March 18, 2009 | Richmondspiders.com

RICHMOND, Va. – Junior David Gonzalvez scored 27 points and sophomore Kevin Anderson had 20 as Richmond overcame a 14-point first-half deficit to defeat St. John’s 75-69 Wednesday in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational.

Richmond improved to 19-15 overall and advance to play Bobby Cremins and the College of Charleston on Monday night in the CBI quarterfinals at the Robins Center.

Gonzalvez made 9-of-17 field goals, including 5-of-7 three-pointers, on his way to his to his fourth game scoring 25 or more points in his career, including his third this season. This was the fourth time in his career that he has made at least five three-pointers in a game. He also dished out four assists.

With his 27 points, Gonzalvez jumped from 25th to 22nd on the Spiders’ all-time scoring list with 1,177 points, passing Tom Green (1,159), Kevin Eastman (1,162) and Butch Lambiotte (1,163). He also took over sole possession of fifth on the school’s all-time list for career three-pointers with 156.

Anderson scored 20 points for his fifth-straight 20-point game. The second-team All-Atlantic 10 selection has 10 20-point games this season, including seven in the last 10 games.

Spider senior Jarhon Giddings helped keep his career going with 16 points and five rebounds. Giddings made 5-of-8 field goals, including a season-high three three-pointers in four attempts.

The Spiders scored 70 points for the 19th time this season, the most 70-point games for Richmond since the 1993-94 team also had 19. Richmond has held 10 of its last 11 opponents under 70 points.

Richmond was out-rebounded 48-25 and St. John’s had 21 second-chance points, but the Spiders picked up their defensive pressure after allowing the Red Storm to shoot 62.1 percent (18-29) in the first half.

St. John’s had won three of the last five and four of the last seven against Big East competition, including two victories over Georgetown in the month of March.

The Red Storm came out of the gates aggressive, forcing a Richmond team averaging an Atlantic 10 leading 11.9 turnovers per game to six turnovers in the first six minutes. St. John’s led 19-5 seven minutes into the game and had the lead back to 14 at 29-15 and 37-23 with 4:18 to play.

Richmond went on a 10-2 run to cut the gap to six in the final minute of the half and went into the locker room down 41-33. The Spiders quickly cut the lead down to tow (44-42) four minutes in and took their first lead since the opening minutes on an old-fashioned three-point play by Kevin Anderson with 14:30 to play.

The Spiders built a seven-point lead with 11:12 to play, but St. John’s came back to tie the game at 61-61 with 6:06 to play. Giddings scored five-straight as the Spiders pushed the lead to four and a three-pointer by Anderson, followed by a pair of free throws had Richmond up nine with 2:26 left.

AP Photo  

March 18, 2009 | AP Press

BLACKSBURG, Va. — Virginia Tech got 33 points from A.D. Vassallo and 23 from Jeff Allen and the Hokies scored on their first five possessions in the second overtime to outlast 46 points from Duquesne’s Aaron Jackson in a 116-108 NIT first-round win Wednesday night.

With the victory, the Hokies moved to 19-14 overall on the season and advanced to the second round where they will host the winner of the Georgetown-Baylor game.

Duquesne (21-13), making its first postseason appearance since the 1994 NIT, closed out its best season since the 1971 team went 21-4.

Tech appeared to have the game under control in the first overtime, leading by six with under a minute to go. But the Dukes rallied and tied the game at 94 on Jackson’s layup with less than 2 seconds left.

In the second overtime, Vassallo scored 10 points and the Hokies made all 10 of their free throws to put the game away.

March 18, 2009 by Ryan Pohle | A10CollegeHoops

Bracket Predictions – Enjoy!

East

First Round

Pittsburgh over East Tennessee St. – A tough break for East Tennessee St. drawing Pitt as they deserved a 14-15 seed.

Oklahoma St. over Tennessee – A tough game to pick as the teams appear evenly matched, so I’m going with the team that finished the year 8-2 with the losses being @ Oklahoma and to Missouri.

Wisconsin over Florida St. – Many thought Wisconsin was more of a 9-10 seed so this isn’t a huge typical 12-5 upset.  FSU doesn’t have much after Douglas.

Xavier over Portland St. – Some people are talking about a potential upset here, but X just has too much experience and talent to exit this quick.

UCLA over VCU – VCU is another popular upset pick playing close to home and having the talented Maynor.  But UCLA just has too many weapons for them to shut down.

Villanova over American – American only played three quality teams this year, and they lost each one by 16+.  No chance of a stunner here.

Texas over Minnesota – Not the easiest game for Texas, but it’s a tough matchup for the Gophers as they aren’t a 3 point shooting team and Texas defends inside well.

Duke over Binghamton – Duke barely survived Belmont in the first round last year, so you never know.  Still, it would be a huge surprise to see them go down.

Second Round

Pittsburgh over Oklahoma St. – As talented as Oklahoma St. is, Pittsburgh will likely be able to score at will in this one as the Cowboys don’t have the size to matchup with Blair.

Xavier over Wisconsin – It’s going to be a tough game no matter who Xavier plays in the 2nd round, but they’re the better team and the Badgers are just too inconsistent.

UCLA over Villanova – Despite this being practically a home game for Villanova, the better team will come out the victor.  Villanova just doesn’t really stand out, and they did lose at home recently to Georgetown.

Duke over Texas – Texas has been too shaky offensively throughout the year to come up with the upset.  Duke is better and peaking at the right time.

Sweet 16

Pittsburgh over Xavier – This is actually a pretty solid matchup for Xavier as they can defend inside against Young and Blair.  It just seems unlikely that Pitt goes down this early.

UCLA over Duke – Collison, Aboya, and Shipp are not going to go out easy.  These seniors have been through it all and if they can beef up their defense a little bit, a run to the Elite 8 is certainly possible.

Elite 8

Pittsburgh over UCLA – It’s hard to imagine UCLA making a run past this.  Pittsburgh is just a little bit better in every regard.

Midwest

Louisville over Morehead St. – Louisville will take on Morehead St., who should have been preparing Tuesday night while Chattanooga played in their place.

Ohio St. over Siena – There’s been some love for Siena, but they haven’t been able to beat a tournament team in four tries.  Ohio St. just made the Big Ten final and is playing too well.

Utah over Arizona – This game could likely go either way, but with Arizona’s holes defensively and struggles at the end of the year, I’m leaning towards Utah.

Cleveland St. over Wake Forest – Wake is a young team going against a Cleveland St. squad that starts four seniors.  They are so tough defensively and could very well pull off the upset.

West Virginia over Dayton – A tough break for Dayton as many thought they should’ve been in the 9-10 seed range, and on top of things they draw a tough 6 seed in West Virginia that recently knocked off Pitt.

Kansas over North Dakota St. – The Bison start four seniors and Kansas is pretty young.  Ben Woodside dropped 63 in a game earlier this year, and he’s going to have to have another big game to get the W for ND State.

USC over Boston College – A good draw for USC getting a BC team that many had in the 10-11 seed range.  BC is young and weak defensively.

Michigan St. over Robert Morris – Robert Morris shoots 40% from deep as a team so if they get hot they could stay in this game for awhile.

Second Round

Louisville over Ohio St. – OSU’s nice run to finish the season ends here.  They just have too many holes on defense and won’t be able to muster up enough points against Louisville.

Utah over Cleveland St. – It doesn’t seem like too many have them going to the Sweet 16, but why not?  Utah shared the regular season MWC title and then won the conference tournament.  They have a win over Gonzaga, too.

Kansas over West Virginia – This will be one heck of a game if it happens.  But everyone has doubted Kansas all year and Self will prepare them well for this one.

Michigan St. over USC – An upset wouldn’t be out of the question considering MSU has had some surprising losses during the year.  But the better team should prevail.

Sweet 16

Louisville over Utah – The Cards are just a little too strong and the Utes are just a little too weak.  It could be a game for awhile but eventually Louisville will pull away.

Michigan St. over Kansas – These two met earlier in the year and the Spartans came out with a 13 point win.  Despite that game being in East Lansing, it’s hard to imagine that big of a swing.

Elite 8

Louisville over Michigan St. – As we’ve seen in Michigan St.’s losses, they just get too pedestrian like on offense.  And with how good Louisville is on defense, it’s hard to see them making the Final Four.

South

UNC over Radford – For what it’s worth, Radford starts all upperclassmen and will be used to UNC’s fast paced style.

Butler over LSU – Brad Stevens always gets his boys ready for big games, and always does a great job in close games.  LSU finished the year losing 3 of 4.

Illinois over Western Kentucky – Another fairly popular upset pick, but I’m not seeing it.  WK did beat Louisville, but they lost to a lot of bad teams.  Illinois is too tough defensively, even without Frazier.

Gonzaga over Akron – Akron’s defensive minded and slow tempo approach could keep them in it for awhile, but in the end Gonzaga should pull away.

Temple over Arizona St. – Dionte’s not going out without a fight.  The Owls have a lot of size and defend the paint well which is how the Sun Devils like to score.

Syracuse over Stephen F. Austin – Stephen Austin will surprise the Orange with how good they are on defense.  But these teams are on completely different levels in terms of talent.

Clemson over Michigan – I’ll ignore Purnell’s tournament struggles because Clemson is definitely the better team.  Michigan does not have much size and will struggle defending Booker and Sykes.

Oklahoma over Morgan St. – If a 15 were to knock of a 2 this year, Morgan St. would be the one.  That’s wishful thinking, though.

Second Round

UNC over Butler – Too much talent on UNC’s side and too much inexperience for Butler to pull off a shocker.  But their style of play may frustrate the Tar Heels at times.

Gonzaga over Illinois – Illinois is pretty young and lacking enough talent to hang with the red hot Zags.  This one probably won’t be all that close.

Syracuse over Temple – Syracuse has won 7 of 8 so it’s hard to see them not reaching at least the Sweet 16.  A10 teams always have seem to give them trouble, though.

Clemson over Oklahoma – Oklahoma has lost 4 of 6 headed into the tourney so they seem like a good team to fade.  Clemson has plenty of talent to pull off the upset.

Sweet 16

Gonzaga over UNC – A lot of people talked up St. Mary’s in the past week, and Gonzaga crushed them by 25 in the WCC finals.  Kansas exposed UNC’s defensive woes last year and the Zags will, too.

Syracuse over Clemson – Sticking with the red hot Orangemen.  Flynn, Devendorf, and Harris have been a very tough trio for their opponents.

Elite 8

Gonzaga over Syracuse – Gonzaga is well balanced and much more under the radar than they have been in the past.  Syracuse is a little too weak defensively for their run to continue any further.

West

UConn over Chattanooga – Very easy matchup for UConn as Chattanooga has 25+ point losses to Tennesse, Missouri, and USC.

BYU over Texas A&M – In a rematch of a 1st round match last year, BYU avenges it’s loss to A&M.  They are much improved and have a deadly good trio in Cummard, Fredette, and Tavernari.

Purdue over Northern Iowa – UNI has only played one tournament team all year, and that was a 30 point loss to Marquette.  They will be well overmatched.

Washington over Mississippi St. – Mississippi St. is hot and could give Washington a nice run for their money.  But Washington is hot and too good on defense.

Marquette over Utah St. – Marquette is tough to read since their only win since James has been out is over St. John’s.  Still, you have to think they find a way to win this one.

Missouri over Cornell – The Big Red can stroke it from deep.  But they struggle on defense and didn’t play well against any of their tougher opponents this year.

California over Maryland – Another fairly popular upset pick, but Maryland doesn’t have anything after Vasquez, and the Terps won’t be able to shut down Randle, Christopher, and Boykin.

Memphis over Cal St. Northridge – Memphis hasn’t given up 50 points in their last four games.  That won’t happen again as CS Northridge plays a very up tempo style, but they’ll have a lot of bad possessions.

Second Round

UConn over BYU – If a one seed were to exit this early, it would likely be by the hands of BYU.  How far UConn can go without Dyson is a question mark.

Purdue over Washington – Purdue is beaming with confidence after winning the Big 10 Tourney, and they will pose matchup problems for Pondexter and Brockman.

Missouri over Marquette – Marquette hasn’t proven that they can win a big game without James.  Missouri has flown under the radar going 28-6 overall including winning the Big 12 Tourney.

Memphis over California – If Cal can find a way to put up points Memphis will be in for a long game.  Memphis needs to shoot the 3 ball well at some point.

Sweet 16

UConn over Purdue – People forget that Purdue is still a young team, and they haven’t shot the trey ball as well this year.  Too much UConn for them to handle.

Memphis over Missouri – Memphis’ defense would appear to be too good for the Tigers, especially inside as they can shut down Lyons and Carroll.

Elite 8

Memphis over UConn – The Huskies look to be a little too weak on offense to make a run further than this, as they haven’t had anyone step up with Dyson out.  They will have a very hard time putting up points in this contest.

Final Four

Louisville over Memphis – As good as Memphis is, they just don’t have the perimeter shooting that they’ll need against Louisville to pull of a victory.  It’ll be a grind it out type of game but in the end Louisville will prevail.

Gonzaga over Pittsburgh – Pitt has quietly been weak defensively (especially on the perimter) and it’s been exposed recently against West Virginia and Marquette.  Gonzaga can stroke it from deep and stop you on the other end.

Championship Game

Gonzaga over Louisville – I’m definitely going out on a limb picking Gonzaga to win it all, but UNC and Pitt are too weak defensively for my liking, as are Louisville and UConn on the offensive end to dodge six landmines in this tournament.  Gonzaga is solid on both ends of the floor, and has the talent and experience to pull off an incredible run to win it all.

AP Photo

March 17, 2009 | AP Press

LEWISTON, N.Y. — Kahiem Seawright scored 20 points in the second half — including all 10 for Rhode Island during its critical run — and the Rams beat Niagara 68-62 in an NIT first-round game on Tuesday night.

Jimmy Baron scored 20, including hitting six free throws in the final 40 seconds, for the sixth-seeded Rams (23-10), who snapped a two-game losing streak. Seawright finished with 23 points for the Rams, who are making their 13th NIT appearance and improved to 7-6 in tournament-opening games.

Rhode Island plays Penn State in the second round.

Anthony Nelson scored 14 for the poor-shooting Purple Eagles, who finished 21-of-59 from the field, and 7-of-27 in 3-point attempts. Third-seeded Niagara (26-9) had a seven-game home win streak snapped.

The Purple Eagles were also denied an opportunity to match a school record for victories, and dropped to 9-13 in making their 13th NIT appearance. Niagara was coming off a 77-70 loss to Siena in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament championship game last week.

Seawright, who added 10 rebounds, was the difference for a Rhode Island team that spent the past week still stewing over a 78-74 loss to Duquesne in the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament quarterfinals last week.

The game was decided with 38 seconds left when Niagara’s Bilal Benn was charged a technical foul for touching the ball out of bounds in attempting to deny an inbound pass. Baron hit the two free throws, putting Rhode Island up 62-57. Baron was then fouled on the Rams’ next possession, and once again hit two free throws to extend the lead to seven.

Otherwise, the Rams took control early in the second half — after they trailed by as many as nine in the first.

With Rhode Island trailing 41-34, the Rams gained momentum courtesy of Seawright, who sparked a 10-2 run by hitting a free throw after he missed the first attempt.

The senior forward was then nearly perfect, scoring 10 straight over a span of 2:42 that put the Rams ahead 43-41 with 12:20 remaining. Seawright hit a tough 16-footer from the baseline and completed a three-point play after being fouled on drive to the basket.

Niagara recovered briefly, and regained the lead — 46-45 — when Rob Garrison hit a 3-point shot.

The Rams responded and took the lead for good when Jason Francis scored on a putback after Keith Cothran missed a 3-point attempt.

Rhode Island’s 23 wins are the third most in school history, and the most since the program went 25-9 in 1997-98.

Tyrone Lewis added 13 points for Niagara, but went 4-of-17 in field goal attempts and missed 11 of 14 3-point shots.

March 14, 2009

By John Lamb | A10CollegeHoops.com

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ – Dionte Christmas and the Temple Owls are going to the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row after an exciting 69-64 victory over the Duquesne Dukes at Boardwalk Hall on Saturday night.

There was a lot of speculation before the game as to whether Temple could grab an at-large bid. Now that they won the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament they don’t need to worry if their name gets called on Selection Sunday but when.

Christmas led the way with a game-high 29 points on 10-of-24 shooting including 7-of-16 from beyond the arc. His performances throughout the tournament were good enough to garner a spot on the All-Championship Team as well as the Most Outstanding Performer award.

“The only thing I had on my mind was winning the Championship and playing my butt off today to get this title,” said Christmas, who became just the second player in league history to be named the MOP twice. “I thought every shot I shot today was going in.”

“I didn’t even think about the previous game or how bad I was shooting in the previous game. I just knew how good I was going to play today and how good I can shoot today. That was the only thing on my mind.”

Christmas was joined on the All-Championship Team by Sergio Olmos and Ryan Brooks. Both played an integral part in getting the Owls to the Big Dance for the second straight year.

Olmos clearly presented a match up problem for the Dukes in the paint and the Owls exploited it early as the 7-0 center scored seven of his 14 points in the first seven minutes of the game. He pulled down nine rebounds – six of which were of the offensive variety – and blocked three shots in 35 minutes of play.

He had the unenviable task of defending Duquesne’s Damian Saunders, a speedy 6-7 forward, for most of the game. Although Saunders finished the game with 15 points and a team-high 10 rebounds Olmos was satisfied with the way things turned out when all was said and done.

“I’m kind of slow so it was a tough match up,” said Olmos after the game. “[Saunders] tried to take advantage of his speed and I think I did a good job of taking advantage of my height.”

Brooks proved again that he is the Owls best shooter in clutch situations. The junior guard scored 14 points for the Owls but none were bigger than the three-pointer he hit with 4:12 remaining in the game to extend the Owls lead to eight and put the game out of reach.

Brooks plays hard on both ends of the court and Dunphy pointed out the fact that Duquesne’s Aaron Jackson scored seven straight points in the span of 41 seconds while he was on the bench to reiterate just how important the junior out of Lower Merion, PA is to Temple’s success.

“I would have loved to have the luxury of bringing [Brooks] off the bench for his whole career but we can’t be out on the court too much without him,” said Dunphy of his first official Temple recruit. “I don’t like to be out on the court too much without him, that’s the type of kid he is. He’s just tremendous.”

Temple’s Lavoy Allen was also a big factor for the Owls as he notched his 13th double-double of the season to the tune of 10 points and 11 rebounds. Allen’s ability to play around the perimeter allowed Sergio Olmos to do what he does best – park himself near the basket.

Even though Temple led most of the way, Ron Everhart’s Dukes, a team with two sophomores and eight freshmen on the roster, certainly proved that they will be a formidable opponent for years to come in the Atlantic 10.

“I’m not trying to say that we didn’t want to go to the NCAA tournament because we obviously did,” said Everhart. “However, I feel like the run that we made here and the way that we played, I think it will help our basketball team. It laid a tremendous and solid foundation for years to come.”

Perhaps the most important part of that foundation is Melquan Bolding. While the freshman only scored seven points on 3-of-9 shooting his performances throughout the tournament were good enough to land him a spot on the All-Championship Team.

Bolding averaged 14 points per game in tournament play, almost five points above his season average. His three-point shooting against Dayton was instrumental in getting the Dukes through to the championship round.

For a while in the first half it looked as if the Dukes were a team of destiny. The teams traded baskets for most of the half with Duquesne actually taking the lead with 4:22 remaining thanks to a three-pointer by Saunders.

The Owls regained the lead for good late in the first half thanks to Christmas’ efforts. He scored eight of his team’s last 10 points of the half to allow Temple to take a 42-37 advantage into the break.

“We know what Christmas is capable of doing,” Jackson, who was also named to the All-Championship Team, said. “The way he reads screens and reads the defense was incredible. He was hard to defend.”

Both teams did not do a great job of defending in the first half as each squad shot exceptionally well. The Dukes shot 53.6 percent (15-of-28) while the Owls shot 51.6 percent (16-of-31).

While the Dukes will likely wait and see where they will be seeded in the National Invitational Tournament, Dunphy’s Owls can sit back and enjoy the moment.

“The next 24 hours are fabulous to be honest with you,” said Dunphy. “I’m so happy for the guys, going to the NCAA Tournament, and there’s no feeling quite like this.”

GAME NOTES:
Temple claimed their 8th Atlantic 10 Championship in the 15th appearance which is the most by any member school past or present on both counts…They are now 8-7 in championship games…Temple is the first team to repeat as A-10 champions since the Owls won it in 2000 and 2001…This will be the 27th NCAA tournament appearance in Temple history…The Owls are now 5-0 against Duquesne in the A-10 Championship…Duquesne is now 1-2 in A-10 title games…Duquesne’s 21wins are the most since the 1971 NCAA team and their 38 wins over the past two seasons are the most since 1980-1981.

POST GAME AUDIO:
Dionte Christmas, Ryan Brooks, Sergio Olmos and Fran Dunphy Post Game Comments

John Lamb can be reached at johnlamb@a10collegehoops.com

Join us here at A10CollegeHoops.com for a live blog of tonight’s championship game between the #4 seeded Temple Owls and the #7 seeded Duquesne Dukes.

Click Here to join the live blog.

March 13, 2009 by Ryan Pohle | A10CollegeHoops

Through Games Played on Friday, March 13th

Updated Daily Here on Out

1 Seeds

UNC, Pittsburgh, Memphis, UConn

2 Seeds

Louisville, Duke, Michigan St., Oklahoma

3 Seeds

Missouri, Kansas, Washington, Syracuse

4 Seeds

Gonzaga, Villanova, Wake Forest, UCLA

5 Seeds

Xavier, Arizona St., West Virginia, Illinois

6 Seeds

Purdue, Clemson, Florida St., LSU

7 Seeds

Marquette, Utah, BYU, Butler

8 Seeds

Tennessee, Oklahoma St., California, San Diego St.

9 Seeds

Texas, Siena, Utah St., Minnesota

10 Seeds

Temple, Ohio St., Texas A&M, Michigan

11 Seeds

Arizona, Dayton, Creighton, VCU

12 Seeds

USC, Maryland, Auburn, Cleveland St.

13 Seeds

Northern Iowa, Western Kentucky, North Dakota St., Stephen F. Austin

14 Seeds

American, Buffalo, Cornell, East Tennessee, St.

15 Seeds

Robert Morris, Portland St., Cal St. Northridge, Binghamton

16 Seeds

Radford, Morehead St., Morgan St. Play-in Game: Chattanooga vs. Alabama St.

Last Four In:

Creighton, USC, Maryland, Auburn

First Four Out:

Wisconsin, Boston College, Florida, St. Mary’s

Next Four Out:

Penn St., Virginia Tech, Illinois St., South Carolina

Multiple Conference Bids

Big East (7), ACC (6), Big 12 (6), Big Ten (6), Pac 10 (6), SEC (3), Atlantic 10 (3), Mountain West (3), Horizon (2), Missouri Valley (2).

Tonight’s round of games promise to be very entertaining as the top-seeded Xavier Musketeers will take on the upset-minded Temple Owls at 6:30pm whilethe upstart Duquesne Dukes will battle the Dayton Flyers at 9:00pm.

Due to the conference’s rule on live blogging, I will only be able to provide updates at timeouts. I will, however, approve all comments as they come in so you, the readers, can engage in conversation about what is happening on the court.

Be sure to check back in around 15 minutes before tip-off as I will update you guys with any of the latest news and rumors floating around Boardwalk Hall. I look forward  to speaking with you!

Click Here for the A-10 Semifinals Live Blog

First off, I must apologize. I should be sitting court side at Boardwalk Hall running this thing but due to the family dog deciding to contract mega-stomach problems last night I am on the couch instead. I should be down there tomorrow night barring any type of catosphic blood test result. Anyway, this may actually work out better for the time being as I understand the A-10 is only allowing liveupdates at media and regular time-outs. Doing it this way today will allow us to talk in real time and go off the trail on side-tangets if you will.

Today’s first game between SLU and Xavier went just about the way that I thought it would. The Billikens hung for a while but B.J. Raymond and company are just too much to handle. The winner of our next game will certainly have a tough task at hand.

Click here to join the live blog

March 12, 2009 by Ryan Pohle | A10CollegeHoops

Through Games Played on Monday, March 9th

Updated Daily Here on Out

1 Seeds

UNC, Pittsburgh, UConn, Memphis

2 Seeds

Duke, Louisville, Michigan St., Oklahoma

3 Seeds

Kansas, Washington, Wake Forest, Missouri

4 Seeds

Gonzaga, Villanova, Clemson, UCLA

5 Seeds

Xavier, Syracuse, BYU, Illinois

6 Seeds

Arizona St., Florida St., Marquette, LSU

7 Seeds

West Virginia, Purdue, Utah, Butler

8 Seeds

California, Texas, Oklahoma St., Tennessee

9 Seeds

Wisconsin, Texas A&M, Utah St., Siena

10 Seeds

Ohio St., Arizona, Dayton, Minnesota

11 Seeds

Florida, Michigan, St. Mary’s, VCU

12 Seeds

Temple, Creighton, Cleveland St., Northern Iowa

13 Seeds

Penn St., Western Kentucky, North Dakota St., Miami Oh.

14 Seeds

Stephen F. Austin, American, Cornell, East Tennessee St.

15 Seeds

Portland St., Robert Morris, Binghamton, Cal St. Northridge

16 Seeds

Morgan St., Radford, Morehead St. Play-in Game: Chattanooga vs. Alabama St.

Last Four In:

St. Mary’s, Temple, Creighton, Penn St.

First Four Out:

Boston College, Virginia Tech, Miami Fl., San Diego St.

Next Four Out:

South Carolina, Auburn, Illinois St., USC

Multiple Conference Bids

Big Ten – 8, Big East – 7, Big 12 – 6, ACC – 5, Pac 10 – 5, SEC – 3, A10 – 3, Horizon – 2, MVC – 2, MWC – 2, WCC – 2.

Quick Notes

This will be updated daily up until Selection Sunday.

Let’s discuss some of the teams squarely on the bubble:

Creighton – Creighton got crushed in the semis of the Missouri Valley tournament but I still think they have a good shot for an at-large bid.  They have a top 40 RPI and it’s not often you see a 26 win team get left out.  The Blue Jays shared the regular season MVC crown with an impressive 14-4 record.  They also own a decisive win over Dayton and fellow bubble team New Mexico.

Temple – The Owls reappear in my bracket after URI suffered a stunning loss at home to UMass.  You can only give out so many bids to the BCS teams, and Temple tied for 2nd place in the A10 regular season.  They have a win over Tennessee, and a big road win over Penn St. who is also one of my last teams in.  Temple’s RPI is in the top 40 so an at-large is definitely possible.

Miami Fl. – I’ve had the Hurricanes in for much of the season but at this point I have to leave them out.  Their best non conference win is over Kentucky, who won’t make the tournament.  They are lacking quality wins, and a sweep over Boston College and a measly 7-9 ACC record just isn’t going to cut it.  Miami needs to win a couple games in the conference tourney to have a shot.