These three earned bids tonight: WKU (Sun Belt), North Dakota State (Summit), and Cleveland State (Horizon). That last one cost some Bubble team an invite, and in the updated Lockbox, that team was St. Mary's. Full bracket update tomorrow.
Cleveland State played nip-and-tuck on Butler's home court before pulling it out late. ND State overcame a 10-pt deficit late as Ben Woodside's jumper with 3 seconds left lifted the Bison into the bracket in their first year of DI full eligibility. WKU built a 15-pt first half lead only to see South Alabama storm back to take a 4-pt advantage midway through the 2nd half. The Toppers methodically cranked up the D again and made every free throw they took in the game (!) to salt it away.
Given all that, the real shocker of the night was Weber State losing on their home court to #6 seed Montana State in the Big Sky. They went 15-1 in league, won it by a full FOUR games, and had won 12 straight. The only loss? A home loss to Montana State. Just like tonight.
The OSS is complete through tonight's games. Things get wild tomorrow. Aforementioned Montana State will play Portland State for the Big Sky bid. Mt. St. Mary's travels to Robert Morris to decide the Northeast rep, too. Big East and MEAC round twos are happening. The A-10, Big 12, Big West, CUSA, Mountain West, Pac-10, and SWAC all get going as well.
The most intriguing game outside of the bid games is probably Notre Dame vs West Virginia. A loss kills ND for good. A win puts them back in the convo. They are 6-3 in their last nine including a POUNDING of Louisville and a rout of Providence at the Donut.
