Tuesday, February 24, 2009

And Down the Stretch They Come 2

It is less than 3 weeks until Selection Sunday and there are less than 2 weeks remaining in the regular season. It's time to look at what races are going to the wire and which ones have a Secretariat-like leader (or even over).

In the Winner's Circle
Big Sky: Weber State
Big South: Radford
MAAC: Siena
MEAC: Morgan State (NCAT can still tie, but Morgan State won the only regular season meeting)
WCC: Gonzaga

Secretariats
CUSA: Memphis. +3 with two to play.
Ivy: Cornell is up two with four to play.
Patriot: American is +2 with two left.
SEC: LSU is +3 with four left although the East is still a mess.
SoCon: Davidson. Up two with three left.
WAC: Utah State is +3 with three to play.

Front Runners
ACC:
UNC is a game in front, but three teams sit one game back.
Am East: Binghamton and Vermont are tied with one to play. The Bearcats swept the Catamounts and will get the one seed if it ends in a tie.
A-Sun: Jacksonville leads by one with two to play, but their last game is at #2 Belmont.
Big 12: Kansas now leads by one game, but OK and Mizzou are just one back.
Big Ten: Michigan State is one up but has games left with Purdue and Illinois.
Big West: Long Beach and CS-Northridge are two games clear of the field in the loss column.
Colonial: VCU leads by one with two to play.
Horizon: Butler leads by one with two home games left.
MAC: Buffalo is one up one on a host of teams.
Mountain West: Utah has surged ahead to take a two game lead with four left.
Northeast: Robert Morris. Two clear with two to play, but their final game is with #2 Mt. St. Mary's. A road loss at St. Francis will set up a season-ending showdown.
Summit: North Dakota State is up one with two to play, but one of those is at #2 ORU.
Sun Belt: WKU and UALR are tied with the Toppers holding the tie-breaker with two games left. Troy is one back.
SWAC: Alabama State leads Jackson State by one game with four left.

Big, Muddy Field
A10: Three to play, three way tie at the top (X, Dayton, Temple) with URI one back.
Big East: UConn, Louisville, Marquette and Pitt are tied at the top.
Missouri Valley: UNI and Creighton are tied with Illinois State one back.
Ohio Valley: UT-Martin and Morehead State lead by one with Murray State and Austin Peay just one back.
Pac-10. Washington and Arizona State are tied with UCLA and Cal one back.
Southland: Five teams are tied or within a game of the lead.

Last Night's GOI
--Louisville 76, at Georgetown 58. Hoyas are going to need a miracle finish now.
--Kansas 87, at Oklahoma 78. Helps KU more than it hurts OK since Blake Griffin sat out.
Tonight's GOI
--Florida State at Boston College. Eagles are Bubble-IN right now and this would put them in nice shape. FSU is fighting for a top 4 seed.
--Florida at LSU. Gators need it more.
--Texas A&M at Nebraska. Aggies must have it.
--Penn State at Ohio State. Buckeyes need to hold serve to keep stress level low. Penn State is right on the fence.
--Pitt at Providence. It's time for the Friars to get busy if they are going dancing.
--BYU at San Diego State. Both need it, but the Aztecs need it more.
--Syracuse at St. John's. Orange need to stem the tide lest they slide onto the Bubble.