OK, a late start today, so here's the highlights. Last night:
Long Island 85 - Robert Morris 82 (OT) = LIU gets the automatic in the Northeast Conference.
Northern Colorado 65 - Montana 60 = And the Bears get their first NCAA bid, in only their 4th year in D1 play. In their 1st season, they won 4 games total, and finished dead last in the RPI rating.
Oklahoma 84 - Baylor 67 = I'm not sure it means anything much to the Sooners, yet anyway, but this may have been the nail in Baylor's coffin.
Today action kicked off in the gran'daddy of all conference tournaments, the Atlantic Coast Conference. Had I the time, I'd now blog a few pages about how I feel about all these OTHER conferences claiming how THEIR tournaments are the greatest thing since sliced bread.
But I don't, so let's hit some early scores:
Boston College 81 - Wake Forest 67 = Speaking of the ACC, this could be big for the Eagles, as they are one of several teams in this league on the bubble. They need all the help they can get, and Wake has been obliging people all season long.
U. Conn 76 - Pitt 74 = Kemba Walker hits a fadeaway at the buzzer to upset the Panthers. The Huskies went 6 years without winning a game in the Big East Tourney, and have now won 3 in 3 days. Good for them. But of more import, does this early exit by Pitt cost them a 1-seed? Well, on one hand, the previous two seasons the top Big East team has lost in the opening round, yet still retained their top seed in the NCAAs. On the other, this year there's really only two "locks" so far, in Ohio State and Kansas, and depending on what Notre Dame, Duke, and UNC do in the next few days it is possible that Pitt could slip to a 2-seed because of this loss.
Kansas 63 - Oklahoma State 62 = I don't, in this case, think the Jayhawks would have lost their 1-seed had they dropped this one to the Cowboys. And it is sometimes good for a team to have a tight game early in tournament play, just to get their attention and focus. Still, this can't be a very encouraging sign for the Lawrence faithful.
Northwestern 75 - Minnesota 65 = As with that Baylor loss above, this is likely the end of the road for the Gophers, unless they go-for the NIT invite.
East Carolina 75 - UAB 70 (OT) = And remember above above, where I talked about an upset in conference tourneys stealing at-large bids from the Michigans/Michigan States/Villanovas/Virginia Techs etc. of the world? Well, UAB will still get an at-large out of the CUSA, so here's a potential wrench in the works in the works.
Colorado 87 - Kansas State 75 = Perhaps this score is of no major importance in and of itself, as both the Wildcats and the Buffs were at-larges anyway. Yet it is one more indication of the inconsistent play out of that other Manhattan.
Aside from a ton of further conference action, there are three games with some immediacy:
Iowa vs. Michigan State = Some people think the Spartans are safely in the NCAAs with an at-large. Me, I'm not totally convinced of that. A win here would help them a lot.
Georgia Tech vs. Virginia Tech = And some people think the Hokies are on the backside of any NCAA bubble, but a win or two in the ACC Tourney would change their minds about that quickly.
Cincinnati vs. Notre Dame = And most people, including me, think both these teams already have punched tickets to The Dance. But the Irish have a 1-seed dangling in front of them, and though it may not be within their full grasp they do have their fingers on it already. A stumble like Pitt made today, however, and that tenuous grip get a little slicker.
That's about all I have time for today. See you tomorrow. Enjoy. Screw Drew.