Updated Championship Week Predictions: "Vehicle"

Yesterday's marathon of Championship Week action was not lacking for excitement and drama.  A bunch of high seeds lost earlier than they should have:

• AAC 5-seed Memphis and 6-seed SMU in the second round
• ACC 2-seed Duke in the quarterfinals
• A-10 1-seed Richmond, 2-seed Loyola (IL), 3-seed Dayton, and 4-seed UMass in the quarterfinals.  Yes, you read that right:  the A-10's top four seeds all lost on the same day.
• Big East 2-seed Creighton and 4-seed Seton Hall in the quarterfinals
• C-USA 4-seed Liberty in the quarterfinals
• MAAC 4-seed Rider in the quarterfinals
• MAC 1-seed Toledo and 4-seed Central Michigan in the quarterfinals
• MEAC 3-seed South Carolina State in the quarterfinals
• Mountain West 2-seed Nevada, 3-seed Boise State, and 4-seed UNLV in the quarterfinals
• SWAC 4-seed Southern in the quarterfinals

Of the 12 conferences whose semifinals are set (aside from the Ivy League, whose tournament only has four teams and doesn't start until tomorrow), only four have all top four seeds still playing (Big 12, Big West, Pac-12, WAC).

Today, from the tip of the Purdue/Michigan State game in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals at Noon ET to the finish of the Colorado State/New Mexico game in the Mountain West semifinals that tips off at 11:59 p.m. ET, we have 32 college basketball games in 15 conferences across over about 14 hours.  

As we have reached March 15 -- and top teams in semifinal and quarterfinal matchups need to watch their backs -- today's song is the 1970 #2 hit "Vehicle" by The Ides of March.

Here's what happened in yesterday's action and what we have to look forward to:

• In the ACC quarterfinals, 1-seed North Carolina beat up on 9-seed Florida State, 92-67, 10-seed NC State upset my ACC Tournament champ pick 2-seed Duke, 74-69, 3-seed Virginia needed OT to beat 11-seed Boston College, 66-60, and 4-seed Pittsburgh ousted 5-seed Wake Forest, 81-69 (likely dooming the Demon Deacons' NCAA Tournament hopes), to advance to today's semifinals.
• In the A-10 quarters, 9-seed St. Joseph's upset 1-seed Richmond, 66-61, 7-seed St. Bonaventure upset 2-seed Loyola (IL), 75-74 in double OT, 6-seed Duquesne upset 3-seed Dayton, 65-57, and 5-seed VCU toppled 4-seed UMass, 73-59, to advance to tomorrow's semifinals.
• In the Big 12 quarterfinals, top seed Houston cruised past 8-seed TCU, 60-45, 2-seed Iowa State dominated 10-seed Kansas State, 76-57, 3-seed Baylor eliminated 11-seed Cincinnati, 68-56, and 4-seed Texas Tech easily beat 5-seed BYU, 81-67, to advance to today's semis.
• In the Big East quarterfinals, 1-seed UConn destroyed 9-seed Xavier, 87-60, 7-seed Providence significantly helped its NCAA Tournament hopes by upsetting 2-seed Creighton, 78-73, 3-seed Marquette had a buzzer beater in regulation called off but beat 6-seed Villanova, 71-65 in OT, and 5-seed St. John's trounced 4-seed Seton Hall, 91-72 (in what may have been an NCAA Tournament elimination game), to advance to today's semifinals.
• In the Big West quarters, 3-seed Hawaii staved off 7-seed Cal State Northridge, 75-68, and 4-seed Long Beach State easily handled 5-seed UC Riverside, 86-67, to advance to today's semifinals.
• In the second half of the C-USA quarterfinals, 3-seed Western Kentucky dominated 6-seed New Mexico State, 89-69, and 5-seed UTEP beat 4-seed Liberty, 66-57, to advance to today's semifinals.
• In the second half of the MAAC quarters, 3-seed Marist held off 6-seed Niagara, 65-59, and 5-seed St. Peter's topped 4-seed Rider, 50-48, to advance to today's semifinals.
• In the miggity-miggity-miggity-miggity-miggity-miggity-MAC quarterfinals, 8-seed Kent State upset 1-seed Toledo, 67-59, 2-seed Akron dropped 7-seed Miami (OH), 75-63, 3-seed Ohio annihilated 6-seed Western Michigan, 82-55, and 5-seed Bowling Green topped 4-seed Central Michigan, 66-56, to advance to today's semis.
• In the second half of the MEAC quarterfinals, 6-seed Delaware State upset 3-seed South Carolina State, 71-58, and 4-seed Howard defeated 5-seed Morgan State, 78-65, to advance to today's semifinals.
• In the Mountain West quarterfinals, 1-seed Utah State needed OT to escape with an 87-75 win over 9-seed Fresno State, 7-seed Colorado State upended 2-seed Nevada, 84-78, 6-seed New Mexico beat 3-seed Boise State, 76-66, and 5-seed San Diego State topped 4-seed UNLV, 74-71 in OT, to advance to today's semifinals.
• In the Pac-12 quarterfinals, top seed Arizona crushed 9-seed USC, 70-49, 2-seed Washington State destroyed 10-seed Stanford, 79-62, 3-seed Colorado cruised to a win over 6-seed Utah, 75-58, and 4-seed Oregon survived 5-seed UCLA, 68-66, to advance to today's semifinals.
• In the second half of the SWAC quarters, 3-seed Texas Southern beat 6-seed Jackson State, 73-62, and 5-seed Bethune Cookman easily beat 4-seed Southern, 73-58, to advance to today's semifinals.
• In the wiggity-wiggity-wiggity-wiggity-wiggity-wiggity-WAC quarterfinals, 3-seed UT Arlington exploded for a 109-78 win over 6-seed Stephen F. Austin, and 4-seed Seattle crushed 8-seed Cal Baptist, 81-57, to advance to today's semifinals.
• In the Second Round of the AAC, 12-seed Wichita State upset 5-seed Memphis, 71-65, 11-seed Temple upset 6-seed SMU, 75-60, 7-seed North Texas topped 10-seed Tulane, 81-71, and 8-seed East Carolina held off 9-seed Tulsa, 84-79, to advance to today's quarterfinals.
• In the Second Round of the Big Ten, 5-seed Wisconsin massacred 12-seed Maryland, 87-56, 6-seed Indiana got a game-winning put-back layup with 5 seconds left to beat 11-seed Penn State, 61-59, 10-seed Ohio State upset 7-seed Iowa, 90-78, and 8-seed Michigan State downed 9-seed Minnesota, 77-67, to advance to today's quarterfinals.
• In the Second Round of the SEC, 5-seed South Carolina downed 12-seed Arkansas, 80-66, 6-seed Florida eked out a win over 11-seed Georgia, 85-80, 7-seed Texas A&M held off 10-seed Mississippi, 80-71, and 9-seed Mississippi State beat 8-seed LSU, 70-60, to advance to today's quarterfinals.
• No conference tournaments start today, and 15 conference tournaments have games today.
• No conference tournaments have title games today (the next title games will be tomorrow), 12 conference tournaments have semifinals today (ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big West, C-USA, MAAC, MAC, MEAC, Mountain West, Pac-12, SWAC, WAC), and 3 conference tournaments have quarterfinals today (AAC, Big Ten, SEC).
• Here are the teams still playing in the conference tournaments that have never been to the NCAA Tournament (not including teams who are ineligible for this year's NCAA Tournament):
• America East:  2-seed UMass Lowell
• MAAC:  1-seed Quinnipiac
• SWAC:  1-seed Grambling, 5-seed Bethune-Cookman
• Bubble teams that won yesterday (in conference tournaments):  Colorado, Colorado State, Michigan State, Mississippi State, New Mexico, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, Providence, St. John's, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Virginia
• Bubble teams that lost yesterday (in conference tournaments):  Boise State, Cincinnati, Iowa, Kansas State, Memphis, Nevada, Seton Hall, TCU, Utah, Villanova, Wake Forest
• Bubble teams that did not play yesterday (in conference tournaments) or whose conference tournaments have not yet started:  Florida Atlantic, Nebraska,  Northwestern, Princeton, South Florida
• Bubble teams whose regular seasons are done (and how they finished in their conference tournaments):  
• Boise State (lost in Mountain West quarterfinals)
• Cincinnati (lost in Big 12 quarterfinals)
• Drake (MVC champ)
• Indiana State (lost in MVC title game)
• Iowa (lost in Big Ten second round)
• James Madison (Sun Belt champ)
• Kansas State (lost in Big 12 quarterfinals)
• McNeese (Southland champ)
• Memphis (lost in AAC second round)
• Nevada (lost in Mountain West quarterfinals)
• Oklahoma (lost in Big 12 second round)
• Seton Hall (lost in Big East quarterfinals)
• Syracuse (lost in ACC second round)
• TCU (lost in Big 12 quarterfinals)
• Texas (lost in Big 12 second round)
• Utah (lost in Pac-12 quarterfinals)
• Villanova (lost in Big East quarterfinals)
• Wake Forest (lost in ACC quarterfinals)

With that, 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

-ACC

-Big 12

-Big East

-Big Ten

-Big West

-Conference USA

-MAAC

-MAC

-MEAC

-Mountain West

-Pac-12

-SEC

-SWAC

-WAC

Bids up for grabs today (all times Eastern)

-None

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

-AAC (March 17)

-ACC (March 16)

-America East (March 16)

-Atlantic 10 (March 17)

-Atlantic Sun:  Stetson (1)

-Big 12 (March 16)

-Big East (March 16)

-Big Sky:  Montana State (6; 2023)

-Big South:  Longwood (2; 2022)

-Big Ten (March 17)

-Big West (March 16)

-Coastal:  Charleston (7; 2023)

-Conference USA (March 16)

-Horizon:  Oakland (4; 2011)

-Ivy League (March 17)

-MAAC (March 16)

-MAC (March 16)

-MEAC (March 16)

-Missouri Valley:  Drake (7; 2023)

-Mountain West (March 16)

-Northeast Conference:  Wagner (2; 2003)

-Ohio Valley:  Morehead State (9; 2016)

-Pac-12 (March 16)

-Patriot League:  Colgate (7; 2003)

-SEC (March 17)

-Southern Conference:  Samford (3; 2000)

-Southland:  McNeese (3; 2002)

-Summit:  South Dakota State (7; 2022)

-Sun Belt:  James Madison (6; 2013)

-SWAC (March 16)

-WAC (March 16)

-West Coast:  St. Mary's (13; 2023)

Remaining Tournaments (all times are Eastern)

AAC (March 13-17; Fort Worth)

3/15 – Quarterfinals

1 p.m. (ESPN2) (1) South Florida vs. (8) East Carolina.  Predicted winner:  South Florida

3 p.m. (ESPN2) (4) UAB vs. (12) Wichita State.  Predicted winner:  UAB

7 p.m. (ESPNU) (2) Florida Atlantic vs. (7) North Texas.  Predicted winner:  Florida Atlantic

9 p.m. (ESPNU) (3) Charlotte vs. (11) Temple.  Predicted winner:  Charlotte

3/16 – Semifinals

3 p.m. (ESPN2) (1) South Florida vs. (4) UAB.  Predicted winner:  South Florida

5 p.m. (ESPN2) (2) Florida Atlantic vs. (3) Charlotte.  Predicted winner:  Florida Atlantic

3/17 – Finals

3:15 p.m. (ESPN) (1) South Florida vs. (2) Florida Atlantic.  Predicted winner:  Florida Atlantic

ACC (March 12-16; Washington, DC)

3/15 – Semifinals

7 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN2) (1) North Carolina vs. (4) Pittsburgh.  Predicted winner:  North Carolina

9:30 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN2) (10) NC State vs. (3) Virginia.  Predicted winner:  Virginia

3/16 – Finals

8:30 p.m. (ESPN) (1) North Carolina vs. (3) Virginia.  Predicted winner:  North Carolina

America East (March 9, 12, 16; campus of higher seed)

3/16 – Finals

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

Atlantic 10 (March 12-14, 16-17; Brooklyn)

3/16 – Semifinals

1 p.m. (CBSSN) (9) St. Joseph's vs. (5) VCU.  Predicted winner:  VCU

3:30 p.m. (CBSSN) (7) St. Bonaventure vs. (6) Duquesne.  Predicted winner:  Duquesne

3/17 – Finals

1 p.m. (CBS) (6) Duquesne vs. (5) VCU.  Predicted winner:  VCU

Big 12 (March 12-16; Kansas City)

3/15 – Semifinals

7 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN2) (1) Houston vs. (4) Texas Tech.  Predicted winner:  Houston

9:30 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN2) (2) Iowa State vs. (3) Baylor.  Predicted winner:  Baylor

3/16 – Finals

6 p.m. (ESPN) (1) Houston vs. (3) Baylor.  Predicted winner:  Houston

Big East (March 13-16; New York)

3/15 – Semifinals

5:30 p.m. (Fox) (1) UConn vs. (5) St. John's.  Predicted winner:  UConn

8 p.m. (FS1) (7) Providence vs. (3) Marquette.  Predicted winner:  Marquette

3/16 – Finals

6:30 p.m. (Fox) (1) UConn vs. (3) Marquette.  Predicted winner:  UConn

Big Ten (March 13-17; Minneapolis)

3/15 – Quarterfinals

12 p.m. (BTN) (1) Purdue vs. (8) Michigan State.  Predicted winner:  Michigan State

2:30 p.m. (BTN) (4) Northwestern vs. (5) Wisconsin.  Predicted winner:  Northwestern

6:30 p.m. (BTN) (2) Illinois vs. (10) Ohio State.  Predicted winner:  Illinois

9 p.m. (BTN) (3) Nebraska vs. (6) Indiana.  Predicted winner:  Indiana

3/16 – Semifinals

1 p.m. (CBS) (4) Northwestern vs. (8) Michigan State.  Predicted winner:  Northwestern

3:30 p.m. (CBS) (2) Illinois vs. (6) Indiana.  Predicted winner:  Indiana

3/17 – Finals

3:30 p.m. (CBS) (4) Northwestern vs. (6) Indiana.  Predicted winner:  Northwestern

Big West (March 13-16; Henderson, NV)

3/15 – Semifinals

9 p.m. (ESPN+) (1) UC Irvine vs. (4) Long Beach State.  Predicted winner:  UC Irvine

11:30 p.m. (ESPNU) (2) UC Davis vs. (3) Hawaii.  Predicted winner:  UC Davis

3/16 – Finals

9:30 p.m. (ESPN2) (1) UC Irvine vs. (2) UC Davis.  Predicted winner:  UC Irvine

Conference USA (March 12-16; Huntsville, AL)

3/15 – Semifinals

12:30 p.m. (CBSSN) (1) Sam Houston State vs. (5) UTEP.  Predicted winner:  Sam Houston State

3 p.m. (CBSSN) (7) Middle Tennessee State vs. (3) Western Kentucky.  Predicted winner:  Western Kentucky

3/16 – Finals

8:30 p.m. (CBSSN) (1) Sam Houston State vs. (3) Western Kentucky.  Predicted winner:  Louisiana Tech

Ivy League (March 16-17; New York)

3/16 - Semifinals

11 a.m. (ESPNU) (1) Princeton vs. (4) Brown.  Predicted winner:  Princeton

2 p.m. (ESPNews) (2) Yale vs. (3) Cornell.  Predicted winner:  Cornell

3/17 - Finals

12 p.m. (ESPN2) (1) Princeton vs. (3) Cornell.  Predicted winner:  Princeton

MAAC (March 12-16; Atlantic City, NJ)

3/15 – Semifinals

6:30 p.m. (ESPNews) (1) Quinnipiac vs. (5) St. Peter's.  Predicted winner:  Quinnipiac

9 p.m. (ESPNews) (2) Fairfield vs. (3) Marist.  Predicted winner:  Fairfield

3/16 – Finals

7:30 p.m. (ESPNU) (1) Quinnipiac vs. (2) Fairfield.  Predicted winner:  Quinnipiac

MAC (March 14-16; Cleveland)

3/15 – Semifinals

5 p.m. (CBSSN) (8) Kent State vs. (5) Bowling Green.  Predicted winner:  Bowling Green

7:30 p.m. (CBSSN) (2) Akron vs. (3) Ohio.  Predicted winner:  Akron

3/16 – Finals

7:30 p.m. (ESPN2) (2) Akron vs. (5) Bowling Green.  Predicted winner:  Akron

MEAC (March 13-16; Norfolk, VA)

3/15 – Semifinals

6 p.m. (ESPN+) (1) Norfolk State vs. (4) Howard.  Predicted winner:  Norfolk State

8 p.m. (ESPN+) (2) North Carolina Central vs. (6) Delaware State.  Predicted winner:  North Carolina Central

3/16 – Final

1:00 p.m. (ESPN2) (1) Norfolk State vs. (2) North Carolina Central.  Predicted winner:  Norfolk State

Mountain West (March 13-16; Paradise, NV)

3/15 – Semifinals

9:30 p.m. (CBSSN) (1) Utah State vs. (5) San Diego State.  Predicted winner:  San Diego State

11:59 p.m. (CBSSN) (7) Colorado State vs. (6) New Mexico.  Predicted winner:  Nevada

3/16 – Finals

6 p.m. (CBS) (2) Nevada vs. (5) San Diego State.  Predicted winner:  San Diego State

Pac-12 (March 13-16; Paradise, NV)

3/15 – Semifinals

8 p.m. (Pac-12 Network) (1) Arizona vs. (4) Oregon.  Predicted winner:  Arizona

10:30 p.m. (FS1) (2) Washington State vs. (3) Colorado.  Predicted winner:  Colorado

3/16 – Finals

9 p.m. (Fox) (1) Arizona vs. (3) Colorado.  Predicted winner:  Arizona

SEC (March 13-17; Nashville)

3/15 – Quarterfinals

1 p.m. (ESPN) (1) Tennessee vs. (9) Mississippi State.  Predicted winner:  Tennessee

3:30 p.m. (ESPN) (4) Auburn vs. (5) South Carolina.  Predicted winner:  Auburn

7 p.m. (SEC Network) (2) Kentucky vs. (7) Texas A&M.  Predicted winner:  Kentucky

9:30 p.m. (SEC Network) (3) Alabama vs. (6) Florida.  Predicted winner:  Alabama

3/16 – Semifinals

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

3:30 p.m. (ESPN) (2) Kentucky vs. (3) Alabama.  Predicted winner:  Alabama

3/17 – Finals

1 p.m. (ESPN) (3) Alabama vs. (4) Auburn.  Predicted winner:  Auburn

SWAC (March 13-16; Birmingham, AL)

3/15 – Semifinals

3 p.m. (ESPN+) (1) Grambling vs. (5) Bethune-Cookman.  Predicted winner:  Grambling

9:30 p.m. (ESPN+) (7) Alabama A&M vs. (3) Texas Southern.  Predicted winner:  Texas Southern

3/16 – Finals

9:30 p.m. (ESPNU) (1) Grambling vs. (3) Texas Southern.  Predicted winner:  Texas Southern

WAC (March 13-16; Paradise, NV)

3/15 – Semifinals

9 p.m. (ESPN+) (1) Grand Canyon vs. (4) Seattle.  Predicted winner:  Grand Canyon

11:30 p.m. (ESPN2/ESPNU) (2) Tarleton* vs. (3) UT Arlington.  Predicted winner:  Tarleton*

3/16 – Finals

11:30 p.m. (ESPN2) (1) Grand Canyon vs. (2) Tarleton*.  Predicted winner:  Grand Canyon

*Ineligible for the NCAA Tournament because still in transition period from D-II.  If Tarleton wins the tournament, Grand Canyon will get the automatic bid.