We’re going get right into things today and hopefully from here on out this will be updated every other day or so in anticipation of the NCAA Tournament which begins on Tuesday March 13th with the play-in game before the tournament officially kicks off Thursday, March 15th.
Before I get into things though, I have a college basketball related story from this past weekend. Saturday afternoon I was watching Charlotte vs. Temple (I told you I watch almost every game), when I noticed that the play-by-play guy sounded awfully familiar. After a few minutes I realized, it was Jonathan Coachman from the WWE! I must say, Coach sounded a hell of a lot more comfortable doing play-by-play for basketball than he did in the past in the same role for WWE. I know Coach did the local sports in Kansas City before he was hired by WWE but I was pleasantly surprised by the job that he did.
Conference Tournaments: The Big South, Horizon and Ohio Valley Conference tournaments all began last night with no major defeats of note.
-Winthrop remains the odds on favorite to win the Big South and still has hopes of an at-large bid should they be upset. With the rest of the games slated to be played at Winthrop’s Rock Hill, South Carolina campus, it would be among the biggest upsets in ANY tournament to see Winthrop get knocked off.
-Butler and Wright State are clearly the class of the Horizon League but if Loyola (IL) can make it to the semifinals, they can pose some serious problems for Butler. With the championship game being played at the highest remaining seed, the Horizon League could very well become a two-bid league if Wright State can knock off Butler at home.
-While Austin Peay ran away with the regular season title, it appears as though the conference tournament won’t be as easy. The Governors survived a scare at home last night needing overtime to defeat Tennessee State. Eastern Kentucky and Tennessee Tech are both very capable of knocking off Austin Peay but the two will play a game of knockout Friday night for the right to (most likely) play Austin Peay for the championship on Saturday.
-The Patriot League, Southern Conference and the Sun Belt kick off their conference tournaments tonight with quite a few conference tournaments beginning Thursday and Friday.
At-Large Hopes and Battles for Seeding:
-Syracuse got a huge win Monday night which should all but assure them a dance ticket on Selection Sunday. The Orange were somewhat of a bubble team heading into the game but knocking off the conference leader in Georgetown should be enough to get them in.
-Gonzaga caught a huge break on Monday night when they were able to claim sole possession of the regular season conference championship when Santa Clara was unable to win at lowly Pepperdine. Gonzaga’s at-large hopes are still alive and it certainly boosts their credentials to be a league champ as opposed to an also-ran.
-A lot of “experts†where quick to give Michigan State an at-large bid following their win over Wisconsin last week but I am not so sure that they are at “lock†status just yet. Losing on the road last night to Michigan certainly doesn’t help matters as Michigan is a bubble team as well. The Spartans can lock up a bid if they are able to knock off Wisconsin for a second time this weekend but I don’t see that happening. While the computer numbers favor the Spartans, they might need to win a game or two in the Big Ten tournament to feel better about their chances.
-Sticking with last night’s game, Michigan suddenly appears to be back in contention for an at-large bid. The Wolverines still lack a marquee win but finishing with 20+ wins and a plus. 500 record in league play has to at least provide them with some hope. Michigan has an InsideRPI of 50 but can improve that by knocking off Ohio State at home this Saturday.
-West Virginia certainly did not help itself last night with its loss to Pittsburgh. West Virginia’s computer numbers are not that favorable and it’s hard to hand them an at-large bid because of the thumping at home of UCLA, especially since UCLA was missing its starting point guard.
-Oklahoma State got a huge win last night at home against Kansas State. It wasn’t so much who they beat as much as they just needed a victory to stop their free-fall. Oklahoma State closes with two road games at Baylor and Nebraska and can do a lot for their chances by finally winning on the road. Getting to .500 in the conference and avoiding a bad tournament loss should get them back into the Big Dance. On the other hand, the loss by Kansas State probably drops them out of at-large talks, at least for the moment.
-Out in the Mountain West, two games had a major impact on three teams last night. San Diego State, who still had a small chance of sneaking into the tournament, all but blew their chances last night losing on the road to a bad Utah team. BYU on the other hand, essentially locked up its bid with a very impressive win at Air Force. BYU is now assured at least a share of the regular season conference title and appears to be in the tournament. The loss by Air Force should not knock them out of the tournament but they might want to avoid a bad loss in the conference tournament.
-Last but not least, what is going on with the Florida Gators? The Gators have lost three of four and have not looked impressive in any game in quite some time. At first I thought the Gators just got bored with the regular season in anticipation of the tournament, which I still feel is true, but last night when they reached back into the reserve, nothing was there. The Gators are learning that it is not so easy to turn it on and off as you please and had better right the ship this Sunday at home against Kentucky or they might be looking at a #3 seed in the NCAA tournament. The one seed which they appeared a lock for appears to be being taken by Kansas.
