Bubble Boy Impact
Well, the conference tourney season has popped it's first Bubble. SIU probably needed at least two wins to find their way in, but alas, Northern Iowa's Panthers pounced on the Egyptian Dogs, 54-49 in the Valley quarters last night. SIU will almost assuredly miss the bracket with a 17-14 record, losses in their last two, and six sub-100 losses. Even in a bad year for the Bubble, this will not get it done.
Lockbox has been updated. BYU is now a LOCK. No way they miss at this stage. A couple other teams shifted a bit, too. There are several that are a win away (Kansas State, St. Mary's, Mississippi State, Southern Cal, maybe a couple others).
Conference Tourney Roundup
The OSS has been updated.
Higher seeds went 17-5 yesterday, making their cumulative record 44-13 to this point. I would not call any of the upsets "major," but there was one of note: 6-seed Tennessee State successfully navigated through the quarters and semis of the OVC Tourney (over a pair of Kentucky brethren, Morehead State and Murray State) and will play for a bid today against season-long OVC leader Austin Peay. TSU has won 5 of 6 and one of those was a win over APSU. They have a 13-16 overall record, so I think they qualify as the season's first Cinderella. It will be nice for TSU G Bruce Price to perform on a national stage. He's had a good career at TSU and he's a good player few people know about. The TSU Tigers have not been Dancing since 1994.
Today's GOI
BIG SOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP
--Winthrop vs UNC-Asheville [10:30 AM CT, ESPN2]. These two have been the best in the conference all year. Only one gets to Dance.
OHIO VALLEY CHAMPIONSHIP
--Tennessee State vs Austin Peay. [3 PM CT, ESPN2]. TSU is the underdog (6 vs 1 seed here), but they are in their home city of Nashville playing for a spot in the bracket.
--Towson vs VCU. Rams have to make the final to hang on to AL hopes.
--Creighton vs Drake. Jays must win to harbor any AL hopes. Drake is playing for a protected seed in the Big Bracket.
--Nothern Iowa vs Illinois State. A loss to UNI could be fatal for the Redbirds. A win and loss to Drake keeps them in the AL picture.
