I. Bracket Update
Check out today's bracket. It is getting VERY crowded on the Bubble with many teams actually trying to play their way IN instead of OUT (like last season). SIU locked up a spot by winning the MVC Tourney and Bradley certainly helped themselves. Indiana, Seton Hall, Cincinnati, Texas A&M, Florida State, and Hofstra have all played like they had to. Other notes:
1. Many are saying that the MVC will NOT get six teams. At this point (in my opinion), that would mean leaving out one of the top 34 at-large profiles according to the selection criteria. I think Creighton is going to be sweating the most of the Valley Boys.
2. If Gonzaga loses tonight or if Illinois or Texas lose in their conference tourneys, North Carolina may be able to snag a 2-seed with an ACC Tourney title.
3. So many of the 8/9 seeds lost this weekend that it was hard to sort those out. In fact, many sat still because others lost.
4. George Mason will be an interesting case. I think they are IN, but it could get dicey if there are upsets in other conference tourneys.
5. If Hofstra loses in the CAA title game, they may still be in the Top 33 RPI. No team better than 33 has ever been left out.
Multi-Bid Conference Breakdown
Big East (8): UConn, Villanova, Pitt, West Virginia, Georgetown, Marquette, Cincinnati, Seton Hall
Big Ten (7): Ohio State, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana
SEC (6): LSU, Tennessee, Florida, Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky
MVC (6): Southern Illinois, Wichita State, Missouri State, Northern Iowa, Bradley, Creighton
ACC (4): Duke, North Carolina, Boston College, NC State
Pac-10 (3): UCLA, Washington, Arizona
Big 12 (4): Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M
CUSA (2): Memphis, UAB
Colonial (3): UNC-Wilmington, George Mason, Hofstra
Last Four IN: Creighton, Texas A&M, Seton Hall, Hofstra
First Four OUT: Florida State, Syracuse, Air Force, California
On the Board: Colorado, Maryland, Utah State, Houston, Vanderbilt
II. The One Stop Shop is updated through last night's games and prepped for today's matchups. I will have complete brackets for this week's tourneys up today or tomorrow. Please send me an email if you see time, date, or location errors.
III. Today/Tonight's GOI
--UNC-Wilmington vs Hofstra (Colonial Final). An auto-bid for the winner and sweaty SelSun for the loser.
--Gonzaga vs Loyola Marymount (WCC Final). Zags have escaped an awful lot lately. LMU will try to channel the Lions of the late 1980s (Hank Gathers, Bo Kimble, Jeff Frye, and company).
--Saint Peter's vs Iona (MAAC Final). For the auto-bid. Check out Keydren Clark for St. P if you haven't already. He's one of the most prolific scorers in the land.
--MAC Tourney kicks off with first round action.
--Mid-Con and Sun Belt semifinals tonight.
