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.

Conference Tournaments Are Here!

Welcome to March and welcome to the start of conference tournaments.

Indeed, tonight features the first round of the Patriot League tournament as No. 10 Navy takes on No. 7 Colgate and No. 8 Loyola (MD) hosts No. 9 Lafayette.

And with the start of conference tournaments, I will be posting updates every day until Selection Sunday, including each day's conference tournament games.

Before we move forward, let's take a look at the bracket and a quick look back at that weekend that was.

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

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

Note: To explain Louisiana Tech as current AQ of Conference USA, there is currently a four-way tie atop the standings (Southern Mississippi, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee and Tulsa). Louisiana Tech and Tulsa are both 2-1 in games amongst the group, as each team has played the other three one.

The tiebreak for Tech and Tulsa is that Tech defeated Tulsa head-to-head, therefore, they are in the field. Should another team end up as the No. 1 seed if these four all stay tied, which is possible, then that team will enter the bracket.

Thursday's regular season finale has Louisiana Tech at Rice; Southern Miss at Tulane; Middle Tennessee at UAB; Tulsa at North Texas.


Dayton scored a much-needed victory on Saturday over Massachusetts, giving them four top-50 wins, including neutral-court victories over Gonzaga and California, as well as a home win over George Washington. The Flyers have good computer numbers and a top-50 RPI. For the time being, the Flyers are in the field as one of the last four in, meaning they would play on their home court to begin the tournament.

Arkansas did exactly what they needed to after beating Kentucky by avoiding the letdown loss to Georgia. The Razorbacks are still among the last four in, but have a little breathing room. Xavier also picked up a key victory over Creighton to move closer to a bid. The Musketeers look to be the No. 3 seed in the Big East tournament and can still pick up a quality victory before then if they can defeat Villanova this week.

The biggest loser of the weekend was probably Minnesota. They lost over the weekend at Michigan and looking over their resume, it doesn't look at good as once thought. They are just 3-7 against the top 50, none of those wins coming away from home. In fact, they are 3-9 in games played away from Williams Arena. Two of those wins are against Penn State and Northwestern, both outside the top 100. The third came against Richmond. Moving into the field in their place is Tennessee.

Georgetown also fell out from Friday's bracket. Despite the wins, the Hoyas are just 7-9 in the Big East and only 16-12 overall, which isn't exactly a great record for an at-large team. And their RPI is below 60 with a loss to RPI No. 224 Northeastern bringing them down. The Hoyas currently sit in the "Next Four Out" group.

Oklahoma State's victory over Kansas just about puts the Cowboys in the field. They can really solidify their spot with a win over either Kansas State or Iowa State. However, should they lose both, they will sit at 7-11 in Big 12 play, which would make a very interesting discussion when the committee gathers in Indianapolis next week. OSU is a ten-seed in today's bracket. The bigger story was the discussion of whether Kansas would fall to the two-line.

After considering Wisconsin, Syracuse, and to an extent, Duke, the choice was Kansas staying put as the final No. 1 seed, despite seven losses. Overall body of work shows that Kansas still has 12 victories versus the top 50, most in Division 1. They also have the second-best RPI and played the nations' toughest schedule, both overall and out of conference. That's why Kansas is still atop the East region today, behind Arizona, Florida and Wichita State.

As I mentioned in the beginning, I will start posting updates every day until March 16, letting you know what conference tournament games are taking place each day. Just two more weeks to get through, but they are two of the best weeks of the season. Hang on tight. It's full-speed ahead from now until Selection Sunday.

Weekend Update: Goodbye, February; Hello, March

One of the best months of the sports year begins tomorrow. We are set to leave behind February and enter the madness that is March.

We stand today just 16 days away from Selection Sunday and the battle for the final few spots in the field is as fierce as ever. Unfortunately, the bubble got a lot muddier throughout the week. Teams like Georgetown, Richmond, Nebraska, and St. John's all lost, meaning a lot of shuffling happened at the bottom of the bracket.

On the other hand, Xavier and Minnesota were among the teams scoring key victories to help their tournament chances. Xavier won at St. John's and the Gophers defeated Iowa.

Oregon also defeated UCLA Thursday night—despite two UCLA players being suspended—to score their second top-50 victory of the season. And with very strong computer numbers (RPI 32, NC SOS 59 with a 12-0 record), that's currently enough to put the Ducks back in the field. They still have some work to do in the Pac-12 tournament, but this is certainly a start.

The biggest winner of the week? We head down to Fayetteville for that answer. Arkansas won at Kentucky to score a season-sweep of John Calipari's team. The Razorbacks now have four top-50 victories, including two away from home—the aforementioned Kentucky win and a win over Minnesota out in Maui.

As for the rest of the field...

Last Four Byes: California, BYU, Xavier, Oklahoma State
Last Four In: Minnesota, Oregon, Arkansas, Georgetown
First Four Out: Providence, Tennessee, Missouri, Dayton
Next Four Out: St. John's, Richmond, Nebraska, Marquette

Conference rundown:

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

This weekend is shaping up to be a wild one. Huge bubble implications, plus Wichita State goes for undefeated regular season tomorrow against Missouri State.

And don't forget, the first conference tournament games begin Monday with the Patriot League.

Enjoy the weekend and I will see you all Monday to start setting up the conference tournaments.

Mid-Week Update, Poppin' Bubbles

Tuesday night provided a lot of bubble action and saw some teams improve their standing while other lost their grip on tournament bids.

First, the bracket:

Last Four Byes: Baylor, Richmond, BYU, Xavier
Last Four In: Minnesota, Oklahoma State, Georgetown, Providence
First Four Out: Dayton, Missouri, Tennessee, St. John's

Procedural move: Pittsburgh up from 10 to 9, St. Joseph's down from 9 to 10.

Minnesota defeated Iowa at home, giving them four top-50 wins. Despite the 7-9 conference record, the Gophers remain in the field. A lost would've been crushing, as it would have sent the team to 6-10 in conference play.

Xavier climbed back into the field by defeating St. John's on the road, which in turn, knocked the Johnnies out of today's update. That completes the season-sweep of the Red Storm for Xavier, who still gets Creighton and Villanova at home in their final three games. Steve Lavin's team does not have a quality opponent remaining, so they must win some games in the Big East tournament, which lucky for them, is on their home court.

Dayton got crushed by St. Joseph's, dropping them from the field, as well. Moving into their place was Oklahoma State. Even with the 6-9 Big 12 record, they still have good wins are clearly a much better team with Marcus Smart then without him. Their last three games are very key. Dayton has work to do in the Atlantic 10 tournament.

Missouri is making it very difficult for the committee to send a third SEC team after they were swept by Georgia. The Bulldogs are 10-5 in conference, but haven't beaten the top dogs. That's thanks to the unbalance of the SEC schedule. The Tigers are now on the outside looking in, really hanging their hat on their home win against UCLA back in December. At this point, it may not be enough, thanks to their play of late.

That's your update for Wednesday. I will see you guys Friday to set up for the next-to-last weekend of the regular season.