Saturday's Action Overshadows Football's Championship Week

Although the games to decide the BCS matchups were played today, a full slate of terrific hoops also took the stage, and we were provided with far more excitement from the hardcourt. From buzzer beaters to upsets to continued impressive season-opening win streaks, today had it all. Let's get to the games.

Sometimes a College Basketball Game Only Matters to One Team

Kentucky and Baylor played one of the best games of the early basketball season, and then the men took the court. But it was worth us all waiting around to see the men's game, because they also played a gem. The question is, however, whether Kentucky or Baylor will have much change as far as Selection Sunday is concerned. As I'll discuss later, the game really only changes things for one of the two teams. Let's look at that and tonight's other most important action.

A Quiet Thursday Night Heats Up

A Thursday night that looked quiet at first glance actually had a few good story lines with some tournament implications. Oklahoma, VCU, Providence, Ole Miss, and San Diego State all struggled, and one didn't survive. Still, tonight's results did not have a drastic effect on the bracket as predicted last weekend. As for tomorrow, Friday night's slate actually looks better, with a number of Top 25 teams in action. But before we head off, let's look at the five games with the biggest impact from today's action.

The ACC-Big Ten Challenge, Day Two, and More

The ACC-Big Ten challenge finished up its final night tonight, ending in a tie for the second year in a row, but not before Michigan State and North Carolina decided to shake everything up. Unfortunately, the rest of Wednesday night's Challenge games had little effect. Ohio State and Wisconsin took care of business, and the other three games were filled with teams who aren't yet in the running. Let's take a look at tonight's action.

Big Happenings in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge

After the ACC won each of the first ten years of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, the Big Ten won for three consecutive years before last year's 6-6 tie. This year, the ACC took an early 4-2 lead after the first day of the challenge, though the Big Ten's Michigan State, Ohio State, and Wisconsin are all on the slate for day two. Still, a number of the match ups could end up having ramifications on Selection Sunday.

Monday: Quiet Day

Most days, especially in December, are quiet when it comes to what might cause changes in the next bracket prediction. This Monday was not an exception, as the basketball world remained quiet after a busy weekend.

The March Madness Bracket Creates Daily Madness

It is an interesting job, this one of being a bracketologist. As I was working on tonight's bracket, I put my blinders on to the basketball world, ensuring that I used only the games completed as of last night. Little did I know how much was changing around me. A wealth of games made what would have been a huge impact on the way that the most recent bracket came out. Let's look at some of the most interesting of today's games:

Bracket Brief for December 1, 2013

Seed	Midwest (1) Indianapolis	East (4) New York	South (2) Memphis	West (3) Anaheim
Site 1 16 8 9	Milwaukee (Th/Sa) Michigan State IPFW/Texas Southern Clemson Georgetown	St. Louis (Fr/Su) Oklahoma State Oral Roberts Virginia Marquette	St. Louis (Fr/Su) Kansas Elon/Winthrop San Diego State Indiana	San Diego (Fr/Su) Arizona Hawaii Creighton Michigan
Site 5 12 4 13	Spokane (Th/Sa) Connecticut Drexel Iowa State New Mexico State	San Antonio (Fr/Su) North Carolina LSU/Illinois Wichita State Green Bay	San Diego (Fr/Su) UCLA Belmont Iowa Charlotte	Spokane (Th/Sa) Gonzaga Missouri/Maryland Wisconsin Toledo
Site 6 11 3 14	Orlando (Th/Sa) St. Louis New Mexico Villanova Louisiana Lafayette	San Antonio (Fr/Su) UMass Arizona State Florida Stony Brook	Raleigh (Fr/Su) St. Mary's VCU Duke Holy Cross	Orlando (Th/Sa) Oregon Cincinnati Syracuse Mercer
Site 7 10 2 15	Buffalo (Th/Sa) Memphis Tennessee Pittsburgh North Carolina Central	Buffalo (Th/Sa) Dayton Colorado Ohio State Quinnipiac	Raleigh (Fr/Su) Baylor Harvard Kentucky Weber State	Milwaukee (Th/Sa) BYU Florida State Louisville Bryant

Note: Through games of November 30, 2013. Teams in italics below represent automatic bids. The rankings at the top of each column are based on the overall seeds of the top four teams, so the winner of the regional with the team seeded #1 overall would meet the winner of the regional with the team seeded #4 overall.