The Friday Appraisal: Does Your Team Have a Prayer?

Another Friday down and another look at who is a Lock, who is Probable for an at-large berth (or very close to one), who needs a Prayer, and who is Out no matter what.

Bracket Brief for February 21, 2014

Seed	West (1) Anaheim (Th/Sa)	East (4) NYC (Fr/Su)	South (2) Memphis (Th/Sa)	Midwest (3) Indy (Fr/Su)
Site 1 16 8 9	San Diego (Fr/Su) Arizona Web. St./High Pt. New Mexico Memphis	Buffalo (Th/Sa) Syracuse Rob. Mo./So. U. Geo. Wash. Stanford	Orlando (Th/Sa) Florida Davidson Oklahoma Oregon	St. Louis (Fr/Su) Wichita State Belmont Arizona State SMU
Site 5 12 4 13	Spokane (Th/Sa) Michigan St. Joe's/Baylor San Diego State New Mexico State	Spokane (Th/Sa) Cincinnati Green Bay Kentucky North Dakota State	Orlando (Th/Sa) Louisville BYU Michigan State Toledo	San Antonio (Fr/Su) Iowa State Stephen F. Austin Saint Louis Louisiana Tech
Site 3 14 6 11	San Antonio (Fr/Su) Iowa Iona Connecticut Harvard	San Diego (Fr/Su) UCLA Georgia State North Carolina Oklahoma State	Raleigh (Fr/Su) Virginia Mercer Ohio State St. John's	Milwaukee (Th/Sa) Wisconsin Delaware Pittsburgh Tenn./Cal
Site 7 10 2 15	Raleigh (Fr/Su) Texas Xavier Duke Vermont	Buffalo (Th/Sa) Massachusetts Missouri Villanova Boston U	St. Louis (Fr/Su) VCU Colorado Kansas NC Central	Milwaukee (Th/Sa) Gonzaga Kansas State Creighton UC Irvine

Note: Through games of February 20, 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.

Duke Goes Down, and Conference USA Is a One-Bid League

Conference USA is shaken up again, North Carolina fans storm the court, and BYU is closer to locking in its spot in the Big Dance. Such is the State of college basketball in 2014, when there is a new headline every night. Last night we were focused on Syracuse's upset and the near upsets of a number of other top teams. Tonight, we drifted further down the bracket to see if teams could improve their seeding and whether conferences could sneak more bids into the tournament. The fact is this: you can't turn away from college basketball for any night this year, because every night has been important.

Bracket Brief for February 20, 2014

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

Note: Through games of February 20, 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.

Syracuse Suffers Major Upset While Other Major Teams Pull Out Close Games

Tons of games on Wednesday night were close, resulting in many near upsets, but only one really stood out: Syracuse's shocking loss to Boston College.

A Just About Upset-Free Night of College Basketball

Believe it or not, there were no major upsets on Wednesday night, though I suppose George Washington winning at Richmond was a minor upset. Then again, GW has been solidly in the bracket thanks to good RPI numbers, the major question mark being GW's efficiency numbers. GW proved itself a bit tonight, heading on the road to take out Spiders squad that still has bracket aspirations (that did take a hit tonight). Otherwise, except for some close calls, things went exactly as planned on Tuesday night. Let's take a look at the scores and a preview for Wednesday's action.

Oklahoma State and Florida State Playing Themselves Out of the Tournament

Most teams took the Day for Presidents off, but we still saw some great action on Monday night in a couple of big conferences.

Bracket Brief for February 17, 2014

Seed	East (1) NYC (Fr/Su)	West (4) Anaheim (Th/Sa)	South (2) Memphis (Th/Sa)	Midwest (3) Indy (Fr/Su)
Site 1 16 8 9	Buffalo (Th/Sa) Syracuse So. U/Coastal Car. SMU George Washington	San Diego (Fr/Su) Arizona Rob. Mor./Weber St. New Mexico Oklahoma State	St. Louis (Fr/Su) Wichita State Davidson Oklahoma Xavier	Orlando (Th/Sa) Florida Boston U North Carolina Memphis
Site 5 12 4 13	San Diego (Fr/Su) Iowa State Tenn./BYU UCLA Stephen F. Austin	Spokane (Th/Sa) Louisville Toledo Michigan North Dakota State	San Antonio (Fr/Su) Kentucky LA Tech Michigan State Delaware	Spokane (Th/Sa) Ohio State Colorado San Diego State Green Bay
Site 3 14 6 11	San Antonio (Fr/Su) Iowa New Mexico State Gonzaga Mizzou/Fla. St.	Orlando (Th/Sa) Virginia UC Irvine Connecticut Harvard	Raleigh (Fr/Su) Saint Louis Mercer Pittsburgh St. John's	Milwaukee (Th/Sa) Wisconsin Iona Cincinnati California
Site 7 10 2 15	Buffalo (Th/Sa) Massachusetts Oregon Villanova Belmont	Milwaukee (Th/Sa) Texas Stanford Creighton Vermont	St. Louis (Fr/Su) Arizona State Minnesota Kansas NC Central	Raleigh (Fr/Su) VCU Kansas State Duke Georgia State

Note: Through games of February 16, 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.

Upset Sunday? Five Games Will Have a Great Effect on the Bracket

Sunday came with a short calendar but still managed to give us five bracket-shuffling upsets.

Bracket Brief for February 16, 2014

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

Note: Through games of February 15, 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.

A College Basketball Saturday with a Little of Everything

Saturday saw a little of everything. Big favorites (Duke, Syracuse) with nailbiters at home, big upsets in the scope of the conference, major schools taking hold of bracket positioning, and bubble edge battles. Let's get into the Saturday Recap.