Championship Week Notebook, Monday, March 5th

Posted on March 5, 2012 by David Griggs

CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK NOTEBOOK

-205 Teams Remain. That includes Wichita State, BYU, Iona and George Mason, who were eliminated from their conference tournaments, but still on the board, and Penn, who can still mathematically win the Ivy League. Technically, Middle Tennessee and Utah Valley are still on the real committee’s board, but they have been removed from this countdown since they are no longer on the board of the mock committee.

-Some heartbreak where the most deserving teams in a conference who hadn’t done quite enough for an at-large lost in their conference tournaments. Middle Tennessee had a great season, but ended it with a horrible Sun Belt Tournament game against Arkansas State. Middle missed their last five freethrows in their 64-61 loss. An at-large bid is not very likely given their complete lack of quality wins.

-Iona’s chances for an at-large are slightly better, but still not very good. They went down in the semis of the MAAC to Fairfield, after a first place finish during the regular season.

-It’s been all chalk in the Colonial, as the top two teams have advanced to hte championship game. Drexel will face VCU tonight. Both teams are on the bubble, but neither is a lock. The winner goes automatically, but the loser will get a serious look. Drexel won the league outright, but VCU appears to have the slightly better profile. We shall see.

-Exciting games in the America East semis and Summit Quarters. All games were close, and fortunately all the top seeds are still alive. Stony Brook will host Vermont on Saturday for the America East Championship, with the winner likely headed to the opening round. Oral Roberts and South Dakota State, the two best teams in the Summit, will play in the semis tonight.

-The Sun Belt is the opposite of chalk. The top two seeds are out, and one would think Denver, who had a great start to the season, but faded down the stretch, would have a clear shot at winning it. The semis are tonight.

-The SoCon championship is also tonight. Davidson is the best team, and hasn’t been challenged in their first two conference tourney games. If they can get past Western Carolina, they could be a dangerous first round matchup for whoever they face in the NCAAs.

-Gonzaga faces Saint Mary’s in the WCC Championship game. Bragging rights and seeding are all that’s at stake. Both teams are safely inside the bubble.

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Bracketology 03.05.12

Posted on March 5, 2012 by Johnny Basketball

We find ourselves on the opening day of Championship Week, and the bracket is as fluid as I can remember it being at this point in terms of seeding. We’ve also had some upsets in the smaller conference tournaments, which has shaken things up a bit. Let’s take a look at this week:

TOP SEED SHUFFLE: I feel for Michigan State a bit. They work all season to get themselves in 1-seed contention, then they lose the outright conference title at home AND lose their third-best scorer for the rest of the season. As we’ve seen in the past (Cincinnati in 2000, as an example), the committee doesn’t look kindly at impactful injuries to top seeds. I don’t see them dropping much below the 2 line, unless they bomb out of the B1G tourney to Iowa or Illinois. But this is definitely a difficult situation for the Spartans. Meanwhile, North Carolina grabs the fourth 1 seed…but is it safe? Not really. Ohio State could reach up and claim it with a good week in Indianapolis.

ADIOS, ARIZONA: I finally work up the courage to put the Wildcats in the field, and they respond the same day by losing to a putrid Arizona State team. Thanks, guys. Really. That should take the Wildcats out of the mix, but who knows? I like California’s chances at an at-large, and I think Washington is a near-lock due to winning the regular season championship in the Pac 12. They SHOULDN’T be a near-lock, but this is what the committee has done in the past. Oregon is playing on the margins and is still very much alive for a bid.

YES, THEY ARE WEAK…BUT…: We’ve heard lots of teams referred to as being “in trouble” in the past few days, and when you look at the resumes of teams like Southern Miss, Virginia, St. Mary’s, Seton Hall, Northwestern, etc…yes, it’s obvious that these teams are pretty weak compared to bubble teams of the past. But be realistic — there are worse teams BELOW those squads. Texas, Xavier, St. Joseph’s…these are all teams that are currently in the field, and it’d be hard to justify putting any of them above the teams that started this paragraph.

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Bracket Racket 03.05.12

Posted on March 5, 2012 by Johnny Basketball

The Bracketology Show is back for another week, as we enter Championship Week in college basketball. No guests this week, as the guys focus all their energies on breaking down the remaning 250+ teams vying for automatic and at-large bids. The show starts off with some talk of two small conference favorites going down prematurely in their conference tournaments, and whether either team has a chance at an at-large bid. We then switch the topic to Michigan State, Ohio State, and the Big Ten as a whole, and get really excited about the prospect of some of these B1G tournament games. Other topics discussed include our picks for the teams who stand to gain or lose the most seeding-wise in conference tournament play, the merits of Tennessee as an at-large, and our “bold predictions” for the week.

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Conference Tournament Viewing Guide 03.05.12

Posted on March 4, 2012 by Chad

Here is the list of conference tournament games on the schedule for today, together with their available television/webstreaming options.  Please note that I only list webstreams for games without national television coverage, even if a stream may also be available. “Local TV” means that the game does not have full national coverage and you should check your local listings.  (PPV) means that the webstream has a fee.

(all times are eastern)

Monday, March 5

Colonial Championship:
7:00 PM    (1) Drexel vs (2) Virginia Commonwealth    ESPN

Metro Atlantic Championship:
7:00 PM    (2) Loyola vs (4) Fairfield    ESPN2

Mid-American First Round:
7:00 PM    (5) Eastern Michigan vs (12) Northern Illinois    mac-sports.com (FREE)
7:00 PM    (6) Bowling Green vs (11) Central Michigan    mac-sports.com (FREE)
7:00 PM    (7) Toledo vs (10) Miami (Ohio)    mac-sports.com (FREE)
7:00 PM    (8) Western Michigan vs (9) Ball State    mac-sports.com (FREE)

Southern Championship:
9:00 PM    (S1) Davidson vs (N3) Western Carolina    ESPN2

Summit Semifinal:
7:00 PM    (1) Oral Roberts vs (4) Western Illinois    Local TV/Fox College Sports – Central
9:30 PM    (2) South Dakota State vs (6) Southern Utah    Local TV/Fox College Sports – Central

Sun Belt Semifinal:
7:00 PM    (5) North Texas vs (9) Arkansas State    Local TV/Full Court/espn3.com
9:30 PM    (3) Denver vs (7) Western Kentucky    Local TV/Full Court/espn3.com

West Coast Championship:
9:00 PM    (1) St. Mary’s vs (2) Gonzaga    ESPN

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Hoops Rewind – Davidson’s 2008 Run

Posted on March 4, 2012 by Johnny Basketball

On today’s edition of Hoops Rewind, we take a YouTube look at Davidson’s magical 2008 run to the Elite 8.

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Championship Week Notebook, and the Final Day of the Regular Season (3/4)

Posted on March 4, 2012 by David Griggs

227 teams remain. That includes Utah Valley, who will be on the board due to being a first place finisher in the Great West, BYU who is out of the conference tournament, but still under consideration, and Wichita State, who is out of the conference tournament, but a virtual lock for the NCAA Tournament. Chad Sherwood has, as he always done, but together a list of today’s conference tournament action.

– Three teams punched their tickets yesterday. The final outcomes weren’t surprising, but the games themselves were. Florida Gulf Coast, in their first ever conference tournament, made it to the finals and had a lead at the half over heavily favored Belmont, who had crushed them twice during the regular season. In the end, Belmont was just too much and captured the automatic bid. They will be a dangerous first round opponent for whoever they face. Belmont’s profile isn’t the best and they did stub their toes multiple times throughout the year, but when they play up to their maximum ability they can beat top 25 caliber teams.

– Murray State got a scare from Tennessee State, but hit a game winning shot in the final seconds to win the Ohio Valley and the automatic bid. They really didn’t need the automatic bid, so because they managed to hold on, another bubble team will now make the field.

– VMI, who was just 8-10 on the season, played well for a half, but then UNC Asheville took over in the second half and won the Big South’s automatic bid. They’ll probably end up on the #16 line, but with the MEAC, SWAC and America East champions looking to take three out of four spots in the opening round, they should be able to avoid it and go straight into the round of 64.

– Some really good games yesterday, but again, it was mostly chalk. Georgia State put up a fierce fight against George Mason, but lost in the final seconds. The Colonial now has its top four teams in the semis in Drexel, Old Dominion, VCU and George Mason, and it the automatic bid really is up for grabs. Continue reading →

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