1316 replies to this topic

[Chris B]

Creighton narrowly escapes the MVC final, beating Illinois St. 83-79 in overtime. Bubble teams breathe a sigh of relief.

Drexel beats ODU to advance to the CAA final. Fairfield upsets Iona 85-75 to reach the MAAC championship.

[bnickle]

Did not get to see the UNC/Duke game last night, but seeing the highlights and reading the recap; that was the UNC team we expected to see this year. A UNC / Kentucky final would be a lot fun.

Yes, they are the two most talented teams in CBB. It would be nice to see them match up again on a neutral court.

[SportsGuy]

Did not get to see the UNC/Duke game last night, but seeing the highlights and reading the recap; that was the UNC team we expected to see this year. A UNC / Kentucky final would be a lot fun.

There would be around 10 NBA first rounders playing in that game..and a few more drafted in round 2.

[SBTarheel]

Did not get to see the UNC/Duke game last night, but seeing the highlights and reading the recap; that was the UNC team we expected to see this year. A UNC / Kentucky final would be a lot fun.

Yea, Chris it was a VERY impressive performance by Carolina. The game was never close.

I can't wait to get another shot at Kentucky if it comes to fruition, that first game was classic, plus they knocked us out in the Elite 8 last year.

[Chris B]

Monday games:

WCC championship: St. Mary's vs. Gonzaga (9 PM, ESPN)
CAA championship: VCU vs. Drexel (7 PM, ESPN)
MAAC championship: Loyola MD vs. Fairfield (7 PM, ESPN2)
Sun Belt semifinals: Arkansas St. vs. North Texas (7 PM, ESPN3)
Sun Belt semifinals: Western Kentucky vs. Denver (9:30 PM, ESPN3)
SoCon championship: West Carolina vs. Davidson (9 PM, ESPN2)

[Chris B]

On another message board that I frequent, an interesting debate has begun about at-large bids that make the NCAA tournament. Basically, a few people have suggested that in order to be eligible for an at-large bid, a team must have at least a .500 record in conference play. This would probably open up several at-large spots for mid-major teams that finished 2nd or 3rd in their conference.

Let's take a look at Joe Lunardi's bracket for the sake of argument. As of 3/5 (12:13 PM), he has Connecticut (8-10), West Virginia (9-9), Seton Hall (8-10), and Mississippi St. (8-8) as at-large teams that are below .500 or at .500. So that's two teams with sub-.500 records and two at .500.

Now, before looking at the bracket, I did believe there would be more sub-.500 teams projected to be in the tournament than Lunardi has currently. But regardless, the issue remains. Should teams with a sub-.500 conference record be allowed in? Or, should they be looked at on a team-by-team basis, which the committee does now? Clearly UConn has a better resume than Seton Hall.

What do you think?

[BSLChrisStoner]

I think 1 bid conferences due a disservice to their leagues by not automatically sending their regular season champion, but that is a different issue I guess.

I guess as a whole, I don't have a problem with requiring teams to be at-least .500 in league play. However, one thing to consider is that as these leagues grow, every conference member might not play the same league opponents. I'm not sure one team with a comparable overall resume should be penalized if they are 8-10 having played a tough schedule, and the 9-9, or 10-8 should be rewarded for having had some luck with their scheduled opponents.

[Chris B]

As I'm sure everyone is aware, ESPN's Championship Week page has some great resources, including each conference's tournament bracket and results. It should definitely be in your bookmarks, at least for this week.

http://espn.go.com/m... ... pweek2012/

[SportsGuy]

http://www.theacc.co... ... 12aai.html

[Chris B]

If you didn't watch college basketball tonight, you missed some great games.

St. Mary's beat Gonzaga in OT in the WCC Championship. Both teams will be in the tournament, though.
Loyola MD beat Fairfield in the MAAC finals, giving them their first NCAA berth since 1994. Congrats to Jimmy Patsos and Greyhounds fans. My guess is the Greyhounds are a 14 or 15 seed.
Davidson had an exciting double OT win over West Carolina to punch their ticket. I'm guessing Davidson will be a 13 or 14 seed.
In the CAA Championship, VCU took down Drexel. It will be interesting to see what the committee does with the Drexel Dragons. They had a great CAA run (they hadn't lost a game since early January) but their strength of schedule was very weak. They, along with Iona, may have to wait to see how the rest of the conference tournaments shape out to see if they'll be participating in the NCAAs.
In the Sun Belt, Western Kentucky beat Denver and North Texas beat Arkansas St. to reach the finals.

Here's a look at tomorrow's (Tuesday's) games:

> The A10 starts their conference tournament tomorrow. See the A10 Thread for details about who plays who.
> The Sun Belt championship is on ESPN2 at 7 PM.
> The Horizon League Championship between Detroit and Valpo is on ESPN at 9 PM.
> Princeton takes on Penn at 7:30. If Princeton wins, Harvard wins the Ivy League. If Penn wins, Harvard and Penn will have a one-game playoff on Saturday to determine who will go to the NCAA tournament.
> The Summit League championship between Western Illinois and South Dakota St. is on ESPN2 at 9 PM.
> The Big East begins its first round of play tomorrow. All games are on the ESPN family of networks:
12 PM: DePaul vs. Connecticut (winner takes on 8. West Virginia)
2 PM: Pitt vs. St John's (winner plays 5. Georgetown)
7 PM: Providence vs. Seton Hall (winner plays 7. Louisville)
9 PM: Villanova vs. Rutgers (winner plays 6. South Florida)

If UConn loses to DePaul, they are back on the bubble (personally, where I think they belong now). Seton Hall is OUT if they lose to Providence.

[Brobey]

AMAZING games last night....Both 9 PM games go into OT, Loyola wins a thriller, VCU shows CAA strength and I think Drexel should get in, based on their run at the end of the year, and the CAA results in the NCAA tourney the last 3-5 years.

[Chris B]

A quick recap of the afternoon games and the 7 PM games:

- The first round of the A10 went chalk. All the home teams won. Quarterfinals begin Friday afternoon in Atlantic City on CBS Sports Network.
- The Hilltoppers of Western Kentucky got an exciting win over the North Texas Mean Green in the Sun Belt Championship. They won 4 games in 4 days. Will probably be the 16 play-in game in Dayton.
- Princeton defeated Penn to end their chance at reaching March Madness. The Harvard Crimson will be in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1946.
- In the first round of the Big East tournament, UConn defeated DePaul, Pitt beat St. John's, and Seton Hall trounced Providence to keep their hopes alive.

Nova and Rutgers in progress, along with the Summit League championship and the Horizon League championship. I will post later tonight with minor recaps of these and a look at tomorrow's games.

[Brobey]

Was unable to catch the early games, so I really appreciate the recap! Thanks!!

[Chris B]

- South Dakota St. Jackrabbits beat the Western Illinois Leathernecks in The Summit Conference to go to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in the school's history. The game was a thriller that went to OT. They will be in the 14-16 range in the Big Dance.

- The Detroit-Mercy Titans defeated Valpo in the Horizon League finals 68-50. This is the Titans first NCAA berth since 1999. They outscored the Knights 44-23 in the second half. By my guess, they will be a 15 or 16.

24 games will be going on throughout Wednesday:
- Northeast Conference final: Robert Morris vs. LIU Brooklyn on ESPN2 at 7 PM. RMU was 13-5 in the NEC, while LIU was 16-2. The Colonials (RMU) won the lone regular season game between the two.
- Patriot League final: Lehigh vs. Bucknell on CBS College Sports Network at 7 PM. The two split games during the regular season.
- Big East second round games: Pitt vs. Georgetown, UConn vs. West Virginia (loser may be out of the tournament), Seton Hall vs. Louisville (I think the Pirates are in with a win, out with a loss), and USF vs. Nova/Rutgers (USF out with a loss).
- The CUSA and the Big 12 tournaments' first rounds begin tomorrow on FSN and ESPN networks.
- Lots of quarterfinal games are tomorrow, including those of Southland, SWAC, and MEAC.
- The second round of the MAC tournament is also tomorrow.

[SportsGuy]

Come here to discuss the best conference tourney.

This is usually the Duke Invitational but this year, its going to be tough for them to win. UNC is the better team and Ryan Kelly is out for the tourney.

I am not even sure I think Duke will beat FSU and even get to the finals this year.

Tourney starts tomorrow.

[Adam Wolff]

Here's to hoping for a Cinderella MD run, but I'm not holding my breath.

With the injury to Kelly, this tournament is definitely UNC's to lose.

[Chris B]

Here's tonight's update:

- I watched the entire slate of Big East games today. Of the teams that played today, I was only impressed with UConn and Georgetown. All of the others were underwhelming. Louisville was very disappointing, Seton Hall looked bad vs. Nova, and how Nova has 4 All-Americans and plays this bad is beyond me. With the loss I say Seton Hall is OUT.
- Here are tomorrow's quarterfinal matchups for the Big East (all games are on ESPN throughout the day): UConn vs. Syracuse (12 PM), Louisville vs. Marquette (7 PM), Georgetown vs. Cincinnati (2 PM), and Notre Dame vs. USF (9 PM).
- The championship games were not as exciting as they have been the past few days, but Montana beat Weber St. in the Big Sky Final, Lehigh defeated Bucknell in the Patriot League Final, and LIU defeated Robert Morris in the NEC Championship.
- Just for fun: UTSA defeated Nicholls St. 96-48 in the Southland quarterfinal. Wow.
- No real upsets today except 6-10 Hampton defeating 14-2 Savannah St. in the MEAC quarterfinals.

44 games kick off tomorrow:
- Big East quarterfinals (see above)
- ACC first round (see SG's ACCT thread)
- SEC first round (on ESPN3)
- Big XII quarterfinals are on ESPN2/ESPN3 all day: Texas A&M vs. Kansas, Oklahoma St. vs. Mizzou, Kansas St. vs. Baylor, and Texas vs. Iowa St. If Texas beats the Cyclones, I say they are in. With a loss, out.
- The WAC, Big West, CUSA, and SWAC also have quarterfinal games.
- The Mountain West begins its tournament in Las Vegas.
- The Big Ten first round games begin on ESPN2/ESPN3. A notable game is Northwestern vs. Minnesota. If the Wildcats lose (they are favored), they are out.

That should cover it. Updates tomorrow!

[Brobey]

I don't know why I get this feeling, but I think Montana could put a scare into a 14/15 seed this year in the tourney...

[BSLChrisStoner]

IHJJR: http://www.ihatejjr....ubble-breakdown

[BSLChrisStoner]

NCST (the 5th seed) up 8 with 10 minutes left vs. BC (the 12th seed). The winner will face the #4 seed UVA tomorrow.

Later tonight is #7 Clemson vs. #10 VaTech, with winner playing #2 Duke tomorrow.
#6 Miami faces #11 Georgia Tech, winner facing #3 FSU.