CIT Game of the Day – March 18

Posted on March 18, 2014 by Chad

COLUMBIA AT VALPARAISO, 7:00 PM Eastern, Live streaming at watchcollegeinsider.com

The 1968 NCAA Tournament East Region Semifinals.  The Davidson Wildcats defeated the Columbia Lions 61-59 in overtime. 46 years ago.  46 years between that game and today — and 46 years since Columbia last played a postseason Division I Men’s Basketball game.  That streak ends tonight.

Columbia went 19-12 this season, posting an 8-6 record in the Ivy, good enough to tie Princeton for third place.  Their season included wins over Stony Brook and American, a one point loss to Manhattan, and a loss early in the year at Michigan State in a game they had a halftime lead.  This has clearly been one of the best seasons for the Lions in recent years, and the reward of a chance to play in the CIT has broken one of the longest postseason drought streaks in the NCAA (in fact, only conference-mate Dartmouth has a longer such streak).

Columbia’s opponent tonight is the Horizon League’s Valparaiso Crusaders.  Valpo was 18-15 this season, 9-7 in the Horizon which got them a fourth place finish.  Their season included at 75-60 home win over Green Bay, and given how close the Phoenix ended up being to receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, that game may have been the one that knocked them out.  This is the Crusaders’ second appearance in the CIT — in 2011 they suffered a first round loss.  They will try to improve on that tonight.

Tonight’s other CIT action is as follows:

VMI at Canisius, 7:00 PM
Wright State at East Carolina, 7:00 PM
Norfolk State at Eastern Michigan, 7:00 PM
Chattanooga at East Tennessee State, 7:00 PM
Alabama State at Sam Houston State, 8:00 PM
Portland State at San Diego, 10:00 PM

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Early Bracket Analysis – 03/17/14

Posted on March 17, 2014 by Johnny Basketball

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.

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CIT Game of the Day – Monday, March 17

Posted on March 17, 2014 by Chad

HOLY CROSS at BROWN, 7:00 PM Eastern, live streaming at collegeinsider.com

Don’t forget to check out our review of the NCAA field here:  https://hoopshd.com/2014/03/17/selection-sunday-review-and-recap/

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.

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Selection Sunday Review and Recap

Posted on March 17, 2014 by Chad

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!

 

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FINAL BRACKET PROJECTION – 2014

Posted on March 16, 2014 by Chad

Here it is!

The HOOPS HD Mock Committee Final Bracket!!!!

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Asjb5kvZz0PcdGJpZ2ZPVkhkcnZLUnlYZExRQXB1Z0E&usp=sharing#gid=2

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Conference Tournament Video Notebook, Viewing Guide and Survival Board – SELECTION SUNDAY 2014!

Posted on March 16, 2014 by Chad

WELCOME TO SELECTION SUNDAY 2014!

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

SEC Championship:
3:15 PM – (1) Florida vs (2) Kentucky, ESPN

Sun Belt Championship:
1:00 PM – (1) Georgia State vs (3) Louisiana-Lafayette, ESPN2

NCAA Tournament Selection Show:
6:00 PM – CBS

NIT Tournament Selection Show:
8:30 PM – ESPNU

HoopsHD Tournament Survival Board

Last Update: Sunday, March 16, 2014 5:30 PM

LEGEND:
CHAMPION (BOLD AND ALL CAPS)
Locks (Bold)
Under Consideration (Italics)
Lose and You’re Screwed (normal text)

77 TEAMS REMAINING!!!!!

ACC – 7 (VIRGINIA, Syracuse, Duke, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, NC State, Florida State)

AMERICA EAST – 1 (ALBANY)

AMERICAN ATHLETIC – 5 (Cincinnati, LOUISVILLE, Memphis, UConn, SMU)

ATLANTIC TEN – 6 (Saint Louis, Virginia Commonwealth, George Washington, UMass, Dayton, SAINT JOSEPH’S)

ATLANTIC SUN – 1 (MERCER)

BIG TWELVE – 7 (Kansas, IOWA STATE, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas State, Baylor, Oklahoma State)

BIG EAST – 4 (Creighton, Villanova, Xavier, PROVIDENCE)

BIG SKY – 1 (WEBER STATE)

BIG SOUTH – 1 (COASTAL CAROLINA)

BIG TEN – 8  (Michigan, MICHIGAN STATE, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, Illinois)

BIG WEST – 1 (CAL POLY)

COLONIAL – 1 (DELAWARE)

CONFERENCE USA – 3 (Louisiana Tech, Southern Miss, TULSA)

HORIZON LEAGUE – 2 (MILWAUKEE, Green Bay)

INDEPENDENT – 0

IVY LEAGUE – 1 (HARVARD)

METRO ATLANTIC– 1 (MANHATTAN)

MEAC – 1 (NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL)

MID-AMERICAN – 1 (WESTERN MICHIGAN)

MISSOURI VALLEY – 1 (WICHITA STATE)

MOUNTAIN WEST – 2 (San Diego State, NEW MEXICO)

NORTHEAST – 1 (MOUNT SAINT MARY’S)

OHIO VALLEY – 2 (EASTERN KENTUCKY, Belmont)

PAC TWELVE – 7 (Arizona, UCLA, Stanford, California, Colorado, Arizona State, Oregon)

PATRIOT LEAGUE – 1 (AMERICAN)

SEC – 4 (FLORIDA, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri)

SOUTHERN – 1 (WOFFORD)

SOUTHLAND – 1 (STEPHEN F. AUSTIN)

SUN BELT – 1 (LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE)

SWAC – 1 (TEXAS SOUTHERN)

SUMMIT LEAGUE – 1 (NORTH DAKOTA STATE)

WEST COAST – 2 (GONZAGA, Brigham Young)

WAC – 1 (NEW MEXICO STATE)

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