Shockers Perfect, Handful of Mid-Major No. 1s Fall

Wichita State pulls off a feat that hadn't been done in over two decades, while the NIT field continues to grow. More on that after the bracket.

Last Four Byes: Pittsburgh, St. Joseph's, Dayton, BYU
Last Four In: Arkansas, California, Nebraska, Tennessee
First Four Out: Xavier, Providence, Minnesota, Florida State
Next Four Out: St. John's, Georgetown, Missouri, Green Bay

Conference Rundown:
7: Big 12, Pac-12
6: Atlantic 10, Big Ten
5: ACC, American
4: SEC
2: Big East, Mountain West, West Coast
22 one-bid leagues


I think it's safe to say the debate is over. Wichita State defeated Indiana State 83-69 to enter the NCAA Tournament 34-0. The Shockers are the first team to enter the Big Dance without a blemish on their record since UNLV in the 1991 NCAA Tournament. However, the Runnin' Rebels lost in the national semifinal to a Duke team they defeated by 30 to win the 1990 NCAA championship. As we all know, only Bobby Knight's 1976 Indiana club went the distance, winning the national title without a single loss.

Two Shockers posted 20-plus points, including one of the best players in the nation in Fred VanVleet, who dropped 22. Tekele Cotton also had 20. Leading the way for the Sycamores was a pair of 18-point performances by Justin Gant and Manny Arop. The Shockers are now all but assured of being the top seed in the Midwest region, meaning they'll be right back in St. Louis in a few weeks, assuming they escape the first weekend of the tournament.

The NIT is filling up quick as a host of No. 1 seeds all lost Sunday, including Florida Gulf Coast losing at home to Mercer in the Atlantic Sun championship, sending the Bears to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1985. Vermont was knocked out of the America East tournament by No. 4 Albany, though the Catamounts were certainly at a disadvantage, having to play a road game as the top seed. Albany advances to Saturday's championship, where they will visit Stony Brook, who is in their third championship game in four seasons, but still looking for the elusive first trip to the NCAAs.

Bob McKillop will not be dancing this year. That's because his Davidson club was upset in overtime by Western Carolina, 99-97, to advance to the Southern Conference championship. These Catamounts will play Wofford in the title game.

Sunday also saw two other Dance tickets claimed besides Wichita, including the aforementioned Mercer, winning at Dunk City, 68-60. Four Bears scored double-figures, led by 15 apiece from Langston Hall and Anthony White Jr. The Bears were the preseason favorite and were able to win on the road in their final Atlantic Sun game, as they will join the Southern Conference next season. The Bears are likely either a 13 or 14-seed.

The third team claiming a spot Sunday is another one ending a long tournament drought. For the first time since 1993, Coastal Carolina is dancing, after they defeated Winthrop 76-61 to win the Big South. Warren Gillis had 22 points and seven rebounds to lead the team that will arguably have the best nickname in the tournament, the Chanticleers. CCU will most likely have to win a game to get into the Round of 64, because with an RPI of 197, they're almost certainly headed to Dayton for the First Four.

In other tournament action, Iona and Manhattan won their respective semifinals to set up a third meeting between the New York schools for the Metro Atlantic championship. Delaware and William & Mary moved on to the Colonial tournament final, where the Tribe will be looking for their first tournament bid ever. W&M is one of just five original Division I schools to never play in the NCAAs. Delaware is looking for their first tournament appearance since 1999. And Denver and South Dakota State advanced to the Summit League semifinals, joining No. 1 seed North Dakota State and IPFW, who won on Saturday.

But that wasn't the only action Sunday, not by a long shot.

Maryland, in their final ACC home game, all but ended Virginia's hopes of a No. 1 seed, winning 75-69 in overtime, but not before Virginia pulled off an incredible final shot to force overtime. Seth Allen scored 20 and Dez Wells had 18 for the winners, while three UVA players scored double-digits, led by London Perrantes' 14. The Cavaliers are still firmly on the No. 2 line, but now behind Kansas, Michigan and Wisconsin.

Staying in the ACC, Syracuse seems to have righted the ship, winning at Florida State, 74-58, putting a dent in FSU's at-large hopes. The Seminoles will have to do some work in the ACC tournament, where they will be the No. 9 seed and open with No. 8 Maryland, who would love nothing more than to win their final ACC tournament. For the Orange, C.J. Fair led the way with 22 and Jerami Grant had 16 points and eight rebounds to help Jim Boeheim's team clinch the No. 2 seed in Greensboro.

Saint Louis won at Massachusetts to clinch the Atlantic 10 championship and Ohio State squeaked by Michigan State on Aaron Craft's Senior Night.

Two bubble teams were in action and posted very different results. St. Joseph's suffered a setback at home to La Salle, 71-63. The Hawks had a chance to be the No. 2 seed in the Atlantic 10 tournament. Instead, they will be the No. 4 seed, which sets up a potential huge, bubbly quarterfinal between them and Dayton. The loser of that one will have to sweat out Selection Sunday. VCU will be the 2-seed while George Washington is the three.

The winning bubble team yesterday was Nebraska, upsetting Wisconsin 77-68, as Terran Petteway and Shavon Shields each dropped 26 and Walter Pitchford added 15 for the Cornhuskers. Petteway ended up with a double-double and he also grabbed ten boards. The win puts the Huskers in the field as one of the last teams in. Nebraska hasn't danced since 1998. The win also gave Nebraska the No. 4 seed and a bye to the quarterfinals in the Big Ten tournament. Wisconsin had already locked up the No. 2 seed after Michigan State lost to Ohio State.

So after a wild final weekend that now already sees more teams clinch NIT bids than NCAA bids, the regular season is officially over and Championship Week has arrived (save for Tuesday's Penn-Princeton game). Monday will see three more bids handed out, two conferences with semifinal games and and two more conferences start their tournaments. Here is the rundown of games today.

Colonial Championship (in Baltimore)
No. 3 William & Mary vs. No. 1 Delaware, 7:00, NBC Sports Network

MAAC Championship (in Springfield, MA)
No. 2 Manhattan vs. No. 1 Iona, 7:00, ESPN3

Southern Championship (in Asheville, NC)
No. 5 Western Carolina vs. No. 3 Wofford, 9:00, ESPN2

Summit League Semifinals (Sioux Falls, SD)
No. 4 Denver vs. No. 1 North Dakota State, 7:00
No. 3 South Dakota State vs. No. 2 IPFW, 9:30

West Coast Semifinals (in Las Vegas)
No. 4 Saint Mary's vs. No. 1 Gonzaga, 9:00, ESPN
No. 3 San Francisco vs. No. 2 BYU, 11:30, ESPN2

MEAC First Round (in Norfolk, VA)
No. 13 Maryland-Eastern Shore vs. No. 4 Norfolk State, 6:30
No. 12 South Carolina State vs. No. 5 Savannah State, 9:30

MAC First Round (campus sites)
No. 12 Ball State at No. 5 Ohio, 7:00
No. 9 Kent State vs. No. 8 Miami (OH), 7:00
No. 11 Central Michigan at No. 6 Eastern Michigan, 7:30
No. 10 Bowling Green at No. 7 Northern Illinois, 8:00

Buckle your seatbelts. It's non-stop action from here until Selection Sunday. We'll cover it all right up until the brackets are revealed. It's going to be fun.

Eastern Kentucky Upsets Belmont, Villanova Rises To Top Line

Another ticket punched, which also sent another team to the NIT. Plus, a new team sits on the top line. More on that after the bracket.

Last Four Byes: Stanford, Pittsburgh, Dayton, Arkansas
Last Four In: BYU, Xavier, Tennessee, California
First Four Out: Nebraska, Providence, Florida State, Minnesota
Next Four Out: St. John's, Georgetown, Missouri, Green Bay

Conference Rundown:
7: Big 12, Pac-12
6: Atlantic 10
5: ACC, American, Big Ten
4: SEC
3: Big East
2: Mountain West, West Coast
22 one-bid leagues

For what seemed like forever, Belmont was a trendy upset pick in the Round of 64, only to disappoint all those who took that chance. This season, we don't even have to worry about Belmont because they will not be dancing this season. The Bruins were upset by Eastern Kentucky, 79-73, in the championship game of the Ohio Valley tournament. Corey Walden scored 29 points and Glenn Cosey had 23 as the Colonels clinched their first tournament berth since 2007. The loss sends the Bruins to the NIT.

Villanova posted a 77-59 over Georgetown as Darrun Hilliard II scored 19 points, one of five Wildcats to score double-digits. Markel Starks led the way for the Hoyas with 20. The loss is the 13th for JT3's club and with a likely 14th coming in the Big East tournament, an at-large bid may be hard to get, despite the five top-50 wins. Weighing down the Hoyas' resume is a season-sweep at the hands of Seton Hall, plus a November loss to Northeastern, who is outside the top-200 in the RPI, though the Huskies are in the Colonial semifinals. Also working against Georgetown is the fact that 2011 was the last time a team with 14 losses got an at-large bid, and that tournament saw five such teams.

As for Villanova, they now sit as the top seed in the East Region thanks to Kansas suffering their eighth loss of the season, a 92-86 loss to West Virginia, though the Jayhawks were without Joel Embiid. Three Mountaineers scored 20-plus, led by Eron Harris' 28. But the game turned into the Andrew Wiggins show, as the freshman sensation and potential No. 1 pick in June's NBA Draft scored 41 in a game where Bill Self's team trailed by as much as 25. No team has ever lost eight games and be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Even seven was a stretch since only three teams prior (Michigan State in 2000 and 2012, Illinois in 2001) have been No. 1 seeds with that many losses.

Villanova is also helped by the fact that they won the Big East championship. As my good friend Chris Dobbertean of SB Nation researched, only ten teams since seeding began in 1979 were awarded a No. 1 seed without winning either the regular season or conference tournament title.

Tennessee all but popped Missouri's bubble, and in emphatic fashion, winning 72-45. The Tigers now likely have to win the SEC tournament, which would include beating Florida in the quarters. The Vols will be the No. 4 seed in the tournament, possibly facing Arkansas in the quarters.

Also in the SEC, Arkansas picked a bad time to return to their road woes, as the Razorbacks lost by 25 at Alabama. Arkansas is now just above the First Four, but cannot afford a slip-up in the SEC Tournament.

California's win over Colorado, coupled with Providence's loss to Creighton, moved the Golden Bears back into the field as the last team in. The Friars are now the second team out and face a crucial game against St. John's in the Big East quarterfinals. The loser is likely headed for the NIT.

Speaking of NIT, that's also where Green Bay is now likely headed after their surprising loss at home against Milwaukee in the Horizon Semifinals. The Phoenix do have a win against Virginia, but losing twice at home to Milwaukee, including in a round that wasn't the championship, will likely doom Green Bay. That, plus the other bubble teams have a full week to claim spots, while the Phoenix have to sit and wait. Wright State, as the higher seed, will now host the championship game, and is the current AQ holder.

In other action, San Diego State defeated New Mexico to win the Mountain West championship.

Lots of action today, including three more bids being handed out. Here's the rundown of conference tournament games.

Big South Championship (in Conway, SC)
No. 4S Winthrop vs. No. 1S Coastal Carolina, 12:00, ESPN2

Atlantic Sun Championship
No. 2 Mercer at No. 1 Florida Gulf Coast, 2:00, ESPN2

Missouri Valley Championship (in St. Louis)
No. 2 Indiana State vs. No. 1 Wichita State, 2:05, CBS

Colonial Semifinals (in Baltimore)
No. 5 Northeastern vs. No. 1 Delaware, 2:30, NBC Sports Network
No. 3 William & Mary vs. No. 2 Towson, 5:00, NBC Sports Network

MAAC Semifinals (in Springfield, MA)
No. 4 Canisius vs. No. 1 Iona, 4:30, ESPN3
No. 3 Quinnipiac vs. No. 2 Manhattan, 7:00, ESPN3

America East Semifinals (in Albany)
No. 4 Albany vs. No. 1 Vermont, 5:00, ESPN3
No. 3 Hartford vs. No. 2 Stony Brook, 7:30, ESPN3

Southern Semifinals (in Asheville, NC)
No. 5 Western Carolina vs. No. 1 Davidson, 6:00, ESPN3
No. 7 Georgia Southern vs. No. 3 Wofford, 8:30, ESPN3

Summit Quarterfinals (in Sioux Falls, SD)
No. 5 South Dakota vs. No. 4 Denver, 7:00
No. 6 Western Illinois vs. No. 3 South Dakota State, 9:30

The rest of the key games today...
Virginia at Maryland, 12:00, CBS
Syracuse at Florida State, 2:00, ESPN Full Court
Saint Louis at Massachusetts, 2:00, CBS Sports Network
La Salle at St. Joseph's, 4:00, CBS Sports Network
Michigan State at Ohio State, 4:30, CBS
Penn State at Minnesota, 5:15, Big Ten Network
Boston College at North Carolina State, 6:00, ESPNU
Wisconsin at Nebraska, 7:30, Big Ten Network

Florida State and Nebraska can move ever so closer to bracket, if not climb into the field, with wins today.

Today is the last day of the regular season. The bids will now be coming in fast and furious and the field will constantly change. Selection Sunday is just one week away. Stay tuned.

Harvard First NCAA Entrant, High Point First NIT Entrant

The Big Dance and the NIT both have their first official teams in their respective fields. More on that after the bracket and rundown.

Last Four Byes: Oregon, Stanford, Pittsburgh, Dayton
Last Four In: BYU, Xavier, Providence, Tennessee
First Four Out: Georgetown, Missouri, California, Nebraska
Next Four Out: Florida State, Minnesota, St. John's, Southern Miss

Conference Rundown:
7: Big 12
6: Atlantic 10, Pac-12
5: ACC, American, Big Ten
4: Big East, SEC
2: Mountain West, West Coast
22 one-bid leagues

The first official NCAA Tournament ticket was punched Friday, as Harvard defeated Yale 70-58 to win their third straight Ivy League title and become the first team into the Big Dance. Slyani Chambers led the Crimson with 17 points and six assists, Steve Moundou-Missi scored 16 and Brandyn Curry dropped 14 off the bench. Justin Sears of Yale led all scorers with 28 in a losing effort. The Crimson jumped up to the 12-line thanks to a shift in the MAC standings. Western Michigan defeated Central Michigan 78-64, clinching the top seed in the MAC tournament, in the process. Harvard closes their regular season tonight against Brown.

The first official NIT ticket was also punched Friday. That's because Big South regular season champion High Point was upset in the quarterfinals by Winthrop, 62-60, as Keon Moore led the way with 23 points for the Eagles, who advanced to the semifinals where they will face UNC-Asheville. VMI and Coastal Carolina will meet in the other semifinal. The Panthers now receive an automatic bid to the NIT, where they will almost certainly be a No. 8 seed. Coastal Carolina now moves in the current AQ, thanks to their head-to-head victory over VMI in the regular season, as both teams were 11-5 in conference play.

The Shockers are still undefeated. Wichita State "aced" their quarterfinal against Evansville, 80-58, to set up a semifinal showdown with Missouri State, whom the Shockers just beat one week ago. Cleanthony Early and Ron Baker each scored 17 points for the winners and Tekele Cotton (11) and Chadrick Lufile (11) also posted double-digit points. Leading the way for the Aces was D.J. Balentine with 31. The other MVC semifinal will pit Indiana State, who defeated Loyola (IL), against Southern Illinois, who upset No. 3 Northern Iowa.

Belmont breezed by Morehead State in their Ohio Valley semifinal, winning 86-63, as three Bruins starters  and two players off the bench reached double-figures, led by J.J. Mann's 16. Reece Chamberlain nearly had a double-double, with nine points and eight rebounds.

Their opponent in the championship, however, will not be Murray State, as the Racers were upset in the other semifinal by Eastern Kentucky by a score of 86-83. Corey Walden had 24 points for the Colonels, as four starters hit at least ten points. The finals are tonight.

So as I said yesterday, this was the calm before the storm. Today is the final Saturday of the regular season and it promises to be a great one. Plenty of action all across the bracket. Let's start with the conference tournament games, including the second tournament bid being handed out in the Ohio Valley.

Ohio Valley Championship (in Nashville)
No. 3 Eastern Kentucky vs. No. 1 Belmont, 7:00, ESPN2

Southern Quarterfinals (in Asheville, NC)
No. 8 Samford vs. No. 1 Davidson, 12:00, ESPN3
No. 5 Western Carolina vs. No. 4 Elon, 2:30, ESPN3
No. 7 Georgia Southern vs. No. 2 Chattanooga, 6:00, ESPN3
No. 11 Citadel vs. No. 3 Wofford, 8:30, ESPN3

MAAC Quarterfinals (in Springfield, MA)
No. 8 Rider vs. No. 1 Iona, 12:00, ESPN3
No. 5 Siena vs. No. 4 Canisius, 2:30, ESPN3
No. 7 St. Peter's vs. No. 2 Manhattan, 6:30, ESPN3
No. 11 Niagara vs. No. 3 Quinnipiac, 9:00, ESPN3

Colonial Quarterfinals (in Baltimore)
No. 8 Hofstra vs. No. 1 Delaware, 12:00
No. 5 Northeastern vs. No. 4 Drexel, 2:30
No. 7 James Madison vs. No. 2 Towson, 6:00
No. 6 Charleston vs. No. 3 William & Mary, 8:30

America East Quarterfinals (in Albany)
No. 8 New Hampshire vs. No. 1 Vermont, 12:00, ESPN3
No. 5 UMBC vs. No. 4 Albany, 2:30, ESPN3
No. 7 Maine vs. No. 2 Stony Brook, 6:00, ESPN3
No. 6 Binghamton vs. No. 3 Hartford, 8:30, ESPN3

Northeast Semifinals (higher seed hosts)
No. 4 Mount St. Mary's at No. 2 Wagner, 12:00
No. 6 St. Francis (PA) at No. 1 Robert Morris, 2:00

Big South Semifinals (in Conway, SC)
No. 4S Winthrop vs. No. 2S UNC-Asheville, 12:00, ESPN3
No. 2N VMI vs. No. 1S Coastal Carolina, 2:00, ESPN3

Missouri Valley Semifinals (in St. Louis)
No. 4 Missouri State vs. No. 1 Wichita State, 2:35, ESPN3
No. 6 Southern Illinois vs. No. 2 Indiana State, 5:05, ESPN3

West Coast Quarterfinals (in Las Vegas)
No. 6 San Diego vs. No. 3 San Francisco, 3:00, BYUtv
No. 10 Loyola Marymount vs. No. 2 BYU, 5:30, BYUtv
No. 9 Santa Clara vs. No. 1 Gonzaga, 9:00, ESPN2
No. 5 Pepperdine vs. No. 4 Saint Mary's, 11:30, ESPN2

Patriot League Semifinals (higher seed hosts)
No. 5 Army at No. 1 Boston University, 3:30, CBS Sports Network
No. 3 Holy Cross at No. 2 American University, 5:30, CBS Sports Network

Summit Quarterfinals (in Sioux Falls, SD)
No. 7 IUPUI vs. No. 2 IPFW, 7:00

Horizon League Semifinals (in Green Bay, WI)
No. 3 Wright State vs. No. 2 Cleveland State, 7:00, ESPN3
No.5 Milwaukee vs. No. 1 Green Bay, 9:30, ESPNU

And as if that wasn't enough, here's the rest of the notable games today.

Kentucky at Florida, 12:00, CBS
St. John's at Marquette, 12:00, Fox Sports 1
SMU at Memphis, 12:00, ESPN2
Cincinnati at Rutgers, 12:00, ESPNews
Kansas at West Virginia, 12:00, ESPN
Baylor at Kansas State, 1:30, ESPN Full Court
Oklahoma State at Iowa State, 2:00, ESPN
Connecticut at Louisville, 2:00, CBS
Eastern Michigan at Toledo, 2:00
Georgetown at Villanova, 2:00, Fox Sports 1
Western Kentucky at Georgia State, 2:30, ESPN Full Court
Utah at Stanford, 2:30, Pac-12 Network
Arkansas at Alabama, 4:00, ESPN3
Pittsburgh at Clemson, 4:00, ESPN Full Court
Arizona at Oregon, 4:00, CBS
Oklahoma at TCU, 4:00, ESPN Full Court
Missouri at Tennessee, 4:00, ESPN
Texas at Texas Tech, 4:00, ESPNews
George Washington at Fordham, 4:30
Arizona State at Oregon State, 4:30, Pac-12 Network
Georgia at LSU, 5:00, ESPN Full Court
Weber State at Eastern Washington, 5:05
Jackson State at Alabama State, 6:00
Indiana at Michigan, 6:00, ESPN
Colorado at California, 6:30
Texas Southern at Southern University, 6:30
Harvard at Brown, 7:00
Richmond at Dayton, 7:00
St. Bonaventure at VCU, 7:00
UC Davis at UC Irvine, 7:30
Illinois at Iowa, 8:30, Big Ten Network
North Carolina at Duke, 9:00, ESPN
New Mexico at San Diego State, 10:05, CBS Sports Network
UCLA at Washington State, 11:00, Fox Sports 1

Xavier Stumbles, Sparty Redeems Itself, Harvard Can Clinch

Thursday saw some solid hoops action. No one fell out of the field, but one team is moving closer to the cut line. More on that after the bracket.

Last Four Byes: Oregon, Stanford, Pittsburgh, Dayton
Last Four In: BYU, Xavier, Providence, Tennessee
First Four Out: Georgetown, Missouri, California, Nebraska
Next Four Out: Florida State, Minnesota, St. John's, Southern Miss

Conference Rundown:
7: Big 12
6: Atlantic 10, Pac-12
5: ACC, American, Big Ten
4: Big East, SEC
2: Mountain West, West Coast
22 one-bid leagues

Xavier missed a golden opportunity to pick up a late quality win before the Big East tournament, losing at home to Villanova by seven, giving the Big East championship to the Wildcats. X is still in the field today, among the last four in, projected to play BYU .

Is Sparty finally back? Tom Izzo's team posted a ten-point victory over Iowa in East Lansing to complete the season-sweep and currently sits on the five-line. When healthy, Michigan State is a very dangerous team and if they get it together, can make a Final Four run. The Hawkeyes fell to the nine-line with this loss. Iowa is 5-9 against the top-50 and 6-10 versus the top-100. However, they have no bad losses, the worst coming at Indiana. Fran McCaffery and crew will be just fine on Selection Sunday.

Cincinnati put up 97 points in their win over Memphis Thursday, moving back to a tie with Louisville atop the standings. The Bearcats also have a huge schedule advantage on the final day, as they visit Rutgers Saturday, while Louisville hosts Connecticut. Should both teams win, then the SMU-Memphis game becomes important.

If Louisville, Cincinnati and SMU all win, the Cardinals would get the top seed in the American Athletic tournament. If UL, UC and Memphis win, then a coin-flip will decide the top seed in Memphis. If both UL and UC lose and SMU wins, Louisville is the top seed, while the Bearcats get the top seed if they both lose and Memphis wins.

LSU kept their slim at-large hopes alive, winning at Vanderbilt. The Tigers need a good showing in the SEC tournament to have hope. VCU all but ended Richmond's chances, winning on the road by six and UCLA avoided a slip-up at Washington, winning 91-82.

Conference USA ended in a four-way tie, with Louisiana Tech, Tulsa, Middle Tennessee and Southern Mississippi all claiming a share of the championship. However, it's the Bulldogs getting the top seed for the tournament in El Paso, Texas, an advantage for No. 5 seed UTEP, who finished just one game back of the pack.

Fairly light schedule tonight, but one that may feature the first official NCAA Tournament ticket being punched, as Harvard visits Yale. A Crimson win clinches the Ivy League title and a tournament bid for Harvard. Yale must win tonight, defeat Dartmouth tomorrow, hope Harvard loses at Brown, then win a one-game playoff to claim the Ivy. The team meet at 7:30.

More conference tournament action tonight. Here is the rundown.

Southern Conference First Round (all games in Asheville, NC)
No. 9 Appalachian State vs. No. 8 Samford, 11:00, ESPN3
No. 10 Furman vs. No. 7 Georgia Southern, 1:30, ESPN3
No. 11 Citadel vs. No. 6 UNC-Greensboro, 4:00, ESPN3

Big South Quarterfinals (all games in Conway, SC)
No. 4S Winthrop vs. No. 1N High Point, 12:00, ESPN Full Court
No. 3N Radford vs. No. 2S UNC-Asheville, 2:00, ESPN Full Court
No. 5S Charleston Southern vs. No. 1S Coastal Carolina, 6:00, ESPN Full Court
No. 3S Gardner-Webb vs. No. 2N VMI, 8:00, ESPN Full Court

Missouri Valley Quarterfinals (all games in St. Louis)
No. 9 Evansville vs. No. 1 Wichita State, 1:05, ESPN Full Court
No. 5 Illinois State vs. No. 4 Missouri State, 3:35, ESPN Full Court
No. 10 Loyola (IL) vs. No. 2 Indiana State, 7:05, ESPN Full Court
No. 6 Southern Illinois vs. No. 3 Northern Iowa, 9:35, ESPN Full Court

Horizon Quarterfinals (all games in Green Bay, WI)
No. 6 Oakland vs. No. 3 Wright State, 7:00, ESPN Full Court
No. 5 Milwaukee vs. No. 4 Valparaiso, 9:30, ESPN Full Court

Colonial First Round (in Baltimore)
No. 9 UNC-Wilmington vs. No. 8 Hofstra, 7:00

Ohio Valley Semifinals (all games in Nashville)
No. 4 Morehead State vs. No. 1 Belmont, 7:30, ESPNU
No. 3 Eastern Kentucky vs. No. 2 Murray State, 10:00, ESPNU

Plus, two games in the MAC, as Kent State visits Akron at 7:00 on ESPN2 and co-leader Western Michigan visits Central Michigan at 7:00.

Today is the calm before the storm that is the final Saturday of the regular season. Gear up, my friends. Can Wichita State keep rolling? We'll find out. Until then, take care and I'll see you tomorrow.

California Drops Out, Arch Madness Begins

Plenty of bubble action last night, which saw one Pac-12 team tumble out of the bracket. More on that later, but first, the bracket.

Last Four Byes: Oregon, Stanford, Pittsburgh, Dayton
Last Four In: Xavier, BYU, Providence, Tennessee
First Four Out: Georgetown, Missouri, California, Nebraska
Next Four Out: Florida State, Minnesota, St. John's, Southern Miss

Conference Rundown:
7: Big 12
6: Atlantic 10, Pac-12
5: ACC, American, Big Ten
4: Big East, SEC
2: Mountain West, West Coast
22 one-bid leagues


California dropped their third straight game Wednesday, losing at home to Utah. With their recent struggles, and this being their 12th loss of the season, the Golden Bears are now on the wrong side of the bubble. If it wasn't for that buzzer-beater to defeat Arizona back on February 1, the Bears would be in even worse shape. The Bears are now just 6-10 against the top 100 with losses to UC Santa Barbara and USC. What's keeping them in the hunt is the aforementioned Arizona win, plus wins at Stanford and Oregon. They now sit among the first four out.

Taking their place in the field is Tennessee, who clobbered Auburn by 28. The Vols are still overcoming a sweep at the hands of Texas A&M, but their 35-point drubbing of Virginia now has a lot more weight, thanks to the Cavs winning the ACC title. A huge visit from Missouri awaits on Saturday. The loser will have to work even harder next week at the SEC Tournament.

Speaking of Missouri, they barely escaped with a win over Texas A&M. A loss would have been crushing to their tournament hopes. The Tigers are really hanging their hat on that December 7 win against UCLA. They might need the win over Tennessee more than the Vols do.

Arkansas made it a trio of wins for the SEC bubble teams Wednesday by smashing Mississippi by 30. The Razorbacks have been following up the win at Kentucky perfectly. If they avoid a slip-up late, they're in.

Nebraska scored a key victory at Indiana, a place where the Hoosiers had beaten Iowa, Ohio State, Michigan and Wisconsin. The Huskers are still on the outside, but are very close. Losses to Penn State, Northwestern and UAB weigh down a profile that does have some nice wins over Michigan State, Ohio State and Minnesota. However, a 4-10 record away from Lincoln won't look good to the committee. But it's not something a good run in Indy won't fix.

Dayton did what very few teams are able to do. Win at Saint Louis. That makes nine wins away from UD Arena for the Flyers, which, barring an early exit from the Atlantic 10 Tournament, should put the Flyers in the Field of 68. The only downside is they'll now likely be seeded just above the First Four, which is played on their home court. But I'm sure they'll trade a home game in the First Four for an immediate spot in the second round.

More conference tournament action tonight. Here's the rundown.

MAAC First Round (all games in Springfield, MA)
No. 9 Monmouth vs. No. 8 Rider, 5:00
No. 10 Fairfield vs. No. 7 St. Peter's, 7:00
No. 11 Niagara vs. No. 6 Marist, 9:00

Atlantic Sun Semifinals (higher seed hosts)
No. 4 East Tennessee State at No. 1 Florida Gulf Coast, 6:30, ESPN3
No. 3 South Carolina Upstate at No. 2 Mercer, 8:30, ESPN3

Ohio Valley Quarterfinals (all games in Nashville)
No. 5 Tennessee Tech vs. No. 4 Morehead State, 7:00
No. 6 Southeast Missouri State vs. No. 3 Eastern Kentucky, 9:00

Missouri Valley First Round (all games in St. Louis)
No. 9 Evansville vs. No. 8 Drake, 7:05
No. 10 Loyola (IL) vs. No. 7 Bradley, 9:35

West Coast First Round (all games in Las Vegas)
No. 10 Loyola Marymount vs. No. 7 Portland, 9:00
No. 9 Santa Clara vs. No. 8 Pacific, 11:30

Other key games tonight:
Memphis at Cincinnati. 7:00, ESPN
LSU at Vanderbilt, 7:00, ESPN2
Villanova at Xavier, 7:00, Fox Sports 1
Louisiana Tech at Rice, 8:00
UTEP at Texas-San Antonio, 8:00
Southern Miss at Tulane, 8:00
Grambling at Alabama State, 8:30
Texas Southern at Alcorn State, 8:30
Iowa at Michigan State. 9:00, ESPN
VCU at Richmond, 9:00, CBS Sports Network
Oral Roberts at Stephen F. Austin, 9:00
UCLA at Washington, 9:00, ESPN2
Hawaii at UC Santa Barbara, 9:00, ESPNU
UC Irvine at Cal State Fullerton, 10:00
Weber State at Portland State, 10:05

Enjoy the last Thursday of the regular season. It could be the last day without an official team in the field, as Harvard can clinch the Ivy League tomorrow. We will also see Wichita State continue their quest for perfection heading into the dance. So until tomorrow, take care, everyone.

Syracuse Continues To Fall, More Tournaments Begin

Jim Boeheim's club really needs to get things going before Selection Sunday. The Orange suffered yet another bad home loss, this time to Georgia Tech. That loss has dropped Syracuse to the three-line and moved Virginia up to a 2-seed.

On the other side of the bracket, Baylor solidified their spot in the field by defeating Iowa State. The Bears sit as a No. 7 seed in today's bracket. Iowa State fell to a four.

A pair of Big East teams picked up huge wins Tuesday. Providence won a double-overtime thriller against Marquette and Georgetown knocked off Creighton to just about end the Blue Jays' hopes of winning the Big East crown. The Friars jumped Tennessee for the final spot in the field and Georgetown is now the first team out.

Let's take a look at the bracket, then check out the schedule of games for tonight.

Last Four Byes: Pittsburgh, California, Xavier, Arkansas
Last Four In: Oregon, BYU, Dayton, Providence
First Four Out: Georgetown, Tennessee, Missouri, Minnesota
Next Four Out: Nebraska, Florida State, St. John's, Southern Miss

Conference Rundown:
7: Big 12, Pac-12
6: Atlantic 10
5: ACC, American, Big Ten
4: Big East
3: SEC
2: Mountain West, West Coast
22 one-bid leagues


Today brings the start of three more conference tournaments (one has already started at the time of this post). Here are the schedule of games for those three tournaments.

Big South First Round (all games at the campus of Coastal Carolina):
No. 5N Liberty at No. 4S Winthrop, 12:00
No. 6S Presbyterian vs. No. 3N Radford, 2:00
No. 5S Charleston Southern vs. No. 4N Campbell, 6:00
No. 6N Longwood vs. No. 3S Gardner-Webb, 8:00

Ohio Valley First Round (all games in Nashville):
No. 8 SIU-Edwardsville vs. No. 5 Tennessee Tech, 7:00
No. 7 Eastern Illinois vs. No. 6 Southeast Missouri State, 9:00

Northeast Quarterfinals (higher seed hosts, all games 7:00):
No. 8 Fairleigh Dickinson at No. 1 Robert Morris
No. 7 Central Connecticut State at No. 2 Wagner
No. 6 St. Francis (PA) at No. 3 Bryant
No. 5 St. Francis (NY) at No. 4 Mount St. Mary's

Tonight also features the quarterfinals of the Patriot League tournament, and here is the schedule

Patriot League Quarterfinals (higher seed hosts):
No. 9 Lafayette at No. 1 Boston University, 7:00
No. 5 Army at No. 4 Bucknell, 7:00
No. 6 Lehigh at No. 3 Holy Cross, 7:00
No. 7 Colgate at No. 2 American University, 7:30

Other games of note for tonight:
Rutgers at Connecticut, 7:00, ESPNU
Massachusetts at Duquesne, 7:00
Nebraska at Indiana, 7:00, Big Ten Network
Louisville at SMU, 7:00, CBS Sports Network
Duke at Wake Forest, 7:00, ESPN3
Mississippi at Arkansas, 8:00, ESPN3
Tennessee at Auburn, 8:00, ESPN Full Court
Texas Tech at Kansas, 8:00, ESPN Full Court
Texas A&M at Missouri, 8:00, ESPN3
TCU at Texas, 8:00, Longhorn Network
St. Joseph's at George Washington, 9:00
Air Force at New Mexico, 9:00, ESPN3
West Virginia at Oklahoma, 9:00, ESPNU
Dayton at Saint Louis, 9:00, CBS Sports Network
Colorado at Stanford, 9:00, ESPN2
Purdue at Wisconsin, 9:00, Big Ten Network
Utah at California, 11:00, ESPNU
Arizona at Oregon State, 11:00, Fox Sports 1
San Diego State at UNLV, 11:05, CBS Sports Network

Tomorrow's post will include the start of tournaments in the MAAC, West Coast and Missouri Valley, as well as the Ohio Valley quarterfinals and Atlantic Sun semifinals. Until then, take care and I'll see you tomorrow.

Pittsburgh and Xavier Lose, Atlantic Sun and Horizon Kick Off

We continue our trek through conference tournaments tonight as the Horizon League and Atlantic Sun begin their respective tournaments.

Here, first, is the schedule of tournament games for tonight. All times are in EST.

Atlantic Sun Quarterfinals (all games 7:00 PM):

No. 8 Stetson at No. 1 Florida Gulf Coast (ESPN3)
No. 5 Lipscomb at No. 4 East Tennessee State
No. 6 North Florida at No. 3 South Carolina Upstate (ESPN3)
No. 7 Jacksonville at No. 2 Mercer (ESPN3)

Horizon League First Round:

No. 7 Youngstown State at No. 6 Oakland, 7:00
No. 8 Detroit at No. 5 Milwaukee, 7:00
No. 9 UIC at No. 4 Valparaiso, 8:05

Two key results from last night saw Xavier and Pittsburgh both lose to draw themselves closer to the bubble. The Musketeers suffered a sweep at the hands of Seton Hall while the Panthers lost at home to North Carolina State, who still has a pulse in the bubble picture, but likely need to make a deep run in Greensboro. Both teams are still in the field, but both are now looking at double-digit seeds for the Big Dance.

Other games of note included North Carolina squeak by Notre Dame at home, 63-61, continuing their chase of a protected seed, and Oklahoma State won by 16 against Kansas State, giving them more breathing room, as they will avoid going 7-11 in Big 12. Even if they lose their finale to Iowa State, their resume looks better with an 8-10 conference record than it would have at 7-11. Plus, all their top-50 wins, including the Kansas win, will be enough to push them in. The Cowboys currently sit on the nine-line.

In Monday's tournament action, No. 7 Colgate defeated No. 10 Navy, 57-51, to set up a quarterfinal meeting with top-seed Boston University tomorrow. The other first-round game saw No. 9 Lafayette win on the road against No. 8 Loyola (MD), 84-71, to advance to tomorrow's quarterfinal against No. 2 American University.

So, because of the light action, not much movement in the bracket. The main movement comes in the middle of the bracket.

No changes among the last four in, first four out. Pittsburgh replaces Stanford in the "Last Four Byes" group.

Besides the tournament games tonight, we have Iowa State at Baylor; Creighton at Georgetown; Michigan at Illinois; Florida at South Carolina; Georgia Tech at Syracuse; Miami (FL) at Clemson; Georgia State and Arkansas State; Florida State at Boston College; Alabama at Kentucky; Marquette at Providence; Arizona State at Oregon.

The MAC also has key games, as Buffalo (at Akron), Toledo (at Central Michigan) and Western Michigan (vs. Northern Illinois) are all in action and all enter today tied at 12-4.

With that, I'll be back tomorrow as tournaments begin in the Big South, Ohio Valley and Northeast, as well as the Patriot quarterfinals.