177 TEAMS REMAIN!!! The breakdown is below
Check out Chad’s Conference Tournament Viewing Guide to follow all the action….
https://hoopshd.com/2013/03/12/conference-tournament-viewing-guide-march-13-2013/
-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 – 12 (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)
-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 – 1 (Valparaiso (champion))
-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 – 8 (Norfolk State, North Carolina Central, Hampton, Savannah State, Morgan State, Delaware State, North Carolina A&T, Bethune Cookman)
-MISSOURI VALLEY – 2 (Creighton (at-large), Wichita State (at-large)
-MOUNTAIN WEST – 8 (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)
-NORTHEAST – 1 (LIU Brooklyn (champion))
-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 – 1 (South Dakota State (champion)
-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 – 8 (Louisiana Tech (under consideration) Denver (under consideration), New Mexico State, Utah State, Texas Arlington, Idaho, Texas State, TX San Antonio)
-WEST COAST – 2 (Gonzaga (champion), Saint Mary’s (under consideration)
-More analysis and breakdowns to come later.
For all of today’s action, check out Chad’s viewing guide linked below.
-Mount Saint Mary’s winning streak came to an end last night as LIU Brooklyn completely ran away from them in the second half to win the NEC Championship. I would expect them to end up on the #16 line.
NOTES
-South Dakota State wasn’t playing on their home floor, but the crowd certainly favored them against North Dakota State. It was a close and low scoring affair for much of the game, but SDSU led most of the way and picked up their second straight Summit League championship. They nearly pulled an upset last year and won’t be an easy opponent in the round of 64. North Dakota State will return pretty much their entire roster and should be a dangerous team next year. Perhaps they can play their way into a situation where they don’t have to win the conference tournament.
-Unfortunately, the Horizon League championship game failed to produce yet another buzzer beater in a tournament that has given us quite a few. Valpo looked like they were going to run away from it, but Wright State came back and actually built a six point lead with five minutes to go. Their defense also forced 25 Valpo turnovers, which was way above their season average. Valpo’s defense got cranked up forcing Wright State to go ice cold at the end of the game, and Valpo ended up winning 62-54 for their first NCAA appearance since joining the Horizon League. Like North Dakota State, Wright State returns the bulk of their roster for next season, so all is not lost.
-Seton Hall needed overtime to beat South Florida 46-42 in the opening round of the Big East Tournament. If you missed the game, the score is a fantastic indicator of how the game went. Rutgers beat DePaul handily in the other game.
-UTSA won in the opening round of the WAC and Texas State downed Seattle in the other game, Wyoming kept their season alive with a win over Nevada in the opening round of the Mountain West, and Bethune Cookman, North Carolina A&T and Delaware State were all winners in the MEAC opening round.
-The Mountain West Quarterfinals. There is not a single game that appears to be dull in any way. Wyoming has not been the same since losing a key player to suspension, so they’re probably way overmatched against New Mexico, and Colorado State shouldn’t have too much trouble with Fresno but literally every other game in this tournament is up for grabs.
Air Force is the #6 seed, and they are extremely difficult to play against. They face UNLV today, who is hosting the tournament.
San Diego State will face Boise State. I believe both teams are in, but both have a great chance to improve their profile today, and throughout the tournament.
-The Patriot League Championship is today at Bucknell as they host Lafayette. I could see the Bison being a dangerous team in the round of 64, but they can’t get in without the win today.
-The Big East continues today. Cincinnati takes on Providence this afternoon. The Bearcats are probably in whether they win or not, but they’d really make themselves look a lot better if they at least win this first game. Syracuse will face a weak looking Seton Hall team today as well.
Villanova will face Saint John’s. Right now it appears as though Nova is inside the bubble and Saint John’s is out, so that is an extremely pivotal game for both teams.
Notre Dame is safely in and will face Rutgers today as well.
-The Pac Twelve opening round features an Arizona State team that still may be able to play their way onto the bubble. They face Stanford today. Colorado appears to be safely in, but they’ll sure make it easier on themselves if they can avoid a loss to Oregon State today. Washington faces Washington State and USC faces Utah in the other two games.
-The Big Twelve opening round features for teams that need to win the tournament to stay alive. West Virginia faces Texas Tech and Texas squares off against TCU.
-Conference USA features six teams that need to win the tournament to stay alive. UAB takes on SMU, Houston battles crosstown rival Rice, and Tulane takes on Marshall.
-The second round of the MAC is today as Ball State faces Buffalo and Eastern Michigan takes on Miami OH.
-The first half of the MEAC quarterfinals take place tonight. The two favorites are Norfolk State, who ran through the conference, and NC Central, who is having their best season since jumping up to div1. This is a tournament that often collapses, so hopefully for those two teams the seeds will hold up.
-The SEC opening round will feature South Carolina against Mississippi State and Texas A&M against Auburn. TAMU appeared to be halfway decent for awhile, but then ended up finishing 11th in the conference.
-The Southland opening round and the SWAC quarters get underway today as well.
Griggs