I. Lockbox Filling Up
Several more teams have been filed away into the Lockbox, but it is far from its capacity of 34 at-large slots. These 27 teams have locked up their slot in the bracket.
Duke, North Carolina, NC State, Boston College, Ohio State, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, UConn, Villanova, Pitt, West Virginia, Georgetown, Marquette, UCLA, Washington, LSU, Tennessee, Florida, Memphis, George Washington, Wichita State, Gonzaga
Michigan, Alabama, Missouri State, George Mason, and Creighton are virtual locks. If something crazy happened, I guess one of these teams could miss, but it's HIGHLY unlikely. That's five more bids for a total of 32.
I think Syracuse, Arkansas, California, Arizona, Northern Iowa, Nevada, and Bucknell are all safe if they avoid an upset loss. Of course, this puts Northern Iowa in an interesting position because they are the lower seed in their 3/6 matchup against Missouri State. Would a first-round loss keep them out? I don't think so...but I am worried enough that I did something I've never done. I de-LOCKED them. That is supposed to be impossible, so I'm forced to admit that I was a tad hasty in giving them LOCK status last week. If they end on a 1-5 note while other teams are surging, it could get dicey for the Panthers. I think they have probably done enough, though. That said, these seven give us 39 teams that are either IN, nearly IN, or likely IN. Thirteen of these teams are currently leading their conference, so that means that 26 bids are spoken for, leaving 8 bids for the Bubble Boys. Here is who is IN today, in order of security:
Kentucky, UNC-Wilmington, Bradley, Colorado, Cincinnati, Seton Hall, Southern Illinois, UAB
These teams were in the mix, especially the first two:
Air Force, Indiana, Utah State, Hofstra, Texas A&M, BYU, Maryland, Florida State, Houston, UTEP
II. Here is the updated One Stop Shop. No conference tourney games tonight. The OSS will be complete with all 30 conf tourney brackets tomorrow.
III. Last Night's GOI
--Illinois 71, at Minnesota 65. Solid win for Illinois. They have an inside track on a 2-seed.
--at Seton Hall 72, Cincinnati 62. Mammoth win for SHU. A win at Pitt this weekend would probably seal it. Will be among the Bubble Boys sweating it out if they fail to do that.
--So long to: UT-Martin, Eastern Kentucky, Austin Peay, Tennessee State, Liberty, Radford, Birmingham Southern, UNC-Asheville, Youngstown State, Cleveland State, and Wright State. They all lost in their conference tourney last night and no shot at at-large bids. Thanks for being a part of the season and the magic of conference tournament time.
III. Last Night's GOI
--Illinois 71, at Minnesota 65. Solid win for Illinois. They have an inside track on a 2-seed.
--at Seton Hall 72, Cincinnati 62. Mammoth win for SHU. A win at Pitt this weekend would probably seal it. Will be among the Bubble Boys sweating it out if they fail to do that.
--So long to: UT-Martin, Eastern Kentucky, Austin Peay, Tennessee State, Liberty, Radford, Birmingham Southern, UNC-Asheville, Youngstown State, Cleveland State, and Wright State. They all lost in their conference tourney last night and no shot at at-large bids. Thanks for being a part of the season and the magic of conference tournament time.
IV. Tonight's GOI
--Auburn at Alabama. In-state rivalry alert! Tide is better, but crazy things happen in rivalry games.
--Mississippi State. If the Hogs are not sealed already, a win here probably does it.
--Colorado State at BYU. Some feel that BYU has at-large chances. I don't see it (yet), but they must certainly win out to the MWC final to have hope.
--Duke at Florida State. This is the 'Noles' season. Win here and they are back in at-large contention. Lose, and they will likely need to win the ACC tourney or at least make a deep run.
--Rice at Houston. Cougars are fringe-Bubble at best.
--Colorado at Kansas. Buffs are squarely on the Bubble. This win would go a long way.
--Miami-FL at Maryland. Two ACC teams with dwindling hopes. One will be slightly revived.
--Vanderbilt at Mississippi. Vandy is on the brink of extinction. Must win out to SEC finals.
--Virginia at North Carolina. It's now or never for the Cavs.
--Indiana at Purdue. Hoosiers have not won on the road since Dec 31. Gotta have this one.
--Kentucky at Tennessee. UK has had oodles of chances for big SEC wins and have come up short every time. They need this one to lock up their bid.
--Texas at Texas A&M. In-state rivalry alert! A&M is playing for their tourney lives at home. We will learn a lot about the Aggies tonight.
