CTC: Day Nine

Last Update: 9:15 AM
*denotes recent update

After an awesome day of hoops yesterday, we get to pick it right back up today.  20 games yesterday gave us phenomenal basketball, so you can expect 28 today to give us that much more.  And, the best part – we are on the eve of the most underrated day in a year of sports.

BIG SKY CHAMPIONSHIP (16 points)
While defending champ, Montana, had a huge second half to erase a deficit and end up with a fairly easy victory over Weber State.  The hosts, N. Colorado, had a much tougher time, but survived against a good N. Arizona team.  Now, the two will play for the right to hear their name called on Sunday.  Someone will complete the Big Sky with a perfect bracket.  If UNC wins, Bry will take the title by himself.  If Montana wins, Stri and Rikey will both finish with perfection.

#1 N. Colorado vs. #2 Montana
All year long, N. Colorado has made its bones on its home floor.  Last night’s win was their 13th home win in 13 home games.  They will try to go 14-0 and take the Big Sky title in their biggest test yet – the defending champs and preseason favorites, Montana.  Should be quite the game, actually, so if you can rip yourself away from the aptly dubbed by Rikey “Big Overrated Conference,” check on the Big Sky (I think it’s on the deuce).  Bry, Doogan, Lil Lohse, Cheryl, Dan, and Primm all have UNC.  Stri, Waters, Rikey, and Dave have Montana.  The other ten entries had either N. Arizona or Weber State.

*FINAL SCORE: N. Colorado 65 – Montana 60
It very well could have been a different story on a neutral floor, but the top-seeded Bears of N. Colorado take advantage of the home-court and get 27 points from Devon Beitzel to earn their first ever NCAA tourney bid.  Always nice to see a school get in for the first time.  6 entries hit this champion pick.

NEC CHAMPIONSHIP (16 points)
Way back on Day Three, this tournament began with four quarterfinal games.  Then, on Sunday, the semifinals were played, giving us two teams left.  Now, tonight, the survivors of this week-long tournament will play for the NEC’s auto-bid.  Long Island hosts Robert Morris in Brooklyn tonight.  Stri (a Long Island boy) and Scoot will complete perfect NEC brackets if the Blackbirds win tonight.  If Robert Morris takes the title, the 2011 CTC NEC champ will be Primm.  If Stri wins, it will be his 3rd NEC title in 4 years (including 2 perfect brackets).

#1 Long Island vs. #3 Robert Morris
Long Island, the 6th-highest scoring team in the nation, will battle a team well-known for great defense.  The LIU gym is tiny and gives a great homecourt advantage, but good defense can stop the transition offense of the Blackbirds.  This game could come down to pace of play.  Bry, J, Doogan, Stri, Alexi, Lil Lohse, Scoot, Cheryl, Dan, and Rikey all have LIU.  Waters, Lohse, Teddy, Primm, and Gross all have Robert Morris.

*FINAL SCORE:  Long Island 85 – Robert Morris 82 (OT)
Robert Morris, the two-time defending champs, wouldn’t go quietly, coming back from an 8 point deficit with 2:30 to play to send the game to OT, but the top-seeded Blackbirds of Brooklyn got it done in the extra period to clinch their first bid since 1997.  Half of the CTC’ers hit this pick, while 5 others see a nice pick of 3rd-seeded Rob Morris fall just short. 

BIG EAST SECOND ROUND (10 points each)
After a wild day yesterday in The Garden, the Big East welcomes four new teams to the mix to challenge the survivors from yesterday.

#8 Georgetown vs. #9 Connecticut
Okay, I am going to try and write this paragraph without making it a 500-word verbal shrine to Austin Freeman.  That guy is amazing.  Okay, let me rephrase that:  That guy is amazing…offensively.  He is not exactly a defensive standout (though he’s better than many people may think), but on offense, he does it all – and he does it as effortlessly as a guy walking the dog.  That being said, the most important player on this Hoya team is backcourt-mate Chris Wright, who is down with an injury.  The Hoyas open their conference tournament today against a UConn team that pummelled DePaul yesterday, 97-71.  The winner of this game welcomes top-seeded Pitt to the Garden tomorrow in the quarters.  The majority of the CTC field has UConn in the slight upset here.  Only Bry, J, Waters, Teddy, Cheryl, Dave, and Gross have the Hoyas here.  No one has UConn going any further than the quarters, but J and Gross both have G’town in the semis.  Gross even has them playing in the Big East finals.

FINAL SCORE: Connecticut 79 – Georgetown 62
The Hoyas clearly don’t have the depth to deal with the loss of Chris Wright.  On the other side, Kemba Walker looks like he’s hit another hot stretch, which means the Huskies are capable of beating pretty much anybody.  Walker is averaging almost 30 points over the last 3 games and, more importantly, shooting over 50% from the field in those games.  Gross loses a finalist early.

#5 St. John’s vs. #13 Rutgers
The Scarlet Knights came from behind yesterday to beat Seton Hall in overtime in the Big East First Round and now get to face the hometown favorites, St. John’s.  And, what a year it has been for the Red Storm.  Steve Lavin burst onto the scene – in a bad way – with losses to mediocre St. Bonaventure and abysmal Fordham.  But, as bad as the year started, it was so much better come conference play.  The Johnnies, who are doing it with defense, have beaten G’town, Notre Dame, Pitt, UConn, and Villanova in league play, and, oh by the way, went out-of-conference to hammer some team called Duke.  Dwight Hardy, a lightly-recruited JUCO, who was okay last year, has exploded to become one of the favorites for Big East Player of the Year.  It is pretty amazing the turnaround in NYC this year.  #4 Syracuse awaits the winner of this game tomorrow in the quarters.  18 entries have SJU winning here; Scoot has already lost with Seton Hall, and KA is hoping for a big upset from Rutgers today.  And, the love for St. John’s doesn’t stop here.  10 people have them beating Syracuse tomorrow (Doogan, Alexi, Waters, Lynch, Lohse, Cheryl, Dan, Dave, Gersh, and Gross); 5 people have them going to the finals (Waters, Lynch, Cheryl, Dan, and Dave); and, 4 have them winning the whole thing (Waters, Lynch, Cheryl, and Dave).

FINAL SCORE: St. John’s 65 – Rutgers 63
Rutgers showed some fight here at the end of yet another poor season, but not quite enough to pull the upset of the Johnnies.  Though they got no help from the refs, who failed to blow the whistle when St. John’s clearly stepped out of bounds with 1.7 seconds left.  Waters, Lynch, Cheryl, and Dave get a scare but keep their champ alive.

#7 Cincinnati vs. #15 S. Florida
Well, what do we have here?  The Cincinnati fortunes continue, as they dodge Villanova and get USF instead.  I still can’t figure out whether or not this Bearcats team is any good.  I really can’t.  One thing I do know is that Mick Cronin has done a terrific job with this team.  They played absolutely no one in the non-conference, but won all their games, so we didn’t know if they were good or not.  But, then in Big East play they showed that they were a legit tournament team, especially down the stretch, winning 5 of their last 6, including two over G’town and one over Louisville.  S. Florida showed off their semi-decent front line against ‘Nova in the second half, so we will see if they have anything left for Cincy or if they were just happy to be here.  The winner of this game gets the #2-seeded Irish of Notre Dame.  Doogan, Stri, Alexi, Waters, Dan, and Gersh all have Cincy here.  Everyone else has already lost this game.  No one has Cincinnati going any further than the quarters.

*FINAL SCORE: Cincinnati 87 – S. Florida 61
This result tells us something about the state of Villanova at the moment, doesn’t it?  USF coach Stan Heath may have saved his job with that 1st Round win, but the inside-outside combo of Yancy Gates and Dion Dixon lead the Bearcats to a blowout win here.  Just 6 entries picked favored Cincy to advance past this round.

#6 West Virginia vs. #11 Marquette
After getting fat last night against a team that doesn’t play any defense, Marquette runs right into a team that plays a TON of defense.  West Virginia struggled to score all year, but their defense was phenomenal (no surprise with Coach Huggins on the sidelines).  The Mountaineers are not the team they rode to the Final Four just 11 months ago, but this team is very, very dangerous.  Casey Mitchell (when he decides to care about basketball) can really light it up, and they do still have the grizzled vets in the backcourt – Truck Bryant and 52-year old Joe Mazzula.  And, Kevin Jones is an elite athlete.  This is a tough team who will be a tough out in both of the tournaments this month.  The winner of this game moves to the quarters, where they will get 3rd-seeded Louisville.  KA has already lost this game (Providence), but the rest of the field has a lot at stake here.  Lohse, Scoot, Cheryl, Dan, Dave, Gersh, Primm, and Mac all have ‘Quette winning this game.  Cheryl has them going to the semis, while Gersh has them in the finals.  On the other side, Waters, Lil Lohse, Teddy, and Gross have the ‘Neers in the semis.  J and Alexi have them reaching the finals.

*FINAL SCORE:  Marquette 67 – West Virginia 61
I know he’s already at a big conference program, but Buzz Williams should be considered one of the up-and-coming coaches in the nation, and don’t be surprised to hear his name mentioned for higher profile jobs down the line, maybe somewhere closer to his native Texas.  The guy can coach.  Trailing by 10 in the 2nd half in this one, the Golden Eagles came back and it was back-to-back 3’s from Darius Johnson-Odom with 4 minutes left that gave them the 6-point lead they would win by.  Impressively, 8 CTC’ers hit this upset, while J and Alexi lose a finalist early.

BIG XII OPENING ROUND (10 points each)
For most of the year, I was firmly of the belief that the Big XII was, by a pretty decent margin, the best conference in America.  I have even held that belief as recently as a couple of weeks ago.  But, I must say (as much as I hate to admit it), I was dead wrong.  Doogan, you were right, please accept my apologies.  Texas is nowhere near as good as I thought (as usual because I am, for no reason at all, a complete Rick Barnes apologist).  Baylor is – SOMEHOW – not that good (someone please explain that to me…please!).  Missouri only wins at home.  And, Nebraska and Colorado are nice teams, but nothing special.  They certainly couldn’t hold a candle to teams like UConn or Georgetown or even Marquette, who are middling teams in the Big East.  So, Doogan, you were right, I was wrong…as usual.

#8 Nebraska vs. #9 Oklahoma State
Ah, the aforementioned Cornhuskers.  What they do do is play fantastic defense, and that wins at this time of the year.  They, for the first time in recent memory, enter the Big XII tournament with a glimmer of at-large hope, but to even get a sniff, they must win today against OSU.  And, the Cowboys, who for the first time in a long time, have no real shot at the Dance as the tournament starts, are always a tough out.  For the record, is it hard not to love Keaton Page?  The kid seems like he’s been there forever and actually looks ever younger than the 12-year old he looked like as a freshman.  But, hey, the dude can flat-out shoot.  The winner of this game will get the privilege of being dismantled on national TV by #1 Kansas.  Bry, Waters, Scoot, Rikey, Dave, and Gross all have OSU.  No one has either of these teams upsetting KU in the quarters.

FINAL SCORE:  Oklahoma St. 53 – Nebraska 52
The Huskers had the ball with 16 seconds left and down a point but couldn’t even get a shot off, and their solid season will end in the NIT.  6 entries hit this mild upset.

#5 Colorado vs. #12 Iowa State
The Buffs are squarely on the bubble, and I kind of like it because basketball could use a decent Colorado program.  Unfortunately, I can’t really see this team as an at-large team with their .500 conference record and their absolutely embarrasing non-conference schedule.  The best team they PLAYED was Georgia, which they lost.  They also lost @San Francisco and @Harvard.  Yes, you read that right – AT HARVARD.  Oh, and they lost that game by 16.  They did beat bad major-conference teams like Indiana and Oregon State, but they needed overtime to beat Chicago State (339 out of 345 in RPI).  I love Alec Burks and think he has a shot to be an NBA starter, but if you’re asking me, this team is NOT an NCAA at-large team.  But, do you what we can all agree on?  Iowa State is not very good, though they have been playing their best basketball down the stretch, including a win over these Buffs on March 2.  If they can do it again, they will get to play #4 Kansas State tomorrow in the quarters.  Gross and Bry swung for the fences here with Iowa State.  Lohse, Cheryl, and Dave like Colorado to beat K-State in the quarters.  Cheryl has them even going to the finals.

FINAL SCORE:  Colorado 77 – Iowa St. 75
The Cyclones come oh-so-close to the big upset here.  They actually had a 3 point lead with 2 minutes to play, but an 8-1 Buffs run locked up the win.  Their star guard, Alec Burks, finished with 29 points, 15 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals.  This is another kid you don’t hear much about that will play at the next level, and he still has a shot to push his team into the NCAA tournament this year.  Gross and Bry just miss out on a big upset pick.

#7 Baylor vs. #10 Oklahoma
Someone PLEASE explain to me how in the world this Baylor team is not good.  PLEASE?!?  Lacedarius Dunn is among the best pure scorers I have seen in college basketball in a long time.  And, combine Dunn (a legit NBA scorer) and an absolutely freakish frontline in terms of athleticism with what I thought to be a very good coach in Scott Drew, and I thought that was a recipe for a definite Sweet 16 caliber team, especially considering they made the Elite 8 last year with much the same team.  But, they stink.  Why?  Anyone?  Was Ekpe Udoh that good?  Any better than Perry Jones?  I guess the answer has to be Tweety Carter.  I know, it’s crazy because he wasn’t even that good, but they just can’t find any answers at the point guard spot – the one spot in college hoops that you cannot EVER work around.  Either way, this is a dangerous team if they can get it together, I’m just starting to doubt they ever will.  Oklahoma has popped up to surprise some teams in conference play, but overall, this is a pretty bad Sooner team this year, and the future doesn’t look all that much better.  It is a bit of rebuild here in Norman.  The winner of this game will take on Texas in the quarters tomorrow.  Bry, J, Lynch, Lil Lohse, Scoot, and Mac all have OU in a nice upset here.  KA and Dave went with Baylor to beat Texas and reach the semis.

*FINAL SCORE: Oklahoma 84 – Baylor 67
The incredibly disappointing and tumultuous season for Baylor added a couple more disappointments last night.  First, star freshman Perry Jones was suspended hours before tip-off for suspicion of receiving illegal benefits, then the Bears went out and got dominated by a bad Oklahoma team.  Any NCAA hopes they had are clearly dashed, and Perry Jones can now safely escape into the NBA’s Lottery.  Cade Davis keeps his career going for at least one more game, scoring 24 for the Sooners.  6 entries hit this upset pick.

#6 Missouri vs. #11 Texas Tech
Part of my fascination with the Big XII is simply because, well, I LOVE this Missouri team.  I’m not saying I think they’re all that good (I actually think that, away from home, they are barely mediocre), I just LOVE watching them play.  The 40 minutes of hell is fantastic and they have scorers all over the floor.  With the emergence of freshman sensation Flip Pressey, they now have a stable of guards to go along with a fast, albeit undersized, front line and could be a matchup nightmare for a team without a good ballhandling point guard (or two or three).  I love Marcus Denmon and Kim English and Laurence Bowers and Ricardo Ratliffe.  Throw in Michael Dixon.  Man, this team is just loaded with ballers.  The problem is that they look like they might be better suited on Rucker Court than Allen Fieldhouse.  As amazingly disciplined as their 40 minutes of hell defense is, their offense is that undisciplined.  Dixon and Pressey jack up way too many quick shots from the point guard spot.  English is a “volume scorer” playing on a team with 7 other scorers.  Denmon is probably the best all-around offensive player, who would thrive with a pass-first point guard, but sometimes goes 10-12 minutes without a shot in with Dixon and Pressey.  Bowers and Ratliffe could be borderline stars if used correctly, but neither has a back-to-the-basket game and have, at times, been relegated to offensive putbacks as their way of scoring.  Anyway, I’ve probably spent way too much time on Mizzou here, I am just fascinated with this roster.  As for Texas Tech – it should be interesting to see how this team responds to Coach Knight AFTER he’s been fired.  Interesting…  The winner here gets to play late tomorrow night against #3 Texas A&M (another team I have a lot of opinions on…).  This game could go a long way for the CTC, as Bry was the only one to go with an upset pick of Texas Tech here, so the whole field can gain ground on the leader with a Mizzou win here.  Plus, there is a lot of love for the Tigers to advance past this round.  Other than Bry, only KA, Rikey, Dave, and Primm have A&M winning next round.  Alexi, Dan, Cheryl, and Scoot have Mizzou going all the way to the finals.  Cheryl has the Tigers cutting down the nets.

*FINAL SCORE:  Missouri 88 – Texas Tech 84
Not a terribly encouraging win for Mizzou here, but Marcus Denmon comes through with 20 points, 5 assists, and 5 steals to lead the Tigers into a Round 2 match-up with Texas A&M, in what will be an interesting contrast of styles.  Bry’s upset pick misses and Cheryl keeps her champ alive.

PAC-10 OPENING ROUND (10 points each)
While it will be back, the Pac-10 is just barely a major conference right now.  Arizona is a good team.  UCLA is probably a tournament-caliber team, as is Washington.  After that, it’s pretty bare, and it goes all the way down to a pretty bad Arizona State team.  And, the worst part is that it is not even that interesting.  It is good coaches with either young or bad players wearing the uniforms of very proud programs.  It is a little depressing, to tell you the truth.  But, either way, the league should put 3 teams in The Dance and the conference tournament is always exciting at the Staples Center.

#8 Stanford vs. #9 Oregon State
For a while this year, it looked like Johnny Dawkins might actually be in the running for national coach of the year.  The Cardinal had a pretty good non-conference schedule (albeit pock-marked by light competition and losses to Murray State and Tulsa) and then started Pac-10 play by beating Cal, splitting at the Arizona schools, and then beating Washington.  And, all of this with, by all accounts, a roster rather light on talent and/or experience.  But, after a 3-point loss to Wazzu and pair of losses in LA, the bottom Cardinal came back to reality a little bit.  They ended up limping to the finish line in 8th place.  The Beavers conference season was rather similar (though not as good), but the non-conference was pretty bad, including losses to TX-Southern, Utah Valley, and a Seattle team that is only a fringe D-I school with no conference affiliation.  While I think the brother-in-law of the leader of the free world is doing a decent job at rebuilding a complete train wreck, it is a very long process.  The winner of this game will get #1 Arizona tomorrow in the quarters.  J and Lynch have OSU in a mild upset.  No one has either team beating ‘Zona next round.

*FINAL SCORE:  Oregon St. 69 – Stanford 67
OSU starters Jared Cunningham, Ahmad Starks, and Devon Collier all came off the bench because of a team rule violation, and all they did was combine to score 58 of the Beavers’ 69 points.  J and Lynch were the only two to hit this mild upset.

#7 Oregon vs. #10 Arizona State
Nike money just doesn’t buy what it used to anymore, does it?  All the new uniforms and crazy pictures on the court can’t really change the fact that this program hasn’t really been relevant in several years.  Losses at home to Idaho and San Jose State in the non-conference weren’t a good sign, but for a little while, it looked like the Ducks may have found something.  There was a point in the middle of the season where the Ducks won 6 of 8, including a sweep of the Washington schools and were in 4th place in the Pac-10.  But, they then finished the season with 4 straight losses – 2 at home to the NoCal schools and 2 on the road at the Arizona schools, including an embarrassing 20-point loss to ASU last Wednesday.  Now, they are relegated to the first round against those same Sun Devils.  It is hard to say what has gone wrong in Tempe.  They have a couple players back from their various tournament teams, including stellar senior point guard, Ty Abbott.  They have an excellent coach in Herb Sendek, but they just aren’t very good this year.  They did win 3 of their last 5 coming into Staples, including a season-ending sweep of the Oregon schools, but they need a lot more to really instill confidence in this program moving forward.  The winner of this game will take on #2 UCLA in the quarters.  While no one has either team beating UCLA in the quarters, the field is exactly split on this game.  Doogan, Stri, Alexi, KA, Teddy, Rikey, Dan, Dave, Gersh, and Primm have Oregon.  The other 10 have Arizona State in the upset.

*FINAL SCORE:  Oregon 76 – Arizona St. 69
Kyle Singler’s little brother scores 22 points and the Ducks earn a pretty easy win over ASU.  Just half the field gets the win here from favored Oregon.  The Sun Devils can get back to focusing on their homework for Prof. Levy’s class.

MOUNTAIN WEST OPENING ROUND (8 points)
One of the most interesting tournaments of all kicks off today in Sin City, albeit with just one very uninteresting game.  But, there are plenty of fascinating storylines in the M-West tournament this year.  Anyone who has read any college basketball stuff on this blog knows our love of the Mountain West, but obviously we weren’t the only ones this year – The Year of the Jimmer.  But, for years now, this has been the most underrated conference in the country, bar none.  And, as much as the hype may have gotten out of control even for my liking this year, it is really nice to see such a great league get its overdue respect.

#8 Wyoming vs. #9 TCU
The best year in M-West history should not be judged by this opening game to its conference tournament.  Wyoming is pretty bad, and TCU is even worse.  The Cowboys had a bad non-conference, lowlighted by losses to South Dakota, N. Florida, and UC-Irvine.  Their conference results weren’t much better, particularly away from home, where they weren’t even competitive.  TCU actually had a semi-decent non-conference, with wins over USC, SMU, and @Texas Tech.  But, they have been a total mess in MVC play, winning just one game and entering the tournament on a 13-game losing streak.  Their only conference victim?  Wyoming.  One bright spot for these teams – the winner of this game will be on SportsCenter (in highlights of Jimmer hitting 3’s on them in the quarters).  Bry, J, Stri, Waters, Lohse, KA, Dave, and Gross went for the minor upset of TCU here.  Then, after that no one has BYU losing…just yet.

*FINAL SCORE: TCU 70 – Wyoming 61
Anyone in Vegas last night that sat in the arena to watch this game and wasn’t related to one of the players should be ashamed of themselves.  I love how so many conferences put their tournaments in Vegas.  Brilliant.  But why do we never hear some sordid tale of a player getting dismissed from the team for going on a giant coke and hooker binge after scoring 15 large on a craps table?  We need this story to happen, preferably involving a BYU player.  Anyway, I digress.  8 entries hit this upset.  Nice job, folks.

CONFERENCE USA OPENING ROUND (6 points each)
The days of Conference Memphis are over…for now.  And, maybe as a result (or more likely, as a result of Memphis’s dominance at the expense of the rest of the league), this conference is fading more and more into obscurity.  When the conference started, it really had the chance to become a 7th major conference – or at least be perennially on the periphery of major-conferencedom a la the A-10.  Think about what this conference would be like if its original members had stuck it out:  Memphis, S. Miss, and UAB, who are still around, plus Louisville, Cincinnati, Marquette, DePaul, and USF from the Big East, and St. Louis and Charlotte from the A-10.  That is a pretty nice league.  But, it didn’t stick and now the league is drifting well below the A-10s and MWCs of the world possibly into Valley territory or even WAC-ville.  A far cry from the league that was founded with guys like Kenyon Martin, Larry Hughes, Quentin Richardson, Danny Fortson, Lorenzon Wright, and DeJuan Wheat.

#8 E. Carolina vs. #9 C. Florida
a Remember when Marcus Jordan was the talk of the town and his UCF Knights were 13-0 and ranked #19 in the nation?  Seems like ages ago, doesn’t it?  Ya, that was actually this year.  Hard to imagine that after beating Marshall to go 14-0, they would go on to lose 8 straight, including a home loss to lowly Rice.  But, it happened.  The Knights then circled the wagons to win 5 of their last 7 to get out of the C-USA basement, but what looked to be the best season in program history has pretty much gone by the wayside, barring a miracle run through this tournament and into the next.  Their first step is a very pesky E. Carolina team, who has given some teams trouble this year, including a win over UTEP and a near season-sweep of Memphis.  The winner here will get the top-seeded UAB Blazers.  As is expected with an 8-9 game, the field is rather split on this one.  Actually, the majority went with the underdog, as Alexi, Lynch, Lohse, Lil Lohse, Dan, Rikey, Gersh, and Gross have ECU, with none of them taking the Pirates over UAB next round.  The supporters of UCF, however, are a little more bullish on their underdogs.  J, Cheryl, and Dave all have UCF beating UAB in the quarters.  Cheryl has the Knights going to the title game.

FINAL SCORE:  East Carolina 75 – C. Florida 60
E. Carolina trailed by 5 at the half, but they quickly took control after the break and win here easily.  UCF goes from ranked 19th in the country to maybe making the CBI?  Cheryl loses a finalist early.

#5 S. Mississippi vs. #12 Tulane
There is one thing that no one will ever dispute – Larry Eustachy can flat-out coach.  It is a shame that his disease (alcoholism) and the behavior resulting from this disease (frequenting fraternity parties on the opposing campuses after road games to hit on college girls) is so appalling because he is one of the great basketball minds in college basketball today.  And, whether or not he has changed his behavior and addressed his foibles (which I hope he has), he is doing a hell of a job at S. Miss.  Unfortunately, though, the Golden Eagles lost their final three games to fall from first place out of bye position altogether, forcing them into a first-round game against a bottom-of-the-barrel Tulane team.  The Green Wave, who won their first two conference games after a 10-3 non-conference slate, have lost 13 of their last 14.  They are, well, not very good.  The winner here will play #4 Memphis in the quarters.  Two people were tempted with the monster upset pick here – Waters and Lil Lohse, while many people have S. Miss making some noise here in El Paso.  Only J, Alexi, Lynch, Lohse, Dan, Cheryl, Rikey, and Gersh have Memphis next round.  Stri, Scoot, Dave, and Gross have S. Miss losing in the finals, and Primm has them winning it all.

FINAL SCORE:  S. Miss 63 – Tulane 47
No surprise here as a pitiful Tulane team makes a quick exit.  S. Miss star Gary Flowers finishes with 18 points, 11 boards, and 4 steals.  He’s a possible pro hiding out in CUSA.  Primm’s champ pick moves on.

#6 Marshall vs. #11 Houston
The Thundering Herd of Marshall had to deal with the defection of coach Donnie Jones to conference-rival UCF this offseason, but returned a pretty strong corps of talent to try and build on a rather successful 2009-10.  This year started slow, as the team adjusted to the new style of former Pitt assistant (and solid ESPN analyst), Tom Herrion, but they started to put it together down the stretch, winning 6 of their last 7 games entering the C-USA tournament.  Their first-round opponent is going in the complete opposite direction.  The Houston Cougars started off okay, but have seen the bottom absolutely fall out from beneath them, losing 11 of their last 12 coming into tournament play.  I guess Elvin Hayes, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Clyde Drexler aren’t walking through that door.  The winner here will get #3 UTEP in the quarters tomorrow night.  Bry and Gross were the only two tempted with an upset pick here, and both have UTEP beating Houston tomorrow.  KA has Marshall going to the semis and losing, while J, Teddy, and Dan must be big Matthew McConaghy fans, as they have Marshall going to the finals.

*FINAL SCORE:  Marshall 97 – Houston 87
Houston shoots 58% from the field and loses by double-digits.  That’s rough.  Bry and Gross miss their upset pick and J, Teddy, and Dan keep a finalist moving.

#7 SMU vs. #10 Rice
For the last three or four years, it seemed that, if everything fell in place, this SMU team could really contend.  Then, before this season, it seemed like everyone just kind of realized that they are what they are – a pretty poor C-USA team.  But, just as that conclusion was drawn, the Mustangs actually showed signs of promise this year, granted it is on a senior-laden team, but progress is progress.  And, speaking of progress, Rice is out of the C-USA cellar for the first time in what seems like a very long time.  Now, 10th place is nothing to write home about, but a wise man once said “progress is progress.”  The winner here will get to take a shot at #2 Tulsa.  This is a bit of a swing game here in the CTC.  J, Doogan, Alexi, Teddy, Dave, Gersh, and Mac all have Rice in the upset.  Bry and Gross both have SMU beating Tulsa in the quarters.

*FINAL SCORE:  Rice 58 – SMU 57
Rice’s Iranian star, Arsalan Kazemi, picks up 24 points and 13 boards and leads the Owls to the upset of SMU.  7 entries hit this upset. 

WAC OPENING ROUND (4 points each)
Remember when 4 CTC points per game seemed like a lot?  Well, now it’s just a drop in the bucket.  But, in the CTC, every point counts, and the WAC is getting underway today with its opening round in Vegas.  The WAC adjusted its format this year to the increasingly-popular 8-team, 2-bye, 2-double bye model that seems to reward regular season performance a lot more than standard tournament formats.  I, for one, am very much in favor of this, except this year was a bit odd in the WAC because Boise State – a seemingly mediocre WAC team – somehow snuck into the 2-seed and will benefit as much as conference dominators, Utah State.  But, the Aggies have to be happy with this setup because they probably only need to avoid an early loss in the WAC tournament to reach the field and, with a double bye, they won’t be playing any early games.  But, anyway, the first round of the WAC starts today with some afternoon action in Sin City.

#5 Hawaii vs. #8 San Jose State
The Rainbow Warriors always have a tough time travelling to the mainland, but, all things considered, put together a pretty nice season this year in the WAC, just missing out on a single-bye and having to play today against San Jose.  The Warriors had an RPI in the 150 range, but a lot of that was built on excellent non-conference performances on the islands.  They did, however, come back to the mainland for wins over La Tech, UC-Davis, Boise State, and, you guessed it, San Jose State.  The Spartans, who just couldn’t stop anyone on defense this year, barely made the WAC tournament, edging out La Tech for the final spot, will try and take out Hawaii, setting up a quarterfinal match with 4th-seeded Idaho.  Bry, J, Doogan, Waters, and Lil Lohse all have SJ State in the upset.  None of them have them beating the Vandals.  However, there is a little love for the Rainbows.  Scoot, Cheryl, and Rikey all have Hawaii winning here and again in the quarters.  KA, dreaming of the beautiful weather, has Hawaii winning this whole tournament (the only non-Utah State champion pick).

FINAL SCORE:  San Jose St. 75 – Hawaii 74
There’s been a slew of very close games today, and this was another.  SJSU’s Adrian Oliver, who averages 24 points a game, scores 29, including the winning shot with 4 seconds left.  5 entries hit this upset pick, and KA’s champ goes down in Round 1.

#6 Nevada vs. #7 Fresno State
Remember when the Nevada Wolfpack were dominating the WAC and churning out NBA draft picks?  That wasn’t that long ago, but during this season, it seems like a generation ago.  The Wolfpack have given way in WAC dominance in recent years to Utah State, but not until this year, have they slipped all the way back to the pack, so to speak.  I guess guys like Nick Fazekus really don’t come around that often out in the desert.  The Wolfpack’s opening round opponent is Fresno State, who had an up-and-down season out west and really aren’t that relevant in the college hoops landscape right now.  The winner of this game will play #3 New Mexico State in the quarters.  Not that the WAC counts for all that much in the grand scheme of things (especially with 19 entries picking the same champion), but this is a pretty big swing game, relatively speaking, in the CTC.  Bry, Stri, Lynch, both Lohses, KA, Teddy, Rikey, Dave, Gersh, and Primm all went with Fresno here.  The other 9 took the favored Wolfpack.  Stri, Lynch, KA, Teddy, Dave, and Gersh have Fresno winning again in the quarters, with KA and Gersh picking them to reach the finals.  On the other side, Doogan, Alexi, Cheryl, Gross, and Mac all have Nevada going to the semis with the latter two picking them to reach the finals.

*FINAL SCORE:  Nevada 90 – Fresno St. 80
Malik Story scores a career-high 34 points and the Wolfpack coast to opening round win here.  Just 9 entries picked the favored team here, with KA and Gersh losing a finalist.

SOUTHLAND QUARTERFINALS (4 points each)
The Western Regional of the “First Four Invitational” tournament opens up today with a quarterfinal quadruple-header in Katy, TX.  It was an absolutely ridiculous season in the Southland this year, where for most of the year, 10 of the 12 teams were within a game or two of each other.  There was one week, late in the season, when Lamar won a game to take first place in the conference and then lost on that Saturday to fall into 9th place and out of the conference tournament entirely.  They remained out and will not even make the conference tournament, despite a mediocre 7-9 record.  As for those who made it, only 3 games seperates the 1-seed from the 8-seed, and an amazing ONE GAME seperates the 2-seed from the 7-seed.  The CTC may reflect that, as there were a decent amount of crazy brackets submitted here in the SL.  This tournament should be fun to follow from a CTC perspective.

#2 Northwestern State vs. #7 UT-San Antonio
To add to the craziness of this conference this year, one-quarter of NW State’s conference games went to overtime.  They won three of them and ended up one game better than the 7th-place Roadrunners of UTSA, earning themselves a 2-seed.  Crazy.  A bunch of big upset picks here:  Bry, J, Doogan, Lynch, Lohse, Teddy, Dave, and Gross all have UTSA here, though no one has the Roadrunners in the finals.

FINAL SCORE: UT-San Antonio 97 – Northwestern St. 96
Yes, another 1-point game.  They don’t call it Madness for nothing, right?  Devin Gibson with an impressive triple-double for the Roadrunners with 28 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists.  The last of those 10 assists was on the game winning dunk by Jeromie Hill, who scored 25 points of his own in a wild affair in Texas.  8 entries hit this upset pick.

#3 Sam Houston State vs. #6 Stephen F. Austin
Talent-wise coming into the season, these two teams were supposedly head and shoulders above the rest of the conference, and yet they find themselves playing each other in the first round of the tournament.  Both teams had pretty decent (by Southland standards) non-conference seasons, but couldn’t weave through the insanity that was the SL regular season this year and have now found themselves here – against one another.  In my opinion, the winner of this game immediately becomes the favorite to cut down the nets on Saturday.  This game is probably as big of a first-round game in a minor tournament can get in the CTC.  Bry, Alexi, Waters, Scoot, Dave, and Mac all have SFA here.  Bry, Scoot, and Dave all have them in the finals, with Dave picking them as his champion.  On the other side, J, Doogan, Lynch, Teddy, Dan, Gersh, Primm, and Gross all have Sam Houston State winning this whole tournament.  Stri and Lohse have them reaching the finals before losing.

FINAL SCORE: Sam Houston St. 61 – Stephen F. Austin 45
SHSU wins this one rather easily, to the disappointment 6 CTC entrants as well as SFA alum Jeremiah Trotter.

#1 McNeese State vs. #8 Nicholls State
Coming into the season with rather low expectations, McNeese had a relatively successful non-conference and it carried over into a regular-season SL title – their first in quite some time.  Nicholls State had an up-and-down season that ended at .500 in the league and the 8-seed.  Bry, J, Doogan, and Teddy all have the #1-seed going down in their very first game.  In fact, only Stri and Scoot have this top seed winning this tournament.

*FINAL SCORE: McNeese St. 61 – Nicholls St. 54
The top-seeded Cowboys (seems like that could be the nickname for at least half the teams in this conference, right?) move on in uninteresting fashion.  Bry, J, Doogan, and Teddy miss on their upset attempt.

#4 Texas State – San Marcos vs. #5 SE Louisiana
SE Louisiana was supposed to win the SL’s North Division, but a disappointing conference season, including a bad loss to lowly C. Arkansas had them finish third in the division and get the 5-seed in the tournament.  Texas State’s run-and-gun approach actually worked pretty well this year, as they averaged over 78 points per game and won 10 league games in the SL.  Their defense wasn’t always there this year, as evidenced by a game earlier this year against a D-II team, Our Lady of the Lake (great name, by the way), in which Texas State scored 73 points in the second half…and lost.  Our Lady of the Lake hit a three at the buzzer in OT to win 127-126 in overtime.  Ya, the TSU Bobcats gave up 127 points to a D-II team.  The CTC is completely split on this game, 10 to 10.  Stri, Waters, Lynch, Lohse, Scoot, Rikey, Dave, Gersh, Primm, and Mac have Texas State.  Lynch has TSU going to the finals.  Lohse has them winning the whole thing.  On the other side, J, Doogan, Lil Lohse, Cheryl, Dan, and Gross all have SE La going to the finals and losing.  Bry, Alexi, and KA have them going to the finals and winning it.

*FINAL SCORE: Texas St. 72 – SE LA 68
Ryan White scores 26 to lead the Bobcats to the win.  9 CTC’ers lose a FINALIST right out of the gate, with Bry, Alexi, and KA losing their champ.

SWAC QUARTERFINALS (4 points each)
And, the Eastern Division of the “Final Four Invitational” will kick off in Garland, TX, the same day that its western counterpart does so in Katy.  Honestly, with this new First Four thing, there is almost no chance that the SWAC or SL champions are not in that first matchup, so why not combine the tournaments and give them one spot in the big field.  That is basically what is happening, except that they have to wait until Tuesday or Wednesday to play the game.  Anyway, the SWAC this year was pretty much a 3-team race all year, so the matchups here in the tournament favor the top-seed, who gets to avoid the other two until the final.  And, when the matchups “favor” a team, it usually leads to upset city for that team.  Like some of the other smallish tournaments that cannot draw afternoon crowds, the SWAC elects to split up the quarterfinal round and play two nighttime double-headers instead of an all-day, empty-gym affair.  So, the top two seeds will play tonight and then the 3- and 4- seeds will play their quarterfinals games tomorrow.

#2 Jackson State vs. #7 Prairie View A&M
It was a very disappointing year for Prairie View, who made strides last year and were supposed to compete in the conference this year and just never put it together.  They finished with a terrible RPI of 333 and barely made the SWAC tournament.  Jackson State, on the other hand, had a decent season.  Picked to win the league, as always, the Tigers actually got swept by eventual champion, TX-Southern and lost a couple head-scratchers down the stretch to relegate them to #2 in the tournament.  But, the talent is there, so, while the road may be a little tougher, you never count JSU out of a SWAC tournament.  Doogan, Lohse, Teddy, Primm, and Gross went for a big upset here.  Doogan even has PV in the finals.  Jackson State is the champion pick of Waters, Lil Lohse, Gersh, and Mac.

FINAL SCORE:  Jackson St. 50 – Prairie View A&M 38
Really upset that I missed this beauty of a game in the amazing SWAC.  Jackson St. shoots 30% from the field and WINS BY 12.  Wow.  Doogan loses a finalist and Waters, Lil Lohse, Gersh, and Mac keep their champ alive.

#1 Texas-Southern vs. #8 AR-Pine Bluff
The best team in the SWAC all year has been TX-Southern, and it came down to two close wins over Jackson State to solidify their regular season title, but these Tigers got it done.  They ended up winning the conference going away.  And, they did it right.  Knowing this was going to be their year, they went out and scheduled up and got the valuable experience that comes with playing the likes of a Kansas State, a Baylor, an Oregon, or even an Arkansas.  They entered conference play at 2-9, but with a lot of confidence, and it spilled over to a 16-2 conference record and a regular season championship.  The Tigers will draw ARPB in the first round, who, like JSU’s opponent, had higher expectations for this season that were never really realized.  They did qualify for the conference tournament with a clean slate and a chance to salvage the season, but they will have to start by going through the conference’s top team to do so.  Unlike in their neighbor, the Southland, no one was tempted with the 8 over 1 upset here.  In fact, the majority of the field has TX-Southern winning this tournament.

*FINAL SCORE: TX-Southern 50 – AR-Pine Bluff 45
I’m sure it was closer than they would’ve liked, but the Tigers get the win, as Travele Jones gets 19 points/9 boards. 

MEAC OPENING ROUND and QUARTERFINALS (2/4 points each)
This is the day that the MEAC gets strange.  There are two quarterfinal games and one opening round game.  Yesterday got us underway with two really good games.  Now those two winners come back today for quarterfinal games in the evening after the final opening round game in the afternoon (I think…though on ESPN, they don’t list these games at any time.  Just when I thought I understood this crazy conference….)

#6 Norfolk State vs. #11 Howard
The Spartans of Norfolk State have certainly had an interesting season.  They entered conference play with just a single win (a home win over a really, really bad Jacksonville State team), but started conference play on an absolute tear.  They were 5-1 in their first 6 games, including wins @Morgan State and @Coppin State and the only loss coming @Hampton.  But, they fell back to earth, finishing .500 in the league (though, they did complete the season sweep of Morgan) and being stuck as the one seed no one wants, #6 – one spot out of a bye.  Howard is just flat-out bad.  The winner here gets #3 Coppin State tomorrow in the quarters.  Bry, J, Waters, and Lynch went for the upset pick here, though none of them have the Bison beating Coppin in the next round.  Stri has the lone entry with Norfolk going to the semis.

FINAL SCORE:  Norfolk St. 68 – Howard 53
You probably found yourself at some point this season saying to yourself, “Hmm, that Howard basketball team has really struggled, but I can’t help but wondering if they’re a little better than their record indicates.”  Here’s your answer: no, they sucked.  Kyle O’Quinn scores 25 points to lead Norfolk to this W.

#2 Hampton vs. #10 MD-Eastern Shore
It was a pretty good season for Hampton, though they believed they had the talent to win this league and fell short by two games (much due to a double-OT loss to BC two weeks ago).  UMES is coming off of a double-OT thriller last night, in which they knocked off FAMU, so we will see how much they have left in the tank.  The only two people (Stri and Scoot) who have Hampton losing here had FAMU winning it, so they are hoping for a UMES win to zero out everyone here.  Bry, Doogan, J, Teddy, Dan, Rikey, Gersh, and Primm all have Hampton as their champion (maybe dreaming of that fat, little coach getting picked up by his player after Hampton upset 2-seed Iowa State about a decade ago).

*FINAL SCORE:  Hampton 77 – UMES 55
Hampton wins going away and 18 CTC’ers are happy about it.  8 entries keep their champ alive.

#1 Bethune-Cookman vs. #9 South Carolina State
As a Temple fan, I have to always root for Bethune-Cookman, the alma mater of the one and only John Chaney.  And, this year, for the first time in a long time, there was a lot to root for.  Chaney’s alma mater won a decent MEAC this year by two full games and is probably the favorite to cut down the nets and go to the Dance for the first time ever.  S.C. State, who outlasted Delaware State in the late game last night, will try and knock off the top-seed here.  19 people have BC winning this game.  The lone dissident – Teddy, who does have S.C. State, so he’s hoping for a big upset here.  Stri, Lil Lohse, KA, Gross, and Mac all have BC winning this tournament.

*FINAL SCORE: Bethune-Cookman 66 – S.C. State 50
Somewhere, John Chaney smiles as the B-C Wildcats move on with an easy win.  Teddy misses the upset pick.

CTC SNAPSHOT – BIG XII

Championship Picks:

• #1 Kansas (8) – everyone else
• #2 Texas (4) – J, Doogan, Gersh, Gross
• #3 Texas A&M (1) – Dave
• #4 Kansas State (6) – Waters, Lynch, Lil Lohse, Teddy, Scoot, Primm
• #5 Colorado (0)
• #6 Missouri (1) – Cheryl

Lowest Seed Picked to Win in Earlier Rounds:

• OR – #12 Iowa State – Bry, Gross
• QF – #7 Baylor – KA, Dave
• SF – #6 Missouri – Alexi, Scoot, Cheryl, Dan

Prior CTC Titles:

• ’08 – Doogan
• ’09 – Alexi
• ’10 – J/Stri

CTC SNAPSHOT – PAC 10

Championship Picks:

• #1 Arizona (10) – everyone else
• #2 UCLA (6) – Doogan, Stri, Alexi, Waters, Cheryl, Dan
• #3 Washington (2) – Lynch, Gross
• #4 USC (0)
• #5 California (1) – Dave
• #6 Washington State (1) – Primm

Lowest Seed Picked to Win in Earlier Rounds:

• OR – #10 Arizona State – 10 people
• QF – #6 Washington State – 9 people
• SF – #6 Washington State – J, Teddy, Primm

Prior CTC Titles:

• ’08 – Doogan
• ’09 – Alexi
• ’10 – Stri/Teddy

CTC SNAPSHOT – MOUNTAIN WEST

Championship Picks:

• #1 BYU (5) – Stri, Lohse, Teddy, Dan, Gersh
• #2 San Diego State (13) – everyone else
• #3 UNLV (2) – KA, Gross

Lowest Seed Picked to Win in Earlier Rounds:

• QF – #7 Utah – KA
• SF – #5 New Mexico – Lil Lohse, Scoot, Rikey, Mac

Prior CTC Titles:

• ’08 – J
• ’09 – Lynch
• ’10 – Stri

CTC SNAPSHOT – CONFERENCE USA

Championship Picks:

• #1 UAB (8) – everyone else
• #2 Tulsa (2) – Stri, Scoot
• #3 UTEP (6) – Bry, Doogan, Lil Lohse, Cheryl, Dave, Gross
• #4 Memphis (3) – J, Waters, Lynch
• #5 S. Miss (1) – Primm

Lowest Seed Picked to Win in Earlier Rounds:

• OR – #12 Tulane – Waters, Lil Lohse
• QF – #9 C. Florida – J, Cheryl, Dave
• SF – #9 C. Florida – Cheryl

Prior CTC Titles:

• ’08 – Ina
• ’09 – Bry
• ’10 – Lohse

CTC SNAPSHOT – WAC

Championship Picks:

• #1 Utah State (19) – everyone else
• #2 Boise State (0)
• #3 New Mexico State (0)
• #4 Idaho (0)
• #5 Hawaii (1) – KA

Lowest Seed Picked to Win in Earlier Rounds:

• OR – #8 San Jose State – Bry, J, Doogan, Waters, Lil Lohse
• QF – #7 Fresno State – Stri, Lynch, KA, Teddy, Dave, Gersh
• SF – #7 Fresno State – KA, Gersh

Prior CTC Titles:

• ’08 – Alexi
• ’09 – Bry
• ’10 – Teddy

CTC SNAPSHOT – SOUTHLAND

Championship Picks:

• #1 McNeese State (2) – Stri, Scoot
• #2 Northwestern State (5) – Waters, Lil Lohse, Cheryl, Rikey, Mac
• #3 Sam Houston State (8) – everyone else
• #4 Texas State (1) – Lohse
• #5 SE Louisiana (3) – Bry, Alexi, KA
• #6 Stephen F. Austin (1) – Dave

Lowest Seed Picked to Win in Earlier Rounds:

• QF – #8 Nicholls State – Bry, Doogan, J, Teddy
• SF – #6 Stephen F. Austin – Bry, Scoot, Dave

Prior CTC Titles:

• ’08 – Bry
• ’09 – Waters
• ’10 – Stri/Alexi/Lynch/Teddy

CTC SNAPSHOT – SWAC

Championship Picks:

• #1 Texas-Southern (13) – everyone else
• #2 Jackson State (4) – Waters, Lil Lohse, Gersh, Mac
• #3 Mississippi Valley State (0)
• #4 Alabama State (1) – Lynch
• #5 Alabama A&M (2) – KA, Gross

Lowest Seed Picked to Win in Earlier Rounds:

• QF – #7 Prairie View A&M – Doogan, Lohse, Teddy, Primm, Gross
• SF – #7 Prairie View A&M – Doogan

Prior CTC Titles:

• ’08 – Waters
• ’09 – Ina (perfect)
• ’10 – Ina/Teddy