On this audio-only podcast, Galen and Lee Delvecchio discuss some of the issues they had with the NCAA tournament selection committee’s decisions, including the inclusion of NC State, the seeding of BYU, and the inconsistency in using criteria evenly across teams.
Galen and Lee follow that up by discussing the bracket at some length, and giving early predictions for each of the four regions, as well as the Final Four.
Check in on HoopsHD all week, as we provide several podcasts and article analyses of the NCAA Tournament.
The field has been set. The first round matchups are out. It is time to play the games. Of course, here at the home of Under the Radar and the Small Conference Game of the Day, we are talking about the 2014 CollegeInsider.com Tournament, otherwise known at the CIT. The CIT is unique in that the matchups for reach round are set after the round is played, allowing the tournament organizers to get the best matchups (and avoiding lengthy travel requirements) for each round. Every day of the CIT we will be bringing you a Game of the Day feature, all the way through the April 3 championship.
Tonight, the CIT tips off with a single first round game, The Patriot League’s Holy Cross Crusaders heading to Rhode Island to take on the Ivy League’s Brown Bears. Holy Cross was 19-13 on the season, finishing 12-6 in the Patriot, in third place. They lost at eventual champion American in a tough, hard fought game in the Patriot League semifinals. This is the Crusaders first ever appearance in the CIT, and their first postseason bid since the 2007 NCAA tournament.
The Brown Bears enter tonight’s game at 15-13 overall. They finished 7-7 in the Ivy League, and should only be better next season. The Bears did show some flashes of their potential this season, including taking Harvard to overtime (though losing) in the last game of the season. As with Holy Cross, this is the Bears’ first appearance in the CIT. Their last postseason bid came in 2008, when they lost in the first round of the CBI.
The official field is out, which means it is time for us to look at who they picked, where they were seeded, and just how WRONG (or in some cases right), the Committee got things. David and I analyze the selections, particularly the choice to include both Tennessee and North Carolina State to the exclusion of teams like Green Bay. We also look at some strange seeding choices (Louisville a 4? Saint Louis at 5? Kentucky an 8?), and some interesting matchups in the rounds of 64 and 32 (i.e. Ohio State vs Dayton, Connecticut vs Villanova). All that and so much more!
In our final Championship Week Video Notebook, we review all of Saturday’s action, preview Sunday’s games (Viewing Guide below), update our Survival Board (below) and then update everyone on the progress of our Mock Committee. Kyle, David and I take the current 1-68 S Curve and proceed to place all the teams into a bracket, revealing the results of our selection process to date, reviewing the debates over the final at large picks, and taking look at potential first round matchups that result. All that and more!
Conference Tournament Viewing Guide
This 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. All times are Eastern.
Sunday, March 16
ACC Championship:
1:00 PM – (1) Virginia vs (3) Duke, ESPN
Atlantic Ten Championship:
1:00 PM – (2) VCU vs (4) St. Joseph’s, CBS
Big Ten Championship:
3:30 PM – (1) Michigan vs (3) Michigan State, CBS
One Day left until Selection Sunday! As we move towards the end of Championship Week, Kyle joins David and I again to review exactly where the Committee stands as of tonight. While David has, unfortunately, been banned from the real Committee room, our mock committee has selected 6 more at-large bid winners and preliminarily seeded the first 8 seed lines. We discuss how the committee will deal with results from Saturday and Sunday games, review all of Friday’s action, and preview every game on Saturday (Viewing Guide below). Finally, our Survival Board has been updated (see below as well). All that and more!!
Conference Tournament Viewing Guide
This 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. All times are Eastern.
Saturday, March 15
America East Championship:
11:30 AM – (2) Stony Brook vs (4) Albany, ESPN2
American Championship:
6:00 PM – (2) Louisville vs (4) Connecticut, ESPN
ACC Semfinal:
1:00 PM – (1) Virginia vs (5) Pittsburgh, ESPN
3:30 PM – (3) Duke vs (7) North Carolina State, ESPN
Atlantic Ten Semifinal:
1:30 PM – (4) St. Joseph’s vs (9) St. Bonaventure, CBS-SN
4:00 PM – (2) VCU vs (3) George Washington, CBS-SN
Big East Championship:
8:30 PM – (2) Creighton vs (4) Providence, FS1
Big Sky Championship:
8:00 PM – (1) Weber State vs (2) North Dakota, ESPNU
Big Ten Semifinal:
1:30 PM – (1) Michigan vs (5) Ohio State, CBS
4:00 PM – (2) Wisconsin vs (3) Michigan State, CBS
Big Twelve Championship:
9:00 PM – (4) Iowa State vs (7) Baylor, ESPN
Big West Championship:
10:30 PM – (5) Cal State-Northridge vs (7) Cal Poly, ESPN2
Conference USA Championship:
11:30 AM – (1) Louisiana Tech vs (2) Tulsa, CBS
MAC Championship:
6:30 PM – (1) Western Michigan vs (2) Toledo, ESPN2
MEAC Championship:
6:00 PM – (1) North Carolina Central vs (3) Morgan State, ESPNU
Mountain West Championship:
6:00 PM – (1) San Diego State vs (2) New Mexico, CBS
SEC Semifinal:
1:00 PM – (1) Florida vs (4) Tennessee, ABC
3:30 PM – (2) Kentucky vs (3) Georgia, ABC
Southland Championship:
8:30 PM – (1) Stephen F. Austin vs (3) Sam Houston State, ESPN2
Sun Belt Semifinal:
3:00 PM – (1) Georgia State vs (4) Arkansas State, Local TV/espn3
5:30 PM – (2) Western Kentucky vs (3) Louisiana-Lafayette, Local TV/espn3
Selection Sunday Review and Recap
The official field is out, which means it is time for us to look at who they picked, where they were seeded, and just how WRONG (or in some cases right), the Committee got things. David and I analyze the selections, particularly the choice to include both Tennessee and North Carolina State to the exclusion of teams like Green Bay. We also look at some strange seeding choices (Louisville a 4? Saint Louis at 5? Kentucky an 8?), and some interesting matchups in the rounds of 64 and 32 (i.e. Ohio State vs Dayton, Connecticut vs Villanova). All that and so much more!