Hoops HD

For years, the Ivy League regular season championship and automatic bid came down to Penn and Princeton.  From 1989 through 2007, no team other than Penn or Princeton won the Ivy.  In fact, from 1969 through 2007, there were only two seasons in which one of the two powers did not win it (Brown 1986 and Cornell 1988).  In 2008, Cornell won the first of three straight titles, before Princeton returned to the top spot in 2011, winning a one game playoff over Tommy Amaker’s Harvard team.  Last season the Harvard Crimson captured the championship and advanced to their first NCAA tournament since 1946 — what had been the longest drought among teams with at least one prior appearance.

Tonight, the SCGD turns to the Ivy League for a game that could all but clinch a second straight NCAA tournament bid for Harvard…or set up a chance for another one game playoff to decide the bid.  Harvard, 9-1 in the Ivy and 17-7 overall, travels to Princeton, 7-2 in the Ivy and 14-9 overall, for a 7:00 PM Eastern tip-off on ESPNU.  With a win, Harvard will need a combination of 2 wins and/or Princeton losses the rest of the way to wrap up the bid — something that could happen as early as Saturday night if Harvard can also win at Penn and Princeton loses to Dartmouth.  Even if Harvard does not wrap the bid up on Saturday, they have two games left next weekend, while Princeton would have three more games to play after this weekend.

A Princeton win, on the other hand, will create a tie in the loss column between the two teams.  Princeton would be a half game behind in the standings solely due to the fact that they have an extra game left to play (Tuesday March 12 against Penn).  Given that both teams will be favored in the remainder of their games, barring an upset the two teams would be on track to face off for a third time in a one game playoff that would probably occur on Saturday March 16.

Harvard has put together a solid season so far this year, including wins at Boston College and at California.  They have stumbled a few times though, including a home loss to Vermont and a loss at Columbia.  Princeton’s best win of the season was over Patriot League regular season champion Bucknell.  However, they have had more than their share of bad losses, including Wagner, Fordham, Drexel, and Yale.

List of teams that have been eliminated from NCAA Championship (technically many of these teams are at-large eligible, but their records are not good enough to even be “on the board”):

**211 TEAMS REMAIN ALIVE**

America East (5):
Boston U (ineligible for CT)
New Hampshire, Hartford, Binghamton, Maine (lost in CT)

Atlantic Sun (9):
Northern Kentucky (ineligible due to transition to D1)
Kennesaw State (did not make CT)
North Florida, Lipscomb, East Tennessee State, Jacksonville, USC-Upstate, Stetson, Mercer (lost in CT)

Atlantic Ten (4):
Fordham, Duquesne, Rhode Island, St. Bonaventure (did not make CT)

Big East (1):
UConn (APR)

Big Sky (4):
Idaho State, Portland State, Eastern Washington, Sacramento State (did not make CT)

Big South (10):
Radford, Presbyterian, UNC-Asheville, Coastal Carolina, Longwood, Winthrop, Campbell, High Point, Virginia Military, Gardner-Webb (lost in CT)

Big West (2):
UC-Riverside (APR)
Cal State-Northridge (did not make CT)

Colonial (7):
Towson, UNC-Wilmington (APR)
Georgia State, Old Dominion (ineligible for CT)
Drexel, Hofstra, William & Mary (lost in CT)

Conference USA (1):
Central Florida (postseason ban)

Great West (5):
NJIT, Chicago State, Texas-Pan American, Utah Valley, Houstion Baptist (no auto bid)

Horizon League (7):
Loyola (Chicago), Milwaukee, Cleveland State, Youngstown State, Illinois-Chicago, Detroit, Green Bay (lost in CT)

Independents (2):
New Orleans, CS-Bakersfield (no auto bid)

Ivy League (7):
Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Pennsylvania, Yale, Princeton (did not win league)

Metro Atlantic (6):
Marist, St. Peter’s, Siena, Canisius, Rider, Loyola (lost in CT)

Mid-American (1):
Toledo (APR)

Missouri Valley (8):
Bradley, Southern Illinois, Drake, Evansville, Missouri State, Northern Iowa, Indiana State, Illinois State (lost in CT)

Northeast (10):
Monmouth, St. Francis-PA, Fairleigh Dickinson, Sacred Heart (did not make CT)
Quinnipiac, Bryant, St. Francis-NY, Central Conn. State, Wagner, Robert Morris (lost in CT)

Ohio Valley (11):
Jacksonville State (APR)
Austin Peay, SIU-Edwardsville, Tennessee Tech (did not make CT)
Tennessee-Martin, Eastern Illinois, Morehead State, SE Missouri State, Tennessee State, Eastern Kentucky, Murray State (lost in CT)

Patriot League (6):
Colgate, Holy Cross, Navy, American, Lehigh, Army (lost in CT)

Southern (8):
Wofford, Samford, Chattanooga, The Citadel, Georgia Southern, Furman, UNC-Greensboro, Western Carolina (lost in CT)

Southland (2):
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (APR)
Lamar (will not make CT)

Summit League (3):
Nebraska-Omaha (ineligible due to transition to D1)
IUPUI, South Dakota (lost in CT)

Sun Belt (7):
Louisiana-Monroe, North Texas, Florida Atlantic, Arkansas-Little Rock, Louisiana-Lafayette, South Alabama, Troy (lost in CT)

SWAC (3):
Texas Southern (postseason ban)
Mississippi Valley St, Arkansas-Pine Bluff (APR)

West Coast (7):
Portland, San Francisco, Pepperdine, Santa Clara, BYU, Loyola Marymount, San Diego (lost in CT)

LAST UPDATED: through games of March 9, 2013

The Grambling State watch is back on tonight as the Tigers play their second to last regular season game, hosting Alabama A&M at 8:30 PM Eastern.  However, the SCGD will be focusing tonight on the Northeast Conference, as the battle for the regular season championship heats up when Robert Morris travels to Bryant, 7:00 PM Eastern.

Robert Morris currently leads the conference with a 12-4 league mark, 20-9 overall.  However, their lead is only one game over the Bryant Bulldogs, who sit at 11-5 in the NEC and 18-9 overall.  Bryant won at Robert Morris back on January 3, meaning that a win by the Bulldogs tonight would not only tie the two teams at the top of the conference standings, but give Bryant the tiebreaker edge for the top seed on the conference tournament with only one game to go.  Given that Bryant will end the season with a home game against lowly St. Francis (PA), a Bulldogs win tonight should all but wrap up the title for them.  On the other hand, Robert Morris will clinch the outright league championship, building a 2 game lead with 1 to go, should they get the victory.  The top seed is especially important in the NEC, which plays its conference tournament at the home courts of the higher seeded teams.

Bryant is coached by Tim O’Shea who has done an amazing job this season.  The Bulldogs won only 3 games all of last year, and are now on the verge of their first ever NEC regular season title, and possibly their first ever trip to the Big Dance.  Bryant scored some big wins non-conference as well, including knocking off Boston College on the road and winning at Lehigh before the Mountain Hawks lost C.J. McCollum for the season.

Robert Morris, on the other hand, has once again put together a solid season.  The Colonials won 26 games last season and have been just as good this year, including a home victory over Ohio University back in December.  Andrew Toole has done a solid job coaching this team ever since taking over for Mike Rice, who had led the Colonials to NCAA appearances in 2009 and 2010 before taking the Rutgers job.

-MICHIGAN AT PENN STATE (Big Ten). Michigan is one of the eight or nine teams in the race for a #1 seed.

-VIRGINIA TECH AT MIAMI, FL (ACC). Miami is one of the eight or nine teams that’s in contention for a #1 seed.

-OKLAHOMA STATE AT TCU (Big Twelve). Okie State is looking more and more like a protected seed.

-GEORGETOWN AT UCONN (Big East). Georgetown is one of the eight or nine teams in the race for a #1 seed.

-SOUTH FLORIDA AT PITTSBURGH (Big East). I like Pitt’s profile. There is some inconsistency on it but overall I’ve been impressed with them and think they are poised for a good seed if they can finish strong.

-AKRON AT OHIO (MAC). This is a huge game for Akron. This isn’t a great road win, but it is a decent one and that is the one glaring thing that is missing from Akron’s profile. If they win this, I like their chances for an at-large. If they lose, then I think they’ll really be sweating if they fail to win the MAC Tournament.

-DAYTON AT CHARLOTTE (Atlantic Ten). Charlotte is a bubble team with a small margin for error.

-MISSISSIPPI STATE AT KENTUCKY (SEC). I believe Kentucky is outside the bubble with virtually no margin for error.

-BAYLOR AT WEST VIRGINIA (Big Twelve). Baylor is another team that is outside the bubble and will have to finish strong to even be considered.

-BOSTON COLLEGE AT NC STATE (ACC). NC State has been strong at home and is solidly in the field, but their lack of road wins will hurt them. Tonight’s win won’t help as much as a loss would badly hurt.

-MARYLAND AT GEORGIA TECH (ACC). Maryland is outside the bubble and will need a strong finish to end up inside of it.

-SAINT JOSEPH’S AT SAINT LOUIS (Atlantic Ten). I love how SLU has been playing, especially at home. I wouldn’t be surprised if they won out all the way through the Atlantic Ten Tournament and earned a very high seed.

-NEVADA AT BOISE STATE (Mountain West). Boise is outside the bubble and really cannot afford a loss like this.

-EVANSVILLE AT WICHITA STATE (Missouri Valley). Wichita’s profile is safe, but they still have a lot of room to rise or fall in regards to their seed.

-SIUE AT BELMONT (Ohio Valley). I still like Belmont’s chances, but anything short of winning out to the OVC championship game may land them outside the field.

-CREIGHTON AT BRADLEY (Missouri Valley). Creighton is relatively safe, but their profile isn’t the best. A road win, even a modest road win like this one, would help.

-PURDUE AT IOWA (Big Ten). Iowa is on the bubble, and their OOC schedule will not help them, so they need a strong finish. A loss at home to a non-tournament team would be a backbreaker. Perhaps even a neck-breaker.

-FRESNO STATE AT COLORADO STATE (Mountain West). Colorado State has lost two straight, but neither were bad losses and they’re still in good shape. They’re also a potentially dangerous tournament team.

-OKLAHOMA AT TEXAS (Big Twelve). This wouldn’t be the most impressive road win, but it’s still a road win for the Sooners.

-LOUISVILLE AT DEPAUL (Big East). One never knows what Louisville is going to do. They should be able to win this one, though.

-ARIZONA AT USC (Pac Twelve). USC has improved as the season has gone on, and Arizona really needs to be on upset alert. They’re safely in the field, but when it comes to earning a good seed they cannot afford losses to non-tournament teams.

-SAN DIEGO STATE AT NEW MEXICO (Mountain West). Another showcase game for the MWC. New Mexico is the frontrunner, and is also perhaps the best team and could end up as a protected seed.

-COLORADO AT STANFORD (Pac Twelve). I think Colorado is inside the bubble for now, and is a fairly good team, but winning this one on the road would help a lot.

-ARIZONA STATE AT UCLA (Pac Twelve). UCLA is safely in, but has room to improve. Arizona State is outside the bubble and could really use another notable road win.

Looking at tonight’s schedule, there is one game that clearly stands out as the Small Conference Game of the Day.  The Akron Zips are traveling on the road to take on the Ohio University Bobcats in a key battle at the top of the MAC East Division standings.  However, the SCGD doesn’t like to go with the obvious choice, and that is why we are instead going to be heading to the Southern Conference, where the two division leaders will be meeting in their only regular season contest against each other, Davidson at Elon, 7:00 PM Eastern.

Davidson enters tonight’s game at 21-7 overall and 15-1 in the SoCon.  Their only league loss was to Georgia Southern back on January 14.  In fact, that was the last game that Davidson lost this season.  They enter on a 12 game winning streak and fresh off an overtime BracketBuster victory over Big Sky leader Montana.  Elon, on the other hand, sits at 19-9 overall and 12-4 in conference.  They have won 11 of their last 13 games, though fell this past weekend on the road to Chattanooga.

Davidson features the nation’s top free throw shooter in Nik Cochran, who is converting over 95% from the charity stripe.  He also ranks 18th in the country in 3-point percentage at 47.7.  The Wildcats also have last year’s SoCon co-players of the year in Jake Cohen and De’Mon Brooks.  Cohen is averaging 15.0 points per game while Brooks is at 13.3.  Elon, on the other hand, is led by Lucas Troutman’s 14.9 per game and Jack Isenbarger’s 13.9.  Ryley Beaumont is the team’s top rebounder at 6.9 per game, while scoring 11.7 points per game.  While Davidson is on their way to the top seed in the SoCon tournament, this game may prove to be a preview of the conference tournament championship game.

Tonight’s game features the Youngstown State Penguins traveling to Indiana to take on the Valparaiso Crusaders as Valpo tries to lock up at least a tie for the Horizon League regular season title (8:00 PM Eastern).  Valpo enters the game with a 22-7 record, 11-3 in the Horizon.  They hold a one game lead over Detroit, who sits at 18-10 overall and 10-4 in their league.  Detroit is also in action tonight, hosting Loyola (Chicago), meaning that a combination of a Detroit loss and Valparaiso win would clinch the top spot in the conference outright for the Crusaders.

Youngstown State enters tonight’s game at 16-12 overall and 7-7 in conference, good enough for 5th place.  The Penguins dealt Valpo one of their 3 league losses earlier this year, an 80-68 win in Youngstown, Ohio back on January 30.  In the event the league title is not decided tonight, Valpo will finish their season this weekend with a trip to Green Bay while Detroit goes to Illinois-Chicago.  The Titans actually have three games scheduled this week, as they will also travel on the road to take on Temple Thursday night in a game rescheduled from December.