PiRate Ratings College Basketball–Thursday, March 2, 2023

Thursday’s PiRate Ratings Spreads

Home	Visitor	Spread
Arkansas Pine Bluff	Jackson St.	0.9
Army	Boston U	3.6
Cal St. Northridge	Hawaii	-8.3
Cleveland St.	Robert Morris	5.0
Colgate	Loyola (MD)	15.0
Delaware St.	Maryland Eastern Shore	-6.9
Fairfield	Quinnipiac	-1.7
Georgia Southern	Louisiana Monroe	4.6
Grambling	Alabama A&M	9.5
Houston	Wichita St.	19.1
Howard	Norfolk St.	-1.7
Illinois	Michigan	4.5
Indiana St.	Evansville	17.3
Iona	Marist	17.9
Kennesaw St.	Lipscomb	4.3
Lehigh	Lafayette	2.4
Liberty	Eastern Kentucky	12.8
Long Beach St.	Cal St. Bakersfield	9.6
Louisiana Tech	Florida Intl.	6.9
Milwaukee	Wright St.	-0.9
Minnesota	Rutgers	-11.3
Mississippi Valley St.	Alcorn St.	-6.5
Missouri St.	Illinois Chicago	8.0
Morgan St.	Coppin St.	7.2
Murray St.	Valparaiso	2.6
Navy	American	8.1
North Texas	Middle Tennessee	7.2
Northern Iowa	Illinois St.	3.1
Northern Kentucky	Oakland	7.9
Old Dominion	Texas St.	3.7
Oregon	California	17.8
Oregon St.	Stanford	-4.6
Pacific	Pepperdine	-0.8
Portland	San Diego	2.3
Rice	Florida Atlantic	-9.5
Saint Peter’s	Rider	-3.5
Siena	Manhattan	8.8
SMU	Memphis	-8.7
South Alabama	Appalachian St.	3.5
South Carolina St.	North Carolina Central	-8.4
Southern U.	Alabama St.	9.3
Temple	Central Florida	-1.5
Tennessee St.	Southeast Missouri St.	-0.5
Troy	Arkansas St.	9.4
UC Davis	UC Santa Barbara	0.5
UC Riverside	UC Irvine	-0.6
UC San Diego	Cal Poly	4.6
UCLA	Arizona St.	12.4
USC	Arizona	-1.7
UT-Martin	SIU Edwardsville	-0.9
UTEP	Western Kentucky	1.0
UTSA	Charlotte	-8.9
Washington	Washington St.	-0.7
Wisconsin	Purdue	-4.9
Youngstown St.	Detroit	7.6

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Thursday’s Conference Tournament Schedule

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Atlantic Sun Conference (Higher Seed Hosts)

Semifinals — Both games start at 7 PM EST on ESPN+

#3 Eastern Kentucky (20-12) at #2 Liberty (25-7)

#5 Lipscomb (20-12) at #1 Kennesaw St. (24-8)

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Horizon League (Higher Seed Hosts)

Quarterfinals — All Games on ESPN+

#5 Oakland (13-18) at #4 Northern Kentucky (19-12) 7 PM EST

#8 Detroit (14-18) at #1 Youngstown St. (23-8) 8 PM EST

#7 Wright St. (18-14) at #2 Milwaukee (20-10) 8 PM EST

#6 Robert Morris (16-16) at #3 Cleveland St. (19-12) 8 PM EST

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Missouri Valley Conference (Arch Madness–St. Louis) (All Games on MVC TV Network)

#8 Northern Iowa (13-17) vs. #9 Illinois St. (11-20) 1 PM EST

#5 Indiana St. (20-11) vs. #12 Evansville (5-26) 3:30 PM EST

#7 Murray St. (16-14) vs. #10 Valparaiso (11-20) 7 PM EST

#6 Missouri St. (16-14) vs. #11 Illinois-Chicaco (12-19) 9:30 PM EST

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Ohio Valley Conference — Evansville, IN

Quarterfinals — Both Games on ESPN+

#4 Tennessee St. (18-13) vs. #5 Southeast Missouri St. (16-16) 7:30 PM EST

#3 UT-Martin (18-13) vs. #6 SIU Edwardsville (19-13) 10 PM EST

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Patriot League — Higher Seeds Host

Quarterfinals (All Games on ESPN+)

#4 Army (16-15) vs. #5 Boston U (15-16) 6 PM EST

#8 Loyola (MD) (13-19) at #1 Colgate (23-8) 7 PM EST

#6 Lafayette (9-22) at #3 Lehigh (16-13) 7 PM EST

#7 American (16-14) at #2 Navy (18-12) 7 PM EST

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Sun Belt Conference — Pensacola, FL

2nd Round (All Games on ESPN+)

#8 South Alabama (16-15) vs. #9 Appalachian St. (16-15) 12:30 PM EST

#5 Troy (19-12) vs. #13 Arkansas St. (13-19) 3 PM EST

#6 Old Dominion (19-11) vs. #11 Texas St. (14-18) 6 PM EST

#7 Georgia Southern (16-15) vs. #10 Louisiana Monroe (11-20) 8:30 PM EST

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West Coast Conference — Las Vegas

1st Round (Both Games on BYUtv)

#8 Portland (13-18) vs. #9 San Diego (11-19) 9 PM EST

#7 Pacific (14-17) vs. #10 Pepperdine (9-21) 11:30 PM EST

PiRate Ratings College Basketball Tournament Coverage–Sunday, February 26, 2023

On the eve of the first men’s basketball conference tournaments, multiple conference tournament brackets are now set.  Here is a look at these tournaments starting this week.

Atlantic Sun

—–

Opening Round – Monday, February 27 (ESPN+)

Game 1: #9 Queens (17-14) vs. #10 Florida Gulf Coast (17-14) (@ Kennesaw St.)

Game 2: #7 North Florida (14-16) vs. #8 Bellarmine (14-17) (@ Liberty)

—–

Quarterfinals – Tuesday, February 28 (ESPN+)

Game 3: Game 1 Winner at #1 Kennesaw St. (23-8)

Game 4: #5 Lipscomb (19-12) at #4 Stetson (17-12)

Game 5: Game 2 Winner at #2 Liberty (24-7)

Game 6: #6 North Alabama (18-13) at #3 Eastern Kentucky (19-12)

—–

Semifinals – Thursday, March 2 (ESPN+)

Game 7: Lowest Remaining Seed at Highest Remaining Seed

Game 8: 2nd Lowest Remaining Seed at 2nd Highest Remaining Seed

—–

Finals – Sunday, March 5 (3 PM EST on ESPN2)

—–

—–

Big South – Charlotte

—–

Opening Round – Wednesday, March 1 (ESPN+)

Game 1: #8 High Point (14-16) vs. #9 Charleston Southern (9-20)

Game 2: #7 Campbel (13-17) vs. #10 Presbyterian (5-26)

—–

Quarterfinals – Friday, March 3 (ESPN+)

Game 3: #1 UNC-Asheville (24-7) vs. Game 1 Winner

Game 4: #4 USC-Upstate (14-15) vs. #5 Gardner-Webb (15-15)

Game 5: #2 Longwood (20-11) vs. Game 2 Winner

Game 6: #3 Radford (18-13) vs. #6 Winthrop (15-16)

—–

Semifinals – Saturday, March 4 (ESPN+)

Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner

Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner

—–

Finals – Sunday, March 5 (1 PM EST on ESPN2)

—–

—–

Colonial Athletic – Washington, D.C.

—–

Opening Round – Friday, March 3 (FloHoops.com)

Game 1: #12 Hampton (8-23) vs. #13 Monmouth (6-25)

—–

2nd Round – Saturday, March 4 (FloHoops.com)

Game 2: #8 William & Mary (12-19) vs. #9 Elon (8-23)

Game 3: #5 Drexel (16-14) vs. Game 1 Winner

Game 4: #7 North Carolina A&T (13-18) vs. #10 Stony Brook (10-21)

Game 5: #6 Delaware (16-15) vs. #11 Northeastern (10-19)

—–

Quarterfinals – Sunday, March 5 (FloHoops.com)

Game 6: #1 Hofstra (23-8) vs. Game 2 Winner

Game 7: #4 UNC Wilmington (22-9) vs. Game 3 Winner

Game 8: #2 Charleston (28-3) vs. Game 4 Winner

Game 9: #3 Towson (20-11) vs. Game 5 Winner

—–

Semifinals – Monday, March 6 (CBSSN)

Game 10: Game 6 Winner vs. Game 7 Winner

Game 11: Game 8 Winner vs. Game 9 Winner

—–

Finals – Tuesday, March 7 (7 PM EST on CBSSN)

—–

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Horizon – Campus Sites 1st 2 rounds / Indianapolis Semifinals & Finals

—–

Opening Round – Tuesday, February 28 (ESPN+)

Game 1: #11 IUPUI (5-26) at #6 Robert Morris (15-16)

Game 2: #10 Green Bay (3-28) at #7 Wright St. (17-14)

Game 3: #9 Purdue Ft. Wayne (17-14) at #8 Detroit Mercy (13-18)

—–

Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 2 (ESPN+)

Game 4: #5 Oakland (13-18) at #4 Northern Kentucky (19-12)

Game 5: Lowest Remaining Seed at #1 Youngstown St. (23-8) 

Game 6: Second Highest Remaining Seed at #2 Milwaukee (20-10)

Game 7: Highest Remaining Seed at #3 Cleveland St. (19-12)

—–

Semifinals – Monday, March 6 [Indianapolis]

Game 8: Highest Remaining Seed vs. Lowest Remaining Seed (ESPNU)

Game 9: 2nd Highest Remaining Seed vs 2nd Lowest Remaining Seed (ESPN2)

—–

Finals – Tuesday, March 7 [Indianapolis] (7 PM EST on ESPN or ESPN2)

—–

—–

Missouri Valley (Arch Madness) – St. Louis

—–

Opening Round – Thursday, March 2 (MVCtv)

Game 1: #8 Northern Iowa (13-17) vs. #9 Illinois St. (11-20)

Game 2: #5 Indiana St. (20-11) vs. #12 Evansville (5-26)

Game 3: #7 Murray St. (16-14) vs. #10 Valparaiso (11-20)

Game 4: #6 Missouri St. (16-14) vs. #11 Illinois-Chicago (12-19)

—–

Quarterfinals – Friday, March 3 (MVCtv)

Game 5: #1 Bradley (23-8) vs. Game 1 Winner

Game 6: #4 Belmont (22-10) vs. Game 2 Winner

Game 7: #2 Drake (24-7) vs. Game 3 Winner

Game 8: #3 Southern Illinois (22-9) vs. Game 4 Winner

—–

Semifinals – Saturday, March 4 (CBSSN)

Game 9: Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner

Game 10: Game 7 Winner vs. Game 8 Winner

—–

Finals – Sunday, March 5 (2 PM EST on CBS)

—–

—–

Northeast – Higher Seed Hosts

—–

Quarterfinals – Wednesday, March 1 (necfrontrow.com)

Game 1: #8 Long Island (3-25) at #1 Merrimack (15-16)

Game 2: #5 Wagner (15-12) at #4 Sacred Heart (15-16)

Game 3: #7 St. Francis (NY) (14-15) at #2 Fairleigh Dickinson (17-14)

Game 4: #6 Central Connecticut St. (10-21) at #3 St. Francis (PA) (12-17)

—–

Semifinals – Saturday, March 4 (ESPN3)

Game 5: Lowest Remaining Seed at Highest Remaining Seed

Game 6: 2nd Lowest Remaining Seed at 2nd Highest Remaining Seed

—–

Finals – Tuesday, March 7 (7 PM EST on ESPN2)

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Ohio Valley – Evansville, IN

—–

Opening Round – Wednesday, March 1 (ESPN+)

Game 1: #5 Southeast Missouri (15-16) vs. #8 Lindenwood (11-20)

Game 2: #6 SIU Edwardsville (18-13) vs. #7 Southern Indiana (16-15)

—–

Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 2 (ESPN+)

Game 3: #4 Tennessee State (18-13) vs. Game 1 Winner

Game 4: #3 UT-Martin (18-13) vs. Game 4 Winner

—–

Semifinals – Friday, March 3 (ESPNU)

Game 5: #1 Morehead St. (21-10) vs. Game 3 Winner

Game 6: #2 Tennessee Tech (15-16) vs. Game 4 Winner

—–

Finals – Saturday, March 4 (8 PM EST on ESPN2)

—–

—–

Patriot – Higher Seed Hosts

—–

Opening Round – Tuesday, February 28 (ESPN+)

Game 1: #10 Bucknell (12-19) at #7 American (15-14)

Game 2: #9 Holy Cross (10-21) at #8 Loyola (MD) (12-19)

—–

Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 2 (ESPN+)

Game 3: Game 2 Winner at #1 Colgate (23-8)

Game 4: #5 Boston U (15-16) at #4 Army (16-15)

Game 5: Game 1 Winner at #2 Navy (18-12)

Game 6: #6 Lafayette (9-22) at #3 Lehigh (16-13)

—–

Semifinals – Sunday, March 5 (CBSSN)

Game 7: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner at higher seed

Game 8: Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner at higher seed

—–

Finals – Wednesday, March 8 (7:30 PM EST on CBSSN)

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Southern – Asheville, NC

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Opening Round – Friday, March 3 (ESPN+)

Game 1: #8 Mercer (13-18) vs. #9 The Citadel (10-21)

Game 2: #7 Chattanooga (15-16) vs. #10 VMI (7-24)

—–

Quarterfinals – Saturday, March 4 (ESPN+)

Game 3: #1 Furman (24-7) vs. Game 1 Winner

Game 4: #4 Western Carolina (17-14) vs. #5 East Tennessee St. (12-19)

Game 5: #2 Samford (21-10) vs. Game 2 Winner

Game 6: #3 UNC Greensboro (20-11) vs. #6 Wofford (16-15)

—–

Semifinals – Sunday, March 5 

Game 7: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner on ESPNU

Game 8: Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner on ESPNEWS

—–

Finals – Monday, March 6  (7 PM EST on ESPN)

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—–

Summit – Sioux Falls, SD

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Opening Round – Friday, March 3 (ESPN+)

Game 1: #8 Denver (15-16) vs. #9 North Dakota (12-19)

Game 2: #7 UMKC (11-20) vs. #10 Omaha (8-22)

—–

Quarterfinals Day 1 – Saturday, March 4 (ESPN+)

Game 3: #1 Oral Roberts (27-4) vs. Game 1 Winner

Game 4: #2 South Dakota St. (18-12) vs. Game 2 Winner

—–

Quarterfinals Day 2 – Sunday, March 5 (ESPN+)

Game 5: #4 Western Illinois (16-13) vs. #5 St. Thomas (18-13)

Game 6: #3 North Dakota St. (14-16) vs. #6 South Dakota (12-18)

—–

Semifinals – Monday, March 6 (ESPN+)

Game 7: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner

Game 8: Game 4 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner

—–

Finals – Tuesday, March 7 (9 PM EST on ESPN2)

—–

—–

Sun Belt – Pensacola, FL

—–

Opening Round – Tuesday, February 28  (ESPN+)

Game 1: #12 Coastal Carolina (11-19) vs. #13 Arkansas St. (12-19)

Game 2: #11 Texas St. (13-18) vs. #14 Georgia St. (10-20)

—–

2nd Round – Thursday, March 2 (ESPN+)

Game 3: #8 South Alabama (16-15) vs. #9 Appalachian St. (16-15)

Game 4: #5 Troy (19-12) vs. Game 1 Winner

Game 5: #6 Old Dominion (19-11) vs. Game 2 Winner

Game 6: #7 Georgia Southern (16-15) vs. #10 Louisiana-Monroe (11-20)

—–

Quarterfinals – Saturday, March 4 (ESPN+)

Game 7: #1 Southern Miss (25-6) vs. Game 3 Winner

Game 8: #4 James Madison (21-10) vs. Game 4 Winner

Game 9: #3 Marshall (24-7) vs. Game 5 Winner

Game 10: #2 Louisiana (23-7) vs. Game 6 Winner

—–

Semifinals – Sunday, March 5 (ESPN+)

Game 11: Game 7 Winner vs. Game 8 Winner

Game 12: Game 9 Winner vs. Game 10 Winner

—–

Finals – Monday, March 6 (7 PM EST on ESPN2)

—–

—–

West Coast – Las Vegas

—–

Opening Round – Thursday, March 2 (BYUtv)

Game 1: #8 Portland (13-18) vs. #9 San Diego (11-19)

Game 2: #7 Pacific (14-17) vs. #10 Pepperdine (9-21)

—–

2nd Round – Friday, March 3 (BYUtv)

Game 3: #5 BYU (17-14) vs. Game 1 Winner

Game 4: #6 San Francisco (18-13) vs. Game 2 Winner

—–

Quarterfinals – Saturday, March 4 (ESPN2)

Game 5: #4 Loyola Marymount (19-11) vs. Game 3 Winner

Game 6: #3 Santa Clara (23-8) vs. Game 4 Winner

—–

Semifinals – Monday, March 6 

Game 7: #1 Saint Mary’s (25-6) vs. Game 5 Winner (ESPN)

Game 8: #2 Gonzaga (25-5*) vs. Game 6 Winner (ESPN2)

* Gonzaga has a non-conference game with Chicago St. before the tournament.

—–

Finals – Tuesday, March 7  (8 PM EST on ESPN)

PiRate Ratings Basketball Conference Tournament Update: March 2, 2020

Championship Fortnight is 24 hours away!  Can you believe it is Meteorological Spring already?  Some of you reading this may be saying that it has been Spring where you live for most of Winter, and if you are like us on the PiRate Ship in Nashville, we wonder if we need to get those instructions for building an ark.  The Captain’s back yard has a new little lake that has developed and basically stayed there since November.  It figures to increase in size this week as severe thunderstorms return.

With the weather being so wet, it just makes it easier to stay indoors and watch basketball until one can close his or her eyes and still see the ball bouncing up and down.

Starting Tuesday night, four conferences begin tournament play.  Three more conferences start on Wednesday, two more begin on Thursday, and one begins on Friday.  Four conferences wait until Saturday to begin.

Let’s take a look at the pairings for the tournaments that start between Tuesday and Friday (Saturday’s tournament information will be published Friday.

Every day there is conference tournament action, there will be a publication here with updated results and schedules.

 

TOURNAMENTS STARTING TUESDAY, MARCH 3

Atlantic Sun Tournament
Quarterfinals	March 3	at Higher Seed’s Home Court
Home	Visitor	Time (ET)	TV
1 Liberty (27-4)	8 NJIT (9-20)	7:00 PM	ESPN+
4 Stetson (15-16)	5 North Alabama (13-16)	7:00 PM	ESPN+
3 Lipscomb (14-15)	6 Florida Gulf Coast (10-21)	7:00 PM	ESPN+
2 North Florida (20-11)	7 Jacksonville (14-17)	7:00 PM	ESPN+
Semifinals	March 5	at Higher Seed’s Home Court
Home	Visitor	Time (ET)	TV
Liberty/NJIT	Stetson/North Alabama	TBA	ESPN+
N Florida/Jacksonville	Lipscomb/FGCU	TBA	ESPN+
Championship	March 8	at Higher Seed’s Home Court
Home	Visitor	Time (ET)	TV
		3:00 PM	ESPN

 

Liberty can move up to as high as a #11 seed if they win this tournament, but the Flames are most likely NIT-bound if they lose in this tournament.

North Florida split with Liberty during the regular season, while Lipscomb enters this tournament as the hottest team.

 

Big South Tournament
1st Round	March 3	at Higher Seed’s Home Court
Home	Visitor	Time (ET)	TV
7 USC Upstate (12-19)	10 High Point (9-22)	7:00 PM	ESPN3
6 UNC-Asheville (14-15)	11 Campbell (15-15)	7:00 PM	ESPN3
8 Charleston Sou. (13-17)	9 Presbyterian (10-21)	7:00 PM	ESPN3
Quarterfinals	March 5	at #1 Seed Radford
Team	Team	Time (ET)	TV
2 Winthrop (21-10)	USC-U/High Point	12:00 PM	ESPN3
3 Gardner-Webb (15-15)	UNCA/Campbell	2:00 PM	ESPN3
1 Radford (20-10)	Chas Sou./Presbyterian	6:00 PM	ESPN3
4 Longwood (14-17)	5 Hampton (13-18)	8:00 PM	ESPN3
Semifinals	March 6	at #1 Seed Radford
Team	Team	Time (ET)	TV
2/7/10 Seed	3/6/11 Seed	6:00 PM	ESPN+
1/8/9 Seed	4/5 Seed	8:30 PM	ESPN+
Championship	March 8	at Higher Seed’s Home Court
Team	Team	Time (ET)	TV
		1:00 PM	ESPN

Radford and Winthrop split their two regular season games with both teams winning on the other team’s home floor.  It would be a major surprise if these two teams failed to meet up in the Championship Game.

Number three seed Gardner-Webb and number four seed Longwood ended the season on four-game winning streaks, and in GWU’s winning streak was a road upset of Radford.

 

 

Horizon League Tournament
1st Round	March 3	at Higher Seed’s Home Court
Home	Visitor	Time (ET)	TV
4 Illinois Chicago (14-17)	9 IUPUI (7-24)	8:00 PM	ESPN+
5 Youngstown (17-14)	8 Milwaukee (12-18)	7:00 PM	ESPN+
6 Oakland (13-18)	7 Cleveland St. (11-20)	7:00 PM	ESPN+
Quarterfinals	March 5	at Higher Seed’s Home Court
Home	Visitor	Time (ET)	TV
3 Green Bay (16-15)	Lowest Remaining	8:00 PM	ESPN+
Highest Remaining	Second Lowest Remaining	7:00 or 8:00 PM	ESPN+
Semifinals	March 9	Indianapolis
Team	Team	Time (ET)	TV
1 Wright St. (25-6)	Lowest Remaining	7:00 PM	ESPNU
2 Northern Kentucky (21-9)	Highest Remaining	9:30 PM	ESPN2
CHAMPIONSHIP	March 10	Indianapolis
Team	Team	Time (ET)	TV
		7:00 PM	ESPN/ESPN2

 

Wright State and Northern Kentucky have been alternating as regular season and conference tournament champion for three years.  The last team other than these two to win the Horizon League Tournament was Green Bay in 2016.  The Phoenix are the number three seed in this year’s tournament, but the top two appear to be far more talented than the rest of the league, and a WSU-NKU championship game would be a good one for the league.

If one of the top two teams wins this tournament, they could move up to a 14-seed if there are some mid-major upsets, but they are most likely looking at a 15-seed.

 

 

Patriot League Tournament
1st Round	March 3	at Higher Seed’s Home Court
Home	Visitor	Time (ET)	TV
7 Bucknell (12-19)	10 Holy Cross (3-28)	7:00 PM	Pat League Network
8 Lehigh (10-20)	9 Loyola (MD) (15-16)	7:00 PM	Pat League Network
Quarterfinals	March 5	at Higher Seed’s Home Court
Home	Visitor	Time (ET)	TV
2 American (16-13)	Bucknell/Holy Cross	7:00 PM	Pat League Network
3 Boston U (18-13)	6 Navy (14-15)	7:00 PM	Pat League Network
4 Army (15-14)	5 Lafayette (18-11)	7:00 PM	Pat League Network
1 Colgate (23-8)	Lehigh/Loyola (MD)	7:00 PM	Pat League Network
Semifinals	March 8	at Higher Seed’s Home Court
Home	Visitor	Time (ET)	TV
American/Bucknell/HCU	Boston/Navy	12 or 2 PM	CBSSN
Colgate/Lehigh/Loyola	Army/Lafayette	12 or 2 PM	CBSSN
Championship	March 11	at Higher Seed’s Home Court
Home	Visitor	Time (ET)	TV
Higher Seed	Lower Seed	7:30 PM	CBSSN

 

This figures to be a wide-open affair.  Colgate will get to host every game they play in the Patriot League Tournament, but the Raiders are not overpowering.  Having to play a possible quarterfinal game with fourth-seeded Lafayette will be quite interesting as the Leopards swept the Raiders in two close games.

There is one caveat to the above statements: Colgate was a little weaker in 2019 than they were this year, and the Raiders romped to the Patriot League Championship with three double-digit wins in the tournament.  They followed that up by taking number one Tennessee to the last few minutes in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

 

 

TOURNAMENTS STARTING WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4

 

Mountain West Tournament
1st Round	March 4	Las Vegas (Thomas & Mack Center)
Team	Team	Time (ET)	TV
8 Fresno St. (11-18)	9 Air Force (11-19)	3:00 PM	Mountain West Net.
7 New Mexico (18-13)	10 San Jose St. (7-23)	5:30 PM	Mountain West Net.
6 Colorado St. (20-11)	11 Wyoming (7-23)	8:00 PM	Mountain West Net.
Quarterfinals	March 5	Las Vegas (Thomas & Mack Center)
Team	Team	Time (ET)	TV
1 San Diego St. (28-1)	Fresno St./Air Force	2:30 PM	CBSSN
4 UNLV (17-14)	5 Boise St. (19-11)	5:00 PM	CBSSN
2 Utah St. (23-8)	New Mexico/San Jose St.	9:00 PM	CBSSN
3 Nevada (19-11)	Colorado St./Wyoming	11:30 PM	CBSSN
Semifinals	March 6	Las Vegas (Thomas & Mack Center)
Team	Team	Time (ET)	TV
SDST/Fresno/Air Force	UNLV/Boise St.	9:00 PM	CBSSN
Utah St./N. Mexico/S J St.	Nevada/Col St/Wyoming	11:30 PM	CBSSN
Championship	March 7	Las Vegas (Thomas & Mack Center)
Team	Team	Time (ET)	TV
		5:30 PM	CBS

 

San Diego St. most likely secured a one-seed by finishing 17-1 in the league and 28-1 overall in the regular season.  Utah St. is squarely on the Bubble, and the Aggies need to get to the Championship Game to lock up an at-large bid.

Nevada, UNLV, Boise State, and Colorado State have enough talent to make a run in this tournament, but the Aztecs look like a near lock to cut the nets.

 

 

Northeast Tournament
Quarterfinals	March 4	at Higher Seed’s Home Court
Home	Visitor	Time (ET)	TV
1 Robert Morris (17-14)	8 St. Francis (NY) (13-17)	7:00 PM	http://necfrontrow.com/
2 St. Francis (PA) (20-9)	7 Bryant (15-16)	7:00 PM	http://necfrontrow.com/
3 Sacred Heart (19-12)	6 Mount St. Mary’s (11-20)	7:00 PM	http://necfrontrow.com/
4 Long Island (14-17)	5 Fairleigh-Dickinson (11-18)	7:00 PM	http://necfrontrow.com/
Semifinals	March 7	at Higher Seed’s Home Court
Home	Visitor	Time (ET)	TV
Highest Remaining Seed	Lowest Remaining Seed	12 or 2 PM	ESPN3
2nd Highest Remaining Seed	3rd Highest Remaining Seed	12 or 2PM	ESPN3
Championship	March 10	at Higher Seed’s Home Court
Home	Visitor	Time (ET)	TV
Higher Remaining Seed	Lower Remaining Seed	7:00 PM	ESPN2 or ESPN3

 

This is one of the most wide open tournaments of the season.  Unfortunately, the best team in this league is not eligible for the NCAA Tournament (or NIT) and will not play in this conference tournament.  First-year Division 1 member Merrimack became the first team ever to move from Division 2 to Division 1 and win their conference in the first season.  The Warrior will be allowed to play in the CIT Tournament.

So, which team is the second best team in the NEC?  St. Francis of Pennsylvania finished tied for second place with Robert Morris, with RMU winning the tiebreaker.  Number three seed Sacred Heart and number five seed Fairleigh-Dickinson finished the season on three-game winning streaks.  FDU beat Robert Morris twice, but they didn’t show up against SF (PA) or Long Island.

No matter which team wins this tournament, they will be a 16-seed in the NCAA Tournament, and barring some big upsets in other mid-major conferences, the NEC Champion will probably be faced in a play-in game in Dayton. 

 

 

Ohio Valley Tournament
1st Round	March 4	Evansville, IN (Ford Center)
Team	Team	Time (ET)	TV
5 Tennessee St. (17-14)	8 Morehead St. (13-18)	7:30 PM	ESPN+
6 Eastern Illinois (16-14)	7 Jacksonville St. (13-18)	9:30 PM	ESPN+
Quarterfinals	March 5	Evansville, IN (Ford Center)
Team	Team	Time (ET)	TV
4 Eastern Kentucky (15-16)	Tenn St./Morehead St.	7:30 PM	ESPN+
3 Austin Peay (20-11)	E. Illinois/Jacksonville St.	9:30 PM	ESPN+
Semifinals	March 6	Evansville, IN (Ford Center)
Team	Team	Time (ET)	TV
1 Belmont (24-7)	EKU/Tenn St./Morehead St.	8:00 PM	ESPNU
2 Murray St. (22-8)	APSU/E. Ill./Jax St.	10:00 PM	ESPNU
Championship	March 7	Evansville, IN (Ford Center)
Team	Team	Time (ET)	TV
		8:00 PM	ESPN2

 

The OVC has become something of a little ACC.  Murray State plays the role of North Carolina.  Belmont is the league’s Duke, and Austin Peay is the league’s Virginia.  Murray is the long-time dominant team in this league, while Belmont is the more recent dominant team.  Austin Peay found a great coach a few years ago and plays excellent defense and smart offense.

So, which one of these three teams will win the conference tournament?  Most likely, it will be either Belmont or Murray State, because the OVC’s tournament format gives the top two seeds byes to the semifinals.

Belmont must be considered the odds-on favorite to win the tournament, as the Bruins have won 10 games in a row by an average score of 79-67.

A potential second night match between Eastern Illinois and Austin Peay might be the best game of the tournament.  The Panthers have the best inside game in the league, and if the Governors don’t hit from the outside, EIU could be the surprise team in the semifinals.  EIU beat Murray State and Austin Peay down the stretch to give Belmont the OVC Championship.

 

 

TOURNAMENTS STARTING THURSDAY, MARCH 5

 

Missouri Valley Tournament (Arch Madness)
1st Round	March 5	St. Louis (Enterprise Center)
Team	Team	Time (ET)	TV
8 Drake (18-13)	9 Illinois St. (10-20)	7:00 PM	MVC TV Network
7 Valparaiso (16-15)	10 Evansville (9-22)	9:30 PM	MVC TV Network
Quarterfinals	March 6	St. Louis (Enterprise Center)
Team	Team	Time (ET)	TV
1 Northern Iowa (25-5)	Drake/Illinois St.	1:00 PM	MVC TV Network
4 Bradley (20-11)	5 Southern Illinois (16-15)	3:30 PM	MVC TV Network
2 Loyola (Chi.) (21-10)	Valpo/Evansville	7:00 PM	MVC TV Network
3 Indiana St. (18-11)	6 Missouri St. (15-16)	9:30 PM	MVC TV Network
Semifinals	March 7	St. Louis (Enterprise Center)
Team	Team	Time (ET)	TV
UNI/Drake/Ill St.	Bradley/Southern Illinois	3:30 PM	CBSSN
Loyola/Valpo/Evansville	Indiana St./Missouri St.	6:00 PM	CBSSN
Championship	March 8	St. Louis (Enterprise Center)
Team	Team	Time (ET)	TV
		2:10 PM	CBS

 

Arch Madness has ended with Cinderella cutting down the nets quite often in the last several years.  Bradley won the Tournament last year after going 9-9 in regular season conference play.

Northern Iowa has played a tough enough schedule so that three more wins in St. Louis could boost the Panthers up to as high as a number 10 seed.  Yet, at the same time UNI is not an overwhelming favorite to win the tournament, and if another team can pull off the upset, The Missouri Valley could get two teams into the Dance at the expense of a Bubble team.

Keep an eye on Indiana State.  The Sycamores won eight of their final 11 games, including wins over the top two seeds.  ISU played a tough out-of-conference schedule, including games against Dayton, Louisville, and Wright State.  They narrowly lost to Dayton and beat Wright State, so this team has the firepower to win three games in three days.

Missouri State is the mystery team in this league.  The Bears can dominate inside and control the glass at both ends, but they disappear for long stretches at a time.  They were blown away twice by Northern Iowa, but in a tournament scenario on a neutral floor, don’t count them out until they are.

 

 

West Coast Tournament
1st Round	March 5	Las Vegas (Orleans Arena)
Team	Team	Time (ET)	TV
8 Loyola Marymount (10-20)	9 San Diego (9-22)	9:00 PM	BYUtv
7 Santa Clara (19-12)	10 Portland (9-22)	11:30 PM	BYUtv
2nd Round	March 6	Las Vegas (Orleans Arena)
Team	Team	Time (ET)	TV
5 San Francisco (20-11)	Loyola Marymount/San Diego	9:00 PM	BYUtv
6 Pepperdine (15-15)	Santa Clara/Portland	11:30 PM	BYUtv
Quarterfinals	March 7	Las Vegas (Orleans Arena)
Team	Team	Time (ET)	TV
4 Pacific (23-9)	USF/LMU/San Diego	10:00 PM	ESPN2
3 Saint Mary’s (24-7)	Pepperdine/Santa Clara/Portland	12:30 AM	ESPN2
Semifinals	March 9	Las Vegas (Orleans Arena)
Team	Team	Time (ET)	TV
1 Gonzaga (29-2)	Pac/USF/LMU/USD	9:00 PM	ESPN
2 BYU (24-7)	SMC.Pepp/SCU/Portland	11:30 PM	ESPN2
Championship	March 10	Las Vegas (Orleans Arena)
Team	Team	Time (ET)	TV
		9:00 PM	ESPN

Gonzaga could lose this tournament and still be the number one seed in the West or at worst the East.  The news in this year’s WCC get-together will be whether or not three league teams can receive bids to the Dance.

BYU is squarely in the Field, but Saint Mary’s is vulnerable.  The Gaels need to definitely win their first tournament game, and they might need to knock off BYU to be guaranteed a spot in the field.  

Fourth-seeded Pacific and fifth-seeded San Francisco must be considered dark horses to contend for the Conference Tournament Championship.  They are likely going to meet in the quarterfinal round with the winner advancing to meet Gonzaga.  The Bulldogs handled both with relative ease during the season, but USF was a pest in their two games.

 

 

TOURNAMENT STARTING FRIDAY, MARCH 6

 

Southern Tournament
1st Round	March 6	Asheville, NC (Harrah’s Cherokee Center)
Team	Team	Time ET	TV
8 Samford (10-22)	9 VMI (8-23)	5:00 PM	ESPN+
7 Wofford (16-15)	10 The Citadel (6-23)	7:30 PM	ESPN+
Quarterfinals	March 7	Asheville, NC (Harrah’s Cherokee Center)
Team	Team	Time ET	TV
1 East Tennessee St. (27-4)	Samford/VMI	12:00 PM	ESPN+
4 Mercer (17-14)	5 Western Carolina (18-11)	2:30 PM	ESPN+
2 Furman (25-6)	Wofford/The Citadel	6:00 PM	ESPN+
3 UNC Greensboro (23-8)	6 Chattanooga (19-12)	8:30 PM	ESPN+
Semifinals	March 8	Asheville, NC (Harrah’s Cherokee Center)
Team	Team	Time ET	TV
ETSU/Samford/VMI	Mercer/Western Carolina	4:00 PM	ESPN+
Furman/Wofford/Citadel	UNCG/Chattanooga	6:30 PM	ESPN+
Championship	March 9	Asheville, NC (Harrah’s Cherokee Center)
Team	Team	Time ET	TV
		7:00 PM	ESPN

 

Of the early tournament starting this week, The SoCon may be the deepest.  Six teams are talented enough to win this tournament.  There are two shelves here.  East Tennessee State, Furman, and UNC Greensboro are the upper crust, while Mercer, Western Carolina, and Chattanooga are the second tier of the top six.

If East Tennessee wins the tournament championship, the Buccaneers could move up to a single-digit seed.  ETSU enters this tournament riding a nine-game winning streak, and the Bucs have wins against LSU and Little Rock out of conference.

Western Carolina just lost by a point at East Tennessee after being up double digits in the first half.  The Catamounts might be a tough out in a potential semifinal game against ETSU.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PiRate Ratings College Basketball For Sunday, March 3, 2019

Games Scheduled for:			Sunday
Home	Rating	HCA	Visitor	Rating	Spread
Charlotte	91.7	2.5	UTEP	93.3	0.9
Connecticut	105.5	3.0	South Florida	103.4	5.1
DePaul	103.9	2.5	St. John’s	108.6	-2.2
Florida Int’l.	96.9	2.5	Louisiana Tech	101.7	-2.3
Georgia Tech	103.9	3.0	Boston College	104.8	2.1
Illinois	106.9	2.0	Northwestern	106.7	2.2
Louisiana	100.0	2.5	Appalachian St.	97.7	4.8
Louisville	113.5	3.0	Notre Dame	105.9	10.6
Marist	95.5	2.5	Rider	98.6	-0.6
Marquette	113.5	3.0	Creighton	109.5	7.0
Maryland	113.4	3.0	Michgan	117.8	-1.4
Niagara	92.2	2.5	Siena	95.3	-0.6
North Texas	101.6	3.0	Marshall	98.7	5.9
Oregon St.	106.2	3.0	Arizona St.	108.0	1.2
Quinnipiac	96.9	2.5	Manhattan	90.5	8.9
Rice	94.4	2.5	Middle Tennessee	94.9	2.0
Saint Peter’s	92.1	2.0	Fairfield	93.4	0.7
SMU	104.3	3.0	Wichita St.	104.3	3.0
Stanford	104.5	2.5	Washington	110.2	-3.2
Temple	106.8	3.0	Tulane	92.3	17.5
Tulsa	103.0	3.0	East Carolina	93.6	12.4
UTSA	100.1	2.5	UAB	99.7	2.9
Western Kentucky	103.3	3.0	Southern Miss.	102.2	4.1

 

Updated Conference Tournament Brackets

The Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament commences Monday night with four quarterfinal games.  In all, 11 conference brackets are now set and will begin play in the next week.  Here in order by the date these tournaments begin, are the 11 brackets.

Atlantic Sun Conference
All games at home floor of higher seeds
Quarterfinals–Monday, March 4
Seed	Home	Seed	Visitor
1	Lipscomb (23-6)	8	Kennesaw St. (6-25)
2	Liberty (25-6)	7	Jacksonville (12-19)
3	North Florida (15-16)	6	North Alabama (10-21)
4	Florida Gulf Coast (14-17)	5	NJIT (20-11)
Semifinals–Thursday, March 7
Seed	Home	Seed	Visitor
1/8	Higher Seed	4/5	Lower Seed
2/7	Higher Seed	3/6	Lower Seed
Championship Game–Sunday, March 10
Seed	Home	Seed	Visitor
1/8/4/5	Higher Seed	2/3/6/7	Lower Seed

 

Big South Conference
Site: Home and #1 Seed
First Round–Tuesday, March 5 (at Higher Seeded Teams)
Seed	Home Team	Seed	Visitors
7	Presbyterian (17-14)	10	UNC-Asheville (4-26)
6	Charleston Southern (15-14)	11	USC Upstate (6-25)
8	Hampton (14-15)	9	Longwood (15-16)
Quarterfinals–Thursday, March 7 (at Campbell)
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
2	Radford (20-10)	7/10	Presbyterian/UNC-Asheville
3	Winthrop (18-11)	6/11	Chas Sou./USC Upstate
1	Campbell (19-11)	8/9	Hampton/Longwood
4	Gardner-Webb (20-11)	5	High Point (16-14)
Semifinals–Thursday, March 8 (at Campbell)
Seed	Home Team	Seed	Visitors
2/7/10		3/6/11
1/8/9		4/5
Championship Game–Sunday, March 10 (at Higher Seeded Team)
Seed	Home Team	Seed	Visitors

 

Horizon League (Motor City Madness)
Site: Higher Seed and Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, MI
Quarterfinals–Tuesday, March 5 & Wednesday, March 6 (at Higher Seed)
Seed	Home Team	Seed	Visitors
1	Wright St. (19-12)	8	IUPUI (16-15)
4	Green Bay (16-15)	5	Illinois-Chicago (16-15)
3	Oakland (15-16)	6	Youngstown St. (12-19)
2	Northern Kentucky (23-8)	7	Detroit (11-19)
Semifinals–Friday, March 15 (Detroit for last two rounds)
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
1/8	Wright St./IUPUI	4/5	Green Bay/Illinois-Chi.
2/7	N Kentucky/Detroit	3/6	Oakland/Youngstown St.
Championship Game–Saturday, March 16
Seed	Team	Seed	Team

 

Patriot League
All games at home floor of higher seeds
First Round–Tuesday, March 5
Seed	Home		Visitors
8	Boston U (14-17)	9	Loyola (MD) (11-20)
7	Lafayette (10-19)	10	Holy Cross (15-16)
Quarterfinals–Thursday, March 7
Seed	Home	Seed	Visitor
1	Colgate (21-10)	8/9	Boston/Loyola (MD)
2	Bucknell (19-10)	7/10	Lafayette/Holy Cross
3	Lehigh (19-10)	6	Army (13-18)
4	American (15-14)	5	Navy (11-18)
Semifinals–Sunday, March 10
Seed	Home	Seed	Visitor
1/8/9	Higher Seed	4/5	Lower Seed
2/7/10	Higher Seed	3/6	Lower Seed
Championship Game–Wednesday, March 13
Seed	Home	Seed	Visitor
	Higher Semifinal Winner		Lower Semifinal Winner

 

Northeast Conference
All games at home floor of higher seeds
Quarterfinals–Wednesday, March 6
Seed	Home	Seed	Visitor
1	St. Francis (PA) (16-13)	8	Bryant (10-19)
2	Fairleigh-Dickinson (17-13)	7	Wagner (13-16)
3	Sacred Heart (15-16)	6	Long Island (15-15)
4	Robert Morris (16-15)	5	St. Francis (Bklyn) (17-14)
Semifinals–Saturday, March 9
Seed	Home	Seed	Visitor
	Highest Remaining Seed		Lowest Remaining Seed
	2nd Highest Remaining Seed		3rd Highest Remaining Seed
Championship Game–Tuesday, March 12
Seed	Home	Seed	Visitor
	Higher Semifinal Winner		Lower Semifinal Winner

 

Ohio Valley Conference
Site: Ford Center, Evansville, IN
First Round–Wednesday, March 6
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
5	Morehead St. (12-19)	8	SIU Edwardsville (10-20)
6	Eastern Illinois (14-17)	7	UT-Martin (11-18)
Quarterfinals–Thursday, March 7
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
4	Austin Peay (21-10)	5/8	Morehead/SIU-Edwardsville
3	Jacksonville St. (23-8)	6/7	E. Illinois/UT-Martin
Semifinals–Friday, March 8
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
1	Belmont (25-4)	4/5/8	APSU/Mhead/SIUE
2	Murray St. (25-4)	3/6/7	JvilleSt/EIU/UTM
Championship Game–Saturday, March 9
Seed	Team	Seed	Team

 

Missouri Valley Conference (Arch Madness)
Site: Enterprise Center, St. Louis, MO
First Round–Thursday, March 7
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
8	Indiana St. (15-15)	9	Valparaiso (14-17)
7	Illinois St. (16-15)	10	Evansville (11-20)
Quarterfinals–Friday, March 8
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
1	Loyola (Chi) (19-12)	8/9	Ind St./Valpo
4	Missouri St. (16-15)	5	Bradley (17-14)
2	Drake (23-8)	7/10	Ill St./Evansville
3	Southern Illinois (17-14)	6	Northern Iowa (14-17)
Semifinals–Saturday, March 9
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
1/8/9	Loyola/Ind St./Valpo	4/5	MSU/Bradley
2/7/10	Drake/Ill St/Evans	3/6	SIU/UNI
Championship Game–Sunday, March 10
Seed	Team	Seed	Team

West Coast Conference
Site: Orleans Arena, Las Vegas, NV
First Round–Thursday, March 7
Seed	Home Team	Seed	Visitors
7	San Diego (18-13)	10	Portland (7-24)
8	Pepperdine (13-17)	9	Pacific (14-17)
Second Round–Friday, March 8
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
6	Santa Clara (16-14)	7/10	USD/Portland
5	Loyola Marymount (20-10)	8/9	Pepper/Pacific
Quarterfinals–Saturday, March 9
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
3	BYU (19-12)	6/7/10	SCU/USD/Portland
4	San Francisco (21-9)	5/8/9	LMU/Pepper/Pacific
Semifinals–Monday, March 11
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
2	Saint Mary’s (20-11)	3/6/7/10	BYU/SCU/USD/Portland
1	Gonzaga (29-2)	4/5/8/9	USF/LMU/Pepper/Pacific
Championship Game–Tuesday, March 12
Seed	Team	Seed	Team

 

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)
Quarterfinals–Saturday, March 9
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
1	Wofford (26-4)	8/9	VMI/Western Carolina
4	East Tennessee St. (23-8)	5	Chattanooga (12-19)
2	UNC Greensboro (26-5)	7/10	Samford/Citadel
3	Furman (24-6)	6	Mercer (11-19)
Semifinals–Sunday, March 10
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
1/8/9	Woff/VMI/WCU	4/5	ETSU/Chatt
2/7/10	UNCG/Sam/Cit	3/6	Furman/Mercer
Championship Game–Monday, March 11
Seed	Team	Seed	Team

 

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)
Quarterfinals–Sunday, March 10
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
1	Hofstra (25-6)	8/9	JMU/Towson
4	William & Mary (14-16)	5	Delaware (16-15)
2	Northeastern (20-10)	7/10	Elon/UNCW
3	Charleston (23-8)	6	Drexel (13-18)
Semifinals–Monday, March 11
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
1/8/9	Hofstra/JMU/Towson	4/5	Wm&Mary/Delaware
2/7/10	NEastern/Elon/UNCW	3/6	Charleston/Drexel
Championship Game–Tuesday, March 12
Seed	Team	Seed	Team

 

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)
Semifinals–Monday, March 11
Seed	Team	Seed	Team
1/8	SDSU/WIU	4/5	PFW/USD
2/7	Omaha/UND	3/6	NDSUORU
Championship Game–Tuesday, March12
Seed	Team	Seed	Team

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PiRate Ratings Conference Tournament Update–March 3, 2018

As the first week of Championship Fortnight nears its conclusion, there have been few surprises so far.  However, in one league, the top two seeds were eliminated by teams at the bottom of the conference.  In the Metro Atlantic, top-seed Rider fell to 9-seed St. Peter’s, and 2-seed Canisius lost to 7-seed Quinnipiac.  Of course, the MAAC is a one-bid league, so if your favorite team is holding on for dear life on the bubble, this did nothing to affect its bursting.

The Big Ten Conference Tournament took an interesting twist yesterday.  Nebraska failed to show up against a Michigan squad cranking on all cylinders.  The loss certainly bursts the Cornhuskers’ bubble.  Just a little while later, Penn State replaced Nebraska among the hopeful teams trying to sneak into the dance through the side door.  The Nittany Lions made it a triple sweep over Ohio State to move into today’s semifinals.  If Penn St. drops Purdue today, then the Lions move squarely onto the bubble, and they would also be one win away from an automatic bid, which would obviously then burst another team’s bubble, such as Kansas St., Louisville, or Alabama.

The 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Field will see its first invitation handed out tonight in Evansville, Indiana, when #1-seed Murray State faces #2-seed Belmont in the Ohio Valley Conference Championship.  These two teams have been the Yankees and Red Sox of the league, and either one would be a formidable underdog in the first round of the Big Dance.  Murray State has multiple first round wins in its history, while Belmont has come very close a couple of times, including a one-point loss to Duke.

Here’s a look at yesterday’s conference tournament action.

Big South

Radford 61	Winthrop 52
Liberty 69	UNC-Asheville 64

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

Big Ten

Michigan St. 63	Wisconsin 60
Michigan 77	Nebraska 58
Penn St. 69	Ohio St. 68
Purdue 82	Rutgers 75

Semifinals–March 3
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
2:00 PM	#1 Michigan St.	#5 Michigan	CBS
4:30 PM	#3 Purdue	#7 Penn St.	CBS
Championship–March 4
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
4:30 PM			CBS

 

Horizon League

Green Bay 93	Detroit 81
Cleveland St. 72	Youngstown St. 71

Quarterfinals–March 3
5:30 PM	#2 Wright St.	#7 Green Bay	ESPN3
8:00 PM	#1 Northern Kentucky	#8 Cleveland St.	ESPN3
Quarterfinals–March 4
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
5:00 PM	#3 UIC	#6 Milwaukee	ESPN3
7:30 PM	#4 Oakland	#5 IUPUI	ESPN3
Semifinals–March 5
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM	NKU/CSU/YSU	Oakland or IUPUI	ESPNU
9:30 PM	Wright St./GB/Det	UIC or Milwaukee	ESPNU
Championship–March 6
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM			TBA

Metro Atlantic

St. Peter’s 66	Rider 55
Quinnipiac 72	Canisius 69

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

Missouri Valley

Loyola (Chi.) 54	Northern Iowa 50
Bradley 63	Drake 61
Southern Illinois 67	Missouri St. 63
Illinois St. 77	Indiana St. 70

Semifinals–March 3
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
2:30 PM	#1 Loyola (Chi.)	#5 Bradley	CBSSN
5:00 PM	#2 Southern Illinois	#3 Illinois St.	CBSSN
Championship–March 4
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
1:00 PM			CBS

Ohio Valley

Murray St. 70	Jacksonville St. 63
Belmont 94	Austin Peay 79

Championship–March 3
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM	#1 Murray St.	#2 Belmont	ESPN2

Southern Conference

Citadel 78	VMI 70
Chattanooga 89	Samford 79

Quarterfinals–March 3
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM	#1 UNC-Greensboro	#8 The Citadel	ESPN3
2:30 PM	#4 Mercer	#5 Wofford	ESPN3
6:00 PM	#2 East Tennessee St.	#10 Chattanooga	ESPN3
8:30 PM	#3 Furman	#6 Western Carolina	ESPN3
Semifinals–March 4
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
4:00 PM	UNCG/Cit	Mercer or Wofford	ESPN3
6:30 PM	ETSU//Chatt	Furman or WCU	ESPN3
Championship–March 5
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
9:00 PM			ESPN2

West Coast Conference

Loyola Marymount 78	Portland 72
Pepperdine 85	Santa Clara 69

Quarterfinals–March 3
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
1:00 PM	#3 BYU	#6 San Diego	NBCSN
3:00 PM	#4 San Francisco	#5 Pacific	NBCSN
7:00 PM	#1 Gonzaga	#8 Loyola Marymount	ESPN2
9:00 PM	#2 Saint Mary’s	#10 Pepperdine	ESPN2
Semifinals–March 4
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	Gonzaga/LMU	USF or Pacific	ESPN
8:00 PM	SMU/Pepperdine	BYU or USD	ESPN2
Championship–March 6
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM			ESPN

Conference Tournaments Resuming Today

Northeast Conference

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

 

Conference Tournaments Beginning Today

Colonial Athletic Association Tournament
North Charleston, SC
All Times EST
First Round–March 3
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
4:00 PM	#8 Drexel	#9 James Madison	CAA TV
6:30 PM	#7 Delaware	#10 Elon	CAA TV
Quarterfinals–March 4
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
12:00 PM	#1 College of Charleston	Drexel or JMU	CAA TV
2:30 PM	#4 William & Mary	#5 Towson	CAA TV
6:00 PM	#2 Northeastern	Delaware or Elon	CAA TV
8:30 PM	#3 Hofstra	#6 UNC-Wilmington	CAA TV
Semifinals–March 5
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	CofC/Drex/JMU	W&M or Towson	CBSSN
8:30 PM	NE/Del/Elon	Hofstra or UNCW	CBSSN
Championship–March 6
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
7:00 PM			CBSSN

Summit League Tournament
Sioux Falls, MS
All Times CST
Quarterfinals–March 3
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	#1 South Dakota St.	#8 Western Illinois	ESPN3
8:30 PM	#2 South Dakota	#7 Omaha	ESPN3
Quarterfinals–March 4
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	#4 Fort Wayne	#5 North Dakota St.	ESPN3
8:30 PM	#3 Denver	#6 Oral Roberts	ESPN3
Semifinals–March 5
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
6:00 PM	SDSU or WIU	Ft.Wayne or NDSU	ESPN3
8:30 PM	USD or Omaha	Denver or ORU	ESPN3
Championship–March 6
Time	Higher Seed	Lower Seed	TV
8:00 PM			ESPN2

Today’s PiRate Ratings Spreads for Power Conferences and Conference Tournaments

Home Team	Visitor	Spread
DePaul	Xavier	-6.6
Texas	West Virginia	-1.1
Florida	Kentucky	3.2
Georgia Tech	Wake Forest	1.6
Miami (Fla.)	Virginia Tech	3.4
Providence	St. John’s	3.3
LSU	Mississippi St.	1.7
Syracuse	Clemson	-0.2
Florida St.	Boston College	7.7
Texas A&M	Alabama	5.9
Kansas St.	Baylor	1.7
Fordham	VCU	-3.7
St. Joseph’s	LaSalle	4.9
Arizona St.	Stanford	8.1
Marquette	Creighton	-0.2
Dayton	George Washington	4.6
Auburn	South Carolina	7.6
Virginia	Notre Dame	12.2
Oklahoma St.	Kansas	-4.0
Texas Tech	TCU	6.1
Washington	Oregon	0.5
Villanova	Georgetown	17.9
Tennessee	Georgia	9.9
North Carolina St.	Louisville	1.3
Missouri	Arkansas	2.7
Arizona	California	18.2
Washington St.	Oregon St.	-2.3
Middle Tennessee	Marshall	11.3
Utah	Colorado	7.4
George Mason	Richmond	2.3
Boise St.	Wyoming	10.0
Seton Hall	Butler	2.1
Massachusetts	Duquesne	1.9
St. Louis	St. Bonaventure	0.2
UT Rio Grande Valley	New Mexico St.	-11.2
Duke	North Carolina	6.5
Ole Miss	Vanderbilt	2.9
San Diego St.	Nevada	-0.9
USC	UCLA	4.7
UMBC	UMass-Lowell	9.2
Hartford	New Hampshire	6.1
Vermont	Maine	23.4
Albany	Stony Brook	8.9
Drexel	James Madison	-0.9
Delaware	Elon	0.1
South Dakota St.	Western Illinois	15.2
South Dakota	Omaha	15.1
Michigan St.	Michigan	4.1
Purdue	Penn St.	6.5
Wright St.	Green Bay	7.6
Northern Kentucky	Cleveland St.	14.8
Niagara	Fairfield	1.2
Iona	Manhattan	4.7
Loyola (Chi.)	Bradley	7.0
Southern Illinois	Illinois St.	0.7
Wagner	Robert Morris	8.8
Long Island	Fairleigh-Dickinson	3.9
Murray St.	Belmont	1.4
UNC-Greensboro	The Citadel	16.1
Mercer	Wofford	2.3
East Tennessee St.	Chattanooga	13.6
Furman	Western Carolina	13.4
BYU	San Diego	4.3
San Francisco	Pacific	1.6
Gonzaga	Loyola Marymount	20.7
Saint Mary’s	Pepperdine	18.9

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PiRate Ratings Conference Tournament Update–March 2, 2018

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

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

Atlantic Sun Semifinals

Florida Gulf Coast   95     North Florida   72

Lipscomb   77                     Jacksonville   62

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

 

Big South Quarterfinals

Radford   59               Longwood   53

Winthrop   72            Gardner-Webb   68

UNC-Asheville   71   Charleston Southern   66

Liberty   73                  Campbell   59

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

 

Big Ten Second Round

Wisconsin   59   Maryland 54

Michigan   77     Iowa   71   ot

Penn St.   65       Northwestern   57

Rutgers   76        Indiana   69

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

 

Metro Atlantic First Round

St. Peter’s   60      Monmouth   58

Quinnipiac   67    Siena   58

Fairfield   71        Marist   57

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

 

Missouri Valley First Round

Northern Iowa   60    Evansville   50

Missouri St.   83          Valparaiso   79

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

 

Ohio Valley Quarterfinals

Jacksonville St.   73     Tennessee Tech   70

Austin Peay   73           Eastern Illinois   66

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

 

Patriot League Quarterfinals

Bucknell   83        Loyola (MD)   78

Boston U   88        Lehigh   82

Colgate   76           Lafayette   54

Holy Cross   81     Navy   65

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

 

 

Conference Tournaments Beginning Today

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

 

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

 

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

This Week’s PiRate Ratings Top 25

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

This Week’s PiRate Ratings For Power Conferences

And Top Mid-Majors

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

Today’s PiRate Rating Spreads For Power Conference Games

and Conference Tournament Games

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NCAA Basketball Conference Tournaments–Thursday, March 7, 2013

Today’s Conference Tournaments in Action

Atlantic Sun—Quarterfinal Round Continues

Big South—Quarterfinal Round

Missouri Valley—Opening Round

Ohio Valley—Quarterfinal Round

West Coast—2nd Round

 

America East Conference

 

Seed	Team	Conference	Overall	RPI
1	Stony Brook	14-2	23-6	71
2	Vermont	11-5	19-10	128
3	Hartford	10-6	17-12	171
4	Albany	9-7	21-10	164
5	Maine	6-10	11-18	273
6	U M B C	5-11	7-22	312
7	N. Hampshire	5-11	9-19	293
8	Binghamton	1-15	3-26	338

 

Conference Tournament—Albany, NY  (Championship Game at Higher Seed)

 

Game #	Day 1 – Quarterfinals	Time	TV
	SATURDAY, MARCH 9
1	2-Vermont vs. 7-New Hampshire	12:00 Noon	ESPN3
2	3-Hartford vs. 6-U M B C	2:00 PM	ESPN3
3	1-Stony Brook vs. 8-Binghamton	6:00 PM	ESPN3
4	4-Albany vs. 5-Maine	8:00 PM	ESPN3
	Day 2 – Semifinals
	SUNDAY, MARCH 10
5	Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2	5:00 PM	ESPN3
6	Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4	7:00 PM	ESPN3
	Day 3 -Finals
	SATURDAY, MARCH 16
7	Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6	11:30 AM	ESPN2
	at Higher Seeded Winner’s Home Court

 

Online Site: www.americaeast.com

 

Atlantic Sun Conference

 

Seed	Team	Conference	Overall	RPI
1	Mercer	14-4	22-10	131
2	Florida Gulf Coast	13-5	22-10	109
3	Stetson	11-7	14-15	223
4	SC Upstate	9-9	15-16	228
5	Jacksonville	9-9	14-17	268
6	North Florida	8-10	13-19	220
7	East Tennessee St.	8-10	10-21	263
8	Lipscomb	7-11	12-18	235

 

Conference Tournament—Macon, GA (Mercer)

Game #	Day 1 – Quarterfinals	Time	TV
	WEDNESDAY, MARCH 06, 2013
1	#2 Florida Gulf Coast  73  #7 N. Florida  63
2	#1 Mercer  82  #8 Lipscomb  48
	Day 2 – Quarterfinals
	THURSDAY, MARCH 07, 2013
3	#3 Stetson vs. #6 East Tennessee St.	2:30 p.m.	ESPN3
4	#4 Jacksonville vs. #5 USC-Upstate	8:30 p.m.	ESPN3
	Day 3 – Semifinals
	FRIDAY, MARCH 08, 2013
5	#2 Fla. Gulf Coast vs. Winner Game 3	5:30 p.m.	CSS
6	#1 Mercer vs. Winner Game 4	8:00 p.m.	CSS
	Day 4 – Finals
	SATURDAY, MARCH 09, 2013
7	Semifinal Winners	12:00 p.m.	ESPN2

 

Online Site: http://www.atlanticsun.org

 

Big South Conference   Seed Team Conference Overall RPI 1 Charleston Southern 12-4 17-11 186 2 High Point 12-4 17-12 248 3 Gardner-Webb 11-5 20-11 185 4 UNC-Asheville 10-6 16-16 202 5 Coastal Carolina 9-7 14-15 246 6 V M I 8-8 13-16 311 7 Campbell 7-9 13-19 293 8 Radford 7-9 13-19 313 9 Winthrop 6-10 14-16 275 10 Liberty 6-10 12-20 324 11 Presbyterian 4-12 8-24 339 12 Longwood 4-12 8-24 336   Conference Tournament—Conway, SC (Myrtle Beach Area) (Coastal Carolina) Game # Day 1 – First Round Time TV   TUESDAY, MARCH 5     1 5S Winthrop  60  4N Radford  58 ot     2 6N Longwood  87  3S UNC-Asheville  72     3 3N Campbell  81  6S Presbyterian  73     4 5N Liberty  78  4S Coastal Carolina  61               Day 2 – Quarterfinals       THURSDAY, MARCH 7     5 1S Charleston Southern vs. 5S Winthrop 12 Noon Online 6 2N V M I vs. 6N Longwood 2:00 PM Online 7 2S Gardner-Webb vs. 3N Campbell 6:00 PM Online 8 1N High Point vs. 5N Liberty 8:00 PM Online           Day 3 – Semifinals       SATURDAY, MARCH 9     9 Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6 12 Noon ESPN3 10 Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8 2:00 PM ESPN3           Day 4-Finals       SUNDAY, MARCH 10     11 Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10 12 Noon ESPN2   Online TV Site: www.bigsouthsports.com   Colonial Athletic Association   Seed Team Conference Overall RPI 1 Northeastern 14-4 19-11 160 2 Delaware 13-5 18-13 127 3 James Madison 11-7 17-14 207 4 George Mason 10-8 17-13 155 5 Drexel 9-9 13-17 205 6 William & Mary 7-11 13-16 265 7 Hofstra 4-14 7-24 321   Conference Tournament—Richmond, VA Game # Day 1 – Quarterfinals Time TV   SATURDAY, MARCH 9     1 4-George Mason vs. 5-Drexel 3:30 PM Online 2 2-Delaware vs. 7-Hofstra 6:00 PM Online 3 3-James Madison vs. 6-William & Mary 8:30 PM Online           Day 2 – Semifinals       SUNDAY, MARCH 10     4 1-Northeastern vs. Winner Game 1 2:00 PM NBCSN 5 Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3 4:30 PM NBCSN           Day 3-Finals       MONDAY, MARCH 11     6 Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5 7:00 PM NBCSN   Online Site: http://www.caasports.com   Horizon League   Seed Team Conference Overall RPI 1 Valparaiso 13-3 24-7 63 2 Detroit 12-4 20-11 58 3 Wright St. 10-6 19-11 166 4 Green Bay 10-6 17-14 167 5 Illinois-Chicago 7-9 17-14 164 6 Youngstown St. 7-9 17-14 190 7 Loyola (Chi) 5-11 15-16 218 8 Cleveland St. 5-11 14-18 196 9 Milwaukee 3-13 8-24 301

Conference Tournament—1^st Round & Championship @ Higher Seed, Quarterfinals & Semifinals at Valparaiso

 

Game #	Day 1 – 1st Round	Time	TV
	TUESDAY, MARCH 5
1	4-Green Bay  62  9-Milwaukee  46
2	5-Illinois-Chicago  82  8-Cleveland St.  59
3	6-Youngstown St.  62  7-Loyola (Chi)  60
	Day 2 – Quarterfinals
	FRIDAY, MARCH 8
4	3-Wright St. vs. 6-Youngstown St.	6:00 PM	Horizon Network
5	4-Green Bay vs. 5-Illinois-Chicago	8:30 PM	Horizon Network
	Day 3 – Semifinals
	SATURDAY, MARCH 9
6	2-Detroit vs. Winner Game 4	6:00 PM	ESPNU (10:30)
7	1-Valparaiso vs/ Winner Game 5	8:30 PM	ESPNU
	Day 4 – Finals
	TUESDAY, MARCH 12
8	Winner Game 6 vs. Winner Game 7	9:00 PM	ESPN

 

Online Site: http://www.horizonleague.org

 

M A A C

 

Seed	Team	Conference	Overall	RPI
1	Niagara	13-5	18-12	123
2	Rider	12-6	18-13	135
3	Loyola (MD)	12-6	21-10	98
4	Iona	11-7	17-13	117
5	Canisius	11-7	18-12	110
6	Manhattan	9-9	12-17	200
7	Fairfield	9-9	17-14	170
8	Marist	6-12	10-20	250
9	Siena	4-14	7-23	297
10	St. Peter’s	3-15	9-20	283

 

Conference Tournament—Springfield, MA

Game #	Day 1 – 1st Round	Time	TV
	FRIDAY, MARCH 8
1	8-Marist vs. 9-Siena	7:30 PM	Online
2	7-Fairfield vs. 10-St. Peter’s	9:30 PM	Online
	Day 2 – Quarterfinals
	SATURDAY, MARCH 9
3	1-Niagara vs. Winner Game 1	2:30 PM	ESPN3
4	4-Iona vs. 5-Canisius	4:30 PM	ESPN3
5	2-Rider vs. Winner Game 2	7:30 PM	ESPN3
6	3-Loyola (MD) vs. 6-Manhattan	9:30 PM	ESPN3
	Day 3 – Semifinals
	SUNDAY, MARCH 10
7	Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4	2:00 PM	ESPN3
8	Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6	4:30 PM	ESPN3
	Day 4 – Finals
	MONDAY, MARCH 11
9	Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8	9:00 PM	ESPN2

 

Online Site: http://www.maacsports.com

 

Missouri Valley Conference

 

Seed	Team	Conference	Overall	RPI
1	Creighton	13-5	24-7	36
2	Wichita St.	12-6	24-7	40
3	Northern Iowa	11-7	18-13	79
4	Evansville	10-8	18-13	96
5	Indiana St.	9-9	17-13	78
6	Illinois St.	8-10	17-14	120
7	Missouri St.	7-11	10-21	211
8	Bradley	7-11	16-15	181
9	Drake	7-11	14-16	150
10	Southern Illinois	6-12	14-16	177

 

Conference Tournament—St. Louis (Arch Madness)

 

Game #	Day 1 – Opening Round	Time	TV
	THURSDAY, MARCH 7
1	8-Bradley vs. 9-Drake	7:05 PM	MVC TV
2	7-Missouri St. vs. 10-Southern Illinois	9:35 PM	MVC TV
	Day 2 – Quarterfinals
	FRIDAY, MARCH 8
3	1-Creighton vs. Winner Game 1	1:05 PM	MVC TV
4	4-Evansville vs. 5-Indiana St.	3:35 PM	MVC TV
5	2-Wichita St. vs. Winner Game 2	7:05 PM	MVC TV
6	3-Northern Iowa vs. 6-Illinois St.	9:35 PM	MVC TV
	Day 3 – Semifinals
	SATURDAY, MARCH 9
7	Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4	2:35 PM	MVC TV
8	Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6	5:05 PM	MVC TV
	Day 4 – Finals
	SUNDAY, MARCH 10
9	Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8	2:05 PM	CBS

 

 

Online Site: http://www.mvc-sports.com

 

 

Northeast Conference

 

Seed	Team	Conference	Overall	RPI
1	Robert Morris	14-4	23-9	114
2	Wagner	12-6	19-11	124
3	Long Island	12-6	18-13	195
4	Bryant	12-6	19-11	146
5	Mt. St. Mary‘s	11-7	17-13	156
6	Quinnipiac	11-7	15-16	191
7	Central Connecticut	9-9	13-17	197
8	St. Francis, NY	8-10	12-18	216

 

Conference Tournament—Games at Campus Sites.  Higher Seeds Host All Games.  Teams Will Be Re-Seeded After Quarterfinals

 

Game #	Day 1 – Quarterfinals	Time	TV
	WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6
1	1-Robert Morris  75  8-St. Francis (NY)  57
2	2-Wagner  72  7-Central Connecticut  50
3	3-Long Island  91  6-Quinnipiac  83
4	5-Mt. St. Mary‘s  75  4-Bryant  69
	Day 2 – Semifinals
	SATURDAY, MARCH 9
5	5-Mt. St. Mary’s at 1-Robert Morris	12:00 or 2:30 PM	ESPN3
6	3-Long Island at 2-Wagner	12:00 or 2:30 PM	ESPN3
	Day 3 – Finals
	TUESDAY, MARCH 12
7	Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6	7:00 PM	ESPN2

 

Online Site: http://www.northeastconference.org

 

Ohio Valley Conference

 

Seed	Team	Conference	Overall	RPI
1	Belmont	14-2	24-6	24
2	Murray St.	10-6	20-9	128
3	Eastern Kentucky	12-4	23-8	65
4	Tennessee St.	11-5	17-13	111
5	Morehead St.	8-8	15-17	172
6	Southeast Missouri	8-8	17-15	224
7	E. Illinois	6-10	11-21	272
8	UT-Martin	5-11	9-21	306

 

Conference Tournament—Nashville

 

Game #	Day 1 – 1st Round	Time	TV
	WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6
1	5-Morehead St.  73  8-UT-Martin  66
2	6-Southeast Missouri  78  7-E. Illinois  68
	Day 2 – Quarterfinals
	THURSDAY, MARCH 7
3	4-Tennessee St. vs. 5-Morehead St.	7:00 PM	OVC Network
4	3-Eastern Kentucky vs. 6-S E M O	9:00 PM	OVC Network
	Day 3 – Semifinals
	FRIDAY, MARCH 8
5	1-Belmont vs. Winner Game 3	7:00 PM	ESPNU
6	2-Murray St. vs. Winner Game 4	9:00 PM	ESPN3
	Day 4 – Finals
	SATURDAY, MARCH 9
7	Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6	7:00 PM	ESPN2

 

Online Site: http://ovcsports.sidearmsports.com

 

Patriot League

 

Seed	Team	Conference	Overall	RPI
1	Bucknell	12-2	26-5	52
2	Lafayette	10-4	18-14	173
3	Lehigh	10-4	21-8	105
4	Army	8-6	16-14	213
5	American	5-9	10-20	261
6	Colgate	5-9	11-21	255
7	Holy Cross	4-10	12-18	249
8	Navy	2-12	8-23	314

 

Game #	Day 1 – Quarterfinals	Time	TV
	WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6
1	1-Bucknell  58  8-Navy  42
2	4-Army  65  5-American  44
3	2-Lafayette  77  7-Holy Cross  54
4	3-Lehigh  71  6-Colgate  64
	Day 2 – Semifinals
	SATURDAY, MARCH 9
	Games at Higher Seed
5	4-Army at 1-Bucknell	2:00 or 4:30 PM	CBSSN
6	3-Lehigh at 2-Lafayette	2:00 or 4:30 PM	CBSSN
	Day 3 – Finals
	WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13
	Game at Higher Seed
7	Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6	7:30 PM	CBSSN

 

Online Site: http://www.patriotleague.org

 

Southern Conference

 

Seed	Team	Conference	Overall	RPI
1	Davidson	17-1	23-7	82
2	College of Charleston	14-4	22-9	147
3	Elon	13-5	20-10	176
4	Appalachian St.	10-8	14-15	270
5	Western Carolina	9-9	13-18	251
6	Samford	9-9	11-20	281
7	Chattanooga	8-10	13-18	276
8	Wofford	7-11	13-18	240
9	Georgia Southern	7-11	13-18	277
10	UNC-Greensboro	6-12	8-21	330
11	The Citadel	5-13	8-21	327
12	Furman	3-15	6-23	342

 

Conference Tournament: Asheville, NC

Game #	Day 1 – 1st Round	Time	TV
	FRIDAY, MARCH 8
1	8-Wofford vs. 9-Georgia Southern	11:30 AM	ESPN3
2	5-Samford vs. 12-Furman	2:00 PM	ESPN3
3	7-Chattanooga vs. 10-UNC-Greensboro	6:00 PM	ESPN3
4	6-Western Carolina vs. 11-The Citadel	8:30 PM	ESPN3
	Day 2 – Quarterfinals
	SATURDAY, MARCH 9
5	1-Davidson vs. Winner Game 1	12:00 PM	ESPN3
6	4-Appalachian St. vs. Winner Game 2	2:30 PM	ESPN3
7	2-Elon vs. Winner Game 3	6:00 PM	ESPN3
8	3-College of Charleston vs. Winner Game 4	8:30 PM	ESPN3
	Day 3 – Quarterfinals
	SUNDAY, MARCH 10
9	Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6	6:00 PM	ESPN3
10	Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8	8:30 PM	ESPN3
	Day 4 – Finals
	MONDAY, MARCH 11
11	Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10	7:00 PM	ESPN2

 

Online Site: http://www.soconsports.com

 

Summit League

 

Seed	Team	Conference	Overall	RPI
1	South Dakota St.	13-3	22-9	75
2	Western Illinois	13-3	21-7	126
3	North Dakota St.	12-4	22-8	81
4	Oakland	10-6	16-15	132
5	I P F W	7-9	15-16	264
6	Mo.-Kansas City	5-11	8-23	287
7	South Dakota	5-11	10-19	242
8	I U P U I	1-15	6-25	325

 

Conference Tournament—Sioux Falls, SD

 

Game #	Day 1 – Quarterfinals	Time	TV
	SATURDAY, MARCH 9
1	1-South Dakota St. vs. 8-I U P U I	7:00 PM	FOXCS
2	2-Western Illinois vs. 7-South Dakota	9:30 PM	FOXCS
	Day 2 – Quarterfinals
	SUNDAY, MARCH 10
3	4-Oakland vs. 5-I P F W	7:00 PM	FOXCS
4	3-North Dakota St. vs. 6-UM-Kansas City	9:30 PM	FOXCS
	Day 3 –Semifinals
	MONDAY, MARCH 11
5	Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 3	7:00 PM	FOXCS
6	Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 4	9:30 PM	FOXCS
	Day 4 – Finals
	TUESDAY, MARCH 12
7	Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6	9:00 PM	ESPN2

 

Online Site: http://www.thesummitleague.org

 

Sun Belt Conference

 

Seed	Team	Conference	Overall	RPI
1	Middle Tennessee	19-1	27-4	23
2	South Alabama	14-6	17-11	149
3	Arkansas St.	12-8	18-11	154
4	Florida Int’l	11-9	16-13	137
5	Arkansas-Little Rock	11-9	17-14	163
6	Western Kentucky	10-10	16-15	178
7	Florida Atlantic	9-11	14-17	209
8	Louisiana-Lafayette	8-12	12-19	229
9	North Texas	7-13	12-19	233
10	Troy	6-14	11-20	271
11	Louisiana-Monroe	3-17	4-22	299

 

Conference Tournament—Hot Springs, AR

Note: This Tournament Uses Two Courts— S=Summit Arena, C=Convention Center Court

 

Game #	Day 1 – 1st Round	Time	TV
	FRIDAY, MARCH 8
1	6-Western Kentucky vs. 11-UL-Monroe	7:00 PM  S	Online
2	8-UL-Lafayette vs. 9-North Texas	7:30 PM  C	Online
3	7-Florida Atlantic vs. 10-Troy	9:30 PM  S	Online
	Day 2 – Quarterfinals
	SATURDAY, MARCH 9
4	4-Florida Int’l vs. 5-Ark.-Little Rock	7:00 PM  C	Sun Belt Network
5	1-Middle Tennessee vs. Winner Game 2	7:30 PM  S	Sun Belt Network
6	3-South Alabama vs. Winner Game 1	9:30 PM  C	Sun Belt Network
7	2-Arkansas St. vs. Winner Game 3	10:00 PM  S	Sun Belt Network
	Day 3 – Semifinals
	SUNDAY, MARCH 10
8	Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5	7:30 PM  S	Sun Belt Network
9	Winner Game 6 vs. Winner Game 7	9:00 PM  S	Sun Belt Network
	Day 4 – Finals
10	Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 9	7:00 PM  S	ESPN

 

Online Site: http://www.sunbeltsports.org

 

West Coast Conference

 

Seed	Team	Conference	Overall	RPI
1	Gonzaga	16-0	29-2	10
2	St. Mary’s	14-2	26-5	41
3	B Y U	10-6	21-10	62
4	Santa Clara	9-7	21-10	90
5	San Francisco	7-9	14-15	152
6	San Diego	7-9	14-17	180
7	Pepperdine	4-12	12-17	204
8	Portland	4-12	11-21	219
9	Loyola Marymount	1-15	9-22	253

 

Conference Tournament: Las Vegas

 

Game #	Day 1 – 1st Round	Time	TV
	WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6
1	9-Loyola Marymount  65  8-Portland  54
	Day 2 – 2nd Round
	THURSDAY, MARCH 7
2	5-San Francisco vs. 9-Loyola Marymount	8:00 PM	BYU-TV
3	6-San Diego vs. 7-Pepperdine	10:30 PM	BYU-TV
	Day 3 – Quarterfinals
	FRIDAY, MARCH 8
4	4-Santa Clara vs. Winner Game 2	8:00 PM	ESPNU
5	3-B Y U vs. Winner Game 3	10:30 PM	ESPNU
	Day 4 – Semifinals
	SATURDAY, MARCH 9
6	1-Gonzaga vs. Winner Game 4	8:00 PM	ESPN2
7	2-St. Mary’s vs. Winner Game 5	10:30 PM	ESPN2
	Day 5 – Finals
8	MONDAY, MARCH 11	8:00 PM	ESPN

 

Online Site: http://www.wccsports.com

 

As The Bubble Blows

Villanova moved up to the top of the bubble with their win over Georgetown last night.  Barring 4 or 5 major conference tournament upset winners, the Wildcats will be dancing.

 

With the loss, Georgetown’s chances at earning a 1-seed drop to slim.  The Hoyas must win the Big East Tournament and hope that two or three teams in front of them lose.

 

One of those teams that may not be in front of Georgetown is Miami.  The Hurricanes continued their late-season slide last night with a loss to Georgia Tech.  That makes three losses in their last four games.

 

Florida and Michigan both won important games last night.  The Gators secured the regular season SEC Championship with a win over Vanderbilt, while the Wolverines won at Purdue to put themselves into contention for a piece of the regular season Big Ten Championship.  The Maize and Blue host Indiana Sunday afternoon, and a win leaves both teams at 13-5.  If Michigan wins, Ohio State can join them at 13-5 with a win over Illinois, and tonight’s Michigan State-Wisconsin winner will make it a crowded finish if that team can win its last game (MSU hosts Northwestern, while UW plays at Penn St.)

 

IowaState got their big win last night over OklahomaState, but is it big enough?  OSU is not KU or even K-State, so the Cyclones still have work to do to be on the safe side of the bubble.

 

Tennessee came from behind to win at Auburn, and the Vols will move into the field of 68 with a win over Missouri Saturday and at least one win in the SEC Tournament.

 

Stanford put themselves into position to get into position with a nasty win over rival Cal, snapping the Bears’ 7-game winning streak.  The Cardinal need a couple of Pac-12 Tournament wins to have a chance, and they probably need to get to the championship round to get in as an at-large.

 

Maryland played itself into the NIT with a loss to Streaking North Carolina last night.  A loss at Virginia Sunday would seal their fate.

 

Other Big Games of Note for Thursday, March 07, 2013

Wisconsin at Michigan St.: Besides giving the winner a chance to play for a share of the Big Ten title, the loser of this game will see their seed dropping as the result of consecutive losses.  Wisconsin fell at home to Purdue last time out, while Sparty comes into this game with a three-game losing streak (Indiana, OhioState, and Michigan).

 

Oregon at Colorado: The Buffaloes are close qualifying for an at-large bid.  They host the two Oregon schools to close out the regular season, and if they win tonight, CU moves up there with Villanova at the top of the bubble.  The Ducks finish at lowly Utah, so they can still win the regular season title with just one win, but may have to share it with just one win.

 

Kentucky at Georgia:  We believe that no matter what the Wildcats do, the Selection Committee will find some loophole to include the Big Blue in the Dance.  With their current resume, if the name on their jerseys read “Nebraska,” they would be looking at two must-win games to close out the regular season.  Georgia isn’t playing for an NCAA bid, and their NIT hopes are dim as well, but a win over the Cats to close out their home schedule would be as big as Kentucky beating Georgia on the gridiron.

And They’re Off…

Let’s Start The Partying

 

It may feel like it’s mid-January in most of the nation, but the calendar doesn’t lie.  It’s time to start the sports reality show called “Big Dancing With The Stars; Trying Not To Be The Biggest Loser.”  Yes, the conference tournaments begin to tip-off tonight.

15 conferences begin tournament play in the next four days.  Let’s take a look at the brackets.

America East Conference

Site: Hartford, CT until the Championship Game.  Championship Game on the home court of the higher seed.

Late Note:#5 seed Binghamton has withdrawn from the conference tournament, making this an 8-team tournament that will now begin Saturday.

Saturday, March 6

G1-#1 Stony Brook (21-8) vs. #9 Albany (7-24)

G2-#4 Boston U (17-12) vs. #6 Hartford (8-21)

G3-#2 Vermont (22-9) vs. #8 Maryland-Balt. Co. (4-25)

G4-#3 Maine (19-10) vs. #7 New Hampshire (12-16)

Sunday, March 7

G5-Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner

G6-Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner

Saturday, March 13

Game 6 Winner vs. Game 7 Winner at higher seed’s home court

Boston U is the hot team as tournament play begins.  The Terriers have an easy first round game thanks to Binghamton pulling out.  Look for a very interesting semifinal match between BU and Stony Brook.

Look for New Hampshire to give Maine a great game and have a great shot at the upset.  Beating Vermont in the next round won’t happen.  The Catamounts have a clear path to the title game, and if Boston can upset Stony Brook, Vermont would host the title game.

Atlantic Sun Conference

Site: Macon, GA

Wednesday, March 3

G1-#1 Lipscomb (17-12) vs. #8 Kennesaw St. (12-19)

G2-#2 Jacksonville (18-11) vs. #7 North Florida (13-17)

Thursday, March 4

G3-#3 Belmont (19-11) vs. #6 Mercer (14-16)

G4-#4 Campbell (19-10) vs. #5 East Tennessee (17-14)

Friday, March 5

Game 1 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner

Game 2 Winner vs. Game 3 Winner

Saturday, March 6

Semifinal Winners

Lipscomb won its last four games to earn a four-way tie for first.  The Bisons got the top-seed based on head to head results against the other three teams.  Their path to the championship game is not an easy one.  In the opening round, they face a Kennesaw team that gave them fits in both games, earning a split.  

Campbell has the most complete game of any team in this tournament, and they could be the team to beat from their number four seeding.  They also split with Lipscomb, and a possible semifinal match with the Bisons could be the game of the tournament.

Belmont and Jacksonville should handle their first round opponents, and in a semifinal match, the Dolphins have the upper hand when matching up.  A Jacksonville-Campbell final game would be interesting.  Both teams defended their home court in the regular season, winning by double digits.

Big Sky Conference

Site: All games played at higher seed

Saturday, March 6

#6 Portland State (12-17) at #3 Montana State (15-13)

#5 Northern Arizona (14-13) at #4 Montana (19-9)

Tuesday, March 9

Lower Remaining Seed at #1 Weber State (19-9)

Higher Remaining Seed at #2 Northern Colorado (24-6)

Wednesday, March 10

Lower Remaining Seed at Higher Remaining Seed

 

Big South Conference

Site: Quarterfinals at higher seed/Semifinals at Coastal Carolina/Finals at higher seed

Tuesday, March 2

G1-#8 VMI (10-18) at #1 Coastal Carolina (26-5)

G2-#7 Charleston Southern (13-16) at #2 Radford (18-11)

G3-#6 Liberty (15-15) at #3 Winthrop (16-13)

G4-#5 High Point (15-14) at #4 UNC-Asheville (14-15)

Thursday, March 4 (at Coastal Carolina)

Game 1 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner

Game 2 Winner vs. Game 3 Winner

Friday, March 5

Lower Remaining Seed at Higher Remaining Seed

The top two teams are clearly the two best in this league, as they dispenses of all the competition coming down the stretch.  Radford has a dominating inside player capable of causing matchup problems for a good team in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.  Keep an eye on Art Parakhouski, a 6-11 hulk from Belarus.  He makes Radford the favorite to meet Coastal Carolina for a great rubber match worth watching.

Colonial Athletic Association

Site: Richmond, VA

Friday, March 5

G1-#8 Towson (9-20) vs. #9 UNC-Wilmington (9-21)

G2-#5 Va. Commonwealth (20-8) vs. #12 Delaware (7-23)

G3-#7 Hofstra (18-13) vs. #10 Georgia State (12-19)

G4-#6 Drexel (16-15) vs. #11 James Madison (12-19)

Saturday, March 6

G5-#1 Old Dominion (23-8) vs. Game 1 Winner

G6-#4 George Mason (17-13) vs. Game 2 Winner

G7-#2 Northeastern (19-11) vs. Game 3 Winner

G8-#3 William & Mary (20-9) vs. Game 4 Winner

Sunday, March 7

Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner

Game 7 Winner vs. Game 8 Winner

Monday, March 8

Semifinal Winners

There’s decent parity in this league, and any of the top seven seeds could emerge the victor.  Hofstra is the hottest team in the league, having finished the regular season with six consecutive wins and nine out of ten, including a double digit win at Northeastern.

Old Dominion has a road win against Georgetown this year, and the Monarchs would be a bubble team if they lost in the semifinals or finals.

Horizon League

Site: 1^st Round at Higher Seed/All Others at Indianapolis

Tuesday, March 2

G1-#10 Youngstown (8-21) at #3 Green Bay (20-11)

G2-#9 Illinois-Chicago (8-21) at #4 Milwaukee (18-13)

G3-#8 Loyola (Chi) (14-15) at #5 Cleveland St. (15-16)

G4-#7 Detroit (18-13) at #6 Valparaiso (15-16)

Friday, March 5

G5-Game 1 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner

G6-Game 2 Winner vs. Game 3 Winner

Saturday, March 6

Butler (26-4) vs. Game 6 Winner

Wright St. (19-11) vs. Game 5 Winner

Tuesday, March 9

Semifinal Winners

It’s all about Butler in this tournament.  The Bulldogs are going dancing win or lose, but they could move up to a number three seed by winning on March 9.  Detroit is the only team that gave Butler any trouble this year, so it could become interesting if the Titans beat Valpo, Green Bay, and Wright State to make it to the finals.

M A A C

Site: Albany, NY

Friday, March 5

G1-#7 Canisius (14-16) vs. #10 Marist (1-28)

G2-#8 Loyola (Md) (13-16) vs. #9 Manhattan (10-19)

Saturday, March 6

G3-#1 Siena (24-6) vs. Game 2 Winner

G4-#2 Fairfield (20-9) vs. Game 1 Winner

G5-#3 Iona (21-9) vs. #6 Niagara (17-14)

G6-#4 St. Peter’s (16-13) vs. #5 Rider (16-15)

Sunday, March 7

Game 3 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner

Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner

Monday, March 8

Semifinal Winners

Siena’s resume does not allow them a Mulligan in this tournament.  The Saints have no signature wins, and they got their hat handed to them in the Bracketbuster game against Butler.  Siena has to win this tournament or it’s the NIT for them this year.

Fairfield gave Siena two close ballgames this year, and it could be hard for the Saints to beat the Stags three times.  

Iona is flying under the radar.  The Gaels won nine in a row in midseason, and they have the talent to make it to Monday night’s game.

Missouri Valley Conference

Site: St. Louis (Arch Madness)

Thursday, March 4

G1-#7 Missouri State (19-11) vs. #10 Evansville (9-20)

G2-#8 Drake (13-18) vs. #9 Southern Illinois (15-14)

Friday, March 5

G3-#1 Northern Iowa (25-4) vs. Game 2 Winner

G4-#2 Wichita State (23-8) vs. Game 1 Winner

G5-#3 Illinois State (21-9) vs. #6 Indiana St. (17-13)

G6-#4 Creighton (16-14) vs. #5 Bradley (15-14)

Saturday, March 6

Game 3 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner

Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner

Sunday, March 7

Semifinal Winners

Northern Iowa won the regular season title by three games, but don’t consider the Panthers an overwhelming favorite.  A good case could be made for any of the top five teams, and nobody wants to play Ninth-seeded Southern Illinois.

This will be a great tournament, and you should make it a point to watch these games if you have access. 

UNI is a pretty safe bet to garner an at-large bid if they don’t win the automatic bid.  Wichita State was once in the discussion for an at-large bid after a 16-2 start, but the shockers finished 7-6.

Northeast Conference

Site: All Games Played at Higher Seed

Thursday, March 4

G1-#8 Monmouth (12-18) at #1 Quinnipiac (21-8)

G2-#7 Cent. Connecticut (12-17) at #2 Robert Morris (20-11)

G3-#6 St. Francis (Pa) (11-18) at #3 Mt. St. Mary’s (15-14)

G4-#5 Fairleigh Dickinson (11-20) at #4 Long Island (13-16)

Sunday, March 7

Game 1 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner at higher seed

Game 2 Winner vs. Game 3 Winner at higher seed

Wednesday, March 10

Semifinal Winners at higher seed

Rarely is the number three seed considered the favorite, but in the NEC, Mt. St. Mary’s must be considered just that.  The Mountaineers won their final 10 games, which included victories over the two top seeds.  MSM has been in the tournament title game the last two years, winning in 2008.  Point Guard Jeremy Goode cut down on his turnovers down the stretch and played more like he was capable of playing.  Look for the 5-9 hotshot to play his best and guide the Mountaineers back to the Championship Game, where they are liable to face Quinnipiac.

Bobcat star James Feldeine was held to just four points in the last meeting with MSM; he will be ready for blood in a title match.

Ohio Valley Conference

Site: 1^st Round at higher seed/All Others at Nashville

Tuesday, March 2

G1-#8 Tennessee State (9-22) at #1 Murray State (27-4)

G2-#7 Jacksonville St. (11-18) at #2 Morehead St. (21-9)

G3-#6 Tennessee Tech (14-16) at #3 Austin Peay (17-14)

G4-#5 East. Kentucky (20-11) at #4 East. Illinois (18-11)

Friday, March 5

Game 1 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner

Game 2 Winner vs. Game 3 Winner

Saturday, March 6

Semifinal Winners

Murray State won 27 games during the regular season, but even if the Racers lose in the title game, they will fall to the NIT.

Morehead State is the defending OVC Champion, and the Eagles have the league’s top player in Kenneth Faried (16.8 ppg/13.0 rpg).  Morehead won 17 of 20 down the stretch including a win over Murray St.

Austin Peay is always a force to be reckoned with in this tournament.  The Governors have been a regular in the championship round.

Patriot League

Site: All Games Played at Higher Seed

Wednesday, March 3

G1-#8 Army (14-14) at #1 Lehigh (19-10)

G2-#7 Holy Cross (8-21) at #2 Bucknell (14-16)

G3-#6 Colgate (10-18) at #3 Lafayette (17-12)

G4-#5 Navy (13-16) at #4 American (10-19)

Sunday, March 7

Game 1 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner at Higher Seed

Game 2 Winner vs. Game 3 Winner at Higher Seed

Friday, March 12

Semifinal Winners at Higher Seed

A month ago, Bucknell stood at 6-14 and looked like a possible 20-game loser.  The Bison turned it around and rebounded to go 8-2 down the stretch with a win over Lehigh.  One of the two losses was also to Lehigh, so this does not make Bucknell the favorite.

There is no clear-cut favorite in this league.  In fact, sixth-seeded Colgate has been playing as well an any team as the tournament opens.  The Raiders had Lehigh on the ropes a couple weeks ago before falling short at the end.

Southern Conference

Site: Charlotte

Friday, March 5

G1-#3N Chattanooga (14-17) vs. #6S Ga. Southern (9-22)

G2-#4N UNC-Greensboro (7-22) vs. #5S Furman (13-16)

G3-#3S Davidson (16-14) vs. #6N Elon (8-22)

G4-#4S Citadel (15-15) vs. #5N Samford (11-19)

Saturday, March 6

G5-#1N Appalachian St. (20-11) vs. Game 4 Winner

G6-#1S Wofford (23-8) vs. Game 2 Winner

G7-#2N Western Carolina (21-10) vs. Game 3 Winner

G8-#2S Charleston (20-10) vs. Game 1 Winner

Sunday, March 7

Game 5 Winner vs. Game 8 Winner

Game 6 Winner vs. Game 7 Winner

Monday, March 8

Semifinal Winners

With Davidson just a middle of the pack team, the Socon Tournament becomes a wide-open race.  The top four seeds all have the talent to run the table, but Wofford must be considered the favorite.  The Terriers won their final 10 games and 19 of 21, after starting 4-6.

Keep an eye on College of Charleston.  Coach Bobby Cremins has talent at the guard spot, and he knows how to get to the Big Dance.

Summit League

Site: Sioux Falls, SD

Saturday, March 6

G1-#1 Oakland (23-8) vs. #8 Mo.-Kansas City (12-17)

G2-#2 I U P U I (22-9) vs. #7 Western Illinois (13-16)

Sunday, March 7

G3-#3 Oral Roberts (19-12) vs. #6 N. Dakota St. (11-17)

G4-#4 S. Dakota St. (14-15) vs. #5 I P F W (15-14)

Monday, March 8

Game 1 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner

Game 2 Winner vs. Game 3 Winner

Tuesday, March 9

Semifinal Winners

Oakland’s path to the Championship Game is not all that easy.  Last place UMKC was no pushover, and the Grizzlies didn’t win all that convincingly in the regular season.  A possible semifinal match with the host team, South Dakota State, will be even harder.  The Jackrabbits have the best backcourt in the league, but they are a little weak inside.  That’s where Oakland is strongest with 6-11 center Keith Benson, the league’s top player.

IUPUI won 12 of its final 14 games and blew Oakland off the floor by 24 points.  The Jaguars have an easier path to the title game.

Sunbelt Conference

Site: Hot Springs, AR (in two separate gyms)

Saturday, March 6

G1-#4 Western Kentucky (19-12) VS. #13 New Orleans (8-21)

G2-#5 Arkansas St. (16-13) vs. #12 Ark.-Little Rock (8-21)

G3-#6 Denver (17-12) vs. #11 Florida Int’l (7-24)

G4-#7 UL-Lafayette (13-16) vs. #10 UL-Monroe (11-18)

G5-#8 Fla. Atlantic (14-15) vs. #9 South Alabama (16-14)

Sunday, March 7

G6-#1 Troy (18-11) vs. Game 5 Winner

G7-#2 North Texas (21-8) vs. Game 4 Winner

G8-#3 Middle Tennessee (19-12) vs. Game 3 Winner

G9-Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner

Monday, March 8

Game 6 Winner vs. Game 9 Winner

Game 7 Winner vs. Game 8 Winner

Tuesday, March 9

Semifinal Winners

The top four seeds enter this tournament on high notes, but none are higher than Western Kentucky.  The Hilltoppers went 7-7 during the 14-games missed to injury by beefy forward Sergio Kerusch.  WKU defeated Vanderbilt, Murray State, and Mississippi State in the pre-conference schedule, and they could be headed back to the Big Dance for the third year in a row, as they ride a six-game winning streak entering the tournament.

North Texas comes into this tournament on an eight-game winning streak.  The Mean Green edged WKU in overtime during the time Kerusch was out.

Arkansas State is coming into this tournament as a darkhorse, but watch out for Red Wolves.  Former LSU coach John Brady’s squad swept North Texas; both wins were by double digits.  

West Coast Conference

Site: Las Vegas

Friday, March 5

G1-#5 Loyola Marymount (16-14) vs. #8 Pepperdine (7-23)

G2-#6 San Diego (10-20) vs. #7 Santa Clara (11-20)

Saturday, March 6

G3-#3 Portland (19-9) vs. Game 2 Winner

G4-#4 San Francisco (12-17) vs. Game 1 Winner

Sunday, March 7

Gonzaga (24-5) vs. Game 4 Winner

St. Mary’s (24-5) vs. Game 3 Winner

Monday, March 8

Semifinal Winners

For once, this is a three-team race.  Gonzaga swept St. Mary’s and Portland and will more than likely have to face one of the two for the championship.  It’s hard to beat a good team three times in a row, but the Bulldogs have the talent to do so.

St. Mary’s and Portland split a pair of really tight games, so there is no clear cut favorite if they meet in the Semifinals.  The Gaels benefit from getting an extra day off.

If any team from the first day of play has a chance, it is Loyola Marymount.  The Lions beat Gonzaga and Portland in February.  First year coach Max Good took a team picked to be last in the league and brought them home at 7-7 in WCC play.

A Little February Madness

Who’s In, Who’s On The Bubble, Who’s Out

As we mentioned in the previous article earlier this week, the first conference tournament action begins Tuesday, March 2.  It’s time to take a serious look at which teams are in the Big Dance, which teams are on the bubble, and which teams are on the outside looking in.  As of today, we believe 51 teams have already done enough to earn bids to the NCAA Tournament.  That leaves 14 teams left to gain admission to the dance.  We believe 21 teams are serious bubble teams as of today.

First let us start with the conferences that will receive only one bid.  This means only the conference tournament champion will advance to the dance, or in the case of the Ivy League, the regular season champ.

America East

Stony Brook has clinched the regular season title, and Coach Steve Pikiell may be on the radar screen at schools in more prestigious leagues.  The Seawolves have been a D1 school less than 10 years, and their defense might give someone fits in a first round game.  Of course, they have to win the automatic bid.  Vermont, Maine, and Boston U. are all capable of winning this tournament.  BU has underachieved somewhat this year with all the experienced seniors on their roster.

Atlantic Sun

This isn’t going to be another season where the league representative comes within one shot of beating Duke in the opening round.  None of the teams in this league are capable of winning a first round game.  Jacksonville currently leads Campbell, Belmont, and Lipscomb by a game with one game to go.  East Tennessee and Mercer are good enough to win three games in three days. 

Jacksonville won the regular season title last year, but the Dolphins failed to win the tournament.  It’s been almost a quarter century since they last made it to the Dance.  The days of Artis Gilmore and Rex Morgan led the Dolphins to the Championship Game.

Big Sky

Weber State isn’t as good this year as they were last year, but the Wildcats could make the Dance this year after settling for the NIT last year.  Northern Colorado has overachieved this year, while Montana State has underachieved.  Montana always seems to be in the mix, and the Grizzlies are there again this year.  Weber State should be a considerable favorite, but any of these other three could beat them on a given night.

Big South

Cliff Ellis could be on the cusp of taking his fourth different team to the NCAA Tournament.  His Coastal Carolina Chanticleers won the regular season title and are the favorites to win the conference tournament.  It won’t be easy, because CCU split with second place teams Winthrop and Radford.  Radford won the tournament last year, and the Highlanders have the most dominating player in the league in center Art Parakhouski.

Big West

UC Santa Barbara leads Pacific by a game and a half after Pacific was upset last night by UC Riverside.  This is one conference where we actually expect someone other than the top two teams to win the automatic bid.  Long Beach State and Cal St. Fullerton look like teams to watch out for, but even last place UC-Irvine could win this tournament.

Colonial Athletic

In past years, there were possible at-large teams in this conference, but even current number one team Old Dominion is not even worthy of the back of the bubble.  Besides ODU, Northeastern, George Mason, Va. Commonwealth, William & Mary, Drexel, and Hofstra all have the talent to win this tournament.  Old Dominion won the College Insider Tournament last year, and they are tournament savvy.

Ivy League

Cornell is on the verge of securing the Ivy League championship again, and this year, the Big Red have the talent to shock an opponent in the first round and maybe first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.  Cornell hosts Princeton tonight, and a win over the Tigers would mean they would need to win just one of their final three games to win the league title.  If Princeton wins, then these teams could be headed toward a playoff game in a couple weeks.

Metro Atlantic

Siena had a chance to get onto the bubble for an at-large bid, but Butler ended that in the Bracketbuster last week.  Now, the Saints have to win the MAAC Tournament to get back to the Dance.  Iona and Fairfield are not in Siena’s class, but either team could beat Siena in a title game.

Mid-American

This conference has fallen back in the pack in recent years.  Kent State and Akron have won three more conference games than any other MAC team, and they will be heavy co-favorites in the tournament.  

Mid-Eastern Athletic

Morgan State has dominated this league since Todd Bozeman took over as head coach, and this year is more of the same.  MSU leads Delaware State by two and a half games, and it will be a major upset if they don’t four-peat.

Northeast

The four teams picked to contend for the league championship will finish one-two-three-four in the regular season.  Robert Morris, Quinnipiac, Mt. St. Mary’s, and Long Island should be the four teams making it to the conference tournament semifinals.  Any of these four could emerge victorious.

Ohio Valley

Morehead State pinned the first conference loss on Murray State last night, and these two teams should play a rubber game in the conference tournament championship game.

Patriot League

This league is rather balanced, and there is no clear-cut favorite.  There isn’t much difference between first place Lehigh and last place Army.  Bucknell has begun to play like they used to earlier in the decade; the Bison have won seven of their last nine, but they got it handed to them Wednesday night at Lehigh.

Southern

With Davidson down following the graduation of Stephen Curry and Andrew Lovedale, this race is up for grabs.  Wofford, Western Carolina, College of Charleston, and Appalachian State are the four best teams, but none are dominant in this league.

Southland

Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin have been the cream of this crop for a couple of years, and one of these two should win the automatic bid.

Southwestern Athletic

Jackson State is the only team capable of escaping a play-in round game.  If any other SWAC team wins the conference tournament, that team will be in Dayton on Tuesday, March 16.

Summit League

Oakland and IUPUI are the co-favorites heading into the conference tournament.  Both teams could be an interesting first round matchup as a 13 or 14-seed.

Sunbelt

Eight teams are strong enough to win this conference’s automatic bid.  None of them are dominant enough to be a true favorite.  Troy, Middle Tennessee, Western Kentucky, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Arkansas State, Louisiana-Lafayette, and Denver will make this tournament very interesting.

Western Athletic

Utah State has emerged yet again as the class of the league, but the Aggies have not done enough to make the bubble.  New Mexico State, Nevada, and Louisiana Tech have the talent to knock USU out of the Dance, but the Aggies are a strong favorite.

Here is a look at the conferences where an upset in the conference tournament will merit an extra team getting a bid.

Conference USA

No longer is Memphis a sure thing.  In fact, the Tigers probably must win the conference tourney to get in.  UTEP is the team that has done enough to earn an at-large bid this year.  Memphis and UAB are on the Bubble, but they are far down on the list.  Marshall and Tulsa are capable of running the table in the tournament and sneaking in with the automatic bid.

Horizon

Butler is in the field of 65 regardless of how the Bulldogs perform in the Horizona League Tournament.  There really isn’t a team that can be considered a serious upset threat to Butler.  While Green Bay and Wright State are the best of the rest, lowly Detroit has been the only league team to play Butler close, losing by two in overtime and by five in the two meetings.

Missouri Valley

Northern Iowa will earn an at-large bid even though the Panthers have lost two of their last four games.  Wichita State, Illinois State, Bradley, and Creighton have the talent to run the table in St. Louis.

Pacific-10

Could it be that this once top conference will earn just one bid?  If California wins the conference tournament, it could happen.  It could even happen if Cal loses prior to the Pac-10 tournament championship game.

West Coast

Gonzaga is in the NCAA Tournament.  St. Mary’s is close to being in, but they are just a bubble team.  Portland is strong enough to upset St. Mary’s and Gonzaga. 

Here is a list of the conferences that will receive more than one bid.

Atlantic Coast

Duke, Maryland, Virginia Tech, Florida State, and Wake Forest are in, even though Va. Tech has a poor non-conference schedule.

Clemson and Georgia Tech are on the Bubble.  Neither will get in with a 7-9 conference record in this year’s ACC.

Atlantic 10

This is the sexy conference this year.  Seven teams still have a legitimate shot at earning bids, and a minimum of three will get in.

Temple, Richmond, and Xavier are virtual shoo-ins.  Rhode Island is on the top of the Bubble, while Charlotte and Dayton are on the regular Bubble.  St. Louis has work to do, but the red-hot Billikens can place themselves squarely on the Bubble by winning their final three regular season games.

Big East

This is clearly the top conference in the land this year.  No fewer than six teams will earn bids, and as many as nine could get invitations.

Syracuse, Villanova, West Virginia, Pittsburgh, and Georgetown are in.  Marquette, Louisville, Notre Dame, Seton Hall, Connecticut, and Cincinnati are on the Bubble.  At least two of these teams should play themselves into the high end of the Bubble, while a third could sneak into the act if there aren’t many upsets in the other leagues. 

Seton Hall has a very favorable schedule, and if the Pirates edge Marquette this weekend, they could finish 10-8 in the league.  They are the longest shot, and they could put themselves in position to be in position on Selection Sunday.  You have to believe that any team that finishes above .500 in this league this year will receive serious consideration.

Big Ten

Purdue took a big blow with the loss of Robbie Hummel, but all that means is they may have to settle for a 2-seed.  Ohio State, Michigan State, and Wisconsin are also in.  Illinois is on the firm part of the Bubble, while Minnesota and Northwestern are on the bottom of the Bubble.  Both teams have to play two more on the road, and it looks like the NIT for both.

Big 12

Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Texas, and Baylor are in the Dance.  Texas A&M as at the top of the Bubble.  The Aggies close at home with Texas and Oklahoma State and at Oklahoma.  Two wins gets them in for sure, while one win keeps them on the Bubble.

Oklahoma State is on the Bubble.  They close with Kansas at home, Texas A&M on the road, and Nebraska at home.  If they only win against the Cornhuskers, they have to win twice in the Big 12 Tournament to be under consideration and thrice to be sure things.

Mountain West

New Mexico and BYU are both in the Dance.  Both could move up as high as 5-seeds in the field of 65.

UNLV and San Diego State are on the Bubble.  The Runnin’ Rebels benefit from hosting the tournament much to Lobo Coach Steve Alford’s and Aztec Coach Steve Fisher’s chagrin.

Southeastern

Kentucky, Vanderbilt, and Tennessee are in.  Florida is on the top part of the Bubble and needs just one more signature win or two more wins of any kind.  Mississippi State is on the regular Bubble and appears to be headed to the West Division title.  Ole Miss must win out and then get to Saturday in the conference tournament.