CTC: Day Six

LAST UPDATE:  10:59 am
* – denotes recently posted update

It is now the time for the first week of tournament to wind down.  There are slightly fewer games, but they are worth a lot more points, so this is usually a somewhat important day in the CTC.  Granted, it is next to nothing compared to the ridiculous number of points available starting Tuesday with the 5x tournaments.

MISSOURI VALLEY CHAMPIONSHIP (48 points)
I don’t know about anyone else, but I was really looking forward to a Wichita State – Missouri State showdown for all the marbles in The Valley.  But, it was not meant to be.  Indiana State has been doubted and underappreciated all year and now they are one win away from going dancing.  Crazy.

#1 Missouri State vs. #3 Indiana State
In what is now probably a one-bid league, this game is for all the marbles in The Valley.  And, the 2011 CTC MVC title is down to a two-person race.  If Indiana State completes their miracle run through this tournament, Alexi will win this title decisively (he already has a 30 point lead on anyone else in this conference).  If Missouri State wins the title, Lil Lohse will win the MVC in 2011.  Primm also has Indiana State winning this.  Waters, Lil Lohse, Scoot, Cheryl, and Dan have Missouri State.

FINAL SCORE:  Indiana State 60 – Missouri State 56
The Bears tried to go to the well one too many times.  After falling way behind only to come back to beat SIU in the quarters and Creighton in the semis, the Bears could not get off the mat against Indiana State today.  The Sycamores – picked to finish DEAD-LAST in the conference coming into the season – will now, most likely, be The Valley’s lone representative in the Big Dance.  Alexi and Primm nail this unlikely champion in impressive fashion, with Alexi utterly dominating this conference this year, with the only game he missed all tournament was Creighton over N. Iowa.

COLONIAL SEMIFINALS (24 points each)
A fantastic quarterfinals quadruple-header yesterday in Richmond sets up an absolute dream semifinal double-header today.  5 hours of the basketball that the CAA has to provide – and it’s gonna be fantastic!  Bry and Waters are currently tied for the CAA lead with 96 points, but there are still a lot of points at stake in the next two days.

#1 George Mason vs. #4 VCU
Mason absolutely hammered Georgia State in the second half yesterday to extend the nation’s longest winning streak to 16 games.  Jamie Skeen’s game-winner in the waning seconds against Drexel yesterday gives the Rams a chance to avenge a 20-point regular season defeat to Mason.  Though they are not the stars of their respective teams, watch for a nice battle of undersized point guards today in VCU’s Joey Rodriguez and GM’s Andre Cornelius.  Interstingly, while two people had Drexel here (Lynch and Dave), no one has VCU winning this game.  The other 18 entries have Mason, with 13 of them picking Mason as their champion (everyone except Lynch, Dave, Bry, Waters, KA, Teddy, and Gross).

FINAL SCORE:  VCU 79 – George Mason 63
Three years in a row now that the Rams have knocked out GM in the CAA tournament.  No team other than VCU has beaten George Mason in this tournament since 2001.  VCU showed their incredible versatility as their center and power forward combined for 7-12 from three-point range.  That’s right, their two biggest guys, Jamie Skeen and Brandon Burgess scored from all over the court and the Rams are heading to the finals.  Everyone got this wrong, but it was a de facto victory for Lynch and Dave, who had Drexel here.  The 7 people without GM as their champion are also pleased with this result. 

#2 Old Dominion vs. #3 Hofstra
As good as the first game is, this one is certainly no slouch.  ODU showed the defensive prowess yesterday, holding Delaware to just 50 points in a quarterfinal win.  The team formerly known as the Flying Dutchmen took care of upstart W&M yesterday to set up this great semifinal.  The key to this game is whether or not the Monarchs can contain Hofstra’s elite scorer, Charles Jenkins.  Alexi, Waters, and KA have Hofstra winning this game, with the latter two having Hofstra winning this tournament.  Bry, Lynch, Teddy, Dave, and Gross all have ODU winning the tournament.

FINAL SCORE:  Old Dominion 77 – Hofstra 69
Because they have made the name all year with their defense, the ODU offense is often overlooked, but they have some firepower, and they showed it today.  The Monarchs shot 57% from the field and dropped 77 on Hofstra to advance to the CAA finals tomorrow night against their arch-rivals, VCU.  The individual talent was on display for ODU, as Frank Hassell had 22, Darius James had 16, and Kent Bazemore and Keyon Carter were both in double-figures.  This team is heading to the NCAA tournament regardless of what happens tomorrow night, and they are not exactly who you would want to see next to your favorite team on Selection Sunday (Lord knows, I’m terrified of Temple drawing them).  Charles Jenkins – in his last CAA game before the NBA comes calling – had 16 points and 6 assists for the prideful Dutchmen.  Waters and KA lost their champion here.  5 others kept theirs alive.  And, with no one having VCU, those 5 (Bry, Lynch, Teddy, Dave, and Gross) can all pick up 48 points on the rest of the field tomorrow if the Monarchs win.

WCC SEMIFINALS (16 points each)
With the 3- and 4-seeds surviving through the quarters, we get the top 4 WCC teams set to square off in the tournament’s semifinal round here in Vegas.  The top two teams (and much anticipated arrivals) enter the mix here today – St. Mary’s and Gonzaga.  Bry will try and keep a perfect WCC bracket going here.

#1 St. Mary’s vs. #4 Santa Clara
The Gaels of St. Mary’s have had a season to remember…at least until the final two weeks, which they are hoping will not actually make it one to forget.  Following up a Sweet Sixteen run a year ago, the Gaels lost Omar Samham, but return a ton of exciting Aussies.  Mickey McConnell and Matthew Dellavadova are about as exciting a backcourt duo as you are going to find anywhere in the country.  They also have Rob Jones down – a very athletic big – who transferred from San Diego.  (Interesting note on Jones – he is the grandson of a rather infamous man – Jim Jones, the guy responsible for the Jonestown mass murder of almost 1,000 people).   Santa Clara enters this game after an 8-point win over Loyola Marymount last night.  Except for Gross (who had Portland), everyone has St. Mary’s in this one.  Stri, Alexi, Waters, Teddy, Gersh, and Mac all have the Gaels winning this tournament.

FINAL SCORE:  St. Mary’s 73 – Santa Clara 64
A good sign for the Gaels:  they got just one field goal from leading scorer McConnell but others stepped up and they got the win anyway.  Role players Stephen Holt (great name if you’re an Arrested Development fan) and Mitchell Young combine for 32 points.  6 competitors keep their champ alive. 

#2 Gonzaga vs. #3 San Francisco
Having dominated this conference for the better part of a decade, the Zags actually find themselves in the unfamiliar situation of playing the underdog in the conference tournament – at least as seedings go.  The Zags enter the tournament winners of 7 in a row, including a 70-53 win over USF on February 16.  San Francisco, who beat the Zags in OT in San Fran in January, knocked off Pepperdine last night to get here.  Cheryl and Primm have San Fran winning this game and winning it all.  The other 18 people have Gonzaga winning this game and a dozen have them winning the tournament.

*FINAL SCORE:  Gonzaga 71 – San Francisco 67
All night long it looked like Gonzaga was going to run away and hide in this game, but Rex Walters’s team just wouldn’t go away and really gave the Zags a scare down the stretch.  The key play was when Gonzaga tried to inbound the ball, up 2, with :27 seconds left.  The ball was stolen by a San Fran player who then called a timeout…a timeout which he did not have.  The Dons were assessed a technical foul and Zaga iced the game at the line.  A tough way for the season to end in San Fran, but they had a great year, should play in a postseason tournament somewhere, and have a very young team.  We may just hear from them again down the line.  Now, Gonzaga gets to go Round 3 with St. Mary’s tomorrow night in the finals.  Cheryl and Primm were real close to this upset, but they end up losing their champ.  12 people kept alive their champ.

SoCON SEMIFINALS (16 points each)
The SoCon has played 8 games in the past two days to cut their field to four.  And, a pretty great doubleheader today, as it is.  Dan is currently leading all CTC’ers in the SoCon standings with 52 points.

#1N W. Carolina vs. #2S Wofford
W. Carolina took care of UNC-Greensboro yesterday, 77-66, and is now the lone representative of the North Division.  The defending champion Terriers of Wofford handled App State yesterday with relative ease and are now two games away from a repeat trip to The Dance.  A handful of entries have already lost this game with either Davidson or App State (J, Alexi, Lynch, Lohse, and Teddy), and the others are split, which means that this is a pretty big game for the CTC.  Other 15 entries that are still alive in this game, 4 of them (Doogan, Lil Lohse, KA, and Cheryl) have W. Carolina.  The other 11 have Wofford in a slight upset.  Stri, Dave, Gersh, Gross, and Mac all have Wofford winning the tournament; Lil Lohse and Cheryl have WCU winning it.

FINAL SCORE:  Wofford 86 – W. Carolina 72
Wofford’s three top players score 18, 17, and 17 points and lead the Terriers to a comfortable W.  Lil Lohse and Cheryl lose their SoCon champ, while 5 others get their title pick into the championship game.

#1S College of Charleston vs. #3S Furman
The Cougars of Charleston flexed their #1 muscles by hammering Elon yesterday, while Furman took care of the hosts, Chattanooga.  This is going to be an excellent game between the conference favorites and the pesky, talented underdogs.  Doogan and Dave have Furman here (Doogan has them winning it all); Cheryl has already lost this game (Chattanooga); everyone else has Charleston here, with 8 of them (Bry, J, Alexi, Waters, Scoot, Dan, Rikey, and Primm) tagging CofC to win the tournament.

FINAL SCORE:  Charleston 63 – Furman 58
Furman led most of the game, and looked very much in control when they were up by 11 midway through the 2nd half, but Charleston turned it on with an 18-3 run to take a slim lead that they were able to hold onto in the closing minutes.  Conference Player of the Year Andrew Goudelock struggled for much of the game but got it done when it mattered and finished with 31 points.  A tough loss for Doogan, as his champs go down.

MAAC SEMIFINALS (8 points each)
The best four teams in the MAAC have survived any upsets so far to set up a pretty good semifinal double-header today in Bridgeport.  There is a 6-way tie at the top of the CTC MAAC standings, so these games will go a long way to giving someone a leg up.

#1 Fairfield vs. #4 St. Peter’s
Top-seeded Fairfield either played off-the-charts defense or ran up against a completely punchless Marist team…or both.  Fairfield held the Red Foxes to 31 points in their quarterfinal win to get them to the semis today against St. Peter’s.  The Peacocks took care of a feisty Loyola (MD) team, 70-60, to give them a shot at upsetting the favorites today.  Lynch and Primm have a nice upset pick here of SPC.  J, Alexi, KA, and Gross have already lost this game by picking Loyola.  The rest of the field has FU here, but only 5 of them (Bry, Stri, Water, Dan, and Rikey) have the Stags winning the tournament.

FINAL SCORE:  St. Peter’s 62 – Fairfield 48
On their home floor, two games away from the Big Dance, after running away with the regular season title…and the Stags of Fairfield just forgot to show up today.  And, it was ugly.  St. Peter’s led 40-15 at halftime.  Fairfield came out of the locker room and immediately went on a 21-4 run, but it wasn’t nearly enough, as the Peacocks advance to the MAAC championship tomorrow night.  This was a tough loss for the 5 guys with Fairfield winning it, but it sure was sweet for Primm, who has St. Peter’s winning this tournament.  Lynch is also pretty happy, as he nailed this upset pick.

#2 Iona vs. #3 Rider
The Iona Gaels absolutely pummeled Siena in the second half yesterday to finish with a 94-64 victory.  They have now won 8 in a row, hoping to get to 10 and an NCAA tournament berth.  Rider, despite losing their starting point guard to suspension just hours before the game, took care of Canisius yesterday in a game that was pretty close most of the way.  These two teams were clearly the two biggest threats to Fairfield all year, and now they will get to play their way into a possible shot at the top-seeded Stags for all the marbles.  This game has a TON of CTC implications.  Dan had Siena winning this game, so he is out, but of the other 19 entries, 8 have Rider (Bry, Stri, Alexi, Waters, Lohse, Teddy, Cheryl, and Dave) and 11 have Iona.

FINAL SCORE:  Iona 83 – Rider 59
While Gaels led the whole way in this one, it was pretty close for most of it, but at around the midway point of the second half, they broke the game wide open and cruised into tomorrow’s championship against St. Peter’s.  With the top seed and tournament host, Fairfield, losing in the first game and the impressive fashion in which Iona has reached the finals, one has to consider the Gaels a heavy favorite to represent the MAAC in that big tournament in two weeks.  This was a huge game for the CTC.  J, Doogan, Lynch, Lil Lohse, KA, Scoot, Gersh, Gross, and Mac all kept their champion alive here.  Alexi, Lohse, Teddy, Cheryl, and Dave all lost their champions.  Even most championship games don’t have that many champion picks going up against each other.

NEC SEMIFINALS (8 points each)
On Day Three, the NEC had its 4-game quarterfinal round.  Now, three days later, it is time for the four winners from Thursday to hit the courts again to decide who is going to play for the NEC title on Day Nine.

#1 Long Island vs. #4 C. Connecticut State
The Blackbirds of LIU had no trouble with St. Francis (PA) in the first round.  The Blue Devils of CCSU had a lot of trouble with St. Francis (NY) in the first round.  Both teams won, but did it in a much different way.  Now, CCSU will try and slow down the dynamic offense of Long Island in a gym that is very difficult to come out of with a W.  Interestingly, because of the “reseeding” effect, Dave has both of these teams in the finals, so he is assured exactly one finalist pick being correct (he has CCSU winning the title, so he be a Blue Devil fan today).  Lynch is the only other CTC’er with CCSU in the finals.  Though, five people (Waters, Lohse, KA, Teddy, and Gersh) have someone other than LIU or CCSU and have, therefore, already lost this game.  Half of the total field (Bry, J, Doogan, Stri, Alexi, Lil Lohse, Scoot, Cheryl, Dan, and Rikey) have LIU winning the whole thing.

FINAL SCORE:  Long Island 69 – C. Connecticut State 67
CCSU led pretty much the whole first half and much of the second, but LIU made enough plays down the stretch and will move on to host the NEC championship on Wednesday night.  The Blackbirds, the nation’s 4th highest-scoring team, despite not having a single player average more than 14/game, were held to a relatively low 69, but played enough defense (not usually their strength) to get it done.  Dave lost his champion here, despite getting the points for an LIU win.  Lynch also lost a finalist here.  Half the field kept alive their NEC champ.

#2 Quinnipiac vs. #3 Robert Morris
Like the first matchup, this game pits two teams who had very different experiences in this quarterfinal games.  Quinnipiac hammered Mount St. Mary’s by 21, while Robert Morris survived a hard-fought battle with Wagner.  Robert Morris has proven the ability to win on the road this year, but QU is a tough place to play.  Bry, J, Lynch, Rikey, Gersh, and Mac have QU winning the game.  Lynch, Gersh, and Mac have them winning the tournament.  Stri, Alexi, Waters, Lohse, Lil Lohse, Teddy, Scoot, Dan, Primm, and Gross all have RMC winning this.  Waters, Lohse, Teddy, Primm, and Gross all have the Colonials winning the whole thing.

FINAL SCORE:  Robert Morris 64 – Quinnipiac 62
If you have ever talked to me about basketball for more than 5 minutes, you probably will have heard my biggest pet peeve – giving up an offensive rebound on a missed free throw.  In 95% of cases, it is absolutely, completely unacceptable.  The rules of the game give you all you should ever need (barring a crazy bounce) to get a rebound – position.  Yet, all the time (even at the most critical times), you see laziness or lack of technique causing an offensive rebound off the miss.  And, that is what happened here.  QU was up one with :41 seconds left, when Russell Johnson was fouled on a drive.  Johnson hit the first to tie the game, but missed the second.  But, the ball was knocked out of bounds off a QU player and the Colonials kept the ball.  They then ran off 28 seconds and got a go-ahead bucket from Vernel Jones.  QU failed to score and the game and their season was over.  FUNDAMENTALS!  Anyway, RMC will now travel to Brooklyn to face LIU in the NEC championship game.  This was a pretty big CTC game, too.  A bunch of entries had this win, including 5 which had the Colonials winning the tournament.  Lynch, Gersh, and Mac lost their NEC champion.

AMERICA EAST SEMIFINALS (8 points each)
All year, the Am East has been pretty much a two-team race for the top and then a bit of a clusterF in the middle.  Well, the quarterfinal round played out that way, as well.  The top two teams (Vermont and BU) won their games, and the other two games were back-and-forth and won by the lower seeds.  Now, we have those two winners taking their shots at the big two.

#1 Vermont vs. #5 Stony Brook
The Catamounts held Binghamton to 46 points just two nights after the Bearcats dropped 91 on UMBC in the pigtail game.  Now, they will get a Stony Brook team that took care of business against Albany.  SB was picked as the second best team in the conference in the preseason (behind BU), so they have the talent to give UVM a run.  But, Vermont has been the best team – on the court, not on paper – all year.  Doogan and Dave have Stony Brook in a really nice upset pick here.  J has already lost the game, having picked Albany to win here.  The other 17 have UVM winning this game.  Bry, Alexi, Lynch, Teddy, Scoot, Cheryl, Dan, Rikey, Primm, Gross, and Mac all have Vermont winning this tournament.

FINAL SCORE:  Stony Brook 69 – Vermont 47
In the biggest shocker of the day, Stony Brook absolutely hammers Vermont in the semis and will advance to the finals of the PL next Saturday.  A somewhat close game in the first half – SB led by 7 at the break – became a full-fledged laugher in the second half, as the Catamounts just didn’t show up.  Vermont shot 32% from the floor and are on their way to the NIT.  Doogan and Dave nail this upset pick, and with that, Doogan takes over sole possession of first in the overall standings. 

#2 Boston U vs. #6 Hartford
BU did their job last night in a 9-point win over a gritty New Hampshire team and now they get to play the host team, the Hartford Hawks.  Hartford won a tough game 66-63 over Maine in front of the hometown fans last night to get them to this semifinal.  Lynch, Cheryl, and Gross all have Hartford here in what will be a great upset pick if it comes through.  Gersh and Alexi have already lost this game (Maine).  Everyone else has BU.  J, Doogan, Waters, Lohse, Lil Lohse, KA, and Dave all have the Terriers winning the Am East.

FINAL SCORE:  Boston U. 55 – Hartford 49
It was close the whole way, but Archbishop Ryan alum Joe Zeglinski’s late jumper was off the mark, and BU corralled the rebound and hit 4 free throws in the final seconds to win by 6.  After the upset of Vermont, BU now gets to host Stony Brook at their gym next weekend and will be pretty big favorites to take the America East crown.  Good news for the 7 players who made that pick. 

PATRIOT LEAGUE SEMIFINALS (8 points each)
Remember the Patriot League?   Well, they played their quarterfinal round all the way back on Day Two of the CTC and now they are ready to pick it back up and play their semifinals.  A host of entries nailed the quarterfinal round perfectly, so these semis might separate the leaders.

#2 American vs. #6 Lafayette
American had no real problems with Colgate in the quarterfinal round and will now host a dangerous Lafayette team for the right to go to the PL finals.  The Leopards – the preseason favorite to win the league – were the only road team to win in the quarterfinal round, as they went into Holy Cross and sent the Crusaders home for the year.  American swept Lafayette in the regular season, but the last game they played, last Saturday, was an epic 95-92 double OT game.  Now, a week later, the two teams will go at it again with even more at stake.  Dave and Gross both have Lafayette winning this game.  Waters, KA, Teddy, Cheryl, Dan, Gersh, and Primm all had Holy Cross here, so they cannot win this game.  The rest of the field have American.  Scoot is the most patriotic of the bunch, as he is the only one with The American University winning the championship.

FINAL SCORE:  Lafayette 73 – American 71 (2 OTs)
There had only been one OT all week when this game tipped off, but got to see twice that in this game alone, as an absolutely thrilling game ends with Lafayette on their way to the PL championship (possibly against the arch-rivals, Lehigh).  American seemed to have the game won in regulation, but a missed free throw by Stephen Lumpkins allowed a Ryan Willen three to send it to OT.  Then Jim Mower hit a free throw with :12 seconds left to tie and the Eagles couldn’t convert their chance to win it.  Then, in the second OT, Jim Mower hit a 3 with :02 seconds left to turn a 1-point deficit into a 2-point win.  MADNESS!  This was huge for Dave and Gross, who both have the Leopards winning this game.  Scoot loses his champion here in a brutal way.

#1 Bucknell vs. #4 Lehigh
Bucknell pretty much dominated the PL’s regular season and then did completely dominate Army in the quarterfinal round.  The defending champion Mountainhawks of Lehigh, led by sensational sophomore C.J. McCollum (who was too good for this league as a freshman, so it’s only beginning for this kid), handled Navy in the quarters.  As up-and-down as the Mountainhawks were all year, it is not a stretch to see them go into Bucknell and steal one here, though no one in the CTC has them doing that.  Waters has already lost the game with Navy; everyone else has Bucknell, with a large majority having the Bison winning this whole tournament.

FINAL SCORE: Bucknell 66 – Lehigh 64
Well, we were pretty close to a Lehigh-Lafayette title game, which would’ve been a nice new chapter in the history of that rivalry, but CJ McCollum got hammered on a shot that would’ve tied it with 8 seconds left, but the refs swallowed the whistle, and Bucknell converted the free throws to put it away.  The Bison are the benefactors of Lafayette’s upset and will look to complete their domination of the PL this year.  Little CTC implications here…

SUN BELT QUARTERFINALS (4 points each)
Hot Springs, AR, gave us some interesting games yesterday, including a couple upsets, but today the games should be a whole lot better today.  Plus, this is BY FAR, the craziest CTC bracket I have ever seen.  It seems everyone has a different opinion of what is going to happen, as there are a slew of different champion picks.

#2W LA-Lafayette vs. #3E W. Kentucky
While these two teams are in different divisions, so they only play each other once every regular season, it is easy to say that they always have an eye on one another.  The two perennial Sun Belt power are used to facing each other in the finals of this tournament, but today they will get it on in the quarterfinals.  The Hilltoppers arrive coming off a fairly routine win over LA-Monroe last night, while the Ragin’ Cajuns got the night off.  ULL is the hottest team in the Sun Belt, having won 11 in a row coming into the tournament.  But, the fact is that they needed that 11-game winning streak just to go .500 in what was quickly becoming a nightmare of a season.  But, they turned it a round and now enter the tournament as one of the favorites.  Unfortunately for them, they have probably found themselves in the same half of the bracket as all of the other 3 probably favorites, including WKU, who they face today.  This is a huge game in the CTC.  Bry, Doogan, Alexi, and Lil Lohse all have the Ragin’ Cajuns actually winning this whole tournament.  Dan has WKU winning this tournament, and 2 others (Primm and Gross) have them reaching the finals.

FINAL SCORE:  W. Kentucky 81 – LA-Lafayette 76
The red-hot Ragin’ Cajuns go down, which is always a sad day for the Nickname Bracket.  W. Kentucky fell behind by double-digits in the first half but clawed their way back and pulled off the upset behind 26 points from Steffphon Pettigrew and 25 from Sergio Kerusch.  A nice pickup for Dan, Primm, and Gross, and good news for many others as well as current leaders Bry and Doogan see their champ go down.

#1E FL-Atlantic vs. #4W N. Texas
With all the talk about the talented WKU, the red-hot Lafayette, and the preseason favored N. Texas, the top-seeded FL-Atlantic Owls seem to have been completely forgotten.  But, they shouldn’t be because this team is flat-out good.  They won 21 games, including wins over major conference teams Mississippi State and S. Florida.  They also have wins over quality mid-majors like Hofstra and UW-Milwaukee.  In fact, they have a very respectable 105 RPI.  But, they are in a nightmarish half of a bracket and it start tonight against N. Texas.  The Mean Green – the preseason pick to dominate the Sun Belt – had a nightmare of a conference season, but have a clean slate with a chance to make up for it.  They started last night with an easy win over Troy and now they get a shot at #1.  Like most Sun Belt games, this has a lot of CTC implications.  J, Lohse and Cheryl have N. Texas winning it all.  And, Teddy has them in the finals.  On the other side, Waters, Lynch, Rikey, and Mac all have FAU winning this tournament.  Along with the 3 that have them in the finals, Dave also has N. Texas winning this game.

FINAL SCORE:  N. Texas 78 – Florida Atlantic 64
Well, looks like things are getting a little crazy in the Sun Belt.  Much like W. Kentucky, N. Texas falls behind in the 1st half, then comes charging back to pull off the pretty big upset.  Tristan Thompson (yes, same name as a key player for another more well-known Texas school) scored 24 points in that 2nd half and 36 in the game to lead the way for the Mean Green win (which is always a happy day for the Nickname Bracket).  Great news here for J, Lohse and Cheryl, who keep their Cinderella champ pick alive.

#1W Arkansas State vs. #5W AR-Little Rock
Arkansas State had a very good year, but it is hard not to think that they kind of won the Western Division by default, as Lafayette started so poorly and N. Texas was so bad for all of conference play.  That is not taking anything away from the Red Wolves, who are certainly a viable candidate to win this tournament, especially in their home state.  However, here in the quarters, that home state advantage is neutralized because they are battling their in-state rivals, UALR.  Little Rock upset S. Alabama last night by 14 to get a shot at ASU tonight.  Gersh had S. Alabama here, so he has already lost it, but he can avoid losing ground on anyone if UALR wins, because the other 19 entries have Arkansas State here.  KA, Teddy, Dave, and Primm all have Arkansas State winning this whole tournament.

*FINAL SCORE:  AR-Little Rock 59 – Arkansas St. 52
The complete destruction of the Sun Belt conference tournament continues in one of the late games here, as UALR knocks off the Western Division co-champs, Arkansas St. in the quarters.  This marks the third straight Sun Belt co-champ was knocked off in the quarters.  The UALR star, Soloman Bozeman led the way with 15 for the victorious Trojans.  No one got this right, but KA, Teddy, Dave, and Primm all lost their champion. 

#2E Middle Tennessee vs. #6E FL-International
FIU pulled off the biggest upset of the night last night, and they were able to do it with a whole 53 points.  They held the Denver Pioneers to 49 and get to turn around and play again today.  However, their opponent today is slightly better.  Middle Tennessee had a decent season – albeit an inconsistent one – and are also a viable candidate to win this thing.  Dan and J actually have huge upset picks here with FIU.  Dave and KA have already lost with Denver.  The other 17 have MT in this one.  In fact, 7 entries (Alexi, Waters, Lohse, Scoot, Gersh, Gross, and Mac) have MT in the finals.  Scoot, Gersh, and Gross have them winning it all.

*FINAL SCORE:  Middle Tennessee 73 – FL-International 38
Finally, a little bit of normalcy in the Sun Belt – well, at least as much normalcy as a 73 – 38 game can provide.  All of a sudden, Middle Tennessee is the highest seed remaining in the tournament after three upsets earlier in the night and a shellacking of FIU here for the Blue Raiders.  Would you believe that this was a relatively close game in the first half?  It was, but then towards the end of the half, the Blue Raiders started to take control and never looked back.  It was an emotional scene, as Middle Tennessee has been dealing with a lot of off the court issues, stemming from the stabbing death of one of the players on the women’s team (who was also the girlfriend of a seldom-used reserve on the men’s team).  The victim’s roommate and teammate has been arrested on first-degree murder charges stemming from the incident.  It would be a fitting story for MT to win this tournament, but they are still two games away and the competition will most likely put up more of a struggle than FIU did tonight.  Scoot, Gersh, and Gross are happy with their Mid Tenn title picks right now, considering they are the best team remaining.  Dan and J missed a big upset pick here with FIU.

SUMMIT LEAGUE QUARTERFINALS (4 points each)
Last night the Summit League kicked off its tournament with the top two seeds playing (and winning) their quarterfinal affairs.  Today, the other two quarterfinals take place in Sioux Falls.  As a perennially top-heavy league, this tournament usually has its best days in the later stages, but these two games are pretty decent.

#4 IPFW vs. #5 South Dakota State
In a league that is generally dominated every year by three teams (Oral Roberts, Oakland, and IUPUI), it looked like that “general” trend may be broken this year early on.  IPFW was on top of the standing for most of the first part of the conference season, but they fell back to earth a little bit late in the season and fell to 4th – allowing the big three to take 1-2-3 again.  That being said, this team has proven that it can play with the big boys and shouldn’t be overlooked this week.  SD State is a team that showed who they are – a solid team that is not quite in the upper echelon of the league.  They were 1-5 against the top three in the league, and 10-3 against everyone else, including a season sweep of IPFW (by 16 and 25).  Most of the CTC went for the mild upset in this one, as only Alexi, KA, Scoot, Rikey, and Primm took the favorites, IPFW.  Dave has SD State going to the finals.  KA has IPFW winning the whole thing.

FINAL SCORE:  S. Dakota St. 85 – IPFW 75
IPFW complete their late season fade with a quiet exit from the Summit tourney.  A big game from SDSU star Nate Wolters, with 30 points, 7 boards, 5 assists.  KA’s champ goes down.

#3 IUPUI vs. #6 UMKC
The one team of the big three that didn’t play yesterday was IUPUI, so they get to get it going tonight.  The Roadrunners of UMKC had a very good middle part of the season and looked like they had found their stride, but then they lost their last three games in ugly fashion, giving up 84, 82, and 103 points.  They did beat IUPUI in double-OT in Kansas City on January 20.  J is the only one to take the Roadrunners in an upset here, and while no one has IUPUI winning the tournament, Alexi, KA, Dan, and Primm all have them reaching the finals.

*FINAL SCORE:  IUPUI 79 – UMKC 55
IUPUI opens their Summit League tournament with a rout of UMKC.  Leroy Nobles dropped 37 on the Roadrunners, as the Jaguars advance to face Oral Roberts in the semis.  J missed his upset pick here, while 4 contenders kept their finalists alive.