PiRate Ratings 2019 National Championship Preview

PiRate Ratings

Home	Rating	HCA	Visitor	Rating	Spread
Virginia	120.1	0.0	Texas Tech	120.2	-0.1

TV Information

Tip Time: 9:20 PM Eastern Daylight

Network: CBS

Announce Team:

Play by Play: Jim Nantz 

Analysts: Bill Raftery and Grant Hill

Sideline Reporter: Tracy Wolfson

 

Bracketnomics Breakdown

Championship Game	SOS	TS Marg	OReb%	DReb%	TOV%	DTOV%	R+T
Virginia	60.55	11.6	29.7	75.2	12.7	15.5	10.0
Texas Tech	60.20	10.0	26.5	72.5	15.9	19.9	3.3

Strength of Schedule: This is basically even, so all other stats need not be adjusted.

True Shooting Percentage Margin: Virginia enjoys a tiny advantage, but not anything that can be convincing.  Both teams excel in forcing opponents to take bad shots or hurry them as the shot clock expires.  With both teams playing the Pack-Line Defense, it appears that the number of possessions per team will be quite low, as low as 60 per side, and with both teams stronger on the defensive end than on the offensive end, it would not be shocking if both teams scored less than a point per possession.

R+T Rating: This is where Virginia has the edge, thanks to better overall rebounding, avoiding mistakes, and picking up an occasional big steal.  Texas Tech’s 3.3 R+T is one of the lowest ever to make the Final Four, much less the Championship Game.

Rebounding Margin: Virginia is a better offensive rebounding team, but Texas Tech enjoys an equal advantage on the defensive glass, so this should be an even match.

Turnover Margin: Texas Tech forces turnovers on one out of every five possessions, while Virginia commits turnovers on one out of every eight possessions.  The Cavaliers usually commit more than their norm against teams that harass and sometimes overplay on defense, but they still manage to win these games.

Prediction: Experts and pundits never believed a team that runs the Pack-Line defense could win a national title, but since both championship game participants use this defense, it is guaranteed to win a national championship this year.

The raw numbers would have us suspect that 55 points might be enough to win this game, but something tells us that since these teams practice against a similar defense all the time, and Tony Bennett and Chris Beard know where their offenses can exploit each other’s defenses, that these teams could both top 60 points in this game.

There have been seven National Championship Games that have gone to overtime since the tournament began in 1939.  All of our ratings lead us to believe that this game could stay close the entire night.

Both teams have short benches, as Virginia played just seven players against Auburn, and Texas Tech used just eight players in their win over Michigan St.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION: Virginia 64  Texas Tech 60

PiRate Ratings 2019 Final Four Preview

PiRate Ratings

Home	Rating	HCA	Visitor	Rating	Spread
Virginia	120.3	0.0	Auburn	116.8	3.5
Michigan St.	121.2	0.0	Texas Tech	119.7	1.5

 

 

Schedule

All Times Eastern Daylight

Team	Team	TIME (EDT)	TV	LOCATION
Auburn	Virginia	6:09 PM	CBS	Minneapolis
Texas Tech	Michigan St.	8:49 PM	CBS	Minneapolis

 

Bracketnomics

Note–These comparisons are totally unrelated to the PiRate Ratings above.  This system is only used for the NCAA Tournament.

Virginia vs. Auburn

Team	SOS	TS Marg	OReb%	DReb%	TOV%	DTOV%	R+T
Virginia	60.22	11.7	30.2	75.0	12.7	15.7	10.6
Auburn	60.67	2.2	31.9	67.8	14.4	21.5	2.3

Strength of schedule is even, so the remaining stats can be weighted equally without handicap.  Virginia has a large advantage in both true shooting % margin and R+T Rating.  The rebounding rates in this game should allow Virginia to overcome the extra turnovers they will commit against Auburn’s defense.  Virginia faced teams with similar defenses this year, committed more turnovers than their norm while not forcing many, and yet still won.  Their losses to Duke came about because the Blue Devils could neutralize their inside muscle.  Auburn cannot do this, especially one big man down.

Prediction: Virginia 66  Auburn 58

 

Michigan St. vs. Texas Tech

Team	SOS	TS Marg	OReb%	DReb%	TOV%	DTOV%	R+T
Michigan St.	61.76	13.2	33.6	73.9	16.0	12.9	11.8
Texas Tech	59.64	10.1	27.0	72.3	16.0	20.0	3.6

Michigan State has a slightly stronger strength of schedule, but not so much that the Red Raiders cannot overcome it.  The Spartans’ true shooting % margin is also slightly better, but their R+T rating is considerably better.  Texas Tech would not be given much chance to win this game if it wasn’t for the fact that their biggest strength is Michigan State’s biggest weakness.

All year, the PiRate Ratings have been telling you that Michigan State’s biggest weakness was their ability to hold onto the ball.  Texas Tech made it this far by playing an aggressive defense that has forced turnovers almost as frequently as Auburn.  This gives TTU a chance to win this game.  However, Michigan State has a commanding advantage on the glass in this game.  While this wasn’t Sparty’s best rebounding team, in fact one of its worst under Tom Izzo, but it is still much better than Chris Beard’s club.  Rebounding, especially on the offensive glass was mediocre.

This will be an interesting game, and the team that can force their asset on the other’s liability will win.  While it may be close to a 50-50 tossup, due to these two extremes in the rebounding and turnovers, the winner might win by double digits.  The reason this edition has not been released until Thursday is that it has taken the PiRates a couple of days to determine which way the Bracketnomics point to in this game.  

Prediction:  Michigan State 71  Texas Tech 65

 

 

 

 

 

Bracketnomics 2019: Picking The Elite 8

Team	SOS	TS Marg	OReb%	DReb%	TOV%	DTOV%	R+T
Gonzaga	56.36	17.3	30.7	73.6	12.9	16.5	15.0
Texas Tech	59.03	10.2	27.6	72.0	16.0	20.0	4.2

Texas Tech enjoys a slight SOS edge, but Gonzaga’s exceptional R+T Rating is a major factor in this game.  Gonzaga will enjoy a modest rebounding advantage at both ends of the court, while the Bulldogs will be able to withstand the Red Raiders’ ball-hawking ability.  Thus, turnover margin should be close to even.  Gonzaga’s TS% Margin is somewhat better here, and the SOS advantage by TTU is mostly negated.

Prediction: Gonzaga by 6 to 11 points

 

Team	SOS	TS Marg	OReb%	DReb%	TOV%	DTOV%	R+T
Virginia	59.89	12.3	29.7	75.0	12.9	15.8	10.2
Purdue	61.14	3.6	34.0	74.0	13.5	16.6	11.5

Purdue’s SOS and R+T Rating are marginally better, while Virginia holds a commanding TS% Margin advantage.  Purdue should grab a few additional offensive rebounds in this game, while turnovers should be relatively close.  This has the makings of an exciting close game, just like so many others in this year’s tournament.  In this game, the Bracketnomics cannot pick a conclusive winner, so other factors must be included.  Virginia has been a little more consistent in matching their statistical data, while Purdue has been a little more varied.  I will go with the more consistent team.

Prediction: Virginia by 2 to 7 points

 

Team	SOS	TS Marg	OReb%	DReb%	TOV%	DTOV%	R+T
Kentucky	60.76	9.8	36.6	74.7	15.8	16.0	16.2
Auburn	60.34	1.9	32.2	67.8	14.6	21.8	2.7

The effect of the Chuma Okeke injury can only be estimated for Auburn, while Kentucky’s P.J. Washington appears to be close to 100% for this game after playing well against Houston.

You would expect conference rivals at this point of the season to have similar SOS’s, and these two teams do.  Kentucky’s R+T Rating is so superior in this game, and their TS% Margin is considerably better, so this makes it a potential blowout game.  Auburn will force the Wildcats into a few extra turnovers, but the rebounding edge could be scary in this game, as the Big Blue might be able to win the boards by more than a 60-40% advantage.  

During the regular season, Kentucky beat Auburn both times.  It was a close game in Auburn, but the Wildcats breezed to an easy win in Lexington.

Prediction: Kentucky by 10 to 15 points

 

Team	SOS	TS Marg	OReb%	DReb%	TOV%	DTOV%	R+T
Duke	62.63	9.8	35.5	71.0	14.7	17.0	12.1
Michigan St.	61.29	14.0	33.8	74.1	16.4	12.7	12.3

This game has the makings of another classic.  The data predicts a close contest.  Duke’s SOS advantage is minimal, and the R+T Ratings basically wash.  Michigan State’s TS% Margin mostly comes from a better 3-point shooting ability, and only slightly better defense.  Duke’s big advantage comes in turnover margin.  The Blue Devils have the ability to exploit the Spartans’ real liability, as Sparty is prone to turning the ball over, while Duke is a competent team when it comes to forcing turnovers.  Michigan State’s normal rebounding strength will be somewhat negated if not totally negated in this game.

It isn’t a slam dunk win for Coach K over Coach Izzo, but the Blue Devils have more going for themselves in the data for this one.

Prediction: Duke by 5 to 10 points

 

 

 

 

 

PiRate Ratings NCAA Tournament For Thursday, March 28, 2019

Home	Rating	HCA	Visitor	Rating	Spread
Gonzaga	123.1	0.0	Florida St.	115.7	7.4
Tennessee	117.8	0.0	Purdue	117.6	0.2
Michigan	119.1	0.0	Texas Tech	118.4	0.7
Virginia	120.6	0.0	Oregon	111.2	9.4

 

Tonight’s Schedule

Team	Team	TIME (EDT)	TV	LOCATION
Florida St.	Gonzaga	7:09 PM	CBS	Anaheim
Purdue	Tennessee	7:29 PM	TBS	Louisville
Texas Tech	Michigan	9:39 PM	CBS	Anaheim
Oregon	Virginia	9:59 PM	TBS	Louisville

 

Bracketnomics 2019: Picking The Sweet 16

What a Sweet 16 we have!  My experience in watching the NCAA Tournament goes back to the 1964 season as UCLA went 30-0 using a small lineup with no starter over 6 foot 5.  The 16-0 run in 2 1/2 minutes made me a Bruin fan on the spot, especially because one of the catalysts was small,left-handed guard Gail Goodrich; I was also a small, left-handed guard.

On the whole, my memory now includes 56 different NCAA Tournaments.  I had a difficult time finding a Sweet 16 as strong as this one.  I had to go back to the 1970 season to find the equivalent in power teams still in the Dance.  Of course, in 1970,  there were just 25 teams invited to the Tournament, so 18 teams competed in the opening round, while another seven received express bids to the Sweet 16.

Among that talented group of 1970 teams, there were:

1. UCLA was not supposed to win the 1970 tournament, as Kareem Abdul Jabbar and his fantastic class of 1969 graduated.  Sidney Wicks, Curtis Rowe, and Henry Bibby gave John Wooden an incredibly talented trio to build around as he went back to his high post offense.

2. Jacksonville had Artis Gilmore and Rex Morgan as an incredible inside-outside attack.  The Dolphins averaged close to 100 points per game and had a second starter in their lineup, Pembroke Burrows, who was over 7 feet tall.

3. St. Bonaventure had the best player in college basketball not named Maravich in Bob Lanier.  Lanier led the Bonnies to the top of the Eastern Elite, and SBU made it to the Final Four.  However, Lanier was injured in the East Regional Final and SBU had no chance in the Final Four against Jacksonville.

4. New Mexico State was in the top 5 all year long with future NBA stars Charlie Criss and Sam Lacey as well as hot shooting Jimmy Collins.  The Aggies were picked by many as capable of beating UCLA in the national semifinals.  Wicks and Rowe put NMSU out of their misery early in the second half.

5. Kentucky might have had the best team in the nation in 1970 had star guard Mike Casey not have suffered season-ending injuries in a car wreck the summer before.  With Dan Issel, Mike Pratt, Tom Parker, and Larry Steele, the Wildcats might have gone 30-0 had Casey not hurt his leg.

6. Niagara had the incomparable 5 foot 9 inch Calvin Murphy who was the total package on the hardwoods.  Murphy averaged well over 30 ppg for his career with the Purple Eagles and enjoyed a lengthy pro career.  He once scored 68 points against Syracuse.  He was a lot more than a scorer.  His defensive pressure broke down opposing teams.  He could drive quickly through defenses and pass to open teammates under the basket, and he was the best baton twirler in the college ranks.

7. Villanova had two future NBA All-Stars in Howard Porter and Chris Ford, as well as Fran O’Hanlon, who played in the ABA.  It was Ford that tripped Lanier in the Eastern Regional Championship Game that doomed St. Bonaventure.

8. Notre Dame had the best offensive player in the tournament in Austin Carr.  Carr was unstoppable on offense with the way officials called fouls in 1970.  He averaged over 38 points per game, but he made history in this tournament by scoring 61 points in the opening round win over Ohio U.  He hit for more than 50 in the Sweet 16 against Kentucky.

9. Iowa set the Big Ten record for points per game in 1970, almost averaging 100 points per night.  Among their stars was Downtown Freddie Brown, who would become one of the best 6th men in NBA history.  Before he became known as “Instant Offense” off the Seattle Supersonics’ bench, he was a dynamic starter for the Hawkeyes along with John Johnson, who averaged close to 30 ppg.

14 of the 16 teams in that tournament were what I consider strong teams according to today’s statistical standards, and 14 of this year’s 16 remaining teams fit that same description.

It’s no coincidence that of the 16 teams left, the Bracketnomics correctly picked 14 of the 16.

NOTE: The data that follows may be a little different than the original Bracketnomics’ posting at the beginning of the tournament.  Stats have been altered, especially the Strengths of Schedule (SOS) for some of the teams.

If you get to re-select your brackets at this point, ignore the original predictions and use these updated stats.  The originals predictions are still our “official bracket-picks,” but in this round, there is new and improved analytics.

NOTE 2: Do not confuse the Bracketnomics’ selections with the PiRate Ratings, which may contradict these picks in a couple of games.  The PiRate Ratings are strictly mechanical with no objective reasoning applied.  Bracketnomics are more subjective based on back-tested data usable only in the NCAA Tournament.

 

Team	SOS	TS Marg	OReb%	DReb%	TOV%	DTOV%	R+T
Gonzaga	56.14	17.6	31.1	73.2	12.8	16.5	15.1
Florida St.	59.85	3.7	33.0	73.5	16.2	18.0	9.1

After two rounds in this tournament, Gonzaga still owns the best criteria in the field, and nothing has changed in our beliefs that they have the best chance to run the table.  The Bulldogs only potential weakness is schedule strength, but at 56%+, it is more than adequate for a national champion.  The True Shooting % Margin combined with the R+T make The Zags the much better team here.  Florida State relies on offensive rebounding and forcing turnovers, but Gonzaga is not the team that the Seminoles can exploit enough times to come up with the win.  Gonzaga gets revenge for last year’s Sweet 16.

Prediction:  Gonzaga by 10-15 points

 

Team	SOS	TS Marg	OReb%	DReb%	TOV%	DTOV%	R+T
Tennessee	59.50	5.3	31.1	70.5	13.9	15.8	5.5
Purdue	60.82	3.5	34.3	74.0	13.6	16.9	11.6

Purdue hasn’t been in the Elite 8 since 2000, and they have not made it to the Final Four since 1980.  The Boilermakers have historically been unable to get scoring spurts in the Gene Keady-Matt Painter years.  They played excellent half-court offense and defense defense, but their style did not allow them to be overpowering on the boards or to gamble for steals on defense.  Like Money Ball does not work in the Major League Playoffs, possession basketball doesn’t work well in the Big Dance.  Teams need to have that spurtability, which is what the R+T rating shows, and Purdue has rarely had a great R+T rating.  That was the past; this Boilermaker squad has a very good R+T rating, and it comes from both an excellent rebounding strength combined with an adequate ability to force turnovers and not cough the ball up enough times to matter.

Tennessee is more like the old Purdue teams.  The Volunteers have excellent half-court presence on both sides of the ball, but they cannot dominate on the glass, and they do not force enough turnovers.  In this game, I look for Purdue to get numerous second chance scoring opportunities, and eventually, the Boilermakers will go for the kill shot with a scoring run that gives them the victory.

Prediction: Purdue by 6 to 11 points

 

Team	SOS	TS Marg	OReb%	DReb%	TOV%	DTOV%	R+T
Michigan	59.87	8.8	24.0	75.6	12.1	15.9	4.0
Texas Tech	58.42	10.1	28.1	71.7	16.1	20.0	4.4

 

This has the chance to be a classic game that will generate headlines for a long time.  This is the closest thing to a 50-50 tossup there can be.  If you had to choose one game to go to triple overtime, this is the one I’d pick (I just gave it the kiss of death and it will be a blowout now).

With Michigan’s 1 1/2 point SOS advantage, it basically makes all the criteria dead even.  Two teams with excellent defensive efficiency should lead to the game being decided on rebounding and turnovers.  The Red Raiders are better on the offensive glass, but the Wolverines are better on the defensive glass.  Texas Tech is considerably better forcing turnovers, but Michigan is considerably better holding onto the ball.  The R+T is dead even.  The only tiny little stat where there is a difference is TS% Margin, where even with the better SOS, Michigan comes up just a tad short, but not enough to matter more than one point on the scoreboard.

I have to go to extracurricular statistics here to select a winner in this game.  Texas Tech has been more consistent with their production, while Michigan’s standard deviation of statistics has been greater.  The Wolverines have been up for five consecutive games, while Texas Tech has been on an even keel since January.  Michigan has experience from making it to the Championship Game last year, while Texas Tech made it to the Elite 8 last year, so once again this washes.  Michigan is 7-3 against ranked teams this year.  TTU is 3-2.  Maybe, this is the only stat I can use to pick a winner, and it is still a total guess.  I’ll have my eyes glued to this game.

Prediction: Michigan by 1 to 5 points, possibly in overtime

 

Team	SOS	TS Marg	OReb%	DReb%	TOV%	DTOV%	R+T
Virginia	59.95	12.9	29.9	74.8	13.0	15.7	10.4
Oregon	55.83	4.5	29.4	71.7	15.4	18.3	4.3

Oregon coach Dana Altman deserves a ton of credit.  If you don’t think losing a 5-star McDonald’s All-American freshman phenom when you have another one on the roster  hurts, look at what happened to Bryce Drew at Vanderbilt.  Drew lost Darius Garland early in the year but still had another 5-star freshman phenom in Simi Shittu.  Vanderbilt lost their final 20 games in a row, and Drew was dismissed.  Altman lost superstar Bol Bol early in the year, and the Ducks were counted out.  Altman rallied Oregon and won the Pac-12 Tournament.  Then, they knocked out mid-major darling UC-Irvine to make it back to the Sweet 16 for the third time in four years.

Virginia survived a scare against Gardner-Webb, but the Cavaliers righted the ship and stormed back to win by 15, and then the Cavs ousted Oklahoma much more easily in the Round of 32.  On the surface, some may believe that UVA is strictly a half-court possession wonder, the type that usually disappoints in the Big Dance.  This is not so.  The Cavaliers have a double-digit R+T rating, which makes them capable of benefiting from scoring spurts, like they did in 2016, when they made it to the Elite 8 and watched a second half double-digit lead against Syracuse turn into a loss when the Orangemen went on a huge scoring run.

This game looks like the most lopsided in this round.  Virginia has the advantage across the board, and Oregon has not beaten a team this good all year.  The Ducks only played one ranked team in the regular season.  Think of Bol Bol as twice the player Tacko Fall is for Central Florida.  That’s why  Oregon should be happy they made the Sweet 16.

Prediction: Virginia by 12-17 points

 

Team	SOS	TS Marg	OReb%	DReb%	TOV%	DTOV%	R+T
Michigan St.	61.11	14.0	33.8	74.1	16.4	12.7	12.3
LSU	58.71	3.4	36.5	69.8	15.2	17.6	9.4

The fact that four SEC teams made the Sweet 16, and LSU won the conference championship shows that the Tigers are good enough to keep playing into April, even with acting coach Tony Benford taking over for Will Wade.

On the other side, Michigan State is almost perfect when you look at the resume of a Final Four team.  The Spartans do not force turnovers like most Final Four teams in the past, and they are vulnerable to a team that can pressure them into turnovers.

LSU has the personnel to force MSU out of their normal offense and negate any potential rebounding advantage Sparty has.  This game still looks favorable to Michigan State due to a great difference in True Shooting Percentage Margin.  LSU might not get enough open looks and second chance points to match the inside scoring of Nick Ward and Xavier Tillman combined with the three-point shooting of Cassius Winston.

Prediction: Michigan State by 4 to 9 points

 

Team	SOS	TS Marg	OReb%	DReb%	TOV%	DTOV%	R+T
North Carolina	62.05	5.4	34.8	77.7	14.6	16.5	18.9
Auburn	59.91	1.9	32.2	67.8	14.6	21.8	2.7

 

This game should be played at a tempo of 75 possessions per team.  Auburn was the best up-tempo team in the SEC this year, but North Carolina was the best up-tempo team in the ACC.

Can Auburn force North Carolina, namely point guard Coby White to make enough mistakes to keep this game close?  White has been prone to force the issue a bit at times, but in the games against the best pressure man-to-man teams, he did not make enough mistakes to cost Carolina the win, and in several games, his deft handling of the ball was the reason the Tar Heels won.

North Carolina remains the second best team in the tournament according to Bracketnomics, and this game has the potential to get out of hand.  The Tar Heels have a huge advantage on the offensive glass, and this should be the deciding factor.  UNC will score on several consecutive possessions at some point in this game and take a commanding lead that forces Auburn to panic on offense and commit some mistakes of their own.

Prediction: North Carolina by 10-15 points

Team	SOS	TS Marg	OReb%	DReb%	TOV%	DTOV%	R+T
Duke	62.61	9.8	35.5	71.0	14.7	17.0	12.1
Virginia Tech	58.20	8.5	29.0	72.9	15.3	19.1	6.1

 

Virginia Tech’s home court advantage in a game with Duke was three points and change, but let’s round it back to 3.  They beat Duke in Blacksburg by five points.  Duke didn’t have Zion Williamson.  Is Zion worth three points more for Duke than his backup?  Of course, he is; he’s worth a lot more than three extra points in Duke’s overall production.

Duke has an exploitable liability, and Central Florida exposed it.  Buzz Williams will do everything to try to force the Blue Devils to beat his squad by not being weak in their perimeter shooting.  UCF had two big guys inside that could force Duke to shoot from the perimeter.  Virginia Tech has one big guy, Kerry Blackshear, who probably cannot stop the Duke inside game.

In my opinion, there are a couple teams that can force Duke to have a better than average perimeter shooting night to beat them, but Virginia Tech is not one of them.

Prediction: Duke by 8 to 13 points

Team	SOS	TS Marg	OReb%	DReb%	TOV%	DTOV%	R+T
Kentucky	60.44	9.8	36.6	74.7	15.8	16.0	16.2
Houston	55.45	8.3	34.2	74.8	14.0	15.8	14.6

This game could be very interesting in a different way than the Michigan and Texas Tech game.  You get contrasting styles in this contest, and there are many variables, some of which favor the underdog Cougars in this cat fight.

There is a giant variable here, one that is enough to take this game from a relatively safe victory for Kentucky to a toss-up.  Star forward P.J. Washington might play in this game, and he might not be healthy enough.  Even if he plays, he cannot possibly be all that effective.  What bothers me is that he went from a protective boot to a cast, which means the injury was worse than first thought.  He’s going to one of the top foot specialists in the nation, and I think the goal here is to make sure Washington is ready for the NBA Draft.

If Washington does not play in this game, it becomes one where Houston has a 40-45% chance of winning.  If Washington plays sparingly, Kentucky’s chances increase by another 5-10%.  If miraculously Washington can play near full strength for 25 minutes, then the Big Blue win this game going away.

I will select this game based on the assumption that Washington will play but at much less than full strength.  Reid Travis is ready to have a big game for Kentucky now that he is basically 100% at full strength following his injury, and I look for John Calipari to direct his team to play intelligently and take advantage of their muscle advantage.

Prediction: Kentucky but 5-10 points

 

 

 

 

 

PiRate Ratings NCAA Tournament For Sunday, March 24, 2019

Home	Rating	HCA	Visitor	Rating	Spread
Tennessee	117.9	0.0	Iowa	111.4	6.5
North Carolina	121.3	0.0	Washington	109.7	11.6
Duke	122.9	0.0	Central Florida	110.0	12.9
Texas Tech	118.0	0.0	Buffalo	115.2	2.8
Virginia Tech	115.5	0.0	Liberty	107.3	8.2
Virginia	120.8	0.0	Oklahoma	111.4	9.4
Houston	115.3	0.0	Ohio St.	110.2	5.1
Oregon	110.8	0.0	UC Irvine	106.6	4.2

Sunday’s Schedule

Time	Game	Network	Site
12:10 PM	Tennessee vs. Iowa	CBS	Columbus
2:40 PM	North Carolina vs. Washington	CBS	Columbus
5:15 PM	Duke vs. Central Florida	CBS	Columbia
6:10 PM	Texas Tech vs. Buffalo	TNT	Tulsa
7:10 PM	Virginia Tech vs. Liberty	TBS	San Jose
7:45 PM	Virginia vs. Oklahoma	TruTV	Columbia
8:40 PM	Houston vs. Ohio St.	TNT	Tulsa
9:40 PM	Oregon vs. UC-Irvine	TBS	San Jose

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PiRate Ratings NCAA Tournament For Friday, March 22, 2019

Home	Rating	HCA	Visitor	Rating	Spread
Cincinnati	110.8	1.5	Iowa	111.1	1.2
Ole Miss	110.3	0.0	Oklahoma	110.7	-0.4
Texas Tech	117.8	0.0	Northern Kentucky	104.5	13.3
Kansas St.	112.7	0.0	UC-Irvine	106.2	6.5
Tennessee	118.3	0.0	Colgate	102.8	15.5
Gardner-Webb	99.5	1.0	Virginia	121.1	-20.6
Buffalo	115.0	0.0	Arizona St.	107.9	7.1
Wisconsin	115.1	0.0	Oregon	109.7	5.4
Utah St.	111.3	0.0	Washington	108.8	2.5
Duke	123.1	0.0	North Dakota St.	97.9	25.2
Houston	114.8	0.0	Georgia St.	103.9	10.9
Mississippi St.	113.9	0.0	Liberty	106.7	7.2
North Carolina	121.7	0.0	Iona	97.8	23.9
Virginia Commonwealth	110.7	0.0	Central Florida	109.4	1.3
Iowa St.	114.8	0.0	Ohio St.	109.9	4.9
Virginia Tech	115.5	0.0	Saint Louis	104.1	11.4

 

Today’s Schedule

All Times EDT

TIME	MATCHUP	NETWORK	SITE
12:15 PM	(10) Iowa vs. (7) Cincinnati	CBS	Columbus
12:40 PM	(9) Oklahoma vs. (8) Ole Miss	truTV	Columbia
1:30 PM	(14) Northern Kentucky vs. (3) Texas Tech	TNT	Tulsa
2 PM	(13) UC Irvine vs. (4) Kansas State	TBS	San Jose
Approx. 3 PM	(15) Colgate vs. (2) Tennessee	CBS	Columbus
Approx. 3:25 PM	(16) Gardner-Webb vs. (1) Virginia	truTV	Columbia
Approx. 4:15 PM	(11) St. John’s / Arizona State vs. (6) Buffalo	TNT	Tulsa
Approx. 4:45 PM	(12) Oregon vs. (5) Wisconsin	TBS	San Jose
6:50 PM	(9) Washington vs. (8) Utah State	TNT	Columbus
7:10 PM	(16) NC Central / North Dakota St. vs. (1) Duke	CBS	Columbia
7:20 PM	(14) Georgia State vs. (3) Houston	TBS	Tulsa
7:27 PM	(12) Liberty vs. (5) Mississippi State	truTV	San Jose
Approx. 9:35 PM	(16) Iona vs. (1) North Carolina	TNT	Columbus
Approx. 9:55 PM	(9) UCF vs. (8) VCU	CBS	Columbia
Approx. 10:05 PM	(11) Ohio State vs. (6) Iowa State	TBS	Tulsa
Approx. 10:12 PM	(13) Saint Louis vs. (4) Virginia Tech	truTV	San Jose

 

 

 

PiRate Ratings College Basketball For Friday, March 15, 2019

Today’s PiRate Ratings Spreads

Home	Rating	HCA	Visitor	Rating	Spread
Houston	114.9	0.0	Connecticut	105.1	9.8
Memphis	106.7	3.0	Central Florida	110.3	-0.6
Cincinnati	110.3	0.0	SMU	103.1	7.2
Temple	106.8	0.0	Wichita St.	104.7	2.1
Virginia Commonwealth	111.3	0.0	Rhode Island	103.0	8.3
St. Bonaventure	102.6	0.0	George Mason	100.7	1.9
Davidson	106.3	0.0	Saint Joseph’s	99.2	7.1
Dayton	107.9	0.0	Saint Louis	102.8	5.1
Virginia	122.1	0.0	Florida St.	113.4	8.7
North Carolina	121.8	0.0	Duke	123.5	-1.7
Kansas St.	112.9	1.0	Iowa St.	113.6	0.3
Kansas	114.9	2.0	West Virginia	105.7	11.2
Villanova	112	0.0	Xavier	106.0	6.0
Seton Hall	108.6	1.0	Marquette	113.0	-3.4
Montana	101.6	0.0	Weber St.	97.4	4.2
Southern Utah	93.4	0.0	Eastern Washington	95.2	-1.8
Michigan St.	120.9	0.0	Ohio St.	110.5	10.4
Wisconsin	115.4	1.0	Nebraska	111.7	4.7
Purdue	117.5	0.0	Minnesota	109.2	8.3
Michigan	118.3	0.0	Iowa	111.6	6.7
UC-Irvine	105.6	0.0	Long Beach St.	97.1	8.5
UC Santa Barbara	99.8	0.0	Cal St. Fullerton	98.3	1.5
Old Dominion	103.4	0.0	UAB	100.3	3.1
Western Kentucky	103.4	0.0	Southern Miss.	104.0	-0.6
Buffalo	115.3	0.0	Central Michigan	103.2	12.1
Northern Illinois	102.6	0.0	Bowling Green	104.1	-1.5
North Carolina A&T	92.5	0.0	North Carolina Central	92.6	-0.1
Norfolk St.	94.3	0.0	Howard	91.1	3.2
Nevada	113.9	1.0	San Diego St.	103.3	11.6
Utah St.	110.6	0.0	Fresno St.	108.5	2.1
Washington	109.5	0.0	Colorado	107.0	2.5
Arizona St.	107.9	0.0	Oregon	109.7	-1.8
Sam Houston St.	99.7	0.0	New Orleans	94.7	5.0
Abilene Christian	101.1	0.0	Southeastern Louisiana	95.7	5.4
LSU	114.8	0.0	Florida	112.9	1.9
South Carolina	106.9	0.0	Auburn	115.3	-8.4
Kentucky	118.0	0.0	Alabama	108.2	9.8
Tennessee	119.0	1.0	Mississippi St.	114.0	6.0
Georgia Southern	104.7	0.0	Louisiana Monroe	102.3	2.4
Texas St.	103.0	0.0	South Alabama	97.4	5.6
Prairie View A&M	96.5	0.0	Grambling	94.1	2.4
Texas Southern	96.6	0.0	Alabama St.	89.0	7.6
New Mexico St.	108.1	0.0	UT Rio Grande Valley	98.7	9.4
Utah Valley	105.1	0.0	Grand Canyon	105.6	-0.5

 

Conference Tournaments Update

American Athletic Conference
Site: Fedex Forum, Memphis, TN
First Round–Thursday, March 14
Connecticut	80	South Florida	73
Memphis	83	Tulane	68
SMU	74	Tulsa	65
Wichita St.	73	East Carolina	57

 

Quarterfinals–Friday, March 15
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
1	Houston (29-2)	9	Connecticut (16-16)
4	Central Florida (23-7)	5/12	Memphis (20-12)
2	Cincinnati (25-6)	10	SMU (15-16)
3	Temple (23-8)	6	Wichita St. (18-13)

Atlantic 10 Conference
Site: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY
Second Round–Thursday, March 14
Rhode Island	76	La Salle	57
George Mason	61	George Washington	57
Saint Joseph’s	92	Duquesne	86
Saint Louis	71	Richmond	68

 

Quarterfinals–Friday, March 15
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
1	Virginia Commonwealth (25-6)	8	Rhode Island (17-14)
4	St. Bonaventure (16-15)	5	George Mason (18-14)
2	Davidson (23-8)	10	Saint Joseph’s (14-18)
3	Dayton (21-10)	6	Saint Louis (20-12)

Atlantic Coast Conference
Site: Spectrum Center, Charlotte, NC
Quarterfinals–Thursday, March 14
Virginia	76	North Carolina St.	56
Florida St.	65	Virginia Tech	63 ot
North Carolina	83	Louisville	70
Duke	84	Syracuse	72

 

Semifinals–Friday, March 15
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
1	Virginia (29-2)	5	Florida St. (26-6)
2	North Carolina (27-5)	3	Duke (27-5)

Big 12 Conference
Site: Sprint Center, Kansas City, MO
Quarterfinals–Thursday, March 14
Kansas St.	70	TCU	61
Iowa St.	83	Baylor	66
West Virginia	79	Texas Tech	74
Kansas	65	Texas	57

 

Semifinals–Friday, March 15
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
1	Kansas St. (25-7)	5	Iowa St. (21-11)
10	West Virginia (14-19)	3	Kansas (24-8)

Big East Conference
Site: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
Quarterfinals–Thursday, March 14
Villanova	73	Providence	62
Xavier	63	Creighton	61
Marquette	86	St. John’s	54
Seton Hall	73	Georgetown	57

 

Semifinals–Friday, March 15
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
1	Villanova (23-9)	4	Xavier (17-14)
2	Marquette (24-8)	3	Seton Hall (19-12)

Big Sky Conference
Site: Century Link Arena, Boise, ID
Quarterfinals–Thursday, March 14
Montana	79	Sacramento St.	73
Weber St.	81	Portland St.	71
Southern Utah	83	Northern Colorado	63
Eastern Washington	90	Montana St.	84

 

Semifinals–Friday, March 15
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
1	Montana (24-8)	4	Weber St. (18-14)
7	Southern Utah (16-15)	3	Eastern Washington (15-17)

Big Ten Conference
Site: United Center, Chicago, IL
Second Round–Thursday, March 14
Ohio St.	79	Indiana	75
Nebraska	69	Maryland	61
Minnesota	77	Penn St.	72 ot
Iowa	83	Illinois	62

 

Quarterfinals–Friday, March 15
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
1	Michigan St. (25-6)	8	Ohio St. (19-13)
4	Wisconsin (22-9)	13	Nebraska (18-15)
2	Purdue (23-8)	7	Minnesota (20-12)
3	Michigan (26-5)	6	Iowa (22-10)

Big West Conference
Site: Honda Center, Anaheim, CA
Quarterfinals–Thursday, March 14
UC-Irvine	63	Cal St. Riverside	44
Long Beach St.	68	Hawaii	66
Cal St. Fullerton	75	UC Davis	71 ot
UC Santa Barbara	71	Cal St. Northridge	68

 

Semifinals–Friday, March 15
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
1	UC Irvine (28-5)	5	Long Beach St. (15-18)
2	UC Santa Barbara (22-9)	3	Cal St. Fullerton (15-16)

Conference USA
Site: Ford Center, Frisco, TX
Quarterfinals–Thursday, March 14
Old Dominion	57	Louisiana Tech	56
UAB	85	UTSA	76
Western Kentucky	67	North Texas	51
Southern Miss.	82	Marshall	73

 

Semifinals–Friday, March 15
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
1	Old Dominion (24-8)	5	UAB (20-13)
2	Western Kentucky (19-13)	3	Southern Miss. (20-11)

Mid-American Conference (MACtion)
Site: Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, OH
Quarterfinals–Thursday, March 14
Buffalo	82	Akron	46
Central Michigan	89	Kent St.	81
Northern Illinois	80	Toledo	76
Bowling Green	99	Ball St.	86

 

Semifinals–Friday, March 15
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
1	Buffalo (29-3)	5	Central Michigan (23-10)
7	Northern Illinois (27-16)	3	Bowling Green (21-11)

Mideastern Athletic Conference
Site: Scope Arena, Norfolk, VA
Quarterfinals–Thursday, March 14
UNC Central	75	Delaware St.	57
Howard	80	Bethune-Cookman	71
North Carolina A&T	82	Coppin St.	79 ot
Norfolk St.	78	South Carolina St.	73

 

Semifinals–Friday, March 15
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
2	North Carolina A&T (19-12)	3	North Carolina Central (16-15)
1	Norfolk St. (20-12)	4	Howard (17-15)

Mountain West Conference
Site: Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, NV
Quarterfinals–Thursday, March 14
Nevada	77	Boise St.	69
San Diego St.	63	UNLV	55
Utah St.	91	New Mexico	83
Fresno St.	76	Air Force	50

 

Semifinals–Friday, March 15
Seed	Home Team	Seed	Visitors
1	Nevada (29-3)	4	San Diego St. (20-11)
2	Utah St. (26-6)	3	Fresno St. (22-8)

Pac-12 Conference
Site: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, NV
Quarterfinals–Thursday, March 14
Washington	78	USC	75
Colorado	73	Oregon St.	58
Arizona St.	83	UCLA	72
Oregon	66	Utah	54

 

Semifinals–Friday, March 15
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
1	Washington (25-7)	5	Colorado (21-11)
2	Arizona St. (22-9)	6	Oregon (21-12)

Southland Conference
Site: Leonard E. Merrell Center, Katy, TX
Quarterfinals–Thursday, March 14
New Orleans	76	Lamar	72
Southeastern Louisiana	79	Central Arkansas	65

 

Semifinals–Friday, March 15
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
1	Sam Houston St. (21-10)	4	New Orleans (18-12)
2	Abilene Christian (25-6)	3	Southeastern Louisiana (17-15)

Southeastern Conference
Site: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN
Second Round–Thursday, March 14
Florida	66	Arkansas	50
Auburn	81	Missouri	71
Alabama	62	Ole Miss	57
Mississippi St.	80	Texas A&M	54

 

Quarterfinals–Friday, March 15
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
1	LSU (26-5)	8	Florida (18-14)
4	South Carolina (16-15)	5	Auburn (23-9)
2	Kentucky (26-5)	10	Alabama (18-14)
3	Tennessee (27-4)	6	Mississippi St. (23-9)

Sun Belt Conference
Site: 1st Rd at Higher Seed, Lakefront Arena, New Orleans, LA
Second Round–Thursday, March 14
Louisiana Monroe	80	Coastal Carolina	50
South Alabama	70	Louisiana	69

 

Quarterfinals–Friday, March 15
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
3	Georgia Southern (20-11)	7	Louisiana Monroe (18-14)
4	Texas St. (23-8)	8	South Alabama (17-16)

Southwestern Athletic Conference
Site: at Higher Seeds
Quarterfinals–Tuesday, March 12
Prairie View A&M	86	Alcorn St.	66
Grambling	59	Arkansas Pine Bluff	52
Alabama St.	58	Jackson St.	49
Texas Southern	80	Southern	70

 

Semifinals–Friday, March 15
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
1	Prairie View A&M (21-12)	4	Grambling (17-15)
2	Texas Southern (20-12)	6	Alabama St. (12-18)

Western Athletic Conference
Site: Orleans Arena, Las Vegas, NV
Quarterfinals–Thursday, March 14
New Mexico St.	86	Chicago St.	49
UT RGV	85	Cal St. Bakersfield	70
Grand Canyon	84	Seattle	75
Utah Valley	70	UM Kansas City	64

 

Semifinals–Friday, March 15
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
1	New Mexico St. (28-4)	4	UT Rio Grande Valley (19-15)
2	Utah Valley (24-8)	3/6	Grand Canyon (19-12)

 

 

 

 

PiRate Ratings College Basketball For Saturday, March 9, 2019

Today’s PiRate Ratings Spreads

Home	Rating	HCA	Visitor	Rating	Spread
Abilene Christian	100.5	2.5	Incarnate Word	85.0	18.0
Appalachian St.	98.2	2.5	South Alabama	97.1	3.6
Arizona	106.1	2.5	Arizona St.	108.1	0.5
Arkansas	108.4	3.0	Alabama	108.3	3.1
Arkansas St.	94.5	2.5	Louisiana	99.7	-2.7
Auburn	115.5	3.0	Tennessee	118.9	-0.4
Belmont	109.0	0.0	Murray St.	108.6	0.4
Boise St.	102.0	3.0	Air Force	95.5	9.5
Boston College	104.9	3.0	North Carolina St.	112.2	-4.3
BYU	106.2	0.0	San Diego	104.6	1.6
Cal Poly	88.6	2.5	UC Santa Barbara	101.0	-9.9
Cal St. Fullerton	99.5	3.5	Hawaii	97.7	5.3
Chicago St.	79.4	2.5	Missouri Kansas City	94.9	-13.0
Clemson	112.0	3.0	Syracuse	111.4	3.6
Coastal Carolina	101.1	2.5	Troy	95.1	8.5
Colorado	106.8	3.0	USC	105.8	4.0
Colorado St.	99.4	3.0	UNLV	100.9	1.5
Columbia	97.1	2.5	Harvard	103.6	-4.0
Cornell	95.4	2.5	Dartmouth	97.9	0.0
Creighton	109.9	2.5	DePaul	105.1	7.3
Drake	102.6	0.0	Northern Iowa	99.1	3.5
Duquesne	100.3	3.0	Dayton	108.2	-4.9
East Tennessee St.	106.6	0.0	Chattanooga	94.0	12.6
Elon	92.0	0.0	UNC Wilmington	94.7	-2.7
Fairleigh-Dickinson	97.2	2.5	Robert Morris	95.0	4.7
Florida Int’l.	97.0	2.5	North Texas	101.3	-1.8
Fresno St.	107.2	2.5	San Jose St.	85.7	24.0
Furman	107.9	0.0	Mercer	98.3	9.6
George Washington	93.8	2.5	George Mason	101.0	-4.7
Georgia Southern	104.8	2.0	Georgia St.	103.2	3.6
Grambling	93.7	2.5	Alabama A&M	84.6	11.6
Hartford	98.8	2.5	UMass Lowell	95.0	6.3
Idaho St.	91.2	2.0	Idaho	84.9	8.3
Iowa St.	114.3	3.0	Texas Tech	118.0	-0.7
Jackson St.	89.5	2.5	Alabama St.	89.2	2.8
James Madison	93.8	0.0	Towson	94.0	-0.2
Kansas	114.9	3.0	Baylor	110.6	7.3
Kansas St.	112.8	3.0	Oklahoma	111.6	4.2
Kentucky	118.2	3.0	Florida	111.7	9.5
La Salle	96.9	2.5	Fordham	95.6	3.8
Lamar	97.6	2.5	McNeese St.	89.4	10.7
Little Rock	96.6	2.5	Louisiana Monroe	100.8	-1.7
Loyola (Chi.)	103.7	0.0	Bradley	99.5	4.2
LSU	113.7	3.0	Vanderbilt	102.1	14.6
Marquette	112.9	3.0	Georgetown	106.0	9.9
Marshall	99.4	3.0	Florida Atlantic	99.0	3.4
Maryland-Baltimore Co.	97.0	2.5	Albany	94.1	5.4
Memphis	107	3.0	Tulsa	103.1	6.9
Michigan St.	120.2	1.5	Michigan	118.2	3.5
Middle Tennessee	95.5	2.5	UTEP	92.4	5.6
Mississippi St.	113.4	3.0	Texas A&M	105.4	11.0
Mississippi Valley St.	83.8	2.5	Arkansas-Pine Bluff	89.4	-3.1
Missouri	106.2	3.0	Ole Miss	110.0	-0.8
Nevada	114.7	3.0	San Diego St.	104.2	13.5
New Mexico St.	107.8	3.0	California Baptist	97.4	13.4
Nicholls St.	91.3	2.5	Southeastern Louisiana	94.9	-1.1
North Carolina	120.7	1.0	Duke	123.5	-1.8
Northern Colorado	100.9	2.5	Northern Arizona	91.5	11.9
Northwestern	107.4	3.0	Purdue	117.4	-7.0
Northwestern St.	86.6	2.5	Central Arkansas	91.4	-2.3
Oklahoma St.	104.7	3.0	West Virginia	105.1	2.6
Omaha	100.1	0.0	North Dakota	94.5	5.6
Penn	103.3	2.5	Brown	101.3	4.5
Pittsburgh	105.0	2.5	Notre Dame	106.0	1.5
Portland St.	94.4	2.5	Montana St.	95.2	1.7
Prairie View	95.5	2.5	Alcorn St.	84.6	13.4
Princeton	100.2	2.5	Yale	105.7	-3.0
Providence	106.4	3.0	Butler	108.5	0.9
Quinnipiac	96.9	0.0	Monmouth	93.3	3.6
Rhode Island	102.1	2.5	Massachusetts	97.7	6.9
Rice	94.8	2.5	Charlotte	91.7	5.6
Richmond	99.0	2.5	Davidson	106.8	-5.3
Rider	98.7	0.0	Siena	95.4	3.3
Sacramento St.	94.6	2.5	Montana	102.6	-5.5
San Francisco	107.7	0.0	Pepperdine	99.8	7.9
Seattle	98.3	2.5	Grand Canyon	105.0	-4.2
Seton Hall	108.2	2.5	Villanova	113.5	-2.8
South Carolina	106.4	2.5	Georgia	103.9	5.0
South Dakota St.	106.1	1.0	Western Illinois	92.1	15.0
Southern Miss.	102.6	2.5	UTSA	100.6	4.5
St. Bonaventure	102.7	3.0	Saint Louis	103.6	2.1
St. Francis (PA)	95.7	2.5	Long Island	95.3	2.9
Stephen F. Austin	92.4	2.0	Sam Houston St.	99.0	-4.6
Stony Brook	100.8	2.5	Binghamton	89.3	14.0
Temple	106.9	3.0	Central Florida	110.7	-0.8
Texas	112.6	2.5	TCU	109.3	5.8
Texas A&M CC	93.6	2.5	Houston Baptist	93.5	2.6
Texas Southern	97.6	2.5	Southern	86.8	13.3
Tulane	92.8	2.5	Wichita St.	105.0	-9.7
UAB	99.7	2.5	Old Dominion	104.2	-2.0
UC Davis	96	2.5	UC Riverside	91.3	7.2
UC Irvine	105.5	2.5	Cal St. Northridge	93.6	14.4
UNC Greensboro	105.5	0.0	Samford	99.9	5.6
UT Arlington	99.6	2.0	Texas St.	103.4	-1.8
Utah	104.0	3.0	UCLA	105.1	1.9
Utah Valley	103.8	2.5	Cal St. Bakersfield	96.9	9.4
Vermont	106.1	3.0	Maine	88.7	20.4
Virginia	123.5	3.0	Louisville	113.7	12.8
Wake Forest	100.2	2.5	Florida St.	114.7	-12.0
Washington	110.1	3.0	Oregon	108.9	4.2
Washington St.	97.4	2.5	Oregon St.	106.1	-6.2
Weber St.	98.7	2.5	Eastern Washington	94.9	6.3
Wofford	112.9	0.0	VMI	91.6	21.3
Wyoming	90	3.0	New Mexico	99.6	-6.6
Xavier	106.9	3.0	St. John’s	108.2	1.7

Conference Tournaments Update

 

America East Conference
All games at home floor of higher seeds
Quarterfinals–Saturday, March 9
Seed	Home	Seed	Visitor
1	Vermont (24-6)	8	Maine (5-26)
2	Stony Brook (24-7)	7	Binghamton (9-22)
3	Maryland-Baltimore Co. (19-12)	6	Albany (12-19)
4	Hartford (17-14)	5	UMass Lowell (15-16)

 

 

Big South Conference
Semifinals–Friday, March 8 (at Campbell)
Radford	63	Charleston Southern	54
Gardner-Webb	79	Campbell	74

 

Championship Game–Sunday, March 10 (at Radford)
Seed	Home Team	Seed	Visitors
2	Radford (22-10)	4	Gardner-Webb (22-11)

 

 

Colonial Athletic Association
Site: North Charleston Coliseum, North Charleston, SC
First Round–Saturday, March 9
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
8	James Madison (13-18)	9	Towson (10-21)
7	Elon (11-20)	10	UNC Wilmington (9-22)

 

 

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
Site: Times Union Center, Albany, NY (Siena)
Iona	73	Saint Peter’s	71
Canisius	69	Manhattan	65 ot

 

Quarterfinals–Saturday, March 9
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
3	Quinnipiac (16-13)	6	Monmouth (12-20)
4	Rider (16-14)	5	Siena (16-15)

 

 

Missouri Valley Conference (Arch Madness)
Site: Enterprise Center, St. Louis, MO
Quarterfinals–Friday, March 8
Loyola (Chi)	67	Valparaiso	54
Bradley	61	Missouri St.	58
Drake	78	Illinois St.	62
Northern Iowa	61	Southern Illinois	58

 

Semifinals–Saturday, March 9
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
1	Loyola (Chi.) (20-12)	5	Bradley (18-14)
2	Drake (24-8)	6	Northern Iowa (15-17)

 

 

Northeast Conference

All games at home floor of higher seeds

Semifinals–Saturday, March 9
Seed	Home	Seed	Visitor
1	St. Francis (PA) (17-13)	6	Long Island (16-15)
2	Fairleigh-Dickinson (18-13)	4	Robert Morris (17-15)

 

 

Ohio Valley Conference
Site: Ford Center, Evansville, IN
Semifinals–Friday, March 8
Belmont	83	Austin Peay	67
Murray St.	76	Jacksonville St.	74

 

*** Championship Game–Saturday, March 9 ****
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
1	Belmont (26-4)	2	Murray St. (26-4)

 

Southern Conference
Site: US Cellular Center, Asheville, NC
First Round–Friday, March 8
VMI	96	Western Carolina	83
Samford	100	The Citadel	71

Quarterfinals–Saturday, March 9
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
1	Wofford (26-4)	8	VMI (11-20)
4	East Tennessee St. (23-8)	5	Chattanooga (12-19)
2	UNC Greensboro (26-5)	7	Samford (17-15)
3	Furman (24-6)	6	Mercer (11-19)

 

 

Summit League
Site: Denny Sanford Premier Center, Sioux Falls, SD
Quarterfinals–Saturday, March 9 & Sunday, March 10
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
1 (sat)	South Dakota St. (24-7)	8	Western Illinois (9-20)
4 (sun)	Purdue Fort Wayne (17-14)	5	South Dakota (13-16)
3 (sun)	North Dakota St. (15-15)	6	Oral Roberts (11-20)
2 (sat)	Omaha (19-10)	7	North Dakota (12-17)

 

 

West Coast Conference
Site: Orleans Arena, Las Vegas, NV
Second Round–Friday, March 8
San Diego	62	Santa Clara	45
Pepperdine	68	Loyola Marymount	65

 

Quarterfinals–Saturday, March 9
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
3	BYU (19-12)	6	San Diego (20-13)
4	San Francisco (21-9)	8	Pepperdine (15-17)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PiRate Ratings College Basketball For Friday, March 8, 2019

Today’s PiRate Ratings Spreads

Home	Rating	HCA	Visitor	Rating	Spread
Ball St.	103.1	2.5	Northern Illinois	100.7	4.9
Belmont	109.0	0.0	Austin Peay	103.2	5.8
Buffalo	113.7	3.0	Bowling Green	102.9	13.8
Campbell	99.0	2.5	Gardner-Webb	99.3	2.2
Canisius	95.1	0.0	Manhattan	90.9	4.2
Columbia	97.1	2.5	Dartmouth	97.9	1.7
Cornell	95.4	2.5	Harvard	103.6	-5.7
Drake	102.6	0.0	Illinois St.	98.5	4.1
Iona	97.7	0.0	Saint Peter’s	92.0	5.7
Kent St.	101.4	2.5	Akron	103.4	0.5
Loyola (Chi)	103.7	0.0	Valparaiso	98.1	5.6
Loyola Marymount	102.3	0.0	Pepperdine	99.8	2.5
Maryland	113.3	3.0	Minnesota	109.4	6.9
Missouri St.	99.7	0.0	Bradley	99.5	0.2
Murray St.	108.6	0.0	Jacksonville St.	103.1	5.5
Ohio	98.1	2.5	Miami (O)	101.4	-0.8
Penn	103.3	3.0	Yale	105.7	0.6
Princeton	100.2	3.0	Brown	101.3	1.9
Radford	102.7	0.0	Charleston Southern	99.5	3.2
Samford	99.9	0.0	The Citadel	95.2	4.7
Santa Clara	98.3	0.0	San Diego	104.6	-6.3
Southern Illinois	101.8	0.0	Northern Iowa	99.1	2.7
Toledo	108.0	3.0	Eastern Michigan	100.1	10.9
Virginia Commonwealth	111.2	3.0	Saint Joseph’s	99.4	14.8
Virginia Tech	116.3	3.0	Miami (Fla)	107.5	11.8
VMI	91.6	0.0	Western Carolina	93.2	-1.6
Western Michigan	94.7	2.5	Central Michigan	101.8	-4.6

 

Conference Tournaments Update

Big South Conference

Site: Campbell University, Buies Creek, NC

Quarterfinals
Radford	84	Presbyterian	76
Charleston Southern	77	Winthrop	63
Campbell	86	Hampton	77
Gardner-Webb	75	High Point	69

 

Semifinals–Friday, March 8 (at Campbell)
Seed	Home Team	Seed	Visitors
2	Radford (21-10)	6	Charleston Southern (17-14)
1	Campbell (20-11)	4	Gardner-Webb (21-11)

 

 

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference

Site: Times Union Center, Albany, NY (Siena)

First Round
Saint Peter’s	71	Marist	68 ot
Manhattan	57	Fairfield	53
Monmouth	76	Niagara	72

 

Quarterfinals–Friday, March 8
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
1	Iona (14-15)	9	Saint Peter’s (10-21)
4	Rider (16-14)	5	Siena (16-15)

Quarterfinals–Saturday, March 9
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
2	Canisius (14-16)	7	Manhattan (11-20)
3	Quinnipiac (16-13)	6	Monmouth (12-20)

 

 

Missouri Valley Conference (Arch Madness)
Site: Enterprise Center, St. Louis, MO
First Round–Thursday, March 7
Valparaiso	77	Indiana St.	55
Illinois St.	65	Evansville	60

 

Quarterfinals–Friday, March 8
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
1	Loyola (Chi) (19-12)	9	Valparaiso (15-17)
4	Missouri St. (16-15)	5	Bradley (17-14)
2	Drake (23-8)	7	Illinois St. (17-15)
3	Southern Illinois (17-14)	6	Northern Iowa (14-17)

 

 

Ohio Valley Conference
Site: Ford Center, Evansville, IN
Quarterfinals–Thursday, March 7
Austin Peay	95	Morehead St.	81
Jacksonville St.	88	UT-Martin	81

 

Semifinals–Friday, March 8
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
1	Belmont (25-4)	4	Austin Peay (22-10)
2	Murray St. (25-4)	3	Jacksonville St. (24-8)

 

 

Patriot League
All games at home floor of higher seeds
Quarterfinals–Thursday, March 7
Colgate	81	Boston U	69
Bucknell	77	Holy Cross	65
Lehigh	78	Army	70
Navy	60	American	56

 

Semifinals–Sunday, March 10
Seed	Home	Seed	Visitor
1	Colgate (22-10)	5	Navy (12-18)
2	Bucknell (20-10)	3	Lehigh (20-10)

 

 

Southern Conference
Site: US Cellular Center, Asheville, NC
First Round–Friday, March 8
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
8	VMI (10-20)	9	Western Carolina (7-24)
7	Samford (16-15)	10	The Citadel (12-17)

 

 

West Coast Conference
Site: Orleans Arena, Las Vegas, NV
First Round–Thursday, March 7
San Diego	67	Portland	47
Pepperdine	61	Pacific	53

 

Second Round–Friday, March 8
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
6	Santa Clara (16-14)	7	San Diego (19-13)
5	Loyola Marymount (20-10)	8	Pepperdine (14-17)

 

Coming Later Today: Bracketology Update