Today's song is David Bowie's glam rag "Rebel Rebel," in honor of 15-seed Ole Miss's win over 2-seed Alabama in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals. On top of that, a few more bubble teams lost, and three of the top four seeds in the Big Ten Tournament went down.
Yesterday was another day filled with a lot of close games. Out of the 34 games yesterday, 22 were decided by ten points or less, 13 were decided by five points or less, and we had two overtime games, including one that went to triple overtime.
And today we have 11 conference championship games and another 10 semifinal games.
Here's what happened yesterday and what we have to look forward to today:
- In the ACC semifinals, top seed Duke topped 5-seed Clemson, 73-61, and 2-seed Virginia crushed 3-seed Miami, 84-62, to advance to tonight's final. Both teams are locks for the NCAA Tournament. The Blue Devils will be playing in their 48th NCAA Tournament and 5th in a row, and the Cavaliers will be playing in their 27th and first since 2024.
- In the Big 12 semis, 1-seed Arizona got a jumper at the buzzer to beat 5-seed Iowa State, 82-80, and 2-seed Houston dominated 3-seed Kansas, 69-47, to advance to this evening's title game. Both teams are locks for the NCAA Tournament, and this could be a battle for a 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats will be playing in their 40th NCAA Tournament and 5th in a row, while the Cougars will be playing in their 27th and 8th in a row.
- In the Big East semifinals, top seed St. John's dropped 4-seed Seton Hall, 78-68, and 2-seed UConn disposed of 11-seed Georgetown, 67-51, to advance to tonight's championship game. Both teams are locks for the NCAA Tournament. The Red Storm will be playing in their 32nd NCAA Tournament and second in a row, and the Huskies will be playing in their 39th NCAA Tournament and 6th in a row.
- In the Big West semis, 1-seed UC Irvine handled 4-seed Cal State Northridge, 93-78, and 2-seed Hawaii sailed past 3-seed Cal State Fullerton, 78-63. When they face of in tonight's title game, the Anteaters will be seeking their 3rd NCAA Tournament berth and first since 2019, when they upset Kansas in the first round as a 14-seed, and the Rainbow Warriors will be seeking their 6th berth and first since 2016, when they upset Cal in the first round as a 13-seed.
- In the Conference USA semifinals, 2-seed Sam Houston held off 6-seed Kennesaw State, 79-73, and 4-seed Louisiana Tech made it past 9-seed Missouri State. When they play in tonight's final, the Bearkats will be playing for their 3rd trip to the Big Dance and first since 2010, and the Bulldogs will be playing for their 6th trip and first since 1991.
- In the miggity-miggity-miggity-miggity-miggity-miggity-MAC semifinals, 2-seed Akron beat rival 3-seed Kent State, 75-68, and 4-seed Toledo downed 8-seed UMass, 77-67. When they meet in tonight's championship game, the Zips will be seeking their 8th NCAA Tournament bid and third in a row, and the Rockets will be seeking their 5th bid and first since 1980.
- In the MEAC semis, top seed Howard cruised past 5-seed South Carolina State, 78-61, while 3-seed North Carolina beat 7-seed Delaware State, 59-53. When they face off in this afternoon's title game, the Bison will be playing for their 5th NCAA Tournament berth and first since 2024, and the Eagles will also be playing for their 5th berth and first since 2019.
- In the Mountain West semifinals, 1-seed Utah State triumphed over 5-seed Nevada, 79-66, and 2-seed San Diego State edged 3-seed New Mexico, 64-62. When they play each other in this evening's championship, the Aggies are likely a lock regardless and will be playing in their 26th NCAA Tournament and 4th in a row. The Aztecs likely need to win to go to the Big Dance, and they'll be playing for their 18th berth and 6th in a row.
- In the SWAC semis, 3-seed Southern bounced 2-seed Florida A&M, and 8-seed Prairie View A&M throttled 5-seed Alabama A&M, 74-55. When they play in tonight's final, the Jaguars will be playing for their 10th NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2016, and the Panthers will be playing for their 3rd appearance and first since 2019.
- In the wiggity-wiggity-wiggity-wiggity-wiggity-wiggity-WAC semifinals, 1-seed Utah Valley survived a scare, but ended up beating 4-seed UT-Arlington, 67-65, and 2-seed Cal Baptist bounced 3-seed Utah Tech, 86-72. Both the Wolverines and the Lancers will be playing for their first-ever NCAA Tournament berth!
- In the AAC quarterfinals, 5-seed Charlotte took out 4-seed UAB, 83-78, and 3-seed Tulsa topped 6-seed North Texas in a highly entertaining 90-84 triple overtime game, to advance to today's semifinals.
- In the A-10 quarters, top seed St. Louis survived 9-seed George Washington, 88-81, 2-seed VCU held off 7-seed Duquesne, 71-66, 3-seed St. Joseph's downed 6-seed Davidson, and 4-seed Dayton staved off 13-seed St. Bonaventure, 68-63, to advance to today's semifinals.
- In the Big Ten quarterfinals, 1-seed Michigan beat archrival 8-seed Ohio State, 71-67, 7-seed Purdue upset 2-seed Nebraska, 74-58, 6-seed UCLA upset 3-seed Michigan State, 88-84, and 5-seed Wisconsin fought past 4-seed Illinois in an exciting 91-88 OT game, to advance to today's semifinals.
- In the SEC quarters, top seed Florida avoided disaster with a 71-63 win over 9-seed Kentucky, 15-seed Mississippi continued its improbably run by beating 2-seed Alabama, 80-79, 3-seed Arkansas survived 11-seed Oklahoma, 82-79, and 4-seed Vanderbilt topped in-state rival 5-seed Tennessee, 75-68, to advance to today's semifinals.
- One conference tournament start today, and 16 conference tournaments have games today.
- 5 conference tournaments have semifinals today (AAC, A-10, Big Ten, Ivy, and SEC) and 11 conference tournaments have championship games until tomorrow (ACC, America East, Big 12, Big East, Big West, C-USA, MAC, MEAC, Mountain West, SWAC, WAC).
- Here are the teams that have never been to the NCAA Tournament (not including teams who are ineligible for this year's NCAA Tournament) that are still alive:
- WAC: 1-seed Utah Valley, 2-seed Cal Baptist
- Bubble teams that won yesterday (in conference tournaments): San Diego State, St. Louis, VCU
- Bubble teams that lost yesterday (in conference tournaments): New Mexico, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Seton Hall
- Bubble teams that have not yet started conference tournaments: South Florida
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 Ten
-Big West
-Conference USA
-Ivy League
-MAC
-MEAC
-Mountain West
-SEC
-SWAC
-WAC
Bids up for grabs today (all times Eastern)
-America East (11 a.m.; ESPN2): (2) Vermont at (1) UMBC
-MEAC (1 p.m.; ESPN2): (1) Howard vs. (3) North Carolina Central
-Big 12 (6 p.m.; ESPN): (1) Arizona vs. (2) Houston
-Mountain West (6 p.m.; CBS): (1) Utah State vs. (2) San Diego State
-Big East (6:30 p.m.; Fox): (1) St John's vs. (2) UConn
-SWAC (7:30 p.m.; ESPNU): (3) Southern vs. (8) Prairie View A&M
-MAC (8 p.m.; ESPN2): (2) Akron vs. (4) Toledo
-ACC (8:30 p.m.; ESPN): (1) Duke vs. (2) Virginia
-Conference USA (8:30 p.m.; CBSSN): (2) Sam Houston vs. (4) Louisiana Tech
-Big West (10 p.m.; ESPN2): (1) UC Irvine vs. (2) Hawaii
-WAC (11:59 p.m.; ESPN2): (1) Utah Valley vs. (2) Cal Baptist
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 15)
-ACC (March 14)
-America East (March 14)
-Atlantic 10 (March 15)
-Atlantic Sun: Queens (1)
-Big 12 (March 14)
-Big East (March 14)
-Big Sky: Idaho (5; 1990)
-Big South: High Point (2; 2025)
-Big Ten (March 15)
-Big West (March 14)
-Coastal: Hofstra (5; 2001)
-Conference USA (March 14)
-Horizon: Wright State (5; 2022)
-Ivy League (March 15)
-MAAC: Siena (7; 2010)
-MAC (March 14)
-MEAC (March 14)
-Missouri Valley: Northern Iowa (9; 2016)
-Mountain West (March 14)
-Northeast Conference: LIU (8; 2018)
-Ohio Valley: Tennessee State (3; 1994)
-Patriot League: Lehigh (6; 2012)
-SEC (March 15)
-Southern Conference: Furman (8; 2023)
-Southland: McNeese (5; 2025)
-Summit: North Dakota State (5; 2019)
-Sun Belt: Troy (4; 2025)
-SWAC (March 14)
-WAC (March 14)
-West Coast: Gonzaga (28; 2025)
Remaining Tournaments (all times are Eastern)
AAC (March 11-15; Birmingham)
3/14 – Semifinals
3 p.m. (ESPN2) (1) South Florida vs. (5) Charlotte. Predicted winner: South Florida
5:30 p.m. (ESPN2) (2) Wichita State vs. (3) Tulsa. Predicted winner: Wichita State
3/15 – Finals
3:15 p.m. (ESPN) (1) South Florida vs. (2) Wichita State. Predicted winner: Wichita State
ACC (March 10-14; Charlotte)
3/14 – Finals
8:30 p.m. (ESPN) (1) Duke vs. (2) Virginia. Predicted winner: Duke
America East (March 7, 10, 14; campus of higher seed)
3/14 – Finals
11 a.m. (ESPN2) (2) Vermont at (1) UMBC. Predicted winner: Vermont
Atlantic 10 (March 11-15; Pittsburgh)
3/14 – Semifinals
1 p.m. (CBSSN) (1) St. Louis vs. (4) Dayton. Predicted winner: St. Louis
3:30 p.m. (CBSSN) (2) VCU vs. (3) St. Joseph's. Predicted winner: VCU
3/15 – Finals
1 p.m. (CBS) (1) St. Louis vs. (2) VCU. Predicted winner: St. Louis
Big 12 (March 10-14; Kansas City)
3/14 – Finals
6 p.m. (ESPN) (1) Arizona vs. (2) Houston. Predicted winner: Houston
Big East (March 11-14; New York)
3/14 – Finals
6:30 p.m. (Fox) (1) St. John's v. (2) UConn. Predicted winner: UConn
Big Ten (March 10-15; Chicago)
3/14 – Semifinals
1 p.m. (CBS) (1) Michigan vs. (5) Wisconsin. Predicted winner: Michigan
3:30 p.m. (CBS) (6) UCLA vs. (7) Purdue. Predicted winner: UCLA
3/15 – Finals
3:30 p.m. (CBS) (1) Michigan vs. (6) UCLA. Predicted winner: Michigan
Big West (March 11-14; Henderson, NV)
3/14 – Finals
10 p.m. (ESPN2) (1) UC Irvine vs. (2) Hawaii. Predicted winner: UC Irvine
Conference USA (March 10-14; Huntsville, AL)
3/14 – Finals
8:30 p.m. (CBSSN) (2) Sam Houston vs. (4) Louisiana Tech. Predicted winner: Sam Houston
Ivy League (March 14-15; Ithaca, NY)
3/14 - Semifinals
11 a.m. (ESPNU) (1) Yale vs. (4) Cornell. Predicted winner: Yale
2 p.m. (ESPNews) (2) Harvard vs. (3) Penn. Predicted winner: Harvard
3/15 - Finals
12 p.m. (ESPN2) (1) Yale vs. (2) Harvard. Predicted winner: Yale
MAC (March 12-14; Cleveland)
3/14 – Finals
8 p.m. (ESPN2) (2) Akron vs. (4) Toledo. Predicted winner: Akron
MEAC (March 11-14; Norfolk, VA)
3/14 – Final
1:00 p.m. (ESPN2) (1) Howard vs. (3) North Carolina Central. Predicted winner: Howard
Mountain West (March 11-14; Paradise, NV)
3/14 – Finals
6 p.m. (CBS) (1) Utah State vs. (2) San Diego State. Predicted winner: Utah State
SEC (March 11-15; Nashville)
3/14 – Semifinals
1 p.m. (ESPN) (1) Florida vs. (4) Vanderbilt. Predicted winner: Florida
3:30 p.m. (ESPN) (3) Arkansas vs. (15) Mississippi. Predicted winner: Alabama
3/15 – Finals
1 p.m. (ESPN) (1) Florida vs. (3) Arkansas. Predicted winner: Florida
SWAC (March 9-14; Atlanta)
3/14 – Finals
7:30 p.m. (ESPNU) (3) Southern vs. (8) Prairie View A&M. Predicted winner: Florida A&M
WAC (March 11-14; Paradise, NV)
3/14 – Finals
11:59 p.m. (ESPN2) (1) Utah Valley vs. (2) Cal Baptist. Predicted winner: Utah Valley
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