{"id":275,"date":"2009-03-13T17:31:58","date_gmt":"2009-03-13T22:31:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.broadstreetbelievers.com\/?p=275"},"modified":"2009-03-13T17:31:58","modified_gmt":"2009-03-13T22:31:58","slug":"ctc-day-11-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/?p=275","title":{"rendered":"CTC Day 11 Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Another HUGE day, with fewer games, but games that have more value than yesterday.\u00a0 This is probably going to be the day that decides the 2009 CTC overall champion and, unlike any other year, it&#8217;s pretty much anyone&#8217;s game.\u00a0 Ina has a nice lead, but there are a lot of points left to be awarded&#8211;and everyone else is so tightly packed.<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>PATRIOT LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP:<\/u><\/strong><br \/>\nIn a tournament that started on Day 2 of the CTC (last Wednesday), it will finally end Friday night in our nation&#8217;s capital, as the top two seeds compete for the Dancing Ticket.\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><u>#1 American vs. #2 Holy Cross<\/u><\/em>.\u00a0 American is the favorite, the regular season champion, and the home team.\u00a0 But, Holy Cross looked better in the semifinal round.\u00a0 It should be good.\u00a0 Only Waters has Holy Cross in this game, and if the Crusaders win, he will take the 2009 CTC PL crown.\u00a0 If American wins, Alexi will have a well-earned PL title.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>ATLANTIC TEN SEMIFINALS:<\/u><\/strong><br \/>\nFight, fight, fight for the Cherry and the White, for the Cherry and the White we&#8217;ll fight, fight, fight.\u00a0 The A-10 Final Four and a HUGE game for the Temple Owls.\u00a0 It&#8217;s showtime&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><u>#1 Xavier vs. #4 Temple<\/u><\/em>.\u00a0 The season on the line.\u00a0 The Temple Owls MUST defeat Xavier on Friday or they will have to settle for the NIT.\u00a0 Bry and J both have Temple winning this game and the tournament.\u00a0 Everyone else has Xavier in this game, with all but Lynch having them winning the title.<\/li>\n<li><em><u>#3 Dayton vs. #7 Duquesne<\/u><\/em>.\u00a0 The Flyers get a break by not having to face the red-hot Rhode Island Rams.\u00a0 But, then again, Duquesne is no walk in the park.\u00a0 Bry, J, Stri, and Lynch all have Dayton winning this game.\u00a0 Lynch has them winning it all.\u00a0 No one else can score from this game.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>BIG EAST SEMIFINALS:<\/u><\/strong><br \/>\nDoes Syracuse have anything left in the tank?\u00a0 Can Louisville secure a #1 seed?\u00a0 A bunch of questions might be answered at The Garden tonight in the Big East&#8217;s Final Four.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><u>#1 Louisville vs. #4 Villanova<\/u><\/em>.\u00a0 After a clutch win in the quarters, &#8216;Nova gets Louisville in the semis.\u00a0 Waters has Villanova winning this game in the upset.\u00a0 Lynch had Marquette winning this game.\u00a0 Everyone else has Louisville, but only Doogan has them winning the title.<\/li>\n<li><em><u>#6 Syracuse vs. #7 West Virginia<\/u><\/em>.\u00a0 Everyone had either Pitt or UConn winning this game, so there are no real CTC implications.\u00a0 Either way, it should be a great game.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>PAC 10 SEMIFINALS:<\/u><\/strong><br \/>\nThe Final Four out west is also all set and ready to go tonight.\u00a0 Three of the four should already be in the tournament, and USC probably needs to win the whole thing.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><u>#1 Washington State vs. #4 Arizona State<\/u><\/em>.\u00a0 In a game that is good enough to be a Sweet 16 matchup, WSU will battle ASU in the Staples Center.\u00a0 Alexi and Waters both have the Sun Devils pulling off the upset, with Waters having them going on to win the tournament.\u00a0 Everyone else has UW.<\/li>\n<li><em><u>#2 UCLA vs. #6 USC<\/u><\/em>.\u00a0 The cross-town rivals continue their rivalry tonight in a big spot.\u00a0 Everyone has UCLA winning this game.\u00a0 Alexi, Doogan, J, and Bry all have UCLA winning this tournament.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>BIG XII SEMIFINALS:<\/u><\/strong><br \/>\nWhat can possibly be done to top yesterday?\u00a0 All the mighty have fallen, except Mizzou, so I guess they will probably lose tonight.\u00a0 The very unpredictable Final Four of the Big XII will whittle it down to an unpredictable championship matchup on Saturday.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><u>#3 Missouri vs. #7 Oklahoma State<\/u><\/em>.\u00a0 The Missouri Tigers were the only top-4 seed in the Big XII to avoid a big upset in the quarters.\u00a0 They now should be big favorites in the crazy Big XII tourney.\u00a0 But, they get the red-hot OSU Cowboys in the semis on Friday.\u00a0 Lynch is the only one that can score points here, as he has Mizzou in the finals.<\/li>\n<li><em><u>#5 Texas vs. #9 Baylor<\/u><\/em>.\u00a0 Another surprising semifinal matchup pits UT against the Baylor Bears.\u00a0 Only Alexi has Texas making the finals, so everyone else will be rooting for Baylor.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>ACC QUARTERFINALS:<\/u><\/strong><br \/>\nThe ACC continues today and tonight with a quarterfinal quadruple-header, as the top\u00a04 seeds, including UNC, Duke, and Wake Forest, take the floor today.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><u>#1 North Carolina (13-3) vs. #8 Virginia Tech<\/u><\/em>.\u00a0 The best team in the country has to wait until Friday to start their postseason, and they get a motivated, talented Va Tech team.\u00a0 Everyone has UNC winning this game, and everyone except Doogan and Alexi have them winning the whole tournament.<\/li>\n<li><em><u>#2 Wake Forest (11-5) vs. #7 Maryland<\/u><\/em>.\u00a0 Maryland stays alive with a win Thursday night against N.C. State and now they get #2 Wake in the quarters.\u00a0 Waters has the Maryland upset in this round.\u00a0 Alexi and Doogan have Wake winning this whole tournament.<\/li>\n<li><em><u>#3 Duke (11-5) vs. #6 Boston College<\/u><\/em>.\u00a0 The Blue Devils get the start their postseason against a tough BC team that is assured of a bid.\u00a0 Only Lynch went with the BC upset.\u00a0 Bry and Stri have Duke going to the finals.<\/li>\n<li><em><u>#4 Florida State (10-6) vs. #12 Georgia Tech<\/u><\/em>.\u00a0 The big surprise of the tournament, Georgia Tech, now moves on to face #4 Florida St.\u00a0 No one has Ga Tech winning this game.\u00a0 Bry, J, and Alexi have already lost this game, having picked Clemson to win it.\u00a0 No one has FSU going further than the semis.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>BIG TEN QUARTERFINALS:<\/u><\/strong><br \/>\nBubbles GALORE in the Big Ten quarters today.\u00a0 If you ever cared about the bubble, you should go get a seat at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indy for the quadruple-header today.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><u>#1 Michigan State (15-3) vs. #8 Minnesota<\/u><\/em>.\u00a0 Personally, I don&#8217;t understand why Michigan St. isn&#8217;t being talked about as a #1 seed, but with all the upsets, maybe that will start happening.\u00a0 Tubby Smith&#8217;s team might need another win to feel safe, so they&#8217;ll have to do it against MSU on Friday.\u00a0 Everyone has MSU winning this game.\u00a0 In fact, everyone except Stri has them winning this whole tournament.<\/li>\n<li><em><u>#2 Illinois (11-7) vs. #7 Michigan<\/u><\/em>.\u00a0 The Illini open their postseason against a tough Michigan team that hammered Iowa on Thursday.\u00a0 Bry and J both have Michigan in the upset.<\/li>\n<li><em><u>#3 Purdue (11-7) vs. #6 Penn State<\/u><\/em>.\u00a0 Penn St. probably needs another win to get in to the tournament, with an RPI in the mid-60&#8217;s.\u00a0 If they win Friday, though, I think they have to be included.\u00a0 Well, if the CTC knows anything, they should be okay, as only Stri, J, and Bry have Purdue.<\/li>\n<li><em><u>#4 Wisconsin (10-8) vs. #5 Ohio State (10-8)<\/u><\/em>.\u00a0 And the two teams that play a game on equal rest is the 4-5 game between two interesting teams, Wisconsin and OSU.\u00a0 Only Bry and Waters have Ohio St.\u00a0 Stri has Wisconsin winning the whole tournament.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>SEC QUARTERFINALS:<\/u><\/strong><br \/>\nThe SEC continues today with four more games.\u00a0 Big spots for UK, USC, Florida, and Auburn as they all try and stake their claims to at-large bids.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><u>#1W LSU (13-3) vs. #4E Kentucky<\/u><\/em>.\u00a0 It&#8217;s put up or shut up time for Kentucky, as they take on clearly the best SEC team this year, LSU.\u00a0 Only Bry has Kentucky in the big upset.\u00a0 Only J has LSU winning this tournament.<\/li>\n<li><em><u>#1E Tennessee (10-6) vs. #4W Alabama<\/u><\/em>.\u00a0 The Vols have had a very disappointing season, but they put enough wins together to ensure them a spot in The Dance.\u00a0 But, they probably want more.\u00a0 Everyone has UT in this one.\u00a0 Bry, Doogan, Alexi, and Lynch all have Tennessee winning this tournament.<\/li>\n<li><em><u>#2W Auburn (10-6) vs. #3E Florida<\/u><\/em>.\u00a0 A HUGE bubble game going on in the SEC.\u00a0 This may even be a &#8220;Round of 128&#8221; game.\u00a0 Everyone has Florida except Lynch and Stri.\u00a0 Stri has Auburn going to the finals.<\/li>\n<li><em><u>#2E South Carolina (10-6) vs. #3W Mississippi State<\/u><\/em>.\u00a0 A real tough Mississippi St. team will get a surprisingly good S. Carolina\u00a0team in the quarters on Friday.\u00a0 Only Alexi and Stri have MSU in the mild upset.\u00a0 Bry, Doogan, and Waters all have USC in the finals.\u00a0 Waters has them winning it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>CONF USA SEMIFINALS:<\/u><\/strong><br \/>\nSo, now it&#8217;s Houston&#8217;s turn to get beat by the dominant Tigers.\u00a0 Oh yeah, there&#8217;s another game&#8211;and it&#8217;s actually a pretty good one.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><u>#1 Memphis vs. #5 Houston<\/u><\/em>.\u00a0 Next up:\u00a0 Houston.\u00a0 Memphis will try to continue their incredible run through the C-USA.\u00a0 Everyone has Memphis winning this tournament, so this game doesn&#8217;t really affect the CTC.<\/li>\n<li><em><u>#2 Tulsa vs. #3 UAB<\/u><\/em>.\u00a0 The game of the tournament in both the basketball and the CTC sense.\u00a0 The winner of this CTC crown will be determined by this game.\u00a0 Bry, Ina, and Doogan have #2 Tulsa; everyone else has #3 UAB.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>MAC SEMIFINALS:<\/u><\/strong><br \/>\nThe Final Four in the MAC is not unexpected, seed-wise, but is rather shocking, if you look at the CTC picks.\u00a0 We&#8217;ll see who can pull out this crazy tournament title.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><u>#1 Bowling Green vs. #5 Akron<\/u><\/em>.\u00a0 Akron&#8217;s come-from-behind win over Miami (OH) sets up a semifinal with Bowling Green.\u00a0 No one has Akron winning this game.\u00a0\u00a0Lynch and J both had Miami (OH), who is already out.\u00a0 Doogan, Bry, and Ina all have BG winning this tourney.<\/li>\n<li><em><u>#2 Ball State vs. #3 Buffalo<\/u><\/em>.\u00a0 The second semi in the MAC is Ball St. versus Buffalo.\u00a0 Ina, J, and Doogan have Buffalo winning this game.\u00a0 Waters and Lynch have Ball St.\u00a0 Bry, Alexi, and Stri all had Kent St., who is out.\u00a0 Waters has Ball St. winning the whole tournament.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>MOUNTAIN WEST SEMIFINALS:<\/u><\/strong><br \/>\nThe Final Four in a very underrated conference was going to be a great double-header with four top-50 RPI teams, but Wyoming decided late last night that they were going to crash tonight&#8217;s party.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><u>#1 BYU vs. #4 San Diego State<\/u><\/em>.\u00a0 The Aztecs can seal their tournament bid with a win over BYU on Friday night.\u00a0 Alexi and Waters can both get a big upset with San Diego St. in this one.\u00a0 Doogan is out of this game, having taken UNLV.\u00a0 Everyone else has BYU.\u00a0 Ina is the only one that has the Cougars winning this tournament.\u00a0 Waters has San Diego St. winning the tourney.<\/li>\n<li><em><u>#2 Utah vs. #6 Wyoming<\/u><\/em>.\u00a0 New Mexico was supposed to be here for a great matchup against Utah, but that&#8217;s not how these conference tourneys work.\u00a0 Lynch, Waters, J, and Bry all have Utah going to the finals, with Bry, J, and Lynch all having them winning this tournament.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>WAC SEMIFINALS:<\/u><\/strong><br \/>\nThe interesting WAC continues tonight with the last 4 standing.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><u>#1 Utah State vs. #5 New Mexico State<\/u><\/em>.\u00a0 A big game for Utah St., who believes (incorrectly) that they should be in the at-large consideration.\u00a0 But, let me give them a word of advice:\u00a0 win the auto bid.\u00a0 Trust me.\u00a0 Bry, Ina, J, and Waters all have Utah St. in this game.\u00a0 Everyone else had Boise St. and, therefore, cannot score here.<\/li>\n<li><em><u>#2 Nevada vs. #6 Louisiana Tech<\/u><\/em>.\u00a0 The Wolfpack of Nevada escaped having to play Idaho and, instead, gets La Tech.\u00a0 Everyone has Nevada winning this game.\u00a0 Everyone except Waters and J have them winning the whole thing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>BIG WEST SEMIFINALS:<\/u><\/strong><br \/>\nThe top 2 seeds finally get to play in the Big West tournament tonight.\u00a0 The 3 and 4 seeds survived the quarters to now get the semis tonight.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><u>#1 Cal State-Northridge (11-5) vs. #4 UC-Santa Barbara<\/u><\/em>.\u00a0 J and Alexi both have the Gouchos of UCSB in the upset here.\u00a0 Everyone else has CS-Northridge.\u00a0 Bry, Ina, Doogan, and Waters have CSN winning this tournament.\u00a0 Alexi has the Gouchos winning this whole tourney.<\/li>\n<li><em><u>#2 Long Beach State (10-6) vs. #3 Pacific<\/u><\/em>.\u00a0 In an interesting semifinal matchup in the Big West, a lot is on the line in the CTC.\u00a0\u00a0Bry, Ina, Stri, and Lynch all have Pacific.\u00a0 J, Doogan, and Alexi have Long Beach St.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>MEAC SEMIFINALS:<\/u><\/strong><br \/>\nA not unsurprising Final Four in the MEAC takes place tonight in Winston-Salem.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><u>#1 Morgan State vs. #5 Coppin State<\/u><\/em>.\u00a0 Top-seeded Morgan St. will take on defending champ Coppin St. in the semis on Friday.\u00a0 No one has Coppin St. in this one.\u00a0 Everyone except Doogan (who had N.C. A&amp;T) has Morgan St. going to the finals.\u00a0 Everyone but Doogan and Waters have them winning it all.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li><em><u>#2 South Carolina State vs. #3 Norfolk State<\/u><\/em>.\u00a0 The other semi pits the #2 and #3 seeds.\u00a0 Bry, Ina, and Doogan have S.C. State.\u00a0 Waters and Lynch have Norfolk St.\u00a0 Waters has them winning it all.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>SOUTHLAND SEMIFINALS:<\/u><\/strong><br \/>\nUT-San Antonio crashed the semifinal party in the Southland.\u00a0 Other than that, it&#8217;s all chalk.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><u>#1 Stephen F. Austin vs. #4 Texas A&amp;M-Corpus Christie<\/u><\/em>.\u00a0 Top-seed SFA now gets a tough Texas A&amp;M-CC team.\u00a0 J has the A&amp;M upset pick, as he has them going all the way to the title.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li><em><u>#2 Nicholls State vs. #6 Texas-San Antonio<\/u><\/em>.\u00a0 No one expected UTSA to be here, so obviously no one has them winning this game.\u00a0 Ina and Stri are the only ones with Nicholls St.\u00a0 Everyone else had Sam Houston St., who is out.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>SWAC SEMIFINALS:<\/u><\/strong><br \/>\nThe top 4 seeds in the SWAC take the floor tonight in the league&#8217;s Final Four.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><u>#1 Alabama State vs. #4 Arkansas-Pine Bluff<\/u><\/em>.\u00a0 Top-seeded Alabama St. tries to reach the finals on Friday against UAPB.\u00a0 Everyone has Alabama St. winning this game, except Lynch who had Southern (who is out).<\/li>\n<li><em><u>#2 Jackson State vs. #3 Prairie View A&amp;M<\/u><\/em>.\u00a0 The other dominant team in the SWAC, Jackson St., tries to set up the big matchup in the finals.\u00a0 Only Stri has the Prairie View upset pick.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Another HUGE day, with fewer games, but games that have more value than yesterday.\u00a0 This is probably going to be the day that decides the 2009 CTC overall champion and, unlike any other year, it&#8217;s pretty much anyone&#8217;s game.\u00a0 Ina &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/?p=275\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,479],"tags":[514,549,508,548,516,513,515,509,510,546,512,489,547,545,544,511],"class_list":["post-275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-college-hoops","category-conf-tourney-challenge","tag-a-10","tag-acc","tag-big-east","tag-big-ten","tag-big-west","tag-big-xii","tag-conf-usa","tag-mac","tag-meac","tag-mountain-west","tag-pac-10","tag-patriot","tag-sec","tag-southland","tag-swac","tag-wac"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}