Under the Radar Games of the Day – Saturday, March 5: Ivy League, Southland and Sun Belt Battles

Under the Radar Games of the Day: The Battles in the Ivy League, Southland and Sun Belt Conferences

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We have almost reached the end.  After the MAC concluded last night, only 8 Under the Radar conferences still have regular season games left, and 7 of those will be winding up play today.  Battles for conference tournament seeding exist in every league, so narrowing all of today’s games down to one single Game of the Day proved to be impossible.  As a result, we have a total of six Games of the Day today spanning three conferences:

IVY LEAGUE

-Princeton at Dartmouth, 7:00 PM Eastern
-Yale at Columbia, 7:00 PM Eastern

We start things off with a pair of games in the Ivy League (the only UTR conference that does not officially conclude today as Princeton will be hosting Penn Tuesday night).  All season long it has looked like Princeton and Yale were on a collision course for a one-game playoff next weekend.  That was, until Princeton went and lost a stunner last night at Harvard.  As a result, a Yale win at Columbia today or a Princeton loss at Dartmouth will clinch the Ivy League regular season for the Yale Bulldogs and send them to their first NCAA Tournament since 1962.  This is the same situation Yale was in last season, when a win in their regular season finale at Dartmouth would have locked up the dance ticket…and instead they suffered a heart-breaking loss.  Columbia is an even more formidable foe today than Dartmouth was last year, so the championship is not a given by any means.

SOUTHLAND

-Southeastern Louisiana at Nicholls State, 4:30 PM Eastern
-Northwestern State at New Orleans, 7:15 PM Eastern

Of the ten postseason eligible teams in the Southland Conference (Incarnate Word and Abilene Christian are ineligible as transitional teams while Central Arkansas is on an APR postseason ban this season), only the top eight qualify to advance to Katy, Texas for the SLC Tournament.  Two of those eight spots remain undecided as we head into the final day of the season, with Nicholls State, Northwestern State and New Orleans all in contention.  And for each of the three teams, the solution is simple: win and you are in.  Nicholls State will lock up a spot in the field with a home win today over Southeastern Louisiana.  Should they do so, the final spot will be claimed by the winner of this evening’s Northwestern State at New Orleans game.  In the event Nicholls slips up and loses at home, the Colonels will be eliminated and both Northwestern State and New Orleans will make the field, regardless of the outcome of their game.

SUN BELT

-Arkansas State at Appalachian State, 3:30 PM Eastern
-South Alabama at Texas State, 5:30 PM Eastern

The Southland may have three teams fighting for two spots, but things in the Sun Belt Conference are even crazier.  Entering play today, four teams remain alive for the final two spots in the conference tournament.  And, amazingly enough, those four teams will be playing each other in a pair of games today.  Arkansas State, South Alabama and Texas State all fully control their own destinies today, while Appalachian State will need a little bit of help.  An Arkansas State win at Appalachian State will lock up one of the two spot for the Red Wolves, while a loss will eliminate them.  If Arkansas State does win, the second spot will go to the winner of the game between South Alabama and Texas State.  Things get a little more interesting, however, if App State gets the early win today.  In that case, South Alabama will clinch one of the two spots no matter what happens in their game at Texas State.  The final spot will then go to Texas State with a win, or Appalachian State should Texas State lose.