Conference tournament week is open, tonight starting with the Patriot League. We even had our first upset of the post-season! We also saw a Big East team fall closer to the bubble. Welcome to March Madness!
@Seton Hall 71, Xavier 62: Xavier is probably in a bit of a premature panic mode. I don't think this loss drops XU out of the tournament. After all it was on the road, and Seton Hall isn't terrible, a bit of a 50/50 game. But if Xavier doesn't have a good showing against Villanova this weekend, and if it has a bad showing in the A-10 tourney, Xavier very well could fall out of the bracket.
North Carolina State 74, @Pittsburgh 67: NC State may not get into the bracket, but this win at Pittsburgh was absolutely huge if it can. The bigger deal is what is happening to Pittsburgh, with a rapidly falling seed. There are some real questions about how good the ACC is. Are Boston College, NC State, and Notre Dame good enough that they can hang with Syracuse, Pitt, and North Carolina? Or are those teams merely good? After all, the ACC champion was unheralded for almost the entire season. The ACC will get a pile of teams in the tourney, but it is unknown whether multiple teams are likely to make it to the Sweet 16.
@Oklahoma State 77, Kansas State 61: The big question after Oklahoma State beat Kansas was whether the Cowboys were really back from that 7-game losing streak and all the leadership problems. Tonight, Oklahoma State took a close game and made it a blow out. The Cowboys might be back, but we probably should still have the same questions until we see how OSU does away from home.
Monday's otherwise quiet night saw action out of North Carolina, where the Tar Heels nearly lost to Notre Dame at home and where North Carolina Central clinched the MEAC title just 5 years after coming to Division I.
@North Carolina 63, Notre Dame 61
@North Carolina Central 64, Savannah State 57
Alabama State 90, @Prairie View A&M 87 (OT)
Patriot League Tournament
#7 @Colgate 57, #10 Navy 51 - Colgate plays at #1 Boston U on 3/5
#9 Lafayette 84, #8 @Loyola (MD) 71 - Lafayette plays at American on 3/5
Our first tournament-hopeful teams enter the conference tournaments on Tuesday night when the Atlantic Sun tournament gets underway. Mercer appears to be the best team in the conference, but it lost its #1 seed to Florida Gulf Coast and now must win in a conference where the higher seed hosts. The Horizon League's tournament starts Tuesday too, but Green Bay and Cleveland State have double byes.
#1 Florida at South Carolina
Georgia Tech at #3 Syracuse
#3 Michigan at Illinois
#3 Creighton at (NFO) Georgetown
#4 Iowa State at #11 Baylor
#13 Toledo at Central Michigan
Miami (FL) at (LFO) Clemson
#14 Georgia State at Arkansas State
Alabama at #6 Kentucky
(LFI) #12 Florida State at Boston College
(LFO) Marquette at (FFO) Providence
#8 Arizona State at #8 Oregon
Atlantic Sun Tournament
#8 Stetson at #1 Florida Gulf Coast
#5 Lipscomb at #4 East Tennessee State
#6 North Florida at #3 USC Upstate
#7 Jacksonville at #2 Mercer
Notes: #1/#8 winner plays #4/#5 winner and #3/#6 winner plays #2/#7 winner. Sites determined by seed. Next games on Thursday, March 6.
Horizon League Tournament
#8 Detroit at #5 Milwaukee
#7 Youngstown State at #6 Oakland
#9 UIC at #4 Valpo
Notes: #5/#8 winner plays #6/#7 winner and #4/#9 winner plays #3 Wright State next. Next site at #1 Green Bay. Next games on Friday, March 7.
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