SURVIVAL BOARD
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-OHIO VALLEY: Eastern Kentucky are tied for the last spot in the OVC Tournament, and SIUE has the tiebreaker. If they both win their last game on Saturday, SIUE is in. If Eastern Kentucky wins and SIUE loses, then EKU is in. If they both lose and UT Martin loses, then SIUE is in. If they both lose and UT Martin wins then I think UT Martin is in based on the fact that they beat the higher ranked team in the standings, but I’m not entirely certain. I’ll get Stalica on it!! If UT Martin, SIUE, and Eastern Kentucky all lose, then SIUE is definitely in.
-NORTHEAST CONFERENCE: Sacred Heart is out with a loss or a Central Connecticut win. If Sacred Heart wins and Central Connecticut loses, CCSU is out
-AMERICA EAST: Binghamton is out with a loss or with a Maine win.
-IVY LEAGUE: Dartmouth is out with a loss or a Columbia win. Princeton is out with a loss and a Columbia win
-CONFERENCE USA: Charlotte is out with a loss or a UTEP win
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-MICHIGAN AT MARYLAND (Big Ten). Michigan is a lock for the NCAA Tournament and is now just playing for seeding. If they hold serve in this game and knock off a few heavyweights in the B1G Tourney they could move up rather quickly.
-MARQUETTE AT DEPAUL (Big East). Marquette is squarely on the bubble and needs to win (or more accurately avoid losing) this one.
-PROVIDENCE AT GEORGETOWN (Big East). Providence should be able to lock themselves into the NCAA Tournament with just a few more wins. The only thing they really can’t afford to do is go completely into the tank.
-SETON HALL AT SAINT JOHN’S (Big East). Seton Hall needs a strong finish in order to end up with a solid seed. Either way they should be able to coast into the top half of the bracket.
-BAYLOR AT TCU (Big 12). Baylor is squarely on our bubble now and is continuing to play well. They did lose their last game, but had won five straight before that. This would be another big conference road win for them if they’re able to pull it off. TCU is getting more and more comfortable and should be fine as long as they don’t go into the tank. These two also have a nice little rivalry building, so it should be a fun game.
-TENNESSEE AT OLE MISS (SEC). Tennessee has slumped a little bit, but is still on pace to end up as a protected seed if they’re able to hold serve the rest of the way.
-LOUISVILLE AT VIRGINIA TECH (ACC). Louisville is squarely on the bubble and is moving in the wrong direction (in more ways than one). They REALLY need a quality win to help them get things turned around. VA Tech just got a nice win against Clemson and their resume is improving. This would be another solid win for them if they’re able to pull it off.
-WICHITA STATE AT SMU (American). Wichita State will likely end up as a protected seed if they’re able to finish the season strong.
-BOSTON COLLEGE AT MIAMI FL (ACC). Miami is inside our bubble, but is far from being able to just mail it in. They really don’t want to drop a game like this at home.
-LSU AT GEORGIA (SEC). Both teams are outside our bubble and will really need a strong finish to the season and a good showing in the SEC Tournament in order to have any chance at all of making the field.
-OKLAHOMA STATE AT TEXAS (Big 12). Texas is right on the bubble and really needs a win against an Oklahoma State team that is…well…also right on the bubble and also really needs a win.
-ILLINOIS STATE AT LOYOLA CHICAGO (Missouri Valley). I don’t think Loyola can make the field without the auto-bid, but they’ll at least be on the board and will have somewhat of a case if they’re able to win out.
-VILLANOVA AT CREIGHTON (Big East). Creighton is still in our field, but they’ve won just one div1 game this month, which was against DePaul, and they barely won. Villanova is still solidly on the #1 line and is in the driver’s seat to once again finish in first place in the conference.
-USC AT UTAH (Pac Twelve). This is a hugely important game between two bubble teams that need to finish strong in order to make the field. A win today would be huge for either one of them.
-GEORGIA TECH AT CLEMSON (ACC). Clemson is in a bit of a slump, but has a winnable game at home today that should allow them to pull themselves out of it. They’ve had a great season and are still on pace to earn a protected seed if they finish strong.
-SOUTH CAROLINA AT MISSISSIPPI STATE (SEC). Mississippi State is outside the bubble, but they’re definitely close enough to it to where they can reach if if they finish strong and win some big games in the SEC Tournament.
-VIRGINIA AT PITTSBURGH (ACC). Virginia is on pace to end up as the overall #1 seed.
-TEXAS A&M AT VANDERBILT (SEC). A win in this game won’t do a lot of good things for TAMU, but a loss will do a lot of bad things for them.
-KANSAS AT TEXAS TECH (Big 12). A week ago I was talking about how Texas Tech could finish in first place and end up as a #1 seed. Since then they’ve lost two games, but they’re still having a good year and this is still a huge game for them. Kansas is actually on our #1 line at the moment, and will likely end up on the committee’s #1 line if they can finish strong. Both these teams are virtual locks for protected seeds, so it should be a fun game.
-WASHINGTON AT CALIFORNIA (Pac Twelve). Washington has played their way outside of our bubble and needs to avoid what would be a horrible loss in this game, win out, and then pick up some notable wins in the Pac Twelve Tournament.
-DUKE AT SYRACUSE (ACC). Duke is on our #2 line and it’s not out of the question for them to sneak up on the #1 line, especially if they’re able to continue to add road wins to their resume. Syracuse is just inside our bubble and needs some big wins in order to feel like they’re safely in.
-IOWA STATE AT WEST VIRGINIA (Big 12). West Virginia’s chances of ending up as a protected seed are pretty strong. They just need to hold serve the rest of the way.
-SANTA CLARA AT SAINT MARY’S (West Coast). SMC will make the field so long as they avoid losing to bad teams.
-ARKANSAS AT ALABAMA (SEC). Arkansas is still in our field, but they are slipping. They really need a win in a game like this to get things turned back around. Alabama has struggled on the road and was blasted by Auburn earlier in the week, but they’re still in relatively good shape.
-KANSAS STATE AT OKLAHOMA (Big 12). The more the season goes on, the better K State has looked. A win today would be another really nice win on their resume. Oklahoma is going in the opposite direction and needs a win of any kind just to stop the bleeding.
-UAB AT MIDDLE TENNESSEE (Conference USA). I’m guessing the committee is going to take Middle Tennessee if they win out, but fail to win the conference tournament. But, I said that a year ago and they ended up as a #12 seed, which indicated the committee wouldn’t have taken them.
-OLD DOMINION AT WESTERN KENTUCKY (Conference USA). WKU probably needs the automatic bid to make the field, but they should at least be on the board. They shouldn’t overlook this Old Dominion team either. Middle Tennessee and WKU have gotten most of the attention this year, but ODU is right there in the standings and are a very good team.
-GONZAGA AT BYU (West Coast). If Gonzaga wins out, which they are certainly good enough to do, then I don’t see how the committee cannot give them a protected seed.
-ARIZONA STATE AT OREGON STATE (Pac Twelve). Arizona State is coming off yet another in a game that many were expecting them to win and is looking to bounce back. It may not be easy either. This Oregon State team just took Arizona into overtime the other night.
-SAINT BONAVENTURE AT VCU (Atlantic Ten). The Bonnies are right on the bubble. The good news is that they should win out. The bad news is that there are so many sub-NIT teams in their conference that it’s hard to say how much that’s actually going to help them.
-MISSOURI AT KENTUCKY (SEC). Missouri got some fantastic news earlier this week in that Michael Porter Jr. is cleared to return before the end of the season. Kentucky hasn’t done as well as what we’re used to seeing out of them, but they’re still a solid tournament team with a ton of talent. Both teams should make the field, but both have room for improvement on their resumes so this is a big game.
-AUBURN AT FLORIDA (SEC). We still have Auburn on our #2 line and they should stay there so long as they finish strong. As for Florida it is impossible to determine on any given night what they are going to do.
-ARIZONA AT OREGON (Pac Twelve). Arizona has struggled to get a lot of their wins, but they somehow manage to keep winning. Oregon is nowhere near the bubble, but it can still be a very tough place to play
UNDER THE RADAR
-COLLEGE OF CHARELSTON AT WILLIAM & MARY (Colonial). CofC clinches first place out right with a win.
-SAVANNAH STATE AT BETHUNE COOKMAN (MEAC). Both of these teams are part of a three way tie for first place in the MEAC, so this game is big.
-UNC ASHEVILLE AT GARDNER WEBB (Big South). UNC Asheville clinches first place outright and will host the conference tournament if they win today.
-NEW ORELANS AT NICHOLLS (Southland). Nicholls has a one game lead with three games to go.
-SOUTH DAKOTA STATE AT FORT WAYNE (Summit League). South Dakota State has already clinched first place. The tournament is at a predetermined site, but it’s in South Dakota, so good for them.
-HARVARD AT PENN (Ivy League). The two are tied in the standings, and there is a good chance this game will decide who finishes in first place.
-MURRAY STATE AT AUSTIN PEAY (Ohio Valley). Murray State clinches first place with a win. They’ve already clinched a bye into the semifinals of the OVC Tournament.
-LOUISIANA AT SOUTH ALABAMA (Sun Belt). Louisiana clinches first place with a win in this one.
-UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, and UC Davis are all tied in the Big West standings with about three games to go.
-UMKC AT NEW MEXICO STATE (WAC). New Mexico State clinches at least a share of first place with a win tonight.
-MONTANA STATE AT MONTANA (Big Sky). Montana has just a one game lead in the conference standings over Weber State and needs to win at home against rival Montana in order to hold onto it.