Blogging the Bracket

Conference Tournament Go-Round: March 14

2010-03-14T05:13:43Z

about 15 hours ago: Vermont players and fans celebrate seconds after their 83-70 win over Boston University in the America East Conference men*s championship NCAA basketball game in Burlington, Vt., Saturday, March 13, 2010.(AP Photo/Alden Pellett)

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Twelve teams punched tickets on Selection Eve, while four more will do the same right before the bracket is finally revealed at 6 p.m. ET.

America East: Vermont defeated Boston University in Burlington, 83-70 (recap), to book their fourth NCAA appearance. It's the first crown under Mike Lonergan. It was a bittersweet moment for Catamounts' Evan Fjeld, who lost his mother to cancer just days ago.

Big East: West Virginia won a 60-58 thriller over Georgetown (recap) to wrap up an exciting five days in New York. The Mountaineers may just steal the last spot on the top line. Check out SB Nation's storystream.

Big 12: Kansas defeated Kansas State for the third time this season, 79-72 (recap), to claim the conference regular season and tournament titles. Check out the SB Nation storystream.

Big West: UC Santa Barbara, the top seed in a crazy conference, defeated Long Beach State, 69-64 (recap), to make their first NCAA since 2002.

Conference USA: Houston came back to stun regular season champion UTEP, 81-73 (recap), to likely make C-USA a two-bid league.

Great West: South Dakota held off Houston Baptist, 91-86, to claim the inaugural conference title and CIT berth.

Mid-American: Ninth-seeded Ohio claimed the crown with a thrilling 81-75 overtime win over third-seeded Akron (recap).

Mid-Eastern: Top seed Morgan State is headed to the Tournament for the second straight season, as they avenged their only conference loss of the season, topping South Carolina State, 68-61 (recap), in Winston Salem.

Mountain West: San Diego State knocked off UNLV on their home court, 55-45 (recap), to claim the conference's auto bid, and ensure for MWC teams are in the field. Head over to SB Nation to check out the tournament storystream.

Pac-10: Washington is off the bubble, thanks to their 79-75 win (recap) over California in Los Angeles. Visit the SB Nation Pac-10 storystream for more.

Southland: Sam Houston State Stephen F. Austin, 64-48 (recap), to return to the tournament for the first time since 2003 and second time ever.

Southwestern: Arkansas-Pine Bluff defeated Texas Southern in Shreveport, 50-38 (recap), to clinch their first-ever NCAA berth.

WAC: New Mexico State beat top seed Utah State, 69-63 (recap), meaning the conference may get two bids this season. Read more at our WAC storystream.

After the jump, I'll take a look at the four tournaments that conclude Sunday.

ACC

Top seeded Duke will face seventh-seeded Georgia Tech for the title after two thrilling semifinals in Greensboro Saturday. Read more at our ACC Tournament storystream.

Saturday's Semifinals
(1) Duke 77, (12) Miami 74 (recap)
(7) Georgia Tech 57, (11) NC State 54 (recap)

Sunday's Final
(1) Duke vs. (7) Georgia Tech, 1 (ESPN/Raycom)

Atlantic 10

Regular season champion will take on third-seed Richmond for the conference crown Sunday afternoon.

Saturday's Semifinals
(1) Temple 57, (5) Rhode Island 44 (recap)
(3) Richmond 89, (2) Xavier 85 (OT) (recap)

Sunday's Final
(1) Temple vs. (3) Richmond, 1 (CBS)

Big Ten

Minnesota can get themselves off the bubble by beating Ohio State in Sunday's final. Check out the storystream at SB Nation.

Saturday's Semifinals
(1) Ohio State 88, (5) Illinois 81 (2OT) (recap)
(6) Minnesota 69, (2) Purdue 42 (recap)

Sunday's Final
(1) Ohio State vs. (6) Minnesota, 3:30 (CBS)

Southeastern

Much like the Gophers, Mississippi State controls their fate Sunday. Visit our SEC Tournament storystream for full coverage.

Saturday's Semifinals
(E1) Kentucky 74, (E3) Tennessee 45 (recap)
(W1) Mississippi State 62, (E2) Vanderbilt 52 (recap)

Sunday's Final
(E1) Kentucky vs. (W1) Mississippi State, 1 (ABC)

Conference Tournament Go-Round: March 13

2010-03-13T15:58:16Z

More photos » Bradley C Bower - AP

1 day ago: Members of the Lehigh University basketball team celebrate their 74-59 victory over Lafayette winning the Patriot League Championship title game Friday, March 12, 2010, in Bethlehem, Pa. (AP Photo/Bradley C Bower)

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One bid was handed out on Friday, as Lehigh defeated archrivals Lafayette, 74-59 (recap), to book their place in the field of 65.

Twelve teams will join the Mountain Hawks, and the 14 others who own automatic bids, Saturday. I'll run through all of Friday's conference tournament action after the jump.

All times p.m. Eastern and approximate, especially for the second set of games in doubleheaders.

ACC

Of the four quarterfinals Friday, the lower seeds claimed three. Duke is now the odds-on favorite to win, but with this much upheaval anything is possible. Be sure to check out the ACC Tournament storystream over at SB Nation, as it could be yet another wild day in Greensboro.

Friday's Quarterfinals
(1) Duke 57, (9) Virginia 46 (recap)
(12) Miami 70, (4) Virginia Tech 65 (recap)
(7) Georgia Tech 69, (2) Maryland 64 (recap)
(11) NC State 58, (3) Florida State 52 (recap)

Saturday's Semifinals (Both games on ESPN or Raycom.)
(1) Duke vs. (12) Miami, 1:30
(7) Georgia Tech vs.(11) NC State, 3

America East

Second seed Vermont hosts fourth-seeded Boston University for one spot in the Tournament (12, ESPN2). The Catamounts won by only one in Boston, but pounded the Terriers by 20 at home.

Atlantic 10

Three of the four higher seeds prevailed in Atlantic City on Friday, setting up a pair of intriguing semifinals for Saturday.

Friday's Quarterfinals
(1) Temple 69, (8) St. Bonaventure 51 (recap)
(5) Rhode Island 63, (4) St. Louis 47 (recap)
(2) Xavier 78, (7) Dayton 73 (recap)
(3) Richmond 77, (11) Massachusetts 72 (recap)

Saturday's Semifinals (Both games on CBS College Sports.)
(1) Temple vs. (5) Rhode Island, 1
(2) Xavier vs. (3) Richmond, 3:30

Big East

What began with 16 teams is now down to two. Georgetown and West Virginia meet for the title tonight with a potential top seed on the line for the Mountaineers, and the Hoyas looking to grab a protected seed. Check out SB Nation's storystream.

Friday's Semifinals
(8) Georgetown 80, (5) Marquette 57 (recap)
(3) West Virginia 53, (7) Notre Dame 51 (recap)

Saturday's Final
(8) Georgetown vs. (3) West Virginia, 9 (ESPN)

Big 12

Kansas and Kansas State will meet for the third time this season, with the Wildcats looking to win for the first time. This one takes place in Kansas City, not terribly far from either campus. Check out the SB Nation storystream.

Friday's Semifinals
(1) Kansas 79, (4) Texas A&M 66 (recap)
(2) Kansas State 82, (3) Baylor 75 (recap)

Saturday's Final
(1) Kansas vs. (2) Kansas State, 6 (ESPN)

Big Ten

Illinois and Minnesota still have NCAA hopes after they pulled upsets in Friday's quarterfinals. Check out the storystream at SB Nation.

Friday's Quarterfinals
(1) Ohio State 69, (8) Michigan 68 (recap)
(5) Illinois 58, (4) Wisconsin 54 (recap)
(2) Purdue 69, (7) Northwestern 61 (recap)
(6) Minnesota 72, (3) Michigan State 67 (OT) (recap)

Saturday's Semifinals (Both games on CBS.)
(1) Ohio State vs. (5) Illinois, 1:30
(2) Purdue vs. (6) Minnesota, 4

Big West

The wide open Big West race ends with the top seed facing off against the preseason pick of many. UC Santa Barbara and Long Beach split their two meetings during the regular season.

Friday's Semifinals
(1) UC Santa Barbara 76, (4) UC Davis 62 (recap)
(3) Long Beach State 68, (2) Pacific 61 (recap)

Saturday's Final
(1) UC Santa Barbara vs. (3) Long Beach State, 8 (ESPN2)

Conference USA

UTEP can ensure C-USA is a one-bid league. However, Houston handed the Miners their only league loss.

Friday's Semifinals
(1) UTEP 75, (5) Tulsa 61 (recap)
(7) Houston 74, (6) Southern Mississippi 66 (recap)

Saturday's Final
(1) UTEP vs. (7) Houston, 11:30 a.m. (CBS)

Mid-American

Akron had to hold off Western Michigan to make the final, where they'll face surprising Ohio. Read SB Nation's MAC Tournament preview and storystream for more info.

Friday's Semifinals
(3) Akron 66, (7) Western Michigan 64 (recap)
(9) Ohio 54, (4) Miami (OH) 42 (recap)

Saturday's Final
(3) Akron vs. (9) Ohio, 6 (ESPN2)

Mid-Eastern

Top seed Morgan State went 15-1 during the regular season, their only loss came at the hands of their championship game opponent, South Carolina State.

Friday's Semifinals
(1) Morgan State 74, (5) Hampton 67 (recap)
(3) South Carolina State 70, (2) Delaware State 66 (OT) (recap)

Saturday's Final
(1) Morgan State vs. (3) South Carolina State, 2 (ESPN2)

Mountain West

The top two seeds were knocked out of the Mountain West title chase on Friday night, meaning three seed UNLV will host San Diego State with the title on the line. Head over to SB Nation to check out the tournament storystream.

Friday's Semifinals
(4) San Diego State 72, (1) New Mexico 69 (recap)
(3) UNLV 70, (2) BYU 66 (recap)

Saturday's Final
(4) San Diego State vs. (3) UNLV, 7 (Versus)

Pac-10

California looks to be safe for a bid, but it wouldn't hurt to knock off Washington in the conference final. The Huskies could use this win as well, as they're in slightly worse shape. Check out the SB Nation storystream.

Friday's Semifinals
(1) California 85, (5) UCLA 72 (recap)
(3) Washington 79, (7) Stanford 64 (recap)

Saturday's Final
(1) California vs. (3) Washington, 6 (CBS)

Southeastern

Three of the four SEC East powers advanced to today's semifinals. Only West division champ Mississippi State was able to break the monopoly. SB Nation has an SEC Tournament storystream with full coverage.

Friday's Quarterfinals
(E1) Kentucky 73, (W4) Alabama 67 (recap)
(E3) Tennessee 76, (W2) Mississippi 65 (recap)
(W1) Mississippi State 75, (E4) Florida 69 (recap)
(E2) Vanderbilt 78, (E6) Georgia 66 (recap)

Saturday's Semifinals (Both games on ABC.)
(E1) Kentucky vs.(E3) Tennessee, 1
(W1) Mississippi State vs. (E2) Vanderbilt, 3:30

Southland

The top two seeds meet for the title in Katy, Texas. Sam Houston State will take a third straight close win, if it means they go dancing.

(1) Sam Houston State vs.(2) Stephen F. Austin (4, ESPN2)

Southwestern Athletic

Arkansas-Pine Bluff, the highest remaining seed, takes on fifth-seeded Texas Southern for what's likely to be a spot in the Opening Round Tuesday.

Friday's Semifinals
(2) Arkansas-Pine Bluff 46, (3) Alabama State 44 (recap)
(5) Texas Southern 60, (8) Grambling State 57 (recap)

Saturday's Final
(2) Arkansas-Pine Bluff vs. (5) Texas Southern, 8:30 (ESPNU)

Western Athletic

Utah State faces another set of Aggies for the title, as New Mexico State's Jahmar Young knocked the homestanding second seed, Nevada, out in the dying seconds of regulation. Be sure to check out the WAC storystream over at SB Nation.

Friday's Semifinals
(1) Utah State 85, (4) Louisiana Tech 55 (recap)
(3) New Mexico State 80, (2) Nevada 79 (recap)

Saturday's Final
(1) Utah State vs. (3) New Mexico State, 10 (ESPN2)

Bracketology: Pay Attention To Conference Finals, Particularly The Big East

2010-03-13T15:37:21Z

More photos » Frank Franklin II - AP

1 day ago: West Virginia's Joe Mazzulla (21) drives past Notre Dame's Carleton Scott (34) during the first half of a semifinal round NCAA college basketball game at the Big East Conference Championships Friday, March 12, 2010 in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

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Editor's note: This bracket is cross-posted at SB Nation.

The top 24 teams in Saturday's bracket are the same as they were in Friday's projection.

Click here to see Saturday's full bracket.

Here are links to my seed list and tracking spreadsheet.

With Georgetown and West Virginia facing off for the Big East crown Saturday, that could change. The Mountaineers can potentially claim a top seed with a win, while Georgetown can grab a protected seed of their own (likely Pitt's 3 seed) with a win.

Syracuse moves up to the third overall number one, as it appears Arinze Onuaku's injury isn't as severe as it appeared on Thursday.

No less than 12 bids will be handed out on Saturday, meaning we'll be ever closer to clarity, especially in the cases of California, Washington, UTEP, Utah State and San Diego State.

Here's how things stand on Selection Eve.

The Rundown

Top Four Seeds: Kansas, Kentucky, Syracuse, Duke
Last Four In: San Diego State, Virginia Tech, Washington, Rhode Island
First Four Out: Minnesota, Mississippi State, William & Mary, Mississippi
Next Four Out: Seton Hall, Arizona State, South Florida, UAB

Conference Breakdown

Big East: 8
Syracuse (1), West Virginia (2), Villanova (3), Pittsburgh (3), Georgetown (5),
Notre Dame (8), Marquette (9), Louisville (10)

ACC: 7
Duke (1), Maryland (5), Florida State (7), Clemson (8),Wake Forest (10), Georgia Tech (11), Virginia Tech (12)

Big 12: 7
Kansas (1), Kansas State (2), Baylor (4), Texas A&M (6), Texas (7), Missouri (9), Oklahoma State (9)

Big Ten: 5
Purdue (2), Ohio State (3), Michigan State (3), Wisconsin (5), Illinois (12)

A-10: 4
Temple (4), Richmond (6), Xavier (7), Rhode Island (13)

MWC: 4
New Mexico (3), BYU (5), UNLV (8), San Diego State (12)

SEC: 4
Kentucky (1), Vanderbilt (4), Tennessee (4), Florida (12)

Pac-10: 2
California (8), Washington (11)

WCC: 2
Gonzaga (6), St. Mary's (11)

One Bid Leagues (22): America East, Atlantic Sun (ETSU), Big Sky (Montana), Big South (Winthrop), Big West, Colonial (Old Dominion), Conference USA, Horizon (Butler), Ivy (Cornell), Metro Atlantic (Siena), Mid-American, Mid-Eastern, Missouri Valley (Northern Iowa), Northeast (Robert Morris), Ohio Valley (Murray State), Patriot (Lehigh), Southern (Wofford), Southland, Southwestern, Summit (Oakland), Sun Belt (North Texas), Western Athletic

For a more detailed breakdown of the teams fighting for the final few spots in the tournament, visit Bubble Watch.

RPI-Only Bracket For 2010: NOT Close To The Same As The Real Thing

2010-03-12T20:12:52Z

More photos » Henny Ray Abrams - AP

West Virginia's Da'Sean Butler, center, is mobbed by teammates Devin Ebanks, left, and Kevin Jones after shooting the game-winning 3-point basket over Cincinnati's Lance Stephenson in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament, Thursday, March 11, 2010, in New York. West Virginia won 54-51. The Mountaineers would hold the fourth No. 1 seed in an RPI-only bracket. (AP Photo/Henny Ray Abrams)

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Editor's Note - This is a modification of a post I put up at about this time last year, updated for the 2010 season.

R, P, and I. Probably the three letters that are thrown around the most during the first half of the month of March in the United States. While everyone is familiar with the term RPI, not everyone knows what it is and how much influence it actually has in the selection process for the NCAA men's basketball tournament. In this post, I'm going to show you how using the RPI alone would give the committee an inaccurate picture of the national landscape and would result in a radically different tournament field than a more balanced selection process would ensure. To do this, I'm going to compare the bracket I released Friday morning with one based solely on the RPI after Thursday night's games (based on info from StatSheet.com).

After the jump, I'll talk a bit more about this unique projection.

What is the RPI?

RPI stands for Ratings Percentage Index, a formula used by the NCAA to rate teams in various sports as a tool in the selection and seeding process for national championships. By nature, the RPI is not a basketball-specific formula, but since the actual formula used in each sport is secret, it can be assumed that each sport's committee makes tweaks to it to match their sport's particular characteristics. For example, since home court advantage is particularly important in basketball, it's pretty well known that there is a penalty built into the basketball RPI for losing at home.

The NCAA releases an official RPI list on Mondays during the season, and it looks like they may finally be updating it daily at the end of the season. For daily updates, there are a few sites that try to replicate the formula like StatSheet, but many of these require a subscription. I formerly used Ken Pomeroy's listing, until he discontinued it before last season in favor of his own (and in my opinion, superior) ratings. and other statistics while putting my bracket together. Pomeroy summarized the basic RPI formula in this way:

"1/4*(Winning Percentage) + 1/2*(Opponents' Average Winning Percentage) + 1/4*(Opponents' Opponents' Winning Percentage)."

He offers a more detailed explanation here.

The RPI does a fair job of measuring a team's performance and even their strength of schedule. However, this doesn't mean it can't be exploited. When building a non-conference schedule a school can schedule games that they should easily win (boosting the 25% winning percentage portion of the formula) against teams who should play well in weaker conferences (boosting the 50% opponents' winning percentage portion while not causing too much harm to the 25% opponents' opponents' portion).

A high RPI rating can tell you if a team can win, it just can't quite tell you the types of teams that it's beating. The separate Strength of Schedule (SOS) rating does this, which is why, more often than not, you'll see a good sized disparity between a team's RPI and SOS.

The RPI formula also doesn't give easy access to two factors that are important in the selection process, recent performance (not necessarily over the last 12 games, as the Committee has de-emphasized a specific timeframe) and road and neutral performance. These are two factors that selection committee members must access and consider during the process.

The RPI Only Bracket

To create this bracket, I simply selected the 31 teams who had clinched their conference's bid or were the highest remaining seed in their league tournament as my automatic bids. Next, I took the top 34 teams in the RPI who weren't conference leaders to fill in the at-large spots. Virginia Tech, rated 49th in the RPI, became the 34th and final at-large entrant.

In terms of seeding, I placed the teams in order from 1 to 65 on the S-curve. Kansas (#1) was the top overall seed, and Winthrop (#167) and Arkansas-Pine Bluff (#191) were the two teams selected to play in the Opening Round game. I did have to make a few adjustments to the actual bracket to meet bracketing principles (particularly avoiding regular season rematches, keeping teams from the same conference as far apart as possible, and ensuring BYU plays a Thursday/Saturday schedule.

Bracket Differences

Here are some of the key differences between the two brackets, starting with who's in and who's out.

In the RPI Bracket, Out of the Full Projection
Rhode Island (10 seed)
UAB (11 seed)
Kent State (11 seed)
Dayton (12 seed)
Wichita State (12 seed)

In the Full Projection, Out of the RPI Bracket
UNLV (8 seed, 51 RPI)
Notre Dame (9 seed, 53 RPI)
Florida (10 seed, 52 RPI)
Mississippi (12 seed, 55 RPI)
Illinois (12 seed, 77 RPI)

As you can see, only using the RPI to project the field brings in several teams who are in the at-large conversation (Rhode Island, Dayton) or looked to be finished after losses in their conference tournaments (UAB, Kent State, Wichita State). In contrast, four teams, all from major conferences, who have good cases (two of whom, UNLV and Notre Dame, are considered locks by many at this point) are left out.

These changes result in changes to the number of bids for each conference.

Conference Breakdown
ACC: 7 in RPI bracket (7 in full bracket)
Big East: 7 in RPI bracket (8 in full)
Big 12: 7 (7 in full)
A-10: 5 (3 in full)
Big Ten: 4 (5 in full)
MWC: 3 (4 in full)
SEC: 3 (5 in full)
C-USA: 2 (1 in full)
MAC: 2 (1 in full)
MVC: 2 (1 in full)
Pac-10: 2 (2 in full)
WCC: 2 (2 in full)

Last Four In (RPI in parentheses)
Wichita State (46)
Dayton (47)
Washington (48)
Virginia Tech (49)

First Four Out (RPI in parentheses)
Cornell (50) and Oakland (54) had automatic bids
UNLV (51)
Florida (52)
Notre Dame (53)
Mississippi (55)

Next Four Out (RPI in parentheses)
Seton Hall (56)
Memphis (57)
Cincinnati (58)
William & Mary (59)

Most starkly, the RPI led to quite a bit of shuffling in the seeding. This is where teams' performance at the end of the season and in road and neutral contests would've had the most impact.

Seeding Winners (based on seed line change)
+5: San Diego State
+4: California, Siena
+3: Baylor, Georgetown, Northern Iowa, Old Dominion, Texas, Utah State
+2: Butler, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M
+1: Georgia Tech, North Texas, Oakland, St. Mary's, Wake Forest, Xavier

Seeding Losers
-5: Marquette, Ohio State, Virginia Tech
-4: Michigan State
-3: Clemson, Gonzaga
-2: Cornell
-1: Akron, BYU, Florida State. Missouri, Purdue, Richmond, Syracuse, Tennessee, UTEP, Vanderbilt, Vermont

Notice the high number of teams that dropped just one line. Keep in mind that the committee is free to move a team up or down a seed line to protect bracketing principles. This was something I did my best to avoid in this case, since I wanted to try to make this bracket as RPI-based as possible.

I'll have my next projection up Saturday morning.

Conference Tournament Go-Round: March 12

2010-03-12T15:00:41Z

More photos » Mark J. Terrill - AP

2 days ago: Stanford's Jack Trotter, left, and Arizona State's Trent Lockett go after a loose ball during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game at the Pac-10 Conference tournament, Thursday, March 11, 2010, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

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Friday will see one automatic bid handed out, as the Patriot League champion will be determined early in the evening in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

All of the remaining guaranteed spots will be determined over the weekend, that means there's a full slate of games on tap for Friday. I'll talk about them after the jump.

All times p.m. Eastern and approximate, especially for the second set of games in doubleheaders.

ACC

In Thursday's Opening Round, three of the four lower seeds moved on to today's quarterfinals. Georgia Tech was the only higher seed to move on, and they struggled to get past North Carolina. Visit SB Nation's ACC Tournament storystream for full coverage.

Thursday's Opening Round
(9) Virginia 68, (8) Boston College 62 (recap)
(12) Miami 83, (5) Wake Forest 62 (recap)
(7) Georgia Tech 62, (10) North Carolina 58 (recap)
(11) NC State 59, (6) Clemson 57 (recap)

Friday's Quarterfinals (All games on ESPN2 or Raycom.)
(1) Duke vs. (9) Virginia, 12
(4) Virginia Tech vs. (12) Miami, 2:30
(2) Maryland vs. (7) Georgia Tech, 7
(3) Florida State vs. (6) Clemson, 9:30

Atlantic 10

The Atlantic 10 Tournament resumes with four quarterfinals in Atlantic City. The matchups include two key bubble games, as Dayton, Rhode Island, and St. Louis look to grab wins for their resumes.

Friday's Quarterfinals (All games on CSS/CSN Philly/FS Ohio Cincinnati. Games one and two on CSN Washington+.)
(1) Temple vs. (8) St. Bonaventure, 12
(4) St. Louis vs. (5) Rhode Island, 2:30
(2) Xavier vs. (7) Dayton, 6:30
(3) Richmond vs. (11) UMass, 9

Big East

After three days, we've reached the semifinal round of the Big East Tournament. Surprisingly, only one team who earned a double bye, West Virginia, has made it this far, and they needed a Da'Sean Bulter buzzer beater to do it. For more information, check out SB Nation's storystream.

Thursday's Quarterfinals
(8) Georgetown 91, (1) Syracuse 84 (recap)
(5) Marquette 80, (4) Villanova 76 (recap)
(7) Notre Dame 50, (2) Pittsburgh 45 (recap)
(3) West Virginia 54, (11) Cincinnati 51 (recap)

Friday's Semifinals (Both games on ESPN.)
(8) Georgetown vs. (5) Marquette, 7
(7) Notre Dame vs. (3) West Virginia, 9:30

Big 12

The Big 12 Tournament has also reached the semifinal stage, but with less upheaval, as all four top seeds moved on. Check out the SB Nation storystream.

Thursday's Quarterfinals
(1) Kansas 80, (9) Texas Tech 68 (recap)
(4) Texas A&M 70, (12) Nebraska 64 (recap)
(2) Kansas State 83, (7) Oklahoma State 64 (recap)
(3) Baylor 86, (6) Texas 67 (recap)

Friday's Semifinals (Both games on Big 12 Network/Full Court.)
(1) Kansas vs. (4) Texas A&M, 7
(2) Kansas State vs. (3) Baylor, 9:30

Big Ten

Four quarterfinal games are on tap Friday at the Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The three higher seeds all won Thursday, which means Minnesota still has hope. Check out the storystream at SB Nation.

Thursday's Opening Round
(8) Michigan 59, (9) Iowa 52 (recap)
(7) Northwestern 73, (10) Indiana 58 (recap)
(6) Minnesota 76, (11) Penn State 55 (recap)

Friday's Quarterfinals
(1) Ohio State vs. (8) Michigan, 12 (ESPN)
(4) Wisconsin vs. (5) Illinois, 2:30 (ESPN)
(2) Purdue vs. (7) Northwestern, 6:30 (Big Ten Network)
(3) Michigan State vs. (6) Minnesota, 9 (Big Ten Network)

Big West

The top two seeds are finally involved as the Big West has reached its semifinals in Anaheim. The three and four seeds will join them.

Thursday's Quarterfinals
(3) Long Beach State 79, (6) Cal Poly 69 (recap)
(4) UC Davis 68, (5) Cal State Fullerton 65 (recap)

Friday's Semifinals (Both games on ESPNU.)
(1) UC Santa Barbara vs. (4) UC Davis, 9
(2) Pacific vs. (3) Long Beach State, 11:30

Conference USA

After a day that saw UAB and Memphis' at-large hopes end, it's semifinal time in Tulsa. Regular season champion UTEP was the only higher seed to advance.

Thursday's Quarterfinals
(7) Houston 66, (2) Memphis 65 (recap)
(6) Southern Mississippi 58, (3) UAB 44 (recap)
(5) Tulsa 80, (4) Marshall 64 (recap)
(1) UTEP 76, (9) UCF 54 (recap)

Friday's Semifinals (Both games on CBS College Sports.)
(7) Houston vs. (6) Southern Mississippi, 4
(5) Tulsa vs. (1) UTEP, 6:30

Mid-American

Friday sees semifinal action in Cleveland, where it's been another topsy-turvy tournament. The top two seeds are both gone, meaning Akron is in the driver's seat. Read SB Nation's MAC Tournament preview and storystream for more info.

Thursday's Quarterfinals
(7) Western Michigan 69, (2) Central Michigan 60 (recap)
(3) Akron 97, (6) Eastern Michigan 89 (recap)
(8) Ohio 81, (1) Kent State 64 (recap)
(4) Miami (OH) 73, (5) Buffalo 59 (recap)

Friday's Semifinals (Both games on Regional FSN/Full Court.)
(7) Western Michigan vs. (3) Akron, 7
(8) Ohio vs. (4) Miami (OH), 9::30

Mid-Eastern

After a complex opening two rounds, the MEAC is on to its semifinals, where the top three seeds will be joined by fifth-seeded Hampton, who upended No. 4 Norfolk State in a thriller.

Thursday's Quarterfinals
(3) South Carolina State 59, (6) Maryland-Eastern Shore 53 (recap)
(5) Hampton 73, (4) Norfolk State 70

Friday's Semifinals
(1) Morgan State vs.(5) Hampton, 6
(2) Delaware State vs. (3) South Carolina State , 8:30

Mountain West

Quarterfinal action was completed Thursday in Las Vegas, and all four higher seeds advanced to Friday's semifinals. Head over to SB Nation to check out the tournament storystream.

Thursday's Quarterfinals
(1) New Mexico 75, (9) Air Force 69 (recap)
(4) San Diego State 72, (5) Colorado State 71 (recap)
(2) BYU 95, (7) TCU 85 (recap)
(3) UNLV 73, (6) Utah 61 (recap)

Friday's Semifinals (Both games on CBS College Sports.)
(1) New Mexico vs. (4) San Diego State, 9
(2) BYU vs. (3) UNLV, 11:30

Pac-10

Arizona State's at-large chances took a hit in the Pac-10 quarterfinals, as they fell to Stanford, while Washington had to come back to beat Oregon State. Check out the SB Nation storystream.

Thursday's Quarterfinals
(5) UCLA 75, (4) Arizona 69 (recap)
(1) California 90, (8) Oregon 74 (recap)
(7) Stanford 70, (2) Arizona State 61 (recap)
(3) Washington 59, (6) Oregon State 52 (recap)

Friday's Semifinals (Both games on FSN/Comcast SportsNet.)
(5) UCLA vs. (1) California, 9
(7) Stanford vs. (3) Washington, 11:30

Patriot

The only automatic bid of the day will be handed out in the Patriot League. Top seed Lehigh hosts ancient rival Lafayette with one spot on the line (4:45, ESPN2).

Southeastern

Bubble teams Mississippi and Mississippi State join locks Kentucky and Vanderbilt in getting involved today in Nashville. Georgia pulled the only upset of the day on Thursday. SB Nation has an SEC Tournament storystream live.

Thursday's Opening Round
(W4) Alabama 68, (E5) South Carolina 63 (recap)
(E3) Tennessee 59, (W6) LSU 49 (recap)
(E4) Florida 78, (W5) Auburn 69 (recap)
(E6) Georgia 77, (W3) Arkansas 64 (recap)

Friday's Quarterfinals (All games on SEC Network/Full Court.)
(E1) Kentucky vs. (W4) Alabama, 1
(W2) Mississippi vs. (E3) Tennessee, 3:30
(W1) Mississippi State vs.(E4) Florida, 7:30
(E2) Vanderbilt vs. (E6) Georgia, 10

Southland

The top two seeds moved on to Saturday's championship game, but Sam Houston State had a close call for the second game in a row.

Thursday's Semifinals
(2) Stephen F. Austin 60, (3) Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 53 (recap)
(1) Sam Houston State 88, (4) Southeastern Louisiana 85 (recap)

Southwestern Athletic

The semifinals take place Friday in Shreveport, without top seed Jackson State, who fell to Grambling on Wednesday.

Thursday's Quarterfinals
(3) Alabama State 56, (6) Alabama A&M 45 (recap)
(5) Texas Southern 66, (4) Prairie View A&M 49 (recap)

Friday's Semifinals
(2) Arkansas-Pine Bluff vs. (3) Alabama State, 3:30
(8) Grambling State vs. (5) Texas Southern, 9

Western Athletic

In Reno, the semifinals are set, and the top four are all still alive for the title. Be sure to check out the WAC storystream over at SB Nation.

Thursday's Quarterfinals
(1) Utah State 84, (8) Boise State 60 (recap)
(4) Louisiana Tech 74, (5) Fresno State 66 (recap)
(2) Nevada 87, (7) Idaho 71 (recap)
(3) New Mexico State 90, (8) San Jose State 69 (recap)

Friday's Semifinals
(1) Utah State vs. (4) Louisiana Tech, 9:30
(2) Nevada vs. (3) New Mexico State, 11:59 (ESPN2)

Bracketology: Syracuse Holds On To One Seed, Despite Two Big Thursday Losses

2010-03-12T13:00:25Z

More photos » Frank Franklin II - AP

2 days ago: Syracuse's Arinze Onuaku reacts to an injury during the second half of a quarterfinal round NCAA college basketball game at the Big East Conference Championships Thursday, March 11, 2010 in New York. Syracuse lost the game 91-84.. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

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Editor's note: This bracket is cross-posted at SB Nation.

Thanks to an overwhelming number of games Thursday and a good amount of time spent reviewing seeding, particularly in the middle of the bracket, this bracket looks significantly different from Thursday's version.

Click here to see Friday's full bracket.

Here are links to my seed list and tracking spreadsheet.

On the top line, there's one minor change. Syracuse drops down to the fourth overall number one seed after their loss to Georgetown in the Big East quarterfinals and Arinze Onuaku's knee/quad injury. Even with that setback, the Orange aren't likely to fall to the two line, especially as West Virginia's best shot at a high RPI win on the way to a Big East tournament crown would be against Georgetown in the final. With the way this tournament's unfolded so far, that's not a result to bank on.

Ohio State jumped back up to the two line without playing a game, as New Mexico struggled to beat lowly Air Force in their Mountain West semifinal. The Buckeyes begin Big Ten tournament play Friday against archrival Michigan in the quarterfinals.

In the middle of the bracket, there was a good amount of shuffling. Teams like Richmond, Marquette, Florida State, Florida and California shifted up, while others, including Xavier, Northern Iowa, Oklahoma State, Louisville and Wake Forest dropped.

There was one at-large change after Thursday's action, as Arizona State dropped out after losing to Stanford in the Pac-10 quarterfinals. Washington, who came back to beat Oregon State in the very next game, replaces them.

Here's how things stand with three days remaining.

The Rundown

Top Four Seeds: Kansas, Kentucky, Duke, Syracuse
Last Four In: Illinois, Mississippi, Washington, San Diego State
First Four Out: Rhode Island, Dayton, Mississippi State, William & Mary
Next Four Out: Arizona State, Seton Hall, South Florida, UAB

Conference Breakdown

Big East: 8
Syracuse (1), West Virginia (2), Villanova (3), Pittsburgh (3), Georgetown (5), Marquette (7),
Notre Dame (9), Louisville (9)

ACC: 7
Duke (1), Maryland (5), Florida State (7), Clemson (7), Virginia Tech (8), Wake Forest (11), Georgia Tech (12)

Big 12: 7
Kansas (1), Kansas State (2), Baylor (5), Texas A&M (6), Texas (9), Missouri (10), Oklahoma State (10)

Big Ten: 5
Purdue (2), Ohio State (3), Michigan State (3), Wisconsin (4), Illinois (12)

MWC: 4
New Mexico (2), BYU (5), UNLV (8), San Diego State (13)

SEC: 4
Kentucky (1), Vanderbilt (4), Tennessee (4), Florida (10), Mississippi (12)

A-10: 3
Temple (4), Richmond (6), Xavier (7)

Pac-10: 2
California (9), Washington (12)

WCC: 2
Gonzaga (6), St. Mary's (11)

One Bid Leagues (22): America East, Atlantic Sun (ETSU), Big Sky (Montana), Big South (Winthrop), Big West, Colonial (Old Dominion), Conference USA, Horizon (Butler), Ivy (Cornell), Metro Atlantic (Siena), Mid-American, Mid-Eastern, Missouri Valley (Northern Iowa), Northeast (Robert Morris), Ohio Valley (Murray State), Patriot, Southern (Wofford), Southland, Southwestern, Summit (Oakland), Sun Belt (North Texas), Western Athletic

For a more detailed breakdown of the teams fighting for the final few spots in the tournament, visit Bubble Watch.

Conference Tournament Go-Round: March 11

2010-03-11T14:34:19Z

More photos » Colin E Braley - AP

3 days ago: Montana's Anthony Johnson cuts the net following Montana's 66-65 win over Weber State in an NCAA college basketball game for the Big Sky tournament title Wednesday, March 10, 2010, in Ogden, Utah. (AP Photo/Colin E Braley)

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Two NCAA bids were handed out on Wednesday, and since two regular season conference champions lost on their home floors, the NIT gained two automatic bids as well.

Northeast: Robert Morris became the first team to beat Quinnipiac on their home court this year, and advanced to their second straight NCAA Tournament with a 52-50 win (recap).

Big Sky: Fourth-seeded Montana stunned Weber State on their home floor to win 66-65. Anthony Johnson had 42 of the Grizzlies 66 points. (recap)

No bids will be handed out on Thursday, but there will be a loaded schedule of games, as almost all of the major conferences' postseason events will be underway. I'll run through all of the action after the jump.

All times p.m. Eastern and approximate, especially for the second set of games in doubleheaders.

ACC

Thursday sees the opening round of the ACC Tournament. The bottom eight meet in an opening round to determine opponents for Duke, Maryland, Florida State and Virginia Tech. Visit SB Nation for a full preview.

Thursday's Opening Round
(8) Boston College vs. (9) Virginia, 12 (Raycom/Full Court)
(5) Wake Forest vs. (12) Miami, 2:30 (Raycom/Full Court)
(7) Georgia Tech vs. (10) North Carolina, 7 (ESPN2)
(6) Clemson vs. (11) NC State, 9:30 (Raycom/Full Court)

Big East

The Big East field is down to eight. The top four seeds join in the fun for the quarterfinals, where seeds five, seven, and eight will join them. Cincinnati, the 11 seed, is the only double-digit seed to advance this far, meaning they still have a chance to dance. For more information, check out SB Nation's storystream.

Wednesday's Second Round
(8) Georgetown 69, (9) South Florida 49 (recap)
(5) Marquette 57, (13) St. John's 55 (recap)
(7) Notre Dame 68, (10) Seton Hall 56 (recap)
(11) Cincinnati 69, (6) Louisville 66 (recap)

Thursday's Quarterfinals (All games on ESPN.)
(1) Syracuse vs. (8) Georgetown, 12
(4) Villanova vs. (5) Marquette, 2:30
(2) Pittsburgh vs. (7) Notre Dame, 7
(3) West Virginia vs. (11) Cincinnati, 9:30

Big 12

The Big 12 Tournament continues in Kansas City with four quarterfinals. The two lower seeds involved in Wednesday's early session, Texas Tech and Nebraska, advanced. The Cornhuskers stunned defending champion Missouri, which will likely damage the Tigers' NCAA seed. The two higher seeds won in the night session, however. Check out the SB Nation storystream.

Wednesday's First Round
(9) Texas Tech 82, (8) Colorado 67 (recap)
(12) Nebraska 75, (5) Missouri 60 (recap)
(7) Oklahoma State 81, (10) Oklahoma 67 (recap)
(6) Texas 82, (11) Iowa State 75 (recap)

Thursday's Quarterfinals
(9) Texas Tech vs. (1) Kansas, 12:30 (ESPN2)
(12) Nebraska vs. (4) Texas A&M, 3 (Big 12 Network/Full Court)
(7) Oklahoma State vs. (2) Kansas State, 7 (Big 12 Network/Full Court)
(6) Texas vs. (3) Baylor, 9:30 (ESPN2)

Big Ten

The League That Can't Count opens with three preliminary games Thursday at the Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Check out the storystream at SB Nation.

Thursday's Opening Round
(8) Michigan vs. (9) Iowa, 2:30 (ESPN2)
(7) Northwestern vs. (10) Indiana, 4:55 (ESPN2)
(6) Minnesota vs. (11) Penn State, 7:30 (Big Ten Network)

Big West

The Big West moves on to the quarterfinals at Anaheim Arena. Remember, the top two seeds have a bye to the semifinals.

Wednesday's Opening Round
(5) Cal State Fullerton 84, (8) Cal State Northridge 76 (recap)
(6) Cal Poly 73, (7) UC Irvine 69 (recap)

Thursday's Quarterfinals (Both games on BigWest.tv.)
(6) Cal Poly vs. (3) Long Beach State, 9
(5) Cal State Fullerton vs. (4) UC Davis, 11:30

Conference USA

This tournament shifts to the quarterfinals Thursday in Tulsa. UCF was the only lower seed to win in Wednesday's opening round, though host Tulsa had to comeback against Rice to advance.

Wednesday's Opening Round
(7) Houston 93, (10) East Carolina 80 (recap)
(6) Southern Mississippi 57, (11) Tulane 47 (recap)
(5) Tulsa 73, (12) Rice 62 (recap)
(9) UCF 69, (8) SMU 53 (recap)

Thursday's Quarterfinals (All games on CBS College Sports.)
(2) Memphis vs. (7) Houston, 1
(3) UAB vs. (6) Southern Mississippi, 3:30
(4) Marshall vs. (5) Tulsa, 7
(1) UTEP vs. (9) UCF, 9:30

Mid-American

Action shifts to Cleveland Thursday, as the four opening round winners meet the top four seeds in the quarterfinals. Read SB Nation's MAC Tournament preview and storystream for more info.

Thursday's Quarterfinals (All games on Regional FSNs/Full Court.)
(2) Central Michigan vs. (7) Western Michigan, 12
(3) Akron vs. (6) Eastern Michigan, 2:30
(1) Kent State vs. (9) Ohio, 7
(4) Miami (OH) vs. (5) Buffalo, 9:30

Mid-Eastern

MEAC Tournament action Wednesday featured the third opening round game and two quarterfinals. The other two quarterfinals take place Thursday. The top two seeds advanced to Friday's semifinals in differing fashions. Morgan State routed NC A&T, while Delaware State escaped with a win over a feisty Bethune-Cookman team.

Wednesday's Opening Round
(6) Maryland-Eastern Shore 64, (11) Coppin State 58 (recap)

Wednesday's Quarterfinals
(1) Morgan State 84, (9) North Carolina A&T 57 (recap)
(2) Delaware State 57, (7) Behtune-Cookman 55 (recap)

Thursday's Quarterfinals
(3) South Carolina State vs. (6) Maryland-Eastern Shore, 6
(4) Norfolk State vs. (5) Hampton, 8:30

Mountain West

Air Force won their second conference game of the year Wednesday (both over Wyoming) to advance to Thursday's main draw, where they'll meet top seed New Mexico. Head over to SB Nation to check out the tournament storystream.

Wednesday's Opening Round
(9) Air Force 59, (8) Wyoming 40 (recap)

Thursday's Quarterfinals (All games on the mtn.)
(1) New Mexico vs. (9) Air Force, 3
(4) San Diego State vs. (5) Colorado State, 5:30 (also on CBS College Sports)
(2) BYU vs. (7) TCU, 9
(3) UNLV vs. (6) Utah, 11:30 (also on CBS College Sports)

Pac-10

Oregon won the abbreviated Pac-10 opening round, by topping Washington State in overtime. They'll face Cal in Thursday's quarterfinals. Check out the SB Nation storystream.

Wednesday's Opening Round
(8) Oregon 82, (9) Washington State 80 (OT) (recap)

Thursday's Quarterfinals (All games on FSN/Comcast SportsNet.)
(4) Arizona vs. (5) UCLA, 3
(1) California vs. (8) Oregon, 5:30
(2) Arizona State vs. (7) Stanford, 9
(3) Washington vs. (6) Oregon State, 11:30

Southeastern

The imbalanced SEC Tournament gets started in Nashville, with four opening round games, featuring a couple of teams who probably shouldn't be involved. SB Nation has an SEC Tournament storystream live.

Thursday's Opening Round (All games on SEC Network/Full Court.)
(W4) Alabama vs, (E5) South Carolina, 1
(E3) Tennessee vs. (W6) LSU, 3:15
(E4) Florida vs. (W5) Auburn, 7:30
(W3) Arkansas vs. (E6) Georgia, 9:45

Southland

The Southland Conference quarterfinals in Katy, Texas featured a performance as impressive as Anthony Johnson's showing for Montana in the Big Sky final. Nicholls State's Anatoly Bose scored 40 of Nicholls State's 57 points in their loss to top seed Sam Houston State. All four top seeds advanced to the semifinals, though the Bearkats and Southeastern Louisiana struggled in the evening games.

Wednesday's Quarterfinals
(2) Stephen F. Austin 77, (7) Texas-Arlington 54 (recap)
(3) Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 78, (6) Texas-San Antonio 66 (recap)
(1) Sam Houston State 62, (8) Nicholls State 57 (recap)
(4) Southeastern Louisiana 79, (5) Texas State 78 (recap)

Thursday's Semifinals (Both games on Southland TV/Full Court.)
(2) Stephen F. Austin vs. (3) Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 7
(1) Sam Houston State vs. (4) Southeastern Louisiana, 9:30

Southwestern Athletic

Top seed Jackson State fell in their quarterfinal game against Grambling, meaning this event is wide open. The three and four seeds play their quarterfinals Thursday in Shreveport.

Wednesday's Quarterfinals
(8) Grambling State 65, (1) Jackson State 57 (recap)
(2) Arkansas Pine Bluff 69, (7) Mississippi Valley State 66 (recap)

Thursday's Quarterfinals
(3) Alabama State vs. (6) Alabama A&M, 3:30
(4) Prairie View A&M vs. (5) Texas Southern, 9

Western Athletic

Thursday sees the start of the WAC Tournament with the quarterfinal round. Be sure to check out the WAC storystream over at SB Nation.

Thursday's Quarterfinals
(1) Utah State vs. (8) Boise State, 3 (ESPNU)
(4) Louisiana Tech vs. (5) Fresno State, 5:30 (ESPNU)
(2) Nevada vs. (7) Idaho, 9
(3) New Mexico State vs. (8) San Jose State, 11:30

Bracketology: The Calm Before The Storm Edition

2010-03-11T13:00:34Z

More photos » Rick Scuteri - AP

9 days ago: Arizona State's Rihards Kuksiks, left, of Latvia, left, drives on Southern California's Marcus Johnson during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Thursday, March 4, 2010, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

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Editor's note: This bracket is cross-posted at SB Nation.

Conference tournament action will be well underway on Thursday, as every major conference (except for the Atlantic 10) will be in action. Therefore, expect to see things shuffle a little more between Friday and Sunday.

As for this projection, the biggest changes from Wednesday's bracket took place at the bottom of the at-large pool, where Seton Hall and South Florida fell out after unimpressive losses in the second round of the Big East Tournament. Their replacements were both idle Wednesday. Arizona State faces Stanford in a Pac-10 quarterfinal Thursday, while Ole Miss plays in the SEC quarterfinals Friday.

Click here to see Thursday's full bracket.

Here are links to my seed list and tracking spreadsheet.

The field breaks down in this way with four days left in the race for bids.

The Rundown

Top Four Seeds: Kansas, Syracuse, Kentucky, Duke
Last Four In: Illinois, Mississippi, Arizona State, San Diego State
First Four Out: Rhode Island, Washington, Dayton, UAB
Next Four Out: Memphis, Mississippi State, South Florida, Seton Hall

Conference Breakdown

Big East: 8
Syracuse (1), West Virginia (2), Villanova (3), Pittsburgh (3), Georgetown (6), Louisville (8),
Notre Dame (9), Marquette (9),

ACC: 7
Duke (1), Maryland (5), Clemson (7), Virginia Tech (8), Florida State (10), Wake Forest (10), Georgia Tech (11)

Big 12: 7
Kansas (1), Kansas State (2), Baylor (5), Texas A&M (6), Oklahoma State (7), Texas (9), Missouri (10)

Big Ten: 5
Purdue (2), Ohio State (3), Michigan State (3), Wisconsin (4), Illinois (12)

MWC: 4
New Mexico (2), BYU (5), UNLV (8), San Diego State (13)

SEC: 4
Kentucky (1), Vanderbilt (4), Tennessee (4), Florida (11), Mississippi (12)

A-10: 3
Temple (4), Xavier (6), Richmond (7)

Pac-10: 2
California (12), Arizona State (12)

WCC: 2
Gonzaga (6), St. Mary's (10)

One Bid Leagues (22): America East, Atlantic Sun (ETSU), Big Sky (Montana), Big South (Winthrop), Big West, Colonial (Old Dominion), Conference USA, Horizon (Butler), Ivy (Cornell), Metro Atlantic (Siena), Mid-American, Mid-Eastern, Missouri Valley (Northern Iowa), Northeast (Robert Morris), Ohio Valley (Murray State), Patriot, Southern (Wofford), Southland, Southwestern, Summit (Oakland), Sun Belt (North Texas), Western Athletic

For a more detailed breakdown of the teams fighting for the final few spots in the tournament, visit Bubble Watch.

Conference Tournament Go-Round: March 10

2010-03-10T16:00:39Z

More photos » Michael Conroy - AP

4 days ago: Butler coach Brad Stevens, front, celebrates with players, left to right, Emerson Kampen, Zach Hahn and Andrew Smith as they line up to receive the trophy after a 70-45 win over Wright State in an NCAA college basketball game in the championship of the Horizon League men's tournament in Indianapolis, Tuesday, March 9, 2010. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

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Tuesday night saw three bids handed out. The Sun Belt final turned out to be the championship game of the night, as the Horizon and Summit finals resulted in comfortable wins for the top seeds.

Sun Belt: Second seed North Texas claimed its third-ever NCAA bid with a thrilling 66-63 win over top-seeded Troy. (recap)

Horizon: Butler pounded Wright State, 70-45, to ensure one bid from the Horizon. (recap)

Summit: Top-seeded Oakland had a relatively easy time with two seed IUPUI, winning 76-64 to advance to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2005. It's the Golden Grizzlies' second trip ever. (recap)

After the jump, I'll look ahead to Wednesday's busy slate of action.

Two more teams will book their places in the field of 65 this evening. All times are p.m. Eastern.

Northeast

Second-seeded Robert Morris visits top seed Quinnipiac for the conference's lone bid (7, ESPN2). The two tied for the regular season crown, but the Bobcats host as they won the only head-to-head meeting, 87-79 in Moon Township, Pa. on February 20.

Big Sky

The No. 1 seed Weber State will face fourth-seeded Montana for the title (9, ESPN2). The Grizzlies upset two seed Northern Colorado, keeping them from booking their first-ever bid. The Wildcats defeated two-time defending champion Portland State in the late semifinal.

Tuesday's Semifinals
(4) Montana 68, (2) Northern Colorado 63
(1) Weber State 69, (6) Portland State 60

Atlantic 10

The A10 Tournament is off until Friday, when Tuesday's four winners will face the top four seeds in the quarterfinals. Three of the four hosts won, with Charlotte's bubble now officially burst after a home loss to UMass.

Tuesday's Opening Round
(8) St. Bonaventure 83, (9) Duquesne 71
(7) Dayton 70, (10) George Washington 60
(11) Massachusetts 59, (6) Charlotte 56
(5) Rhode Island 87, (12) St. Joseph's 76

Big East

The Big East field is down to 12. St. John's was the only lower seed to win Tuesday, as they knocked UConn out of the Tournament race. While the Red Storm and USF claimed relatively easy wins in the afternoon session. Seton Hall and Cincinnati won evening thrillers. Seeds 5 through 8 jump into the fray today. For more information, check out SB Nation's preview.

Tuesday's First Round
(9) South Florida 58, (16) DePaul 49 (recap)
(13) St. John's 73, (12) Connecticut 51 (recap)
(10) Seton Hall 109, (15) Providence 106 (recap)
(11) Cincinnati 69, (14) Rutgers 68 (recap)

Wednesday's Second Round (All four games on ESPN.)
(8) Georgetown vs. (9) South Florida, 12
(13) St. John's vs. (5) Marquette, 2:30
(10) Seton Hall vs. (7) Notre Dame, 7
(11) Cincinnati vs. (6) Louisville, 9:30

Big 12

The Big 12 Tournament opens up in Kansas City with four opening round games. The winners advance to meet Kansas, Kansas State, Baylor and Texas A&M Thursday in the quarterfinals. Check out the SB Nation preview.

Wednesday's First Round (All games on Big 12 Network/Full Court.)
(8) Colorado vs. (9) Texas Tech, 12:30
(5) Missouri vs. (12) Nebraska, 3
(7) Oklahoma State vs. (10) Oklahoma, 7
(6) Texas vs. (11) Iowa State, 9:30

Big West

The Big West begins its final tournament at the Anaheim Arena. This is another league where the top two seeds get a double-bye. Plus, winners are re-seeded after each round.

Wednesday's Opening Round
(5) Cal State Fullerton vs. (8) Cal State Northridge, 9
(6) Cal Poly vs. (7) UC Irvine, 11:30

Conference USA

Events get started in Tulsa with four opening round games. UTEP, Memphis, UAB, and Marshall await in Thursday's quarterfinal round.

Wednesday's Opening Round
(7) Houston vs. (10) East Carolina, 1
(6) Southern Mississippi vs. (11) Tulane, 3:30
(5) Tulsa vs. (12) Rice, 7
(8) SMU vs. (9) UCF, 9:30

Mid-Eastern

The MEAC Tournament continues in Winston-Salem with the third first-round game. On Tuesday, Bethune-Cookman advanced by knocking off their archrival FAMU and North Carolina A&T upended Howard.

Tuesday's Opening Round
(7) Bethune-Cookman 64, (10) Florida A&M 53
(9) North Carolina A&T 65, (8) Howard 55

Wednesday's Opening Round
(6) Maryland-Eastern Shore vs. (11) Coppin State, 3

Mountain West

As there are nine teams in the MWC, an opening game is required to determine New Mexico's quarterfinal opponent for Thursday. Wyoming and Air Force managed to go 4-28 in conference play this season. Head over to SB Nation to check out a tournament preview.

Wednesday's Opening Round
(8) Wyoming vs. (9) Air Force, 5 (the mtn.)

Pac-10

Normally, there would be two opening round games in Los Angeles, but since USC's athletic department banned the basketball team from this postseason, only one is on the schedule for tonight.

Wednesday's Opening Round
(8) Oregon vs. (9) Washington State, 11 (FSN/Comcast SportsNet)

Southland

The Southland Conference sends eight teams to its tournament and they'll all be in action Wednesday in Katy, Texas.

Wednesday's Quarterfinals
(2) Stephen F. Austin vs. (7) Texas-Arlington, 1
(3) Texas A&M-Corpus Christi vs. (6) Texas-San Antonio, 3:30
(1) Sam Houston State vs. (8) Nicholls State, 7
(4) Southeastern Louisiana vs. (5) Texas State, 9:30

Southwestern Athletic

The SWAC Tournament opens in Shreveport with two quarterfinals, featuring the top two seeds. Only eight of the 10 members advanced to the postseason.

Wednesday's Quarterfinals
(1) Jackson State vs. (8) Grambling State, 8
(2) Arkansas Pine Bluff vs. (7) Mississippi Valley State, 2:30

Bracketology Update: No At-Large Changes...Yet

2010-03-10T14:00:33Z

More photos » Rajah Bose - AP

about 1 month ago: Gonzaga's Robert Sacre pulls down a rebound against St. Mary's Ben Allen in the second half of their NCAA college basketball game at the McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane, Wash. Thursday, Feb. 11, 2010. (AP Photo/Rajah Bose)

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Editor's note: This bracket is cross-posted at SB Nation.

Since the major conference tournaments (other than the Big East) are really getting underway Wednesday, I've updated this bracket to reflect the results of Monday and Tuesday's limited slate.

The biggest change is that Gonzaga drops down a line after their loss to St. Mary's in Monday's West Coast final. Butler moves up to the five line to replace them after their dominating Horizon League championship win Tuesday.

Since Seton Hall and South Florida both won their Big East tournament openers, and there weren't any major shocks in the early conference finals, the at-large pool remains the same as it did in Monday's bracket.

I'll have a more complete update on Thursday after the Big 12 opening round and Big East second round.

Click here to see Wednesday's full bracket.

Here are links to my seed list and tracking spreadsheet.

Here's a look at how the field breaks down with five days left.

The Rundown

Top Four Seeds: Kansas, Syracuse, Kentucky, Duke
Last Four In: Seton Hall, San Diego State, South Florida, Illinois
First Four Out: Mississippi, Arizona State, Washington, Dayton
Next Four Out: UAB, Memphis, Rhode Island, Mississippi State

Conference Breakdown

Big East: 10
Syracuse (1), West Virginia (2), Villanova (2), Pittsburgh (3), Georgetown (6), Louisville (8), Marquette (10),
Notre Dame (10), Seton Hall (12), South Florida (12)

ACC: 7
Duke (1), Maryland (5), Florida State (7), Virginia Tech (8), Clemson (9), Wake Forest (10), Georgia Tech (11)

Big 12: 7
Kansas (1), Kansas State (2), Baylor (5), Texas A&M (6), Missouri (7), Oklahoma State (7), Texas (9)

Big Ten: 5
Purdue (2), Ohio State (3), Michigan State (3), Wisconsin (4), Illinois (12)

MWC: 4
New Mexico (2), BYU (5), UNLV (9), San Diego State (12)

SEC: 4
Kentucky (1), Vanderbilt (4), Tennessee (4), Florida (11)

A-10: 3
Temple (4), Xavier (6), Richmond (7)

WCC: 2
Gonzaga (6), St. Mary's (10)

One Bid Leagues (23): America East, Atlantic Sun (ETSU), Big Sky, Big South (Winthrop), Big West, Colonial (Old Dominion), Conference USA, Horizon (Butler), Ivy (Cornell), Metro Atlantic (Siena), Mid-American, Mid-Eastern, Missouri Valley (Northern Iowa), Northeast, Ohio Valley (Murray State), Pacific-10, Patriot, Southern (Wofford), Southland, Southwestern, Summit (Oakland), Sun Belt (North Texas), Western Athletic

For a more detailed breakdown of the teams fighting for the final few spots in the tournament, visit Bubble Watch.

Conference Tournament Go-Round: March 9

2010-03-09T17:01:21Z

More photos » Chuck Burton - AP

5 days ago: Wofford players pose around the trophy after their 56-51 win over Appalachian State in an NCAA college basketball game for the Southern Conference tournament championship in Charlotte, N.C., Monday, March 8, 2010. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

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I had to drive back from Richmond after the Colonial final Monday night, so this post will be really quick.

Four teams clinched NCAA bids on Monday night, with three teams getting themselves off the bubble in the process.

Colonial: Old Dominion held off William & Mary, 60-53. Read my recap over at SB Nation.

Metro Atlantic: For the third game in a row, Siena had to come back. They defeated Fairfield in overtime to claim the MAAC crown. (recap)

Southern: Wofford claimed the Southern Conference crown for the first time, thanks to a 56-51 win over Appalachian State. (recap)

West Coast: St. Mary's booked their place by pounding Gonzaga in the championship game in Las Vegas. (recap) The loss means the Bulldogs are likely to be shipped away from Spokane for the first weekend of the Tournament.

After the jump, I'll take a look at today's action, which features three championship games and the start of the Big East Tournament.

Three more teams will book their places in the field of 65 this evening. All times are p.m. Eastern.

Sun Belt

The top two seeds will meet for the crown tonight (7, ESPN2). No. 1 Troy eliminated perennial power Western Kentucky, 54-48; while second-seeded North Texas topped sixth-seeded Denver, 63-56. The Mean Green won the only meeting between the two this season, claiming a three-point win in Troy.

Horizon

This one is another matchup of top seeds (9, ESPN). Top-seeded Butler hosts second-seeded Wright State in a rematch of the 2007 final. The Raiders won in '07 to make the Horizon a two-bid league. The Bulldogs won both meetings this year.

Summit

Three Tuesday finals, three 1 vs. 2 matchups (9, ESPN2), Top-seeded Oakland got a game from IPFW, but prevailed, 71-58. The Golden Grizzlies will take on No. 2 IUPUI, who won a close 69-65 contest against Oral Roberts. The two teams split their two meetings this season, with each winning at home.

Beyond those three finals, there is plenty of other conference tournament action on the schedule for Tuesday.

Atlantic 10

The A10 Tournament starts with four campus site first round games. The winners move on to Atlantic City for Friday's quarterfinals, where they'll meet the top four seeds -- Temple, Xavier, Richmond, and St. Louis.

(9) Duquesne at (8) St. Bonaventure, 7
(10) George Washington at (7) Dayton, 7
(11) Massachusetts at (6) Charlotte, 7
(12) St. Joseph's at (5) Rhode Island, 7 (Cox Sports)

Big East

The 16-team free-for-all opens in New York with four first round games, three of which have significant bubble importance. Today's winners move on to face seeds 5 through 8 Wednesday. For more information, check out SB Nation's preview.

(9) South Florida vs. (16) DePaul, 12 (ESPN2)
(12) Connecticut vs. (13) St. John's, 2:30 (ESPN2)
(10) Seton Hall vs. (15) Providence, 7 (ESPNU)
(11) Cincinnati vs. (14) Rutgers, 9:30 (ESPNU)

Big Sky

Action in this conference shifts to Ogden, Utah, where top-seeded Weber State is the host for the semifinals and final. They re-seeded the opening round winners, so the matchups are a bit non-traditional from a seeding perspective.

(2) Northern Colorado vs. (4) Montana, 6:35 (Altitude)
(1) Weber State vs. (6) Portland State, 9:05 (Altitude 2)

Mid-Eastern

The MEAC Tournament opens in Winston-Salem with two first-round games. The third takes place tomorrow.

(7) Bethune-Cookman vs. (10) Florida A&M, 6:30
(8) Howard vs. (9) North Carolina A&T, 9

Bracketology: Duke Back On Top Line; Ten Big East Teams In With Six Days Left In The Race

2010-03-08T17:00:22Z

Rich Schultz - AP

18 days ago: Seton Hall's Jeremy Hazell (21) attempts a shot as Rutgers' Hamady Ndiaye and Jonathan Mitchell (24) defends during the second half of a NCAA college basketball game at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2010. Seton Hall defeated Rutgers 76-70. (AP Photo/Rich Schultz)

View full size photo »

This bracket is cross-posted at SB Nation.

Selection Sunday is six days away. Hopefully in that time, there will be some clarity regarding the teams at the bottom of the at-large pool. You know, the ones I've been tracking over on Bubble Watch.

It's become increasingly difficult and frustrating to try to separate the last 12 or so teams fighting for the final five or six spots. Would you have thought, just one week ago, that teams like Arizona State, Memphis and Washington would seriously be in the hunt for an at-large?

While I may not take their chances as seriously as some (especially in the case of the Tigers), they all have a chance over the next few days to get in, either by winning their conference tournaments or by winning enough games to pass the teams who are sure to fall simultaneously.

But for the moment, I have 10 Big East teams in Monday's projection.

Click here to see Monday's full bracket.

Here are links to my seed list and tracking spreadsheet.

Why? (Especially since I had Ole Miss as the last team in for my Sunday Bubble Watch update.) Well, the Pirates have more wins over teams in this projection than USF or Mississippi do. The Rebels have a better road/neutral mark than both, and the Bulls have more top 50 wins. In this case, I knock Ole Miss down a peg because of the weakness of the SEC West. All nine of their conference wins came against teams that are fighting for NIT spots at best, with several of those being closer than necessary.

Of course, all three teams will have to win some games in their conference tournaments this week to get closer to the real bracket.

Here's a look at how the field breaks down with less than a week to go.

The Rundown

Conference Breakdown

Big East: 10
Syracuse (1), West Virginia (2), Villanova (2), Pittsburgh (3), Georgetown (6), Louisville (8), Marquette (9),
Notre Dame (10), Seton Hall (12), South Florida (12)

ACC: 7
Duke (1), Maryland (5), Florida State (7), Virginia Tech (8), Clemson (9), Wake Forest (10), Georgia Tech (11)

Big 12: 7
Kansas (1), Kansas State (2), Baylor (5), Texas A&M (6), Missouri (7), Oklahoma State (7), Texas (9)

Big Ten: 5
Purdue (2), Ohio State (3), Michigan State (3), Wisconsin (4), Illinois (12)

MWC: 4
New Mexico (2), BYU (5), UNLV (9), San Diego State (12)

SEC: 4
Kentucky (1), Vanderbilt (4), Tennessee (4), Florida (11)

A-10: 3
Temple (4), Xavier (6), Richmond (7)

WCC: 2
Gonzaga (5), St. Mary's (11)

One Bid Leagues (23): America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Conference USA, Horizon, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, Mid-Eastern, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Pacific-10, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Southwestern, Summit, Sun Belt, Western Athletic

After the jump, I'll take a look at some of the stories to watch for this final week.

Stories To Watch

The Battle For The Last One Seed: Duke replaced Kansas State after the Blue Devils throttled North Carolina and the Wildcats lost at home to Iowa State Saturday. Duke is in the driver's seat, but if Purdue can claim the Big Ten tournament crown without Robbie Hummel, they could squeeze in because of their overall profile. Ohio State, West Virginia and even K-State could jump in with a tourney title as well.

Mid-Major Conference Championship Games: Monday, in particular, is a big night for nervous bubble teams. They'll be cheering for Old Dominion in the CAA final at 7 p.m. Eastern, as Old Dominion is likely to snag an at-large if they fall. St. Mary's can ease their bubble worries by claiming the West Coast crown at 9 p.m. ET. To do that, they'll need to beat a Gonzaga team they've struggled against over the past few seasons, who is fighting to stay in Spokane for the first round. That won't happen if they fall to a six or seven seed.

Siena can book their place if they win the Metro Atlantic final at home (7 p.m. ET). A loss would be likely be fatal because of their lack of non-conference wins. However, in my opinion, if you are considering Memphis for an at-large at this point, the Saints deserve a look as well.

Later in the week, pay attention to the WAC Tournament in Reno, as Utah State has legitimate at-large chances if they don't win the conference crown.

Teams On The Verge: I already mentioned that Seton Hall and USF have little margin for error. (I discuss their cases a bit more in Bubble Watch.) But Florida, Georgia Tech and Illinois have to grab some wins in their conference tournaments.

The Gators open the SEC Tournament against Auburn Thursday night, looking to avoid a fourth straight defeat. If they win, a quarterfinal with barely-alive Mississippi State would be an elimination game.

The Yellow Jackets cannot lose to North Carolina in the 7/10 game of the ACC Tournament on Thursday. A game with Maryland awaits in the quarterfinals if they knock off the Tar Heels.

The Illini are in similar boat to Florida. They've lost three straight, including two at home. Next up, a rematch with Wisconsin in the Big Ten quarterfinals on Friday. The Badgers handled Illinois at Assembly Hall Sunday, but the Illini beat Wisconsin in Madison when Jon Leuer was hurt.

As I will be on the road back from Richmond tonight, my next projection will come on Wednesday morning.

Visit Bubble Watch for a detailed look at the last few teams in and the group that hopes to replace them, along with game previews and recaps.

Conference Tournament Go-Round: March 8

2010-03-08T13:26:24Z

More photos » Tom Gannam - AP

6 days ago: Northern Iowa's Kwadzo Ahelegbe, center, celebrates with teammates after they defeated Wichita State 67-52 in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament championship NCAA college basketball game, Sunday, March 7, 2010, in St. Louis. Ahelegbe led all scorers with 24 points and was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. (AP Photo/Tom Gannam)

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There was only one automatic bid up for grabs on Sunday, and Northern Iowa practically ensured that the Missouri Valley will be a one-bid league, as they defeated Wichita State in the championship game in St. Louis by a 67-52 score.

Monday will see four tickets punched. All game times are p.m. Eastern.

Colonial

Both semifinal games on Sunday were thrillers with Old Dominion dispatching VCU in overtime and Northeastern missing seven game-tying or winning attempts at the end against William & Mary.

(1) Old Dominion 73, (5) VCU 69 (OT)
(3) William & Mary 47, (2) Northeastern 45

Monday's Final
(1) Old Dominion vs. (3) William & Mary, 7 (ESPN)

Metro Atlantic

The top two seeds advanced to Monday's final on Siena's homecourt. Can the Saints get in even if they lose to Fairfield? Doubtful, but with this bubble anything is possible.

(1) Siena 72, (5) Rider 62
(2) Fairfield 69, (6) Niagara 63

Monday's Final
(1) Siena vs. (2) Fairfield, 7 (ESPN2)

Southern

The top seeds from each division won their semifinals easily and will meet for the championship Monday night.

(S1) Wofford 77, (N2) Western Carolina 58
(N1) Appalachian State 77, (S2) College of Charleston 54

Monday's Final
(S1) Wofford vs. (N1) Appalachian State, 9 (ESPN2)

West Coast

Gonzaga and St. Mary's will meet for the third time this season, with the Gaels looking for their first win at the most crucial time.

(1) Gonzaga 77, (5) Loyola Marymount 62
(2) St. Mary's 69, (3) Portland 55

Monday's Final
(1) Gonzaga vs. (2) St. Mary's, 9 (ESPN)

After the jump, I'll take a look at Sunday's other tournament action.

America East

Top-seeded Stony Brook fell in Sunday's semifinals and will be headed to the NIT. Boston University will visit second-seeded Vermont for Saturday's championship game.

(4) Boston University 70, (1) Stony Brook 63
(2) Vermont 58, (6) New Hampshire 37

Mid-American

The MAC Tournament opened Sunday with four first round games. Ohio, the 9 seed, was the only road team to grab a win. The four winners will play quarterfinals in Cleveland on Thursday.

(5) Buffalo 72, (12) Toledo 54
(6) Eastern Michigan 65, (11) Northern Illinois 59
(7) Western Michigan 75, (10) Bowling Green 73
(9) Ohio 85, (8) Ball State 77

Northeast

The top two seeds both advanced, so Quinnipiac will host Robert Morris in Wednesday night's final.

(1) Quinnipiac 83, (4) Long Island 78
(2) Robert Morris 80, (3) Mount St. Mary's 62

Patriot

There will be no three-peat for the American Eagles. They fell to top-seeded Lehigh in Sunday's semifinals. The Mountain Hawks will host archrival Lafayette in Friday's final.

(1) Lehigh 79, (4) American 57
(3) Lafayette 66, (7) Holy Cross 63

Summit

It wasn't a good night for the Dakota schools in their own backyard, as they both fell in Sunday's second set of quarterfinals. IPFW was the only lower seed to advance to Monday's semifinals.

(5) IPFW 71, (4) South Dakota State 66
(3) Oral Roberts 65, (6) North Dakota State 64

Monday's Semifinals (Both games on Full Court.)
(1) Oakland vs. (5) IPFW, 7
(2) IUPUI vs. (3) Oral Roberts, 9:30

Sun Belt

Three of the top four seeds advanced to Monday night's semifinals, but Western Kentucky had to rally against Arkansas State to make it. Third-seeded Middle Tennessee fell to Denver.

(1) Troy 67, (9) South Alabama 55
(4) Western Kentucky 65, (5) Arkansas State 64
(6) Denver 73, (3) Middle Tennessee 58
(2) North Texas 69, (10) Louisiana-Monroe 66

Monday's Semifinals (Both games on Full Court.)
(1) Troy vs. (4) Western Kentucky, 7
(2) North Texas vs. (6) Denver, 9:30

Conference Tournament Go-Round: March 7

2010-03-07T15:40:44Z

More photos » Mary Ann Chastain - AP

7 days ago: Winthrop's Ray Davis (1) and Andre Jones (21) celebrate their 64-53 victory over Coastal Carolina to win the Big South Conference Championship basketball game on Saturday, March 6, 2010, in Conway, S.C.(AP Photo/Mary Ann Chastain)

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Three teams punched their Tournament tickets on Saturday, as Championship Week is well and truly underway.

Big South

Coastal Carolina, the regular season champion, fell at home to Winthrop, 64-53. That's the ninth NCAA Tournament appearance for the Eagles.

Atlantic Sun

Sixth-seeded Mercer, also playing at home, fell to fifth-seeded East Tennessee State, who's dancing for the second season in a row, by a 72-66 score.

Ohio Valley

Murray State avenged their only conference loss of the season by beating Morehead State, 61-52, in Nashville.

After the jump, I'll take a look at Saturday's non-championship Championship Week action.

Here's a quick rundown of Saturday's action and any Sunday games that result. Times for all Sunday games are p.m. Eastern.

America East

Three of the top four seeds advanced to Sunday's semifinals in Hartford. Only third-seeded Maine fell in the quarterfinals.

(1) Stony Brook 68, (8) Albany 59
(4) Boston University 87, (5) Hartford 46
(2) Vermont 76, (7) Maryland Baltimore County 59
(6) New Hampshire 68, (3) Maine 57

Sunday's Semifinals (Both games are on Full Court.)
(1) Stony Brook vs. (4) Boston University, 5
(2) Vermont, (6) New Hampshire, 7:30

Big Sky

Fourth-seeded Montana advanced to the semifinals Tuesday at Weber State, but Montana State fell at home.
(6) Portland State 68, (3) Montana State 65
(4) Montana 80, (5) Northern Arizona 61

Colonial

Fourth-seeded George Mason was the only higher seed to fall in Richmond Saturday, but Northeastern and William & Mary got scares.

(1) Old Dominion 86, (8) Towson 56
(5) VCU 75, (4) George Mason 60
(2) Northeastern 74, (7) Hofstra 71 (2OT)
(3) William & Mary 70, (11) James Madison 65

Sunday's Semifinals
(1) Old Dominion vs. (5) VCU, 3
(2) Northeastern vs. (3) William & Mary, 5:30

Horizon

It will be a one vs. two matchup for the Horizon crown in Indianapolis on Tuesday.

(2) Wright State 69, (7) Detroit 50
(1) Butler 82, (4) Milwaukee 75

Metro Atlantic

The top two seeds advanced, but three seed Iona and fourth-seeded St. Peter's weren't so lucky.

(1) Siena vs. (9) Manhattan, 4:30
(5) Rider 69, (4) St. Peter's 57
(6) Niagara 68 (3) Iona 64
(2) Fairfield 67, (7) Canisius 57

Sunday's Semifinals (Both games on MSG/MASN/FCS Atlantic/Full Court)
(1) Siena vs. (5) Rider, 4:30
(2) Fairfield vs. (6) Niagara, 7

Missouri Valley

Sunday's final will match the top two seeds, Northern Iowa and Wichita State (2, CBS).

(1) Northern Iowa 57, (5) Bradley 40
(2) Wichita State 65, (3) Illinois State 61

Northeast

The NEC Tournament is back in action Sunday with two semifinals.

(4) Long Island at (1) Quinnipiac, 2 (MSG/FCS Atlantic)
(3) Mount St. Mary's at (2) Robert Morris, 7

Patriot

Much like the NEC, the Patriot League also sees two homecourt semifinals on Sunday. Both take place miles apart in the Lehigh Valley.

(4) American at (1) Lehigh, 8 (CBS College Sports)
(7) Holy Cross at (3) Lafayette, 1

Southern

There were no surprises in the SoCon quarterfinals on Saturday, as all four top seeds advanced to Sunday's semifinals.

(N2) Western Carolina 68, (N6) Elon 57
(S1) Wofford 59, (N4) UNC Greensboro 47
(N1) Appalachian State 71, (S4) The Citadel 61
(S2) College of Charleston 96, (N3) Chattanooga 61

Sunday's Semifinals (Both games on SportSouth/FCS Pacific/Full Court)
(S1) Wofford vs. (N2) Western Carolina, 6
(N1) Appalachian State vs. (S2) College of Charleston, 8:30

Summit

Saturday saw the top two seeds in the Summit win their quarterfinals. Sunday, seeds three and four are in action.

(1) Oakland 85, (8) Missouri-Kansas City 70
(2) IUPUI 77, (7) Western Illinois 68

Sunday's Quarterfinals (Both games on Full Court.)
(4) South Dakota State vs. (5) IPFW, 7
(3) Oral Roberts vs. (6) North Dakota State, 9:30

Sun Belt

Five opening round game winners and the top three will compete in today's quarterfinals. They're doing the two-court thing again in Hot Springs.

(9) South Alabama 52, (8) Florida Atlantic 51
(5) Arkansas State 89, (12) Arkansas Little Rock 82
(4) Western Kentucky 83, (13) New Orleans 58
(6) Denver 71, (11) Florida International 64
(10) Louisiana-Monroe 76, (7) Louisiana-Lafayette 75

Sunday's Quarterfinals

(1) Troy vs. (9) South Alabama, 7:45
(4) Western Kentucky vs. (5) Arkansas State, 7:30
(3) Middle Tennessee vs. (6) Denver, 10:00
(2) North Texas vs. (10) Louisiana-Monroe, 10:15

West Coast

The semifinals are now set, as Loyola Marymount and Portland picked up second round wins Saturday.

(5) Loyola Marymount 84, (4) San Francisco 76
(3) Portland 72, (6) San Diego 57

Sunday's Semifinals (Both games on ESPN2.)
(1) Gonzaga vs. (5) Loyola Marymount, 8:30
(2) St. Mary's vs. Portland, 11

Bubble Watch Update: March 6

2010-03-06T13:30:12Z

More photos » Alex Brandon - AP

about 1 month ago: South Florida guard Dominique Jones reacts after an NCAA basketball game with Georgetown in Washington Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2010. South Florida defeated No. 7 Georgetown 72-64. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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Editor's Note: This entry is cross-posted at SB Nation.

Here is the updated look at how the NCAA Tournament field stacks up heading into the weekend. Click here for my Saturday morning bracket. My next projection will be released Sunday morning to reflect Saturday's conference championship games and other action.

One-Bid Leagues (15)

America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Mid-American, Mid-Eastern, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Southwestern, Summit, Sun Belt

Shot At Two (9)

West Coast: Gonzaga (lock)
Horizon: Butler (lock)
Missouri Valley: Northern Iowa (somewhat safe)
Conference USA: UTEP (somewhat safe)
Pacific-10: California
Western Athletic: Utah State
Colonial: Old Dominion
Ivy: Cornell
Metro Atlantic: Siena

Locks (29)

ACC: Duke*, Maryland, Clemson, Florida State
A-10: Temple*, Xavier, Richmond
Big East: Syracuse*, Villanova, West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Georgetown
Big Ten: Purdue*, Ohio State, Michigan State, Wisconsin
Big 12: Kansas*, Kansas State, Baylor, Missouri, Texas, Texas A&M
Horizon: Butler*
MWC: New Mexico*, BYU
SEC: Kentucky*, Vanderbilt, Tennessee
WCC: Gonzaga*

Teams with an asterisk own their respective conference's automatic bid.

Work To Do (12)

ACC: Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech
Big East: Louisville, Marquette, Notre Dame
Big Ten: Illinois
Big 12: Oklahoma State
C-USA: UTEP
Missouri Valley: Northern Iowa*
MWC: UNLV
WCC: St. Mary's

Of this group, Illinois, Notre Dame, St. Mary's and Virginia Tech hold the most precarious positions. These four teams could find themselves among either the Last Four In or First Four Out as the clock ticks down .

That takes care of 61 of the 65 teams. (No, I didn't count wrong, locks Butler and Gonzaga and "work to do" clubs UNI and UTEP appear twice.) That leaves me to look at the last four teams in the field and the 12 who have varying chances at replacing them over the next week or so. I'll do this after the jump.

RPI data from Crashing The Dance and reflects games through Thursday, March 4. All records reflect games played against Division I opponents through Friday, March 5.

Last Four In

Florida (20-10; 9-6 SEC; RPI: 51; Non-conf. RPI: 71): On Wednesday. UConn's loss at the hands of Notre Dame and Mississippi State falling at Auburn helped move the Gators back in, but Florida's failure to beat Georgia in Athens and Vanderbilt in their home finale may yet haunt them, especially if they end up in the NIT for the third straight season. Billy Donovan's team is 3-7 against the RPI Top 50, but two of those wins came all the way back in November (at home against FSU and over Michigan State in Atlantic City). The other came last week against Tennessee in Gainesville. A 7-6 road/neutral record is OK, but likely to get worse, considering that a game at Kentucky is on the schedule for Sunday. Barring a huge win at Rupp, Florida may need to reach the SEC semifinals to get in.

Rhode Island (21-7; 9-6 A-10; RPI: 30; Non-conf. RPI: 3): The Rams haven't played well of late, but they could be turning the corner after their 22-point home win over Charlotte Wednesday night. Rhody's marquee non-conference win came against Oklahoma State, and they own respectable victories over Northeastern, Providence and Boston College. However, none of those three are likely to dance. Making matters worse is the fact the Rams' best league win is over Dayton, as they're 0-4 against Temple, Richmond and Xavier, the three A-10 teams who look to be in the best shape. The Rams will hope to meet at least one of them in the A-10 Tourney after their regular season finale Saturday at UMass.

San Diego State (19-8; 10-5 MWC; RPI: 32; Non-conf. RPI: 36):The Aztecs won their home finale Wednesday night over Colorado State, which was more than enough to keep them in, considering all of the losses that happened around them. At one point, SDSU was four points away from owning a 10-game win streak, as they lost to BYU by 2 at home and dropped a 2-point OT game at New Mexico. The Aztecs will wish they had those two games back, as they currently sit at 2-5 against the RPI Top 50 (both wins, over New Mexico and UNLV, came at home) with no opportunities left before the Mountain West Tournament. The Aztecs close the regular season with a road trip to hapless Air Force Saturday.

UAB (23-6; 11-4 C-USA; RPI: 41; non-conf. RPI: 18): The Blazers are in serious trouble now that Memphis swept them. They remain here because others (UConn, Mississippi State) lost Wednesday. However, they won't be able to rely on their early season home wins over lock Butler and fellow bubble team Cincinnati for much longer. UAB owns a 11-3 road/neutral record, but that’s a bit deceptive, as the losses came against three of their best four road opponents — Kent State, Memphis and Virginia. The Blazers really need to grab a win at UTEP Saturday. Otherwise, they may need to claim the auto bid next week in Tulsa.

First Four Out

Mississippi State (21-9; 9-6 SEC; RPI: 61; Non-conf. RPI: 75): So much for the idea that the SEC West leaders were starting to pull things together, as their three-game win streak ended at the hands of a very mediocre Auburn team Wednesday. The Bulldogs’ resume is a bit thin outside of their sweep of archrival (and fellow bubble team) Ole Miss, as a win over Old Dominion in South Padre is the non-conference highlight and losses at Western Kentucky and against Rider in Starkville are major blemishes. MSU really needs to grab a win at home against Tennessee Saturday, and probably a win or two in the SEC Tournament, to grab a place.

Mississippi (20-9; 8-7 SEC; RPI: 57; Non-conf. RPI: 35): The Rebels’ marquee win is better than archrivals' Mississippi State's, as they defeated Kansas State by 12 in Puerto Rico before Thanksgiving. Still, not managing to beat the Bulldogs once is an issue, considering that’s the difference in the race for the weaker division of the SEC. Three straight losses, with two coming at home, didn’t help. However, Ole Miss has won three straight, including Thursday's victory over laughingstock LSU, to get back on track. The Rebels close with a visit to Arkansas Saturday.

South Florida (18-11; Big East 8-9; RPI: 62; Non-conf. RPI: 69): The Bulls may have one last one run in them, as they survived a trip to DePaul Tuesday and now await a showdown with now-desperate UConn at the Sun Dome Saturday. USF looked like they had turned the corner with a four-game win streak in late January/early February, a run capped by a win at Georgetown on February 3. But that was a mirage, as they’ve since dropped four of seven, including an ugly 16-point loss to St. John’s at home on February 20. The Bulls seem to have an issue with playing to the level of their competition, as they’re 4-4 vs. the RPI Top 50, and 1-6 against teams rated between 51 and 100.

Connecticut (17-13; 7-10 Big East; RPI: 48; non-conf. RPI: 15): The Huskies have followed up a three-game win streak, including wins over West Virginia and Villanova with a home loss to Louisville and an absolutely embarrassing performance in a 58-50 loss at Notre Dame. That defeat means UConn is now 3-9 in road/neutral games with a trip to South Florida on deck for Saturday. The Huskies are also 3-9 in games against the RPI Top 50.

Next Four Out

Dayton (19-10; 8-7 A-10; RPI: 42; Non-conf. RPI: 14): The Flyers will need to make a run in Atlantic City to go dancing. Their road/neutral record stands at 5-9 after Thursday night's setback at Richmond, a game the Flyers were in control of until the last 10 minutes. The Flyers' the best win coming against Georgia Tech in Puerto Rico way back on November 19 and the best true road victory came against George Mason on December 8. The Flyers close the regular season with a home game against St. Louis on Saturday.

Arizona State (21-9; 11-6 Pac-10; RPI: 54; Non-conf. RPI: 59): The Sun Devils loss at Cal on Saturday was doubly bad, as it kept them from grabbing an RPI Top 50 win and a share of the Pac-10 crown. The Sun Devils won the first game of their regular season-ending home set against L.A. schools, as they defeated USC Thursday. They can wrap up the two seed in the Pac-10 Tourney with a win over UCLA Saturday. They'll need it, as their only real hope is to win the Pac-10 Conference Tournament on March 13. Currently, the only win the Sun Devils can hang their hat on is a home victory over San Diego State on December 19, their lone top 50 win in six tries.

Washington (19-9; 9-7 Pac-10; RPI: 55; Non-conf. RPI: 27): The Huskies do own home wins over Texas A&M and Cal, but December losses at Texas Tech and against Georgetown in Anaheim are now missed opportunities in a weak bubble year. A sweep at the hands of tourney-ineligible USC doesn’t help either. In terms of building a late case, the Huskies’ schedule isn't exactly helpful. UW managed to win the first game of their closing road swing, beating Washington State to sweep the hoops Apple Cup. The Huskies aren't very good away from Hec Ed, as their road record stands at 3-7 after a win at Oregon Thursday. They can grab a fourth road win at Oregon State Saturday.

Memphis (22-8; 12-3 C-USA; RPI: 50: Non-conf. RPI: 96): The Tigers do own a 6-5 mark against the RPI Top 100; however, only two of those wins came against a Top 50 opponent, the sweep over UAB. Memphis' two best non-league wins came against IUPUI and Oakland. A 7-5 road/neutral mark is OK, but the best of those wins (after the win at UAB) came against Marshall and Tulsa. Josh Pastner's club fattened up on Division I's worst teams, going 15-2 against teams ranked 151+ in the RPI, losing at UMass and SMU. I wouldn't consider the Tigers an at-large candidate, but they can certainly steal a bid at the conference tournament in Tulsa. They already won there once and close the regular season at home Saturday against the Golden Hurricane.

On The Fringe

Charlotte (19-10; 9-6 A-10; RPI: 59; Non-conf. RPI: 61): The 49ers loss to Rhode Island Wednesday was their fifth in six games and pretty much relegates them to the NIT. Bobby Lutz’s team will try to get to 20 victories when they visit Rhode Island and host Richmond, a team they already defeated at the Robins Center. Charlotte’s 9-7 road/neutral mark, featuring wins over the Spiders and Louisville, would have been a major boost, had they not lost their last two contests away from Halton Arena. Charlotte closes the regular season at home against Richmond Saturday.

Cincinnati (16-13; 7-10 Big East; RPI: 64; Non-conf. RPI: 37): The Bearcats close home loss to Villanova Tuesday night was their seventh in 10 games. The last time Mick Cronin’s team won a game against an opponent who’s a lock or near lock was a pair of wins Vanderbilt and Maryland in Maui. Cincy closes the regular season with one final chance to correct that flaw in their resume, as they visit inconsistent Georgetown Saturday. Still, they will now need to win a couple of games in the Big East Tournament to have a realistic shot.

Minnesota (17-12; 8-9 Big Ten; RPI: 78; Non-conf. RPI: 57): After grabbing a win at Illinois Saturday, the Golden Gophers made a huge jump. Tuesday night, they gave it all back with an abysmal performance at Michigan, where they lost by 28. The defeat was costly as it cost the Gophers a shot at a bye in the Big Ten Tournament. The Golden Gophers are 5-9 this season against the RPI Top 100. Three of those wins came at The Barn, where they defeated Ohio State, Wisconsin and now-out of the picture Northwestern. Minnesota’s nine-point triumph over Butler in Anaheim is useful, but the losses to Portland and Texas A&M that followed aren’t. Neither was the road loss at Miami days after the California trip. Losses to Indiana (in Bloomington) the Michigan sweep sting. Minnesota closes with a home game against Iowa Sunday, but beating the Hawkeyes won't mean much to the Committee. The Gophers need to make a run in Indianapolis.

Seton Hall (17-11; 8-9 Big East; RPI: 56; Non-conf. RPI: 76): Remember that string of four games at the end of 2009/start of 2010, where the Pirates lost heartbreakers, including OT games against West Virginia and Virginia Tech? Hall fans are undoubtedly wishing they’d won a couple of those right about now, as those wins would be major boosts to an OK resume. But they didn’t, meaning the Pirates own a 2-9 mark against the RPI Top 50 and a 4-7 road/neutral mark. Those stats aren’t major selling points. One thing Seton Hall has done this season is prove that they can lose to good teams, and they won’t get much of a chance to reverse that down the stretch. Tuesday, they beat Rutgers in the first of two late meetings, but they couldn't win their last game against a contender, as they fell at home to Marquette Sunday. The Pirates may as well start planning for the NIT, as Thursday's win at Rutgers and a final road game at Providence won't give them much of a bump.

Games To Watch

Saturday
Old Dominion vs. Towson/UNC Wilmington (Colonial Quarterfinal No. 1), 12 p.m. ET (CSN New England/Comcast Network/Full Court)
Tulsa at Memphis, 1 p.m. ET (CBS College Sports)
Nebraska at Oklahoma State, 1:30 p.m. ET (Big 12 Network/Full Court)
Syracuse at Louisville, 2 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Connecticut at South Florida, 2 p.m. ET (Big East Network/Full Court)
Notre Dame at Marquette, 2 p.m. ET (Big East Network/Full Court)
Missouri Valley Semifinal No. 1, 2:30 p.m. ET (FS Midwest/CSN Chicago)
UCLA at Arizona State, 4 p.m. ET (CBS)
Rhode Island at Massachusetts, 4 p.m. ET (Cox Sports New England)
Mississippi at Arkansas, 4 p.m. ET (SEC Network/Full Court)
Virginia Tech at Georgia Tech, 4 p.m. ET (Raycom/Full Court)
Siena vs. Manhattan (Metro Atlantic Quarterfinal No. 2), 4:30 p.m. ET (MSG/FCS Atlantic/Full Court)
Tennessee at Mississippi State, 6 p.m. ET (ESPN)
California at Stanford, 6 p.m. ET (FSN/Comcast SportsNet)
St. Louis at Dayton, 7 p.m. ET (WHIO/CSN Philly/CSN Washington+)
Washington at Oregon State, 8 p.m. ET (FSN Northwest)
San Diego State at Air Force, 9 p.m. ET (the mtn.)
New Mexico State at Utah State, 9 p.m. ET (CW 30/Aggie Vision/Full Court)

Sunday
Florida at Kentucky, 12 p.m. ET (CBS)
Wisconsin at Illinois, 12 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Missouri Valley Championship, 2 p.m. ET (CBS)
Colonial Semifinal No. 1, 3 p.m. ET (CSN New England/Comcast Network/CSS/Full Court)
Metro Atlantic Semifinal No. 1, 4:30 p.m. ET (MSG/MASN/FCS Atlantic/Full Court)
Iowa at Minnesota, 6 p.m. ET (Big Ten Network)
TBD vs. St. Mary's (West Coast Semifinal No. 2), 10:30 p.m. ET (ESPN2)

Bracketology: The Last One Seed Is Up For Grabs

2010-03-06T12:52:05Z

More photos » Charlie Riedel - AP

10 days ago: Kansas' Sherron Collins (4) passes under pressure from Kansas State's Jacob Pullen (0) and Jamar Samuels during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Wednesday, March 3, 2010, in Lawrence, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Browse more photos »

This bracket is cross-posted at SB Nation.

As Selection Sunday is just more than a week away, we've officially entered the homestretch, so bracket updates will be happening a bit more frequently. My next projection will come Monday morning (change: just a Bubble Watch Sunday), and it will reflect the weekend's conference championship games and all of the other action going on across the country, as the major conferences close out their regular seasons.

Click here to see Saturday's full bracket.

Here are links to my seed list and tracking spreadsheet.

The biggest change in this projection is Kansas State's rise to take the top seed in the West region away from Duke. Both lost tough road tests on Wednesday -- the Wildcats to Kansas, top seed in the Midwest, and the Blue Devils to Maryland. It's very close between the two teams, but K-State has the advantage for the moment because they have a slightly better road/neutral mark (10-3 vs. 9-5), they fell to a higher quality opponent in their most recent setback and they don't have a loss against a team outside of the RPI Top 100, something the Blue Devils have, thanks to a road loss at N.C. State.

Expect Ohio State and Villanova to challenge Duke and Kansas State for the fourth top seed as conference tournaments play out late next week.

Syracuse remains top seed in the South, while Kentucky holds the one spot in the East.

Here's a look at who's in and out heading into the weekend. Congratulations go out to Cornell, who became the first team to book a place in the field of 65. The Big Red claimed the Ivy crown in resounding fashion Friday night, crushing Brown, 95-76, in Providence.

The Rundown

Top Four Seeds: Kansas, Syracuse, Kentucky, Kansas State
Last Four In: Florida, Rhode Island, San Diego State, UAB
First Four Out: Mississippi State, Mississippi, South Florida, Connecticut
Next Four Out: Dayton, Arizona State, Washington, Memphis

Conference Breakdown

Big East: 8
Syracuse (1), Villanova (2), West Virginia (3), Pittsburgh (3), Georgetown (7), Marquette (8), Louisville (9),
Notre Dame (12)

ACC: 7
Duke (2), Maryland (5), Clemson (7), Florida State (8), Georgia Tech (9), Wake Forest (10), Virginia Tech (10)

Big 12: 7
Kansas (1), Kansas State (1), Baylor (6), Texas (6), Texas A&M (6), Missouri (7), Oklahoma State (8)

Big Ten: 5
Purdue (2), Ohio State (2), Michigan State (4), Wisconsin (5), Illinois (11)

A-10: 4
Temple (4), Xavier (6), Richmond (7), Rhode Island (12)

MWC: 4
New Mexico (3), BYU (4), UNLV (9), San Diego State (12)

SEC: 4
Kentucky (1), Vanderbilt (3), Tennessee (5), Florida (11)

C-USA: 2
UTEP (10), UAB (13)

WCC: 2
Gonzaga (4), St. Mary's (11)

One Bid Leagues (22): America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Horizon, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, Mid-Eastern, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Pacific-10, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Southwestern, Summit, Sun Belt, Western Athletic

Visit Bubble Watch for a detailed look at the last few teams in and the group that hopes to replace them, along with game previews and recaps.

Conference Tournament Go-Round: March 6

2010-03-06T12:44:43Z

Friday night, Cornell became the first team to clinch an NCAA bid for this season, as they easily defeated Brown, 95-76, in Providence to lay claim to the Ivy League title. Three teams will join the Big Red on Saturday, as a trio of championship games are on the schedule.

All times are p.m. Eastern.

Atlantic Sun

It will be an unexpected final tomorrow in the Atlantic Sun as homestanding Mercer, the six seed, will face fifth-seeded ETSU, the defending champion, for an auto bid, and likely spot in the Opening Round in Dayton on March 16.

(5) ETSU 69, (8) Kennesaw State 65
(6) Mercer 66, (2) Jacksonville 63

Big South

Top seeded Coastal Carolina and third-seeded Winthrop both won Thursday to advance to today's final (4, ESPN2). The two teams split their two meetings this season, each winning on their own homecourt. Since this one is in Conway, advantage Chanticleers.

Ohio Valley

The top two seeds prevailed in Friday's semifinals, in very different ways. Murray State struggled against Eastern Illinois, while Morehead State blew out sixth-seeded Tennessee Tech. The Eagles will look for their second win over the Racers in a week and a half Saturday night (8, ESPN2) with a second straight trip to the NCAAs on the line.

(1) Murray State 55, (4) Eastern Illinois 51
(2) Morehead State (6) Tennessee Tech

After the jump, I'll take a look at the other conference tournaments in action Saturday.

America East

Since Binghamton withdrew, no 8/9 game was needed in this event. That means the tournament begins Saturday with four quarterfinals in Hartford.

(1) Stony Brook vs. (8) Albany, 12
(4) Boston University at (5) Hartford, 2:15
(2) Vermont vs. (7) Maryland Baltimore County, 6
(3) Maine vs. (6) New Hampshire, 8:15

Big Sky

Only the top six teams advance to the Big Sky's postseason event. It begins Saturday with two first round games hosted by the higher seeds.

(6) Portland State at (3) Montana State, 9:05
(5) Northern Arizona at (4) Montana, 9:05

Colonial

Action began Friday in Richmond with four opening round games. Three of the four favorites advanced, with sixth-seeded Drexel falling at the hands of James Madison.

(8) Towson 91, (9) UNC Wilmington 74
(5) VCU 66, (12) Delaware 49
(7) Hofstra 68, (10) Georgia State 67
(11) James Madison 77, (6) Drexel 65

Those results set up these four quarterfinals for Saturday. (All games on Comcast Network/CSN New England/Full Court, quarterfinals 2 through 4 also on CSS.)

(1) Old Dominion vs. (8) Towson, 12
(4) George Mason vs. (5) VCU, 2:30
(2) Northeastern vs. (7) Hofstra, 6
(3) William & Mary vs. (11) James Madison, 8:30

Horizon

Four teams played second round games Friday night for the right to meet the top two seeds, Butler and Wright State, in Saturday's semifinals. The regular season champions, the Bulldogs, serve as the host for these two rounds.

(7) Detroit 62, (3) Green Bay 53
(4) Milwaukee 82, (5) Cleveland State 75

Saturday's Semifinals (Both games on ESPNU.)

(2) Wright State vs. (7) Detroit, 5:15
(1) Butler vs.(4) Milwaukee, 8

Metro Atlantic

The bottom four teams in the MAAC met Friday in Albany for the right to take on the top two seeds in Saturday's quarterfinals.

(9) Manhattan 94, (8) Loyola (MD) 79
(7) Canisius 72, (10) Marist 54

Saturday's Quarterfinals (All games on MSG/FCS Atlantic/Full Court. Games 3 and 4 on MASN.)

(1) Siena vs. (9) Manhattan, 4:30
(4) St. Peter's vs. (5) Rider, 2:30
(3) Iona vs. (6) Niagara, 10
(2) Fairfield vs. (10) Marist, 7:30

Missouri Valley

In St. Louis, Northern Iowa solidified their chance for a bid with a win in Friday's quarterfinals. However, they face a tough task in the semifinals, where they face Bradley, who defeated them in Peoria on February 13. The Braves were the only lower seed to advance.

(1) Northern Iowa 55, (8) Drake 40
(5) Bradley 81, (4) Creighton 62
(3) Illinois State 69, (6) Indiana State 65
(2) Wichita State 73, (7) Missouri State 63

Saturday's Semifinals (Both games on FS Midwest and CSN Chicago

(1) Northern Iowa vs. (5) Bradley, 2:35
(2) Wichita State vs. (3) Illinois State 5:05

Southern

Friday's opening round and Saturday's quarterfinals will take place at the smaller building that is the original Charlotte Coliseum (not the original home of the old Hornets that didn't have enough luxury boxes) before moving to the new arena for the semis and final. Davidson won't make a run through this tournament, as they fell to Elon in the first game of the day on Friday.

Saturday's final game features a rematch of last season's championship game, won by the Chattanooga Mocs.

(N6) Elon 66, (S3) Davidson 59
(N4) UNC Greensboro 66, (S5) Furman 65
(S4) The Citadel 55, (N5) Samford 43
(N3) Chattanooga 82, (S6) Georgia Southern 62

Saturday's Quarterfinals

(N2) Western Carolina vs. (N6) Elon, 12
(S1) Wofford vs. (N4) UNC Greensboro, 2:30
(N1) Appalachian State vs. (S4) The Citadel, 7
(S2) College of Charleston vs. (N3) Chattanooga, 9:30

Summit

Much like the Atlantic Sun, the Summit runs a staggered quarterfinal round. The top two seeds play their opening games Saturday in Sioux Falls, while the three and four play Sunday.

Both games will air Full Court

(1) Oakland vs. (8) Missouri-Kansas City, 7
(2) IUPUI vs. (7) Western Illinois. 9:30

Sun Belt

Saturday will be a busy night in Hot Springs as five opening round games on the schedule. They'll even have simultaneous games in the evening.

(8) Florida Atlantic vs. (9) South Alabama, 3:15
(5) Arkansas State vs. (12) Arkansas Little Rock, 7:30
(4) Western Kentucky vs. (13) New Orleans, 7:45
(6) Denver vs. (11) Florida International, 9:45
(7) Louisiana-Lafayette vs. (10) Louisiana-Monroe, 10

West Coast

The WCC is yet another conference that gives the top two seeds a double bye. So, action began Friday in Las Vegas with the conference's second division playing an opening round. Both favorites won thrillers.

(5) Loyola Marymount 87, (8) Pepperdine 84
(6) San Diego 61, (7) Santa Clara 59

On Saturday. the three and four seeds get involved for the quarterfinals. Both games will air on CSN Bay Area/CSN Northwest/Cox 4 in San Diego/Full Court.

(4) San Francisco vs. (5) Loyola Marymount, 9
(3) Portland vs. (6) San Diego, 11:30

Conference Tournament Go-Round: March 5

2010-03-05T12:13:17Z

Thursday saw our first final set, as Saturday's Big South championship could give us our first entrant. (Of course, Cornell can beat the winner to the punch by clinching the Ivy crown with a win at Brown this evening.)

Friday is going to be a busy day and night, highlighted by the Atlantic Sun and OVC semis and the CAA opening round. First, let's take a look back at Thursday.

Atlantic Sun

No. 5 East Tennessee State knocked off No. 4 Campbell, 72-64, thanks to Micah Williams' 32-point afternoon.. The Bucs will next face eighth-seeded Kennesaw State in Friday's semifinals (CSS/Full Court, 6:30 ET), as they attempt to go dancing for the second straight season. The Bucs beat the Owls twice this season, and neither game was particularly close.

Third-seeded Belmont fell to the hosts, No. 6 Mercer, 87-81. The Bears will next face two seed Jacksonville (CSS/Full Court, 9 ET) for a place in Saturday's final.

Big South

Third-seeded Winthrop had a pretty easy time with No. 2 Radford to advance to Saturday's Championship. The Eagles prevailed, 61-46, preventing the Highlanders from advancing to the NCAAs for the second straight season. Winthrop will next face regular season champion and tournament host Coastal Carolina in Saturday's final. The Chanticleers routed UNC Asheville, 92-73, to move on. The Eagles and Chanticleers split their two meetings, with Coastal winning in Conway.

Missouri Valley

Top seed Northern Iowa will face eighth-seeded Drake in their MVC quarterfinal (FS Midwest/CSN Chicago, 1 ET). The Bulldogs defeated No. 9 Southern Illinois, 63-61, in the opening round of Arch Madness. No. 7 Missouri State got a double-double from Kyle Weems to move past 10th-seeded Evansville, 52-46, for the right to play Wichita State Friday (FS Midwest/CSN Chicago+, 7 ET).

In Friday's other quarterfinal action, No. 4 Creighton takes on No. 5 Bradley (FS Midwest/CSN Chicago, 3:30 ET) and No.3 Illinois State faces No. 6 Indiana State (FS Midwest/CSN Chicago+, 9:30 ET).

Northeast

All four home teams moved on in the NEC quarters. Top seeded Quinnipiac held off Monmouth, 84-75, and will next host the four seed, Long Island, in Sunday's semifinals. The Blackbirds survived a visit from Fairleigh Dickinson, 63-61. Quinnipiac won the only meeting between the two schools at home.

In the other half of the bracket, Mt. St. Mary's, the three seed, won their 11th straight, eliminating St. Francis (PA), 65-50. The Mountaineers now face a rubber match at second seeded Robert Morris Sunday. The Colonials knocked off Central Connecticut State, 71-63. The two schools split their two meetings this season, with each winning at home by a slender margin.

After the jump, I'll look ahead to some of Friday's other action.

Colonial

The CAA Tournament opens Friday afternoon in Richmond. I have a preview up at SB Nation, as I'll be in attendance from Saturday through the final on Monday.

Horizon

The Horizon League Tournament shifts to Indianapolis for the quarterfinal round on Friday evening. Remember, the top two teams automatically advanced to Saturday's semifinals. In the Wright State half of the bracket, seventh-seeded Detroit will look to defeat No. 3 Green Bay for the first time and fourth-seed Cleveland State hopes that they can repeat their one-point home triumph over fifth-seeded Milwaukee, rather than the 10-point loss they suffered in the Brew City.

Metro Atlantic

There are two opening round games from the MAAC on Friday's schedule. No. 8 seed Loyola (MD) looks to beat ninth-seeded Manhattan for the third time this season, while seventh-seeded Canisius will look to do the same against bottom team Marist.

Ohio Valley

The OVC semis take place in Nashville with three of the four top seeds in action. Top seeded Murray State had their way with No. 4 Eastern Illinois during the regular season and will look to beat them for a third time (ESPNU, 7 ET) to make Saturday's final. No. 2 Morehead State, who just beat the Racers by five, will look to setup a rematch by knocking off the only lower seeded team to advance, sixth-seeded Tennessee Tech (ESPNU, 9:30 ET). Morehead is looking for their third win of the season over Tech.

West Coast

The WCC Tournament begins with its opening round (not quarterfinals, as they give the top two seeds a double-bye) tonight in Las Vegas. Zach Bell, editor of SB Nation's Gonzaga blog, Slipper Still Fits, has a full preview up at SB Nation.

BtB On The Rocky Top Talk Podcast At 9 p.m. ET

2010-03-05T00:57:04Z

BtB On The Rocky Top Talk Podcast At 9 p.m. ET

I'll be talking college hoops, Championship Week, and the Tournament with the boys from our Tennessee blog this evening at 9 Eastern/8 Central. Be sure to tune in.

Conference Tournament Go-Round: March 4

2010-03-04T13:00:27Z

Wednesday saw the start of two conference tournaments and our first couple of upsets.

Patriot League

It was quarterfinal night in the Patriot League, and three of the top four seeds moved on. And to add some intrigue, the two semifinal round games will be hosted by eternal rivals.

After a close first half, regular season champion Lehigh advanced to Sunday's semifinals with a 64-45 victory over eighth-seeded Army. The Mountain Hawks will host fourth-seeded American next. The Eagles snuck past Navy, 62-60, in a local battle in D.C.

No. 3 Lafayette will host a semifinal, as they defeated sixth-seeded Colgate, 73-65, and No. 7 Holy Cross, winners of eight of their last 10, upset second-seeded Bucknell, 67-64.

Atlantic Sun

We had our first upset of Championship Week as eighth-seeded Kennesaw State knocked off No. 1 Lipscomb, 72-69. That relegates the Bisons to the NIT, knocking some other team down to the CBI or CIT.

Second-seeded Jacksonville had no such problems, as they knocked off crosstown rival and No. 7 seed North Florida, 76-69.

The other two quarterfinals are today.
No. 5 East Tennessee State vs. No. 4 Campbell
No. 6 Mercer vs. No. 3 Belmont

After the jump, I'll take a quick look at Thursday's conference tournament action.

Big South

The Big South moves to its semifinal round this evening with the top four still alive for the auto bid.

No. 3 Winthrop vs. No. 2 Radford at Coastal Carolina
No. 4 UNC Asheville at No. 1 Coastal Carolina

Missouri Valley

It's the opening round of Arch Madness. Remember when Missouri State started well? They've fallen all the way down to the Opening Round, where perennial power Southern Illinois joins them.

No. 9 Southern Illinois vs. No. 8 Drake
No. 10 Evansville vs. No. 7 Missouri State

Northeast

The Northeast Conference Tournament opens with campus-site quarterfinals. Watch out for Mount St. Mary's in this one, as they've won 10 straight, including home wins over the 1 and 2 seeds.

No. 8 Monmouth at No. 1 Quinnipiac
No. 5 Fairleigh Dickinson at No. 4 Long Island
No. 6 St. Francis (PA) at No. 3 Mount St. Mary's
No. 7 Central Connecticut State at No. 2 Robert Morris