As conference tournaments narrow, upsets will happen, and the major one happened at Madison Square Garden. In the Mecca, Seton Hall took out former-potential-#1-seed Villanova. It is highly unlikely with this loss that Villanova can hold its #1 seed, especially if Kansas wins the Big 12 tournament or one of the ACC's favorites keeps hold of the conference.
In the American, the conference saw major blows to two of its five potential at-large teams, and it just so happens that the losses happened to the shakiest of the two teams: SMU and Memphis. Both should be safe, but SMU is going to slide closer to the bubble considering it lost to a non-tourney team in Houston. Memphis, on the other hand, acceptably lost to Connecticut but unacceptably lost at home. Memphis will also slide.
In the Big 12, Baylor strengthened its bracket position at the expense of Oklahoma, who is still an at-large team. Oklahoma State competed admirably against Kansas, falling in overtime, but the Cowboys have done enough in the last couple weeks to secure its spot. Kansas State predictably lost to Iowa State, and with it, is at major risk. I realize that I am the only bracketologist at the Bracket Matrix who has Kansas State out, and maybe that's wrong, but color me unimpressed with K-State's play.
The big news in the Big Ten was Iowa's stunning loss to Northwestern. Iowa has been sliding steadily since the middle of the conference season, and while Iowa will still make the tournament, this loss is a big problem for its seed. The Hawkeyes are now likely to find themselves in the 8/9 game, at best.
ACC Tournament
#9 Florida State 67, #8 Maryland 65
#5 Pittsburgh 84, #12 Wake Forest 55
#7 North Carolina State 67, #10 Miami (FL) 58
#6 Clemson 69, #11 Georgia Tech 65 (OT)
Notes: All games at Greensboro, NC.
American Tournament
#6 Houston 68, #3 SMU 64
#2 Louisville 92, #7 Rutgers 31
#1 American 61, #9 UCF 58
#4 Connecticut 72, #5 Memphis 53
Notes: All games at Memphis, TN.
Atlantic 10 Tournament
#9 Saint Bonaventure 82, #8 La Salle 72
#5 Dayton 87, #13 Fordham 74
#7 Richmond 76, #10 Duquesne 64
#6 Massachusetts 65, #11 Rhode Island 61
Notes: All games at Brooklyn, NY.
Big 12 Tournament
#4 Iowa State 91, #5 Kansas State 85
#1 Kansas 77, #8 Oklahoma State 70 (OT)
#7 Baylor 78, #2 Oklahoma 73
#3 Texas 66, #6 West Virginia 49
Notes: All games at Kansas City, MO.
Big East Tournament
#8 Seton Hall 64, #1 Villanova 63
#4 Providence 79, #5 St. John's 74
#2 Creighton 84, #10 DePaul 62
#3 Xavier 68, #6 Marquette 65
Notes: All games at New York City, NY.
Big Sky Tournament
#2 North Dakota 79, #7 Sacramento State 76
#6 Northern Colorado 62, #3 Northern Arizona 60
#5 Portland State 70, #4 Montana 63
Notes: All games at Ogden, UT.
Big Ten Tournament
#9 Illinois 64, #8 Indiana 54
#5 Ohio State 63, #12 Purdue 61
#7 Minnesota 63, #10 Penn State 56
#11 Northwestern 67, #6 Iowa 62
Notes: All games at Indianapolis, IN.
Big West Tournament
#7 Cal Poly 59, #2 UC Santa Barbara 38
#3 Long Beach State 66, #6 Cal State Fullerton 56
#1 UC Irvine 63, #8 UC Riverside 43
#5 Cal State Northridge 87, #4 Hawai'i 84 (OT)
Notes: All games at Anaheim, CA.
Conference USA Tournament
#2 Tulsa 70, #7 Tulane 49
#3 Middle Tennessee 62, #6 Old Dominion 48
#4 Southern Miss 64, #5 UTEP 56
#1 Louisiana Tech 86, #9 Charlotte 65
Notes: All games at El Paso, TX.
MAC Tournament
#4 Akron 83, #5 Ohio 77
#6 Eastern Michigan 69, #3 Buffalo 64
Notes: All games at Cleveland, OH.
MEAC Tournament
#3 Morgan State 81, #6 Florida A&M 68
#4 Norfolk State 57, #5 Savannah State 47
Notes: All games at Norfolk, VA.
Mountain West Tournament
#1 San Diego State 73, #8 Utah State 39
#4 UNLV 71, #5 Wyoming 67
#2 New Mexico 82, #7 Fresno State 68
#6 Boise State 75, #3 Nevada 62
Notes: All games at Las Vegas, NV.
Pac-12 Tournament
#1 Arizona 71, #8 Utah 39
#5 Colorado 59, #4 California 56
#2 UCLA 82, #7 Oregon 63
#6 Stanford 79, #3 Arizona State 58
Notes: All games at Las Vegas, NV.
SEC Tournament
#8 Missouri 91, #9 Texas A&M 83 (2OT)
#13 South Carolina 71, #5 Arkansas 69
#7 LSU 68, #10 Alabama 56
#6 Ole Miss 78, #14 Mississippi State 66
Notes: All games at Atlanta, GA.
Southland Tournament
#4 Northwestern State 88, #5 Nicholls State 72
#3 Sam Houston State 70, #6 Oral Roberts 61
Notes: All games at Katy, TX.
Sun Belt Tournament
#5 Arkansas-Little Rock 74, #8 Troy 61
#6 Texas-Arlington 68, #7 Louisiana-Monroe 65
Notes: All games at New Orleans, LA.
SWAC Tournament
#3 Alabama State 64, #6 Alcorn State 51
#5 Alabama A&M 69, #4 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 50
Notes: All games at Houston, TX.
WAC Tournament
#1 Utah Valley 83, #8 Texas-Pan American 63
#5 Idaho 73, #4 UMKC 70
#6 Cal State Bakersfield 68, #3 Chicago State 62
#2 New Mexico State 70, #7 Seattle U 68
Notes: All games at Las Vegas, NV.
For the best action on Friday, look towards Conference USA. The four teams who tied for the regular-season conference championship find themselves in a four-team tourney. The semifinal game between Louisiana Tech and Southern Miss is particularly intriguing, as it is quite possible that the winner will find itself with an at-large bid and the loser will find itself in the NIT.
ACC Tournament
#1 Virginia vs. #9 Florida State
#4 North Carolina vs. #5 Pittsburgh
#2 Syracuse vs. #7 North Carolina State
#3 Duke vs. #6 Clemson
Notes: All games at Greensboro, NC.
American Tournament
#1 Cincinnati vs. #4 Connecticut
#2 Louisville vs. #6 Houston
Notes: All games at Memphis, TN.
Atlantic 10 Tournament
#1 Saint Louis vs. #9 Saint Bonaventure
#4 Saint Joseph's vs. #5 Dayton
#2 VCU vs. #7 Richmond
#3 George Washington vs. #6 Massachusetts
Notes: All games at Brooklyn, NY.
Big 12 Tournament
#1 Kansas vs. #4 Iowa State
#3 Texas vs. #7 Baylor
Notes: All games at Kansas City, MO.
Big East Tournament
#4 Providence vs. #8 Seton Hall
#2 Creighton vs. #3 Xavier
Notes: All games at New York City, NY.
Big Sky Tournament
#1 Weber State vs. #6 Northern Colorado
#2 North Dakota vs. #5 Portland State
Notes: All games at Ogden, UT.
Big Ten Tournament
#1 Michigan vs. #9 Illinois
#4 Nebraska vs. #5 Ohio State
#2 Wisconsin vs. #7 Minnesota
#3 Michigan State vs. #11 Northwestern
Notes: All games at Indianapolis, IN.
Big West Tournament
#1 UC Irvine vs. #7 Cal Poly
#3 Long Beach State vs. #5 Cal State Northridge
Notes: All games at Anaheim, CA.
Conference USA Tournament
#1 Louisiana Tech vs. #4 Southern Miss
#2 Tulsa vs. #3 Middle Tennessee
Notes: All games at El Paso, TX.
MAC Tournament
#1 Western Michigan vs. #4 Akron
#2 Toledo vs. #6 Eastern Michigan
Notes: All games at Cleveland, OH.
MEAC Tournament
#1 North Carolina Central vs. #4 Norfolk State
#3 Morgan State vs. #7 Coppin State
Notes: All games at Norfolk, VA.
Mountain West Tournament
#1 San Diego State vs. #4 UNLV
#2 New Mexico vs. #6 Boise State
Notes: All games at Las Vegas, NV.
Pac-12 Tournament
#1 Arizona vs. #5 Colorado
#2 UCLA vs. #6 Stanford
Notes: All games at Las Vegas, NV.
SEC Tournament
#1 Florida vs. #8 Missouri
#4 Tennessee vs. #13 South Carolina
#2 Kentucky vs. #7 LSU
#3 Georgia vs. #6 Ole Miss
Notes: All games at Atlanta, GA.
Southland Tournament
#1 Stephen F. Austin vs. #4 Northwestern State
#2 Texas A&M-CC vs. #3 Sam Houston State
Notes: All games at Katy, TX.
Sun Belt Tournament
#4 Arkansas State vs. #5 Arkansas-Little Rock
#3 Louisiana-Lafayette vs. #6 Texas-Arlington
Notes: All games at New Orleans, LA.
SWAC Tournament
#5 Alabama A&M vs. #8 Prairie View A&M
#2 Texas Southern vs. #3 Alabama State
Notes: All games at Houston, TX.
WAC Tournament
#1 Utah Valley vs. #5 Idaho
#2 New Mexico State vs. #6 Cal State Bakersfield
Notes: All games at Las Vegas, NV.
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