Two of the three tickets punched last night have already been referenced, so I'll start with them:
AR Little Rock 64 - North Texas 63 = Solomon Boseman hits a three-pointer with 1.5 seconds left to win the Sun Belt automatic bid, and put his school into The Dance for the first time in over two decades. Would you care to speculate on who's the BMOC today?
Butler 59 - Wisc. Milwaukee 44 = The Bulldogs make it back into the NCAAs, after a season which started with serious doubts that they could do so. Congratulations to last year's runner-up . . . but I don't expect they'll stick around quite as long this time.
Oakland 90 - Oral Roberts 76 = And this gives the Golden Grizzlies of Oakland (Michigan, that is) the automatic bid in the Summit. Can they now win a game in the NCAAs? Don't forget that, back in mid-December, they did manage to beat the UT Volunteers . . . for what that's worth.
Other games with big impact last night include:
Princeton 70 - Penn 58 = The Tigers win one they had to, and get back into a tie with Harvard for the Ivy. So now they will face off in a one-game playoff for the sole automatic bid. Will Princeton get back to where they've had some success? Will Haa'vaad finally get back into The Dance for the first time since the two-handed setshot was the game . . . specifically, 19-freakin'-46? We'll have to wait until Saturday, when like two Old West gunfighters they meet halfway down the street, and face off on Yale's court.
South Florida 70 - Villanova 69 = What? Are you kidding me? This is only South Fla's 10th win all year, and that's no Bull! Plus, they were down by as much as 16 points, yet managed to come back and steal a victory in the Big East tourney from a team that's been ranked all year . . . until lately. Meanwhile, this makes 10 losses for the Philly 'Cats in their last 15 games! Have they put themselves on the backside of the bubble, especially in light of . . .
Marquette 87 - Prividence 66 = . . . the Golden Eagles perhaps putting themselves above 'Nova on that bubble with this win? That will all depend on exactly how deep the Committee dives into the Big East pool. Nine bids? Ten? Eleven? We'll see come Sunday.
Today we have action beginning in a handful of other conference tournaments, namely the Big 12, CUSA, Southland, Southwestern Athletic (not to be confused with the SEC), WAC, Mountain West, and Pac-10. Of these games, I see only two which might have some immediate impact, and one of them is already over:
Oklahoma State 53 - Nebraska 52 = This loss by the Cornhuskers is no big surprise, but it may have had the effect of pushing them off the backside of the bubble.
Oklahoma vs. Baylor = As mentioned above regarding the season-ending game against Texas, the Baylor Bears really need to do some more to get into the NCAAs. They are just as close to falling off the bubble as they are to climbing atop it, much less getting over the hump. It might take two wins in the Big 12 tourney to help their cause, but you can't win two if you don't win the first one.
That's all I'm gonna do today. Jump in with your own picks and gripes and misses, please. Enjoy.