Updated Championship Week Predictions

I gotta say, today was an odd day.

In the A-10, the ending to the Charlotte/Richmond game was one of the craziest finishes to a game I've seen in a long time.  Richmond was up 63-60 with less than five seconds left, fouled Charlotte, and then all hell broke loose.  A flagrant foul, a foul on a half-court three pointer, and a technical foul on Richmond meant that Charlotte scored 8 points in the final five seconds, all on free throws, to win 68-63.

The Madness in the MEAC continued, as 3-seed Hampton and 4-seed Savannah State both lost, leaving 5-seed Morgan State as the highest remaining seed. 

In the wiggity wiggity wiggity wiggity wiggity wiggity WAC, 2-seed Denver was ousted by 7-seed Texas State, all but ending any NCAA Tournament hopes for the Pioneers, and then 1-seed Louisiana Tech lost to 9-21 UTSA.  Louisiana Tech had been ranked at some point recently, and has an RPI of 48, so it will be interesting to see if they get an NCAA Tournament bid.

In the Big Ten, Illinois bounced Minnesota with a buzzer-beating jumper from Brandon Paul, and Purdue clinched its CBI bid by getting beaten by basketball powerhouse Nebraska.  Minnesota should still be in the NCAA Tournament, but this one still has to hurt.

In the Pac-12, 2-seed Cal got knocked off by 10-seed Utah.  The Golden Bears were projected as a 9-seed by Joe Lunardi, so they should still get an invitation to the Big Dance.

In the Big 12, Baylor's bubble was likely burst with a loss to Oklahoma State.

And, in the ACC, some Quebecois kid on Boston College named Olivier set an ACC freshman record by scoring 41 points in BC's win over Georgia Tech.

As I mentioned yesterday, there are no more championship games until Saturday, but here are some matchups tomorrow that I am looking forward to (times are Eastern):

Big Ten Quarterfinals (12 p.m.; ESPN):  (1) Indiana vs. (8) Illinois.  The Hoosiers will be looking for some payback for that mid-season collapse in Champaign.  Illinois will be looking to improve their NCAA Tournament seed.  I hope IU wins by at least 9 1/2 points.

Big Ten Quarterfinals (2:30 p.m.; ESPN) (4) Wisconsin vs. (5) Michigan.  This should be a good game.  Michigan is ranked 6th in the country, but is the 5th seed in the Big Ten.

Atlantic 10 Quarterfinals (2:30 p.m.; NBC Sports): (4) LaSalle vs. (5) Butler.  Butler went from a Top 10 team to the 5-seed in the A-10 tournament, but the Bulldogs are a lock for the NCAA Tournament.  LaSalle is firmly on the bubble, landing at the top of Joe Lunardi's Last Four In.  As we've learned the last few years, don't sleep on the Bulldogs in March.

Big East Semifinals (7 p.m.; ESPN): (1) Georgetown vs. (5) Syracuse.  Georgetown beat Syracuse both times they met in the regular season, and, barring an unlikely meeting in the NCAA Tournament, this will be the last time these two teams will play each other as members of the Big East

Here is who has already clinched an automatic berth, as well as my predictions for the remaining conference tournaments.  (Note:  The Great West Conference holds a tournament, but does not receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, so I am not including it here.)

Already clinched automatic berths (I added in parentheses the number of NCAA tournament appearances, including the bid just clinched):

Atlantic Sun:  Florida Gulf Coast (1)

Big South:  Liberty (3)

Colonial:  James Madison (5)

Horizon:  Valparaiso (8)

Ivy League:  Harvard (3)

MAAC:  Iona (10)

MVC:  Creighton (18)

NEC:  LIU-Brooklyn (6)

OVC:  Belmont (6)

Patriot:  Bucknell (6)

Southern:  Davidson

Summit:  South Dakota State (2)

Sun Belt:  Western Kentucky (23)

West Coast:  Gonzaga (16)

Remaining Tournaments (all times are Eastern):

ACC (March 14-17; Greensboro)

3/15 - Quarterfinals

12 p.m. (ESPN2) (1) Miami vs. (8) Boston College.  Winner:  Miami

2 p.m. (ESPN2) (4) Virginia vs. (5) NC State.  Winner:  NC State

7 p.m. (ESPN2) (2) Duke vs. (7) Maryland.  Winner:  Duke

9 p.m. (ESPN2) (3) North Carolina vs. (6) Florida State.  Winner:  North Carolina

3/16 - Semifinals

1 p.m. (ESPN) (1) Miami vs. (5) NC State.  Winner:  Miami

3 p.m. (ESPN) (2) Duke vs. (3) North Carolina.  Winner:  Duke

3/17 - Finals

1 p.m. (ESPN) (1) Miami vs. (2) Duke.  Winner:  Duke

America East (March 9-10, 16; Albany, then the highest remaining seed hosts final)

Finals – 3/16

11:30 a.m. (ESPN2) (4) Albany at (2) Vermont.  Winner:  Vermont

Atlantic 10 (March 14-17; Brooklyn)

3/15 - Quarterfinals

12 p.m. (NBC Sports) (1) St. Louis vs. (9) Charlotte.  Winner:  St. Louis

2:30 p.m. (NBC Sports) (4) LaSalle vs. (5) Butler.  Winner:  Butler

6:30 p.m. (NBC Sports) (2) VCU vs. (10) St. Joseph's.  Winner:  VCU

9 p.m. (NBC Sports) (3) Temple vs. (6) UMass.  Winner:  Temple

3/16 - Semifinals

1:30 p.m. (CBS Sports) (1) St. Louis vs. (5) Butler.  Winner:  Butler

4 p.m. (CBS Sports) (2) VCU vs. (3) Temple.  Winner:  VCU

3/17 - Finals

1 p.m. (CBS) (2) VCU vs. (5) Butler.  Winner:  Butler

Big 12 (March 13-16; Kansas City)

3/15 - Semifinals

7:30 p.m. (ESPNU/Big 12 Network) (1) Kansas vs. (5) Iowa State.  Winner:  Kansas

9 p.m. (ESPNU/Big 12 Network) (2) Kansas State vs. (3) Oklahoma State.  Winner:  Kansas State

3/16 - Finals

6 p.m. (ESPN) (1) Kansas vs. (2) Kansas State.  Winner:  Kansas

Big East (March 12-16; New York)

3/15 - Semifinals

7 p.m. (ESPN) (1) Georgetown vs. (5) Syracuse.  Winner:  Syracuse

9 p.m. (ESPN) (2) Louisville vs. (6) Notre Dame.  Winner:  Louisville

3/16 - Finals

8:30 p.m. (ESPN) (2) Louisville vs. (5) Syracuse.  Winner:  Louisville

Big Sky (March 14-16; Missoula, MT)

3/15 - Semifinals

7:30 p.m. (BigSky TV) (2) Weber State vs. (3) North Dakota.  Winner:  Weber State

10 p.m. (BigSky TV) (1) Montana vs. (5) Northern Colorado.  Winner: Montana

3/16 - Finals

9 p.m. (ESPNU) (1) Montana vs. (2) Weber State.  Winner:  Montana

Big Ten (March 14-17; Chicago)

3/15 – Quarterfinals

12 p.m. (ESPN) (1) Indiana vs. (8) Illinois.  Winner:  Indiana

2:30 p.m. (ESPN) (4) Wisconsin vs. (5) Michigan.  Winner:  Michigan

6:30 p.m. (BTN) (2) Ohio State vs. (10) Nebraska.  Winner:  Ohio State

9 p.m. (BTN) (3) Michigan State vs. (6) Iowa.  Winner:  Michigan State

3/16 - Semifinals

1:40 p.m. (CBS) (1) Indiana vs. (5) Michigan.  Winner:  Indiana

4 p.m. (CBS) (2) Ohio State vs. (3) Michigan State.  Winner:  Michigan State

3/17 - Finals

3:30 p.m. (CBS) (1) Indiana vs. (3) Michigan State.  Winner:  Indiana

Big West (March 14-16; Anaheim)

3/14 - Quarterfinals

11:30 p.m. (FOX Sports Prime Ticket/FOX College Sports – Pacific) (4) UC Irvine vs. (5) Hawaii.  Winner:  Hawaii

3/15 - Semifinals

9:30 p.m. (ESPN3) (1) Long Beach State vs. (5) Hawaii.  Winner:  Long Beach State

11:59 p.m. (ESPNU) (2) Pacific vs. (3) Cal Poly.  Winner:  Cal Poly

3/16 – Finals

10:30 p.m. (ESPN2) (1) Long Beach State vs. (3) Cal Poly.  Winner:  Long Beach State

Conference USA (March 13-16; Tulsa)

3/15 – Semifinals

4 p.m. (CBS Sports) (2) Southern Mississippi vs. (3) UTEP.  Winner:  Southern Mississippi

6:30 p.m. (CBS Sports) (1) Memphis vs. (5) Tulsa.  Winner:  Memphis

3/16 – Finals

11:30 a.m. (CBS) (1) Memphis vs. (2) Southern Mississippi.  Winner:  Memphis

MAC (March 11, 13-16; first round at campus sites of higher seed; remaining rounds in Cleveland)

3/15 – Semifinals

6:30 p.m. (SportsTime Ohio) (1) Akron vs. (4) Kent State.  Winner:  Akron

9 p.m. (SportsTime Ohio) (2) Ohio vs. (3) Western Michigan.  Winner:  Ohio

3/16 – Finals

6:30 p.m. (ESPN2) (1) Akron vs. (2) Ohio.  Winner:  Ohio

MEAC (March 11-16; Norfolk, VA)

3/15 - Semifinals

6:00 p.m. (8) Bethune-Cookman vs. (5) Morgan State..  Winner:  Morgan State

8:00 p.m. (7) North Carolina A&T vs. (6) Delaware State.  Winner:  Delaware State

3/16 - Final

5:00 p.m. (ESPNU) (5) Morgan State. vs. (6) Delaware State.  Winner:  Morgan State

Mountain West (March 12-16; Las Vegas)

3/15 – Semifinals

9 p.m. (CBS Sports) (2) Colorado State vs. (3) UNLV.  Winner:  Colorado State

11:30 p.m. (CBS Sports) (1) New Mexico vs. (4) San Diego State.  Winner:  New Mexico

3/16 - Finals

6 p.m. (CBS Sports) (1) New Mexico vs. (2) Colorado State.  Winner:  New Mexico

Pac-12 (March 13-16; Las Vegas)

3/14 - Quarterfinals

11:30 p.m. (ESPNU) (3) Oregon vs. (6) Washington.  Winner:  Oregon

3/15 - Semifinals

9 p.m. (Pac-12 Network) (1) UCLA vs. (4) Arizona.  Winner:  Arizona

11:30 p.m. (ESPN) (10) Utah vs. (3) Oregon.  Winner:  Oregon

3/16 - Finals

11 p.m. (ESPN) (3) Oregon vs. (4) Arizona.  Winner:  Arizona

SEC (March 13-17; Nashville)

3/15 - Quarterfinals

1 p.m. (ESPNU) (1) Florida vs. (9) LSU.  Winner:  Florida

3:30 p.m. (ESPNU) (4) Alabama vs. (5) Tennessee.  Winner:  Tennessee

7:30 p.m. (ESPN3/SEC Network) (2) Kentucky vs. (10) Vanderbilt.  Winner:  Kentucky

10 p.m. (ESPN3/SEC Network) (3) Mississippi vs. (6) Missouri.  Winner:  Mississippi

3/16 - Semifinals

1 p.m. (ABC) (1) Florida vs. (5) Tennessee.  Winner:  Florida

3:30 p.m. (ABC) (2) Kentucky vs. (3) Mississippi.  Winner:  Mississippi

3/17 - Finals

1 p.m. (ABC) (1) Florida vs. (3) Mississippi.  Winner:  Florida

Southland (March 13-16; Katy, TX)

3/15 – Semifinals

6 p.m. (ESPN3) (1) Stephen F. Austin vs. (4) Southeastern Louisiana.  Winner:  Stephen F. Austin

8:30 p.m. (ESPN3) (2) Northwestern State vs. (6) Sam Houston State.  Winner:  Northwestern State

3/16 – Finals

8:30 p.m. (ESPN2) (1) Stephen F. Austin vs. (2) Northwestern State.  Winner:  Stephen F. Austin

SWAC (March 13-16; Garland, TX)

3/15 - Semifinals

3:30 p.m. (2) Jackson State vs. (4) Prairie View A&M.  Winner:  Jackson State

6 p.m. (1) Southern vs. (6) Alabama A&M.  Winner:  Southern

3/16 - Finals

4:30 p.m. (ESPN2) (1) Southern vs. (2) Jackson State.  Winner:  Southern

WAC (March 12, 14-16; Las Vegas)

3/14 – Quarterfinals

11:30 p.m. (4) UT Arlington vs. (5) Utah State.  Winner:  Utah State

3/15 – Semifinals

9 p.m. (7) Texas State vs. (3) New Mexico State.  Winner:  New Mexico State

11:30 p.m. (9) UTSA vs. (5) Utah State.  Winner:  Utah State

3/16 – Finals

11 p.m. (5) Utah State vs. (3) New Mexico State.  Winner:  New Mexico State