Bracket Brief for February 1, 2014

Seed	West (1) Anaheim (Th/Sa)	Midwest (4) Indy (Fr/Su)	East (2) NYC (Fr/Su)	South (3) Memphis (Th/Sa)
Site 1 16 8 9	San Diego (Fr/Su) Arizona Weber St./Davidson Connecticut Minnesota	Milwaukee (Th/Sa) Michigan State Robert Morris George Washington Florida State	Buffalo (Th/Sa) Syracuse Vermont Texas New Mexico	St. Louis (Fr/Su) Wichita State Southern/VMI Arizona State Xavier
Site 5 12 4 13	San Diego (Fr/Su) Saint Louis North Carolina Oklahoma State New Mexico State	San Antonio (Fr/Su) UCLA SMU Iowa State Green Bay	San Antonio (Fr/Su) Kentucky Cal/LA Tech Iowa North Dakota State	Spokane (Th/Sa) Wisconsin Toledo Pittsburgh Mercer
Site 3 14 6 11	Orlando (Th/Sa) Cincinnati Stephen F. Austin Gonzaga Southern Miss	Milwaukee (Th/Sa) Creighton UC Santa Barbara Louisville Stanford	Buffalo (Th/Sa) Villanova Belmont Massachusetts Oregon	Raleigh (Fr/Su) Michigan Delaware Virginia Colo./Prov.
Site 7 10 2 15	Spokane (Th/Sa) Oklahoma Tennessee San Diego State NC Central	Raleigh (Fr/Su) Ohio State Kansas State Duke Iona	Orlando (Th/Sa) Memphis Harvard Florida Georgia State	St. Louis (Fr/Su) VCU Missouri Kansas American

Note: Through games of January 31, 2014. 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.

The Friday Appraisal: The First Four

In this week's Friday Appraisal, a look at interesting bracketology questions, we look at what would happen if three teams from the same conference, say Stanford, California, and Colorado, all ended up in the last four at-large spots, presumably heading towards Dayton for the First Four games. We also preview a huge Saturday in college basketball, the first February Saturday, where everything heats up.

Louisville Falls in the Yum! Center, in the AAC, and in the Bracket

The champs lose again, a once 13-0 team falls to 14-6 following another loss, and a last four in team loses to a team without a chance of climbing into the bracket.

The Top 2 Teams Survive, and Two Big Ten Powers Are Dying

What the heck happened tonight? The Big Ten is falling apart, and Arizona and Syracuse came close to dropping their first games. Other teams all over are losing unexpectedly by massive margins: Green Bay, Indiana State, Stony Brook, Florida State...just a crazy night. Let's look at all the games from tonight that might affect the bracket.

Bracket Brief for January 29, 2014

Seed	West (1) Anaheim (Th/Sa)	Midwest (4) Indy (Fr/Su)	East (2) NYC (Fr/Su)	South (3) Memphis (Th/Sa)
Site 1 16 8 9	San Diego (Fr/Su) Arizona Rob. Mor./VMI Connecticut Harvard	Milwaukee (Th/Sa) Michigan State Northern Colorado Memphis Geo. Wash.	Buffalo (Th/Sa) Syracuse Stony Brook Texas Minnesota	St. Louis (Fr/Su) Wichita State Southern/Chatt. VCU Kansas State
Site 5 12 4 13	San Antonio (Fr/Su) Oklahoma State Green Bay Iowa Mercer	Orlando (Th/Sa) Virginia Louisiana Tech Iowa State Toledo	San Diego (Fr/Su) Massachusetts Provid./Stanford Cincinnati Stephen F. Austin	Spokane (Fr/Su) Louisville California/Colorado Pittsburgh North Dakota St.
Site 3 14 6 11	San Antonio (Fr/Su) Creighton New Mexico State UCLA Tennessee	Buffalo (Th/Sa) Villanova Manhattan Ohio State Saint Mary's	Milwaukee (Th/Sa) Michigan Belmont Saint Louis Missouri	Raleigh (Fr/Su) Wisconsin Delaware Kentucky SMU
Site 7 10 2 15	Spokane (Th/Sa) Florida State Southern Miss San Diego State UC Irvine	Orlando (Th/Sa) Oklahoma Arizona State Florida NC Central	Raleigh (Fr/Su) Gonzaga Oregon Duke Georgia State	St. Louis (Fr/Su) Xavier New Mexico Kansas American

Note: Through games of January 28, 2014. 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.

Michigan State Could Win the Big Ten at 80% Strength

Ooh, fun night. A Doug McDermott buzzer beater. Upsets galore. Bracket teams falling off the bubble. Teams proving their worth. And a major league contest in the Big Ten.

Short Calendar? No Matter---Monday Provides Huge Excitement

A trio of games on Tuesday night did not fail to impress. Duke finally got a much needed road win, found out the latest winner in Bedlam, and watched to see if a struggling Big East team could pull off a much needed upset.

Bracket Brief for January 27, 2014

Seed	West (1) Anaheim (Th/Sa)	Midwest (4) Indy (Fr/Su)	East (2) NYC (Fr/Su)	South (3) Memphis (Th/Sa)
Site 1 16 8 9	San Diego (Fr/Su) Arizona N. Colorado Ohio State George Washington	Spokane (Th/Sa) San Diego State Southern/UNC Ashe. Connecticut Kansas State	Buffalo (Th/Sa) Syracuse NC Central Saint Louis Providence	St. Louis (Fr/Su) Wichita State R. Morris/Chatt. SMU California
Site 5 12 4 13	San Diego (Fr/Su) Memphis Louisiana Tech Duke Stephen F. Austin	San Antonio (Fr/Su) Kentucky UNC/Richmond Creighton Mercer	Orlando (Th/Sa) Cincinnati Arizona State Iowa State Toledo	Spokane (Th/Sa) Texas Harvard Wisconsin North Dakota State
Site 3 14 6 11	San Antonio (Fr/Su) Oklahoma State New Mexico State Florida State New Mexico	Raleigh (Fr/Su) Pittsburgh Delaware Xavier Southern Miss	Raleigh (Fr/Su) Iowa Manhattan Virginia Baylor/Colorado	St. Louis (Fr/Su) Kansas Belmont Louisville Oregon
Site 7 10 2 15	Milwaukee (Th/Sa) UCLA Gonzaga Michigan State UC Irvine	Milwaukee (Th/Sa) Oklahoma Stanford Michigan Stony Brook	Buffalo (Th/Sa) Massachusetts Green Bay Villanova American	Orlando (Th/Sa) Minnesota VCU Florida Georgia State

Note: Through games of January 26, 2014. 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.

Lincoln Can Be a Scary Place for an Upper-Tier Big Ten Team

Sunday came with a number of bubble teams jockeying for position within their conferences and for bracket spots. Some shone brightly, and some folded yet again, as so many bubble teams do around this time of the year. And the upset of the night came out of the Big Ten.

Michigan Taking Control of Big Ten

College basketball fans were treated to a terrific match between Michigan State and Michigan on Saturday. The two teams waged a shifting war, but in the end, Michigan left East Lansing with a big-time win, a signature victory, one that we'll look at on Selection Sunday and point to if UM wins the Big Ten season championship. We will look at that game and all of Saturday's major action.