Final Championship Week Predictions

Selection Sunday is here!  14 automatic bids were clinched yesterday, and the final five bids are up for grabs today.  Here's everything that happened yesterday.  Like yesterday, I'm listing the conferences that had finals first (alphabetically), followed by the conferences that had semifinals (in reverse alphabetical order):

• In the ACC title game, 1-seed Virginia beat 6-seed North Carolina, 71-63.  The Cavaliers will be going to their 22nd NCAA Tournament and 5th in a row.
• In the America East championship game, 2-seed UMBC took down 1-seed Vermont, 65-62, on a last-second three on the Catamounts' home court.  The Retrievers (!) are going to their 2nd NCAA Tournament and first since 2008.
• In the Big 12 title game, 1-seed Kansas won yet another Big 12 title, beating 3-seed West Virginia, 81-70.  The Jayhawks will be going to their 47th Big Dance and 29th in a row, but let's not kid ourselves, they're still not going to win a national title.
• In the Big East championship game, 5-seed Providence took 2-seed Villanova to overtime, before bowing out, 76-66.  The Wildcats will be going to their 38th NCAA Tournament and 6th in a row.
• In the Big Sky title game, top seed Montana pulled away in the second half to beat 3-seed Eastern Washington 82-65.  The Grizzlies are going to their 11th trip and first since 2013.
• In the Big West championship, 4-seed Cal State Fullerton beat 3-seed UC Irvine.  The Titans will be playing in their 3rd NCAA Tournament and first since 2008.
• In the Conference USA championship, 4-seed Marshall beat 3-seed Western Kentucky, 67-66 in a great game.  The Thundering Herd will be playing in their 6th NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 1987.
• In the miggity-miggity-miggity-miggity-miggity-miggity-MAC title game, top seed Buffalo beat 2-seed Toledo, 76-66.  The Bulls will be going to their 3rd NCAA Tournament berth and first since 2016.
• In the MEAC title game, 6-seed North Carolina Central beat 1-seed Hampton, 71-63.  The Eagles will be playing in their 3rd Big Dance and 2nd in a row.
• In the Mountain West championship, 5-seed San Diego State beat 3-seed New Mexico, 82-75.  The Aztecs will be playing in their 12th NCAA Tournament berth and first since 2015.
• In the Pac-12 title game, top seed Arizona topped 2-seed USC made, 75-61, for a hard-fought victory that will be vacated.  The Wildcats will be going to their 35th NCAA Tournament and 6th in a row.
• In the Southland championship game, top seed Southeastern Louisiana fell to 3-seed Stephen F. Austin, 59-55.  The Lumberjacks are going their 5th trip and first since 2016.
• In the swiggity-swiggity-swiggity-swiggity-swiggity-swiggity-SWAC title game, 3-seed Texas Southern -- after starting 0-13 -- beat 1-seed Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 84-69.  Congrats to former IU head coach Mike Davis on his 4th trip to the Big Dance with Texas Southern.  The Tigers will be playing in their 8th trip and 2nd in a row.
• And finally, in the wiggity-wiggity-wiggity-wiggity-wiggity-wiggity-WAC championship, 1-seed New Mexico State beat Thunder Dan's 3-seed Grand Canyon.  The Aggies will be playing in their 24th NCAA Tournament berth and 2nd in a row.
• In the Sun Belt semis, top seed Louisiana-Lafayette was upset by 4-seed Texas-Arlington, and 2-seed Georgia State downed in-state rival 3-seed Georgia Southern.  The Mavericks will be playing for their 2nd trip to the Big Dance and first since 2008, and the Panthers will be playing for their 4th and first since 2015.
• In the SEC semis, 9-seed Alabama's run ended at the hands of 4-seed Kentucky, and 2-seed Tennessee beat 6-seed Arkansas.  Both teams are locks.  Fuck Kentucky, and the Vols will be going to their 21st NCAA Tournament and first since 2014.
• In the Ivy League semis, top seed Harvard beat 4-seed Cornell, and 2-seed Penn beat 3-seed Yale.  The Crimson will be playing for their 6th trip to the Big Dance and first since 2015, while the Quakers will be playing for their 24th trip and first since 2007.
• In the A-10 semis, top seed Rhode Island beat 4-seed St. Joseph's, and 3-seed St. Bonaventure fell to 2-seed Davidson.  The Rams are in the NCAA Tournament regardless, and will be going to their 10th NCAA Tournament and 2nd in a row.  Somewhere Lamar Odom is happy.  Probably not with a Kardashian.  The Wildcats are playing for their 14th NCAA Tournament berth and first since 2013.
• In the AAC semis, 1-seed Cincinnati beat 5-seed Memphis, and 3-seed Houston upset 2-seed Wichita State.  Both teams are locks for the Big Dance.  The Bearcats will be going to their 32nd NCAA Tournament and 8th in a row, while the Cougars -- coached by former IU head coach Kelvin Sampson -- will be going to their 20th Big Dance and first since 2010.
• Bubble teams that won yesterday:  Davidson
• Bubble teams that lost yesterday:  Alabama, Providence, St. Bonaventure, USC

Here are the tournaments starting today, the tournaments with games today, bids up for grab today, who has already clinched an automatic berth, and my predictions for the remaining conference tournaments.

Tournaments starting today
-None

Tournaments with games today

-AAC
-Atlantic 10
-Ivy League
-SEC
-Sun Belt

Bids up for grabs today (all times Eastern)

-Ivy League:  (1) Harvard vs. (2) Penn (12 p.m.; ESPN2)
-Atlantic 10:  (1) Rhode Island vs. (3) Davidson (1 p.m.; CBS)
-SEC:  (2) Tennessee vs. (4) Kentucky (1 p.m.; ESPN)
-Sun Belt:  (2) Georgia State vs. (4 (2 p.m.; ESPN)
-AAC:  (1) Cincinnati vs. (3) Houston (3 p.m.; CBS)

Already clinched automatic berths (I will add in parentheses the NCAA tournament appearances for each school, including the bid just clinched, and for conferences whose tournaments have not yet ended, I'll list the date of the championship game)

-AAC (March 11)

-ACC:  Virginia (22)

-America East:  UMBC (2)

-Atlantic 10 (March 11)

-Atlantic Sun:  Lipscomb (1)

-Big 12:  Kansas (47)

-Big East:  Villanova (38)

-Big Sky:  Montana (11)

-Big South:  Radford (3)

-Big Ten:  Michigan (28)

-Big West:  Cal State Fullerton (3)

-Colonial:  Charleston (5)

-Conference USA:  Marshall (6)

-Horizon:  Wright State (3)

-Ivy League (March 11)

-MAAC:  Iona (13)

-MAC:  Buffalo (3)

-MEAC:  North Carolina Central (3)

-Missouri Valley:  Loyola (IL) (6)

-Mountain West:  San Diego State (12)

-Northeast Conference:  LIU-Brooklyn (7)

-Ohio Valley:  Murray State (16)

-Pac-12:  Arizona (35)

-Patriot League:  Bucknell (8)

-SEC (March 11)

-Southern Conference:  UNC Greensboro (3)

-Southland:  Stephen F. Austin (5)

-Summit:  South Dakota State (5)

-Sun Belt (March 11)

-SWAC:  Texas Southern (8)

-WAC:  New Mexico State (24)

-West Coast:  Gonzaga (21)

Because I am unhealthily obsessed with college basketball in March -- to the detriment of my marriage, children, friendships, work, sleep schedule, sanity, wallet, and loyalty to Xenu -- I have not only listed out every game and my predictions, but the date, time, and TV station(s) on which the game will appear, even if it's just local, regional, or online, to the extent that information is available.  Some conference tournament websites are better than others.  I want this to be as comprehensive as possible, so that you can always come here to figure out when any given team is playing.  I love you so much, you guys.  Don't you ever forget it.

Remaining Tournaments (all times are Eastern; to the extent there are teams that have clinched seeds in tournament fields that are not completely set, I will put those in)

American (March 8-11 (Orlando, FL)
3/11 - Finals
3 p.m (CBS) (1) Cincinnati vs. (3) Houston.  Predicted winner:  Cincinnati

Atlantic 10 (March 7-11; Washington, DC)

3/11 – Finals

1 p.m. (CBS) (1) Rhode Island vs. (3) Davidson.  Predicted winner:  Rhode Island

Ivy League (March 10-11; Philadelphia)

3/11 – Finals

12 p.m. (ESPN2) (1) Harvard vs. (2) Penn.  Predicted winner:  Penn

SEC (March 7-11; St. Louis)

3/11 – Finals

1 p.m. (ESPN) (2) Tennessee vs. (4) Kentucky.  Predicted winner:  Kentucky

Sun Belt (March 7, 9-11; New Orleans)

3/11 – Finals

2 p.m. (ESPN) (4) Texas-Arlington vs. (2) Georgia State.  Predicted winner:  Georgia State