Championship Week Notebook: Tuesday, March 12th

188 TEAMS REMAIN!!! The breakdown is below

Check out Chad’s Viewing Guide to follow all the action

https://hoopshd.com/2013/03/11/conference-tournament-viewing-guide-march-12-2013/

-ACC – 12 (Miami, FL (at-large), Duke (at-large), North Carolina (at-large), NC State (at-large), Virginia (under consideration), Maryland (under consideration), Florida State, Boston College, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, Clemson, Virginia Tech)

-AMERICA EAST – 2 (Albany, Vermont)

-ATLANTIC TEN – 12 (Saint Louis (at-large), VCU (at-large), La Salle (under consideration), Temple (under consideration), UMass (under consideration), Xavier (under consideration), Charlotte (under consideration), Saint Joseph’s, Richmond, Dayton, George Washington)

-ATLANTIC SUN – 1 (FGCU – champion)

-BIG TWELVE – 10 (Kansas (at-large), Kansas State (at-large), Oklahoma State (at-large), Oklahoma (at-large), Iowa State (under consideration), Baylor (under consideration), Texas, West Virginia, Texas Tech, West Virginia)

-BIG EAST – 14 (Louisville (at-large), Georgetown (at-large), Marquette (at-large), Pittsburgh (at-large), Notre Dame (at-large), Syracuse (at-large), Villanova (under consideration), Cincinnati (under consideration), Saint John’s (under consideration), Providence, Rutgers, Seton Hall, South Florida, DePaul)

-BIG SKY – 7  (Montana, Weber State, North Dakota, Montana State, Northern Colorado, Southern Utah, Northern Arizona)

-BIG SOUTH – 1 (Liberty (champion))

-BIG TEN – 12 (Indiana (at-large), Michigan (at-large), Michigan State (at-large), Ohio State (at-large), Wisconsin (at-large), Illinois (at-large), Minnesota (at-large), Iowa (under consideration), Purdue, Nebraska, Northwestern, Penn State)

-BIG WEST – 8 (Long Beach, Cal Poly, Pacific, UC Irvine, Hawaii, UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, Cal State Fullerton)

-COLONIAL – 1 (James Madison (champion))

-CONFERENCE USA – 11 (Memphis (at-large), Southern Miss (under consideration), UTEP, East Carolina, Tulsa, Houston, UAB, Tulane, Marshall, SMU, Rice)

-HORIZON LEAGUE – 2 (Wright State, Valparaiso)

-IVY – 1 (Harvard (champion))

-MAC – 8 (Akron (under consideration), Ohio, Western Michigan, Kent State, Ball State, Eastern Michigan, Buffalo, Miami OH)

-METRO ATLANTIC – 1 (Iona (champion))

-MEAC – 11 (Norfolk State, North Carolina Central, Hampton, Savannah State, Morgan State, Delaware State, North Carolina A&T, Bethune Cookman, Coppin State, Florida A&M, Howard)

-MISSOURI VALLEY – 2 (Creighton (at-large), Wichita State (at-large)

-MOUNTAIN WEST – 9 (New Mexico (at-large), Colorado State (at-large), UNLV (at-large), San Diego State (at-large), Boise State (at-large), Air Force (under consideration), Fresno State, Wyoming, Nevada)

-NORTHEAST – 2 (LIU Brooklyn, Mount Saint Mary’s)

-OHIO VALLEY – 1 (Belmont (champion)

-PAC TWELVE – 12 (UCLA (at-large), California (at-large), Arizona (at-large), Oregon (under consideration), Colorado (under consideration), Arizona State (under consideration),Washington, USC, Stanford, Utah, Washington State, Oregon State)

-PATRIOT LEAGUE – 2 (Bucknell, Lafayette)

-SEC – 14 (Florida (at-large), Missouri (under consideration), Kentucky (under consideration), Ole Miss (under consideration), Alabama (under consideration), Tennessee (under consideration), Arkansas (under consideration), Georgia, LSU, Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, South Carolina, Mississippi State, Auburn)

-SOUTHERN CONFERENCE – 1 (Davidson (Champion))

-SOUTHLAND – 8 (Stephen F Austin (under consideration), Northwestern State, Oral Roberts, Southeast Louisiana, Nicholls State, Sam Houston State, Central Arkansas, McNeese State)

-SUMMIT LEAGUE – 2 (South Dakota State (under consideration), North Dakota State)

-SUN BELT – 2 (Western Kentucky (champion), Middle Tennessee (under consideration))

-SWAC – 7 (Southern, Jackson State, Alcorn State, Prarie View A&M, Alabama State, Alabama A&M, Grambling)

-WAC – 10 (Louisiana Tech (under consideration) Denver (under consideration), New Mexico State, Utah State, Texas Arlington, Idaho, Texas State, San Jose State, TX San Antonio, Seattle)

-WEST COAST – 2 (Gonzaga (champion), Saint Mary’s (under consideration)

 

NOTES

-The most exciting game of the night was the Sun Belt Championship. Western Kentucky led for most of the game, but it was very close the entire way. It wasn’t until the final minute that WKU got complete control. For the second year in a row, WKU failed to finish the regular season with a winning conference record. But, for the second year in a row, they won the conference tournament. They’re most likely heading to Dayton, but if we keep seeing these upsets in conference tournaments they may avoid it.

-The Metro Atlantic Final was another good game between the rivals of Manhattan and Iona. It’s a shame that they couldn’t have played it closer to NYC. Manhattan, despite being just 14-17, had a lead for most of the first half, but Iona got control in the second half. There were two ridiculous technical fouls in this game. One was on Manhattan coach Steve Masiello for having half of his shoe out of the coaches box. That is technically a rule, but he was fifty feet from the action and the only way that referee mike Kittz could have seen him was if he had his back to all the players. Kind of makes you wonder if they’re paying attention to the right things. The second was called with less than a second on the clock because the Iona fans stormed the court prior to it hitting zero. It was completely meaningless and also pointless, but I guess it was also technically within the rules. I wonder if referee Mike Kittz also works football games. At the end of the game when the quarterback takes a knee and the players and coaches file onto the field to begin shaking hands even though there is still time on the clock, would he throw a flag?? Oh well. Maybe he doesn’t get a whole lot of TV games and wanted to make sure he was seen.

-The two best teams in the Summit advanced to the championship game. North Dakota State and South Dakota State will face off tonight in what should be a fun one. Both semifinal games were sloppy, so hopefully we see a better game tonight. The two split during the regular season, so this is the winner-take-all rubber match. SDSU is probably better equipped to pull off a first round upset, but NDSU is good as well, and they also return pretty much their entire roster for next season, so they should be a team to pay attention to a year from now. Head coach Saul Phillips has done well with that program.

-James Madison opened up a big lead early on Northeastern, and stayed ahead to win the Colonial Championship. They’ll almost assuredly be a #16 seed.

-Davidson had no trouble at all with College of Chalreston in the SoCon Championship. They’ll be a very dangerous first round team. They were good last year too and have most of their players back. They were kind of disappointing in November and December, but they are still very capable of pulling an upset.

-Gonzaga manhandled Saint Mary’s to win the WCC in what was perhaps the least surprising result in a night that gave us no surprises. They should get a #1 seed. SMC is right on the bubble and most likely destined for the First Four if they get in at all.

-South Carolina State and Savannah State won opening round games in the MEAC Tournament, and Eastern Michigan, Buffalo and Miami OH won opening round games in the MAC Tournament.

-Mount Saint Mary’s finished fifth, but is on a big winning streak right now and will travel to LIU Brooklyn for the NEC Championship. The winner will almost assuredly be a #16 seed and perhaps even end up in the First Four.

-I talked about it yesterday, but the Horizon League Championship is tonight between Wright State and Valparaiso. Valpo lost at home in the championship game a year ago and should be jacked up for this one tonight. Both teams won on buzzer beaters in the semifinals.

-The WAC and Big East opening rounds are tonight. The Big East is a major tournament, but no major players are playing today. DePaul will face Rutgers and South Florida will face Seton Hall.

-The opening round of the MEAC also resumes tonight. The internet streaming went down during yesterday’s games. It was barely watchable when it was working, though.

Griggs

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