Plenty On the Line for Sunday

In the East Region, #7 Butler squares off against #2 Tennessee at 2:30 pm ET. The winner will advance to the regional semifinal to play the victor of #6 Oklahoma and #3 Louisville slated for 5:00 pm ET.

Tennessee is favored by 4 1/2 over the Bulldogs, but the Vols could have their hands full with Butler's style, which, like Tennessee's, is very guard oriented. The advantage Tennessee may have is with their forwards, Wayne Chism and Tyler Smith, both capable of lighting it up inside.

Louisville is favored by 7 over Oklahoma, though this could go either way. Both teams have significant inside presence players and foul trouble could be the deciding factor. Louisville needs production from David Padgett, who was pretty silent in Louisville's opening round win over Boise State. Oklahoma took out a tough St. Joseph's team and are poised for the upset.

#9 Arkansas faces a challenge from the tournament's top seed, North Carolina at 5:20 pm ET. While the Razorbacks took out a disheveled Indiana squad, the Tar Heels emptied their bench in a first-round rout of Mount St. Mary's and are favored by 11 points, the biggest point spread of the day. Look for Carolina to advance.

In the blown up Midwest Region, #13 Siena faces #12 Villanova at 12:10 pm. Siena crushed Vanderbilt in their opener, while Villanova came from 18 points down to slip past Clemson. Siena is getting 5 points, which is something of a surprise. Somebody is going to advance from this game to face #1 Kansas in the regional semi.

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The most interesting matchup of the day pits #10 Davidson against #2 Georgetown at 2:50 pm ET. Davidson has the nation's longest winning streak at 23 straight, while Georgetown is simply a monster, with abnormal height at all positions. The Hoyas are five point favorites, but they'll have to find a way to slow down Stephen Curry, who lit up Gonzaga for 40 in their opener.

Georgetown will defend well, but fouls could be a factor, especially for center Roy Hibbert. If he's allowed to roam free in the lane, it's going to be a long afternoon for the undersized Wildcats. Davidson has faced big men in the past, but Hibbert is really huge and has experience and post moves which make him difficult to defend.

In the South Region, #7 Miami goes up against #2 Texas at 2:15 pm ET. The Longhorns have a plethora of weapons and Miami may not be able to keep up on the scoreboard. If the Hurricanes are eliminated, it would leave North Carolina as the only representative remaining from the ACC.

#8 Mississippi State has an uphill climb with #1 Memphis at 4:45 pm ET, but the Bulldogs are one of the better defensive clubs in the nation. Memphis is favored by 9, but this one figures to be much closer. An upset is definitely a possibility. The winner gets Michigan State in the regionals.

The West Region offers another battle of bracket busters with #13 San Diego facing #12 Western Kentucky at 2:40 pm ET. The Hilltoppers are favored by a healthy 5 1/2 after knocking off Drake in their opener, but the Toreros are hot, having won six straight including knocking off Gonzaga in the WCC tourney final and UConn in round one. This one is really up for grabs, with the winner advancing to a date with the region's #1 seed, UCLA.

No Fluke: Duke Goes Down; Cardinal Grounds Eagles in OT

Saturday's Results

(7) West Virginia 73 (2) Duke 67
As the score indicates, Duke was overseeded, and should have been no better than a 4 seed. They became the highest-seeded team to be eliminated the first weekend as the Blue Devils could not find the basket while the Mountaineers cruise into the Sweet Sixteen.

While West Virginia shot only 40%, Duke hit at just 38%, knocking down just 5 of 22 3-point attempts. They were also badly outrebounded, 48-31, which gave West Virginia an excess of second chances.

Joe Alexander was solid, with 22 points and 11 rebounds, but the best stat line belonged to Joe Mazzulla, who scored 13 points, hauled in 11 rebounds (5 offensive) and dished 8 assists.

(3) Wisconsin 72 (11)Kansas State 55
Michael Beasley got his 23 points, but the Wisconsin Badgers put on a clinic on how to defend the three-point line, pressuring K-State into a dreadful 0-13 performance from beyond the arc. Trevon Hughes led the Badger scoring attack with 25 points, hitting 4 of 9 3-pointers.

(1) Kansas 75 (9) UNLV 56
The Jayhawks simply rolled past the Runnin' Rebels in the second half, holding UNLV to 27% shooting for the game. Kansas controlled the board, 40-28, shot 58% and could have made it worse as they were only 12-19 from the foul line.

(3) Xavier 85 (6) Purdue 78
Purdue put up a good fight, but the Musketeers shot 54% for the game to move to the next round in the West region. Despite getting 17 fewer shots from the floor, Xavier got Purdue players in foul trouble and got three of them to foul out, while going to the line 33 times, hitting 26 freebies. Grew Lavender get everything going, scoring 18 points and handing out 9 assists.

(4) Washington St. 61 (5) Notre Dame 41
Amazingly, the Cougars held the Irish to their lowest point total of the season - by a bunch. The previous low for Notre Dame was 64 points in a loss to Baylor way back on November 18. The Irish averaged 80.6 points coming into the game, but the Cougars only allowed 80 or more points once all season.

The Irish shooting performance was embarrassingly bad, at 25% from the field, including just 3 of 17 from 3-point range. Luke Harangody, usually the complete player, was just 3-of-17 for 10 points, though he did haul in 22 boards. Washington State's Kyle Weaver was outstanding, with 15 points and 9 rebounds.

(3) Stanford 82 (6) Marquette 81 OT Jerel McNeal did all he could, including three straight 3-pointers in overtime, but Brook Lopez hit a tough baseline bank shot with 1.2 seconds left in OT to lift the Cardinal. McNeal and Lopez both had 30 points, with all but two of Lopez' coming in the second half and overtime.

(5) Michigan State 65 (4) Pittsburgh 54
Pitt came in winners of seven straight, including four for the Big East tourney championship, but they ran into a buzzsaw in Michigan State. The Spartans have overcome adversity throughout the season and now head to the South Regional to face the winner of tomorrow's Memphis - Miss. St. game.

Guards Drew Neitzel and Kalin Lucas took it to the Panthers, scoring 21 and 19 respectively. Neitzel did his damage from outside, hitting 5-of-8 threes, while Lucas produced dazzling drives to the tin for his scores.

Pitt was ice-cold from beyond the arc, hitting only 2-of-18 three-point attempts.

(1) UCLA 53 (9) Texas A&M
The Bruins met their sternest test of the tourney, and overcame a stiff challenge from the Aggies. Darren Collison scored 21 points and Kevin Love had 19 and blocked 7 shots.

Conference Scoreboard
(Teams entered in parentheses)
Through Saturday, March 22
ACC (4): 3-2; Winners: Duke, Miami, North Carolina; Losers: Clemson, Duke

A-10 (3): 2-2; Winners: Xavier (2); Losers: Temple, St. Joseph's

Big East (8): 8-4; Winners: Marquette, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, West Virginia (2), Georgetown, Louisville, Villanova; Losers: Connecticut, Notre Dame, Marquette, Pittsburgh

Big Ten (4): 5-2; Winners: Michigan St. (2), Purdue, Wisconsin (2); Losers: Indiana, Purdue

Big 12 (6): 6-3; Winners: Kansas (2), Kansas St., Texas A&M, Texas, Oklahoma; Losers: Baylor, Kansas State, Texas A&M

Conf-USA (1): 1-0; Winners: Memphis; Losers: None

Mountain West (2): 1-2; Winners: UNLV; Losers: BYU, UNLV

PAC-10 (6): 6-3; Winners: Stanford (2), Washington St. (2), UCLA (2); Losers: USC, Arizona, Oregon

SEC (6): 3-3; Winners: Tennessee, Mississippi St., Arkansas; Losers: Georgia, Kentucky, Vanderbilt

WCC (3): 1-2; Winners: San Diego; Losers: Gonzaga, St. Mary's

All others (22): 4-17; Winners: Davidson, Western Kentucky, Butler, Siena; Losers: Portland St., Kent St., Oral Roberts, Cornell, Belmont, Winthrop, Miss. Valley St., George Mason, CS Fullerton, American, Drake, South Alabama, UMBC, Austin Peay, Mt. St. Mary's, Boise St., Texas Arlington

Friday's Late Results, Conference Scoreboard, Saturday Tips

Late Friday Results
(3) Louisville 79 (14) Boise St. 61
A real team win for Pitino's kids. Nine players accounted for anywhere from 3 to 15 points. Only Terrence Williams played more than 30 minutes (37). Next up, Oklahoma.

(9) Arkansas 86 (8) Indiana 72
Freshman Eric Gordon had the yips and finished with just 8 points on 3-15 shooting, including an ugly 0-6 from the 3-point line. The Hogs were led by their usual leader, Sonny Weems, who was nothing short of spectacular, hitting 12 of 14 shots (3-of-4 3-pointers) for 31 points. Teammate Darian Townes had a quiet but effective double-double, with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Arkansas should give #1 seed North Carolina a solid effort.

(12) Villanova 75 (5) Clemson 69
Add this to the list of upsets from Tampa. The Wildcats were down 18 points with five minutes left in the first half, but then began attacking the Tigers and clawed all the way back to an emotional win. Clemson went cold down the stretch, and ended up hoisting 33 3-pointers, hitting just 9 of them. Scottie Reynolds led the Villanova effort with 21 points, including 4-of-5 treys.

(1) Memphis 87 (16) Texas Arlington 63
As expected, Memphis rolled past their first-round opponent, bettering the Mavericks in every statistical category, even free throw shooting, which is the Tigers' weak spot. They play a very aggressive Mississippi State on Sunday.

Conference Scoreboard
(Teams entered in parentheses)
Through Friday, March 21
ACC (4): 3-1; Winners: Duke, Miami, North Carolina; Losers: Clemson
A-10 (3): 1-2; Winners: Xavier; Losers: Temple, St. Joseph's
Big East (8): 7-1; Winners: Marquette, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, West Virginia, Georgetown, Louisville, Villanova; Losers: Connecticut

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Big Ten (4): 3-1; Winners: Michigan St., Purdue, Wisconsin; Losers: Indiana
Big 12 (6): 5-1; Winners: Kansas, Kansas St., Texas A&M, Texas, Oklahoma; Losers: Baylor
Conf-USA (1): 1-0; Winners: Memphis; Losers: None
Mountain West (2): 1-1; Winners: UNLV; Losers: BYU
PAC-10 (6): 3-3; Winners: Stanford, Washington St., UCLA; Losers: USC, Arizona, Oregon
SEC (6): 3-3; Winners: Tennessee, Mississippi St., Arkansas; Losers: Georgia, Kentucky, Vanderbilt
WCC (3): 1-2; Winners: San Diego; Losers: Gonzaga, St. Mary's
All others (22): 4-17; Winners: Davidson, Western Kentucky, Butler, Siena; Losers: Portland St., Kent St., Oral Roberts, Cornell, Belmont, Winthrop, Miss. Valley St., George Mason, CS Fullerton, American, Drake, South Alabama, UMBC, Austin Peay, Mt. St. Mary's, Boise St., Texas Arlington

Saturday's Best

(2) Duke (7) West Virginia
West region matchup will be another test for an unusually undermanned Duke squad. After just barely escaping Belmont, West Virginia poses similar problems for the Blue Devils with Bob Huggins' flow offense and a variety of scoring threats. Duke looks like the worst #2 seed in the tourney and it's now just a matter of when they make their exit. The Blue Devils are slim 3-point favorites.

(3) Wisconsin (11) Kansas State
If there's a team out there capable of slowing down K-State's Michael Beasley, it's the Badgers, and they'd better be up to the task or they'll find themselves on a plane home, like USC, after Beasley and the Wildcats tore them apart. Wisconsin is a patient, disciplined club, winners of 11 straight, and their mission is a Final Four berth, so getting to the Sweet Sixteen is just another part of the plan. Wisconsin is favored by 4 1/2.

(4) Pittsburgh (5) Michigan State
An excellent South region matchup to finish the evening pits the Panthers against the resilient Spartans, who seem to rise to the occasion whenever disaster seems likely. Pitt is favored by a mere two points, though they look like the better team overall, having put together a remarkable surge, winning six straight and eight of their last nine. Remember, they received the automatic bid by winning the Big East tournament, and while Georgetown, whom they beat in the final, ended up a #2 seed, Pitt was relegated to a #4. This might be the sweetest spot the Panthers have found themselves in all season.

Regions Scrambled as Upsets Rule Second Day

Early Games

(2) Tennessee 72 (15) American 57
Chris Lofton was just 1-7, including 0-5 from beyond the arc, but the Vols didn't need him in a walkover win.

(10) Davidson 82 (7) Gonzaga 76
Stephen Curry lit up the Zags for 40 on 14-22 shooting, including 8-of-10 threes. That's 23 straight for the Wildcats, the longest win streak in the country.

(12) Western Kentucky 101 (5) Drake 99 OT
The Hilltoppers are the real deal, because Drake was certainly no pushover. This sets up a complete bracket buster with San Diego, upset winners over UConn. The tourney is officially in madness, at least in the West region.

(7) Miami (FL) 78 (10) St. Mary's 64
All of a sudden the Hurricanes don't look so bad. Texas is next up, however.

(7) Butler 81 (10) South Alabama 61
Pete Campbell was absolutely lights out for the Bulldogs, hitting 8-of-10 3-pointers and tallying 26 points. Butler looks ready for Tennessee on Sunday.

(2) Georgetown 66 (15) UMBC 47
This was never close, and somewhat unfair to the kids from Baltimore. Georgetown will have their hands full with Davidson on Sunday.

(13) San Diego 70 (4) Connecticut 69 OT
Proven that UConn was a team of pretenders rather than contenders. San Diego earned their way in, winning the WCC. Now, they're the only one - of three - left.

(2) Texas 74 (15) Austin Peay 54
A.J. Abrams, 26 points. Dominic James, 10 points, 10 boards. The Longhorns have plenty of weapons.

Late Games

(1) North Carolina 113 (16) Mount St. Mary's 74
Just in case nobody noticed, this was easily the most points scored by any winning team in the opening round and the 2nd-largest margin of victory. The Tar Heels spread the wealth around, as 14 different players scored.

(6) Oklahoma 72 (11) St. Joseph's 64
Two down from the Atlantic-10, leaving only Xavier from that conference. This makes the Big 12 5-1 for the opening round. Somewhat of a surprise as only Baylor lost.

(13) Siena 83 (4) Vanderbilt 62
Quite the shocker as Kenny Hasbrouck scored 30 and four other Saints followed him into double figures. Vandy got behind early and could just never make up any ground on this very well-coached group. Looks like they'll be up against it if they have to play Clemson. Should be a fun one.

(8) Mississippi St. 76 (9) Oregon 69
Charles Rhodes scored 34 points and pulled down 9 boards, but the story was the Bulldog defense and the collapse of Oregon. The Ducks hit just 2 of 20 from outside the arc in the second half as Miss. St. rallied from 8 down.

Day One in the Books: Beware the Mighty Bruins; Big East, 4-0

(5) Notre Dame 68 (12) George Mason 50
This was over early as George Mason couldn't hit anything, opening the game 1-10 from 3-point range. The Irish quickly opened up a double-digit lead and were never threatened. Luke Harangody led the Irish with 18 points.

(3) Wisconsin 71 (14) Cal St. Fullerton 56
The Badgers began to dominate the interior midway through the first half and continued to wreak havoc inside. Wisconsin brought plenty of heft inside, a stifling defense and an efficient half-court offense, but Fullerton countered with an up-temp offense and stayed close, scoring in transition. Wisconsin held just a 2-point lead at the break, but re-established the inside game and ran away in the second half.

The Badgers will be a tough opponent from here on out. They face Kansas St. on Saturday.

(7) West Virginia 75 (10) Arizona 65
A contentious game from the start which the Mountaineers took over early in the second half, maintaining a 4-to-9 point lead through most of the second half.

(1) UCLA 70 (16) Mississippi Valley St. 29
A complete blowout from start to finish, the Bruins were just too good for the undersized Delta Devils. Kevin Love nearly outscored the opposition himself, scoring 20 points. The Delta Devils' 29-point effort was a tournament all-time low.

Conference Scoreboard
(Teams entered in parentheses)
Through Thursday, March 20
ACC (4): 1-0; Winners: Duke; Losers: None
A-10 (3): 1-1; Winners: Xavier; Losers: Temple
Big East (8): 4-0; Winners: Marquette, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, West Virginia; Losers: None
Big Ten (4): 3-0; Winners: Michigan St., Purdue, Wisconsin; Losers: None
Big 12 (6): 3-1; Winners: Kansas, Kansas St., Texas A&M; Losers: Baylor
Conf-USA (1):
Mountain West (2): 1-1; Winners: UNLV; Losers: BYU
PAC-10 (6): 3-2; Winners: Stanford, Washington St., UCLA; Losers: USC, Arizona
SEC (6): 0-2; Winners: None; Losers: Georgia, Kentucky
WCC (3):
All others (22): 0-9; Winners: None; Losers: Portland St., Kent St., Oral Roberts, Cornell, Belmont, Winthrop, Miss. Valley St., George Mason, CS Fullerton

Duke Survives #15 Belmont; Quick Exit for USC

(3) Stanford 77 (14) Cornell 53
The stats were even more lopsided than the score here. The Big Red shot just 31% to Stanford's 55% and the Cardinal outrebounded Cornell 47 to 25.

(2) Duke 71 (15) Belmont 70
The pace of this first half would have buried most normal teams, but the Blue Devils and Bruins pushed the offense relentlessly, launching threes from everywhere on the floor.

By the first timeout of the second half the fatigue could be seen on both teams, but especially Duke, which began to turn the ball over and leave Belmont players with open looks.

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The Bruins actually led by a point late, but Gerald Henderson scored on a driving layup with 11.8 seconds left and Belmont could not convert another score.

(11) Kansas St. 80 (6) USC 67
This was supposed to be about the two finest freshmen in the country, USC's O.J. Mayo and K-State's Michael Beasley, and while the two did lead their respective teams in scoring, the supporting casts reminded us that it's still very much a team game. The up-and-down Wildcats actually outplayed the Trojans in the most important game aspects, outshooting them, 48-42%, and outrebounding, 44-27.

(4) Washington St. 71 (3) Winthrop 40
Tied 29-all at the break, Washington St. scored the first nine points of the second half and limited Winthrop to just 11 second half points in a runaway victory.

(9) Texas A&M 67 (8) BYU 62
The Cougars could have been blown out of this game, but after starting out 0-5 from the 3-point line and down 22-12 at one point, BYU rallied to a 29-all tie at the break.

Josh Carter scored 26 for the Aggies, hitting 6-of-10 3-pointers to lead all scorers.

Mid-day Madness: Big East Notches a Pair of Wins

(6) Marquette 74 (11) Kentucky 66
Kentucky turned this into a street brawl, and nearly pulled off the upset, though Marquette's speed and skill players eventually triumphed.

Kentucky's Joe Crawford scored a career-high 35 points in his final game as a collegian, but it was not enough as the Golden Eagles made their free throws down the stretch and defended the three-point line well.

Jerel McNeal scored 20 for Marquette, while his teammates, Dominic James and Wesley Matthews hit a combined 17-20 from the foul line.

Marquette is likely to face Stanford on Saturday, as the Cardinal is a heavy favorite over Cornell later today.

(8) UNLV 71 (9) Kent St. 58
The Runnin' Rebels held Kent State to an NCAA tournament record-low ten points in the fist half and cruised to an easy first round win. Joe Darger had 19 and Wink Adams threw in 18 points. The Rebels will find the going a little rougher in their second round game against Kansas.


(6) Purdue 90 (11) Baylor 79
As many had suspected, the Baylor Bears, in addition to three or four other Big 12 entrants to the tourney, did not belong. Purdue stymied the Bears, who were just 5-8 down the stretch, making Baylor's appearance in the NCAA tourney a short and forgettable one.

Purdue's balanced scoring included 8 players with between 8 and 17 points apiece.

Purdue advances to a second round matchup with Xavier on Saturday.

(4) Pittsburgh 82 (13) Oral Roberts 63
One of the hottest teams heading in, Pittsburgh went about the job of dissecting Oral Roberts with all the efficiency of a skilled surgeon. The Panthers held the Golden Eagles to 34% shooting in the rout.

Levance Fields dominated the proceedings, scoring 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting, including hitting 4-of-7 three pointers.

Early Returns: Xavier, Kansas, Michigan St. Advance

(3) Xavier 73 (14) Georgia 61
Xavier had their hands full with the determined Bulldogs, finding themselves down by nine points at the end of the first half. Georgia shot 55% (16-29) to Xavier's 36% (10-28) in the opening period.

In the second half, the Bulldogs began to unravel under Xavier's relentless pressure defense, picking up their 7th team foul and putting the Musketeers into the bonus with 12 minutes still to play.

With the score 46-36 in favor of Georgia, Xavier went on a 16-3 run to completely turn the game around. Consecutive 3-pointers by B.J. Raymond and freshman Dante Jackson gave the Musketeers a 52-49 lead with 7:18 remaining. Jackson's trey was his first shot of the game and it was huge as Xavier led the rest of the way.

As time wore down, Georgia continued to turn the ball over and Xavier kept penetrating, scoring and hitting their free throws.

The free throw disparity was glaring. Xavier hit on 27 of 33 attempts, while the Bulldogs only went to the line just 5 times, hitting three.

Josh Duncan led all scorers with 20 points. The Musketeers advance, and will play the winner of the Purdue-Baylor game on Saturday.

(1) Kansas 85 (16) Portland St. 61
As expected, the Jayhawks had few problems handling Portland State. Kansas led from the opening basket, quickly establishing a double-digit advantage and keeping the Vikings at bay the rest of the way.

Brandon Rush led the way with 18 points. Darrell Arthur had 17 and Mario Chalmers scored 16.

(5) Michigan St. 72 (12) Temple 61
The Spartans couldn't buy a basket from the outside, but got plenty of scoring in the lane and in transition against the Owls. Temple had problems from the very start finding open shots, as the Spartans' defense kept everything on the perimeter and contested every shot.

Drew Neitzel finally hit his first shot from the field with under a minute to go in the first half, a three-pointer which gave the Spartans a 10-point lead just before the half. While Neitzel finished with only 5 points, hitting only 1-8 from 3-point range, his overall floor generalship was a key to the Michigan State win.

Countdown to a Championship

64-32-16-8-4-2-1. Today, 64; by April 7, there will be just one. One national champion. One shining moment, as the song says. The countdown from 64 begins today.

This is day one of two of the greatest annual event in college basketball, when all 64 teams will battle to the final buzzer. By Friday night, after 32 games, there will be 32 winners and 32 teams heading home.

It all begins at 12:20 ET, when the miracle men of Georgia, who, after going 4-12 in the SEC, earned an automatic bid by winning their conference tournament. Seeded #14, the Bulldogs tip with the #3 Xavier Musketeers.

#1 seeds in action today are UCLA and Kansas. North Carolina and Memphis begin play on Friday. For the Bruins, their foe, #16 Mississippi Valley St., presents no more a challenge than the usual practice. The Bruins are favored by a whopping 32 points. That game is scheduled to begin as the final game of the day for the West region, at 9:55 ET.

Kansas will take to the hardwood much earlier, as the opener in the Midwest, at 12:25, facing #16 Portland State. The Jayhawks, winners of the Big 12, are 22 1/2 point favorites.

I'll be blogging on and off most of the day and into the night, with highlights and analysis of key games.

Stay tuned. It's about to get serious.

NCAA Tournament: Matchup Mayhem

While the selection committee may not have picked the very best 65 teams for the tournament, they did come up with a number of intriguing first-round contests.

Here are some must-see games which will resonate through the college hoops universe all the way to San Antonio:

East Region
(8) Indiana vs. (9) Arkansas - The talented Indiana backcourt of freshman Eric Gordon and sophomore Armon Bassett should have their way with Arkansas' Gary Ervin and Patrick Beverley. The Hoosiers will also have JaMarcus Ellis and Jordan Crawford for extended periods, putting further pressure on the Arkansas guards.

Up front, however, it's a different story, where D.J. White, an experienced 6'9" post presence, will be hounded by the likes of Darian Townes, Vincent Hunter, and the ever-dangerous Sonny Weems, all seniors.

While Indiana may still be reeling from the departure of coach Kelvin Sampson, the Razorbacks have no such concerns, as coach John Pelphrey looks like he's going to be around a while. Both he and Hoosiers interim coach Dan Dakich are seeking their first tournament wins, and this one could go down to the wire.

It will be interesting to see if Gordon takes over the game from the backcourt or the Hogs run wild in the lane. The winner earns the right to play North Carolina in the next round. No picnic and little time to prepare.

Midwest Region
(6) USC vs. (11) Kansas State This may not be that great of a game, or it might, considering K-State's late-season meltdown and USC's arrival as a premiere West coast team loaded with studs. The big marquee players are here: Wildcats freshman Michael Beasley may be the #1 pick in the upcoming NBA draft, so this is his chance to showcase his talents to a national audience.

Likewise, USC's O.J. Mayo may not last into his sophomore year. The Trojans have the better team overall, though they start all sophs and freshmen. Forwards Taj Gibson and Davon Jefferson should be the difference-makers for USC, which should advance and could be a final four team if everything falls into place.

Look for USC to win this one going away, though holding Beasley under 40 may not be possible. A Kansas St. win would be a pretty remarkable upset, but future NBA stars will be on parade for both teams.

South Region
(7) Miami vs. (10) St. Mary's - If anyone picked either of these teams to be in the tournament preseason, they should get a full scholarship to Bracketville U.

The surprising Gaels of St. Mary's performed admirably through the rugged West Coast Conference schedule, and have what amounts to an international lineup with four Australians on the squad. Guard Todd Golden hits at 45% from 3-point range and 6'11" center Omar Samhan can be dominant in the post. The supporting cast is very athletic and long and can play with anyone.

For the Hurricanes, it was a season in which they exceeded expectations. They're an undersized group that can leap and run with any team in the country, so they are prime for upsets should they survive the opening round. Watch for Dwayne Collins and Jack McClinton to do most of the scoring and everyone else to crash the boards. These guys upset Duke earlier in the season and are one of only four ACC to make the tourney.

This could be the wildest game of the first round and it's a shame one of these exciting teams has to lose.

West Region
(5) Drake vs. (12) Western Kentucky - Surprising nearly everyone except themselves, the Drake Bulldogs - the only entrant out of the Missouri Valley Conference - may have the best team concept in the country, whipping the ball around the perimeter until Adam Emmenecker, a 6;1" senior dashes into the lane with the ball and either scores on a layup or dishes out to a teammate for an open three. These guys are also very adept passers who employ lots of back-door plays.

The Bulldogs can play stingy defense and will throttle down any hot shooters with a stifling zone or rough man-to-man.

The 27-6 Hilltoppers, winners of the Sun Belt tourney, have a slew of shooters who can light it up from anywhere on the floor, though they prefer to do their damage from behind the three-point line. Led by senior Courtney Lee, Western Kentucky may have trouble stopping Drake, but they won't have any problem finding shots.

The flow of the game will be intense and all-important. If the Hilltoppers get off early, they may make it hard for Drake to come back, though the Bulldogs have the kind of grit and heart to overcome early setbacks. This one ought to be a barn-raising good time with the winner set on upsetting another team in the second round.

Tomorrow: Locks, Bracket Busters and Definite Maybes

Bracketology: Georgia Plays Way In; Say UNC-le

The just-released 2008 NCAA Tournament brackets contained no surprises as far as the top four teams were concerned. North Carolina, Memphis, UCLA and Kansas ended up at the top of the heap with #1 seedings.

The Tar Heels received the #1 overall seeding after topping Clemson, 86-81, in the ACC tournament final. UNC will play in the East region, Memphis in the South, UCLA in the West and Kansas in the Midwest. The Final Four will pit East vs. Midwest and South vs. West in the semifinal games.

Georgia turned in the day's best story line, beating Arkansas, 66-57, to capture the SEC Tournament. The Bulldogs, 4-12 during the regular season, won four straight in the conference tourney, including wins over both Kentucky and Mississippi State on the same day. Because of the hurricane that ripped through downtown Georgia on Friday night, damaging the Georgia Dome, the scheduled game between Kentucky and Georgia was moved to the Georgia Tech campus and played on Saturday afternoon.

After winning that one, the all-Bulldogs semifinal went to Georgia and the rest, as they say, is history. Somewhat mercifully, Kentucky, Mississippi State and Arkansas also received NCAA bids, so nobody from the SEC was the victim of Georgia's fortune.

While Georgia actually earned their way in, a number of teams were very questionable choices, especially four from the Big 12 - Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Kansas State and Baylor.

None of these, nor Kansas State, reached the tournament final. The Aggies lost 5 of their last 7 regular season games; Baylor lost four straight and six of seven before finishing the regular season 3-1, then lost their first game of the conference tournament to last place Colorado.

Oklahoma may have a little better case. After finishing 9-7 in the conference, then, following a first-round bye in the conference tourney, beat Colorado, but were then buried by the Longhorns, 77-49. Texas beat the Sooners 3 times during the season by a total of 55 points. Do they really belong?

As for Kansas State, they've won just three times in their last nine games. The wins were against Missouri, Iowa State and Colorado, the three worst teams in the Big 12.

Realistically, the Big 12 should have sent two or three teams to the tournament, not six. Kansas, Texas and maybe Oklahoma were the only measurably solid choices.

From the Big East, Villanova could easily have been refused a bid. The Wildcats, 9-9 in the Big East regular season, beat two ranked teams, Pitt and UConn, by one and two points, respectively, and both games were at home. After winning their tournament opener over a depleted Syracuse squad, they were rousted by 19 points by Georgetown. At one point during the season, they lost five straight.

Another couple of questionable choices were Arizona and Oregon from the PAC-10. Arizona was 8-10 in the conference, Oregon 8-8

The six or seven teams mentioned here could easily have been replaced by any of the following: Illinois St., Southern Illinois or Creighton - all from the Missouri Valley Conference, which sends only one team, conference champion Drake - Ohio State, Virginia Tech, VCU, Wagner or New Mexico. All of these teams had records equal or better than those selected and would have added some more flavor - and representation by smaller conferences - to the tournament.

Tomorrow: Matchup Madness

Hail the Champions: Conference Titles Up for Grabs

A number of conferences wrapped up their tournaments on Saturday with more to come on Sunday. One thing's for sure: take nothing for granted. Upsets were the norm in the Big East, ACC and SEC.

Here are recaps of Saturday's key games and how they will affect the NCAA field.

Memphis 77 Tulsa 51
As expected, the Tigers swamped Tulsa and added the tournament title to their regular season conquest of Conference USA. The only question remaining is whether any teams other than Memphis will be invited to the big dance. Tulsa seems the only decent choice, but Memphis alone would make sense.

North Carolina 68 Virginia Tech 66
The Hokies have made their case for the big tourney, coming within a hair of upsetting the #1 Tar Heels. Carolina moves on to the finals on Sunday against Clemson.

Clemson 78 Duke 74
Not so shocking, Duke was vulnerable away from Cameron Indoor Arena. A tight game throughout, the Tigers made their case to the tournament committee, no matter what happens against North Carolina.

Wisconsin 65 Michigan St. 63
The Badgers took care of business to reach the finals on Sunday. If they beat Illinois, they will add the Big Ten Tournament title to their regular season trophy.

Illinois 56 Minnesota 50
The Illini got the best matchup they could ask for and took advantage, with a chance to play into the NCAA tourney with a win over Wisconsin Sunday in the finals.

Pittsburgh 74 Georgetown 65
Pittsburgh came all the way back from late-season woes and swept through the Big East field with wins over Cincinnati, Louisville, Marquette and last night, Georgetown. They are the real deal and should get a #2 or #3 seeding.

Texas 77 Oklahoma 49
Ho-hum. Texas and Kansas are the only Big 12 teams that belong.

Texas A&M 71 Kansas 77
See above comment.

Stanford 64 UCLA 67
The PAC-10 was almost as boring as the Big 12. The top four seeds ended up in the semi, and #1 UCLA topped #2 Stanford. Nothing to see here. USC and Washington St. will join these two in the NCAA field. UCLA will be the #1 seed in the West.

BYU 61 UNLV 76
This was somewhat of a shocker and nice to see, but it does create problems for the tournament selection committee. BYU won the Mountain West, and they're 27-7 overall, so expect both the Runnin' Rebels and Cougars in the tournament.

Temple 69 St. Joseph's 64
Another championship won by an underdog creates more questions for the selection committee. Xavier won the Atlantic-10 regular season, and they're no doubt about getting an at-large berth. Temple receives the automatic and St. Joseph's, 9-7 in the regular season, should be considered, as they've beaten Xavier twice in the last two weeks.

Arkansas 92 Tennessee 91
Arkansas pulled off the biggest upset of the day, cementing their credentials for the NCAAs, but Georgia, winning twice in the same day, really deserves a bid.

Georgia 60 Kentucky 56
The Bulldogs, 4-12 during the regular SEC season, topped the Wildcats to advance to the semifinals. Because of the storms that ripped up the Georgia Dome, this game was canceled Friday night and played Saturday afternoon.

Georgia 64 Mississippi St. 60
Just hours after beating Kentucky, Georgia's kids took out the SEC West champions in the semifinal of the SEC tournament. They move onto the finals against Arkansas. Oddly enough, the Razorbacks are one of the four teams that Georgia beat during the regular season, winning 82-69, back on January 19.

The Bulldogs finally evened their full season record at 16-16 with the win. If they do capture the SEC crown, they'll surely have the worst record of any team entered in the NCAA tourney, but the best story of how they got there.

Big East, PAC-10 Tourney Results

PAC-10

UCLA 57 USC 54
After trailing 34-28 at the half, UCLA opened the second half with an 18-4 scoring blitz to put away their rivals from across town and reach the tournament finals. The Bruins will face the winner of tonight's Stanford-Washington State clash on Saturday.

Big East

Georgetown 72 West Virginia 55
Roy Hibbert, who didn't score and had just 4 rebounds in Thursday night's win over Villanova, rebounded in a big way to lead the Hoyas to the Big East finals. The big man had 25 points and 13 rebounds while only committing two personal fouls. Georgetown will face Pittsburgh in tomorrow's championship game. Pitt defeated Georgetown, 69-60, in their only meeting of the regular season, on January 14 at Pitt

Pittsburgh 69 Marquette 61
Pitt, nearly written off for dead three weeks ago, has forged back to reach the Big East finals. They will face Georgetown for the championship on Saturday afternoon.

The Panthers went after the Golden Eagles early, getting three fouls on both Lazard Hayward and Jerel McNeal before halftime. Pitt led 35-22 at the break. Marquette rallied in the second half, but Pitt's lead was too large to overcome.

Badgers Know Defense; Arkansas Moves On - Conference Tourney Results

Conference Tournament Results for March 14

Big Ten

Wisconsin 51 Michigan 34
In what has to be considered on of the best defensive efforts of the college basketball season, the Wisconsin Badgers completely contained Michigan, holding the Wolverines to 20% shooting, forcing 14 turnovers and holding sway on the boards by a 42-34 margin. The 85 combined points was the lowest point total in the history of the Big Ten tournament.

Michigan St. 67 Ohio St. 60
Drew Neitzel had the time of his life, scoring 28 points on 9-17 shooting, including 6-12 3-pointers as the Spartans moved on to the semifinals against Wisconsin on Saturday. Ohio State will have to sit on the bubble and wait to see if they earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tourney. Their status is best described as "iffy."

Illinois 74 Purdue 67 OT
In the biggest upset of the tournament, the Illini handed Purdue an unlikely loss. The Boilermakers finished a strong second in the Big Ten at 15-3, while Illinois was 5-13. Illinois' Demetri McCamey led the way with 28 points including a perfect 6-for-6 from 3-point range. The Illini will face the winner of tonight's Indiana-Minnesota game in one of tomorrow's semifinal matchups.

SEC

Tennessee 89 South Carolina 87
A narrow escape for the Vols, but they hardly needed the game. The Gamecocks are out, out and done.

Arkansas 81 Vanderbilt 75
A key, quality win for the Razorbacks which is probably good enough to impress the selection committee. Count Arkansas as one in the field of 65. The 'Backs were actually outshot from the field and both the 3-point and foul lines, but their enormous 45-24 rebounding edge game them more 18 more chances and the win. The Vols are up next on Saturday for Arkansas.

Mississippi St. 69 Alabama 67 OT
Close call for the Bulldogs and the Crimson Tide as a storm ripped a hole in the Goergia Dome roof and delayed the game in overtime. Mississippi St. will face the winner of tonight's Georgia-Kentucky game on Saturday.

ACC

North Carolina 82 Florida State 70
An easy win for the well-prepped Tar Heels. Tyler Hansbrough scored 22 and Wayne Ellison knocked in 19 points. Carolina looks unstoppable. They should win the ACC tourney without breaking a sweat. They've won nine straight and look like the #1 seed n the East no matter what happens.

Virginia Tech 63 Miami (FL) 49
Some redemption for the Hokies and trouble for Miami.

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Duke 82 Georgia Tech 70
Georgia Tech had no shot at making the NCAAs. This was a walkover for the Blue Devils.

Big 12

Texas 66 Oklahoma St. 59
Routine win for the Longhorns. The Big 12 needs an upset desperately because after Kansas and Texas, there's nothing there.

Oklahoma 54 Colorado 49
The Sooners catch their arch-enemy, Texas in one of two semifinals on Saturday.

Kansas 64 Nebraska 54
The Jayhawks at least made it interesting, having to come from five down at the half. Tomorrow, they'll play (and probably beat) the winner of tonight's Texas A&M-Kansas State game.

Later: Big East, PAC-10 and late results from all major conferences

Georgia survives in OT; Stanford sends Arizona home

Late Tourney Results from March 13

Georgia 97 Mississippi 95 OT
Georgia center Dave Bliss hit a buzzer-beater with o.4 seconds remaining in overtime to give Georgia an opening round win over Ole Miss. The Bulldogs finished last in the SEC East, so their only chance of receiving an NCAA bid is to win the entire tournament. They face Kentucky tonight in a quarterfinal game.

Mississippi wasn't likely to receive a bid either, after finishing 7-9 in the SEC. Rarely does the NCAA accept teams with losing conference records.

Stanford 75 Arizona 64
Stanford's size eventually proved to be too much for the Wildcats, who will wait until Sunday to see if they are offered a berth in the NCAA tournament. Brook Lopez, the Cardinal 7'1" powerhouse, scored 20 points and grabbed 15 rebounds as Stanford pulled away late. Stanford faces Washington State in a PAC-10 semifinal game Friday night. Arizona finished 8-10 during the conference's regular season and is unlikely to get an at-large bid.

Pitt on Comeback Trail; Florida is History; 'Huskers in the Mix

More Conference Tournament Results

Pittsburgh 76 Louisville 69 OT
Sam Young misfired on all four of his 3-point attempts, but he was 8-14 from inside the arc, scoring 21 points to lead the Panthers past Louisville in a critical second-round Big East tournament game.

Pittsburgh, which suffered through a three-straight losing streak in the midst of their Big East regular season schedule, has righted itself and should be sailing towards an NCAA bid. Pitt finished an undistinguished 10-8 in conference play, but have reached the semifinals of the Big East tourney with a pair of wins. On Friday, they will face Marquette in a semifinal contest.

Elsewhere around the nation's conference tournaments, Nebraska beat back Missouri, 61-56, keeping their hopes alive in the Big 12. Georgia Tech eliminated Virginia from the ACC tourney, 94-76 and Alabama ensured that there will be a new NCAA champion this season by knocking reigning champion Florida out of the SEC tournament in the first round by an 80-69 tally.

The Gators finished the regular season at 8-8 in the conference and are 21-11 overall, which is probably not good enough to make the final cut to 65 for the NCAAs.

UCLA 88 California 66
UCLA ended Cal's dreams of post-season glory and moved to the next round of the PAC-10 tourney. Darren Collison led the Bruins with 19 points, including 5-of-7 threes. Josh Shipp had 18 and freshman Kevin Love scored 11 as the Bruins shot 53% from the field. UCLA faces cross town rival USC - a 59-55 winner over Arizona State - in one of the semifinal games Friday.

Washington St. 75 Oregon 70
This was a tough matchup for the Ducks and it may have cost them any chance at consideration for an NCAA bid. The Cougars roared to a 42-27 lead at the half and turned back repeated challenges by Oregon to advance to Friday's semifinals to face the winner of the Stanford-Arizona game later tonight.

The Ducks pulled to within four points on Tajuan Porter's three-pointer with under 90 seconds remaining, but were forced to foul down the stretch and could draw no closer. It was the third time this season the Cougars dunked the Ducks.

Marquette 89 Notre Dame 79
Jerel McNeal just kept firing, but when he was forced to sit with three fouls midway through the second half, teammate Dominic James took over, scoring seven straight points for the Golden Eagles, putting Marquette ahead for good. McNeal, who had nearly single-handedly kept Marquette in the game most of the night, finished with a game high 28 points on 9-16 shooting, including 4-of-7 from beyond the arc.

Marquette will play Pittsburgh in one of Friday's semifinal games.

Boston College 71 Maryland 68
Count the Terrapins out of the ACC and the NCAA tournament. The troubled Terrapins collapsed in the second half of their first-round game with Boston College, surrendering any chance of consideration by the NCCA tournament committee for an at-large bid.

Maryland finished the ACC season 8-8 and was on the bubble heading into the conference tourney, but losing to last-place (4-12) BC was the last straw. The loss was the third straight for Maryland and their sixth in their last eight outings.

Mid-day Movers: Mountaineers Climb; Hoyas Hammer 'Cats

Conference Tournament Results

West Virginia 78 Connecticut 72
The Mountaineers now have everybody's attention and probably an at-large invite to the NCAAs with their second straight win in the Big East Tournament. UConn probably has little to worry about, since they went 13-5 in the Big East and 24-7 overall.

Georgetown 82 Villanova 63
The Hoyas put the hammer down on Villanova, a team they beat by just two points during the regular season. The Wildcats may have been a little weary from playing yesterday, while the well-rested Hoyas - who received a first round bye - were clicking from the outside as center Roy Hibbert played only 14 minutes, eventually fouling out with no points and four rebounds. Jesse Sapp and Jonathan Wallace were on fire from three-point range. Wallace hit 5-of-6, while Sapp nailed 6-of-9 from beyond the arc. Sapp finished with a game-high 23 points. Wallace had 20 as the Hoyas shot 54% for the game.

Villanova shot only 33% and now must sweat out Selection Sunday. They are 20-12 overall and finished 9-9 in the Big East. Georgetown will face West Virginia in one of two semi-final games on Friday.

Florida St. 70 Wake Forest 60
The Seminoles kept their hopes alive for a bid with an opening round win over Wake Forest in the ACC tourney. The Deacons are unlikely to go anywhere but the NIT.

Miami 63 NC State 50
Say bye-bye to the Wildcats for this season and hello to the Hurricanes. The opening round win nearly cinches an at-large berth for Miami, which finished the ACC regular season 8-8 and tied with Maryland for fifth place. The Hurricanes own a win over the Terps, as well as Duke, Clemson and, outside the conference, Mississippi State.

In the Big 10 tourney, Michigan beat Iowa, 55-47, and Illinois topped Penn St., 64-63, though neither are likely to make the NCAA tourney unless they win the entire tourney, which is unlikely.

Over in the Big 12, Colorado downed Baylor, 91-84, in double overtime. The opening-round loss puts the Bears back on the bubble with a 9-7 regular season conference record and 21-10 slate overall.

Oklahoma State knocked out Texas Tech, 76-72, but the Cowboys' 7-9 conference record really hurts their chances.

This pair of games leaves the doors wide open for Texas A&M, Oklahoma and long-shot Nebraska.

No surprises so far in the SEC Tournament opening round. South Carolina slipped by LSU, 77-73, and Vanderbilt cruised to a 93-82 win over Auburn.

Portland State Gets a Bid; Arizona Advances

Late Results from March 12 West Coast games

Portland State 67 Northern Arizona 51
The Portland State Vikings earned an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament with a win in the championship game of the Big Sky conference tourney. It's the fist ever invitation for the Vikings, who dominated the Big Sky with a 14-2 regular season record, losing only road games at Weber State and CSU Fullerton. The Vikings have won five straight and 14 of their last 15.

Arizona 87 Oregon State 56
The Arizona Wildcats demolished Oregon State in the opener of the PAC-10 tournament, shooting 54% from the field, including 9-of-17 three-pointers. The Wildcats face Stanford in the second round, Thursday night. A win there might put them on the radar for an at-large bid, though they will have to counteract their 8-10 regular season conference record.

California 84 Washington 81
The Golden Bears clung to their slim hopes of earning an NCAA at-large bid with a narrow escape in the first round of the PAC-10 tourney. Due to a 6-10 regular season PAC-10 record, for Cal to even be considered for a bid they'd likely have to win the entire tournament, meaning they'll have to defeat #3-ranked UCLA on Thursday in the second round.

Big East First Round Results; Mt. Saint Mary's Shocks Northeast

Villanova 82 Syracuse 63
That should do it for the Wildcats... and for Syracuse. Villanova used a 12-3 spurt midway through the second half to turn a close game into a runaway and secure an at-large bid for the NCAA tournament. For Syracuse, the loss was the culmination of a frustrating, injury-filled season that will likely end in the NIT Tournament.

Scottie Reynolds led all scorers with 22 points, including 4-of-7 three-pointers. Corey Stokes pitched in 18, hitting 4-of-8 from three-point range. The game was the opener for the Big East Tournament, which showcases one of the nation's great conferences through the weekend at Madison Square Garden. Villanova moves on to face top-seeded Georgetown in the second round on Thursday.

West Virginia 58 Providence 53
Joe Alexander scored 22 points and Da'Sean Butler added 18 points and nine rebounds to pace the Mountaineers past Providence and into the second round of the Big East tournament. Next up for the Mountaineers is Connecticut, who topped West Virginia 79-71 on March first at UConn. The second round game is slated for a 2:00 pm tip. West Virginia finished 11-7 in the conference during the regular season and may still need a win in order to receive a NCAA at-large bid. They are battling Pitt and Villanova for the probable 6th and 7th seeds from the Big East. Both the Panthers and Wildcats won opening round games on Wednesday.

Pittsburgh 70 Cincinnati 64
The Panthers finally closed out a stubborn Bearcats team to move into the second round of the Big East tourney. Pitt faces Louisville on Thursday night. A win over Louisville would almost certainly earn an NCAA bid for the Panthers, while a loss would still leave some doubt.

Marquette 67 Seton Hall 54
Marquette was probably going to get an NCAA invite whichever way this game turned, but winning it, and moving into the next round against Notre Dame, is certainly preferable. The Golden Eagles split a pair of games with the Irish this season, each team winning at home. On a neutral court, Marquette may rate a slight edge.

Marquette's Jerel McNeil was the game's high scorer with 21 points.


Mt. Saint Mary's Captures Northeast Title, Earns Bid

It's been a long, strange trip for the Mountaineers from Mt. Saint Mary's, but it's about to get even longer. The Mountaineers, who began the season with four straight losses, and found themselves at 8-11 on January 24, avenged earlier, regular season losses to Robert Morris and Sacred Heart and swept through the Northeast Conference tournament to capture an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

The Mountaineers finished the regular season in 4th place at 11-7, behind Robert Morris (16-2), Wagner (15-3) and Sacred Heart (13-5). After knocking off Quinnipiac, 80-70 in the opening round of the conference tourney, they thundered past Robert Morris, 83-65 on Sunday, and downed Sacred Heart, 69-55, in the final, Wednesday.

At 18-14, the Mountaineers will probably be a 16 seed and cannon fodder for one of the four #1's in the tournament. They've won five straight and seven of their last eight.

A Trio from the WCC?

With unlikely wins over both St. Mary's and then Gonzaga - in the West Coast Conference tournament final - the San Diego Toreros earned an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament and sent the college basketball world officially into the Madness that is March.

The Toreros finished third in the WCC regular season, but came through in the tourney to better the top two finishers. Both Gonzaga (13-1 conference, 25-7 overall), which won the WCC regular season, and St. Mary's (12-2, 25-6) have the credentials to receive at-large bids, but both will have to sweat it out until Selection Sunday, March 16.

Other teams, from other conferences will be sweating along with them. With only 34 at-large bids available after the champions of 31 conferences get automatic bids, a handful of teams from major conferences find themselves on the proverbial "bubble" for tourney bids.

If the WCC sends all three, which seems likely, that leaves only 32 at-large bids to go around.

At the moment, the teams in the most precarious positions are Pittsburgh, Villanova and Syracuse in the Big East; Virginia Tech, Miami and Maryland in the ACC; Oklahoma and Texas A&M in the Big 12; Creighton and Southern Illinois in the Missouri Valley Conference; Arizona State and Oregon in the PAC-10; and Arkansas in the SEC. Florida, last year's national champion, was likely eliminated with their regular season finale loss at Kentucky.

Of the majors, the Big East and PAC-10 tournaments open on Wednesday, while the ACC, SEC, Big 12 and Big Ten tourneys tip on Thursday.

The first to fall will probably be either Villanova or Syracuse, who face off at noon Eastern on Wednesday.

#12 Butler 70 Cleveland St. 55
The Butler Bulldogs earned an NCAA automatic bid Tuesday night by capturing the Horizon League title with a win over stubborn Cleveland State in the tournament final. In addition to banging home key three-pointers late in the game, the Bulldogs repeatedly stepped to the foul line and converted, hitting 24 of 32 free throws, while the Vikings of Cleveland State tried only 19 freebies, hitting 13 of them.

Butler's Mike Green led the scoring parade with 24 points, including converting 11-of-13 from the foul line.

Tar Heels Repel Duke, Capture ACC Title

#1 North Carolina 76 #6 Duke 68
With Ty Lawson back in the lineup, the Tar Heels (14-2, 29-2) took care of business in enemy territory and captured the ACC regular season title. Carolina bloked 15 shots, held the Blue Devils to 33% shooting and controlled the boards, 53-44. Duke remains the second-best team in the conference, and the tournament will only help determine which other teams - maybe as many as 4 more - get into the NCAA field.

Richmond 61 #8 Xavier 86
The Musketeers (26-5, 14-4) completed their Atlantic-10 regular season without point guard Drew Lavender, who was rested for this somewhat meaningless game, nursing a sore ankle. Xavier gets a bye for the first round of the A-10 tourney, and will next hit the hardwood on Thursday, in Atlantic City.

Cincinnati #13 Connecticut
This season-ender for both teams was postponed by bad weather and was rescheduled for 6:00 pm on Sunday.

IL Chicago 50 #14 Butler 66
Butler moves on the the Horizon League tourney finals against Cleveland State on Sunday.

#19 Notre Dame 67 South Florida 60
The Irish close out the regular season 14-4 in the Big East and 24-6 overall. They look like a solid 4, 5, or 6 seed.

Washington 73 #23 Washington State 76
This game only settles which is the better team in the state, which was pretty much already established. The Cougars are just waiting in the wings to do some damage in the NCAA tourney. Despite their ranking, they could forge a path to the Elite Eight.

Saturday's Season Finales Offer a Little Insight

#12 Louisville 52 #11 Georgetown 55
A little too much inside and outside by the Hoyas as they wrap up the Big East regular season title and win their 20th straight home game.

UAB 56 #2 Memphis 94
Another walk-through for the Tigers. 3rd straight 30-win season. Playing in Conference-USA will do that.

#16 Vanderbilt 73 Alabama 78
Vandy hitting a little bit of a rough patch after upsetting Tennessee last week. Second loss in their last three outings, both on the road. The Commodores were less-than-interested participants here, as a NCAA bid is already a foregone conclusion. Their performance in the SEC tournament will decide their seeding level.

Wofford 49 #25 Davidson 82
20 game win streak for the Davidson Wildcats, who may enter the NCAAs with the longest winning streak in the nation. They are a very dangerous team, likely to get a 12 or 13 seed. Losses to North Carolina, Duke and UCLA by 4, 6, and 12, respectively, look pretty good on their resume.

#7 Stanford 64 USC 77
The Cardinal has lost their last two, both on the road in SoCal, but this one really showed where the team is, mentally and physically. A 4 or 5 seed at best and hopes of making the Sweet 16 seem to be about all they' can expect.

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Creighton 67 #20 Drake 75
This hurts Creighton's chances of becoming the 4th team from the MVC to earn a bid, but only a little as Drake is the probable favorite over Illinois State in Sunday's MVC Tourney Final. Drake, Southern Illinois and Illinois State all seem likely to receive bids. This conference is very solid and it would be a shame if they don't send at least three teams, but Creighton as the fourth would even be better.

#10 Wisconsin 65 Northwestern 52
Badgers wrap up the Big 10 title with their 7th straight win. As solid as they come, Wisconsin finishes up 16-2 and 26-4 overall.

California 80 #3 UCLA 81
Bruins didn't need this one, but battled to the end, winning on a wild, behind-the-basket shot by Josh Shipp. UCLA will damage some PAC-10 teams' hopes during the conference tourney.

#5 Kansas 72 Texas A&M 55
An absolute rout and furthers the belief that the Aggies will not get an invitation to the Big Dance. Their fifth loss in their last seven games drops A&M to 8-8 in the conference and does not impress anyone, especially not the selection committee.

Kansas clinched at least a tie for the Big 12 title with Texas, who plays Oklahoma St. tomorrow in the regular season finale.

#21 Marquette 72 Syracuse 87
The Orangemen are in the most precarious position of probably any team in the nation concerning the NCAA selection process. This win was huge, making them 9-9 in the conference, and 19-12 overall. With a win over Georgetown figured in, the Orange probably need to win at least two games in the Big East tournament.

With five teams already in from the conference, Syracuse will be vying with Pitt, West Virginia, Cincy and Villanova for a final one or two spots. In all likelihood, the Big East sends seven, but just who goes is still up in the air. Stay tuned.

UCLA Is Ready, Downs Cardinal 77-67

#7 Stanford 67 #3 UCLA 77, OT
The UCLA Bruins wrapped up their third consecutive PAC-10 regular season title with a comeback overtime win over the very game Stanford Cardinal. Darren Collison led the Bruins, and all scorers, with 24 points. Russell Westbrook added 19 and Kevin Love chipped in 17.

UCLA will likely receive the #1 seed in the Western region of the upcoming NCAA tournament, though that could change in the meantime, depending on results of the PAC-10 tourney.

The Bruins are 15-2 in the conference with one home game with California remaining on Saturday. and their regular season record stands at 27-3. Stanford is locked into second in the conference at 13-4 and 24-5 overall.

Other probable entries to the NCAAs from the PAC-10 include a pair of 10-7 teams, USC and Washington State. Arizona, Arizona State and Oregon, all 8-9, will vie for one or possibly two more invitations for the conference. For them, the every remaining game is critical.

Failing Grades? #8 Xavier, #13 Connecticut, #24 Clemson Lose Focus

8 Xavier 66 St. Joseph's 71
This one has been in the offing for some time. The Musketeers ran away with the Atlantic-10 and St. Joe's (9-6, 17-10) needed the win. Xavier was 7-13 from the foul line, St. Joe's 17-20. Game over. On to the conference tourney.

#13 Connecticut 76 Providence 85
Road blues for UConn, probably not interested since they've already earned a 1st round bye in the Big East tournament.

#24 Clemson 75 Georgia Tech 80
Another game without meaning for a team heading to both their conference tourney and the big dance.

It's tough to read anything into these losses except for a real lack of preparedness for road opponents bent on making statements. The most interesting by far is the St. Joseph's story, the only winner tonight with an outside shot at making the NCCA field.

If you're looking for bubble teams, the Hawks are a good choice. Their chances will improve with each successive conference tournament victory.

Tar Heels Cement #1 Ranking; Ohio St. Saves Season

Florida St. 77 #1 North Carolina 90
Just a day after regaining the #1 ranking in the nation, North Carolina showed why they deserved the top spot with a routine home win over Florida State.

North Carolina was ranked #1 from preseason through the January 14 poll, after which they suffered their first loss of the season, 82-80, to Maryland. Since then, Memphis and Tennessee had assumed the lead, but both lost key games and with only one other loss - to Duke - the Tar Heels were the obvious choice, especially since Ty Lawson is fully recovered from injury and playing again.

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North Carolina will get their final test of the regular season and a chance to make amends at Duke on Saturday. The Blue Devils upended North Carolina a month ago, 89-78 at Chapel Hill. Lawson was inactive for that game, but he will be ready to put in his best effort in a game that will determine the ACC regular season champion, if Duke takes care of business Wednesday night at Virginia.

Lawson scored 10 points in 20 minutes against the Seminoles, and looks to be ready to play 30 or more minutes against Duke's guards, Greg Paulus and Jon Scheyer.

#15 Purdue 77 Ohio State 80 OT
The Buckeyes have been knocking on the Big Ten door the last few games and finally they just knocked it down with a big win that could pave the way for an Ohio State entry into the NCAA field.

The Buckeyes held Purdue to 41% shooting while hitting 48% themselves. Jamar Butler led all scorers with 25 points as Ohio State battled into overtime with one of the co-leaders of the conference.

The loss dropped the 14-3 Boilermakers a 1/2-game behind 14-2 Wisconsin and a 1/2-game ahead of 13-3 Indiana.

While the game certainly had implications to the tight Big Ten title race, it was the most important win of the season for the Buckeyes, who improved to 9-8 in conference play and 18-12 overall with a final regular season game and the Big Ten tourney ahead.

Ohio State had lost four straight and sorely needed a win to stay in consideration for post-season play.

Nebraska 66 #9 Texas 70
A good showing by the Cornhuskers wasn't enough to keep them on the bubble for the big dance as they dropped to 6-9 in conference play. The Longhorns play their final game of the regular season at home Sunday against Oklahoma State.

Florida Gulf Coast 37 #21 Marquette 67
This was like practice for Marquette, which is ranked, plays most of their games in the Big East and is looking ahead to the post season. The Golden Eagles starters only played 21-30 minutes, no player from Florida Gulf Coast scored more than six points as their record fell to 10-21. Not nice.

Kansas Routs Texas Tech, 109-51

Texas Tech 51 #5 Kansas 109
Nothing like a little home cooking - and 60% shooting - to get ready for the rigors of postseason play and the Jayhawks chalked up an enormous victory, notching their season high in points as Kansas humbled the Red Raiders by 58 points.

Kansas also held Tech to 29% shooting, while putting six players in double figures. None of the Jayhawks' starters played more than 21 minutes as Kansas built at 51-26 halftime lead and made the second half even more miserable for Patrick Knight and his troops.

The loss may have ruined any chance the Red Raiders had for making the NCAA tournament, as they dropped to 7-8 in Big 12 play and 16-13 overall. Kansas completes the regular season at Texas A&M on Saturday, and unless Texas loses to either Oklahoma State or Nebraska, KU and the Longhorns will likely finish the regular season tied for the conference title.

if that occurs, Texas can lay claim to bragging rights due to a Feb. 11, 72-69 win over the Jayhawks, so the #1 Midwest seed should come down to whichever team performs better in the Big 12 tourney.

Weekend Update: Spartans, Red Raiders upset Hoosiers, Longhorns

We are officially just two weeks away from Selection Sunday and the start of the NCAA tournament.

A number of games over the weekend helped and/or hurt teams' chances to make the Big Dance, but none was bigger than Michigan State's enormous win over Indiana.

Sunday

#12 Indiana 74 #19 Michigan St. 103
This win should be good enough to put the Spartans into the NCAA field. Totally unexpected, Michigan State, the win ended a three-game losing streak against ranked conference opposition. At 11-5 with a pair of road games remaining, the Spartans really needed this confidence builder.

They now move from the bubble to the "Most Likely" category for a bid, probably a 6 or 7, making them upset material.

Michigan State shot 61% for the game, including 13-24 three-pointers, registering a season-high single-game score.

Indiana dropped a game behind co-Big Ten leaders Purdue and Wisconsin, both at 14-2.

Kentucky 60 #1 Tennessee 63
This could have been a blowout, but the Wildcats battled back from being down as many as 15 in the first half to make a game of it, actually taking a short lead midway through the second half. Kentucky just doesn't stack up on paper, but they're going to be in the tournament as the best team with less than 20 wins and more than 10 losses because they are 10-4 in the SEC. Weird. They could be one and done or win three games. They're the most enigmatic team in the nation.

#17 Notre Dame 98 DePaul 91
The Irish clinched a first round bye in the upcoming Big East tournament and still has an outside chance at winning the regular season title. Generally, Notre Dame doesn't play well on the road, but they got this one at DePaul and have just two games left - St. John's and at South Florida.

They're game-ready for Madison Square Garden.

Villanova 54 #13 Louisville 68
The Cardinals were just too dominant inside for gritty Villanova, which really could have used a win. At 7-9 and 17-11 overall, the Wildcats need to win the last two regular season games and at least one in the Big East tourney to have even a chance at consideration for more playing time.

#4 UCLA 68 Arizona 66
Arizona almost pulled off this upset - and it would have been huge - but the Bruins escaped and the Wildcats are bubbling badly at 7-9 and 17-12. The PAC-10 would have to send six teams for Arizona to sneak in, and that's questionable.

Saturday

2 Memphis 76 Southern Miss. 67
Good showing by Southern Miss (11-3, 21-8) means they'll be the second team from Conference-USA. Others may include Houston and UCF, but no more than four total.

#3 UNC 90 Boston College 80
Just another day at the office for the Tar Heels, who could be ranked #1 come Monday afternoon.

#5 Texas 80 Texas Tech 83
Shocker of the day as the Red Raiders swarmed the Longhorns and made their case for inclusion in the field of 65. But was it too late. Tech is 7-7 and 16-12 overall, but hold wins over both Kansas and Texas.

Kansas St. 74 #6 Kansas 88
Chalk up consecutive loss #4 for the Wildcats, who are fading faster than a tie-died t-shirt. Kansas takes back the lead in the Big 12. At 18-10, K-State has gone from a tournament lock a bubble team in just two weeks.

#7 Duke 87 N.C. St. 86
Wolfpack controlled this game for 39 minutes. Coach K gets win #800 as the Duke boys never quit.

George Washington 56 #9 Xavier 66
No surprise. The X-Men are good for a #3 or 4 seed.

#22 Washington St. 53 #8 Stanford 60
Look out for the Cardinal, winners of four straight and 11 of their last 12. They've beaten Wash St. twice now and get a rematch with UCLA Thursday night.

#11 Georgetown 70 #21 Marquette 68
Despite the loss, Marquette cemented their status as an invitee to the NCAA tourney. Georgetown struggled, but winning ugly becomes this very dangerous team.

Detroit 31 #14 Butler 65
It's Official. Butler is the Horizon League champion.

W. Virginia 71 #15 Connecticut 79
The Mountaineers didn't need this game at 9-7 and 20-9 overall, though it certainly would have helped. They're likely to get a bid, probably a 9 or 10.

Northwestern 43 #16 Purdue 68
Purdue and Wisconsin remain tied for the Big Ten lead at 14-2.

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#18 Vanderbilt 73 Arkansas 78
This was an enormous win by the Razorbacks. Vandy was coming off an upset of Tennessee and Arkansas may have caught them a little flat-footed. But, in the very contentious SEC, Arkansas needed a Top 25 win and got it when it counted.

Wichita St. 63 #20 Drake 73
Ho-hum. Drake clinched the MVC about a month ago.

#23 Kent St. 83 Bowling Green 89
Bit of an upset, but Kent State still looks like the team to beat in the Mid-American. Top 25 ranking? I don't know.

#25 St. Mary's 76 #24 Gonzaga 88
Talk about rising to the occasion! The Zags avenged an earlier loss to the Gaels and can wrap up the West Coast Conference title with a win over Santa Clara on Monday.

Pittsburgh 82 Syracuse 77
Pitt came from 14 down late in the second half to salvage what's left of their season. Still on the bubble at least until the Big East Tourney. Syracuse is out.

PAC-10: Blowout City

#17 Notre Dame 85 #13 Louisville 90
This game wasn't nearly as close as the score indicates. Louisville held a 17-point lead with less than 7 minutes to play, but their inability to shoot free throws (20-32, 63%) and Notre Dame's streaky 3-point shooters made it a little exciting at the end. Luke Harangody scored a game-high 40 points (along with 12 boards) for the Irish, but David Padgett's 26 mattered more.

Wright St. 61 #14 Butler 66
Butler wrapped up the Horizon League title with a win over their closest rival, leading almost from start to finish. The Bulldogs actually have clinched only a tie for the regular season title, but their last game is at home against last place Detroit, over which the Bulldogs already have a win. Butler's a shoo-in for the tourney, but Wright State will have to play well in the upcoming conference tourney to be considered for more March play.

#19 Michigan St. 42 #10 Wisconsin 57
Brian Butch nailed 4 of 6 three-pointers and the Badgers hammered the slumping Spartans, who have now lost 5 of their last 8. Michigan State has three games remaining, against Indiana Sunday, before closing out the schedule at Illinois and at Ohio State. They're almost sure to lose two of those games, possibly all three. The team has no depth and the starters aren't even very good. Somehow, they'll finish with eight or nine losses, including one more in the Big Ten tourney and an invite to the field. Watch where the Spartans are seeded (if they get in, there's a chance they won't make it) because they're upset material for sure.

Wisconsin is still locked in with Indiana and Purdue atop the Big Ten standings. Each team has just two losses. The Badgers currently are a 1/2-game leader due to having played one additional game.

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Washington 79 #8 Stanford 82
The Cardinal keeps winning and the PAC-10 post-season dance party continues to receive regrets. The Huskies' slim chances have departed, as have those the Oregon Ducks. Stanford still has a shot at the regular season crown, though it would take a UCLA loss. The Cardinals head down the coast for a March 6 showdown with the Bruins following Saturday's home game with Washington State.

4 UCLA 70 Arizona St. 49
Looks like "that's all folks" for the Sun Devils, who got tanned by the Bruins and dropped to 7-8 in the conference. Worse, it was AZST's 10th loss overall. Off the bubble and into the NIT pit.

#22 Washington St. 70 California 49
This wasn't close, ever. Cal is 6-9 and done for the season.

Four teams from the PAC-10 will go to the NCAA's: UCLA, Stanford, Washington St. and USC (barely). The only other team with a chance is Arizona, but USA pummeled them by 12 last night. Besides, the Wildcats are only 7-8 in the conf., 17-11 overall, easy to dismiss.

Big East, SEC Pack Punch: Feb. 27 College Hoops Notes

Five games involved teams ranked in the Top 25, all of which won over unranked opponents.

#6 Kansas 75 Iowa St. 64
Jayhawks put it all together in this road rout. Darrell Arthur led the scoring parade with 19 points in 31 minutes. Brandon Rush and Mario Chalmers each hit 3-4 three-pointers and scored 15. Kansas held a 43-30 rebounding edge. Jayhawks appear ready to avenge their loss to K-State, when the Wildcats come calling on Saturday.

Tulsa 67 #2 Memphis 82
A total breeze for the Tigers, but that's what happens when you hit 13-25 from beyond the arc.

Minnesota 53 #16 Purdue 65
Boilermakers continue to play great defense and hit perimeter shots, though being outrebounded 43-29 is a cause for concern. Purdue forced 20 turnovers, which somewhat balances things out.

GA Tech 58 #7 Duke 71
Blue Devils hit only 2 of 15 3-pointers, but still breezed as the Yellow jackets couldn't handle the pressure, turning the ball over 20 times.

St. John's 52 #11 Georgetown 64
Smothering the Johnnies isn't saying much. Roy Hibbert's 17 points, 3 rebounds and 4 fouls speaks volumes about this team's readiness for serious competition. Three rebounds? Come on.

Key games from around the nation:

Cincinnati 67 Pittsburgh 73
A much-needed win for the Panthers, but how far can Sam Young and DeJuan Blair (20 and 18 points, respectively) take them? Big rebounding edge (37-25) to the Bearcats, but Pitt won it at the free throw line. These two now tied in the Big east standings at 8-7.

West Virginia 85 DePaul 73
Nice win for the Mountaineers, who have won 4 of their last 5. The offense continues to click. They hit 53% overall and 77% from the foul line, which bodes well for the immediate future. Saturday's game at UConn ought to be a beauty. Big East is still wide open, with 9 teams vying for 7, maybe 8 tickets to the big dance. Mountaineers got a leg up with this win, making them 9-6, in sixth place.

Clemson 79 Miami (FL) 69
A key win for the Tigers, now 8-5 in the ACC and a cinch to make the field of 65. Tough loss for Miami, after winning four straight, they drop to 6-7 in the conference, but close out the regular season with Virginia and BC at home, then Florida St., away. Still hope for the Hurricanes.

Texas Tech 54 Texas A&M 98
Blowout win for the Aggies keeps them in the chase, but they've dropped out of the Top 25 and are just 7-6 in the Big 12. This ended a 3-game skid for A&M, which scored 56 1st-half points and cruised from there.

Oklahoma 45 Nebraska 63
Cornhuskers are red-hot, having won three straight, improving to 6-7 in the conference. Oklahoma St., Texas and Colorado close out the season. will 8-8 in the Big 12 translate to a dance pass? Depends on how the 'Huskers do in the Big 12 tourney. Stay tuned.

In the SEC, Florida won at Georgia, 77-64, improving to 8-5, 21-7. Defending champs look good to return to the NCAA tournament. Mississippi St. turned back Auburn, 89-78, making the Bulldogs 11-3 and clinching at least a tie for the SEC West title. Punch their ticket. Tough road for the Razorbacks, losing at Alabama, 59-56. Arkansas is now 7-6 in conference and on the outside looking in, because Kentucky dumped Mississippi, 58-54, making the Wildcats 10-3 in the SEC East and good enough to meet the committee's approval.

Catch all the college hoops action and key analysis at College Basketball Daily

Tough Being on Top: Vols Lose to Vandy One Day After Ranking #1

#1 Tennessee 69 #18 Vanderbilt 72
Chris Lofton couldn't hit a three-pointer late in the game, but his teammates only managed one for the whole game.

Just one day after reaching the #1 ranking for the first time in school history, the Tennessee Volunteers suffered a letdown following their upset of Memphis on Saturday and fell to SEC East rival Vanderbilt. Lofton scored 25 points, hitting 6 of 15 treys, but his last three were all misses, as the Vols could not overcome Shan Foster's 32 points.

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Foster put the Commodores on his back and led them to a huge win, hitting 9-of-13 from the field, including 6-of-9 3-pointers and 8-of-11 from the foul line.

Tennessee's shooters were off all night, shooting just 32% for the game. Besides Lofton, the Vols hit only 1 of 11 from beyond the arc, by JaJuan Smith, who finished with 9 points.

Despite the horrible shooting, Tennessee (11-2, 25-3) kept the game close. It was only their second SEC loss, the other coming against Kentucky. The Vols beat Vanderbilt (9-4, 24-4), 80-60, back on January 17 and host Kentucky, with a chance to avenge their earlier loss, on Sunday.

A win over the Wildcats would all but secure the best record in the conference, the SEC East title, the top seed in the SEC tourney and a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Kentucky is 9-3 in the conference and hosts Mississippi tonight.

Ohio St. 69 #12 Indiana 72
Once again, the Buckeyes came up just short. Ohio State (17-11, 8-7) has now lost three straight and five of their last seven, placing them in an iffy, bubbelicious position for the NCAA tourney.

Hoosier Armon Bassett led the scoring with 23 points. Stalwart scorers Eric Gordon and D.J. White had 17 and 16, respectively.

This was the first home game for Dan Dakich, who replaced disgraced Kelvin Sampson, who retired on Friday amid a swirl of recruiting violation allegations and NCAA sanctions. Dakich was greeted warmly by the home crowd as Indiana (13-2, 24-4) won for the second straight time with Dakich as coach and has racked up four straight overall.

#15 Connecticut 79 Rutgers 61
The Huskies got back to business after losing to Villanova on Saturday, crushing an undermanned Rutgers team that was thoroughly outplayed by taller, faster UConn players. The Huskies outshot the Scarlet Knights, 52-42%, and outrebounded them, 41-24.

It was the 8th straight loss for Rutgers, which fell to the bottom of the Big East, at 2-14 and 10-19 overall.

The Huskies (11-4, 22-6) still trail 12-3 Louisville and Georgetown by one game in the Big east standings. Sandwiched in between is Notre Dame at 11-3. All the teams have three regular season games left, except the Irish, which has four.

UConn doesn't play any of the top three, but Louisville has both Notre Dame and Georgetown on the schedule. The Hoyas will have to contend not only with Louisville, but also with Marquette (11-5, 21-6). Notre Dame may just sneak in a win the Big East title. Following the tilt at Louisville Thursday night, they play at DePaul, host St. John's and finish at South Florida. Those three teams are a combined 11-32 in conference play.

#20 Drake 83 Missouri St. 86
The Missouri Valley conference is one of the best in the nation, top to bottom. Ample proof of that statement was made by Missouri State last night, knocking off top dog Drake in a game that was anything but a fluke. The Bears of Missouri State are 8th (of 10) in the conference standings with a 7-10 record, but are 15-15 overall and have already posted wins over Bradley, Indiana St., Southern Illinois and Northern Iowa, all teams ahead of them in the standings.

Drake, the only team from the conference ranked, has already wrapped up the MVC title, though they've now lost three of their last four in the conference. The upcoming conference tournament should produce a winner other than the Bulldogs and the second entrant to the NCAAs. The conference could easily place four solid teams into the field of 65.

Correction: In a post last week, I mistakenly mentioned that Selection Sunday was March 9. It is actually March 16, which means the championship game will be held on Monday, April 7.

More Top 25 Wins on Monday

Make it eight straight for Top 25 teams over unranked opponents, as Marquette, Texas and St. Mary's added to the five Top 25 wins Sunday.

#21 Marquette 85 Villanova 75
This was a nice win for the Golden Eagles, their fifth straight overall and third road win in succession. Dominic James was on fire for Marquette, leading all scorers on 9-13 shooting for 25 points.

Next, Georgetown comes calling on Saturday and the Hoyas haven't been exactly overpowering lately. Marquette, with a win, could end the season on a nine-game streak, because only creampuff Florida Gulf Coast and a trip to the Dome at Syracuse remain.

Villanova goes back on the bubble with a 7-8 Big East record.

#5 Texas 74 Kansas St. 65
D.J. Augustin scored 24 as the Longhorns handed K-State their third straight loss. Michael Beasley put up 30, but hasn't gotten much help from his teammates of late.

It doesn't get any easier for the Wildcats, as they travel to Kansas to tilt with the Jayhawks on Saturday. After that, though, the season concludes against the bottom two in the Big 12, Colorado and Iowa State. The conference tournament will be a major factor in determining of seedings for the big dance.

San Diego 54 #25 St. Mary's 61
This was expected, with the Gaels being at home following a rare loss, but the future for St. Mary's seems to be that of a martyr against a 1 or 2 seed the second week of March.

Separation Sunday for College Basketball

Six Top 25 teams took to the hardwoods on Sunday and all six defeated teams in their conference which had high hopes prior to tip-off. By the end of the day, teams heading for the Big Dance sent a reality check to those chasing the dream.

Wake Forest 73 #3 North Carolina 89
The Tar Heels saw what the Dekes did to Duke, so they invited them over for a little hard medicine. The home team shot 56% from the field and 77% from the foul line. Tyler Hansbrough scored 29 points. Even without Ty Lawson, who may be back by the weekend, the Tar Heels must be feared and respected.

California 69 #9 Stanford 79
Nothing special here except for another home win for the Cardinal. Cal has a good team, and they own wins over USC and Washington State, both of which they face over the next two weeks. Closing out the regular season isn't going to aid their cause, though, nor is their current 6-8 PAC-10 record.

#10 Xavier 57 Dayton 51
The X-Men put the final nail in the Flyers' coffin - their 8th loss against just five wins in the A-10. At 17-9 overall, Dayton may need another couple of wins to just make it to the NIT.

#11 Wisconsin 58 Ohio St. 53
Nice try by the Buckeyes, who would be the fifth team from the Big 10 to make the field of 65, but their schedule says they're not going to make it. Their final four games are at Indiana, at Minnesota, then home against Purdue and Michigan State.

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If they win just one, presumably against the Gophers, they'll finish 9-9 in the league and 18-13 overall. NIT material. Better luck next year. If the committee lets them in, it's a travesty unless the Buckeyes somehow win two or three of these games and don't implode in the Big Ten Tourney. Michigan State, now in 4th place in the conference, is marginal at best, and these guys can't even beat them.

#18 Louisville 75 Pittsburgh 73
Pitt played one of its best games of the season and they still lost by a bucket. David Padgett and Edgar Sosa had their way with the Panthers, going 9-13 and 7-11, respectively. No sustained defensive effort and a third straight loss (this one at home) has put the Panthers' season on the edge. There's still time, but Cincy and West Virginia have passed them in the standings. The Panthers have them both on the remaining schedule, plus Syracuse and DePaul.

Syracuse 87 #21 Notre Dame 94
Cross off the 'Cuse. Whether they were employing coach Boeheim's vaunted 2-3 defense or man-on-man, Kyle McAlarney torched them for 30 points, hitting an incredible 9-of-11 3-pointers. Syracuse falls to 7-8 in the Big East and 17-11 overall. There are to many teams already in front of them for the Orange to be even considered to be on the bubble. They're young and suffered a number of key injuries this season, so they'll be back with a bullet next season.

Vols Top Tigers, Claim #1; Notes from Saturday, Feb. 23

#2 Tennessee 66 #1 Memphis 62
In the most widely-anticipated game of the season, #2 Tennessee marched into Memphis and ended the Tigers' 25-game winning streak, while also stopping the nation's longest home winning streak at 47 games and likely knocking the Tigers off the #1 ranking perch when a new Top 25 poll comes out on Monday.

For the Volunteers, it was largely a team effort, with just three players in double figures. Tyler Smith led the way with 18 points. Wayne Chism and J.P. Prince added 13 apiece. JaJuan Smith scored 9 and grabbed 10 rebounds. Chris Lofton, regarded by many as the best all-around player on the team, was guarded tightly all night and finished with just 7 points on 2-11 shooting. Lofton misfired on all four of his 3-point attempts.

The game was tight throughout, with neither team opening more than a 7-point lead. Memphis, one of the worst foul shooting teams in the nation, hit just 8 of 17 free throws. They also hoisted 27 3-balls, hitting just 8.

Inability to score from behind any line, be it the foul line or 3-point line, is going to be a killer come tourney time, which is why Memphis should not go into the NCAA tournament as a #1 seed. Despite their lofty record, they play in a weak conference, shoot just 58% from the charity stripe and only 34% from the 3-point arc. While their 3-ball stat number is acceptable, the foul shooting figure is not. In fact it's horrible and partly why they lost to Tennessee last night and won't win a national championship this season. Little things matter come tourney time and hitting freebies becomes large, especially if you can't make them.

Around the NCAA on Saturday:

#4 Kansas 60 Oklahoma St. 61
The Big 12 is not very predictable. At least it wasn't yesterday. Of the four ranked Big 12 teams playing on Saturday, three of the lost. BTW: the Cowboys improved to 5-7 in the conference and close out the season with Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas. 8-8 or 9-7 could get them a dance card.

St. John's 56 #5 Duke 86
Who scheduled this? Obviously, St. John's was getting a nice cut of the gate. Duke needed a little break after losing two straight. This was better.

Oregon 65 #6 UCLA 75
The Ducks hung around until UCLA got serious. Oregon is just a shade smallish and it hurts them. If their shooters get hot, as they were in the first half of this game, they can be dangerous. UCLA's defense is tremendous. They look more and more like a #1 seed every time they hit the court.

Oklahoma 45 #7 Texas 62
A breeze for the Longhorns as G.J. Augustin scored 19.

#16 Drake 71 #8 Butler 64
Earth to Horizon League: There are probably four or five teams in the Missouri Valley conference better than Butler.

Cincinnati 53 #12 Georgetown 73
The Hoyas won for all the wrong reasons. They were outrebounded, but hit 27 of 35 free throws (77%). Roy Hibbert scored 12 points and had 3 rebounds in 31 minutes. He needs anger management. to make him mad. There's never been such a mild-mannered big man, ever. The Hoyas are, however, one of the better defensive teams out there, but teams with good post players can beat them.

#13 Connecticut 65 Villanova 67
Nova's got game, for sure, and they sorely needed this win to keep their tourney hopes alive. They're now 7-7 in the Big East. Respect. You have to earn it.

Arizona 65 #17 Washington St. 55
This was somewhat of a shock because Arizona had been doing a death spiral, losing four of their last five coming in, but the Cougars hit only 5 of 22 3-pointers while the Wildcats hit 8 of 14. At 7-7 in the PAC-10, Arizona is still alive. The Cougars matched their season-low in scoring, and are 2-4 against teams in California (they beat USC twice). Their next two games are at Cal and at Stanford. Trouble.

Iowa 52 #19 Michigan St. 66
Tom Izzo breathed a real sigh of relief when this one was over. The Spartans have struggled against the best in the Big 10, and have Wisconsin and Indiana up next, then close out the season at Illinois and Ohio State. Still 10-4 in the conference, they need to win three of those final four to avoid having to face an 8, 9, or 10 seed in the tourney. They have issues with everything from perimeter shooting to fundamental defense.

Georgia 74 #20 Vanderbilt 86
The Commodores ought to move up in the rankings. They're probably no worse than 15th nationally.

Nebraska 65 #22 Texas A&M 59
The Aggies are deflating faster than a blow-up doll on Valentine's Day. Yesterday, I put them in the "likely" column to make the NCAA tournament. Put me in the "idiot" column. They suck, and I was suckered.

Kent St. 65 #23 St. Mary's 57
We all knew Kent State was better than St. Mary's didn't we? Well, didn't we?

#24 Kansas St. 86 Baylor 92
A big win for Baylor, probably enough to get their ticket punched for the big dance. Good on them. K-State is still growing and maybe can get things right during the Big 12 Tourney. They have lots of upside.

Rutgers 48 #25 Marquette 78
That's four straight wins for the Golden Eagles, one of the real sleepers in the country. They have one of the best inside-outside tandems in Lazar Hayward and Jerel McNeal and when they go to their 3-guard offense with Wesley Matthews and Dominic James, they turn up the heat from the perimeter and on defense. The rest of the field better look out for these guys in March because they're truly dangerous.