I. Bracket Update
Have a look at today's bracket. The highlights include:
--Ohio State closes the gap on Memphis for a 1-seed. There is still a gap, though.
--SIU, Colorado, and Air Force are bumped OUT by rising Florida State, Texas A&M, and Indiana who all got IN.
--Cal, Syracuse and Cincinnati are hanging by a thread. All need a win or two to end the drama.
--Alert reader "setonhallpirate" has suggested that the NCAA will put Duke in Washington, DC, instead of Atlanta because it is some 130 miles closer and the NCAA will not have to pay airfare to DC. But, something tells me they will be in the South. If they send Duke to DC, that means they will have to send UConn to Atlanta. I'd be slightly surprised if they did that, but SHP makes a good point.
Multi-Bid Conference Breakdown
Big East (8): UConn, Villanova, Pitt, West Virginia, Georgetown, Marquette, Cincinnati, Syracuse
Big Ten (7): Ohio State, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana
SEC (6): LSU, Tennessee, Florida, Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky
MVC (5): Wichita State, Missouri State, Creighton, Northern Iowa, Bradley
ACC (5): Duke, North Carolina, Boston College, NC State, Florida State
Pac-10 (4): UCLA, Washington, Arizona, California
Big 12 (4): Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M
CUSA (2): Memphis, UAB
Colonial (2): UNC-Wilmington, George Mason
Last Four IN: Syracuse, Florida State, Indiana, California
First Four OUT: Southern Illinois, Air Force, Colorado, Seton Hall
II. The One Stop Shop has been updated through last night's games.
III. Last Night's GOI
--UCLA 67, at California 58. This keeps Cal on the Bubble.
--at DePaul 108, Syracuse 69. Egads. UGLY. I'm speechless...or text-less. I'm something.
--at Michigan State 74, Wisconsin 65. Spartans keep themselves in the mix for a top 4 seed.
--at UAB 80, Memphis 74. Blazers just took a leap forward.
IV. Weekend Forecast
Tonight
--Seton Hall at Pitt. Pirates need a big win and this would give them a dandy.
--These conference tourneys are in action today: America East, Atlantic Sun, Colonial, Horizon, Metro-Atlantic, Missouri Valley, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Sun Belt, West Coast. Click the OSS link above or to the right for times and matchups.
Saturday
--Kent State at Akron. MAC favorites go toe-to-toe.
--Washington at Arizona. Arizona can tie UW in the loss column if they win here.
--Southern Cal at California. Bears need to win this one.
--West Virginia at Cincinnati. This would let the Bearcats breathe easy.
--Iowa State at Colorado. Buffs are in danger time. Must win here.
--Louisville at UConn. Cards have just a sliver of hope. This would bolster them a bit.
--North Carolina at Duke. Watch it on every ESPN channel.
--Arkansas at Georgia. Hogs are probably IN, but don't want a sub-100 loss at this point.
--Wisconsin at Iowa. For seeding purposes.
--Houston at Memphis. Cougars' last chance.
--Indiana at Michigan. This would make the Hoosiers very hard to ignore.
--Illinois at Michigan State. Illini need this one if they want to be a 2-seed.
--UCLA at Stanford. Cardinal need this one and a deep conf tourney run.
--Texas A&M at Texas Tech. A&M cannot afford a slip here.
--Tennessee at Vanderbilt. 'Dores are playing for their tourney lives.
--Conference tourney action: America East, Big Sky, Big South, Colonial, Horizon, Metro-Atlantic, Mid-Continent, Ohio Valley, West Coast
Sunday
--Florida at Kentucky. Who would have guessed two weeks ago that UK would be leading Florida in the RPI?
--Florida State at Miami-FL. 'Noles must consolidate huge Duke win.
--Villanova at Syracuse. Cuse find themselves in need of redemption after DePaul debacle.
--Oklahoma at Texas. Oklahoma win would tie them for 2nd with Texas behind Kansas.
--Maryland at Virginia. Terps are in must-win mode.
--Conference tourney action: Metro-Atlantic, Mid-Continent, Northeast, Sun Belt, West Coast
