I hope you tuned in at 11.05 CST (12.05 EST) to hear me gab with Zach McCrite about the bracket. It was on 1570 (Louisville) and 1600 AM (Frankfort/Lexington). Thanks to Big EZ for having me on.
The OSS now has all 31 conference tourney brackets up to date. I think there may still be some clean up to do on game times, so I'll work on that later.
The Lockbox has been updated. I will post a bracket update later today at some point.
Today's bracket is ready to go as well. I think the Bubble is currently at six slots. Stanford has to be considered a Bubble Boy now, because they are not favored in their first tourney game, and another loss would make the Cardinal 4-6 in their last ten with an RPI in the 50s or maybe even 60s. That is a sweaty situation. A win over Southern Cal probably puts them IN.
Of the six Bubble slots, I think Texas Tech is in the best shape. If they beat lowly Colorado in the 5/12 game of the Big XII tourney, they are probably OK...but they might want to win two just in case. The other five Bubble Boys IN were Stanford, Old Dominion, Illinois, Missouri State, and Drexel. The last four are especially dicey. Illinois has to beat Penn State in the 6/11 Big 10 tourney game and may need to beat Indiana. Old Dominion, Missouri State, and Drexel have a lot of sleepless nights ahead of them this week. This group will certainly be pulling for teams like Butler and VCU to take care of business this week.
The teams that just missed were Purdue, West Virginia, DePaul, Clemson, Florida State, Kansas State, and Alabama. More fringe-y teams included UMass, Appalachian State, Georgia, Mississippi State, and Mississippi. They are few others that are not dead, but will need massive runs in their conference tourneys.
Tonight's GOI (see The OSS for times)
Three bids on the line tonight!
--(6) George Mason at (1) VCU (Colonial). Home game for Rams will make it tough for an NCAA return by the Partiots.
--(4) Siena vs (2) Niagara (Metro-Atlantic). Marist was getting most of the pub, but these two have been on FIRE in their last ten games (Siena 9-1, Niagara 10-0).
--(2) Santa Clara vs (1) Gonzaga (West Coast). Zags probably do not have enough juice for an AL bid, so they find themselves in a must-win game. These are the two best teams in WCC, so this is a fitting end.
Other tourney action:
Mid-Continent Semifinals
--UMKC vs Oakland
--IUPUI at Oral Roberts
Sun Belt Semifinals
--Western Kentucky vs Arkansas State
--Middle Tennessee vs North Texas
