NEWS, NOTES AND LINKS
-For our most recent Championship Week Video Notebook, which includes a review of last night’s conference tournament action, and a preview of today’s, as well as a list of all of today’s games along with a viewing guide – CLICK HERE
-For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day – CLICK HERE
-For all other Conference Tournament Info – CLICK HERE
-And last but not least, for the one page on all of the internet that the selection committee uses and relies upon the most, the NCAA Tournament Survival Board – CLICK HERE
TODAY’S REGULAR SEASON HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-SYRACUSE AT NC STATE (ACC). NC State appears to be in pretty good shape and should end up in the field so long as they don’t go into the tank.
-MIAMI FL AT VIRGINIA TECH (ACC). Miami is right on the bubble, and needs a strong finish. Dropping a game to a team as bad as Virginia Tech could be a death blow, even if they are the road team
-PITTSBURGH AT FLORIDA STATE (ACC). Pitt is outside the bubble and needs a strong finish to play their way in. They need to win this game, and then make some noise in the conference tournament as well.
-BUTLER AT PROVIDENCE (Big East). Both teams have very solid profiles and are tied in the standings, so the winner will get the upper hand in the conference tournament, as well as another quality win on their resume.
-SETON HALL AT GEORGETOWN (Big East). Georgetown is in the #6-#7 seed range right now, and could improve that with a strong showing in the conference tournament.
-NORTHWESTERN AT IOWA (Big Ten). Iowa has a pretty solid profile and should be fine so long as they hold serve.
-MICHIGAN STATE AT INDIANA (Big Ten). I think Michigan State has been playing better, but still has a lot of room for improvement. Indiana just needs to win this in order to feel safe, so there is quite a bit on the line for both teams.
-CONNECTICUT AT TEMPLE (American). Temple is right on the bubble and has a razor thin margin for error. They can’t afford to lose at home to a non-tournament team.
-OKLAHOMA STATE AT WEST VIRGINIA (Big Twelve). Oklahoma State is very safely inside the bubble and could use a big win to help out their seed. West Virginia has been playing really well and could end up as a protected seed if they finish strong and pick up some big wins in the conference tournament.
-SAINT JOHN’S AT VILLANOVA (Big East). I love how the Johnnies have been playing, but as good as they’ve looked down the stretch I don’t think they have enough to beat a #1 caliber seed on the road. Nova should get a #1 seed, especially if they win out.
-ALABAMA AT TEXAS A&M (SEC). TAMU is outside the bubble and has quite a bit of work to do. A win won’t help much them today, but a loss sure would hurt them.
-SAINT JOSEPH’S AT RHODE ISLAND (Atlantic Ten). Rhody has an outside shot at best, and even winning out to the A10 final may not be enough to get them in the field without the automatic bid.
-FLORIDA AT KENTUCKY (SEC). Kentucky has probably already wrapped up a #1 seed, but they can finish off a perfect regular season and stay on pace to get the overall #1 with a win today.
-XAVIER AT CREIGHTON (Big East). Xavier is getting pretty close to the bubble, and they simply cannot afford to lose to a sub-NIT team, even if they are the road team.
-KANSAS AT OKLAHOMA (Big Twelve). We’ve got two protected seeds going at it. Neither team really needs the win, but it would be another big win on an already impressive profile for whoever pulls it off.
-KANSAS STATE AT TEXAS (Big Twelve). Texas is on the bubble, and K State is pretty far outside of it, but if they win this and get a few rounds into the Big Twelve Tournament they should at least get a look.
-CLEMSON AT NOTRE DAME (ACC). Notre Dame appears to be in good shape for a protected seed, but their weak OOC schedule is an issue, so they need to finish strong in order to secure it.
-DAYTON AT LA SALLE (Atlantic Ten). Dayton should be in no matter what, but if they drop this game and lose to another sub-tournament team in the conference tourney their profile would take quite a hit.
-STANFORD AT ARIZONA (Pac Twelve). I think Stanford is way outside the bubble and have not been impressed at all with how they’ve played lately. If they pull the upset today it’s a different story, but I’m not holding my breath.
-GEORGIA AT AUBURN (SEC). Georgia actually fell earlier in the year, but they still have a good profile and should be fine for a bid if they can pick this one up today and avoid a loss to a really weak team in the conference tournament.
-UTAH AT WASHINGTON (Pac Twelve). Utah is on pace to get a protected seed, and should get it so long as they hold serve, which means not losing to non-tournament teams.
-ILLINOIS AT PURDUE (Big Ten). Both teams are on the bubble and really need this one. Simple as that. I like how Purdue has been playing, but their overall body of work is somewhat lacking considering how poor they were at the beginning of the year.
-GEORGE MASON AT VCU (Atlantic Ten). VCU is still okay, but they have slipped quite a bit since the injury, and really can’t afford to lose at home to a team as weak as George Mason.
-VIRGINIA AT LOUISVILLE (ACC). Virginia continues to win despite injuries, and should be able to lock up a #1 seed with a win today regardless of what happens next week. Louisville has had their own issues, and could use a win to help stabilize their profile, but perhaps more importantly get some positive momentum going their way.
-DAVIDSON AT DUQUESNE (Atlantic Ten). I think Davidson is safe for a bid so long as they avoid bad losses, which means winning today and perhaps winning their first conference tournament game.
-FRESNO STATE AT BOISE STATE (Mountain West). Boise should be alright so long as they avoid bad losses, which means winning today and winning their first tournament game in order to feel safe.
-IOWA STATE AT TCU (Big Twelve). Iowa State hasn’t been the best road team, but they have a winnable road game opportunity to close out the regular season.
-DUKE AT NORTH CAROLINA (ACC). I think Duke can earn a #1 seed if they win today, even if they lose their first conference tournament game. I’m not hugely impressed with UNC’s profile, but if they pick this one up and win one or two next week they can still end up as a protected seed.
-COLORADO STATE AT UTAH STATE (Mountain West). Colorado State appears to be relatively safe, but this would still be a nice road win to pick up, especially against a Utah State team that’s pretty respectable at home and who’s won six out of their last seven.
-VANDERBILT AT OLE MISS (SEC). Ole Miss should be fine if they win this no matter what happens next week.
-NEVADA AT SAN DIEGO STATE (Mountain West). San Diego State just needs to hold serve and avoid a bad loss tonight.
Bracket Projections: March 9th
NEWS, NOTES AND LINKS
–For our most recent Championship Week Video Notebook, where we review all of Sunday’s action and preview all of Monday night’s, as well as give you a complete viewing guide and update our Survival Board – CLICK HERE
-For all other Conference Tournament Information – CLICK HERE
-To see our NCAA Tournament Survival Board, which is the most valued and relied upon resource that is available to the Selection Committee (so says us) – CLICK HERE
-Tonight, we will be doing a Bracket Rundown Video Podcast where we build a consensus bracket involving all of us at Hoops HD, but in the meantime, here is John Stalica’s own personal bracket.
JOHN’S NOTES ON THE BRACKET
–Bracket was updated by John Stalica on Sunday, March 8th, at 11:30pm, est
-The bracket reflects all regular season games
-I did try to keep as many teams as possible closer to home in terms of who is hosting regional sites this time around. I know it’s been pointed out that Kentucky and Wisconsin would be top-heavy, but is permissible as long as there is overall regional balance. (Another note on Wisconsin – since they are more than 350 miles from any of the regional sites, I believe they are flying distance regardless of where they go). The 3 and 4 lines actually weren’t too hard to place here. As for the 4 seeds, Northern Iowa would be ahead of West Virginia on the S-Curve, but since they are flying distance regardless of Columbus or the West Coast, I opted to send them to Portland instead and give West Virginia a chance to play closer to home.
-As much as I wanted a UC-Ohio State matchup to take place, there were too many regular season rematches that had to be sidestepped. I also avoided matching up Kentucky/LSU and Duke/NC State even if they are permissible – I don’t want to schedule those unless I’m fairly certain they won’t face each other in conference tournament play.
-The opening-round matchups were also a little tricky since I didn’t want to send teams on a long flight out of Dayton after a Tuesday/Wednesday night game. I even considered bumping Wofford up to a 11 for procedural reasons, but I couldn’t make it work. As it was, I had to match up the top of the First 4 against the bottom of the First 4 to avoid conference matchups in this round and the round of 64.
-I put Harvard/Yale together on the 12 line because their profiles are almost interchangeable with one another in my view. They would have been a 13 seed if not for Murray State’s loss last night