Tuesday Preview/Monday Recap

They’re only 11 Division games on Tuesday, but every game has NCAA Tournament implications. In addition, 6 of the 22 teams are ranked and 2 others were recently ranked.

Lipscomb-Belmont
A rivalry game here as Lipscomb tries to keep their 2-game advantage in the lost column.

Georgia Tech-Virginia Tech
The winner stays alive for a slim at-large chance, while the loser scrambles for the NIT.

Illinois-Wisconsin
Of the Top 7 teams in the Big Ten, only Michigan St. has won on the road against one of the other 7 teams. Illinois has a good chance to add a second game to that as Wisconsin is really struggling right now.

Western Kentucky-Florida Intl.
The Hilltoppers try to stay alive for an at-large and extend their two game Sun Belt lead.

Pitt-Uconn
Just a great game between two Top Ten teams.

Nebraska-OK St.
Both teams try to stay alive for at-large consideration

South Florida-Cincy
The Bearcats have only won once since Kirkland went down and have to have this one. South Florida has yet to win in the Big East but five out of the six games that they played were decided by six points or less.

Florida-Mississippi
The Gators try to show that they can win on the road after losing their last two on the road. Ole Miss is desperate for a win.

Georgetown-DePaul
The Hoyas try to keep their momentum going as DePaul tries to sneak into the Big East Tournament.

Wake Forest-Miami Fl
Both teams can still sneak into the Big Dance, but need to get hot starting here.

Northern Iowa-Creighton
The Panthers try to prove that they are worthy of being ranked by going to one of the toughest gyms in college basketball.


Recap

Louisville-Villanova
This was a great game with both teams trading three’s in the first half and all out chaos throughout the whole game. It was really fun to watch. Just great shooting and energy from everyone. However, Louisville lost again and at this point wouldn’t even be in the Big East Tournament.

Iona-St. Peter’s
Iona’s lost likely ends any at-large chance that they had and puts them in a first place tie with Manhattan.

Samford-Murray St.
A dominate performance by Murray St. justifies my inclusion of them in this week’s bracket.

Hawaii-Utah St.
Hawaii still can’t win on the mainland and Utah St. stays alive for a possible at-large.

Bracket Update

1 seeds
Duke (ACC)
Uconn (Big East)
Villanova
Memphis (C-USA)

2 seeds
Texas (Big 12)
Florida (SEC)
Illinois (Big Ten)
Michigan St.

3 seeds
Gonzaga (WCC)
Pitt
West Virginia
Ohio St.

4 seeds
NC State
Iowa
UCLA (Pac-10)
Tennessee

5 seeds
Wisconsin
GW (A-10)
Indiana
Michigan

6 seeds
LSU
Washington
Maryland
Northern Iowa (MVC)

7 seeds
UNC
Oklahoma
Georgetown
UAB

8 seeds
Wichita St.
BC
Syracuse
Bucknell (Patriot)

9 seeds
Xavier
Vandy
Southern Illinois
Kentucky

10 seeds
Air Force
Nevada
Creighton
Arizona

11 seeds
Marquette
Colorado
Kansas
Cal

12 seeds
George Mason (CAA)
Seton Hall
Western Kentucky (Sun Belt)
Akron (MAC)

13 seeds
Wisconsin-Milwaukee (Horizon)
Iona (MAAC)
San Diego St. (Mt. West)
La Tech (WAC)

14 seeds
Montana (Big Sky)
Winthrop (Big South)
Murray St. (OVC)
Northwestern St. (Southland)

15 seeds
Penn (Ivy)
Davidson (Southern)
IUPUI (MCC)
Albany (America East)

16 seeds
UC Irvine (Big West)
Lipscomb (Atlantic Sun)
FDU (NEC)
Delaware St. (MEAC)*
Southern (SWAC)*

*- play-in game

Last Four In- Colorado, Kansas, Cal, Seton Hall
First Four Out- Cincy, Kansas St., ODU, Temple

Multi-Bid Conferences
Big East- 8
Big Ten- 7
ACC- 5
SEC- 5
Big 12- 4
MVC- 4
Pac-10- 4
A-10- 2
C-USA- 2
Mt. West- 2
WAC- 2

In
Kansas
Cal
Seton Hall
George Mason
Iona
Lipscomb
FDU

Out
Kansas St.
Cincy
Louisville
Old Dominion
Manhattan
Florida Atlantic
Sacred Heart

Also Considered
Old Dominion
Temple
Missouri St.
Utah St.
USC
UNC Wilmington
Arkansas
Iowa St.
Alabama
Clemson
Ohio
Florida St.
Texas A&M
Houston
Nebraska
Rutgers
St. John’s
Miami Fl.
Bradley
Hofstra
Virginia
VCU
UTEP
Buffalo
Stanford
Kent St.
Mizzou
Ole Miss
South Alabama
OK St.
Notre Dame

Sunday Recap

Indiana-Minnesota
The Hoosiers have lost 3 of 5 and look to be really hurting without DJ White.

Arkansas-Kentucky
The Wildcats again escape at home but a win is a win and Kentucky will have enough of them to be in the tournament. The Razorbacks appear to be headed to the NIT at this point.

NC State-Clemson
Clemson’s FT shooting kills them again.

West Virginia-St. John’s
The Mountaineers survive a huge rally by the Red Storm, but their free throw shooting is still a question mark.

Seton Hall-Syracuse
The Pirates play their way onto the bubble this week after winning at NC State and Syracuse.

Washington-Stanford
The Huskies fouled Chris Hernandez with .2 seconds left and he made all 3 foul shots to send the game to overtime where Standford dominated. Stanford is a long way from an at-large berth, but is only a game out of the Pac-1o lead. Washington will fall in the standings as they lost at Cal and Stanford this week and are just 5-4 in the Pac-10.

Saturday's Top Ten

Virginia-Duke
The Cavs are deeper than Duke and have won 3 straight in the ACC. Duke is coming off a hard fought game at Virginia Tech. Duke is the better team but Virginia will win this one.

Villanova-Notre Dame
Nova may or may not get Allan Ray back from a hamstring injury. Even if they do, he won't be 100% and he hasn't practiced this week. They barely survived South Florida without Ray and Notre Dame is a whole lot better. Notre Dame has lost an amazing load of close games and this will be another close game. The margin of victory will be at most 4, but the Wildcats should win.

Vandy-Florida
South Carolina has beaten both teams in the last 10 days and Florida is hungry to get a win after two losses and they are playing at home. Those two factors will lead to a Gator victory.

Arizona-North Carolina
These Wildcats have already lost at Houston, Oregon, and Oregon St. this year. While both teams have been erratic all year, UNC is at home and should win.

Old Dominion-George Mason
ODU already beat George Mason this year, but that was at home and only by 1. The winner of this game will still be alive for an at-large berth and have control of the conference.

Wisconsin-Michigan
The Badgers have been horrible the past week, while Michigan is coming off a huge win against Michigan St. Surprisingly Wisconsin is alone in first place in the Big Ten but not after this game.

South Carolina-Tennessee
The Gamecocks have beaten Vandy and Florida in the past 10 days and had Kentucky beaten until Rondo's buzzer beater. This will be a lot closer than the standings indicate, but Tennessee will win.

Wichita St.-Creighton
A win here for the Shockers likely locks them into the bracket, but Creighton will be looking to rebound after losing at Southern Illinois and have this game at home. It will be close but the Blue Jays will win.

Ohio St.-Iowa
In the past week, Iowa has gone to Michigan St. and lost by 30. A few days later at home, they easily took care of Indiana. It has been tough for road teams in the Big Ten this year and Iowa will again show why as they cruise to a double digit victory.

Texas-Oklahoma
This will be the hardest Big 12 game that Texas will play this year, but they are still a million times better than these Sooners. To make matter worse, Kevin Bookout's arm will be in a cast. Texas by 15 easy.

Thursday Recap

Duke-Va Tech
If Duke hadn’t lost to Georgetown in their last game, Virginia Tech might have won, but they never had a chance.

Drexel-Old Dominion
The Monarchs got revenge against Drexel’s 19-point drubbing earlier in the year.

Bowling Green-Kent St.
Another loss by a MAC leader as Akron moves into a first place tie with Kent St. after beating Miami (OH).

UAB-Memphis
The Blazers played well, but Memphis was just better.

Ohio-Buffalo
Buffalo had some horrendous early conference losses, but picked up a good one here.

Nevada-Boise St.
The Wolf Pack is in serious trouble if they have to continue to rally against some of the WAC’s bottom teams. But they won so that’s all that matters at the moment.

UCLA-Oregon
Cedric Bozeman returned for the Bruins, but UCLA barley escaped Eugene with the win.

Washington-Cal
A huge win for Cal as they instantly become the PAC-10’s best hope for a 4th team.

Wednesday Recap

Maryland-Georgia Tech
The Terps showed they can win without Chris McCray as Georgia Tech falls into the NIT.

Seton Hall-NC State
A huge win for Seton Hall gets them in the bubble talk as they did what St. John’s accomplished last week.

Cincy-Louisville
Louisville finally got a decent win.

St. John’s-Uconn
Both teams played an old-school rock ‘em, sock ‘em Big East game, but Uconn prevailed as the tougher team tonite.

Marshall-WV
Sometimes when a team has your number, they got your number.

Bucknell-Lehigh
Bucknell went on the road and beat previously Patriot League unbeaten as Bucknell marches their way right into the big dance.

South Carolina-Florida
Losing away to Tennessee is nothing to be ashamed about this year, but to South Carolina at home, now that is cause for concern.

Georgia-LSU
LSU just might be the best team in the SEC as Florida has been upset two games in a row.

Kansas-Texas A&M
The Jayhawks are young like North Carolina so you never know what you are going to get and tonite it was all good.

Michigan St.-Michigan
The Wolverines got their defining win and probably punched their dance ticket in the process.

BC-UNC
If you looked at the rankings, you would have thought BC was the better team and didn’t need it as bad as the Tar Heels. The truth was that BC needed it more for their resume and they got the win.

Xavier-Temple
After beating Cincy last Thursday the Musketeers looked like a near lock, but two games and two losses later they find themselves squarely on the bubble.

St. Joe’s-St. Louis
Neither of these teams will be dancing, but St. Louis continues its streak of alternating wins and losses.

Tuesday Recap

Florida St.-Wake Forest
The Seminoles overcame their collapse on Sunday against UNC to give the Deacons another bad loss, this one at home.

Georgetown-Notre Dame
The Hoyas avoided a letdown and the refs to survive at Notre Dame in double overtime.

Akron-Ohio
The Zips suffered their first loss of MAC play to the Bobcats who might still be in play for an at-large.

Kent St.-Miami (OH)
Kent St. took advantage of Akron’s first loss to move into first place alone in the MAC.

Creighton-Southern Illinois
Southern Illinois moved back into solo first place in the MVC and beefed up their resume with this win.

Miami Fl.-Virginia
The Cavs move to 4-2 in the ACC by beating the suddenly cold Hurricanes. In the unlikely event that they win at Duke on Saturday, Virginia would probably move into the bracket.

Indiana-Iowa
The Hawkeyes recovered from Michigan State’s 30-point drubbing by never trailing in this game. To go along with the absence of DJ White, Indiana was also without Marshall Strickland who is their 3rd leading scorer.

Coastal Carolina-Winthrop
Winthrop was upset at home by Buzz Peterson’s Chanticleers. With the loss, the Eagles move into a first place tie with Birmingham Southern a team that they beat by 41 at home. Birmingham however has 4 seniors and 2 juniors among their top 6 players and still gets Winthrop at their place this year.

Manhattan-Rider
The Jaspers were crushed by Rider who is in last place in the MAAC. With the loss the Jaspers fall a game out of first place as Iona won their game and out of any consideration for an at-large bid.

Monday Recap

Syracuse-Pitt
The Panthers had a nice rebound performance as they are the third team to dominate the Orangemen in the past eight days. Syracuse is safely in the field regardless of the blowouts but have a good chance to get bounced early as they would likely face a mid-major team like Bucknell or someone from the MVC right now.

OK St.-Texas
The Cowboys got blown out by Texas and their March prospects are beginning to look bleak. Their best win right now is Tennessee followed by either Texas A&M or UNLV.

Gonzaga-San Fran
Morrison answers Redick with 41 of his own although in a win.

Utah St.-Nevada
The Wolf Pack continue to struggle in the WAC as their at-large chances seem extremely slim right now, but since a lot of major conference teams don’t have great resumes, they still have a chance. The Aggies are in a bit better shape since they only trail La Tech by a half-game and have already beat them this year. Their game at La Tech on Feb. 4 will be huge.

Bracket Update

1 seeds
Duke (ACC)
Uconn (Big East)
Villanova
Memphis (C-USA)

2 seeds
Texas (Big 12)
Michigan St. (Big Ten)
Florida (SEC)
West Virginia

3 seeds
Gonzaga (WCC)
Indiana
Illinois
Washington (Pac-10)

4 seeds
Ohio St.
NC State
Wisconsin
Pitt

5 seeds
UCLA
Tennessee
GW (A-10)
Maryland

6 seeds
LSU
Iowa
Syracuse
Northern Iowa (MVC)

7 seeds
Michigan
UNC
Wichita St.
Arizona

8 seeds
Vandy
Xavier
Bucknell (Patriot)
UAB

9 seeds
Georgetown
BC
Nevada
Oklahoma

10 seeds
Southern Illinois
Air Force
Creighton
Kentucky

11 seeds
Marquette
Colorado
Kansas St.
Cincy

12 seeds
Old Dominion (CAA)
Louisville
Western Kentucky (Sun Belt)
Akron (MAC)

13 seeds
Wisconsin-Milwaukee (Horizon)
La Tech (WAC)
San Diego St. (Mt. West)
Montana (Big Sky)

14 seeds
Winthrop (Big South)
Manhattan (MAAC)
Northwestern St. (Southland)
Penn (Ivy)

15 seeds
Murray St. (OVC)
Davidson (Southern)
IUPUI (MCC)
Albany (America East)

16 seeds
UC Irvine (Big West)
Sacred Heart (NEC)
Florida Atlantic (Atlantic Sun)
Southern (SWAC)*
Delaware St. (MEAC)*

*- play-in game

Multi-Bid Conferences
Big East- 9
Big Ten- 7
ACC- 5
SEC- 5
Big 12- 4
MVC- 4
Pac-10- 3
A-10- 2
C-USA- 2
Mt. West- 2
WAC- 2

In
Georgetown
Colorado
Kansas St.
La Tech
San Diego St.
Akron
IUPUI
Sacred Heart

Out
Wake Forest
OK St.
Georgia Tech
Kansas
Ole Miss
Ohio
Valpo
Robert Morris

Also Considered
Miami Fl.
Texas A&M
Clemson
Iowa St.
Arkansas
Missouri St.
Cal
Georgia
St. John’s
Florida St.
Alabama
Iona
UTEP
Utah St.
Rutgers
Charlotte
Kent St.
USC
Mizzou
South Alabama
George Mason
Hofstra
Nebraska
Buffalo
Notre Dame
Mississippi St.

Weekend in Review

Duke-Georgetown
The Blue Devils really rushed during the last few minutes of the game and JJ Redick was the only one who could get his shot. Only 6 Blue Devils are getting major minutes so that might lead to tried issues at the end of games and as the season wears on. Georgetown might have punched their dance ticket after this game.

Florida-Tennessee
Tennessee has two huge wins this year over Texas and now the Gators. Bruce Pearl is the Coach of the Year right now.

Pitt-St. John’s
The Red Strom capped off an excellent week to go along with their home win over Louisville as they try to ensure themselves a spot in the Big East tournament.

North Dakota St.-Wisconsin
Wisconsin has really struggled in their last two after two of their four main reserves have either been suspended or left the team for personal reasons. Brian Butch has also been hobbled by an ankle injury.

GW-Charlotte
Charlotte continues to play well on the road but struggle at home.

Texas A&M-Iowa St.
The Aggies finally got a road win and Iowa St. is really struggling at home.

South Carolina-Kentucky
Kentucky has needed last second shots to beat UCF and South Carolina, two average teams at best as Kentucky’s SEC problems continue.

Uconn-Louisville
Louisville has nothing close to a good win right now after Uconn blew them out.

BC-Miami Fl.
The Eagles escaped Miami with an ACC road win, but they still don’t deserved to be ranked.

Iowa-Michigan St.
Michigan St. crushed a sure NCAA team by 30. The Spartans look like a good pick for the Final Four.

Wake Forest-NC State
NC State had a great comeback and showed they can play well at an up-tempo pace.

Western Kentucky-South Alabama
The Hilltoppers take back control of the Sun Belt and still have a chance for an at-large berth.

Houston-UAB
The Cougars continue to fall apart as UAB looks like they will be dancing.

West Virginia-UCLA
Jordon Farmar looked healthy, but Mike Gansey looked like an All-American.

Syracuse-Villanova
The Orangemen have no depth as Villanova jumped out to a huge lead and hung on by making their foul shots.

Central Michigan-Buffalo
The Bulls have really struggled in MAC play and they look done for an at-large bid after losing to C. Michigan at home by 10.

North Carolina-Florida St.
Florida St. jumped out to a big early lead, but North Carolina made a good comeback to stop their losing streak at two.

Thursday Recap

UNC-Virginia
The Cavs are slowly playing their way onto the bubble. UNC still has work to do.

Cincy-Xavier
Xavier’s huge OT win puts them in great shape for an at-large as their only loses have been at Illinois by 3 and at Creighton by 2. Cincy is 0-3 since losing Armein Kirkland in the first half against Uconn.

Hofstra-Old Dominion
Beat the Monarchs gives Hofstra a slight at-large chance as Old Dominion’s chance continues to slip. ODU desperately needs a good Bracket Buster to give themselves a good shot at an at-large.

Southern Illinois-Missouri State
Missouri State keeps their at-large hopes alive as the Salukis have now lost two in a row and coupled with their bad OOC losses, they need a quick rebound.

Oregon-Washington St.
Oregon moves to a half-game behind UCLA for first in the Pac-10 as Washington St.’s win over Washington is beginning to seem like a distant memory as they are 0-3 since then with the losses by a combined 9 points. It seems like they are really missing Derrick Low.

Oregon St.-Washington
The Huskies squeaked out a win here, but have to deal with a hot Oregon team on Saturday that has upset written all over it.

Stanford-Arizona
Stanford blew its chance to get back in the at-large discussion as Arizona continues to have problems at home, but managed to pull this one out. Cal comes in Saturday and they just crushed Arizona St. by 30.

Wednesday Recap

NC State-Duke
The Wolfpack played great at Duke, but had closing stretch similar to the one they had against North Carolina. That might be a problem for them down the road against good teams.

Clemson-Miami Fl.
These two teams are going in opposite directions and this game proved it. Clemson to the NIT and Miami Fl. To the Big Dance.

Georgia Tech-Wake Forest
Nice win for the Demon Deacons after three straight losses. Georgia Tech is a little short on wins right now, but have an easy schedule by ACC standards in their next 6 before playing NC State, at UNC, at Maryland, and Duke in an 11 day stretch.

Pitt-Rutgers
Rutgers played well at the RAC again, but the team with superior talent won again.

Wisconsin-Ohio St.
Ohio St. had a great rebound victory after losing to Michigan St. in double overtime on Sunday.

Texas A&M-Kansas St.
The Aggies close to their first road win but lost again. Kansas St. has done enough to be in the field right now.

Memphis-Tennessee
Tennessee gave Memphis a great test, but the Tigers were the better second-half team tonite.

Manhattan-Marist
Manhattan’s lose probably ends any slim at-large hopes that they had.

Wis. Milwaukee-Detroit
Chris Hill’s lay-up with two seconds left keeps the Panthers in line for a possible at-large, but they shouldn’t need it.

Colorado St.-UNLV
Colorado St.’s at-large hopes are quickly fading as they fall to 1-3 in conference play.

USC-UCLA
The Trojans were never in this one and the Pac-10 has only two sure things for March at a time when the Big Ten has 5 or 6.

LSU-Mississippi St.
LSU just keeps raking up the good wins.

South Carolina-Vandy
A bad loss for Vandy at home in overtime to one of the worst two teams in the SEC.

Arkansas-Alabama
Alabama improves to 3-0 without Chuck Davis. Their wins have come at Auburn, at Kentucky, and Arkansas.

Nevada-Fresno St.
These Wolf Pack are having some serious WAC road woes and have to get them fixed or else they might be looking at the NIT.

Tuesday Recap

Illinois-Indiana
Indiana picked up a huge win that shows they can compete in the Big Ten without DJ White. Marco Killingsworth was injured twice but returned both times.

Charlotte-St. Joe's
The 49ers get a huge road win to keep their at-large hopes alive after losing to Xavier at home on Saturday.

Seton Hall-Villanova
Villanova came out slow but turned it on just before the half and controlled the game from there. The Wildcats had trouble getting back on defense from the press and had trouble finding their own shots in the first half, but they came out on all cylinders in the second half.

Iowa St.-Nebraska
Nebraska gets blown out at home by a team that has trouble guarding its own home court. The Big 12 picture stays muddy.

Ohio-Northern Illinois
Ohio can really only afford another loss or two now to keep any at-large hopes alive.

Marquette-DePaul
DePaul is now in a battle to make the Big East tourney let alone the NIT.

Texas Tech-Texas
It looked like Texas Tech had their stuff together, but a 34 point loss has this team searching for answers.

Louisville-St. Johns
At least Louisville's other 3 losses were to ranked teams, but getting blown out by a bubble NIT team that has lost at home to Hofstra and Marist this season has Louisville dropping through the bracket fast. They might be a bubble team by the time Selection Sunday comes along especially if Dean doesn't get healthy fast.

Kentucky-Georgia
Nice road win by Kentucky. Now if only they can defend Rupp Arena.

Monday's Recap

Kansas-Mizzou
Kansas is the better team, but too many offensive turnovers on passes out of bounds and traveling violations gave the game to a surprising Missouri team

Southern Illinois-Northern Iowa
The Salukis put up a great fight and are still in good position for an at-large bid after recovering from some bad early season losses.

Uconn-Syracuse
Connecticut is a bad free throw shooting team and the players aren’t playing smart in relation to the clock at the end of games which let the Orangemen get back in the game. Still a nice win at Syracuse though.

Loyola Marymount-Gonzaga
Gonzaga won but needs to tighten up the defense for a realistic shot at the Sweet 16 and beyond.

New Bracket

1 seeds
Duke (ACC)
Florida (SEC)
Uconn (Big East)
Villanova

2 seeds
Memphis (C-USA)
Gonzaga (WCC)
Michigan St. (Big Ten)
Texas (Big 12)

3 seeds
Illinois
Indiana
Wisconsin
Washington (Pac-10)

4 seeds
West Virginia
NC State
Pitt
Ohio St.

5 seeds
UCLA
Louisville
GW (A-10)
Maryland

6 seeds
Syracuse
UNC
Iowa
Tennessee

7 seeds
Northern Iowa (MVC)
Wichita St.
Arizona
Vandy

8 seeds
Nevada (WAC)
Wake
OK St.
Bucknell (Patriot)

9 seeds
Oklahoma
Southern Illinois
Air Force (Mt. West)
BC

10 seeds
Xavier
Michigan
LSU
Kentucky

11 seeds
UAB
Cincy
Georgia Tech
Old Dominion (CAA)

12 seeds
Marquette
Kansas
Creighton
Ole Miss

13 seeds
Ohio (MAC)
Western Kentucky (Sun Belt)
Wisconsin-Milwaukee (Horizon)
Montana (Big Sky)

14 seeds
Winthrop (Big South)
Manhattan (MAAC)
Northwestern St. (Southland)
Penn (Ivy)

15 seeds
Murray St. (OVC)
Valpo (MCC)
Davidson (Southern)
Albany (America East)

16 seeds
Robert Morris (NEC)
UC Irvine (Big West)
Florida Atlantic (Atlantic Sun)
Southern (SWAC)*
Delaware St. (MEAC)*

*- play-in game

Multi-Bid Conferences
Big East- 8
ACC- 7
Big Ten- 7
SEC- 6
Big 12- 4
MVC- 4
Pac-10- 3
A-10- 2
C-USA- 2

In
Valpo
LSU
UAB
Creighton
Ole Miss

Out
IUPUI
Cal
Washington St.
Texas A&M
Georgetown

Also Considered
Arkansas
Nebraska
Colorado St.
Kansas St.
Colorado
Buffalo
Iowa St.
Miami Fl.
Rutgers
USC
Notre Dame
Mississippi St.
Clemson
Georgia
Florida St.
Missouri St.
Akron
Charlotte
La Tech
South Alabama
Iona
UTEP
DePaul
Va Tech
Oregon
Texas Tech
Minnesota
Mizzou
Houston
Alabama
Stanford
Utah St.
San Diego St.
La Salle
George Mason
Hofstra

Saturday Recap

Villanova-Texas
Although Villanova shot cold, they only lost by 3. Good win for Texas without Brad Buckman for most of the game.

NC Greensboro-Elon
Elon started 0-9 against D1 opponents but kept it close against most of them. Then they beat Clemson and haven’t looked back. They are a team of destiny.

Miami Fl.-UNC
Miami has beaten two Top 25 teams this week and has really helped their resume.

Florida St.-BC
An uninspiring three point win by BC against Florida St. still leaves a ton of questions surrounding BC as the heart of ACC play heats up after they go to Holy Cross on Tuesday.

Duke-Clemson
Clemson played well, but can’t shoot free throws.

Xavier-Charlotte
In what will likely be a two-bid league, Xavier has emerged as team number two.

Syracuse-Cincy
The Armein Kirkland loss is really hurting Cincy and they will be right on the bubble come Selection Sunday.

Michigan-Illinois
Michigan has been close to a big win, but can’t find a way to pull it out.

Iowa St.-Tx Tech
Texas Tech may have gotten back into the bubble talk with this win.

Kansas St.-Kansas
Kansas St. definitely got into the bubble talk with this road win.

Oklahoma-Texas A&M
If Texas A&M had played a little better OOC schedule, then they might have some leeway with these close losses. But they didn’t and they have very little margin for error, the rest of the way.

Colorado-Mizzou
If one of these teams get hot, they might have a chance and Colorado started that here.

UCF-Houston
A home loss to UCF puts Houston in the NIT and they likely need to run the table to get back to the dance.

Missouri St.-Wichita St.
A huge statement win for Wichita State by 24 points. The MVC is really making a case for 4 teams.

Washington-UCLA
Washington got a huge win at UCLA. I wonder if UCLA’s inexperience and injuries are starting to catch up to them after letting a late lead slip away.

Arizona-Oregon
The Oregon schools swept Arizona this weekend. I wonder how badly the Portland schools would beat them.

Washington St.-USC
After winning @Washington, Washington St. drops games to UCLA and USC and are back to the bubble and the NIT.

Miss St.-Ole Miss
Ole Miss has silently put together 13 wins and still has 2 more games against Auburn.

Alabama-Kentucky
Kentucky is dangerously close to dropping out of the bracket and Alabama isn’t even a mediocre SEC team.

Vandy-Arkansas
Arkansas finally got an SEC win and a decent one at that.

Tennessee-LSU
LSU caps off a good week by crushing Tennessee. If they aren’t in the bracket, they are right there.

Davidson-Furman
Davidson likely ended any slim at-large chance that they might have had and gives control of the conference to Georgia Southern and Elon, yes, Elon.

Hawaii-New Mexico St.
No mainland wins equals a trip to the NIT for Hawaii.

Thursday's Recap

Hawaii-La Tech
Hawaii still can’t win on the mainland, any chance that they might still have of making the bracket hinges on them winning on the mainland especially at Nevada and Utah St.

Arizona-Oregon St.
Another game, another odd outcome. So far in Pac-10 play, Arizona has won at Washington St. and Washington, lost at home to an injured UCLA team and lost at a bad Oregon St. team. The only game that makes sense is beating USC at home. Right now, they are too erratic to make any kind of prolonged run in March.

Washington St.-UCLA
Although Washington St. lost, it proves that their win against Washington was not a fluke and they are an NCAA worthy team right now.

Recap of Wednesday's Big Games

WF-Clemson
Clemson really needed a decent win to get back on track after losing to Elon. This keeps their bubble hopes alive, whereas a loss would have been their 4th in 5 games.

Duke-Maryland
Maryland had beaten Duke 3 straight times, but got shelled at Cameron. This shows that no team is close to Duke right now.

Charlotte-La Salle
If the A-10 gets 3 teams into the tournament then this game will have a big bearing on which team that is. Charlotte beat La Salle and has looked impressive during conference play.

Villanova-Rutgers
Villanova showed great resolve in rebounding from their home loss and from losing for most of the game at the RAC.

Indiana-Michigan St.
In their first game after learning that DJ White would probably miss the rest of the year, Indiana got crushed by a desperate Michigan St. team who had lost their last 2 games to Wisconsin and Illinois. Indiana will be dancing, but how they play now that White is gone will determine their seed and how far they go in March.

Kansas-Colorado
Kansas continues to grow, while Colorado is playing themselves right out of the bracket.
Kansas might be a sleeper come tourney time.

Texas A&M-OK St.
A&M is still looking for their first road win, but they were in control for most of this game. They will be on the bubble right up until Selection Sunday.

Houston-Rice
In a league that has only one sure NCAA tournament team and plenty of garbage teams, Houston needs as many wins as it can get. They should have beaten Rice easily, but this loss sets them back almost as much as the Arizona win set them forward.

Iona-St. Peter’s
Iona was on the ropes at halftime being down by 13 and letting up 45 points. But they came out on fire in the second half scoring 51 and turning up the defense to win by 8. A loss would have probably ended any at-large chance that they might have had, but they kept that chance alive.

Creighton-N. Iowa
Creighton got a huge road win against one of the best MVC teams. Creighton still has work to do, but this is a big step toward the dance.

LSU-Arkansas
In a league that is so similar, Arkansas couldn’t afford to lose at hope to another bubble team but they did and are probably headed to the NIT.

New Bracket

1 seeds
Duke (ACC)
Florida (SEC)
Villanova (Big East)
UConn

2 seeds
Memphis (C-USA)
Gonzaga (WCC)
Indiana (Big Ten)
Illinois

3 seeds
Wisconsin
Texas (Big 12)
Michigan St.
Washington (Pac-10)

4 seeds
West Virginia
NC State
Ohio St.
Louisville

5 seeds
Pitt
UCLA
UNC
Maryland

6 seeds
Vandy
Arizona
Tennessee
GW (A-10)

7 seeds
Iowa
Northern Iowa (MVC)
Syracuse
Wake

8 seeds
Air Force (Mt. West)
Kentucky
Nevada (WAC)
Cincinnati

9 seeds
Wichita St.
Georgia Tech
BC
Michigan

10 seeds
Marquette
Oklahoma
OK St.
Cal

11 seeds
Bucknell (Patriot)
Southern Illinois
Kansas
Texas A&M

12 seeds
Xavier
Washington St.
Georgetown
Old Dominion (CAA)

13 seeds
Ohio (MAC)
Western Kentucky (Sun Belt)
Wisconsin-Milwaukee (Horizon)
Montana (Big Sky)

14 seeds
Davidson (Southern)
Winthrop (Big South)
Manhattan (MAAC)
Northwestern St. (Southland)

15 seeds
Penn (Ivy)
Murray St. (OVC)
IUPUI (MCC)
Albany (America East)

16 seeds
Robert Morris (NEC)
UC Irvine (Big West)
Florida Atlantic (Atlantic Sun)
Southern (SWAC)*
Delaware St. (MEAC)*

*- play-in game

Multi-Bid Conferences
Big East- 9
ACC- 7
Big Ten- 7
Big 12- 5
Pac 10- 5
SEC- 4
MVC- 3
A-10- 2

In
Marquette
Southern Illinois
Kansas
Xavier
Washington St.
Georgetown
Western Kentucky
Manhattan
Northwestern St.
Murray St.
IUPUI
UC Irvine
Delaware St.
Southern

Out
Arkansas
Notre Dame
Buffalo
Colorado
Iowa St.
Colorado St.
South Alabama
Iona
Sam Houston St.
Tennessee Tech
Oral Roberts
Pacific
Bethune-Cookman
Jackson St.

Also Considered
USC
DePaul
Minnesota
UAB
LSU
Mississippi St.
Houston
Florida St.
Georgia
Rutgers
Hawaii
Creighton
Nebraska
Va Tech
Kansas St.
La Salle
Missouri St.
Clemson
Miami Fl.
South Alabama
Iona
Alabama
Mizzou
Seton Hall
Ole Miss
Akron
UTEP
BYU
New Mexico
Hofstra

Saturday's Top Ten

1. Cincinnati-Marquette Two teams that no one thought would be this good are currently the third and fourth best teams in the Big East. Marquette will win because they are home, have Steve Novak, and Cincy's only road game was 12/10.

2. Kentucky-Kansas If Kansas loses then they will be squarely on the bubble come Selection Sunday and will most likely be on the outside looking in, but a win solves all their problems. Kentucky will be looking for revenge from last year's home loss to Kansas. A win that they will get.

3. NC State-UNC NC State has played awesome this year after the departure of Julius Hodge. That awesomeness will continue at Chapel Hill to a team still looking to find itself.

4. Duke-Wake Another Tobacco Road gem. Duke is just too good to lose to a so far erratic Wake Forest team.

5. LSU-UConn UConn got Marcus Williams back and promptly lost to Marquette. Well they will get revenge against an LSU team in desperate need of a marquee win which they won't be getting.

6. Ohio St.-Indiana Ohio St. is unbeaten but has only beat Iowa St. by 3 and LSU by 2 both of which aren't as good as Indiana. Couple that with the fact that Indiana is at home and Ohio St. will suffer their first loss of the season.

7. Colorado-Texas Texas finally got a big out of conference win against Memphis and now will face a Colorado team that needs a big win of its own. Although 10-1, they haven't played as good a team as Texas and will finally realize what playing against a good team is like.

8. Northern Iowa-Missouri State Missouri State needs another big win to distance themselves from the other MVC at-large contenders. With Northern Iowa the likely conference champion, Missouri State could pick a worse place to start. Pick-Missouri State.

9. Florida-Georgia Florida keeps on rolling, while Georgia's resume looks like ever other SEC teams'. A Florida win would be huge for them and they have given two teams (W. Kentucky and Clemson) their first lose of the season, but they will not make it a trifecta.

10. USC-Arizona USC looks surprisingly spry at the moment with a big win against UNC and 2 good conference wins against Stanford and @Arizona St. Whereas Arizona has been up and down of late. Winning @Washington but falling to an injuried UCLA team at home. USC has a good chance for a big upset win. Pick- USC

Friday's Best

Manhattan-Iona Iona is clearly the class of the MAAC, while Manhattan should be right behind them. Manhattan might be able to pull off an upset at home, but not at Iona. Iona will win by 15.

New Bracket

1 seeds
Duke (ACC)
Florida (SEC)
Villanova (Big East)
UConn

2 seeds
Michigan St. (Big Ten)
Memphis (C-USA)
Washington (Pac-10)
Illinois

3 seeds
Texas (Big 12)
Louisville
Gonzaga (WCC)
BC

4 seeds
Oklahoma
Maryland
Ohio St.
Indiana

5 seeds
NC State
Wisconsin
West Virginia
UCLA

6 seeds
GW (A-10)
Kentucky
Arizona
Nevada (WAC)

7 seeds
UNC
Wake
Syracuse
Pitt

8 seeds
Vandy
Iowa
Cincinnati
Tennessee

9 seeds
Cal
OK St.
Michigan
Wichita St. (MVC)

10 seeds
Arkansas
Texas A&M
Air Force (Mt. West)
Georgia Tech

11 seeds
Notre Dame
Buffalo (MAC)
Colorado
Iowa St.

12 seeds
Ohio
Bucknell (Patriot)
Northern Iowa
Colorado St.

13 seeds
Winthrop (Big South)
Wisconsin-Milwaukee (Horizon)
Iona (MAAC)
Old Dominion (CAA)

14 seeds
Penn (Ivy)
South Alabama (Sun Belt)
Pacific (Big West)
Montana (Big Sky)

15 seeds
Davidson (Southern)
Oral Roberts (MCC)
Tennessee Tech (OVC)
Sam Houston St. (Southland)

16 seeds
Albany (America East)
Florida Atlantic (Atlantic Sun)
Robert Morris (NEC)
Bethune-Cookman (MEAC)*
Jackson St. (SWAC)*

*- play-in game

Multi-Bid Conferences
Big East- 8
ACC- 7
Big Ten- 7
Big 12- 6
SEC- 5
Pac-10- 4
MAC- 2
MVC- 2
Mt. West- 2

Also Considered
Minnesota
UAB
Clemson
Georgetown
USC
Alabama
LSU
Kansas
Va Tech
Marquette
Mississippi St.
Houston
Florida St.
Rutgers
Missouri St.
Indiana St.
Kansas St.
Georgia
Southern Illinois
Hawaii
Creighton
Nebraska
Xavier
La Salle
Washington St.
South Carolina
NC Wilmington
Bradley
Temple
UTEP
Western Kentucky
Ole Miss
BYU
New Mexico
Hofstra
San Diego