware 11-0/19-7

Towson 8-3/17-9

William & Mary 7-4/15-9

 

The Blue Hens lost close games at Villanova, Ohio St., and Richmond, but they have no top 100 wins, so they are not under consideration for an at-large bid.  The nation will get a chance to see one of the top three-men scoring machines work if Delaware wins the bid.  Devon Saddler (20.4), Davon Usher (19.4), and Jarivs Threatt (17.9) combine for 57.7 points per game.

 

Conference USA

Louisiana Tech 9-2/21-5 (B)

UTEP 9-2/19-7 (Bo)

Middle Tennessee 9-2/19-7

Southern Miss. 8-3/21-5

Tulsa 8-3/13-12

 

Southern Miss, Louisiana Tech, and UTEP must all be considered as “Bo” teams if they lose in the CUSA finals.  As of today, none of this group has done enough to qualify as an at-large team.  Southern Miss’s best win was at North Dakota St., and the Selection Committee may not see that as a big win.  Louisiana Tech won at Oklahoma, but the Bulldogs have a non-conference strength of schedule in the 280’s.  We have LT on the Bubble as of today, but for the Bulldogs to get in as an at-large, it will take several teams above them playing themselves out, because LT has little chance of leapfrogging.  We have UTEP far back in the Bubble—Out teams.

 

Horizon

Green Bay 11-2/21-5

Cleveland St. 9-4/18-10

Valparaiso 8-4/16-11

 

Green Bay beat Virginia and narrowly lost to Wisconsin, so the Phoenix can compete in the round of 64 and possibly be an upset team.

 

Cleveland State stayed close at Rupp Arena against Kentucky.

 

Ivy

Harvard 7-1/20-4

Yale 7-1/13-9

 

Yale won at Harvard, but even if they sweep the Crimson, a tie would still bring a tiebreaker.  If Yale wins the league and automatic bid, Harvard would have a mild argument as an at-large, but we just don’t see the Ivy getting two teams.  Harvard’s top win is a neutral site game over Green Bay.

 

Mid-American

Toledo 9-3/21-4

Akron 9-3/17-8

Western Michigan 9-3/16-8

Ohio 8-4/18-7

Buffalo 8-4/14-8

 

Poor strengths of schedule and lack of quality wins makes this a one-bid league again.  The once proud MAC is still not back to where it once was.

 

Metro Atlantic

Iona 14-2/17-8

Manhattan 12-4/19-6

Quinnipiac 12-4/17-8

Canisius 12-4/18-9

 

Iona’s out of conference schedule was rather strong, but the Gaels did not win any of these games.

 

Mideastern Athletic

UNC-Central 11-1/19-5

Norfolk St. 8-3/14-11

Morgan St. 7-3/9-13

Hampton 9-4/14-11

 

UNC-Central’s upset win over North Carolina St. is enough to avoid the opening round if the Eagles win the MEAC Tournament.  UNCC played well in losses to Wichita St., Cincinnati, and Maryland.

 

Northeast

Robert Morris 11-1/16-11

Bryant 8-3/16-10

Wagner 7-4/13-11

 

This looks like an Opening Round game conference.  RMU has no top 100 wins.

 

Ohio Valley

Belmont 11-2/20-8

Murray St. 11-2/16-9

Morehead St. 9-3/18-9

Eastern Kentucky 8-5/18-9

 

Belmont has been close before in the NCAA Tournament, losing to Duke by one.  This year, the Bruins won at North Carolina and have close losses to Kentucky, VCU, and Richmond.

 

Patriot

Boston U. 12-2/19-8

American 11-3/15-10

Holy Cross 10-4/16-10

 

Boston U won at Maryland, but that is not an overly impressive win this season—just enough to avoid a trip to Dayton if the Terriers get the bid.

 

Southern

Davidson 11-1/15-11

Chattanooga 10-2/16-11

Wofford 9-3/15-10

Elon 8-3/15-11

Western Carolina 8-4/15-12

 

This is not a glory year for SoCon basketball.  However, the conference tournament should be quite exciting with many nail-biters.

 

Southland

Stephen F. Austin 13-0/24-2

Sam Houston 10-3/18-7

Texas A&M-Corpus Christie 10-4/13-14

 

SFA has done nothing to qualify for at-large status, but the Lumberjacks should breeze through to the automatic bid.  They swept Sam Houston in the regular season.  The only conference team to give SFA trouble was Incarnate Word, and they are ineligible as a transitioning team.

 

Summit

North Dakota St. 9-2/20-6

South Dakota St. 8-3/16-10

I P F W  7-4/19-9

 

South Dakota St. was a better upset win possibility in last year’s tournament than NDSU is this year, and the Jackrabbits bowed quickly against Michigan.

 

Sun Belt

Georgia St. 10-1/17-7

Western Kentucky 9-4/17-9

UL-Lafayette 8-5/17-9

 

Not what it once was due to teams moving to better conferences, the SBC is just strong enough to muscle up to a 15-seed if GSU wins the bid.

 

Southwestern Athletic

Southern 10-2/14-11

Alabama St. 8-4/14-9

 

The SWAC is an improving league, but the 2014 champion is still more than likely headed to Dayton for the opening round.  Southern lost by 14 at Florida and were never really in contention, but forward Calvin Godfrey showed he can play with the big guys.

 

Western Athletic

Utah Valley 9-2/15-9

New Mexico St. 9-3/20-8

 

With Grand Canyon ineligible due to the transition process to D1, Utah Valley and New Mexico St. are the only two WAC teams capable of avoiding Dayton and the opening round.  This league has fallen more than any other due to the mass defections to other conferences.

 

NMSU’s RPI is around 80, but the Aggies did beat New Mexico earlier this year.

 

The Missouri Valley Conference and The West Coast Conference—One or Two-Bid Leagues

 

Missouri Valley

Wichita St. 14-0/27-0 (L)

Indiana St. 11-3/20-6

Missouri St. 7-7/17-9

 

Wichita St. should run the table and enter the NCAA Tournament at 35-0, but if the Shockers fall in the MVC Tournament, some big team’s bubble will burst, because this will then become a two-bid league.

 

West Coast

Gonzaga 13-1/23-4 (L)

B Y U  10-5/18-10 (B)

St. Mary’s 9-5/19-8 (Bo)

 

Gonzaga is a lock for the tournament, but BYU is still on the outside looking in.  For now, we are giving this league just one team, bringing the total of teams in the field to this point to 23.

 

Multiple Bid Leagues (45)

 

As of today, we show these leagues combining to produce 45 total bids.  The teams listed as “Bi” (Bubble—In) would be in the Tournament if today was Selection Sunday, but they are in no way secure bids.

 

There is quality at the top, as the best 20 teams are quite good this year.  After the top 20, the rest of the field looks to be far down from past years.  Teams as low as second to last in the Big 12 would be considered in the field if today was Selection Sunday, and that is utterly ridiculous.

 

It is our opinion that the top eight leagues should get 24 bids (3 per conference), and the rest of the nation should get eight bids total, making this a 32-team field.  Expand the College Insider’s Tournament for the smaller conference teams and bring the NIT back to a more prestigious event.

 

Legend: (L) = Lock; (S) = Safe; (Bi) = Bubble—In; (B)= Bubble; (Bo)=Bubble—Out.  The difference between (B) and (Bo) is that the (B) are among the next 8 out, whereas the (Bo) are more than 8 out.  The (Bi) are among the last 8 in.

 

 

Atlantic Coast

Syracuse 12-0/25-0 (L)

Virginia 12-1/21-5 (L)

Duke 9-3/20-5 (L)

North Carolina 7-4/17-7 (S)

Pittsburgh 8-5/20-6 (S)

North Carolina St. 6-6/16-9 (Bo)

Clemson 6-6/15-9 (Bo)

Florida St. 6-7/15-10 (B)

 

American Athletic

Cincinnati 12-1/23-3 (L)

Louisville 10-2/21-4 (L)

SMU 9-4/20-6 (S)

Connecticut 8-4/20-5 (S)

Memphis 8-4/19-6 (S)

 

Atlantic 10

St. Louis 10-0/23-2 (S)

V C U  8-3/20-6 (S)

St. Joseph’s 7-3/17-7 (Bi)

Richmond 7-3/17-8 (Bo)

Massachusetts 7-4/20-5 (S)

George Washington 7-4/19-6 (S)

Dayton 5-5/17-8 (B)

 

Big 12

Kansas 10-2/19-6 (L)

Texas 9-3/20-5 (L)

Oklahoma 8-5/19-7 (S)

Iowa St. 7-5/19-5 (S)

Kansas St. 7-5/17-8 (S)

West Virginia 7-6/15-11 (B)

Texas Tech 5-7/13-12 (Bo)

Baylor 4-8/16-9 (B)

Oklahoma St. 4-8/16-9 (Bi)

 

Big East

Creighton 11-2/21-4 (L)

Villanova 10-2/22-3 (L)

Xavier 7-5/17-8 (S)

Marquette 7-5/15-10 (Bo)

Providence 7-6/17-9 (Bi)

St. John’s 7-6/17-9 (Bo)

Georgetown 6-7/15-10 (Bi)

 

Big Ten

Michigan St. 10-3/21-5 (L)

Michigan 10-3/18-7 (L)

Iowa 8-4/19-6 (S)

Wisconsin 8-5/21-5 (L)

Ohio St. 7-6/20-6 (S)

Nebraska 6-6/14-10 (Bo)

Minnesota 6-7/17-9 (Bi)

 

Mountain West

San Diego St. 11-1/22-2 (L)

New Mexico 10-2/19-5 (S)

 

Pac-12

Arizona 10-2/23-2 (L)

U C L A  9-3/20-5 (S)

Arizona St. 8-4/19-6 (S)

California 8-4/17-8 (S)

Colorado 8-5/19-7 (S)

Stanford 7-5/16-8 (Bi)

Utah 6-7/17-8 (Bo)

Washington 6-7/14-12 (Bo)

Oregon St. 5-7/13-11 (Bo)

Oregon 4-8/16-8 (Bi)

 

Southeastern

Florida 12-0/23-2 (L)

Kentucky 9-3/19-6 (L)
Georgia 8-4/14-10 (Bo)

Ole Miss 7-5/16-9 (Bo)

Missouri 6-6/18-7 (Bi)

L S U  6-6/15-9 (B)

Tennessee 6-6/15-10 (Bi)

 

If The Season Ended Today

Seed	Team	Conference
1	Florida	SEC
1	Syracuse	ACC
1	Arizona	Pac-12
1	Wichita St.	Missouri Valley
2	Villanova	Big East
2	Kansas	Big 12
2	Michigan St.	Big Ten
2	Duke	ACC
3	Michigan	Big Ten
3	Creighton	Big East
3	Wisconsin	Big Ten
3	Iowa St.	Big 12
4	San Diego St.	Mountain West
4	Cincinnati	American
4	Virginia	ACC
4	St. Louis	Atlantic 10
5	Iowa	Big Ten
5	Kentucky	SEC
5	Louisville	American
5	Texas	Big 12
6	U C L A	Pac-12
6	Ohio St.	Big Ten
6	Connecticut	American
6	Oklahoma	Big 12
7	North Carolina	ACC
7	Massachusetts	Atlantic 10
7	Gonzaga	West Coast
7	Memphis	American
8	Kansas St.	Big 12
8	Arizona St.	Pac-12
8	V C U	Atlantic 10
8	Pittsburgh	ACC
9	S M U	American
9	New Mexico	Mountain West
9	Colorado	Pac-12
9	Oklahoma St.	Big 12
10	George Washington	Atlantic 10
10	Stanford	Pac-12
10	California	Pac-12
10	Xavier	Big East
11	Minnesota	Big Ten
11	Missouri	SEC
11	Tennessee	SEC
11	Harvard	Ivy
12	Green Bay	Horizon
12	Toledo	Mid-American
12	Georgetown	Big East	1st Rd
12	St. Joseph’s	Atlantic 10	1st Rd
12	Providence	Big East	1st Rd
12	Oregon	Pac-12	1st Rd
13	Stephen F. Austin	Southland
13	Belmont	Ohio Valley
13	North Dakota St.	Summit
13	Delaware	Colonial
14	Mercer	Atlantic Sun
14	Iona	Metro Atlantic
14	Vermont	America East
14	Georgia St.	Sun Belt
15	UNC-Central	MEAC
15	Boston U.	Patriot
15	Southern Miss.	CUSA
15	U C S B	Big West
16	Davidson	Southern
16	Southern U.	SWAC
16	Weber St.	Big Sky	1st Rd
16	Robert Morris	Northeast	1st Rd
16	Coastal Carolina	Big South	1st Rd
16	Utah Valley	WAC	1st Rd

 

Last Eight Bubble Teams On the Inside For Now (Oregon is last team in today)

Oregon

Providence

St. Joseph’s

Georgetown

Tennessee

Missouri

Minnesota

Xavier

 

Top Eight Bubble Teams On the Outside, Looking In (Richmond is first team out today)

Richmond

B Y U

Louisiana Tech

Florida St.

Baylor

Dayton

L S U

West Virginia

NCAA College Basketball Tournaments — March 11 Update

Here is the up-to-date (as of Saturday Night, March 10) results of all conference tournaments as well as the pairings for today’s games.

 

America East

Preliminary Round

#9 Binghamton 73  #8 Md.-Balt. Co. 67

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Stony Brook 78  # 9 Binghamton 69

#4 Albany 63  #5 New Hampshire 45

#2 Vermont 50  #7 Maine 40

#6 Hartford 53  #3 Boston U 49 

 

Semifinals

#1 Stony Brook 57  #4 Albany 55

#2 Vermont 77  #6 Hartford 73 2OT

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#2 Vermont 51  #1 Stony Brook 43

 

Automatic Bid – VERMONT 23-11

At-Large – None

Bubble – None

 

This is a one-bid league.  Vermont destroyed Stony Brook by 19 points during the regular season, and yesterday showed that the earlier game was not a fluke.

 

A C C

Opening Round

#8 Maryland 82  #9 Wake Forest 60

#5 North Carolina St. 78  #12 Boston College 57

#10 Virginia Tech 68  #7 Clemson 63

#6 Miami (FL) 54  #11 Georgia Tech 36

 

Quarterfinals

#1 North Carolina 85  #8 Maryland 69

#5 North Carolina St. 67  #4 Virginia 64

#2 Duke 60  #10 Virginia Tech 56

#3 Florida St. 82  #6 Miami (FL) 71

 

Semifinals

#1 North Carolina 69  #5 North Carolina St. 67

#3 Florida St. 62  #2 Duke 59  

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 North Carolina (29-4) vs. #3 Florida St. (23-9)

 

 

At-Large: North Carolina, Duke, Florida St., Virginia

Upper Bubble: North Carolina St.

Lower Bubble: Miami (FL)

 

North Carolina already has a number one seed to the NCAA Tournament, but the Tar Heels will play all out today.  UNC usually fares best in the Big Dance when they win the ACC Tournament.

 

 

Atlantic Sun

Quarterfinals

#1 Belmont 76  #8 Jacksonville 62

#4 East Tennessee 68  #5 N. Florida 66

#2 Mercer 61  #7 Lipscomb 53

#6 Florida Gulf Coast 71  #3 S. Carolina Upstate 61

 

Semifinals

#1 Belmont 69  #4 East Tennessee 61

#6 Florida Gulf Coast 62 #2 Mercer 58

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Belmont 83  Florida Gulf Coast 69

 

Automatic Bid – BELMONT 27-7

At-Large Teams – None

Bubble – None

 

Atlantic 10

1^st Round

#8 Massachusetts 92  #9 Duquesne 83

#5 St. Joe’s 80  #12 Charlotte 64

#7 LaSalle 80  #10 Richmond 72

#6 Dayton 67  #11 George Washington 50

 

Quarterfinals

#8 Massachusetts 77  #1 Temple 71

#4 St. Bonaventure 71  #5 St. Joe’s 68

#2 St. Louis 78  #7 LaSalle 71

#3 Xavier 70  #6 Dayton 69

 

Semifinals

#4 St. Bonaventure 84  #8 Massachusetts 80

#3 Xavier 71  #2 St. Louis 64  

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#3 Xavier (21-11) vs. #4 St. Bonaventure (19-11)

 

At-Large: Temple, St. Louis

Upper Bubble:

Lower Bubble: Xavier

 

There will be one less bubble team getting an at-large bid thanks to the A-10.  Neither Xavier nor St. Bonaventure would have received a bid, so the winner becomes a bid-thief.

 

Big East

Opening Round

#9 Connecticut 81  #16 Dayton 67

#13 Pittsburgh 73  #12 St. John’s 59

#10 Seton Hall 79  #15 Providence 47

#14 Villanova 70  #11 Rutgers 49

 

2nd Round

#9 Connecticut 71  #8 West Virginia 67 OT

#5 Georgetown 64  #13 Pittsburgh 52

#7 Louisville 61 #10 Seton Hall 55

#6 South Florida 56  #14 Villanova 47

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Syracuse 58  #9 Connecticut 55

#4 Cincinnati 72  #5 Georgetown 70 2OT

#7 Louisville 84  #2 Marquette 71

#3 Notre Dame 57 #6 South Florida 52

 

Semifinals

#4 Cincinnati 71  #1 Syracuse 68  

#7 Louisville 64  #3 Notre Dame 50

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#7 Louisville 50  #4 Cincinnati 44

 

Automatic Bid – LOUISVILLE 26-9

At-Large Teams – Syracuse, Marquette, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Cincinnati, West Virginia, Connecticut

Bubble – Seton Hall, South Florida

 

Big Sky

Quarterfinals

#3 Portland St. 75  #6 Montana St. 53

#4 Eastern Washington 81  #5 Idaho St. 75

 

Semifinals

#1 Montana 74  #4 Eastern Washington 66

#2 Weber St. 69 #3 Portland St. 63

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Montana 85 #2 Weber St. 66

 

Automatic Bid: MONTANA 25-6

At-Large: None

Bubble: None

 

This is a one-bid league, but both Montana and Weber State are talented enough to win an opening round game in the NCAA Tournament. With an RPI around 70, the Wildcats are probably not on the bubble.

 

Big South

Preliminary Round

#8 High Point 68  #9 Gardner-Webb 58

#7 VMI 55  #10 Radford 53

 

Quarterfinals

#1 UNC-Asheville 86  #8 High Point 61

#4 Charleston Sou. 88  #5 Liberty 74

#6 Winthrop 71  #3 Campbell 55

#7 VMI 85  #2 Coastal Carolina 68

 

Semifinals

#1 UNC-Asheville 91  #4 Charleston Sou. 64

#7 VMI 75  #6 Winthrop 55

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 UNC-Asheville  80  #7 VMI 64

 

Automatic Bid – UNC-ASHEVILLE 24-9

At-Large Teams – None

Bubble – None

 

Big Ten

Opening Round

#8 Iowa 64  #9 Illinois 61

#5 Indiana 75  #12 Penn State 58

#10 Minnesota 75  #7 Northwestern 68

#6 Purdue 79  #11 Nebraska 61

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Michigan St. 92  #8 Iowa 75

#4 Wisconsin 79  #5 Indiana 71

#2 Michigan 73  #10 Minnesota 69

#3 Ohio St. 88  #6 Purdue 71

 

Semifinals

#1 Michigan St. 65 #4 Wisconsin 52

#3 Ohio St. 77  #2 Michigan 55  

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Michigan St. (26-7) vs. #3 Ohio St. (27-6)

 

At-Large: Ohio St., Michigan St., Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Purdue

Upper Bubble:

Lower Bubble: Northwestern

 

The two best teams in the league face off for the final conference championship.  All bids will be decided by the final horn.

 

Big 12

Opening Round

#9 Texas A&M 62  #8 Oklahoma 53

#7 Oklahoma St. 76  #10 Texas Tech 60

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Kansas 83  #9 Texas A&M 66

#4 Baylor 82  #5 Kansas St. 74

#2 Missouri 88  #7 Oklahoma St. 70

#3 Iowa St. 65  #6 Texas 71

 

Semifinals

#4 Baylor 81  #1 Kansas 72  

#2 Missouri 81  #6 Texas 67

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#2 Missouri 90  #4 Baylor 75

 

Automatic Bid – MISSOURI 30-4

At-Large Teams – Kansas, Baylor, Iowa St., Kansas St.,

Bubble – Texas

 

Missouri has a decent shot at moving up to a number one seed, but not as much as if they had defeated Kansas instead of Baylor for the title.

 

Big West

Quarterfinals

#1 Long Beach St. 80  #8 UC-Davis 46

#4 Cal Poly SLO 66  #5 UC-Riverside 54

#7 UC-Irvine 65  #2 Cal State Fullerton 59

#3 U C S B 72  #6 Pacific 52

 

Semifinals

#1 Long Beach St. 68  #7 UC-Irvine 57

#3 U C S B 64  #4 Cal Poly SLO 52

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Long Beach St. 77  #3 U C S B 64

 

Automatic Bid – LONG BEACH ST. 25-8

At-Large Teams – None

Bubble – None

 

Long Beach State deserves a number 12 seed.  The 49ers will be a dangerous opponent in the first two rounds.

 

Colonial Athletic

Opening Round

#9 UNC-Wilmington 70  #8 James Madison 59

#5 Delaware 72  #12 Towson St. 65

#6 Georgia St. 85  #11 Hofstra 50

#7 Northeastern 57  #10 William & Mary 49

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Drexel 59  #9 UNC-Wilmington 47

#4 Old Dominion 88  #5 Delaware 74

#3 George Mason 61  #6 Georgia St. 59

#2 Virginia Commonwealth 75  #10 William & Mary 65

 

Semifinals

#1 Drexel 68  #4 Old Dominion 51

#2 Virginia Commonwealth 74  #3 George Mason 64

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#2 Virginia Commonwealth 59 #1 Drexel 56

 

Automatic Bid – VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH 28-6

At-Large Teams – None

Bubble – Drexel

 

 

Drexel has a chance of earning an at-large bid, but their RPI is on the low side at 68.

 

Conference USA

Opening Round

#5 U A B 72  #12 Tulane 64

#8 U T E P 67 #9 Houston 62 OT

#10 East Carolina 68  #7 Rice 66 

#6 Marshall 74  #11 S M U 56

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Memphis 65  #8 U T E P 47

#4 Central Florida 51  #5 U A B 43

#2 Southern Mississippi 81  #10 East Carolina 78

#6 Marshall 105  #3 Tulsa 100  3 OT

 

Semifinals

#1 Memphis 83  #4 Central Florida 52

#6 Marshall 73  #2 Southern Mississippi 62

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Memphis 83  #6 Marshall 57

 

Automatic Bid – MEMPHIS 26-8

At-Large Teams – None

Bubble – Southern Miss

 

Memphis’s blowout win over Marshall definitely kept the Thundering Herd out of any discussion.  Southern Miss is not a high bubble team.  The Golden Eagles could be disappointed around 7 PM EDT today.

 

Horizon League

Opening Round

#4 Milwaukee 68  #9 Illinois-Chi. 55

#5 Butler 70  #8 Wright St. 52

#3 Detroit 80  #10 Loyola (Chi) 71

#6 Youngstown 77  #7 Green Bay 60

 

Quarterfinals

#5 Butler 71 #4 Milwaukee 49

#3 Detroit 93 #6 Youngstown St. 76

 

Semifinals

#1 Valparaiso 65  #5 Butler 46

#3 Detroit 63  #2 Cleveland St. 58

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#3 Detroit 70  #1 Valparaiso 50

 

Automatic Bid – DETROIT 22-13

At-Large Teams – None

Bubble – None

 

This is a one-bid league.  Neither Valpo, Cleveland State nor Butler will  earn at-large bids.

 

M A A C

Preliminary Round

#8 Marist 64 #9 St. Peter’s 57

#7 Niagara 80 #10 Canisius 70

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Iona 87  #8 Marist 63

#4 Fairfield 65  #5 Rider 63

#2 Loyola (MD) 86  #7 Niagara 73

#6 Siena 84  #3 Manhattan 82

 

Semifinals

#4 Fairfield 85  #1 Iona 75

#2 Loyola (MD) 70  #6 Siena 60

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#2 Loyola (MD) 48  #4 Fairfield 44

 

Automatic Bid – LOYOLA (MD) 24-8

At-Large Teams – None

Bubble – None

 

This is a one-bid league.  Iona played their way out of the Big Dance and into the NIT.

 

M A C

Opening Round

#12 Northern Illinois 55  #5 Eastern Michigan 52  

#8 Western Michigan 69  #9 Ball St. 63

#7 Toledo 60  #10 (Miami (O) 53

#11 Central Michigan 54  #6 Bowling Green 53  

 

2^nd Round

#8 Western Michigan 71  #12 Northern Illinois 54

#7 Toledo 75  #11 Central Michigan 72

 

Quarterfinals

#4 Kent St. 76  #8 Western Michigan 72

#3 Ohio 65  #7 Toledo 57

 

Semifinals

#1 Akron 78  #4 Kent St. 74

#3 Ohio 77  #2  Buffalo 74

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#3 Ohio 64  #1 Akron 63

 

Automatic Bid – OHIO 26-7

At-Large Teams – None

Bubble – Akron

 

Akron fell to #58 in the RPI, so the Zips have a chance to get an at-large bid.

 

M E A C

Opening Round

#8 Hampton 69 #9 Morgan St. 65

#5 North Carolina Central 60 #12 Md. Eastern Shore 43

#4 Bethune-Cookman 62 #13 South Carolina St. 53

#11 Florida A& M 74  #6 Coppin St. 72

#10 Howard 51  #7 North Carolina A&T 50

 

Quarterfinals

#8 Hampton 59  #1 Savannah St. 46

#4 Bethune-Cookman 60  #5 North Carolina Central 59

#2 Norfolk St. 71 #7 Howard 61

#11 Florida A&M 65  #3 Delaware St. 55  

 

Semfinals

#4 Bethune-Cookman 81  #8 Hampton 72

#2 Norfolk St. 58  #11 Florida A&M 46

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#2 Norfolk St. 73  #4 Bethune-Cookman 70

 

Automatic Bid – NORFOLK ST. 25-9

At-Large – None

Bubble – None

 

Norfolk State makes its first trip to the NCAA Tournament, and the Spartans have a chance to avoid the first round in Dayton.

 

Missouri Valley

Opening Round

#8 Indiana St. 66  #9 Southern Illinois 51

#7 Drake 65  #10 Bradley 49

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Wichita St. 72 #8 Indiana St. 48

#4 Illinois St. 54 #5 Northern Iowa 42

#2 Creighton 68 vs. #7 Drake 61

#3 Evansville 72 vs. #6 Missouri St. 64

 

Semifinals

#4 Illinois St. 65  #1 Wichita St. 64

#2 Creighton 99  #3 Evansville 71

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#2 Creighton 83  #4 Illinois St. 79 OT

 

Automatic Bid – CREIGHTON 27-5

At-Large – Wichita St. 27-5

Bubble – None

 

Mountain West

Quarterfinals

#1 San Diego St. 65  #8 Boise St. 62

#4 Colorado St. 81  #5 T C U 60

#2 New Mexico 79  #7 Air Force 64

#3 U N L V 56  #6 Wyoming 48

 

Semifinals

#1 San Diego St. 79  #4 Colorado St. 69

#2 New Mexico 72  #3 U N L V 67

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#2 New Mexico 68  #1 San Diego St. 59

 

Automatic Bid – NEW MEXICO 27-6

At-Large – San Diego St., U N L V

Bubble – Colorado St.

 

Anything other than four bids would be disappointing and even ridiculous.  Colorado State’s RPI is #24, and the Rams are tournament-worthy.

 

Northeast

Quarterfinals

#1 Long Island 80  #8 Sacred Heart 68

#5 Quinnipiac 80  #4 St. Francis (NY) 72

#3 Robert Morris 87  #6 Monmouth 68

#2 Wagner 87  #7 Central Conn. St. 77

 

Semifinals

#1 Long Island 78 #5 Quinnipiac 75

#3 Robert Morris 71  #2 Wagner 64

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Long Island 90  #3 Robert Morris 73

 

Automatic Bid: LONG ISLAND 25-8

At-Large: None

Bubble: None

 

Wagner’s slim chances for getting in as a wildcard team went bye-bye with their semifinal loss to RMU.

 

LIU enters the Big Dance winning 20 of their last 22 games.

 

Ohio Valley

Opening Round

#5 Southeast Missouri 75  #8 E. Kentucky 65

#7 Jacksonville St. 75  #6 Austin Peay 70

 

Quarterfinals

#4 Tennessee Tech 77 #5 Southeast Missouri 73

#3 Morehead St. 68  #7 Jacksonville St. 54

 

Semifinals

#1 Murray St. 78  #4 Tennessee Tech 58

#2 Tennessee St. 59 #3 Morehead St. 52

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Murray St. 54  #2 Tennessee St. 52

 

Automatic Bid – MURRAY ST. 30-1

At-Large – None

Bubble – None

 

Murray State should receive a #4 or #5 seed, a #6 at worst.

 

Pac-12

Opening Round

#9 Oregon St. 69  #8 Washington St. 64

#5 U C L A 55  #12 U S C 40

#7 Stanford 85  #10 Arizona St. 65

#6 Colorado 53  #11 Utah 41

 

Quarterfinals

#9 Oregon State 86  #1 Washington 84

#4 Arizona 66  #5 U C L A 58

#2 California 77  #7 Stanford 71

#6 Colorado 63  #3 Oregon 62  

 

Semifinals

#4 Arizona 72  #9 Oregon St. 61

#6 Colorado 70  #2 California 59

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#6 Colorado 53  #4 Arizona 51

 

Automatic Bid – COLORADO 23-11

At-Large – None

Bubble – California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona

 

Colorado is the only sure bid in this league.  However, we believe that no ‘Big Six” conference will receive just one bid.  Politics must be considered, even if “they” claim that all at-large teams are considered as independents.  Look for at least one from the bubble above to make the Dance.

 

Patriot League

Quarterfinals

#1 Bucknell 87  #8 Navy 63

#5 Lafayette 84  #4 Holy Cross 76

#2 Lehigh 70 #7 Colgate 57

#3 American 57  #6 Army 40

 

Semifinals

#1 Bucknell 79 #5 Lafayette 52

#2 Lehigh 85 #3 American 66

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#2 Lehigh 82  #1 Bucknell 77  

 

Automatic Bid: LEHIGH 26-7

At-Large: None

Bubble: None

 

The Mountain Hawks search for the first NCAA Tournament win in their fifth trip to the Big Dance, and they have the one-two punch in C J McCollum and Gabe Knutson.  Lehigh lost at Michigan State by just nine points earlier in the year, and they enter the NCAA Tournament having won eight games in a row and 12 of 13.

 

Southern

Opening Round

#5N Appalachian St. 93  #4S College of Charleston 81

#3N Western Carolina 68  #6S Citadel 56

#5S Furman 75  #4N Samford 66

#3S Georgia Southern 76  #6N Chattanooga 70

 

Quarterfinals

#1N UNC-Greensboro 65  #5N Appalachian St. 55

#3N Western Carolina 82 #2S Wofford 59

#1S Davidson 73  #5S Furman 54

#2N Elon 65  #3S Georgia Southern 58

 

Semifinals

#3N Western Carolina 82  #1N UNC-Greensboro 77

#1S Davidson 83  #2N Elon 67

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1S Davidson  93 #1N UNC-Greensboro 91

 

Automatic Bid – DAVIDSON 25-7

At-Large Teams – None

Bubble – None

 

Davidson might not have earned a ticket as an at-large team.  Tell that to Kansas coach Bill Self, and he would say you were crazy.

 

S E C

Opening Round

#8 L S U 70  #9 Arkansas 54

#5 Alabama 63  #12 South Carolina 57

#7 Ole Miss 68  #10 Auburn 54

#11 Georgia 71  #6 Mississippi St. 61 

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Kentucky 60  #8 L S U 51

#4 Florida 66  #5 Alabama 63

#7 Ole Miss 77  #2 Tennessee 72 OT

#3 Vanderbilt 63  #11 Georgia 41

 

Semifinals

#1 Kentucky 74  #4 Florida 71

#3 Vanderbilt 65  #7 Ole Miss 53

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Kentucky (32-1) vs. #3 Vanderbilt (23-10)

 

At-Large: Kentucky, Florida, Vanderbilt

Upper Bubble: Alabama

Lower Bubble: Ole Miss, Mississippi St.

 

The two teams picked to finish one-two at the beginning of the year meet for the tournament championship.  Kentucky won two close games during the year.  The Wildcats are just one last second jump shot away from being undefeated and considered the best team since Bill Walton’s 1973 UCLA Bruins went 30-0.  Look for the Wildcats to turn Royal Street into Royal Blue Street around 2:30 PM today.

 

Southland

Quarterfinals

#1 UT-Arlington 96  #8 Nicholls St. 48

#4 McNeese St. 78  #5 TX-San Antonio 74 OT

#2 Stephen F Austin 68  #7 Sam Houston 46

#3 Lamar 76  #6 Northwestern State (LA) 69

 

Semifinals

#4 McNeese St. 92  #1 UT-Arlington 72  

#3 Lamar 55  #2 Stephen F Austin 44  

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#3 Lamar 70 #4 McNeese St. 49

 

Automatic Bid – LAMAR 23-11

At-Large – None

Bubble – None

 

Lamar probably has a date in Dayton in two or three days.

 

S W A C

Quarterfinals

#1 Mississippi Valley St. 63  #8 Jackson St. 60

#5 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 60  #4 Alabama St. 56  

#2 Texas Southern 75  #7 Alabama A&M 62

#6 Alcorn St. 103  #3 Prairie View 79

 

Semifinals

#1 Mississippi Valley St. 71  #5 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 64

#2 Texas Southern 60  #6 Alcorn St. 55

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Mississippi Valley St. 71  #2 Texas Southern 69

 

Automatic Bid – MISSISSIPPI VALLEY ST. 21-12

At-Large – None

Bubble – None

 

The Delta Devils began the season 1-11 but have gone 20-1 since.  Still, they most likely will be forced to play in Dayton.

 

Summit League

Quarterfinals

#1 Oral Roberts 71  #8 I P F W 67

#4 Western Illinois 58  #5 North Dakota St. 53

#2 South Dakota St. 77  I U P U I 56

#6 Southern Utah 84  #3 Oakland 82

 

Semifinals

#4 Western Illinois 54  #1 Oral Roberts 53

#2 South Dakota St. 63  #6 Southern Utah 47

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#2 South Dakota St. 52  #4 Western Illinois 50

 

Automatic Bid – SOUTH DAKOTA ST. 27-7

At-Large Teams –None

Bubble – Oral Roberts

               

Had South Dakota St. and Oral Roberts advanced to the Championship Game, and Oral Roberts’ lost instead of losing to WIU in the semis, ORU would be on the at-large line and not the bubble.  With an RPI of 55, the Golden Eagles are in a precarious position. 

 

Sunbelt

Opening Round

#6 South Alabama 87  #11 Troy 81

#7 Western Kentucky 67 #10 Florida Int’l 63

#9 Arkansas St. 70 #8 Florida Atlantic 55

 

Quarterfinals

#9 Arkansas St. 64  #1 Middle Tennessee 61

#5 North Texas 65  #4 Louisiana-Lafayette 62

#7 Western Kentucky 68  #2 U A L R  63 

#3 Denver 61  #6 South Alabama 50

 

Semifinals

#5 North Texas 76  #9 Arkansas St. 72

#7 Western Kentucky 67  #3 Denver 63

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#7 Western Kentucky 74  #3 Denver 70

 

Automatic Bid –WESTERN KENTUCKY 15-18

At-Large Teams – None

Bubble – Middle Tennessee

 

This is probably a one-bid league. The top two seeds lost in their first games in this unique tournament played in two separate gyms in the same building.  Middle Tennessee may still be on the bubble with an RPI of 65, but they are more than likely headed to the NIT.  Western Kentucky will be headed to the first round in Dayton.  However, their 15-18 record is very misleading.  The Hilltoppers were supposed to contend for the regular season championship; however, major dissension led to a poor start and a dismissal of head coach Ken McDonald.  Since Ray Harper assumed command, WKU has sported a 10-7 record, and a 7-4 finish.  This team cannot be overlooked in Dayton and could very well advance to the second round.

 

W A C

Quarterfinals

#1 Nevada 54  #8 San Jose St. 44

#5 Louisiana Tech 72  #4 Utah St. 70

#2 New Mexico St. 65  #7 Fresno St. 49

#6 Hawaii 72  #3 Idaho 70

 

Semifinals

#5 Louisiana Tech 78  #1 Nevada 73  

#2 New Mexico St. 92  #6 Hawaii 81

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#2 New Mexico St. 82  #5 Louisiana Tech 57

 

Automatic Bid – NEW MEXICO ST. 26-9

At-Large – None

Bubble – Nevada.

 

Nevada fell to #63 in the RPI, and the Wolfpack are on the cusp of falling off the bubble. 

 

West Coast

Opening Round

#8 Portland 74 #9 Santa Clara 70

 

2^nd Round

#5 San Francisco 87  #8 Portland 66

#6 San Diego 76  #7 Pepperdine 54

 

Quarterfinals

#5 San Francisco 67  #4 Loyola Marymount 60

#3 B Y U 73 vs. #6 San Diego 68

 

Semifinals

#1 Saint Mary’s 83  #5 San Francisco 78

#2 Gonzaga 77  #3 B Y U 58

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Saint Mary’s 78  #2 Gonzaga 74 OT

 

Automatic Bid – SAINT MARY’S 26-5

At-Large Teams – Gonzaga

Bubble – B Y U

 

This has the look of a three-bid league, with the two behemoths and BYU all headed to the Big Dance.  Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga are now the true powers of the West.  If you remember UCLA versus USC or Oregon State in the 1970’s and 1980’s, this is what this rivalry has become.  Both teams could easily advance to the Elite 8.

 

NCAA College Basketball Conference Tournaments–March 10 Update

Here is the up-to-date (as of Friday Night, March 9) results of all conference tournaments as well as the pairings for today’s games.

 

America East

Preliminary Round

#9 Binghamton 73  #8 Md.-Balt. Co. 67

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Stony Brook 78  # 9 Binghamton 69

#4 Albany 63  #5 New Hampshire 45

#2 Vermont 50  #7 Maine 40

#6 Hartford 53  #3 Boston U 49 

 

Semifinals

#1 Stony Brook 57  #4 Albany 55

#2 Vermont 77  #6 Hartford 73 2OT

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Stony Brook (21-8) vs. Vermont (22-11)

 

This is a one-bid league.  Stony Brook has won 19 of its last 21 games, but one of those two losses was a 19-point humiliation at the hands of Vermont.  The Sea Wolves defeated the Catamounts at Stony Brook Arena earlier in the season, and that is where this game will be played Saturday afternoon.

 

A C C

Opening Round

#8 Maryland 82  #9 Wake Forest 60

#5 North Carolina St. 78  #12 Boston College 57

#10 Virginia Tech 68  #7 Clemson 63

#6 Miami (FL) 54  #11 Georgia Tech 36

 

Quarterfinals

#1 North Carolina 85  #8 Maryland 69

#5 North Carolina St. 67  #4 Virginia 64

#2 Duke 60  #10 Virginia Tech 56

#3 Florida St. 82  #6 Miami (FL) 71

 

Semifinals

#1 North Carolina (28-4) vs. #5 North Carolina St. (22-11)

#2 Duke (27-5) vs. #3 Florida St. (22-9)

 

At-Large: North Carolina, Duke, Florida St., Virginia

Upper Bubble: North Carolina St.

Lower Bubble: Miami (FL)

 

The North Carolina St.-Virginia game lived up to our predicted billing.  We believe the Wolf Pack have a better than 50-50 chance of getting into the Big Dance.

 

North Carolina knocked off the Wolf Pack by 19 and by 12 during the regular season.  Duke and Florida State split during conference play, with the Seminoles winning in Durham and the Blue Devils winning in Tallahassee.

 

Atlantic Sun

Quarterfinals

#1 Belmont 76  #8 Jacksonville 62

#4 East Tennessee 68  #5 N. Florida 66

#2 Mercer 61  #7 Lipscomb 53

#6 Florida Gulf Coast 71  #3 S. Carolina Upstate 61

 

Semifinals

#1 Belmont 69  #4 East Tennessee 61

#6 Florida Gulf Coast 62 #2 Mercer 58

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Belmont 83  Florida Gulf Coast 69

 

Automatic Bid – BELMONT 27-7

At-Large Teams – None

Bubble – None

 

Atlantic 10

1^st Round

#8 Massachusetts 92  #9 Duquesne 83

#5 St. Joe’s 80  #12 Charlotte 64

#7 LaSalle 80  #10 Richmond 72

#6 Dayton 67  #11 George Washington 50

 

Quarterfinals

#8 Massachusetts 77  #1 Temple 71

#4 St. Bonaventure 71  #5 St. Joe’s 68

#2 St. Louis 78  #7 LaSalle 71

#3 Xavier 70  #6 Dayton 69

 

Semifinals

#4 St. Bonaventure (18-11) vs. #8 Massachusetts (22-10)

#2 St. Louis (25-6) vs. #3 Xavier (20-11)

 

At-Large: Temple, St. Louis

Upper Bubble:

Lower Bubble: Xavier, St. Joe’s, and Dayton

 

As we told you a couple days ago, the eight quarterfinal teams were not that far apart talent-wise.  All four games were close, exciting contests, and the number one seed was sent home by the number eight seed.  Temple and St. Louis are sure locks for bids, and if one of the other three remaining semifinalist win the tournament, there will be one less at-large bid going to the bubble.

 

Big East

Opening Round

#9 Connecticut 81  #16 Dayton 67

#13 Pittsburgh 73  #12 St. John’s 59

#10 Seton Hall 79  #15 Providence 47

#14 Villanova 70  #11 Rutgers 49

 

2nd Round

#9 Connecticut 71  #8 West Virginia 67 OT

#5 Georgetown 64  #13 Pittsburgh 52

#7 Louisville 61 #10 Seton Hall 55

#6 South Florida 56  #14 Villanova 47

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Syracuse 58  #9 Connecticut 55

#4 Cincinnati 72  #5 Georgetown 70 2OT

#7 Louisville 84  #2 Marquette 71

#3 Notre Dame 57 #6 South Florida 52

 

Semifinals

#4 Cincinnati 71  #1 Syracuse 68  

#7 Louisville 64  #3 Notre Dame 50

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#4 Cincinnati (24-9) vs. #7 Louisville (25-9)

 

At-Large: Syracuse, Marquette, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Louisville, Cincinnati

Upper Bubble: West Virginia, Seton Hall, Connecticut

Lower Bubble: South Florida

 

This is definitely one championship game to watch.  Both teams are playing their best ball of the year, and this rivalry goes back a very long way through multiple conferences.

 

Big Sky

Quarterfinals

#3 Portland St. 75  #6 Montana St. 53

#4 Eastern Washington 81  #5 Idaho St. 75

 

Semifinals

#1 Montana 74  #4 Eastern Washington 66

#2 Weber St. 69 #3 Portland St. 63

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Montana 85 #2 Weber St. 66

 

Automatic Bid: MONTANA 25-6

At-Large: None

Bubble: None

 

This is a one-bid league, but both Montana and Weber State are talented enough to win an opening round game in the NCAA Tournament. With an RPI around 70, the Wildcats are probably not on the bubble.

 

Big South

Preliminary Round

#8 High Point 68  #9 Gardner-Webb 58

#7 VMI 55  #10 Radford 53

 

Quarterfinals

#1 UNC-Asheville 86  #8 High Point 61

#4 Charleston Sou. 88  #5 Liberty 74

#6 Winthrop 71  #3 Campbell 55

#7 VMI 85  #2 Coastal Carolina 68

 

Semifinals

#1 UNC-Asheville 91  #4 Charleston Sou. 64

#7 VMI 75  #6 Winthrop 55

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 UNC-Asheville  80  #7 VMI 64

 

Automatic Bid – UNC-ASHEVILLE 24-9

At-Large Teams – None

Bubble – None

 

Big Ten

Opening Round

#8 Iowa 64  #9 Illinois 61

#5 Indiana 75  #12 Penn State 58

#10 Minnesota 75  #7 Northwestern 68

#6 Purdue 79  #11 Nebraska 61

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Michigan St. 92  #8 Iowa 75

#4 Wisconsin 79  #5 Indiana 71

#2 Michigan 73  #10 Minnesota 69

#3 Ohio St. 88  #6 Purdue 71

 

Semifinals

#1 Michigan St. (25-7) vs. #4 Wisconsin (24-8)

#2 Michigan (24-8) vs. #3 Ohio St. (26-6)

 

At-Large: Ohio St., Michigan St., Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Purdue

Upper Bubble:

Lower Bubble: Northwestern

 

The folks in Indianapolis can claim their final four is as good as the Big East’s.  They might be wrong, because this one could be better!

 

The top four seeds advanced, and this is definitely the toast of the tournaments.  Any of these four could cut down the nets Sunday.  The cherry on top is that yesterday’s games were high-scoring shootouts reminiscent of the old run and gun days of Big Ten days of yore.

 

Big 12

Opening Round

#9 Texas A&M 62  #8 Oklahoma 53

#7 Oklahoma St. 76  #10 Texas Tech 60

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Kansas 83  #9 Texas A&M 66

#4 Baylor 82  #5 Kansas St. 74

#2 Missouri 88  #7 Oklahoma St. 70

#3 Iowa St. 65  #6 Texas 71

 

Semifinals

#4 Baylor 81  #1 Kansas 72  

#2 Missouri 81  #6 Texas 67

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#2 Missouri (29-4) vs. #4 Baylor (27-6)

 

At-Large: Kansas, Missouri, Iowa St., Baylor, Kansas St.

Upper Bubble: Texas

Lower Bubble: None

 

Missouri has a lot to play for today.  A win over Baylor more than likely moves the Tigers to a number one seed.  However, Baylor will be tough to defeat three times in one season.  MU beat BU by 15 and by one during the regular season.

 

Big West

Quarterfinals

#1 Long Beach St. 80  #8 UC-Davis 46

#4 Cal Poly SLO 66  #5 UC-Riverside 54

#7 UC-Irvine 65  #2 Cal State Fullerton 59

#3 U C S B 72  #6 Pacific 52

 

Semifinals

#1 Long Beach St. (23-8) vs. #7 UC-Irvine (12-19)

#3 U C S B (19-9) vs. #4 Cal Poly SLO (18-15)

 

At-Large: None

Upper Bubble: Long Beach St.

Lower Bubble: None

 

Long Beach State could possibly earn an at-large bid if they lose today or tomorrow, but the 49ers should have minimal competition in the semifinals and not much more in the finals.

 

Colonial Athletic

Opening Round

#9 UNC-Wilmington 70  #8 James Madison 59

#5 Delaware 72  #12 Towson St. 65

#6 Georgia St. 85  #11 Hofstra 50

#7 Northeastern 57  #10 William & Mary 49

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Drexel 59  #9 UNC-Wilmington 47

#4 Old Dominion 88  #5 Delaware 74

#3 George Mason 61  #6 Georgia St. 59

#2 Virginia Commonwealth 75  #10 William & Mary 65

 

Semifinals

#1 Drexel 68  #4 Old Dominion 51

#2 Virginia Commonwealth 74  #3 George Mason 64

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#2 Virginia Commonwealth 59 #1 Drexel 56

 

Automatic Bid – VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH 28-6

At-Large Teams – None

Bubble – Drexel

 

 

Drexel has a chance of earning an at-large bid, but their RPI is on the low side at 68.

 

Conference USA

Opening Round

#5 U A B 72  #12 Tulane 64

#8 U T E P 67 #9 Houston 62 OT

#10 East Carolina 68  #7 Rice 66 

#6 Marshall 74  #11 S M U 56

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Memphis 65  #8 U T E P 47

#4 Central Florida 51  #5 U A B 43

#2 Southern Mississippi 81  #10 East Carolina 78

#6 Marshall 105  #3 Tulsa 100  3 OT

 

Semifinals

#1 Memphis 83  #4 Central Florida 52

#6 Marshall 73  #2 Southern Mississippi 62

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Memphis (25-8) vs. #6 Marshall (21-12)

 

At-Large: Memphis

Upper Bubble: None

Lower Bubble: Southern Miss

 

 

Central Florida will be placed in the lower bubble with a win today against the top seed in the conference tournament.  Should Central Florida and Marshall meet in tomorrow’s championship game, the bubble will burst for somebody else.

 

Horizon League

Opening Round

#4 Milwaukee 68  #9 Illinois-Chi. 55

#5 Butler 70  #8 Wright St. 52

#3 Detroit 80  #10 Loyola (Chi) 71

#6 Youngstown 77  #7 Green Bay 60

 

Quarterfinals

#5 Butler 71 #4 Milwaukee 49

#3 Detroit 93 #6 Youngstown St. 76

 

Semifinals

#1 Valparaiso 65  #5 Butler 46

#3 Detroit 63  #2 Cleveland St. 58

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#3 Detroit 70  #1 Valparaiso 50

 

Automatic Bid – DETROIT 22-13

At-Large Teams – None

Bubble – None

 

This is a one-bid league.  Neither Valpo, Cleveland State nor Butler will  earn at-large bids.

 

M A A C

Preliminary Round

#8 Marist 64 #9 St. Peter’s 57

#7 Niagara 80 #10 Canisius 70

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Iona 87  #8 Marist 63

#4 Fairfield 65  #5 Rider 63

#2 Loyola (MD) 86  #7 Niagara 73

#6 Siena 84  #3 Manhattan 82

 

Semifinals

#4 Fairfield 85  #1 Iona 75

#2 Loyola (MD) 70  #6 Siena 60

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#2 Loyola (MD) 48  #4 Fairfield 44

 

Automatic Bid – LOYOLA (MD) 24-8

At-Large Teams – None

Bubble – None

 

This is a one-bid league.  Iona played their way out of the Big Dance and into the NIT.

 

M A C

Opening Round

#12 Northern Illinois 55  #5 Eastern Michigan 52  

#8 Western Michigan 69  #9 Ball St. 63

#7 Toledo 60  #10 (Miami (O) 53

#11 Central Michigan 54  #6 Bowling Green 53  

 

2^nd Round

#8 Western Michigan 71  #12 Northern Illinois 54

#7 Toledo 75  #11 Central Michigan 72

 

Quarterfinals

#4 Kent St. 76  #8 Western Michigan 72

#3 Ohio 65  #7 Toledo 57

 

Semifinals

#1 Akron 78  #4 Kent St. 74

#3 Ohio 77  #2  Buffalo 74

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Akron (22-10) vs. #3 Ohio (25-7)

 

Akron is now #52 in the RPI and Ohio is #60.  The loser of this game will fall a few spots, but they should have a small chance of getting in as one of the last four in.  That small chance is close to a slim and none chance.

 

M E A C

Opening Round

#8 Hampton 69 #9 Morgan St. 65

#5 North Carolina Central 60 #12 Md. Eastern Shore 43

#4 Bethune-Cookman 62 #13 South Carolina St. 53

#11 Florida A& M 74  #6 Coppin St. 72

#10 Howard 51  #7 North Carolina A&T 50

 

Quarterfinals

#8 Hampton 59  #1 Savannah St. 46

#4 Bethune-Cookman 60  #5 North Carolina Central 59

#2 Norfolk St. 71 #7 Howard 61

#11 Florida A&M 65  #3 Delaware St. 55  

 

Semfinals

#4 Bethune-Cookman 81  #8 Hampton 72

#2 Norfolk St. 58  #11 Florida A&M 46

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#2 Norfolk St. (24-9) vs. #4 Bethune-Cookman (18-16)

 

This is a one-bid league.  With Savannah State suffering an early exit, only Norfolk State can possibly avoid a trip to Dayton for the first round.

 

Missouri Valley

Opening Round

#8 Indiana St. 66  #9 Southern Illinois 51

#7 Drake 65  #10 Bradley 49

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Wichita St. 72 #8 Indiana St. 48

#4 Illinois St. 54 #5 Northern Iowa 42

#2 Creighton 68 vs. #7 Drake 61

#3 Evansville 72 vs. #6 Missouri St. 64

 

Semifinals

#4 Illinois St. 65  #1 Wichita St. 64

#2 Creighton 99  #3 Evansville 71

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#2 Creighton 83  #4 Illinois St. 79 OT

 

Automatic Bid – Creighton 27-5

At-Large – Wichita St. 27-5

Bubble – None

 

Mountain West

Quarterfinals

#1 San Diego St. 65  #8 Boise St. 62

#4 Colorado St. 81  #5 T C U 60

#2 New Mexico 79  #7 Air Force 64

#3 U N L V 56  #6 Wyoming 48

 

Semifinals

#1 San Diego St. 79  #4 Colorado St. 69

#2 New Mexico 72  #3 U N L V 67

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 San Diego St. (26-6) vs. #2 New Mexico (26-6)

 

At-Large: San Diego St., UNLV, New Mexico

Upper Bubble: Colorado St.

Lower Bubble: None

 

Anything other than four bids would be disappointing and even ridiculous.  Colorado State’s RPI is #24, and the Rams are tournament-worthy.

 

Northeast

Quarterfinals

#1 Long Island 80  #8 Sacred Heart 68

#5 Quinnipiac 80  #4 St. Francis (NY) 72

#3 Robert Morris 87  #6 Monmouth 68

#2 Wagner 87  #7 Central Conn. St. 77

 

Semifinals

#1 Long Island 78 #5 Quinnipiac 75

#3 Robert Morris 71  #2 Wagner 64

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Long Island 90  #3 Robert Morris 73

 

Automatic Bid: LONG ISLAND 25-8

At-Large: None

Bubble: None

 

Wagner’s slim chances for getting in as a wildcard team went bye-bye with their semifinal loss to RMU.

 

LIU enters the Big Dance winning 20 of their last 22 games.

 

Ohio Valley

Opening Round

#5 Southeast Missouri 75  #8 E. Kentucky 65

#7 Jacksonville St. 75  #6 Austin Peay 70

 

Quarterfinals

#4 Tennessee Tech 77 #5 Southeast Missouri 73

#3 Morehead St. 68  #7 Jacksonville St. 54

 

Semifinals

#1 Murray St. 78  #4 Tennessee Tech 58

#2 Tennessee St. 59 #3 Morehead St. 52

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Murray St. 54  #2 Tennessee St. 52

 

Automatic Bid – Murray St. 30-1

At-Large – None

Bubble – None

 

Murray State should receive a #4 or #5 seed, a #6 at worst.

 

Pac-12

Opening Round

#9 Oregon St. 69  #8 Washington St. 64

#5 U C L A 55  #12 U S C 40

#7 Stanford 85  #10 Arizona St. 65

#6 Colorado 53  #11 Utah 41

 

Quarterfinals

#9 Oregon State 86  #1 Washington 84

#4 Arizona 66  #5 U C L A 58

#2 California 77  #7 Stanford 71

#6 Colorado 63  #3 Oregon 62  

 

Semifinals

#4 Arizona 72  #9 Oregon St. 61

#6 Colorado 70  #2 California 59

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#4 Arizona (23-10) vs. #6 Colorado (22-11)

 

At-Large:

Upper Bubble: California

Lower Bubble: Colorado, Washington, Arizona, Oregon

 

The only sure thing is that today’s championship game winner will get an automatic bid.  California’s RPI is #36, and that should be enough to get a bid, but stranger things have happened before.  We cannot call them a lock for an at-large bid.

 

The RPIs for the other four teams are iffy.  Oregon is #66; Washington is #68, Colorado is #70, and Arizona is #76.  Today’s loser will stay in the 70’s, which is the lowest range possible for an at-large bid.

 

Colorado’s defense has been swarming in the first three games, and the Buffaloes have not played this type of defense since the 1960’s.  CU is our bet to cut down the nets Saturday.

 

Patriot League

Quarterfinals

#1 Bucknell 87  #8 Navy 63

#5 Lafayette 84  #4 Holy Cross 76

#2 Lehigh 70 #7 Colgate 57

#3 American 57  #6 Army 40

 

Semifinals

#1 Bucknell 79 #5 Lafayette 52

#2 Lehigh 85 #3 American 66

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#2 Lehigh 82  #1 Bucknell 77  

 

Automatic Bid: LEHIGH 26-7

At-Large: None

Bubble: None

 

The Mountain Hawks search for the first NCAA Tournament win in their fifth trip to the Big Dance, and they have the one-two punch in C J McCollum and Gabe Knutson.  Lehigh lost at Michigan State by just nine points earlier in the year, and they enter the NCAA Tournament having won eight games in a row and 12 of 13.

 

Southern

Opening Round

#5N Appalachian St. 93  #4S College of Charleston 81

#3N Western Carolina 68  #6S Citadel 56

#5S Furman 75  #4N Samford 66

#3S Georgia Southern 76  #6N Chattanooga 70

 

Quarterfinals

#1N UNC-Greensboro 65  #5N Appalachian St. 55

#3N Western Carolina 82 #2S Wofford 59

#1S Davidson 73  #5S Furman 54

#2N Elon 65  #3S Georgia Southern 58

 

Semifinals

#3N Western Carolina 82  #1N UNC-Greensboro 77

#1S Davidson 83  #2N Elon 67

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1S Davidson  93 #1N UNC-Greensboro 91

 

Automatic Bid – DAVIDSON 25-7

At-Large Teams – None

Bubble – None

 

 

Davidson might not have earned a ticket as an at-large team.  Tell that to Kansas coach Bill Self, and he would say you were crazy.

 

S E C

Opening Round

#8 L S U 70  #9 Arkansas 54

#5 Alabama 63  #12 South Carolina 57

#7 Ole Miss 68  #10 Auburn 54

#11 Georgia 71  #6 Mississippi St. 61 

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Kentucky 60  #8 L S U 51

#4 Florida 66  #5 Alabama 63

#7 Ole Miss 77  #2 Tennessee 72 OT

#3 Vanderbilt 63  #11 Georgia 41

 

Semifinals

#1 Kentucky (31-1) vs. #4 Florida (23-9)

#3 Vanderbilt (22-10) vs. #7 Ole Miss (20-12)

 

At-Large: Kentucky, Florida, Vanderbilt

Upper Bubble: Alabama

Lower Bubble: Ole Miss, Mississippi St.

 

Ole Miss is the hot team that could surprise and make it to the championship game on Sunday.  The Rebels would move to the upper bubble with a win today over an inconsistent Vanderbilt team.

 

Florida does not match up well with Kentucky.  If the Gators pull off the big upset, it will be because the Wildcats did not show up to play for a second consecutive day.

 

Tennessee is now NIT-bound, and Mississippi State is probably headed that way as well.  We cannot see the committee taking the Bulldogs if they do not take their rival Rebels as well.

 

Southland

Quarterfinals

#1 UT-Arlington 96  #8 Nicholls St. 48

#4 McNeese St. 78  #5 TX-San Antonio 74 OT

#2 Stephen F Austin 68  #7 Sam Houston 46

#3 Lamar 76  #6 Northwestern State (LA) 69

 

Semifinals

#4 McNeese St. 92  #1 UT-Arlington 72  

#3 Lamar 55  #2 Stephen F Austin 44  

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#3 Lamar (22-11) vs. #4 McNeese St. (17-14)

 

At-Large: None

Upper Bubble: None

Lower Bubble: None

 

The top two seeds fell in the semifinals, and now the Southland champion may be looking to make reservations in Dayton.

 

S W A C

Quarterfinals

#1 Mississippi Valley St. 63  #8 Jackson St. 60

#5 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 60  #4 Alabama St. 56  

#2 Texas Southern 75  #7 Alabama A&M 62

#6 Alcorn St. 103  #3 Prairie View 79

 

Semifinals

#1 Mississippi Valley St. 71  #5 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 64

#2 Texas Southern 60  #6 Alcorn St. 55

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Mississippi Valley St. (20-12) vs. #2 Texas Southern (15-17)

 

At-Large: None

Upper Bubble: None

Lower Bubble: None

 

Today’s championship game winner will be headed to Dayton for the opening round.  At least, the top two seeds advanced to the finals, and it gives the SWAC a fighting chance to compete in the “play-in.”

 

Summit League

Quarterfinals

#1 Oral Roberts 71  #8 I P F W 67

#4 Western Illinois 58  #5 North Dakota St. 53

#2 South Dakota St. 77  I U P U I 56

#6 Southern Utah 84  #3 Oakland 82

 

Semifinals

#4 Western Illinois 54  #1 Oral Roberts 53

#2 South Dakota St. 63  #6 Southern Utah 47

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#2 South Dakota St. 52  #4 Western Illinois 50

Automatic Bid – SOUTH DAKOTA ST. 27-7

At-Large Teams –None

Bubble – Oral Roberts

               

Had South Dakota St. and Oral Roberts advanced to the Championship Game, and Oral Roberts’ lost instead of losing to WIU in the semis, ORU would be on the at-large line and not the bubble.  With an RPI of 55, the Golden Eagles are in a precarious position. 

 

Sunbelt

Opening Round

#6 South Alabama 87  #11 Troy 81

#7 Western Kentucky 67 #10 Florida Int’l 63

#9 Arkansas St. 70 #8 Florida Atlantic 55

 

Quarterfinals

#9 Arkansas St. 64  #1 Middle Tennessee 61

#5 North Texas 65  #4 Louisiana-Lafayette 62

#7 Western Kentucky 68  #2 U A L R  63 

#3 Denver 61  #6 South Alabama 50

 

Semifinals

#5 North Texas 76  #9 Arkansas St. 72

#7 Western Kentucky 67  #3 Denver 63

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#7 Western Kentucky 74  #3 Denver 70

 

Automatic Bid –WESTERN KENTUCKY 15-18

At-Large Teams – None

Bubble – Middle Tennessee

 

This is probably a one-bid league. The top two seeds lost in their first games in this unique tournament played in two separate gyms in the same building.  Middle Tennessee may still be on the bubble with an RPI of 65, but they are more than likely headed to the NIT.  Western Kentucky will be headed to the first round in Dayton.  However, their 15-18 record is very misleading.  The Hilltoppers were supposed to contend for the regular season championship; however, major dissension led to a poor start and a dismissal of head coach Ken McDonald.  Since Ray Harper assumed command, WKU has sported a 10-7 record, and a 7-4 finish.  This team cannot be overlooked in Dayton and could very well advance to the second round.

 

W A C

Quarterfinals

#1 Nevada 54  #8 San Jose St. 44

#5 Louisiana Tech 72  #4 Utah St. 70

#2 New Mexico St. 65  #7 Fresno St. 49

#6 Hawaii 72  #3 Idaho 70

 

Semifinals

#1 Nevada (26-5) vs. #5 Louisiana Tech (17-15)

#2 New Mexico St. (24-9) vs. #6 Hawaii (16-15)

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#2 New Mexico St. (25-9) vs. #5 Louisiana Tech (18-15)

 

At-Large: None

Upper Bubble: None

Lower Bubble: Nevada.

 

Nevada fell to #63 in the RPI, and the Wolfpack are on the cusp of falling off the bubble.  New Mexico State is at #69, so their chances to get in as an at-large if they lose today are nil.

 

West Coast

Opening Round

#8 Portland 74 #9 Santa Clara 70

 

2^nd Round

#5 San Francisco 87  #8 Portland 66

#6 San Diego 76  #7 Pepperdine 54

 

Quarterfinals

#5 San Francisco 67  #4 Loyola Marymount 60

#3 B Y U 73 vs. #6 San Diego 68

 

Semifinals

#1 Saint Mary’s 83  #5 San Francisco 78

#2 Gonzaga 77  #3 B Y U 58

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Saint Mary’s 78  #2 Gonzaga 74 OT

 

Automatic Bid – SAINT MARY’S 26-5

At-Large Teams – Gonzaga

Bubble – B Y U

 

This has the look of a three-bid league, with the two behemoths and BYU all headed to the Big Dance.  Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga are now the true powers of the West.  If you remember UCLA versus USC or Oregon State in the 1970’s and 1980’s, this is what this rivalry has become.  Both teams could easily advance to the Elite 8.

 Coming Saturday Evening: We release Bracketnomics 505–the 2012 edition with more detailed grading than ever before.  We’ve made it even more scientific than ever!  Tell all your friends, but only those playing in a different bracket contest than you.

NCAA College Basketball Conference Tournaments–March 9 Update

Here is the up-to-date (as of Thursday Night, March 8) results of all conference tournaments as well as the pairings for today’s games.

 

America East

Preliminary Round

#9 Binghamton 73  #8 Md.-Balt. Co. 67

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Stony Brook 78  # 9 Binghamton 69

#4 Albany 63  #5 New Hampshire 45

#2 Vermont 50  #7 Maine 40

#6 Hartford 53  #3 Boston U 49 

 

Semifinals

#1 Stony Brook 57  #4 Albany 55

#2 Vermont 77  #6 Hartford 73 2OT

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Stony Brook (21-8) vs. Vermont (22-11)

 

This is a one-bid league.

 

A C C

Opening Round

#8 Maryland 82  #9 Wake Forest 60

#5 North Carolina St. 78  #12 Boston College 57

#10 Virginia Tech 68  #7 Clemson 63

#6 Miami (FL) 54  #11 Georgia Tech 36

 

Quarterfinals

#1 North Carolina (27-4) vs. #8 Maryland (17-14)

#4 Virginia (22-8) vs. #5 North Carolina St. (21-11)

#2 Duke (26-5) vs. #10 Virginia Tech (16-16)

#3 Florida St. (21-9) vs. #6 Miami (FL) (19-11)

 

At-Large: North Carolina, Duke, Florida St., Virginia

Upper Bubble: North Carolina St.

Lower Bubble: Miami (FL)

 

Today’s North Carolina St.-Virginia game should be the most interesting game of the tournament.  This is basically a play-in game with the winner moving into the upper echelon of the bubble.

 

Miami can move to the upper bubble with a win over the rival Seminoles.

 

Atlantic Sun

Quarterfinals

#1 Belmont 76  #8 Jacksonville 62

#4 East Tennessee 68  #5 N. Florida 66

#2 Mercer 61  #7 Lipscomb 53

#6 Florida Gulf Coast 71  #3 S. Carolina Upstate 61

 

Semifinals

#1 Belmont 69  #4 East Tennessee 61

#6 Florida Gulf Coast 62 #2 Mercer 58

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Belmont 83  Florida Gulf Coast 69

 

Automatic Bid – BELMONT 27-7

At-Large Teams – None

Bubble – None

 

Atlantic 10

1^st Round

#8 Massachusetts 92  #9 Duquesne 83

#5 St. Joe’s 80  #12 Charlotte 64

#7 LaSalle 80  #10 Richmond 72

#6 Dayton 67  #11 George Washington 50

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Temple (24-6) vs. #8 Massachusetts (21-10)

#4 St. Bonaventure (17-11) vs. #5 St. Joe’s (20-12)

#2 St. Louis (24-6) vs. #7 LaSalle (21-11)

#3 Xavier (19-11) vs. #6 Dayton (20-11)

 

At-Large: Temple

Upper Bubble: St. Louis

Lower Bubble: Xavier, St. Joe’s, and Dayton

 

The eight remaining teams in this tournament are not that far apart, and the final three days should be highly competitive.  Literally, any of this octet can cut down the nets in Atlantic City on Sunday.

 

Big East

Opening Round

#9 Connecticut 81  #16 Dayton 67

#13 Pittsburgh 73  #12 St. John’s 59

#10 Seton Hall 79  #15 Providence 47

#14 Villanova 70  #11 Rutgers 49

 

2nd Round

#9 Connecticut 71  #8 West Virginia 67 OT

#5 Georgetown 64  #13 Pittsburgh 52

#7 Louisville 61 #10 Seton Hall 55

#6 South Florida 56  #14 Villanova 47

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Syracuse 58  #9 Connecticut 55

#4 Cincinnati 72  #5 Georgetown 70 2OT

#7 Louisville 84  #2 Marquette 71

#3 Notre Dame 57 #6 South Florida 52

 

Semifinals

#1 Syracuse (31-1) vs. #4 Cincinnati (23-9)

#3 Notre Dame (22-10) vs. #7 Louisville (24-9)

 

At-Large: Syracuse, Marquette, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Louisville, Cincinnati

Upper Bubble: West Virginia, Seton Hall, Connecticut

Lower Bubble: South Florida

 

The Final Four in this tournament could be as strong as the Final Four in the Big Dance.  Cincinnati and Syracuse should give basketball fans something to watch today.  The Bearcats might be a little tired from yesterday, or else we would call them an odds-on favorite to upset the Orangemen.  Syracuse already knows they will earn a top seed in one of the four regionals.

 

Louisville appears to be the hot team.  The Cardinals are peaking at just the right time.

 

Big Sky

Quarterfinals

#3 Portland St. 75  #6 Montana St. 53

#4 Eastern Washington 81  #5 Idaho St. 75

 

Semifinals

#1 Montana 74  #4 Eastern Washington 66

#2 Weber St. 69 #3 Portland St. 63

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Montana 85 #2 Weber St. 66

 

Automatic Bid: MONTANA 25-6

At-Large: None

Bubble: None

 

This is a one-bid league, but both Montana and Weber State are talented enough to win an opening round game in the NCAA Tournament. With an RPI around 70, the Wildcats are probably not on the bubble.

 

Big South

Preliminary Round

#8 High Point 68  #9 Gardner-Webb 58

#7 VMI 55  #10 Radford 53

 

Quarterfinals

#1 UNC-Asheville 86  #8 High Point 61

#4 Charleston Sou. 88  #5 Liberty 74

#6 Winthrop 71  #3 Campbell 55

#7 VMI 85  #2 Coastal Carolina 68

 

Semifinals

#1 UNC-Asheville 91  #4 Charleston Sou. 64

#7 VMI 75  #6 Winthrop 55

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 UNC-Asheville  80  #7 VMI 64

 

Automatic Bid – UNC-ASHEVILLE 24-9

At-Large Teams – None

Bubble – None

 

Big Ten

Opening Round

#8 Iowa 64  #9 Illinois 61

#5 Indiana 75  #12 Penn State 58

#10 Minnesota 75  #7 Northwestern 68

#6 Purdue 79  #11 Nebraska 61

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Michigan St. (24-7) vs. #8 Iowa (17-15)

#4 Wisconsin (23-8) vs. #5 Indiana (25-7)

#2 Michigan (23-8) vs. #10 Minnesota (19-13)

#3 Ohio St. (25-6) vs. #6 Purdue (21-11)

 

At-Large: Ohio St., Michigan St., Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Purdue

Upper Bubble:

Lower Bubble: Northwestern

 

Iowa and Minnesota need to keep winning in order to move onto the lower bubble.  As for Illinois, today’s loss probably signaled the end of the Bruce Weber tenure in Champaign-Urbana.  Another coaching change could come at Nebraska.  The Cornhuskers haven’t been really good since 1966.

 

Big 12

Opening Round

#9 Texas A&M 62  #8 Oklahoma 53

#7 Oklahoma St. 76  #10 Texas Tech 60

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Kansas 83  #9 Texas A&M 66

#4 Baylor 82  #5 Kansas St. 74

#2 Missouri 88  #7 Oklahoma St. 70

#3 Iowa St. 65  #6 Texas 71

 

Semifinals

#1 Kansas (27-5) vs. #4 Baylor (26-6)

#2 Missouri (28-4) vs. #6 Texas (19-12)

 

At-Large: Kansas, Missouri, Iowa St., Baylor, Kansas St.

Upper Bubble: Texas

Lower Bubble: None

 

If the Longhorns beat Missouri today, they will move into the at-large field.

 

Big West

Quarterfinals

#1 Long Beach St. 80  #8 UC-Davis 46

#4 Cal Poly SLO (17-14) vs. #5 UC-Riverside (14-16) **********

#7 UC-Irvine 65  #2 Cal State Fullerton 59

#3 U C S B 72  #6 Pacific 52

 

Semifinals

#1 Long Beach St. (23-8) vs. #7 UC-Irvine (12-19)

#3 U C S B (19-9) vs.

 

At-Large: None

Upper Bubble: Long Beach St.

Lower Bubble: None

 

Long Beach State could possibly earn an at-large bid if they lose today or tomorrow, but the 49ers should have minimal competition in the semifinals and not much more in the finals.

 

Colonial Athletic

Opening Round

#9 UNC-Wilmington 70  #8 James Madison 59

#5 Delaware 72  #12 Towson St. 65

#6 Georgia St. 85  #11 Hofstra 50

#7 Northeastern 57  #10 William & Mary 49

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Drexel 59  #9 UNC-Wilmington 47

#4 Old Dominion 88  #5 Delaware 74

#3 George Mason 61  #6 Georgia St. 59

#2 Virginia Commonwealth 75  #10 William & Mary 65

 

Semifinals

#1 Drexel 68  #4 Old Dominion 51

#2 Virginia Commonwealth 74  #3 George Mason 64

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#2 Virginia Commonwealth 59 #1 Drexel 56

 

Automatic Bid – VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH 28-6

At-Large Teams – None

Bubble – Drexel

 

 

Drexel has a chance of earning an at-large bid, but their RPI is on the low side at 68.

 

Conference USA

Opening Round

#5 U A B 72  #12 Tulane 64

#8 U T E P 67 #9 Houston 62 OT

#10 East Carolina 68  #7 Rice 66 

#6 Marshall 74  #11 S M U 56

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Memphis 65  #8 U T E P 47

#4 Central Florida 51  #5 U A B 43

#2 Southern Mississippi 81  #10 East Carolina 78

#6 Marshall 105  #3 Tulsa 100  3 OT

 

Semifinals

#1 Memphis (24-8) vs. #4 Central Florida (21-9)

#2 Southern Mississippi (25-7) vs. #6 Marshall (20-12)

 

At-Large: Memphis

Upper Bubble: Southern Miss

Lower Bubble: None

 

Central Florida will be placed in the lower bubble with a win today against the top seed in the conference tournament.

 

Horizon League

Opening Round

#4 Milwaukee 68  #9 Illinois-Chi. 55

#5 Butler 70  #8 Wright St. 52

#3 Detroit 80  #10 Loyola (Chi) 71

#6 Youngstown 77  #7 Green Bay 60

 

Quarterfinals

#5 Butler 71 #4 Milwaukee 49

#3 Detroit 93 #6 Youngstown St. 76

 

Semifinals

#1 Valparaiso 65  #5 Butler 46

#3 Detroit 63  #2 Cleveland St. 58

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#3 Detroit 70  #1 Valparaiso 50

 

Automatic Bid – DETROIT 22-13

At-Large Teams – None

Bubble – None

 

This is a one-bid league.  Neither Valpo, Cleveland State nor Butler will  earn at-large bids.

 

M A A C

Preliminary Round

#8 Marist 64 #9 St. Peter’s 57

#7 Niagara 80 #10 Canisius 70

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Iona 87  #8 Marist 63

#4 Fairfield 65  #5 Rider 63

#2 Loyola (MD) 86  #7 Niagara 73

#6 Siena 84  #3 Manhattan 82

 

Semifinals

#4 Fairfield 85  #1 Iona 75

#2 Loyola (MD) 70  #6 Siena 60

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#2 Loyola (MD) 48  #4 Fairfield 44

 

Automatic Bid – LOYOLA (MD) 24-8

At-Large Teams – None

Bubble – None

 

This is a one-bid league.  Iona played their way out of the Big Dance and into the NIT.

 

M A C

Opening Round

#12 Northern Illinois 55  #5 Eastern Michigan 52  

#8 Western Michigan 69  #9 Ball St. 63

#7 Toledo 60  #10 (Miami (O) 53

#11 Central Michigan 54  #6 Bowling Green 53  

 

2^nd Round

#8 Western Michigan 71  #12 Northern Illinois 54

#7 Toledo 75  #11 Central Michigan 72

 

Quarterfinals

#4 Kent St. 76  #8 Western Michigan 72

#3 Ohio 65  #7 Toledo 57

 

Semifinals

#1 Akron (21-10) vs. #4 Kent St. (20-10)

#2  Buffalo (19-9) vs. #3 Ohio  (24-7)

 

The top four seeds are in the semifinals.  This gives the MAC a fighting chance for two bids, but it may be a losing fight.

 

M E A C

Opening Round

#8 Hampton 69 #9 Morgan St. 65

#5 North Carolina Central 60 #12 Md. Eastern Shore 43

#4 Bethune-Cookman 62 #13 South Carolina St. 53

#11 Florida A& M 74  #6 Coppin St. 72

#10 Howard 51  #7 North Carolina A&T 50

 

Quarterfinals

#8 Hampton 59  #1 Savannah St. 46

#4 Bethune-Cookman 60  #5 North Carolina Central 59

#2 Norfolk St. 71 #7 Howard 61

#11 Florida A&M 65  #3 Delaware St. 55  

 

Semfinals

#4 Bethune-Cookman (17-16) vs. #8 Hampton (12-20)

#2 Norfolk St. (23-9) vs. #11 Florida A&M (10-22)

 

This is a one-bid league.  With Savannah State suffering an early exit, only Norfolk State can possibly avoid a trip to Dayton for the first round.

 

Missouri Valley

Opening Round

#8 Indiana St. 66  #9 Southern Illinois 51

#7 Drake 65  #10 Bradley 49

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Wichita St. 72 #8 Indiana St. 48

#4 Illinois St. 54 #5 Northern Iowa 42

#2 Creighton 68 vs. #7 Drake 61

#3 Evansville 72 vs. #6 Missouri St. 64

 

Semifinals

#4 Illinois St. 65  #1 Wichita St. 64

#2 Creighton 99  #3 Evansville 71

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#2 Creighton 83  #4 Illinois St. 79 OT

 

Automatic Bid – Creighton 27-5

At-Large – Wichita St. 27-5

Bubble – None

 

Mountain West

Quarterfinals

#1 San Diego St. 65  #8 Boise St. 62

#4 Colorado St. 81  #5 T C U 60

#2 New Mexico 79  #7 Air Force 64

#3 U N L V 56  #6 Wyoming 48

 

Semifinals

#1 San Diego St. (25-6) vs. #4 Colorado St. (20-10)

#2 New Mexico (25-6) vs. #3 U N L V (26-7)

 

At-Large: San Diego St., UNLV, New Mexico

Upper Bubble: Colorado St.

Lower Bubble: None

 

Colorado St. is at the very top of the bubble today, and the Rams are almost assured to receive an at-large bid. 

 

Northeast

Quarterfinals

#1 Long Island 80  #8 Sacred Heart 68

#5 Quinnipiac 80  #4 St. Francis (NY) 72

#3 Robert Morris 87  #6 Monmouth 68

#2 Wagner 87  #7 Central Conn. St. 77

 

Semifinals

#1 Long Island 78 #5 Quinnipiac 75

#3 Robert Morris 71  #2 Wagner 64

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Long Island 90  #3 Robert Morris 73

 

Automatic Bid: LONG ISLAND 25-8

At-Large: None

Bubble: None

 

Wagner’s slim chances for getting in as a wildcard team went bye-bye with their semifinal loss to RMU.

 

LIU enters the Big Dance winning 20 of their last 22 games.

 

Ohio Valley

Opening Round

#5 Southeast Missouri 75  #8 E. Kentucky 65

#7 Jacksonville St. 75  #6 Austin Peay 70

 

Quarterfinals

#4 Tennessee Tech 77 #5 Southeast Missouri 73

#3 Morehead St. 68  #7 Jacksonville St. 54

 

Semifinals

#1 Murray St. 78  #4 Tennessee Tech 58

#2 Tennessee St. 59 #3 Morehead St. 52

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Murray St. 54  #2 Tennessee St. 52

 

Automatic Bid – Murray St. 30-1

At-Large – None

Bubble – None

 

Murray State should receive a #4 or #5 seed, a #6 at worst.

 

Pac-12

Opening Round

#9 Oregon St. 69  #8 Washington St. 64

#5 U C L A 55  #12 U S C 40

#7 Stanford 85  #10 Arizona St. 65

#6 Colorado 53  #11 Utah 41

 

Quarterfinals

#9 Oregon State 86  #1 Washington 84

#4 Arizona 66  #5 U C L A 58

#2 California 77  #7 Stanford 71

#3 Oregon 63  #6 Colorado 62

 

Semifinals

#4 Arizona (22-10) vs. #9 Oregon St. (19-13)

#2 California (24-8) vs. #6 Colorado (21-11)

 

At-Large: California

Upper Bubble: Arizona

Lower Bubble: Colorado, Washington

 

UCLA and Stanford are NIT-bound following yesterday’s losses. Colorado needs to win today to have any chance at an at-large bid and may really need to reach the Championship Game to have a legitimate shot.  The Buffs’ RPI moved from 82 to 77.  A win over Cal could move CU’s RPI into the lower 70’s, and we project they would need to move up to at least 65 to have a fighting chance.

 

California looks to be safely in the field of 68 following yesterday’s win over rival Stanford.

 

Patriot League

Quarterfinals

#1 Bucknell 87  #8 Navy 63

#5 Lafayette 84  #4 Holy Cross 76

#2 Lehigh 70 #7 Colgate 57

#3 American 57  #6 Army 40

 

Semifinals

#1 Bucknell 79 #5 Lafayette 52

#2 Lehigh 85 #3 American 66

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#2 Lehigh 82  #1 Bucknell 77  

 

Automatic Bid: LEHIGH 26-7

At-Large: None

Bubble: None

 

The Mountain Hawks search for the first NCAA Tournament win in their fifth trip to the Big Dance, and they have the one-two punch in C J McCollum and Gabe Knutson.  Lehigh lost at Michigan State by just nine points earlier in the year, and they enter the NCAA Tournament having won eight games in a row and 12 of 13.

 

Southern

Opening Round

#5N Appalachian St. 93  #4S College of Charleston 81

#3N Western Carolina 68  #6S Citadel 56

#5S Furman 75  #4N Samford 66

#3S Georgia Southern 76  #6N Chattanooga 70

 

Quarterfinals

#1N UNC-Greensboro 65  #5N Appalachian St. 55

#3N Western Carolina 82 #2S Wofford 59

#1S Davidson 73  #5S Furman 54

#2N Elon 65  #3S Georgia Southern 58

 

Semifinals

#3N Western Carolina 82  #1N UNC-Greensboro 77

#1S Davidson 83  #2N Elon 67

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1S Davidson  93 #1N UNC-Greensboro 91

 

Automatic Bid – DAVIDSON 25-7

At-Large Teams – None

Bubble – None

 

 

Davidson might not have earned a ticket as an at-large team.  Tell that to Kansas coach Bill Self, and he would say you were crazy.

 

S E C

Opening Round

#8 L S U 70  #9 Arkansas 54

#5 Alabama 63  #12 South Carolina 57

#7 Ole Miss 68  #10 Auburn 54

#11 Georgia 71  #6 Mississippi St. 61 

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Kentucky (30-1) vs. #8 L S U (18-13)

#4 Florida (22-9) vs. #5 Alabama (21-10)

#2 Tennessee (18-13) vs. #7 Ole Miss (19-12)

#3 Vanderbilt (21-10) vs. #11 Georgia (15-16)

 

At-Large: Kentucky, Florida, Vanderbilt

Upper Bubble: Alabama

Lower Bubble: Tennessee, Ole Miss, Mississippi St.

 

Tennessee and Ole Miss are the two hot teams other than Kentucky, and their game today should be the best one of the tournament.  Should one of these teams make it to Sunday, it would be hard to keep them out of the field.

 

Mississippi State may have dropped too far to make the Dance now, and Coach Rick Stansbury could be out of work.  Georgia won four games in three days a few years ago.  If they upset Vanderbilt today, Bulldog fans might start believing it could happen again.

 

Southland

Quarterfinals

#1 UT-Arlington 96  #8 Nicholls St. 48

#4 McNeese St. 78  #5 TX-San Antonio 74 OT

#2 Stephen F Austin 68  #7 Sam Houston 46

#3 Lamar 76  #6 Northwestern State (LA) 69

 

Semifinals

#4 McNeese St. 92  #1 UT-Arlington 72  

#3 Lamar 55  #2 Stephen F Austin 44  

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#3 Lamar (22-11) vs. #4 McNeese St. (17-14)

 

At-Large: None

Upper Bubble: None

Lower Bubble: None

 

The top two seeds fell in the semifinals, and now the Southland champion may be looking to make reservations in Dayton.

 

S W A C

Quarterfinals

#1 Mississippi Valley St. 63  #8 Jackson St. 60

#5 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 60  #4 Alabama St. 56  

#2 Texas Southern 75  #7 Alabama A&M 62

#6 Alcorn St. 103  #3 Prairie View 79

 

Semifinals

#1 Mississippi Valley St. (19-12) vs. #5 Arkansas-Pine Bluff (11-21)

#2 Texas Southern (14-17) vs. #6 Alcorn St. (10-21)

 

At-Large: None

Upper Bubble: None

Lower Bubble: None

 

The Wacky SWAC is the only league where a 9-21 team blows out the #3 seed by 24 points in the quarterfinals.  Yesterday, Alcorn State looked more like Southern U of the 1960’s and 1970’s.

 

Mississippi Valley may be the only one of the remaining four that can avoid a trip to Dayton, but we highly doubt it.

 

Summit League

Quarterfinals

#1 Oral Roberts 71  #8 I P F W 67

#4 Western Illinois 58  #5 North Dakota St. 53

#2 South Dakota St. 77  I U P U I 56

#6 Southern Utah 84  #3 Oakland 82

 

Semifinals

#4 Western Illinois 54  #1 Oral Roberts 53

#2 South Dakota St. 63  #6 Southern Utah 47

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#2 South Dakota St. 52  #4 Western Illinois 50

Automatic Bid – SOUTH DAKOTA ST. 27-7

At-Large Teams –None

Bubble – Oral Roberts

               

Had South Dakota St. and Oral Roberts advanced to the Championship Game, and Oral Roberts’ lost instead of losing to WIU in the semis, ORU would be on the at-large line and not the bubble.  With an RPI of 55, the Golden Eagles are in a precarious position. 

 

Sunbelt

Opening Round

#6 South Alabama 87  #11 Troy 81

#7 Western Kentucky 67 #10 Florida Int’l 63

#9 Arkansas St. 70 #8 Florida Atlantic 55

 

Quarterfinals

#9 Arkansas St. 64  #1 Middle Tennessee 61

#5 North Texas 65  #4 Louisiana-Lafayette 62

#7 Western Kentucky 68  #2 U A L R  63 

#3 Denver 61  #6 South Alabama 50

 

Semifinals

#5 North Texas 76  #9 Arkansas St. 72

#7 Western Kentucky 67  #3 Denver 63

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#7 Western Kentucky 74  #3 Denver 70

 

Automatic Bid –WESTERN KENTUCKY 15-18

At-Large Teams – None

Bubble – Middle Tennessee

 

This is probably a one-bid league. The top two seeds lost in their first games in this unique tournament played in two separate gyms in the same building.  Middle Tennessee may still be on the bubble with an RPI of 65, but they are more than likely headed to the NIT.  Western Kentucky will be headed to the first round in Dayton.  However, their 15-18 record is very misleading.  The Hilltoppers were supposed to contend for the regular season championship; however, major dissension led to a poor start and a dismissal of head coach Ken McDonald.  Since Ray Harper assumed command, WKU has sported a 10-7 record, and a 7-4 finish.  This team cannot be overlooked in Dayton and could very well advance to the second round.

 

W A C

Quarterfinals

#1 Nevada 54  #8 San Jose St. 44

#5 Louisiana Tech 72  #4 Utah St. 70

#2 New Mexico St. 65  #7 Fresno St. 49

#6 Hawaii 72  #3 Idaho 70

 

Semifinals

#1 Nevada (26-5) vs. #5 Louisiana Tech (17-15)

#2 New Mexico St. (24-9) vs. #6 Hawaii (16-15)

 

At-Large: None

Upper Bubble: None

Lower Bubble: Nevada

 

Nevada has moved up to #52 in the RPI, and the Wolfpack are on the cusp of moving up to the upper bubble.  A win today will not improve their lot very much, and if they don’t win the tournament and are to get in as an at-large selection, they need New Mexico State to win today.

 

A Nevada-New Mexico State final would make this tournament most worth watching.

 

West Coast

Opening Round

#8 Portland 74 #9 Santa Clara 70

 

2^nd Round

#5 San Francisco 87  #8 Portland 66

#6 San Diego 76  #7 Pepperdine 54

 

Quarterfinals

#5 San Francisco 67  #4 Loyola Marymount 60

#3 B Y U 73 vs. #6 San Diego 68

 

Semifinals

#1 Saint Mary’s 83  #5 San Francisco 78

#2 Gonzaga 77  #3 B Y U 58

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Saint Mary’s 78  #2 Gonzaga 74 OT

 

Automatic Bid – SAINT MARY’S 26-5

At-Large Teams – Gonzaga

Bubble – B Y U

 

This has the look of a three-bid league, with the two behemoths and BYU all headed to the Big Dance.  Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga are now the true powers of the West.  If you remember UCLA versus USC or Oregon State in the 1970’s and 1980’s, this is what this rivalry has become.  Both teams could easily advance to the Elite 8.

 

NCAA College Basketball Tournaments–March 8 Update

Here is the up-to-date (as of Wednesday Night, March 7) results of all conference tournaments as well as the pairings for today’s games.

 

America East

Preliminary Round

#9 Binghamton 73  #8 Md.-Balt. Co. 67

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Stony Brook 78  # 9 Binghamton 69

#4 Albany 63  #5 New Hampshire 45

#2 Vermont 50  #7 Maine 40

#6 Hartford 53  #3 Boston U 49 

 

Semifinals

#1 Stony Brook 57  #4 Albany 55

#2 Vermont 77  #6 Hartford 73 2OT

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Stony Brook (21-8) vs. Vermont (22-11)

 

This is a one-bid league.

 

A C C

Opening Round

#8 Maryland (16-14) vs. #9 Wake Forest (13-17)

#5 North Carolina St. (20-11) vs. #12 Boston College (9-21)

#7 Clemson (16-14) vs. #10 Virginia Tech (15-16)

#6 Miami (FL) (18-11) vs. #11 Georgia Tech (11-19)

 

At-Large: North Carolina, Duke, Florida St., Virginia

Upper Bubble: North Carolina St.

Lower Bubble: Virginia

 

Atlantic Sun

Quarterfinals

#1 Belmont 76  #8 Jacksonville 62

#4 East Tennessee 68  #5 N. Florida 66

#2 Mercer 61  #7 Lipscomb 53

#6 Florida Gulf Coast 71  #3 S. Carolina Upstate 61

 

Semifinals

#1 Belmont 69  #4 East Tennessee 61

#6 Florida Gulf Coast 62 #2 Mercer 58

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Belmont 83  Florida Gulf Coast 69

 

Automatic Bid – BELMONT 27-7

At-Large Teams – None

Bubble – None

 

Atlantic 10

1^st Round

#8 Massachusetts 92  #9 Duquesne 83

#5 St. Joe’s 80  #12 Charlotte 64

#7 LaSalle 80  #10 Richmond 72

#6 Dayton 67  #11 George Washington 50

 

Quarterfinals (Friday, March 9)

#1 Temple (24-6) vs. #8 Massachusetts (21-10)

#4 St. Bonaventure (17-11) vs. #5 St. Joe’s (20-12)

#2 St. Louis (24-6) vs. #7 LaSalle (21-11)

#3 Xavier (19-11) vs. #6 Dayton (20-11)

 

At-Large: Temple

Upper Bubble: St. Louis

Lower Bubble: Xavier, St. Joe’s, and Dayton

 

The eight remaining teams in this tournament are not that far apart, and the final three days should be highly competitive.  Literally, any of this octet can cut down the nets in Atlantic City on Sunday.

 

Big East

Opening Round

#9 Connecticut 81  #16 Dayton 67

#13 Pittsburgh 73  #12 St. John’s 59

#10 Seton Hall 79  #15 Providence 47

#14 Villanova 70  #11 Rutgers 49

 

2nd Round

#9 Connecticut 71  #8 West Virginia 67 OT

#5 Georgetown 64  #13 Pittsburgh 52

#7 Louisville 61 #10 Seton Hall 55

#6 South Florida 56  #14 Villanova 47

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Syracuse (30-1) vs. #9 Connecticut (20-12)

#4 Cincinnati (22-9) vs. #5 Georgetown (23-7)

#2 Marquette (25-6) vs. #7 Louisville (23-9)

#3 Notre Dame (21-10) vs. #6 South Florida (19-12)

 

At-Large: Syracuse, Marquette, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Louisville, Cincinnati

Upper Bubble: West Virginia, Seton Hall, South Florida, Connecticut

Lower Bubble: None

 

Can the Huskies do it again?  After winning five games in five days last year, UConn has now won two games in two days.  An upset over the top-seeded Orangemen just may make UConn the odds-on favorite to repeat the feat.

 

Big Sky

Quarterfinals

#3 Portland St. 75  #6 Montana St. 53

#4 Eastern Washington 81  #5 Idaho St. 75

 

Semifinals

#1 Montana 74  #4 Eastern Washington 66

#2 Weber St. 69 #3 Portland St. 63

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Montana 85 #2 Weber St. 66

 

Automatic Bid: MONTANA 25-6

At-Large: None

Bubble: None

 

This is a one-bid league, but both Montana and Weber State are talented enough to win an opening round game in the NCAA Tournament. With an RPI around 70, the Wildcats are probably not on the bubble.

 

Big South

Preliminary Round

#8 High Point 68  #9 Gardner-Webb 58

#7 VMI 55  #10 Radford 53

 

Quarterfinals

#1 UNC-Asheville 86  #8 High Point 61

#4 Charleston Sou. 88  #5 Liberty 74

#6 Winthrop 71  #3 Campbell 55

#7 VMI 85  #2 Coastal Carolina 68

 

Semifinals

#1 UNC-Asheville 91  #4 Charleston Sou. 64

#7 VMI 75  #6 Winthrop 55

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 UNC-Asheville  80  #7 VMI 64

 

Automatic Bid – UNC-ASHEVILLE 24-9

At-Large Teams – None

Bubble – None

 

Big Ten

Opening Round

#8 Iowa (16-15) vs. #9 Illinois (17-14)

#5 Indiana (24-7) vs. #12 Penn State (12-19)

#7 Northwestern (18-12) vs. #10 Minnesota (18-13)

#6 Purdue (20-11) vs. #11 Nebraska (12-17)

 

At-Large: Ohio St., Michigan St., Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Purdue

Upper Bubble: Northwestern

Lower Bubble: None (Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois have too much ground to make up and need to win the tournament.  The three teams have no chance of sneaking in with a loss in the Championship Game).

 

Big 12

Opening Round

#9 Texas A&M 62  #8 Oklahoma 53

#7 Oklahoma St. 76  #10 Texas Tech 60

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Kansas (26-5) vs. #9 Texas A&M (14-17)

#4 Baylor (25-6) vs. #5 Kansas St. (21-9)

#2 Missouri (27-4) vs. #7 Oklahoma St. (15-17)

#3 Iowa St. (22-9) vs. #6 Texas (19-12)

 

At-Large: Kansas, Missouri, Iowa St., Baylor, Kansas St.

Upper Bubble: Texas

Lower Bubble: None (If Texas loses to Iowa St., the Longhorns could fall here.

 

Big West

Quarterfinals

#1 Long Beach St. (22-8) vs. #8 UC-Davis (5-25)

#4 Cal Poly SLO (17-14) vs. #5 UC-Riverside (14-16)

#2 Cal State Fullerton (21-8) vs. #7 UC_Irvine (11-19)

#3 U C S B (18-9) vs. #6 Pacific (11-18)

 

At-Large: None

Upper Bubble: Long Beach St.

Lower Bubble: None

 

Long Beach State played one of the hardest schedules in the nation and fared admirably.  Their body of work gives the 49ers the look of a NCAA Tournament team.  A loss to Cal State Fullerton in the Championship Game should still keep LBSU safe.  A loss in the earlier rounds will throw the 49ers down to the lower bubble.

 

 

Colonial Athletic

Opening Round

#9 UNC-Wilmington 70  #8 James Madison 59

#5 Delaware 72  #12 Towson St. 65

#6 Georgia St. 85  #11 Hofstra 50

#7 Northeastern 57  #10 William & Mary 49

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Drexel 59  #9 UNC-Wilmington 47

#4 Old Dominion 88  #5 Delaware 74

#3 George Mason 61  #6 Georgia St. 59

#2 Virginia Commonwealth 75  #10 William & Mary 65

 

Semifinals

#1 Drexel 68  #4 Old Dominion 51

#2 Virginia Commonwealth 74  #3 George Mason 64

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#2 Virginia Commonwealth 59 #1 Drexel 56

 

Automatic Bid – VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH 28-6

At-Large Teams – None

Bubble – Drexel

 

 

Drexel has a chance of earning an at-large bid, but their RPI is on the low side at 68.

 

Conference USA

Opening Round

#5 U A B 72  #12 Tulane 64

#8 U T E P 67 #9 Houston 62 OT

#10 East Carolina 68  #7 Rice 66 

#6 Marshall 74  #11 S M U 56

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Memphis (23-8) vs. #8 U T E P (15-16)

#4 Central Florida (21-9) vs. #5 U A B (14-15)

#2 Southern Mississippi (24-7) vs. #10 East Carolina (15-15)

#3 Tulsa (17-13) vs. #6 Marshall (19-12)

 

At-Large: Memphis

Upper Bubble: Southern Miss

Lower Bubble: None

 

Central Florida has a chance to move up to the lower bubble with a run to the finals, but it would still be a remote shot if they lost in the Championship Game.

 

Horizon League

Opening Round

#4 Milwaukee 68  #9 Illinois-Chi. 55

#5 Butler 70  #8 Wright St. 52

#3 Detroit 80  #10 Loyola (Chi) 71

#6 Youngstown 77  #7 Green Bay 60

 

Quarterfinals

#5 Butler 71 #4 Milwaukee 49

#3 Detroit 93 #6 Youngstown St. 76

 

Semifinals

#1 Valparaiso 65  #5 Butler 46

#3 Detroit 63  #2 Cleveland St. 58

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#3 Detroit 70  #1 Valparaiso 50

 

Automatic Bid – DETROIT 22-13

At-Large Teams – None

Bubble – None

 

This is a one-bid league.  Neither Valpo, Cleveland State nor Butler will  earn at-large bids.

 

M A A C

Preliminary Round

#8 Marist 64 #9 St. Peter’s 57

#7 Niagara 80 #10 Canisius 70

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Iona 87  #8 Marist 63

#4 Fairfield 65  #5 Rider 63

#2 Loyola (MD) 86  #7 Niagara 73

#6 Siena 84  #3 Manhattan 82

 

Semifinals

#4 Fairfield 85  #1 Iona 75

#2 Loyola (MD) 70  #6 Siena 60

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#2 Loyola (MD) 48  #4 Fairfield 44

 

Automatic Bid – LOYOLA (MD) 24-8

At-Large Teams – None

Bubble – None

 

This is a one-bid league.  Iona played their way out of the Big Dance and into the NIT.

 

M A C

Opening Round

#5 Eastern Michigan (14-17) vs. #12 Northern Illinois (4-25)

#8 Western Michigan (12-19) vs. #9 Ball St. (15-14)

#7 Toledo (16-15) vs. #10 (Miami (O) (9-20)

#6 Bowling Green (16-14) vs. #11 (Central Michigan (10-20)

 

2^nd Round

#8 Western Michigan 71  #12 Northern Illinois 54

#7 Toledo 75  #11 Central Michigan 72

 

Quarterfinals

#4 Kent St. (20-10) vs. #8 Western Michigan (13-19)

#3 Ohio (24-7) vs. #7 Toledo (17-15)

This could develop into a two-bid league.  Akron has moved up to #62 in the RPI and Ohio is #70.  Akron has one more bye to the semifinals and will face the winner of the Kent St.-Western Michigan game.

 

M E A C

Opening Round

#8 Hampton 69 #9 Morgan St. 65

#5 North Carolina Central 60 #12 Md. Eastern Shore 43

#4 Bethune-Cookman 62 #13 South Carolina St. 53

#11 Florida A& M 74  #6 Coppin St. 72

#10 Howard 51  #7 North Carolina A&T 50

 

Quarterfinals

#8 Hampton 59  #1 Savannah St. 46

#4 Bethune-Cookman (16-16) vs. #5 North Carolina Central (17-14)

#2 Norfolk St. 71 #7 Howard 61

#3 Delaware St. (15-13) vs. #11 Florida A&M (9-22)

 

This is a one-bid league.  With Savannah State suffering an early exit, only Norfolk State can win the automatic bid and avoid a trip to Dayton for the first round.

 

Missouri Valley

Opening Round

#8 Indiana St. 66  #9 Southern Illinois 51

#7 Drake 65  #10 Bradley 49

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Wichita St. 72 #8 Indiana St. 48

#4 Illinois St. 54 #5 Northern Iowa 42

#2 Creighton 68 vs. #7 Drake 61

#3 Evansville 72 vs. #6 Missouri St. 64

 

Semifinals

#4 Illinois St. 65  #1 Wichita St. 64

#2 Creighton 99  #3 Evansville 71

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#2 Creighton 83  #4 Illinois St. 79 OT

 

Automatic Bid – Creighton 27-5

At-Large – Wichita St. 27-5

Bubble – None

 

Mountain West

Quarterfinals

#1 San Diego St. (24-6) vs. #8 Boise St. (13-16)

#4 Colorado St. (19-10) vs. #5 T C U (17-13)

#2 New Mexico (24-6) vs. #7 Air Force (13-15)

#3 U N L V (25-7) vs. #6 Wyoming (20-10)

 

At-Large: San Diego St., UNLV, New Mexico

Upper Bubble: Colorado St.

Lower Bubble: None

 

TCU and Wyoming lost too many times in February.  Both teams can only get there by earning the automatic bid.  Colorado State can secure a bid with a win over T C U.

 

Northeast

Quarterfinals

#1 Long Island 80  #8 Sacred Heart 68

#5 Quinnipiac 80  #4 St. Francis (NY) 72

#3 Robert Morris 87  #6 Monmouth 68

#2 Wagner 87  #7 Central Conn. St. 77

 

Semifinals

#1 Long Island 78 #5 Quinnipiac 75

#3 Robert Morris 71  #2 Wagner 64

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Long Island 90  #3 Robert Morris 73

 

Automatic Bid: LONG ISLAND 25-8

At-Large: None

Bubble: None

 

Wagner’s slim chances for getting in as a wildcard team went bye-bye with their semifinal loss to RMU.

 

LIU enters the Big Dance winning 20 of their last 22 games.

 

Ohio Valley

Opening Round

#5 Southeast Missouri 75  #8 E. Kentucky 65

#7 Jacksonville St. 75  #6 Austin Peay 70

 

Quarterfinals

#4 Tennessee Tech 77 #5 Southeast Missouri 73

#3 Morehead St. 68  #7 Jacksonville St. 54

 

Semifinals

#1 Murray St. 78  #4 Tennessee Tech 58

#2 Tennessee St. 59 #3 Morehead St. 52

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Murray St. 54  #2 Tennessee St. 52

 

Automatic Bid – Murray St. 30-1

At-Large – None

Bubble – None

 

Murray State should receive a #4 or #5 seed, a #6 at worst.

 

Pac-12

Opening Round

#9 Oregon St. 69  #8 Washington St. 64

#5 U C L A 55  #12 U S C 40

#7 Stanford 85  #10 Arizona St. 65

#6 Colorado 53  #11 Utah 41

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Washington (21-9) vs. #9 Oregon State (18-13)

#4 Arizona (21-10) vs. #5 U C L A (19-13)

#2 California (23-8) vs. #7 Stanford (20-10)

#3 Oregon (22-8) vs. #6 Colorado (20-11)

 

At-Large: None

Upper Bubble: California, Washington, Arizona

Lower Bubble: Colorado

 

UCLA and Stanford could move to the lower bubble if they made it to the Championship Game and lost to one of the three current upper bubble teams. Colorado needs to win two games to have any chance at an at-large bid and may really need to reach the Championship Game to have a legitimate shot.  The Buffs’ RPI is 82; wins over Utah, Oregon, and Cal with a loss to Washington could elevate CU to around #65-70, and that is still iffy for an RPI ranking.

 

Patriot League

Quarterfinals

#1 Bucknell 87  #8 Navy 63

#5 Lafayette 84  #4 Holy Cross 76

#2 Lehigh 70 #7 Colgate 57

#3 American 57  #6 Army 40

 

Semifinals

#1 Bucknell 79 #5 Lafayette 52

#2 Lehigh 85 #3 American 66

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#2 Lehigh 82  #1 Bucknell 77  

 

Automatic Bid: LEHIGH 26-7

At-Large: None

Bubble: None

 

The Mountain Hawks search for the first NCAA Tournament win in their fifth trip to the Big Dance, and they have the one-two punch in C J McCollum and Gabe Knutson.  Lehigh lost at Michigan State by just nine points earlier in the year, and they enter the NCAA Tournament having won eight games in a row and 12 of 13.

 

Southern

Opening Round

#5N Appalachian St. 93  #4S College of Charleston 81

#3N Western Carolina 68  #6S Citadel 56

#5S Furman 75  #4N Samford 66

#3S Georgia Southern 76  #6N Chattanooga 70

 

Quarterfinals

#1N UNC-Greensboro 65  #5N Appalachian St. 55

#3N Western Carolina 82 #2S Wofford 59

#1S Davidson 73  #5S Furman 54

#2N Elon 65  #3S Georgia Southern 58

 

Semifinals

#3N Western Carolina 82  #1N UNC-Greensboro 77

#1S Davidson 83  #2N Elon 67

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1S Davidson  93 #1N UNC-Greensboro 91

 

Automatic Bid – DAVIDSON 25-7

At-Large Teams – None

Bubble – None

 

 

Davidson might not have earned a ticket as an at-large team.  Tell that to Kansas coach Bill Self, and he would say you were crazy.

 

S E C

Opening Round

#8 L S U (17-13) vs. #9 Arkansas (18-13)

#5 Alabama (20-10) vs. #12 South Carolina (10-20)

#7 Ole Miss (18-12) vs. #10 Auburn (15-15)

#6 Mississippi St. (21-10) vs. #11 Georgia (14-16)

 

At-Large: Kentucky, Florida, Vanderbilt

Upper Bubble: Alabama, Mississippi St.

Lower Bubble: Tennessee, Ole Miss

 

Tennessee and Ole Miss are the two hot teams other than Kentucky as the tournament commences.  Should one of these teams make it to Sunday, it would be hard to keep them out of the field.

 

Southland

Quarterfinals

#1 UT-Arlington 96  #8 Nicholls St. 48

#4 McNeese St. 78  #5 TX-San Antonio 74 OT

#2 Stephen F Austin 68  #7 Sam Houston 46

#3 Lamar 76  #6 Northwestern State (LA) 69

 

Semifinals

#1 UT-Arlington (24-7) vs. #4 McNeese St. (16-14)

#2 Stephen F Austin (20-11) vs. #3 Lamar (21-11)

 

At-Large: None

Upper Bubble: None

Lower Bubble: None

 

Texas-Arlington ran away from the field in the regular season standings, but the Mavericks did not run teams out of the gym like they did against Nicholls State yesterday.  UT-A is no shoo-in to cop the conference tournament.  SF Austin is a worthy competitor, as is Lamar.

 

S W A C

Quarterfinals

#1 Mississippi Valley St. 63  #8 Jackson St. 60

#4 Alabama St. (12-18) vs. #5 Arkansas-Pine Bluff (10-21)

#2 Texas Southern 75  #7 Alabama A&M 62

#3 Prairie View (14-17) vs. #6 Alcorn St. (9-21)

 

At-Large: None

Upper Bubble: None

Lower Bubble: None

 

In a conference where half of the members lost 20 or more games and 80% had losing records, there is a high probability that the winner of the league’s automatic bid will be playing in Dayton in the opening round.  The top two seeds advanced Wednesday and receive a day off until the semifinals.

 

Summit League

Quarterfinals

#1 Oral Roberts 71  #8 I P F W 67

#4 Western Illinois 58  #5 North Dakota St. 53

#2 South Dakota St. 77  I U P U I 56

#6 Southern Utah 84  #3 Oakland 82

 

Semifinals

#4 Western Illinois 54  #1 Oral Roberts 53

#2 South Dakota St. 63  #6 Southern Utah 47

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#2 South Dakota St. 52  #4 Western Illinois 50

Automatic Bid – SOUTH DAKOTA ST. 27-7

At-Large Teams –None

Bubble – Oral Roberts

               

Had South Dakota St. and Oral Roberts advanced to the Championship Game, and Oral Roberts’ lost instead of losing to WIU in the semis, ORU would be on the at-large line and not the bubble.  With an RPI of 55, the Golden Eagles are in a precarious position. 

 

Sunbelt

Opening Round

#6 South Alabama 87  #11 Troy 81

#7 Western Kentucky 67 #10 Florida Int’l 63

#9 Arkansas St. 70 #8 Florida Atlantic 55

 

Quarterfinals

#9 Arkansas St. 64  #1 Middle Tennessee 61

#5 North Texas 65  #4 Louisiana-Lafayette 62

#7 Western Kentucky 68  #2 U A L R  63 

#3 Denver 61  #6 South Alabama 50

 

Semifinals

#5 North Texas 76  #9 Arkansas St. 72

#7 Western Kentucky 67  #3 Denver 63

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#7 Western Kentucky 74  #3 Denver 70

 

Automatic Bid –WESTERN KENTUCKY 15-18

At-Large Teams – None

Bubble – Middle Tennessee

 

This is probably a one-bid league. The top two seeds lost in their first games in this unique tournament played in two separate gyms in the same building.  Middle Tennessee may still be on the bubble with an RPI of 65, but they are more than likely headed to the NIT.  Western Kentucky will be headed to the first round in Dayton.  However, their 15-18 record is very misleading.  The Hilltoppers were supposed to contend for the regular season championship; however, major dissension led to a poor start and a dismissal of head coach Ken McDonald.  Since Ray Harper assumed command, WKU has sported a 10-7 record, and a 7-4 finish.  This team cannot be overlooked in Dayton and could very well advance to the second round.

 

W A C

#1 Nevada (25-5) vs. #8 San Jose St. (9-21)

#4 Utah St. (17-14) vs. #5 Louisiana Tech (16-15)

#2 New Mexico St. (23-9) vs. #7 Fresno St. (13-19)

#3 Idaho (18-12) vs. #6 Hawaii (15-15)

 

At-Large: None

Upper Bubble: None

Lower Bubble: Nevada

 

For Nevada to earn an at-large bid, all of the major conference tournaments need to be one by high seeds without any other lower bubble teams making a splash.

 

The dark horse here is Utah State.  The 4^th-seeded Aggies have been there before and must be respected as a well-coached team that knows how to win.

 

West Coast

Opening Round

#8 Portland 74 #9 Santa Clara 70

 

2^nd Round

#5 San Francisco 87  #8 Portland 66

#6 San Diego 76  #7 Pepperdine 54

 

Quarterfinals

#5 San Francisco 67  #4 Loyola Marymount 60

#3 B Y U 73 vs. #6 San Diego 68

 

Semifinals

#1 Saint Mary’s 83  #5 San Francisco 78

#2 Gonzaga 77  #3 B Y U 58

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Saint Mary’s 78  #2 Gonzaga 74 OT

 

Automatic Bid – SAINT MARY’S 26-5

At-Large Teams – Gonzaga

Bubble – B Y U

 

This has the look of a three-bid league, with the two behemoths and BYU all headed to the Big Dance.  Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga are now the true powers of the West.  If you remember UCLA versus USC or Oregon State in the 1970’s and 1980’s, this is what this rivalry has become.  Both teams could easily advance to the Elite 8.

Coming Sometime Before Sunday–A renewable of PiRate Bracketnomics, a mechanical system using backtested data to determine which teams have Final Four resumes. 

NCAA College Basketball Conference Tournaments–March 7 Update

Congratulations are in order to the Harvard Crimson for securing their first bid to the NCAA Tournament since 1946.  Harvard (26-4) clinched the Ivy League title following last night’s Princeton win over Penn.

Here is the up-to-date (as of Tuesday Night, March 6) results of all conference tournaments as well as the pairings for today’s games.

 

America East

Preliminary Round

#9 Binghamton 73  #8 Md.-Balt. Co. 67

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Stony Brook 78  # 9 Binghamton 69

#4 Albany 63  #5 New Hampshire 45

#2 Vermont 50  #7 Maine 40

#6 Hartford 53  #3 Boston U 49 

 

Semifinals

#1 Stony Brook 57  #4 Albany 55

#2 Vermont 77  #6 Hartford 73 2OT

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Stony Brook (21-8) vs. Vermont (22-11)

 

This is a one-bid league.

 

 

Atlantic Sun

Quarterfinals

#1 Belmont 76  #8 Jacksonville 62

#4 East Tennessee 68  #5 N. Florida 66

#2 Mercer 61  #7 Lipscomb 53

#6 Florida Gulf Coast 71  #3 S. Carolina Upstate 61

 

Semifinals

#1 Belmont 69  #4 East Tennessee 61

#6 Florida Gulf Coast 62 #2 Mercer 58

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Belmont 83  Florida Gulf Coast 69

 

Automatic Bid – BELMONT 27-7

At-Large Teams – None

Bubble – None

 

Atlantic 10

1^st Round

#8 Massachusetts 92  #9 Duquesne 83

#5 St. Joe’s 80  #12 Charlotte 64

#7 LaSalle 80  #10 Richmond 72

#6 Dayton 67  #11 George Washington 50

 

Quarterfinals (Friday, March 9)

#1 Temple (24-6) vs. #8 Massachusetts (21-10)

#4 St. Bonaventure (17-11) vs. #5 St. Joe’s (20-12)

#2 St. Louis (24-6) vs. #7 LaSalle (21-11)

#3 Xavier (19-11) vs. #6 Dayton (20-11)

 

At-Large: Temple

Upper Bubble: St. Louis

Lower Bubble: Xavier, St. Joe’s, and Dayton

 

The eight remaining teams in this tournament are not that far apart, and the final three days should be highly competitive.  Literally, any of this octet can cut down the nets in Atlantic City on Sunday.

 

Big East

Opening Round

#9 Connecticut 81  #16 Dayton 67

#13 Pittsburgh 73  #12 St. John’s 59

#10 Seton Hall 79  #15 Providence 47

#14 Villanova 70  #11 Rutgers 49

 

2nd Round

#8 West Virginia (19-12) vs. #9 Connecticut (19-12)

#5 Georgetown (22-7) vs. #13 Pittsburgh (17-15)

#7 Louisville (22-9) vs. #10 Seton Hall (20-11)

#6 South Florida (19-12) vs. #14 Villanova (13-18)

 

At-Large: Syracuse, Marquette, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Louisville, Cincinnati

Upper Bubble: West Virginia, Seton Hall, South Florida, Connecticut

Lower Bubble: None (Pitt is the only bottom half team with a chance to pull off five upsets and break through with an automatic bid.)  South Florida could be in jeopardy if they are upset by Villanova.

 

Big Sky

Quarterfinals

#3 Portland St. 75  #6 Montana St. 53

#4 Eastern Washington 81  #5 Idaho St. 75

 

Semifinals

#1 Montana 74  #4 Eastern Washington 66

#2 Weber St. 69 #3 Portland St. 63

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Montana (24-6) vs. #2 Weber St. (24-5)

 

This is a one-bid league, but both Montana and Weber State are talented enough to win an opening round game in the NCAA Tournament.

 

Big South

Preliminary Round

#8 High Point 68  #9 Gardner-Webb 58

#7 VMI 55  #10 Radford 53

 

Quarterfinals

#1 UNC-Asheville 86  #8 High Point 61

#4 Charleston Sou. 88  #5 Liberty 74

#6 Winthrop 71  #3 Campbell 55

#7 VMI 85  #2 Coastal Carolina 68

 

Semifinals

#1 UNC-Asheville 91  #4 Charleston Sou. 64

#7 VMI 75  #6 Winthrop 55

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 UNC-Asheville  80  #7 VMI 64

 

Automatic Bid – UNC-ASHEVILLE 24-9

At-Large Teams – None

Bubble – None

 

Big 12

Opening Round

#8 Oklahoma (15-15) vs. #9 Texas A&M (13-17)

#7 Oklahoma St. (14-17) vs. #10 Texas Tech (8-22)

 

At-Large: Kansas, Missouri, Iowa St., Baylor, Kansas St.

Upper Bubble: Texas

Lower Bubble: None (A Texas loss in the quarterfinals would move the Longhorns here.

 

Colonial Athletic

Opening Round

#9 UNC-Wilmington 70  #8 James Madison 59

#5 Delaware 72  #12 Towson St. 65

#6 Georgia St. 85  #11 Hofstra 50

#7 Northeastern 57  #10 William & Mary 49

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Drexel 59  #9 UNC-Wilmington 47

#4 Old Dominion 88  #5 Delaware 74

#3 George Mason 61  #6 Georgia St. 59

#2 Virginia Commonwealth 75  #10 William & Mary 65

 

Semifinals

#1 Drexel 68  #4 Old Dominion 51

#2 Virginia Commonwealth 74  #3 George Mason 64

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#2 Virginia Commonwealth 59 #1 Drexel 56

 

Automatic Bid – VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH 28-6

At-Large Teams – None

Bubble – Drexel

 

 

Drexel has a chance of earning an at-large bid, but their RPI is on the low side at 68.

 

Conference USA

Opening Round

#5 U A B (14-15) vs. #12 Tulane (15-15)

#8 U T E P (14-16) vs. #9 Houston (15-14)

#7 Rice (17-14) vs. #10 East Carolina (14-15)

#6 Marshall (18-12) vs. #11 S M U (13-18)

 

At-Large: Memphis

Upper Bubble: Southern Miss

Lower Bubble: None

 

Central Florida has a chance to move up to the lower bubble with a run to the finals, but it would still be a remote shot if they lose in the Championship Game.

 

Horizon League

Opening Round

#4 Milwaukee 68  #9 Illinois-Chi. 55

#5 Butler 70  #8 Wright St. 52

#3 Detroit 80  #10 Loyola (Chi) 71

#6 Youngstown 77  #7 Green Bay 60

 

Quarterfinals

#5 Butler 71 #4 Milwaukee 49

#3 Detroit 93 #6 Youngstown St. 76

 

Semifinals

#1 Valparaiso 65  #5 Butler 46

#3 Detroit 63  #2 Cleveland St. 58

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#3 Detroit 70  #1 Valparaiso 50

 

Automatic Bid – DETROIT 22-13

At-Large Teams – None

Bubble – None

 

This is a one-bid league.  Neither Valpo, Cleveland State nor Butler will  earn at-large bids.

 

M A A C

Preliminary Round

#8 Marist 64 #9 St. Peter’s 57

#7 Niagara 80 #10 Canisius 70

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Iona 87  #8 Marist 63

#4 Fairfield 65  #5 Rider 63

#2 Loyola (MD) 86  #7 Niagara 73

#6 Siena 84  #3 Manhattan 82

 

Semifinals

#4 Fairfield 85  #1 Iona 75

#2 Loyola (MD) 70  #6 Siena 60

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#2 Loyola (MD) 48  #4 Fairfield 44

 

Automatic Bid – LOYOLA (MD) 24-8

At-Large Teams – None

Bubble – None

 

 

This is a one-bid league.  Iona played their way out of the Big Dance and into the NIT.

 

M A C

Opening Round

#5 Eastern Michigan (14-17) vs. #12 Northern Illinois (4-25)

#8 Western Michigan (12-19) vs. #9 Ball St. (15-14)

#7 Toledo (16-15) vs. #10 (Miami (O) (9-20)

#6 Bowling Green (16-14) vs. #11 (Central Michigan (10-20)

 

2^nd Round

#8 Western Michigan (13-19) vs. #12 Northern Illinois (5-25)

#7 Toledo (17-15) vs. #11 Central Michigan (11-20)

 

This could develop into a two-bid league.  Akron has moved up to #62 in the RPI and Ohio is #70.  Ohio has a bye to the quarterfinals and Akron has two more byes to the semifinals.

 

M E A C

Opening Round

#8 Hampton 69 #9 Morgan St. 65

#5 North Carolina Central 60 #12 Md. Eastern Shore 43

#4 Bethune-Cookman 62 #13 South Carolina St. 53

#11 Florida A& M 74  #6 Coppin St. 72

#10 Howard 51  #7 North Carolina A&T 50

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Savannah St. (21-10) vs. #8 Hampton (11-20)

#4 Bethune-Cookman (16-16) vs. #5 North Carolina Central (17-14)

#2 Norfolk St. (22-9) vs. #7 Howard (10-20)

#3 Delaware St. (15-13) vs. #11 Florida A&M (9-22)

 

This is a one-bid league.  If Savannah St. or Norfolk St. win the tournament, there is a chance for the winner to avoid the opening round in Dayton.

 

Missouri Valley

Opening Round

#8 Indiana St. 66  #9 Southern Illinois 51

#7 Drake 65  #10 Bradley 49

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Wichita St. 72 #8 Indiana St. 48

#4 Illinois St. 54 #5 Northern Iowa 42

#2 Creighton 68 vs. #7 Drake 61

#3 Evansville 72 vs. #6 Missouri St. 64

 

Semifinals

#4 Illinois St. 65  #1 Wichita St. 64

#2 Creighton 99  #3 Evansville 71

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#2 Creighton 83  #4 Illinois St. 79 OT

 

Automatic Bid – Creighton 27-5

At-Large – Wichita St. 27-5

Bubble – None

 

Mountain West

Quarterfinals

#1 San Diego St. (24-6) vs. #8 Boise St. (13-16)

#4 Colorado St. (19-10) vs. #5 T C U (17-13)

#2 New Mexico (24-6) vs. #7 Air Force (13-15)

#3 U N L V (25-7) vs. #6 Wyoming (20-10)

 

At-Large: San Diego St., UNLV, New Mexico

Upper Bubble: Colorado St.

Lower Bubble: None

 

TCU and Wyoming lost too many times in February.  Both teams can only get there by earning the automatic bid.  Colorado State can secure a bid with a win over T C U.

 

Northeast

Quarterfinals

#1 Long Island 80  #8 Sacred Heart 68

#5 Quinnipiac 80  #4 St. Francis (NY) 72

#3 Robert Morris 87  #6 Monmouth 68

#2 Wagner 87  #7 Central Conn. St. 77

 

Semifinals

#1 Long Island 78 #5 Quinnipiac 75

#3 Robert Morris 71  #2 Wagner 64

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Long Island (23-8) vs. #3 Robert Morris (23-9)

 

This is a one-bid league.

 

Ohio Valley

Opening Round

#5 Southeast Missouri 75  #8 E. Kentucky 65

#7 Jacksonville St. 75  #6 Austin Peay 70

 

Quarterfinals

#4 Tennessee Tech 77 #5 Southeast Missouri 73

#3 Morehead St. 68  #7 Jacksonville St. 54

 

Semifinals

#1 Murray St. 78  #4 Tennessee Tech 58

#2 Tennessee St. 59 #3 Morehead St. 52

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Murray St. 54  #2 Tennessee St. 52

 

Automatic Bid – Murray St. 30-1

At-Large – None

Bubble – None

 

Murray State should receive a #4 or #5 seed, a #6 at worst.

 

Pac-12

Opening Round

#8 Washington St. (15-15) vs. #9 Oregon St. (17-13)

#5 U C L A (18-13) vs. #12 U S C (6-25)

#7 Stanford (20-10) vs. #10 Arizona St. (10-20)

#6 Colorado (19-11) vs. #11 Utah (6-24)

 

At-Large: None

Upper Bubble: California, Washington, Arizona

Lower Bubble: Colorado

 

UCLA and Stanford could move to the lower bubble if they made it to the Championship Game and lost to one of the three current upper bubble teams. Colorado needs to win two games to have any chance at an at-large bid and may really need to reach the Championship Game to have a legitimate shot.  The Buffs’ RPI is 82; wins over Utah, Oregon, and Cal with a loss to Washington could elevate CU to around #65-70, and that is still iffy for an RPI ranking.

 

Patriot League

Quarterfinals

#1 Bucknell 87  #8 Navy 63

#5 Lafayette 84  #4 Holy Cross 76

#2 Lehigh 70 #7 Colgate 57

#3 American 57  #6 Army 40

 

Semifinals

#1 Bucknell 79 #5 Lafayette 52

#2 Lehigh 85 #3 American 66

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Bucknell 24-8 vs. #2 Lehigh 25-7

 

This is a one-bid league.

 

Southern

Opening Round

#5N Appalachian St. 93  #4S College of Charleston 81

#3N Western Carolina 68  #6S Citadel 56

#5S Furman 75  #4N Samford 66

#3S Georgia Southern 76  #6N Chattanooga 70

 

Quarterfinals

#1N UNC-Greensboro 65  #5N Appalachian St. 55

#3N Western Carolina 82 #2S Wofford 59

#1S Davidson 73  #5S Furman 54

#2N Elon 65  #3S Georgia Southern 58

 

Semifinals

#3N Western Carolina 82  #1N UNC-Greensboro 77

#1S Davidson 83  #2N Elon 67

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1S Davidson  93 #1N UNC-Greensboro 91

 

Automatic Bid – DAVIDSON 25-7

At-Large Teams – None

Bubble – None

 

 

Davidson might not have earned a ticket as an at-large team.  Tell that to Kansas coach Bill Self, and he would say you were crazy.

 

Southland

Quarterfinals

#1 UT-Arlington (23-7) vs. #8 Nicholls St. (10-19)

#4 McNeese St. (15-14) vs. #5 TX-San Antonio (18-13)

#2 Stephen F Austin (19-11) vs. #7 Sam Houston (13-18)

#3 Lamar (20-11) vs. #6 Northwestern State (LA) (16-15)

 

At-Large: None

Upper Bubble: None

Lower Bubble: None

 

Texas-Arlington ran away from the field in the regular season standings, but the Mavericks did not run teams out of the gym.  They are no shoo-in to cop the conference tournament.  SF Austin is a worthy competitor, as is Lamar.

 

S W A C

Quarterfinals

#1 Mississippi Valley St. (18-12) vs. #8 Jackson St. (7-23)

#4 Alabama St. (12-18) vs. #5 Arkansas-Pine Bluff (10-21)

#2 Texas Southern (13-17) vs. #7 Alabama A&M (7-20)

#3 Prairie View (14-17) vs. #6 Alcorn St. (9-21)

 

At-Large: None

Upper Bubble: None

Lower Bubble: None

 

In a conference where half of the members lost 20 or more games and 80% had losing records, there is a high probability that the winner of the league’s automatic bid will be playing in Dayton in the opening round.  Top seed Mississippi Valley State went 1-11 outside of league play.

 

Summit League

Quarterfinals

#1 Oral Roberts 71  #8 I P F W 67

#4 Western Illinois 58  #5 North Dakota St. 53

#2 South Dakota St. 77  I U P U I 56

#6 Southern Utah 84  #3 Oakland 82

 

Semifinals

#4 Western Illinois 54  #1 Oral Roberts 53

#2 South Dakota St. 63  #6 Southern Utah 47

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#2 South Dakota St. 52  #4 Western Illinois 50

Automatic Bid – SOUTH DAKOTA ST. 27-7

At-Large Teams –None

Bubble – Oral Roberts

               

Had South Dakota St. and Oral Roberts advanced to the Championship Game, and Oral Roberts’ lost instead of losing to WIU in the semis, ORU would be on the at-large line and not the bubble.  With an RPI of 55, the Golden Eagles are in a precarious position. 

 

Sunbelt

Opening Round

#6 South Alabama 87  #11 Troy 81

#7 Western Kentucky 67 #10 Florida Int’l 63

#9 Arkansas St. 70 #8 Florida Atlantic 55

 

Quarterfinals

#9 Arkansas St. 64  #1 Middle Tennessee 61

#5 North Texas 65  #4 Louisiana-Lafayette 62

#7 Western Kentucky 68  #2 U A L R  63 

#3 Denver 61  #6 South Alabama 50

 

Semifinals

#5 North Texas 76  #9 Arkansas St. 72

#7 Western Kentucky 67  #3 Denver 63

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#7 Western Kentucky 74  #3 Denver 70

 

Automatic Bid –WESTERN KENTUCKY 15-18

At-Large Teams – None

Bubble – Middle Tennessee

 

This is probably a one-bid league. The top two seeds lost in their first games in this unique tournament played in two separate gyms in the same building.  Middle Tennessee may still be on the bubble with an RPI of 65, but they are more than likely headed to the NIT.  Western Kentucky will be headed to the first round in Dayton.  However, their 15-18 record is very misleading.  The Hilltoppers were supposed to contend for the regular season championship; however, major dissension led to a poor start and a dismissal of head coach Ken McDonald.  Since Ray Harper assumed command, WKU has sported a 10-7 record, and a 7-4 finish.  This team cannot be overlooked in Dayton and could very well advance to the second round.

W A C

#1 Nevada (25-5) vs. #8 San Jose St. (9-21)

#4 Utah St. (17-14) vs. #5 Louisiana Tech (16-15)

#2 New Mexico St. (23-9) vs. #7 Fresno St. (13-19)

#3 Idaho (18-12) vs. #6 Hawaii (15-15)

 

At-Large: None

Upper Bubble: None

Lower Bubble: Nevada

 

For Nevada to earn an at-large bid, all of the major conference tournaments need to be one by high seeds without any other lower bubble teams making a splash.

 

The dark horse here is Utah State.  The 4^th-seeded Aggies have been there before and must be respected as a well-coached team that knows how to win.

 

West Coast

Opening Round

#8 Portland 74 #9 Santa Clara 70

 

2^nd Round

#5 San Francisco 87  #8 Portland 66

#6 San Diego 76  #7 Pepperdine 54

 

Quarterfinals

#5 San Francisco 67  #4 Loyola Marymount 60

#3 B Y U 73 vs. #6 San Diego 68

 

Semifinals

#1 Saint Mary’s 83  #5 San Francisco 78

#2 Gonzaga 77  #3 B Y U 58

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Saint Mary’s 78  #2 Gonzaga 74 OT

 

Automatic Bid – SAINT MARY’S 26-5

At-Large Teams – Gonzaga

Bubble – B Y U

 

This has the look of a three-bid league, with the two behemoths and BYU all headed to the Big Dance.  Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga are now the true powers of the West.  If you remember UCLA versus USC or Oregon State in the 1970’s and 1980’s, this is what this rivalry has become.  Both teams could easily advance to the Elite 8.

 

A Look At The Remaining Conferences

 

A C C

Tournament Begins March 8 in Atlanta

At-Large: North Carolina, Duke, Florida St., Virginia

Upper Bubble: North Carolina St.

Lower Bubble: Virginia

 

 

Big Ten

Tournament Begins March 8 in Indianapolis

At-Large: Ohio St., Michigan St., Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Purdue

Upper Bubble: Northwestern

Lower Bubble: None (Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois have too much ground to make up and need to win the tournament.  The three teams have no chance of sneaking in with a loss in the Championship Game).

 

Big West

Tournament Begins March 8 in Anaheim

At-Large: None

Upper Bubble: Long Beach St.

Lower Bubble: None

 

Long Beach State played one of the hardest schedules in the nation and fared admirably.  Their body of work gives the 49ers the look of a NCAA Tournament team.  A loss to Cal State Fullerton in the Championship Game should still keep LBSU safe.  A loss in the earlier rounds will throw the 49ers down to the lower bubble.

 

S E C

Tournament Begins March 8 in New Orleans

At-Large: Kentucky, Florida, Vanderbilt

Upper Bubble: Alabama, Mississippi St.

Lower Bubble: Tennessee, Ole Miss

 

Tennessee and Ole Miss are the two hot teams other than Kentucky as the tournament commences.  Should one of these teams make it to Sunday, it would be hard to keep them out of the field.

Next Update: Thursday, March 8

NCAA Basketball Conference Tournaments–March 5 Update

Here is an updated look at tournament action to date with the dates and matchups for their next round.  This includes all games played through Sunday, March 4.

 

America East

Preliminary Round

#9 Binghamton 73  #8 Md.-Balt. Co. 67

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Stony Brook 78  # 9 Binghamton 69

#4 Albany 63  #5 New Hampshire 45

#2 Vermont 50  #7 Maine 40

#6 Hartford 53  #3 Boston U 49 

 

Semifinals

#1 Stony Brook 57  #4 Albany 55

#2 Vermont 77  #6 Hartford 73 2OT

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Stony Brook (21-8) vs. Vermont (22-11)

 

This is a one-bid league.

 

 

Atlantic Sun

Quarterfinals

#1 Belmont 76  #8 Jacksonville 62

#4 East Tennessee 68  #5 N. Florida 66

#2 Mercer 61  #7 Lipscomb 53

#6 Florida Gulf Coast 71  #3 S. Carolina Upstate 61

 

Semifinals

#1 Belmont 69  #4 East Tennessee 61

#6 Florida Gulf Coast 62 #2 Mercer 58

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Belmont 83  Florida Gulf Coast 69

 

Automatic Bid – BELMONT 27-7

At-Large Teams – None

Bubble – None

 

Big Sky

Quarterfinals

#3 Portland St. 75  #6 Montana St. 53

#4 Eastern Washington 81  #5 Idaho St. 75

 

Semifinals (Tuesday)

#1 Montana (23-6) vs. #4 Eastern Washington (15-16)

#2 Weber St. (23-5) vs. #3 Portland St. 17-13

 

This is a one-bid league, but both Montana and Weber State are talented enough to win an opening round game in the NCAA Tournament.

 

Big South

Preliminary Round

#8 High Point 68  #9 Gardner-Webb 58

#7 VMI 55  #10 Radford 53

 

Quarterfinals

#1 UNC-Asheville 86  #8 High Point 61

#4 Charleston Sou. 88  #5 Liberty 74

#6 Winthrop 71  #3 Campbell 55

#7 VMI 85  #2 Coastal Carolina 68

 

Semifinals

#1 UNC-Asheville 91  #4 Charleston Sou. 64

#7 VMI 75  #6 Winthrop 55

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 UNC-Asheville  80  #7 VMI 64

 

Automatic Bid – UNC-ASHEVILLE 24-9

At-Large Teams – None

Bubble – None

 

Colonial Athletic

Opening Round

#9 UNC-Wilmington 70  #8 James Madison 59

#5 Delaware 72  #12 Towson St. 65

#6 Georgia St. 85  #11 Hofstra 50

#7 Northeastern 57  #10 William & Mary 49

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Drexel 59  #9 UNC-Wilmington 47

#4 Old Dominion 88  #5 Delaware 74

#3 George Mason 61  #6 Georgia St. 59

#2 Virginia Commonwealth 75  #10 William & Mary 65

 

Semifinals

#1 Drexel 68  #4 Old Dominion 51

#2 Virginia Commonwealth 74  #3 George Mason 64

 

CHAMPIONSHIP (Monday)

#1 Drexel (26-5) vs. #2 Virginia Commonwealth (26-6)

 

The loser of this game should stand a decent chance of earning an at-large bid.

 

Horizon League

Opening Round

#4 Milwaukee 68  #9 Illinois-Chi. 55

#5 Butler 70  #8 Wright St. 52

#3 Detroit 80  #10 Loyola (Chi) 71

#6 Youngstown 77  #7 Green Bay 60

 

Quarterfinals

#5 Butler 71 #4 Milwaukee 49

#3 Detroit 93 #6 Youngstown St. 76

 

Semifinals

#1 Valparaiso 65  #5 Butler 46

#3 Detroit 63  #2 Cleveland St. 58

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Valparaiso (22-10) vs. #3 Detroit (21-13) – Tuesday, March 6

 

This is a one-bid league.  Neither Valpo, Cleveland State nor Butler will  earn at-large bids.

 

M A A C

Preliminary Round

#8 Marist 64 #9 St. Peter’s 57

#7 Niagara 80 #10 Canisius 70

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Iona 87  #8 Marist 63

#4 Fairfield 65  #5 Rider 63

#2 Loyola (MD) 86  #7 Niagara 73

#6 Siena 84  #3 Manhattan 82

 

Semifinals

#4 Fairfield 85  #1 Iona 75

#2 Loyola (MD) 70  #6 Siena 60

 

CHAMPIONSHIP (Monday)

#2 Loyola (MD) (22-8) vs. #4 Fairfield (18-13)

 

This is a one-bid league.  Iona played their way out of the Big Dance and into the NIT.

 

M A C

Opening Round (Monday)

#5 Eastern Michigan (14-17) vs. #12 Northern Illinois (4-25)

#8 Western Michigan (12-19) vs. #9 Ball St. (15-14)

#7 Toledo (16-15) vs. #10 (Miami (O) (9-20)

#6 Bowling Green (16-14) vs. #11 (Central Michigan (10-20)

 

This is a one-bid league.  The top five teams are in the East Division.

 

M E A C

Opening Round (Monday)

#8 Hampton (10-20) vs. #9 Morgan St. (9-19)

#5 North Carolina Central (16-14) vs. #12 Md. Eastern Shore (7-22)

#4 Bethune-Cookman (15-16) vs. #13 South Carolina St. (5-25)

#6 Coppin St. (14-15) vs. #11 Florida A&M (8-22)

#7 North Carolina A&T (12-19) vs. #10 Howard (10-20)

 

This is a one-bid league.  If Savannah St. or Norfolk St. win the tournament, there is a chance for the winner to avoid the opening round in Dayton.

 

 

Missouri Valley

Opening Round

#8 Indiana St. 66  #9 Southern Illinois 51

#7 Drake 65  #10 Bradley 49

 

Quarterfinals

#1 Wichita St. 72 #8 Indiana St. 48

#4 Illinois St. 54 #5 Northern Iowa 42

#2 Creighton 68 vs. #7 Drake 61

#3 Evansville 72 vs. #6 Missouri St. 64

 

Semifinals

#4 Illinois St. 65  #1 Wichita St. 64

#2 Creighton 99  #3 Evansville 71

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#2 Creighton 83  #4 Illinois St. 79 OT

 

Automatic Bid – Creighton 27-5

At-Large – Wichita St. 27-5

Bubble – None

 

Northeast

Quarterfinals

#1 Long Island 80  #8 Sacred Heart 68

#5 Quinnipiac 80  #4 St. Francis (NY) 72

#3 Robert Morris 87  #6 Monmouth 68

#2 Wagner 87  #7 Central Conn. St. 77

 

Semifinals

#1 Long Island 78 #5 Quinnipiac 75

#3 Robert Morris 71  #2 Wagner 64

 

CHAMPIONSHIP (Wednesday)

#1 Long Island (23-8) vs. #3 Robert Morris (23-9)

 

This is a one-bid league.

 

Ohio Valley

Opening Round

#5 Southeast Missouri 75  #8 E. Kentucky 65

#7 Jacksonville St. 75  #6 Austin Peay 70

 

Quarterfinals

#4 Tennessee Tech 77 #5 Southeast Missouri 73

#3 Morehead St. 68  #7 Jacksonville St. 54

 

Semifinals

#1 Murray St. 78  #4 Tennessee Tech 58

#2 Tennessee St. 59 #3 Morehead St. 52

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Murray St. 54  #2 Tennessee St. 52

 

Automatic Bid – Murray St. 30-1

At-Large – None

Bubble – None

 

Murray State should receive a #4 or #5 seed, a #6 at worst.

 

Patriot League

Quarterfinals

#1 Bucknell 87  #8 Navy 63

#5 Lafayette 84  #4 Holy Cross 76

#2 Lehigh 70 #7 Colgate 57

#3 American 57  #6 Army 40

 

Semifinals

#1 Bucknell 79 #5 Lafayette 52

#2 Lehigh 85 #3 American 66

 

CHAMPIONSHIP (Wednesday)

#1 Bucknell 24-8 vs. #2 Lehigh 25-7

 

This is a one-bid league.

 

Southern

Opening Round

#5N Appalachian St. 93  #4S College of Charleston 81

#3N Western Carolina 68  #6S Citadel 56

#5S Furman 75  #4N Samford 66

#3S Georgia Southern 76  #6N Chattanooga 70

 

Quarterfinals

#1N UNC-Greensboro 65  #5N Appalachian St. 55

#3N Western Carolina 82 #2S Wofford 59

#1S Davidson 73  #5S Furman 54

#2N Elon 65  #3S Georgia Southern 58

 

Semifinals

#3N Western Carolina 82  #1N UNC-Greensboro 77

#1S Davidson 83  #2N Elon 67

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1N UNC-Greensboro (13-19) vs. Davidson (24-7)

 

Davidson cannot get in as an at-large team, so Wildcats must win to dance.

 

Summit League

Quarterfinals

#1 Oral Roberts 71  #8 I P F W 67

#4 Western Illinois 58  #5 North Dakota St. 53

#2 South Dakota St. 77  I U P U I 56

#6 Southern Utah 84  #3 Oakland 82

 

Semifinals

#1 Oral Roberts (27-5) vs. #4 Western Illinois (16-13)

#2 South Dakota St. (25-7) vs. #6 Southern Utah (14-16)        

 

If South Dakota St. and Oral Roberts advance to the Championship Game, and Oral Roberts’ loses, we should see two invitations doled out to the Summit League. 

 

Sunbelt

Opening Round

#6 South Alabama 87  #11 Troy 81

#7 Western Kentucky 67 #10 Florida Int’l 63

#9 Arkansas St. 70 #8 Florida Atlantic 55

 

Quarterfinals

#9 Arkansas St. 64  #1 Middle Tennessee 61

#5 North Texas 65  #4 Louisiana-Lafayette 62

#7 Western Kentucky 68  #2 U A L R  63 

#3 Denver 61  #6 South Alabama 50

 

Semifinals

#5 North Texas (17-13) vs. #9 Arkansas St. (14-19)

#3 Denver (22-8) vs. #7 Western Kentucky (13-18)

 

This is a one-bid league. The top two seeds lost in their first games in this unique tournament played in two separate gyms in the same building.  Middle Tennessee may still be on the bubble, but they are more than likely headed to the NIT.  If Arkansas St. or Western Kentucky win this tournament, they will be headed to the first round in Dayton.

 

West Coast

Opening Round

#8 Portland 74 #9 Santa Clara 70

 

2^nd Round

#5 San Francisco 87  #8 Portland 66

#6 San Diego 76  #7 Pepperdine 54

 

Quarterfinals

#5 San Francisco 67  #4 Loyola Marymount 60

#3 B Y U 73 vs. #6 San Diego 68

 

Semifinals

#1 Saint Mary’s 83  #5 San Francisco 78

#2 Gonzaga 77  #3 B Y U 58

 

CHAMPIONSHIP (Monday)

#1 Saint Mary’s 26-5 vs. #2 Gonzaga 25-5

 

This looks like a three-bid league, with the two finalists and BYU all headed to the Big Dance.

 

A Look At The Remaining Conferences

Atlantic 10

Tournament Begins March 6 on Campus Sites and moves to Atlantic City on March 9

At-Large: Temple

Upper Bubble: St. Louis

Lower Bubble: Xavier, St. Joe’s, and Dayton

 

A C C

Tournament Begins March 8 in Atlanta

At-Large: North Carolina, Duke, Florida St., Virginia

Upper Bubble: North Carolina St.

Lower Bubble: Virginia

 

Big East

Tournament Begins March 6 in New York City

At-Large: Syracuse, Marquette, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Louisville, Cincinnati

Upper Bubble: West Virginia, Seton Hall, South Florida, Connecticut

Lower Bubble: None (Pitt is the only bottom half team with a chance to pull off five upsets and break through with an automatic bid.

 

Big Ten

Tournament Begins March 8 in Indianapolis

At-Large: Ohio St., Michigan St., Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Purdue

Upper Bubble: Northwestern

Lower Bubble: None (Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois have too much ground to make up and need to win the tournament.  The three teams have no chance of sneaking in with a loss in the Championship Game).

 

Big 12

Tournament Begins March 7 in Kansas City

At-Large: Kansas, Missouri, Iowa St., Baylor, Kansas St.

Upper Bubble: Texas

Lower Bubble: None (A Texas loss in the quarterfinals would move the Longhorns here.

 

Big West

Tournament Begins March 8 in Anaheim

At-Large: None

Upper Bubble: Long Beach St.

Lower Bubble: None

 

Long Beach State played one of the hardest schedules in the nation and fared admirably.  Their body of work gives the 49ers the look of a NCAA Tournament team.  A loss to Cal State Fullerton in the Championship Game should still keep LBSU safe.  A loss in the earlier rounds will throw the 49ers down to the lower bubble.

 

Conference USA

Tournament Begins March 7 in Memphis

At-Large: Memphis

Upper Bubble: Southern Miss

Lower Bubble: None

 

Central Florida has a chance to move up to the lower bubble with a run to the finals, but it would still be a remote shot if they lose in the Championship Game.

 

Mountain West

Tournament Begins March 6 in Las Vegas

At-Large: San Diego St., UNLV, New Mexico

Upper Bubble: Colorado St.

Lower Bubble: None

 

TCU and Wyoming lost too many times in February.  Both teams can only get there by earning the automatic bid.

 

Pac-12

Tournament Begins March 7 in Los Angeles

At-Large: None

Upper Bubble: California, Washington, Arizona

Lower Bubble: Colorado

 

UCLA and Stanford could move to the lower bubble if they lost in the Championship Game.  Colorado needs to win two games to have any chance at an at-large bid.

 

S E C

Tournament Begins March 8 in New Orleans

At-Large: Kentucky, Florida, Vanderbilt

Upper Bubble: Alabama, Mississippi St.

Lower Bubble: Tennessee, Ole Miss

 

Tennessee and Ole Miss are the two hot teams other than Kentucky as the tournament commences.  Should one of these teams make it to Sunday, it would be hard to keep them out of the field.

 

Southland

Tournament Begins March 7 in Katy, TX

At-Large: None

Upper Bubble: None

Lower Bubble: None

 

Texas-Arlington ran away from the field in the regular season, but the Mavericks did not run teams out of the gym.  They are no shoo-in to cop the conference tournament.

 

S W A C

Tournament Begins March 7 in Garland, TX

At-Large: None

Upper Bubble: None

Lower Bubble: None

 

In a conference where half of the members lost 20 or more games and 80% had losing records, there is a high probability that the winner of the league’s automatic bid will be playing in Dayton in the opening round.  Top seed Mississippi Valley State went 1-11 outside of league play.

 

W A C

Tournament Begins March 7 in Las Vegas

At-Large: None

Upper Bubble: None

Lower Bubble: Nevada

 

For Nevada to earn an at-large bid, all of the major conference tournaments need to be one by high seeds without any other lower bubble teams making a splash.

 

Next Update: Wednesday March 7