Friday, March 7, 2014

The Friday Appraisal: Welcome Back, Harvard! And Locked, Mixable, Prayer, or Gone?

Another Friday down and another look at the Bracket Briefer's renamed feature: Locked, Mixable, Prayer, or Gone? Teams are moving out of the middle and either up into Locked status or down to Gone status. See where your team is as well as Friday's massive action within the conference tournaments. That, and we have our first tournament automatic bid!
  1. Which teams are good as in, which teams are out, and which teams are still unknown?

    You are "locked" if you could lose every single game remaining on the schedule and would still make it in. You are "mixable" if you keep playing how you have been playing and would still make it in or be very near the edge of the bracket. "Prayer" requires that you can only make the tournament if you play out of your mind, winning just about everything but your conference tournament final. And "out" is just that, out unless you win your conference tournament.

    Through games of March 7, 2014.

    ACC

    Locked: Duke, North Carolina, Syracuse, Virginia
    Mixable: Florida State, Pittsburgh
    Prayer: Clemson, Maryland, North Carolina State
    Gone: Everyone Else

    American

    Locked: Cincinnati, Connecticut, Louisville, SMU
    Mixable: Memphis
    Prayer: None
    Gone: Everyone Else

    Atlantic 10

    Locked: George Washington, Massachusetts, Saint Louis, VCU
    Mixable: Dayton, Saint Joseph's
    Prayer: Richmond
    Gone: Everyone Else

    Big East

    Locked: Creighton, Villanova
    Mixable: Georgetown, Providence, St. John's, Xavier
    Prayer: Marquette
    Gone: Everyone Else

    Big 12

    Locked: Iowa State, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas
    Mixable: Baylor, Kansas State, Oklahoma State
    Prayer: West Virginia
    Gone: Everyone Else

    Big Ten

    Locked: Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin
    Mixable: Minnesota, Nebraska
    Prayer: Illinois, Indiana
    Gone: Everyone Else

    Conference USA

    Locked: None
    Mixable: Louisiana Tech, Southern Miss
    Prayer: Middle Tennessee
    Gone: Everyone Else

    Horizon

    Locked: None
    Mixable: Green Bay
    Prayer: None
    Gone: Everyone Else

    MAC

    Locked: None
    Mixable: Toledo
    Prayer: None
    Gone: Everyone Else

    Missouri Valley

    Locked: Wichita State
    Mixable: None
    Prayer: None
    Gone: Everyone Else

    Mountain West

    Locked: New Mexico, San Diego State
    Mixable: None
    Prayer: Boise State
    Gone: Everyone Else

    Pac-12

    Locked: Arizona, UCLA
    Mixable: Arizona State, Colorado, Oregon, Stanford
    Prayer: California, Utah
    Gone: Everyone Else

    SEC

    Locked: Florida, Kentucky
    Mixable: Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee
    Prayer: Georgia, LSU
    Gone: Everyone Else

    Southland

    Locked: None
    Mixable: Stephen F. Austin
    Prayer: None
    Gone: Everyone Else

    Summit

    Locked: None
    Mixable: North Dakota State
    Prayer: None
    Gone: Everyone Else

    West Coast

    Locked: Gonzaga
    Mixable: BYU
    Prayer: None
    Gone: Everyone Else

    After that, every remaining conference will only has a chance at one bid, and that one will go to the winner of each conference's tournament. So far, that list includes Harvard.



Friday night's big news was Harvard clinched its spot in a third-consecutive NCAA tournament by knocking off Yale and winning the Ivy League outright. With that, the bracket is beginning to form. The rest of Friday's action was looking at more conference tournament action, as we're getting down to the finals in each conference.

#10 Harvard 70, @Yale 58
#16 @Utah Valley 64, CSU Bakersfield 55

Big South Tournament

#4S Winthrop 62, #1N High Point 60
#2S UNC Asheville 96, #3N Radford 87
#1S Coastal Carolina 73, #5S Charleston Southern 68 (2OT)
#2N VMI 90, #3S Gardner-Webb 77

Notes: See preview below for Saturday's games. All games at Conway, SC.

Colonial Tournament

#8 Hofstra 78, #9 UNC-Wilmington 70

Notes: See preview below for Saturday's games. All games at Baltimore, MD.

Horizon Tournament

#3 Wright State 73, #6 Oakland 57
#5 Milwaukee 74, #4 Valparaiso 57

Notes: See preview below for Saturday's games. All Friday and Saturday games at Green Bay, WI.

Missouri Valley Tournament

#1 Wichita State 80, #9 Evansville 58
#4 Missouri State 53, #5 Illinois State 48
#2 Indiana State 75, #10 Loyola (IL) 62
#6 Southern Illinois 63, #3 Northern Iowa 58

Notes: See preview below for Saturday's games. All games at Saint Louis, MO.

Ohio Valley Tournament

#1 Belmont 86, #4 Morehead State 63
#3 Eastern Kentucky 86, #2 Murray State 83

Notes: See preview below for Saturday's championship. All games at Nashville, TN.

Southern Tournament

#8 Samford 70, #9 Appalachian State 56
#7 Georgia Southern 65, #10 Furman 50
#11 The Citadel 86, #6 UNC Greensboro 76

Notes: See preview below for Saturday's games. All games at Asheville, NC.



As you can see below, there are a huge number of major games on the final regular-season Saturday of the season, including all the games in the minor conferences. To highlight a few games, watch to see if St. Johns and Dayton can get wins propelling them into the bracket, see whether Oklahoma State is really back when it travels to Iowa State, check out whether Arizona can hang onto its #1-overall seed when it plays at Oregon, and find out if Colorado can put California out of its misery. And don't forget the Ohio Valley championship, which will give us our second automatic bid.

#7 Kentucky at #1 Florida
#2 Kansas at West Virginia
#4 Cincinnati at Rutgers
#9 SMU at #10 Memphis
(FFO) St. John's at (LFO) Marquette
#9 Baylor at #11 Kansas State
(NFO) Georgetown at #1 Villanova
#7 Connecticut at #3 Louisville
#9 Oklahoma State at #5 Iowa State
Eastern Michigan at #13 Toledo
Western Kentucky at #13 Georgia State
(FFO) Utah at (LFI) #12 Stanford
#1 Arizona at #8 Oregon
#6 Oklahoma at TCU
#8 Texas at Texas Tech
#9 Pittsburgh at (NFO) Clemson
(LFO) Missouri at #11 Tennessee
(FFO) Arkansas at Alabama
#8 Arizona State at Oregon State
#8 George Washington at Fordham
Georgia at (LFO) LSU
#16 Weber State at Eastern Washington
Indiana at #2 Michigan
#16 Texas Southern at Southern
#10 Colorado at (LFO) California
#10 Harvard at Brown
Richmond at (FFO) Dayton
Saint Bonaventure at #5 VCU
UC Davis at #15 UC Irvine
Central Arkansas at #12 Stephen F. Austin
(LFI) #12 Providence at #3 Creighton
Illinois at #6 Iowa
#4 North Carolina at #2 Duke
#5 New Mexico at #4 San Diego State
#5 UCLA at Washington State

Ohio Valley Tournament Championship

#1 Belmont vs. #3 Eastern Kentucky

Notes: Championship at Nashville, TN. Winner gets automatic NCAA tournament berth.

America East Tournament

#1 Vermont vs. #8 New Hampshire
#4 Albany vs. #5 UMBC
#2 Stony Brook vs. #7 Maine
#3 Hartford vs. #6 Binghamton

Notes: Vermont/New Hampshire plays Albany/UMBC and Stony Brook/Maine plays Hartford/Binghampton on March 9. All games at Albany, NY.

Big South Tournament

#4S Winthrop vs. #2S UNC Asheville
#1S Coastal Carolina vs. #2N VMI

Notes: Winners play in Big South Conference championship on March 9. All games at Conway, SC.

Colonial Tournament

#1 Delaware vs. #8 Hofstra
#4 Drexel vs. #5 Northeastern
#2 Towson vs. #7 James Madison
#3 William & Mary vs. #6 Charleston

Notes: Delaware/Hofstra plays Drexel/Northeastern and Towson/James Madison plays Wililam & Mary/Charleston on March 9. All games at Baltimore, MD.

Horizon Tournament

#5 Milwaukee at #1 Green Bay
#2 Cleveland State vs. #3 Wright State

Notes: Winners play in Horizon League championship on March 11. Semifinals at Green Bay, WI. Championship at highest-remaining seed.

MAAC Tournament

#1 Iona vs. #8 Rider
#4 Canisius vs #5 Siena
#2 Manhattan vs. #7 Saint Peter's
#3 Quinnipiac vs. #11 Niagara

Notes: Iona/Rider plays Canisius/Siena and Manhattan/Saint Peter's plays Quinnipiac/Niagara on March 9. All games at Springfield, MA.

Missouri Valley Tournament

#1 Wichita State vs. #4 Missouri State
#2 Indiana State vs. #6 Southern Illinois

Notes: Winners play in Missouri Valley Conference championship on March 9. All games at Saint Louis, MO.

Northeast Tournament

#6 Saint Francis (PA) at #1 Robert Morris
#4 Mount St. Mary's at #2 Wagner

Notes: Winners play in Northeast Conference championship on March 11. Championship at highest-remaining seed.

Patriot Tournament

#5 Army at #1 Boston U
#3 Holy Cross at #2 American

Notes: Winners play in Patriot League championship on March 12. Championship at highest-remaining seed.

Southern Tournament

#1 Davidson vs. #8 Samford
#4 Elon vs. #5 Western Carolina
#2 Chattanooga vs. #7 Georgia Southern
#3 Wofford vs. #11 The Citadel

Notes: Davidson/Smaford plays Elon/Western Carolina and Chattanooga/Georgia Southern plays Wofford/The Citadel on March 9. All games at Asheville, NC.

Summit Tournament

#2 IPFW vs. #7 IUPUI

Notes: Winner plays South Dakota State/Western Illinois on March 10. All games at Sioux Falls, SD.

West Coast Tournament

#1 Gonzaga vs. #9 Santa Clara
#4 Saint Mary's vs. #5 Pepperdine
#2 BYU vs. Loyola Marymount
#3 San Francisco vs. #6 San Diego

Notes: Gonzaga/Santa Clara plays Saint Mary's/Pepperdine and BYU/Loyola Marymount plays San Francisco/San Diego on March 10. All games at Las Vegas, NV.

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