Thursday of Championship Week! One of the busiest days of the year! Chad, David, and John look back on all the action as all of the power conferences are now underway. We saw a couple of big upsets in the Big Ten as Illinois knocked off Iowa and Nebraska took down Wisconsin. Vanderbilt also lost to Tennessee in a very surprising result in the SEC. Other than that, for all the upsets we’ve seen in some of the smaller conferences, including Conference USA where top seeded UAB went down in the quarterfinals today, chalk has pretty much held in the power conferences.
We recap all of the action, and preview all of the games tomorrow, including a hugely important game in the American between Cincinnati and UConn where the winner will be in good shape, and the loser may be out.
CLICK HERE for John Stalica’s report on the Hoops HD Selection Committee
And for all you radio lovers, there is an mp3 version of the show at the bottom of the page…
AMERICAN
Quarterfinals
12:00 PM – (1) Temple vs (9) South Florida, ESPN2
2:30 PM – (4) Cincinnati vs (5) Connecticut, ESPN2
7:00 PM – (2) Houston vs (10) Tulane, ESPNU
9:30 PM – (3) Tulsa vs (6) Memphis, ESPNU
ACC
Semifinals
7:00 PM – (1) North Carolina vs (4) Notre Dame, ESPN
9:30 PM – (2) Virginia vs (3) Miami, ESPN
ATLANTIC TEN
Quarterfinals
12:00 PM – (1) Dayton vs (9) Richmond, NBC Sports Network
2:30 PM – (4) St. Joseph’s vs (5) George Washington, NBC Sports Network
6:30 PM – (2) VCU vs (10) Massachusetts, NBC Sports Network
9:00 PM – (3) St. Bonaventure vs (6) Davidson, NBC Sports Network
BIG EAST
Semifinals
6:30 PM – (1) Villanova vs (4) Providence, FS1
9:00 PM – (2) Xavier vs (3) Seton Hall, FS1
Saturday, March 12 – Championship
BIG SKY
Semifinals
8:30 PM – (1) Weber State vs (5) North Dakota, watchbigsky.com
11:00 PM – (2) Montana vs (3) Idaho, watchbigsky.com
BIG TEN
Quarterfinals
12:00 PM – (1) Indiana vs (8) Michigan, ESPN
2:30 PM – (4) Purdue vs (12) Illinois, ESPN
6:30 PM – (2) Michigan State vs (7) Ohio State, BTN
9:00 PM – (3) Maryland vs (11) Nebraska, BTN
BIG 12
Semifinals
7:00 PM – (1) Kansas vs (5) Baylor, ESPN2
9:30 PM – (2) West Virginia vs (3) Oklahoma, ESPN2
BIG WEST
Semifinals
9:30 PM – (1) Hawai’i vs (4) UC-Santa Barbara, espn3
12:00 AM – (2) UC-Irvine vs (3) Long Beach State, ESPNU
CONFERENCE USA
Semifinals
4:00 PM – (5) Old Dominion vs (8) Western Kentucky, CBS Sports Network
6:30 PM – (2) Middle Tennessee vs (3) Marshall, CBS Sports Network
MID-AMERICAN
Semifinals
6:30 PM – (1) Akron vs (12) Bowling Green, Regional TV/espn3
9:00 PM – (2) Ohio University vs (3) Buffalo, Regional TV/espn3
MEAC
Semifinals
6:00 PM – (1) Hampton vs (5) Savannah State, espn3
8:30 PM – (2) Norfolk State vs (3) South Carolina State, espn3
MOUNTAIN WEST
Semifinals
9:00 PM – (1) San Diego State vs (5) Nevada, CBS Sports Network
11:30 PM – (2) Fresno State vs (6) Colorado State, CBS Sports Network
PAC-12
Semifinals
9:00 PM – (1) Oregon vs (4) Arizona, Pac-12 Network
11:30 PM – (2) Utah vs (3) California, FS1
SEC
Quarterfinals
1:00 PM – (1) Texas A&M vs (8) Florida, SEC Network
3:30 PM – (4) LSU vs (12) Tennessee, SEC Network
7:00 PM – (2) Kentucky vs (10) Alabama, SEC Network
9:30 PM – (3) South Carolina vs (6) Georgia, SEC Network
SOUTHLAND
Semifinals
6:00 PM – (1) Stephen F. Austin vs (4) Houston Baptist, espn3
8:30 PM – (2) Texas A&M-Corpus Christi vs (3) Sam Houston State, espn3
SWAC
Semifinals
3:30 PM – (3) Jackson State vs (7) Mississippi Valley State, No live video
9:30 PM – (1) Texas Southern vs (4) Texas Southern, No live video
SUN BELT
Quarterfinals
6:00 PM – (4) Louisiana-Lafayette vs (8) South Alabama, espn3
8:30 PM – (3) Texas-Arlington vs (7) Texas State, espn3
WAC
Semifinals
9:00 PM – (1) New Mexico State vs (5) UMKC, wacsports.com
11:30 PM – (2) Cal State Bakersfield vs (3) Seattle, wacsports.com
Hoops HD Mock Committee Report – Thursday, March 10
Click here for Jon Teitel’s latest bracket projection in which he guesses the actual committee’s bracket through games of Thursday, March 10
Tonight was the first night that our Hoops HD Selection Committee convened; prior to our meeting last night, we had named 27 teams on the first ballot to the at-large field. When we began our meeting tonight, our first order of business was to take a look at the Under Consideration board and make motions to remove teams that were not deemed worthy of at-large inclusion. 15 teams were scrubbed off of the Under Consideration board; this also includes 7 teams that won their conferences in the regular season but failed to win their conference tournament. The real stunner today was the UAB; they lost their Conference USA Tournament opener against Western Kentucky in Birmingham. These teams are still eligible for the NIT, CBI, CIT or Vegas 16.
We also named Chicago State as our Centenary Winner for 2016; they were deemed as the worst team in all of Division I this season. However, their prize for winning the award is their inclusion to the Under Consideration board; they will remain there for the duration of our Selection Committee meetings.
Most importantly, we began debating the merits of teams on the Under Consideration board and began voting teams into the At-Large field. For the first vote, each committee member voted for their own Top 8 teams to be included in the at-large discussion. The top 8 vote-getters were then seeded 1 through 8 by our Committee. The top 4 teams in the first wave of balloting were Wisconsin (they were voted in before their loss to Nebraska), Providence, Colorado and Butler. The bottom 4 vote-getters carried over and then each member of our committee added 4 more teams to be considered. Once again, the teams were then ranked 1 through 8. This time, the top 4 vote-getters were USC, Wichita State, Oregon State and Pittsburgh. Barring any votes to remove these teams from the at-large board, the aforementioned 8 teams will be part of the Committee’s NCAA Tournament field. The remaining 4 “carry-overs” will be considered in the next wave of voting that will take place tomorrow night.
There was one at-large spot that was not filled tonight, but we also learned that 4 more at-large spots will open up because the Big 12, ACC, Big East and Pac-12 champs will come off of the At-Large board and move over to the Automatic Bids column. It is also possible that 4 more at-large spots will open up pending the outcomes of the SEC, Big 10, Atlantic 10 and American conference tournaments. If you look at the Under Consideration board, teams highlighted in orange have completed play in the regular season. Teams not highlighted are still playing in their conference tournaments and therefore have the opportunity to further enhance their profiles. You can click below to view the results through Day 1:
Tomorrow, we will fill the remaining at-large spots that are eligible to be filled, although it is possible that a spot may be left open depending on Saturday and Sunday’s results. We will also begin the process of seeding the top 8 seed lines (32 teams total).