47 games yesterday. Only 39 today. But, have no fear, there are a LOT of points at stake as each tournament moves on to another round of play. This might be the fifth best sports day of the year (behind next thursday through sunday).
Before we get into today’s preview, I thought that, heading into the title weekends, it might be interesting to see the breakdowns of champions with the 12 CTC’ers.
- ACC – Duke 9, Maryland 2, Florida St. 1
- A-10 – Temple 4, Xavier 3, Richmond 5
- Big XII – Kansas 10, Kansas St. 1, Baylor 1
- Big East – Syracuse 8, Pittsburgh 0, West Virginia 1, Villanova 3
- Big Ten – Ohio St. 4, Purdue 3, Michigan St. 4, Wisconsin 1
- Big West – UCSB 6, Pacific 6
- Conf USA – UTEP 7, Memphis 4, UAB 1
- Great West – South Dakota 10, Houston Baptist 1, North Dakota 1
- MAC – Kent St. 6, Akron 6
- MEAC – Morgan St. 7, Delaware St. 2, S.C. State 1, Norfolk St. 2
- Mountain West – New Mexico 6, BYU 2, UNLV 2, San Diego St. 2
- Pac-10 – California 4, Arizona St. 3, Washington 5
- SEC – Kentucky 8, Mississippi St. 0, Vanderbilt 2, Ole Miss 1, Tennessee 1
- Southland – Sam Houston St. 9, Stephen F. Austin 2, UT-San Antonio 0, SE Louisiana 2
- SWAC – Jackson St. 6, AR-Pine Bluff 4, Alabama St. 2
- WAC – Utah St. 9, Nevada 3
PATRIOT LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP (16 points):
Remember the Patriot League? Ya, it’s still going. The last time we caught up with the PL was Sunday, when Lehigh and Lafayette both won home semifinal games to set up today’s championship–the only championship of the day. The current leader is Doogan (the ’08 champ), and he will win the title if Lafayette comes through. If Lehigh wins, at home, then Teddy will win his first CTC conference crown (it won’t be his last with his performance here in the seconed week).
#3 Lafayette at #1 Lehigh. The Mountain Hawks of Lehigh won the regular season, so they got home games througout the tournament. Well, this is final one. Fran O’Hanlons Leopards will try and take the title and go to The Dance. J and Doogan both have Lafayette in a nice upset title pick. Bry, Ina, Stri, both Lohses, and Teddy all have Lehigh.
BIG EAST SEMIFINALS (40 points each):
Four unlikely teams remain after Upset Thursday in MSG. But, this conference is so deep that the matchups are still great, and the title is still of incredibly high prestige.
#5 Marquette vs. #8 Georgetown. Marquette STUNNED Villanova yesterday and now get to wear the home whites in the conference semis. G’town put in a STUNNING performance against Syracuse yesterday. No one has either of these teams winning this game, so there are no points at stake here in the CTC
#3 West Virginia vs. #7 Notre Dame. WVU is, all of a sudden, the best remaining seed in the Big East tournament, after an amazing game-winner last night by Da’Sean Butler gave them a win over Cincinnati. Notre Dame is red-hot and the ‘Gody looks healthy, so they are gonna be tough. Everyone except Waters and KA have a horse in this race. Lohse has the great upset pick of Notre Dame here. The other 9 have West Virginia going to the finals. But, Bry is the only one that has WVU winning this tournament. In fact, he’s the only one with their Big East champion still alive, so this game is biggest for him.
BIG XII SEMIFINALS (40 points each):
The top four teams all came off of their byes yesterday and won their quarterfinals matchups. That sets up a fantastic double-header in Kansas City tonight and we are guaranteed to have a great matchup in the title game tomorrow.
#1 Kansas vs. #4 Texas A&M. Both teams took care of business yesterday and meet in the early game tonight. Everyone has KU winning this game. Doogan and KA are the only two that do not have them winning it all, so they are probably rooting for an upset here.
#2 Kansas St. vs. #3 Baylor. The second game of the double-header is going to be a war between a K-State team that is probably still dreaming of a #1-seed and a red-hot Baylor team. Bry, Ina, Doogan, Alexi, Lil Lohse, adn Teddy all have Baylor in the mild upset. KA, J, and Stri have K-State. Waters, Lynch, and Lohse all had Oklahoma St. and have, therefore, already lost this game. The game is biggest for Doogan and KA, as they have Baylor and K-State, respectively, to win it all.
PAC-10 SEMIFINALS (40 points each):
The Pac-10 nearly had a nightmare of a quarterfinals, but UW pulled it out late to probably secure that the Pac-10 will not have to deal with the ignominity of being a one-bid league this year.
#1 California vs. #5 UCLA. Ben Howland’s team is still kicking, as they are two wins from somehow pulling out an NCAA bid from this forgettable season. Cal is heading to the tournament, but could use a Pac-10 tourney title for a favorable seed. Waters and KA have already lost this game (Arizona), but everyone else has Cal. Bry, Ina, Doogan, and Alexi have Cal winning this tournament.
#3 Washington vs. #7 Stanford. This matchup, one that was supposed to be a de facto NCAA tournament play-in game, has been crashed by Stanford who knocked off ASU yesterday. So, UW has an easier matchup in the semis, but does not have any more excuse for losing it. J, Waters, and KA has already lost this game (Arizona St.). Everyone else has yoo-dub. Stri, Lynch, both Lohses, and Teddy all have the Huskies winning this tournament.
ATLANTIC 10 QUARTERFINALS (20 points each):
Two A-10 teams didn’t make the tournament. Then, four games across the conference’s campuses eliminated four more on Tuesday night. So, we are down to eight A-10 teams to battle it out on the boardwalk.
#1 Temple (14-2) vs. #8 St. Bonaventure. The Owls grab the conference’s top-seed for the first time in nearly a decade and open the quadruple-header with the Bonnies. Everyone has Temple winning this game. Bry, J, Doogan, and Lynch all have Temple winning the tournament.
#4 St. Louis (11-5) vs. #5 Rhode Island. URI’s bubble hopes probably rest on knocking off the Bilikens today in the second game. Let’s stop and talk, for a second, about how great Rick Majerus is. Honestly. There are no senior and no juniors on this St. Louis team, and Mr. Majerus has coached them up and they are going to the Dance. Plus, since it’s St. Louis (and none of them are Larry Hughes), it’s not like any of them are going to leave early for the Association, so the next two years in the A-10 are going to be Majerus and then the rest of the field. So, get the Bilikens now because you won’t be getting them for a while now…at least until one of the big-money schools realize just how amazing Rick Majerus is and offer him the world to come coach for them. Anyway, back to today (fortunately, for the rest of the A-10), KA, Teddy, and Alexi have URI in the mild upset. KA has the Rams in the finals. Waters has already lost this game (St. Joe’s); everyone else has St. Louis. Stri and Lohse have SLU in the finals.
#2 Xavier (14-2) vs. #7 Dayton. In the first game of the night session (and one of the best games of the day around the country), two in-state rivals will battle for a shot at the semis. Dayton needs this game to just about secure a big, but XU is red-hot. Waters, Lynch, Lohse, and Teddy all have Dayton in a big upset here. Lynch has the Flyers in the finals. Everyone else has the X. Ina, Lil Lohse, and KA have Xavier winning the A-10.
#3 Richmond (13-3) vs. #11 UMass. The nightcap was supposed to be another big game for the bubble, but Charlotte’s bubble burst at home on Tuesday when they lost to UMass. Now, the Minutemen will try to continue in their spoiler role, as they get the Spiders. Lynch had Charlotte here, but everyone else has Richmond. The Spiders are actually a pretty popular CTC pick here, as more people picked Richmond (Teddy, Lohse, Waters, Stri, and Alexi) to win the A-10 than any other team. Throw in J, who has them losing in the finals, and you’ve got half the field with Richmond in the finals.
ACC QUARTERFINALS (20 points each):
The top four teams in the ACC join the party in Greensboro today, joining the four survivors of a top-seed massacre yesterday.
#1 Duke (13-3) vs. #9 Virginia. The Dukies start their quest for yet another #1 seed in the NCAA tournament as they take on a young UVa team that knocked out BC yesterday. Everyone has Duke winning this game. Alexi and KA are the only two that do not have Duke in the finals. Those two and J are the only three that do not have Duke winning this tournament.
#4 Virginia Tech (10-6) vs. #12 Miami (FL). Miami pulled off the massive upset of Wake yesterday and now get to give Va Tech a shot. No one has Miami winning this game. J, Waters, Lynch, and KA all had Wake here, so they have lost it already. The other 8 entries have Va Tech here. Alexi has Va Tech going to the finals.
#2 Maryland (13-3) vs. #7 Georgia Tech. The game that everyone where I live is talking about is the 7:00 game tonight as the Terps take on Ga Tech. The Yellow Jackets came from behind last night against UNC to set up this matchup. Tech is squarely on the bubble, so they could really use a win here. Lohse is the only one with Georgia Tech here in a nice upset pick. KA had UNC, but everyone else has Maryland. J and Alexi are the only two with the Terps winning the ACC.
#3 Florida St. (10-6) vs. #11 N.C. State. N.C. State pulled off the second big upset of the day yesterday, as they took out Clemson. Now, they will get the Seminoles of FSU in the nightcap of the quadruple-header tonight in Greensboro. Bry, Ina, J, Alexi, Lynch, Lohse, and Teddy have all already lost this game, as they all had Clemson here. Stri has what will be a fantastic upset pick of N.C. State here. Everyone else has the Seminoles. KA has the most faith in FSU, as she has them winning the tournament. Doogan and Waters are the only other two that have them in the finals.
BIG TEN QUARTERFINALS (20 points each):
After the bottom three teams were eliminated yesterday, the top eight will battle it out in the Big Ten quarters today in Indianapolis.
#1 Ohio St. (14-4) vs. #8 Michigan. The Buckeyes are also in the market for a #1-seed in the NCAA tournament. Michigan may have had the most diappointing season of anyone in the country, but they beat Iowa yesterday and are, therefore, still alive. Everyone has OSU in this one. Bry, Ina, Alexi, and Waters have the Buckeyes winning the tournament.
#4 Wisconsin (13-5) vs. #5 Illinois (10-8). Illinois has somehow played itself back to the bubble, and now they may be in a must-win position here. Wisconsin, as usual, has been rock-solid under the most underrated coach in the country, Philly’s own Bo Ryan. Waters is the only one to take Illinois in this one. Stri, Lohse, KA, and Teddy all have Wisconsin in the finals. Lohse has them winning it.
#2 Purdue (14-4) vs. #7 Northwestern. Northwestern ended Indiana’s season yesterday and now they get to test the Boilermakers sans Robbie Hummel. All 12 entries have Purdue winning this one. Stri, KA, and Lil Lohse have Purdue winning the Big 10.
#3 Michigan St. (14-4) vs. #6 Minnesota. Tubby has his boys playing very well right now and are a pretty scary quarterfinal draw for the Spartans. The Gophers rocked Penn St. yesterday to get here. Everyone has MSU winning this one, but some have them going further than others. J, Doogan, Lynch, and Teddy have them going all the way. Lohse, Bry, and Waters have them losing in the finals.
SEC QUARTERFINALS (20 points each):
The SEC welcomes the top two teams from each division, including the #2 team in all the land, Kentucky.
#1E Kentucky (14-2) vs. #4W Alabama. Alabama knocked off S. Carolina yesterday to get themselves a date with UK. KA has the huge upset pick of Alabama here, but everyone else has the ‘Cats. More than half of the field (Bry, Ina, J, Stri, Alexi, Waters, Lil Lohse, and Teddy) has UK winning the SEC.
#2W Ole Miss (9-7) vs. #3E Tennessee. Don’t look now, but Ole Miss may be on the bubble all of a sudden. They get a good chance to add to that resume as they get nationally-ranked Tennessee in the quarters, after the Vols took care of LSU yesterday. KA and Waters are the only two that took Ole Miss in this one. Everyone else has Tennessee. Someone is going to lose a champion in this game, as KA has Ole Miss winning the SEC, and Lynch has Tennessee winning it. Doogan and Lohse both have Bruce Pearl’s squad losing in the finals.
#1W Mississippi St. (9-7) vs. #4E Florida. The other team from the Magnolia State may also be on the bubble now, but they would need a win today against Florida. The Gators took out Auburn last night. KA, Doogan, and Alexi are the only three to take Mississippi St. in this one; everyone else has the upset with Florida. Waters and Teddy both have the Gators reaching the title game. KA has Mississippi St. in the finals.
#2E Vanderbilt (12-4) vs. #6W Georgia. The Dawgs pulled off a nice upset yesterday, taking out Arkansas in the opening round. Now, they get a bigger test with Vandy in the quarters. Ina and Teddy both think they can do it again, as they have them in this upset. Ina actually has UGa going all the way to the finals. Lohse and Doogan have the Commodores winning the SEC. Most of the field (Bry, J, Doogan, Stri, Alexi, Lynch, and both Lohses) has Vandy going to the finals.
MOUNTAIN WEST SEMIFINALS (32 points each):
I’m not going to lie to you, I’m about as interested in the final four of the Mountain West as I am in any other conference. We got the top four teams through the quarters, setting up a double-header that, though it lacks the “star” power, is every bit as good as the semifinals in most of the “major” conferences. And, I lucked out that I get these games in my cable package, so it looks like we’re staying in and watching the Mountain West tonight–fun Friday night, huh? I think so.
#1 New Mexico vs. #4 San Diego St. Steve Alford’s Lobos struggled, but took care of Air Force yesterday, while SDSU really struggled, but survived against Colorado St. Now, they play in the first of two fantastic semifinal games. Doogan, Lynch, Lohse, and KA all have the Aztecs in the upset. LA and Lynch have SDSU winning this tournament. Everyone else has New Mexico winning this game. Half of the field (Ina, J, Stri, Alexi, Waters, and Lil Lohse) have the Lobos going all the way.
#2 BYU vs. #3 UNLV. In the nightcap, we will see if Jimmer Fredette has an encore performance after dropping 45 on TCU last night. He will have to do it against UNLV and their home fans, as the game is in the Thomas & Mack Center in Sin City. 5 entries (J, Doogan, Alexi, Waters, and Teddy) have UNLV here. Five more (Both Lohses, Stri, Ina, and Bry) have BYU. The other two had Utah. Bry and Lohse are the only two in the field that have BYU winning this tournament. Doogan and Teddy are the only two with UNLV winning it. No matter who you slice it, this is a HUGE game. And, just to make it more interesting–the sportsbooks have it as a pick ’em, so it’s anybody’s ball game.
MAC SEMIFINALS (24 points each):
If you told me that you correctly predicted the MAC semifinals, then I would take my hat off to you. If you then told me that you also correctly predicted the four opening round games, I would probably stop believing anything you say. Well, Teddy, consider yourself not being believed. Teddy has amazingly predicted these crazy results in the MAC this year, so I have already called the bookie and told him to put the house on an Ohio-Akron parlay tonight.
#3 Akron vs. #7 W. Michigan. At about 4:30 yesterday, it looked like the Zips were going to be going home from Cleveland disappointed that they could not even get out of the quarters. But, they rallied, beat E. Michigan in double-OT and then watched as the top two seeds both went down, making Akron now the odds-on favorites to represent the MAC in the Big Dance. Everyone has Akron winning this game, so the six entries that do not have the Zips winning it all (Bry, Ina, Doogan, Stri, Alexi, and Lil Lohse) will be hoping their pick here is wrong. The other six have Akron winning this game and the title.
#4 Miami (OH) vs. #9 Ohio. The Bobcats are miraculously still alive. They won an OT game on the road against Ball St. on Sunday just to get themselves to Cleveland. Then they took out the top-seeded and tournament favorites, Kent St. yesterday in the quarters. Now, they get a Miami team that can, all of a sudden, smell the auto-bid. Teddy got the two Ohio upsets so far, and he’s going for the trifecta tonight. KA is the only other contestant that can score with this game, as she has Miami. Everyone else had either Kent St. or Buffalo and are out of this game.
CONFERENCE USA SEMIFINALS (24 points each):
Three upsets yesterday paved the way for the UTEP Miners to roll through the C-USA tournament…maybe.
#6 S. Mississippi vs. #7 Houston. The first game of the double-header will decide which Cinderella will go to the finals against either the top-seed or the tournament hosts. Houston started the wreckage yesterday by ousting Memphis, and S. Miss followed suit, taking care of UAB. Lohse is the only one that can get any points in this unlikely semifinal matchup, as he actually has S. Miss going to the finals.
#1 UTEP vs. #5 Tulsa. The Miners, the only favorite to win in the quarters, now gets the host team, Tulsa, in the semis, after the Golden Hurricane came from behind to beat Marshall yesterday. Everyone has UTEP here, except Waters, who had Marshall here. Most of the field (Bry, Ina, J, Doogan, Alexi, and both Lohses) has UTEP winning the tournament. No one has Tulsa, obviously, so those who picked Memphis or UAB to take the C-USA title are rooting for Tulsa here.
WAC SEMIFINALS (16 points each):
All four favorites won in the quarters yesterday in the WAC, so the double-header in Reno will involved the best four teams in the WAC.
#1 Utah St. vs. #4 Louisiana Tech. The Aggies of Utah St. may actually be an at-large contender on Selection Sunday, but not if they lose here. And, the way the Committee pisses all over the little guys, they might just want to take the auto-bid. La Tech is a solid team that had a bit of a disappointing regular season, but they have the talent to take this tournament. Lynch is the only one with La Tech winning this game. KA has already lost it with Fresno St. Everyone except Waters and KA (who have Nevada) have Utah St. winning this tournament.
#2 Nevada vs. #3 New Mexico St. The Wolfpack of Nevada, hosts of the tournament, took care of Idaho last night and then watched New Mexico St. take apart San Jose St., setting up this excellent semifinal. Teddy has New Mexico St., but everyone else has Nevada.
MEAC SEMIFINALS (8 points each):
Finally, we get to a little normalcy in the MEAC, as the semifinal round is just a simple double-header–ya know, like every other conference tournament.
#2 Delaware St. vs. #3 S.C. State. The Hornets of Delaware St. are two wins from the second ever trip to the Big Dance (and a nice trip to Dayton on Tuesday for the play-in game), but it’ll be two tough games before they will be cutting any nets down. They open the semis tonight against S.C. State. Teddy, KA, Bry, and J all have S.C. State in the mild upset. Everyone else has Delaware St. Waters and Lynch have Delaware St. taking the MEAC title. KA has S.C. State winning the title.
#1 Morgan St. vs. #5 Hampton. Morgan St. has dominated this conference for a couple years now and are two games away from another NCAA appearance. They will battle Hampton tonight in the second semifinal. Teddy, Lynch, and Stri have already lost this game, as they had Norfolk winning here. Waters is the only one with Hampton in the finals, so this would be a big win for his bracket. Everyone else has Morgan here. Most of the CTC has Morgan winning the title.
BIG WEST SEMIFINALS (8 points each):
Finally, the Big West invites its top two seeds to the tournament party, as they both received double-byes for their work through the regular season. The system definitely made sense this year, as those two teams were both four games better than third-place Long Beach St.
#2 Pacific (12-4) vs. #3 Long Beach St. The Pacific Tigers have had a pretty decent history in the Big West tournament and now they enter this year’s version against Long Beach St. Interestingly, everyone in the CTC has Pacific going to the finals. Half of the field (Bry, Alexi, Waters, Lohse, KA, and Teddy) has Pacific winning this tournament.
#1 UC-Santa Barbara (12-4) vs. #4 UC-Davis. The Gouchos of UCBS won the Big West regular season title and now are two games from The Dance. They open their postseason tonight against #4 UC-Davis. No one has UC-Davis in this game. Waters and KA both had CS-Fullerton, but everyone else has UCSB. The half of the field that did not take Pacific to win, took UCSB.
SWAC SEMIFINALS (8 points each):
The bottom half of the SWAC looks as it is supposed to, but the top half blew up. The ramifications of the Jackson St. loss struck far and wide, as two days later we get the semis without the Tigers.
#2 Arkansas-Pine Bluff vs. #3 Alabama St. The first semi in Shreveport will give us which team is going to be the favorites in the title game tomorrow. AR-Pine Bluff struggled, but beat Mississippi Valley St. two nights ago, then took the night off to watch their semifinal opponent, Alabama St., knock off Alabama A&M last night. Alexi, Waters, and both Lohses have Alabama St. winning this game. Bry, Ina, Lynch, KA, and Teddy all have AR-Pine Bluff winning here. Doogan and Stri have already lost this game, with MVSU. Ina, J, KA, and Teddy all have AR-Pine Bluff winning this tournament. The two Lohses have Alabama St. winning it.
#5 Texas-Southern vs. #8 Grambling St. In the most unlikely of semifinal matchups, TX-Southern, who hammered Prairie View A&M last night, will take on Grambling, who pulled off the crazy upset of Jackson St. two nights ago.
GREAT WEST SEMIFINALS (8 points each):
And the tournament that doesn’t matter…to anyone but us…is down to just four teams remaining. South Dakota, the top-seed, joins the three winners from two nights ago in Oren, UT, for the semis.
#1 South Dakota (11-1) vs. #5 Texas-Pan American. The first ever regular season champion in the Great West is South Dakota. Now, they will try and be the first ever tournament champion, as well, though it will not result in an NCAA bid. UT-Pan American edged the host school, Utah Valley, on Wednesday night to get to face the top-seeded Coyotes. KA and Teddy both have UT-PA pulling off a big upset here, though neither of them has the Broncs winning the tournament. Everyone else has South Dakota winning the whole thing, so this upset would be huge for Teddy and KA.
#2 Houston Baptist vs. #6 N.J. Tech. The #2-seed in the inaugural Great West tournament is Houston Baptist–the only other team over .500 in league play. They played a great game with Chicago St. in the quarters and came out victorious. Now, they get N.J. Tech, who beat North Dakota on Wednesday. J, Alexi, and Waters all have N.J.I.T. going to the finals in a really nice upset pick here. Teddy and Lynch have already lost the game with North Dakota in this spot. The other seven entries have Houston Baptist going to the finals.
