For our latest Bracket Rundown, CLICK HERE.
For our latest Championship Week Video Notebook, CLICK HERE.
Yale at Harvard, 8:00 PM Eastern, American Sports Network
As we enter the final weekend of the regular season for those conferences not already deep into conference tournament play, there is little question as to which game was going to be chosen for tonight’s UTR Game of the Day. The MAC will be winding up play tonight and determining which teams receive its conference tournament byes. While that is very important (including a huge game between Buffalo and Bowling Green that could be the difference between a team having to play 2 games and 5 games in the MAC tournament), the showdown in the Ivy League is the clear cut choice for tonight. The winner of tonight’s Yale at Harvard game will only need to win their regular season finale on Saturday (or have tonight’s loser lose again in their finale) to clinch the automatic bid. In an absolute worse case scenario, tonight’s winner will guarantee at least a tie for the regular season crown and a berth in a one game playoff.
Yale enters play tonight at 10-2 in conference and 21-8 overall. Their two conference losses both came at home, to Harvard by 2 points and to Columbia. Luckily for the Bulldogs, their last two games are on the road. Yale is led by Justin Sears, though keep an eye on Jack Montague, a strong three-point shooter, and Matt Townsend as options beyond Sears. If the Bulldogs can pick up the victory tonight, a win at Dartmouth tomorrow night (7:00 PM) will give the Bulldogs their first NCAA tournament appearance since 1962. This would end the second longest NCAA tournament drought among teams that have been at least once before, with only conference-mate Dartmouth (which has not been in the field since 1959) having a longer streak.
Harvard is looking to lock up its fourth straight Ivy League championship and NCAA tournament berth this weekend. The Crimson enter play tonight at 10-2 in conference and 20-6 overall. While they did win at Yale earlier this year, a pair of startling losses in Ivy League play (at home to Dartmouth and at Cornell), plus a handful of close calls that they pulled out, have left us scratching our heads about what appeared to be, in terms of talent at least, not only the best team in the Ivy League but a team with Top 25 potential. Despite their setbacks this season, the team led by Wesley Saunders, Siyani Chambers and Steve Moundou-Missi needs to simply hold serve in a pair of home games this weekend to return to the Big Dance (Saturday night they host Brown, 6:00 PM, CBS Sports Network). The atmosphere should be electric in Cambridge tonight, and there is no reason not to expect a tough close game that could come down to the final possessions.
OTHER HIGHLIGHTED REGULAR SEASON GAMES
-TEXAS TECH AT BAYLOR (Big Twelve). I’ve been really impressed with how Baylor has been playing lately, despite their recent loss at Texas. I think they’re safe for a protected seed so long as they hold serve in their remaining games.
Bracket Projections: March 6th
Okay, this was kind of fun despite the technical audio difficulties of the podcast. The five of us, being Warren Nolan, Chad Sherwood, David Griggs, Joby Fortson and John Stalica, all did separate seed list rankings and submitted them to Chad Sherwood, who much to David Griggs’s despair, acted as the chairman. He tallied up the votes, and revealed the bracket on air, line by line during the podcast. None of us knew how the final bracket was going to come out, so watching it was literally like watching Selection Sunday.
Just like the real Selection Committee, the individual participants did not agree with everything that the group decided. We were pretty much in agreement about the top three lines, but there was some disagreement over whether or not Northern Iowa and Wichita State, much less both of them, deserved #4 seeds with so few quality wins other than beating each other.
The group appeared to be in strong disagreement with who some of the final teams were. David favors Miami FL, but they ended up missing the field, as did BYU despite their big win at Gonzaga. Illinois not only made it, but is inside the First Four, whereas some of the panel did not even have them in the field.
-To watch the Bracket Rundown Video Podcast to see the bracket revealed and discussed line by line – CLICK HERE
NEXT IN LINE: Miami FL, BYU, Tulsa, Texas A&M
OTHER VERY IMPORTANT LINKS
-For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day, which is a game between Harvard and Yale with massive NCAA Tournament implications, and a look at other big regular season games – CLICK HERE
-For our most recent CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK VIDEO NOTEBOOK, which includes a review of last night’s conference tournament action, a preview of today’s action, and an update of the Hoops HD NCAA Tournament Survival Board, and today’s viewing guide – CLICK HERE
-For all other Conference Tournament Info – CLICK HERE
-To check out the Hoops HD NCAA Tournament Survival Board, which is the best and most relied upon resource that is available to the real Selection Committee (so says us) – CLICK HERE