Update Championship Week Predictions

Today is the most exciting day of Championship Week.  14 automatic bids are up for grabs, starting with the America East championship game, which tipped off at 11 a.m. Eastern, and ending with the Big West championship game, which tips off at 11:30 p.m. Eastern.  On top of that, we have semifinals in the five other remaining conference tournaments.  It should be a fun day of basketball.  Here's everything that happened yesterday.  For sake of unease, I'm listing the conferences that had semifinals first (alphabetically), followed by the conferences that had quarterfinals (in reverse alphabetical order):

• In the ACC semis, 1-seed Virginia downed 4-seed Clemson.  2-seed Duke fell to archrival 6-seed North Carolina.  Both teams are locks to make the tournament.  The Cavaliers will be going to their 22nd NCAA Tournament and 5th in a row, and the Tar Heels will be going to their 49th NCAA Tournament and 8th in a row
• In the semis of the Big 12, 1-seed Kansas crushed 4-seed Kansas State, 83-67, and 2-seed Texas Tech lost to 3-seed West Virginia, 66-63.  Both are locks for the NCAA Tournament.  The Jayhawks will be going to their 47th Big Dance and 29th in a row, while the Mountaineers will be going to their 29th and 4th in a row.
• In the semis of the Big East, 1-seed Xavier was upset in OT by 5-seed Providence, and 2-seed Villanova beat up on 6-seed Butler.  Both teams are locks to make the Big Dance.  The Friars will be going to their 20th NCAA Tournament and 5th in a row, and the Wildcats will be going to their 38th NCAA Tournament and 6th in a row.
• In the Big Sky semifinals, 10-seed Southern Utah's dream has ended, as they fell 82-70 to 3-seed Eastern Washington.  Top seed Montana needed overtime to take care of 5-seed Northern Colorado.  The Eagles will be playing for their 3rd trip to the Big Dance and first since 2015, while the Grizzlies will be playing for their 11th trip and first since 2013.
• In the Big West semis, both of the top two seeds went down.  1-sees UC Davis was upset by 4-seed Cal State Fullerton, while 3-seed UC Irvine beat 2-seed UC Santa Barbara (coached by IU alum Joe Pasternack).  The Titans will be playing for their 3rd NCAA Tournament and first since 2008, and the fear-inspiring Anteaters will be playing for their 2nd and first since 2015.
• In the semis of Conference USA, 9-seed Southern Miss's Cinderella run has come to an end, at the hands of 4-seed Marshall.  3-seed Western Kentucky beat 2-seed Old Dominion, just as I predicted.  The Thundering Herd will be playing for their 6th NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 1987, while the Hilltoppers will be playing for their 24th appearance and first since 2013.
• In the miggity-miggity-miggity-miggity-miggity-miggity-MAC semis, top seed Buffalo killed 5-seed Kent State, 78-61, and 2-seed Toledo beat 3-seed Eastern Michigan in a 64-63 thriller.  Somewhere Earl Boykins is crying.  The Bulls will be playing for their 3rd NCAA Tournament berth and first since 2016, and the Rockets will be playing for their 5th NCAA Tournament berth and first since 1980.
• In the MEAC semis, 1-seed Hampton beat 4-seed North Carolina A&T, and 6-seed North Carolina Central topped 7-seed Morgan State.  The Pirates will be playing for their 7th trip to the Big Dance and first since 2016, while the Eagles will be playing for their 3rd trip and 2nd in a row.
• In the semis of the Mountain West, 5-seed San Diego State upset 1-seed Nevada in a 90-73 blowout, and 7-seed Utah State lost to 3-seed New Mexico.  Despite the loss, the Wolf Pack should still get an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, to the chagrin of some bubble teams from power conferences.  The Aztecs will be playing for their 12th NCAA Tournament berth and first since 2015, and the Lobos will be playing for their 16th berth and first since 2014.
• In the semis of the Pac-12, top seed Arizona needed OT to take down 4-seed UCLA, while 2-seed USC made easy work of 6-seed Oregon.  Both teams should be locks for the Big Dance, even if the Wildcats will eventually have to vacate all wins this season.  The Wildcats will be going to their 35th NCAA Tournament and 6th in a row, and the Trojans will be going to their 19th NCAA Tournament and 3rd in a row.
• In the semis of the Southland, top seed Southeastern Louisiana beat 4-seed Sam Houston State, 89-79, and 3-seed Stephen F. Austin beat 2-seed Nicholls State, 78-66.  The Lions will be playing for their 2nd trip to the Big Dance and first since 2005, while the Lumberjacks will be playing for their 5th trip and first since 2016.
• In the swiggity-swiggity-swiggity-swiggity-swiggity-swiggity-SWAC semis, 1-seed Arkansas-Pine Bluff beat 4-seed Southern, 71-65, and 3-seed Texas Southern -- coached by former IU head coach Mike Davis -- dropped 2-seed Prairie View A&M, 88-74.  The Golden Lions will be playing for their second trip to the Big Dance and first since 2010, and the Tigers will be playing for their 8th trip, 2nd in a row, and 4th under Davis.
• And finally, in the semis of the wiggity-wiggity-wiggity-wiggity-wiggity-wiggity-WAC, 1-seed New Mexico State held off 4-seed Seattle, 84-79.  Somewhere Elgin Baylor is crying.  Or maybe not, since he's one of the best basketball players of all-time.  In the other semi, 2-seed Utah Valley was beaten by 3-seed Grand Canyon (who are coached by Thunder Dan Majerle).  The Aggies will be playing for their 24th NCAA Tournament berth and 2nd in a row, and the Antelopes will be playing for their 1st ever berth since making the move up to D-1 in the 2013-2014 season.
• In the Sun Belt quarters, top seed Louisiana-Lafayette flexed its muscles against 9-seed Texas State, winning 80-54.  4-seed Texas-Arlington dumped on 5-seed Appalachian State -- figuratively, of course.  2-seed Georgia State beat 7-seed Louisiana-Monroe, and 3-seed Georgia Southern desTROYed 6-seed Troy.  Get it?
• In the quarterfinals of the SEC, 9-seed Alabama stated its case to the Selection Committee.  The Crimson Tide turned a 10-point halftime deficit to archrival and 1-seed Auburn (it's very weird to write that) into an 81-63 win, thanks in large part to a 20-1 run to start the second half.  The loss likely drops Auburn a seed line or two in the NCAA Tournament (to a 4- or 5-seed).  In the other quarterfinals, 4-seed Kentucky beat 12-seed Georgia.  2-seed Tennessee beat 7-seed Mississippi State, and 3-seed Florida was upset by 6-seed Arkansas.
• In the quarterfinals of the A-10, top seed Rhode Island held off 8-seed VCU, 76-67, in what will be this March's only Ram-on-Ram matchup.  4-seed St. Joseph's beat up on 5-seed George Mason.  3-seed St. Bonaventure topped 6-seed Richmond, and 2-seed Davidson dominated 7-seed St. Louis.
• In the quarterfinals of the AAC, 1-seed Cincinnati beat 9-seed SMU, 61-51, and 5-seed Memphis beat 4-seed Tulsa, 67-64, setting up a semifinal matchup between two old Metro Conference/Great Midwest/Conference-USA rivals. 3-seed Houston trounced 6-seed UCF, 84-56, and 2-seed Wichita State beat 7-seed Temple, 89-81.
• The Ivy League Tournament (the final conference tournament) starts today, and 19 conference tournaments have games today.
• Bubble teams that won yesterday:  Alabama, Providence, St. Bonaventure, USC
• Bubble teams that lost yesterday:  Kansas State, Nevada, UCLA

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
-Ivy League

Tournaments with games today

-AAC
-ACC
-America East
-Atlantic 10
-Big 12
-Big East
-Big Sky
-Big West
-Conference USA
-Ivy League
-MAC
-MEAC
-Mountain West
-Pac-12
-SEC
-Southland
-Sun Belt
-SWAC
-WAC

Bids up for grabs today (all times Eastern)

-America East:  (2) UMBC at (1) Vermont (11 a.m.; ESPN2)
-MEAC:  (1) Hampton vs. (6) North Carolina Central (1:00 p.m.; ESPN2)
-SWAC:  (1) Arkansas-Pine Bluff vs. (3) Texas Southern (4 p.m.; ESPN2)
-Big East:  (2) Villanova vs. (5) Providence (5:30 p.m.; Fox)
-Big 12:  (1) Kansas vs. (3) West Virginia (6 p.m.; ESPN)
-Mountain West:  (3) New Mexico vs. (5) San Diego State (6 p.m.; CBS)
-MAC:  (1) Buffalo vs. (2) Toledo (7 p.m.; ESPN2)
-Big Sky:  (1) Montana vs. (3) Eastern Washington (8:05 p.m.; ESPNU)
-Conference USA:  (3) Western Kentucky vs. (4) Marshall (8:30 p.m.; CBSSN)
-ACC:  (1) Virginia vs. (6) North Carolina (9 p.m.; ESPN)
-Southland:  (1) Southeastern Louisiana vs. (3) Stephen F. Austin (9:30 p.m.; ESPN2)
-Pac-12:  (1) Arizona vs. (2) USC (10 p.m.; FS1)
-WAC:  (1) New Mexico State vs. (3) Grand Canyon (10 p.m.; ESPNU)
-Big West:  (3) UC Irvine vs. (4) Cal State Fullerton (11:30 p.m.; ESPN2)

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 (March 10)

-America East (March 10)

-Atlantic 10 (March 11)

-Atlantic Sun:  Lipscomb (1)

-Big 12 (March 10)

-Big East (March 10)

-Big Sky (March 10)

-Big South:  Radford (3)

-Big Ten:  Michigan (28)

-Big West (March 10)

-Colonial:  Charleston (5)

-Conference USA (March 10)

-Horizon:  Wright State (3)

-Ivy League (March 11)

-MAAC:  Iona (13)

-MAC (March 10)

-MEAC (March 10)

-Missouri Valley:  Loyola (IL) (6)

-Mountain West (March 10)

-Northeast Conference:  LIU-Brooklyn (7)

-Ohio Valley:  Murray State (16)

-Pac-12 (March 10)

-Patriot League:  Bucknell (8)

-SEC (March 11)

-Southern Conference:  UNC Greensboro (3)

-Southland (March 10)

-Summit:  South Dakota State (5)

-Sun Belt (March 11)

-SWAC (March 10)

-WAC (March 10)

-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)

AAC (March 8-11; Orlando)

3/10 – Semifinals

1 p.m. (CBS) (1) Cincinnati vs. (5) Memphis.  Predicted winner:  Cincinnati

3:30 p.m. (CBS) (2) Wichita State vs. (3) Houston.  Predicted winner:  Wichita State

3/11 – Finals

3 p.m. (CBS) (1) Cincinnati vs. (2) Wichita State.  Predicted winner:  Wichita State

ACC (March 6-10; Brooklyn)

3/10 – Finals

9 p.m. (ESPN) (1) Virginia vs. (6) North Carolina.  Predicted winner:  Virginia

America East (March 3, 6, 10; campus of higher seeds)

3/10 – Finals

11 a.m. (ESPN2) (2) UMBC at (1) Vermont.  Predicted winner:  Vermont

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

3/10 – Semifinals

1 p.m. (CBSSN) (1) Rhode Island vs. (4) St. Joseph's.  Predicted winner:  Rhode Island

3:30 p.m. (CBSSN) (2) St. Bonaventure vs. (3) Davidson.  Predicted winner:  St. Bonaventure

3/11 – Finals

1 p.m. (CBS) (1) Rhode Island vs. (2) St. Bonaventure.  Predicted winner:  Rhode Island

Big 12 (March 7-10; Kansas City)

3/10 – Finals

6 p.m. (ESPN) (1) Kansas vs. (3) West Virginia.  Predicted winner:  Kansas

Big East (March 7-10; New York)

3/10 – Finals

5:30 p.m. (Fox) (5) Providence vs. (2) Villanova.  Predicted winner:  Villanova

Big Sky (March 6, 8-10; Reno)

3/10 – Finals

8:05 p.m. (ESPNU) (1) Montana vs. (3) Eastern Washington.  Predicted winner:  Montana

Big West (March 8-10; Anaheim)

3/10 – Finals

11:30 p.m. (ESPN2) (3) UC Irvine vs. (4) Cal State Fullerton.  Predicted winner:  UC Irvine

Conference USA (March 7-10; Frisco, TX)

3/10 – Finals

8:30 p.m. (CBSSN) (4) Marshall vs. (3) Western Kentucky.  Predicted winner:  Western Kentucky

Ivy League (March 10-11; Philadelphia)

3/10 – Semifinals

12:30 p.m. (ESPNU) (1) Harvard vs. (4) Cornell.  Predicted winner:  Harvard

3 p.m. (ESPNU) (2) Penn vs. (3) Yale.  Predicted winner:  Penn

3/11 – Finals

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

MAC (March 5, 8-10; first round at campus of higher seed and remaining rounds in Cleveland)

3/10 – Finals

7 p.m. (ESPN2) (1) Buffalo vs. (2) Toledo.  Predicted winner:  Buffalo

MEAC (March 5-10; Norfolk, VA)

3/10 – Final

1:00 p.m. (ESPN2) (6) North Carolina Central vs. (1) Hampton.  Predicted winner:  Hampton

Mountain West (March 7-10; Las Vegas)

3/10 – Finals

6 p.m. (CBS) (5) San Diego State vs. (3) New Mexico.  Predicted winner:  San Diego State

Pac-12 (March 7-10; Las Vegas)

3/10 – Finals

10 p.m. (FS1) (2) USC vs. (1) Arizona.  Predicted winner:  USC

SEC (March 7-11; St. Louis)

3/10 – Semifinals

1 p.m. (ESPN) (9) Alabama vs. (4) Kentucky.  Predicted winner:  Kentucky

3:30 p.m. (ESPN) (2) Tennessee vs. (6) Arkansas.  Predicted winner:  Tennessee

3/11 – Finals

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

Southland (March 7-10; Katy, TX)

3/10 – Finals

9:30 p.m. (ESPN2) (1) Southeastern Louisiana vs. (3) Stephen F. Austin.  Predicted winner:  Stephen F. Austin

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

3/10 – Semifinals

12:30 p.m. (ESPN3) (1) Louisiana-Lafayette vs. (4) Texas-Arlington.  Predicted winner:  Louisiana-Lafayette

3 p.m. (ESPN3) (2) Georgia State vs. (3) Georgia Southern.  Predicted winner:  Georgia State

3/11 – Finals

2 p.m. (ESPN) (1) Louisiana-Lafayette vs. (2) Georgia State.  Predicted winner:  Louisiana-Lafayette

SWAC (March 6, 9-10; quarterfinals at campus of higher seed, remaining games in Houston)

3/10 – Finals

4 p.m. (ESPN2) (1) Arkansas-Pine Bluff vs. (3) Texas Southern.  Predicted winner:  Texas Southern

WAC (March 8-10; Las Vegas)

3/10 – Finals 

10 p.m. (ESPNU) (1) New Mexico State vs. (3) Grand Canyon.  Predicted winner:  New Mexico State