Just one bid handed out on
Wednesday as the Patriot League’s regular season champion carried that momentum
into the conference tournament and knocked off Lehigh tonight. That’s twelve auto bids, and gives us an
even split. Five have been won by the #1
seed, five have been won by lower seeds, and 2 were won by projected at large
bids. No bids scheduled over the next
two days, as we move into the bulk of the brackets and whittle down the field
significantly.
Two teams from the Futility
list were knocked off tonight. Bethune
Cookman was destroyed by the #1 seed in the MEAC (NC Central) and will move to 0 for
37. In the Southland, Central Arkansas
battled back, but ultimately couldn’t get past Sam Houston State. The Bears have been in Division I since only
2006, but will remain without a tournament appearance for another season. Eleven teams are still alive in their
conference tournaments, all but one are in action tomorrow (the SWAC doesn’t
resume play until Friday).
Three more tournaments begin
play tomorrow. The Big West starts with
quarterfinal action. Long Beach State
has the most tournament trips among conference members with 9. UC Riverside and UC Davis have never
been. Davis has a legitimate shot to
make a run, earning the #2 seed. The Big
West has been pretty generous with the automatic bid. Aside from the two mentioned (who have droughts
of 15 and 13 years respectively), the remaining 7 members have all made the
tournament since 2008.
The Western Athletic begins
play tomorrow, and once again it looks like we’re heading to a Bakersfield/New
Mexico State final. Last year’s win by
Bakersfield was their first trip ever and prevented NMSU from their 23rd
berth. UT Rio Grande Valley, Chicago
State, Missouri-Kansas City, and Utah Valley are all looking to break through
for the first time. Seattle also deserves a mention, as they will
be trying to make it to the tournament for the first time since 1969.
Finally, the American
Athletic tips off Thursday. East
Carolina (1993) and Tulane (1995) will be looking to take the first step to
ending their tournament droughts.
All in all, tomorrow is one
of the best days of the year. Conference
overlap is at its peak, and we’re jam-packed with meaningful games all day long
starting at noon EST with fairly decent pacing of the games. Enjoy it.
Bracket notes:
It was pointed out that my
RPI figures were incorrect, which they were.
The result was a handful of teams were off a few spots, which is
important considering the unfortunate significance of Top 50 wins. That has been corrected, and in the words of
John Groce I got 1% better today. Again,
appreciate the comment.
USC jumps in, Iowa moves to
first out.
Games of note tomorrow:
Last Four In: Xavier (vs
Butler), USC (vs UCLA)
First Four Out: Iowa (vs
Indiana), Kansas State (vs Baylor)
Next For Out: Illinois (vs
Michigan), Utah (vs California)