CTC Day 8 Recap: Doogan Wins the Day, Ina Takes the Lead

The calm before the storm has come and gone, and we’re about to be hit by the storm.  Doogan wins his first day of the 2009 CTC.  Ina was right behind, giving her the overall lead.

DAY 8 SCORES:
Doogan-83
Ina-80
Lynch-68
Bry-53
J-46
Stri-46
Alexi-40
Waters-29

OVERALL LEADERBOARD (points behind leading score of 744):
Ina-0
Bry-69
Alexi-72
J-146
Stri-164
Lynch-180
Waters-203
Doogan-235

BIG EAST OPENING ROUND:
The first ever opening round in a conference tournament saw a couple upsets and took a couple of our quarterfinalists with them.

• #16 DePaul 67 – #9 Cincinnati 57.  In the biggest upset of the day, and one of the biggest of the CTC, the 0-18 DePaul Blue Demons popped the bubble of Cincinnati.  No one had DePaul winning this game, but it hurt J and Alexi more, as they had Cincy beating Providence in the next round.
• #10 Notre Dame 61 – #15 Rutgers 50.  The Fightin’ Irish keep their slim at-large hopes alive, as they knocked off #15 Rutgers.  Only Waters had Rutgers in this one.  Lynch and Bry have ND winning again on Wednesday, so that stays alive for them.
• #11 Seton Hall 68 – #14 South Florida 54.  The Pirates of Seton Hall kept their season alive with a 14-point win over USF last night.  Bry and Lynch missed on the upset pick.  Waters (with more Jersey pride) has Seton Hall winning again today against #6 Syracuse.
• #13 St. John’s 64 – #12 Georgetown 59.  And thus ends the season of one of the most disappointing teams in the nation.  St. John’s, a feisty young team, will now move on to face a battered and reeling Marquette team in the second round–don’t count them out.  Doogan and Lynch both nailed this upset pick.  Bry and Alexi both lost G’town, which they had winning again today.

HORIZON LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP:
After a pretty good tournament, the Horizon champ was crowned last night…and it wasn’t who everyone expected.  Pop!  There goes a yet-unnamed bubble team’s hopes up in thin air.

• #3 Cleveland State 57 – #1 Butler 54.  Butler is going to make the tournament.  Cleveland St. was not going to until last night.  The Vikings pulled off a pretty big upset in the Horizon finals and are now dancing.  It was a pretty thrilling game, as well, as a couple missed free throws down the stretch by the Vikings gave Butler several chances to tie the game, but the defense held.  Everyone had Butler winning this game, but the CSU loss hurts Bry (not in the standings, but in bragging rights), as he needed Butler to win to complete a perfect Horizon bracket.  Either way, he does snatch the Horizon CTC crown from Ina.

FINAL HORIZON LEAGUE STANDINGS:
Bry-72
J-68
Doogan-64
Lynch-60
Alexi-56
Ina-52 (defending champ)
Stri-36
Waters-32

SUMMIT LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP:
More MADNESS!  Oakland led pretty much the entire game, and by a considerable margin in the first half.  But N.D. State slowly chipped away, finally taking their first lead with less than a minute to go.  But, Oakland came down and tied it with :12 seconds remaining.  The N.D. State coach, Saul Phillips, brilliantly did not call a timeout, allowing his point guard and conference player of the year, Ben Woodside, to get the ball go the length of the floor and hit an off-balance jumper from the elbow to send the Bisons to The Dance in their very first year of D-I eligibility.  That is MADNESS!  Ina, Doogan, and Stri all got this pick correct.  Alexi and J are left wondering what could have been, as they both took #3 Oakland to win this tournament.  The N.D. State win clinched co-titles for Ina, Doogan, and Stri.

FINAL SUMMIT LEAGUE STANDINGS:
Ina-42 (defending co-champ)
Doogan-42
Stri-42
J-26
Alexi-26
Lynch-18
Bry-16
Waters-16 (defending co-champ)

SUN BELT CHAMPIONSHIP:
After some big upsets throughout the tournament, the top seed and clear favorite did prevail in the Sun Belt.

• #1 Western Kentucky 64 – #6 South Alabama 56.  The Hilltoppers are dancing again–look out high seeds–and looking for a return to the Sweet 16.  The USA Jaguars gave WKU a run for its money last night, but the better team came through at the end, though it was closer than the final score may indicate.  Ina, Doogan, and Lynch came through with the champion pick, and Ina walked away with her fourth CTC conference crown of 2009.

FINAL SUN BELT STANDINGS:
Ina-48
J-40
Bry-36
Lynch-34
Alexi-32 (defending champ)
Waters-24
Stri-16

MAC OPENING ROUND:
The MAC got under way last night with four opening round games.  Bry was the only one to nail all 4–by the skin of his teeth.

• #5 Akron 93 – #12 Toledo 92 (OT).  MADNESS!  Toledo led the entire way, often by a large margin, in what would have been very rather large upset by CTC implications.  The Rockets even took the lead with :06 left in overtime, but the Zips responded with a last-second layup by Brett McKnight to win it and survive.  Lynch just missed out on the 14-point (3x) upset pick.  Alexi, Doogan, Ina, and Bry all can breathe a sigh of relief, as their semifinalist–Akron–is still alive.
• #6 Kent State 64 – #11 Northern Illinois 61.  Another big favorite–and major player in the CTC–just barely escaped first-round elimination, as Kent St. came all the back from a large deficit to defeat N. Illinois.  Doogan is the one that just missed this big upset.  Bry and Alexi are the ones that dodged major bullets here.  Bry has the Golden Flashes going to the finals; Alexi has them winning it.
• #7 Central Michigan 62 – #10 Eastern Michigan 49.  The Chippewas move on with a relatively easy win over E. Michigan yesterday.  This is very good news for Ina and Bry, as they both have CMU going to the semis.  This is bad news for Doogan and Alexi, who had EMU going to the semis.  Waters also missed out on an upset pick here.
• #9 Ohio 62 – #8 Western Michigan 55.  Though there were two major upset threats, the only upset that actually panned out was the mild 8-9 upset of Ohio over WMU.  Bry, J, Doogan, Waters, and Lynch all got this pick.  J is the big winner, as he now has a shot at a major upset–Ohio over #1 Bowling Green–today.

BIG SKY SEMIFINALS:
Unfathomable is a good way to describe one of the two semifinal results from last night’s double-header in the Big Sky.

• #6 Montana State 70 – #1 Weber State 61.  Led by Andrew Bynum, Montana St. upsets 15-1 and top-seeded Weber St., to move on to the finals tonight.  No one had MSU in the semis, let alone going to the finals.  The big implication here is that everyone’s champion pick, except for J, has now been eliminated.
• #2 Portland State 57 – #4 Idaho State 53.  And, here is J’s championship pick, Portland St., moving on to the final.  Everyone except Stri and Waters got this pick correct, but only J has them winning the title.

WAC OPENING ROUND:
The WAC debuted last night with the bottom two teams squaring off in a play-in game.

• #9 Fresno State 62 – #8 Hawaii 56.  The mild upset last night gets the WAC off to an interesting start.  Bry, Ina, and Alexi all got this mild upset correct.  No one has either team moving on past the quarters.

MEAC OPENING ROUND:
And, the MEAC also got going last night.  Ina and J were the only two that nailed both MEAC games.

• #7 Hampton 51 – #10 Delaware State 32.  In an ugly, ugly game, Hampton survives to see another day–taking on #2 S.C. State today.  Alexi, J, Ina, and Bry all got this one right.  J and Alexi are even more happy about this result, as J has Hampton going to the semis; Alexi has them in the finals.
• #8 Florida A&M 71 – #9 Howard 58.  FAMU ended the Howard season abruptly last night, and will now get #1 Morgan St. in the quarters.  Ina and J were the only two to get this pick correct.  No one had either of these teams going to the semis.