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buddyrabrahams · 8 years ago

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6 biggest takeaways from Day 3 of the NCAA Tournament

A predictable first round has one direct result: better teams and more juice in the second round. College basketball fans would be treated to match-ups that they dreamed about when the brackets were revealed. Top seeds, previously unscathed, would be faced with tough tests in order to reach the Sweet Sixteen next weekend. Even if Cinderella didn’t show up to the ball, March would bring us Madness.

Day three of tournament play did not disappoint, with surprises and upsets across the slate, highlighted by the defending champs going down.

1.) Wisconsin confirms they were under-seeded, beats defending champs

Villanova entered this tournament as the top overall seed and the reigning national champions. The Wildcats had the swagger of a successful team, and the leadership and determination to steady themselves in tough moments. Yet, somehow, it did not come as an overwhelming shock when Villanova was beaten by Wisconsin in the second round of tournament play.

First off, Wisconsin was among the most under-seeded teams in the tournament. The committee’s placement of Minnesota and Maryland as a 5 and 6 seed, respectively, but the Badgers as an 8, was confounding (and led to loud complaints). Wisconsin started the season 21-3, then stumbled and lost 5 of 6 late in the season. Aside from that stretch, the Badgers always looked like a top-25 team. Even in the Big Ten Tournament, Wisconsin made a run to the title game. Serving this Badgers team to the No. 1 overall seed in just the second round was never a fair shake.

On top of that, Wisconsin proved to be a match-up nightmare for Villanova.

With a front court of Nigel Hayes and Ethan Happ, the Badgers’ ability to pound inside and stretch the Villanova defense was a key factor in the upset. Villanova’s rotation features only seven players, only one of whom is a legitimate big man, Darryl Reynolds. Other Villanova forwards, Mikal Bridges, Kris Jenkins, and Eric Pascall are versatile athletes, but not suited to stop Happ or Hayes.

The Badgers move forward with a major notch on their belt, added to a team that already has Final Four experience. No one in the East Region should be excited to see this Wisconsin team advance to New York.

2.) Gonzaga ends Northwestern’s dream run, with some controversy

After earning the school’s first ever tournament win, Northwestern was tasked with an upset bid of top-seeded Gonzaga. The Wildcats were outplayed and outworked for most of the game, appearing to be headed home. Northwestern got hot late, however, and mounted one last charge at the win.

In the midst of this push, Gonzaga center Zach Collins blocked a layup attempt late in the second half. As the Zags turned the ball back down the court, Northwestern coach Chris Collins went berserk on the sideline, storming on to the court, and was whistled for a technical foul. Video replays showed conclusively that the Gonzaga player’s hand was inserted in and through the rim when he made the block – an obvious goaltending call (video here).

The refs absolutely missed the call and cost Northwestern two points, without question. On the other hand, Coach Collins has to keep his composure in that spot, at least enough to not elicit the technical foul. No matter how wrong the call was, Collins went ahead and cost his team two more points (and possession) by entering the court.

Regardless of that play, Gonzaga was the better team all day. College basketball fans deserved to see if they could have held off the Wildcats’ run without the benefit of a wild official’s mistake.

3. Salt Lake City had a second referee controversy

Both West Region games played in Salt Lake City on Saturday featured controversial calls late in the game. First was the missed goaltending call in the Northwestern-Gonzaga we already covered, and then there was a call that affected the Arizona-St. Mary’s game late.

St. Mary’s was down 65-60 with 1:55 left and was trying to come back when they missed a 3-pointer and got called for a foul during the scrum for the rebound.

Yet another NCAA tournament game decided by a blown call http://pic.twitter.com/7lh7pfF9g8

— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) March 19, 2017

Jordan Hunter was called for a foul even though a replay showed he was pushed by Lauri Markkanen. That sent Arizona’s Allonzo Trier to the line, who made two free throws to make it 67-60 in favor of Arizona.

Instead of St. Mary’s retaining possession and making it potentially a one-possession game, Arizona extended their lead.

Just like what happened earlier in Salt Lake City, a bad call robbed fans of what could have been a better finish.

4.) Xavier smokes FSU, shows it’s dangerous

When a double-digit seed finds their way into the second round, they often find themselves in a blowout, facing a more difficult match-up. The opposite was the case in Orlando, where 11th seeded Xavier charged into the second round, dismantled 3rd seeded Florida State, and pulled off a second upset to reach the Sweet Sixteen.

The Musketeers were unfazed by the Seminoles athleticism, carving up Florida State’s zone defense for tons of points.

Xavier has blossomed into a dangerous team on both ends of the floor, despite struggles this season. After losing point guard Edmond Sumner to injury, the Muskies couldn’t beat anyone except Big East doormat DePaul for a stretch late in the season.

The players replacing Sumner have learned their roles and stepped up, like freshman Quentin Goodin.

5.) West Virginia’s press defense remains a force

Notre Dame’s offense is as good as any in America. Mike Brey has built a machine in South Bend, driven by open threes and Bonzie Colson dominating in the paint.

West Virginia turned that machine on its head, pressuring the Irish up and down the court for 40 straight minutes.

Notre Dame looked like a mess, with only two days to prep for the vaunted West Virginia press. The Irish struggled at times to even inbound the ball or cross half court. Numerous Notre Dame players found themselves trapped in corners throughout the day, stifling any chance to find a scoring chance.

West Virginia kept the Irish at bay with effective offense, including 5 of 6 shooting from outside the arc in the second half. Anytime Notre Dame looked to make and run and cut into the lead, the Mountaineers answered with a dagger.

The next team to face West Virginia will have to deal with its press, but at least will have more time to prepare for the match-up.

6.) Four seeds complete the sweep of five seeds

In the East and Midwest Regions, the fourth seeded teams faced interesting match-ups from fifth seeded teams, but we saw very different results. In the East, Florida routed Virginia in a game that was never close. The Gators shared the ball and attacked relentlessly, while swarming the Cavaliers offense. Virginia managed only 39 points — a disappointing showing in the final game for senior London Perrantes. Florida moves on to Madison Square Garden, with top seeded Villanova removed from their path to the Final Four.

Meanwhile in Milwaukee, it appeared Purdue was poised to match Florida’s blowout, as the Boilermakers jumped out to a 22-point lead after halftime. Deonte Burton led a second half charge from the Cyclones, erasing the entire deficit with a series of dunks and dribble drives, forcing Caleb Swanigan to defend on the perimeter.

Swanigan proved to be too much for Iowa State in the end. The monstrous sophomore finished with 20 points, 12 rebounds, and 7 assists. Most notably, when teammate Dakota Mathias missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw opportunity, Swanigan held off four Cyclones in the paint to grab the board and give Purdue another chance to seal the game. The Boilermaker big man is one of the toughest players to match-up with in this tournament and can affect the game in a litany of ways.

In addition to Florida, Purdue, and the aforementioned West Virginia, Butler was the other four seed to win. They got out to an early lead against Middle Tennessee State and never looked back, as they did not trail at all during the game.

from Larry Brown Sports http://ift.tt/2nmZU9q

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draftnews-blog · 9 years ago

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Printable 2017 America East Basketball Tournament Bracket

#AmericaEast Printable 2017 America East Basketball Tournament Bracket

The free, printable 2017 America East Men’s basketball tournament bracket is now available for fans to download, share, and use to follow the action this season. The America East men’s basketball tournament will take place on March 1st, 6th, and 11th, 2017. The tournament will be held on campus sites at the home court of the team with the highest seed throughout the tournament. The overall winner…

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junker-town · 6 years ago

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March Madness predictions 2019: Duke wins it all, Buffalo crashes the Final Four

Don’t overcomplicate this: College basketball’s most talented team is going to win the national championship.

If you just care about the picks and nothing about the explanations, then this can be a short read.

Here’s my full bracket:

If you’re looking for a justification of these soon to be largely incorrect predictions, then I’m willing to play ball.

East Region

Is there anyone outside of East Lansing who doesn’t have Duke coming out of the East? The Blue Devils would have been the heavy favorites in any draw they could have received, but this route seems like it will provide especially little resistance.

Point guard Justin Robinson is expected to be back for Virginia Tech, which helps the Hokies take down upset-minded Liberty in the second round and advance to the Sweet 16. The Flames advance to the second round with the token 12/5 upset of Mississippi State that everyone sees coming.

In the bottom half of the bracket, let’s use some recent trends to help us pick who’s going to advance.

At least one at-large team from the First Four has won at least one game in the main draw of the tournament since the advent of the First Four in 2011. That trend holds in 2019 as the winner of Temple/Belmont (probably Belmont) takes care of an LSU team that has too many distractions to make it out of the first weekend.

Everyone loves the top two lines of this year’s tournament, and with good reason. The top eight teams in college basketball appear to be vastly superior to the rest of the country. Even so, at least one 2-seed has been knocked out before the second weekend of 21 of the last 22 tournaments. I’ll take that stat, couple it with the fact that recent years have all seen a middling team from the ACC that wasn’t particularly well thought of heading into the Dance get hot and win a couple games, and predict that Louisville beats Michigan State for the second time this season and marches on to the Sweet 16.

In the Elite Eight we get the “sexy” rematch of the Duke miracle comeback game from February. Round two is far less interesting, as the Blue Devils beat Louisville by a billion and move on to Minneapolis.

West Region

The West typically winds up being the region where things get crazy, and the potential is certainly there for that to be the case again in 2019.

Let me start off by saying this: I am not a Gonzaga hater. I think the Zags are really, really good, and even labeled them as the team most likely to win the national title three weeks ago. Having said all that ... Syracuse does funky things to really good teams in March. It’s the zone. The zone lies to you. It tricks you. It makes you believe you’re something you aren’t.

If Gonzaga can figure out the zone in round two — or better yet, if Baylor beats Syracuse in round one — I think they’ve got a terrific shot to win the region. I’m predicting that they won’t, and that people who thought the Zags were a fraud all year will feel irrationally vindicated. I don’t like it, but March is cruel.

Marquette and Florida State both get pushed in the first round by really good double-digit seeds, but eventually make it to the second round in one piece. The Seminoles’ size and superior defense carry them past Markus Howard and the Golden Eagles.

Things get crazy at the bottom, where Northern Kentucky takes care of trendy Final Four pick Texas Tech in the first round and opens things up for Buffalo. Nevada, a trendy Final Four pick themselves heading into the season, wins a 7/2 game for the second straight year and marches on to the Sweet 16.

The wildest March Madness fact currently going is that at least one team seeded No. 7 or worse has made the Final Four in every year since 2012. I don’t think that trend holds in 2019, but I do think we come close. Buffalo takes care of Nevada and then stuns Florida State to become the second mid-major in as many seasons to crash the season’s final weekend.

South Region

Until Virginia proves it can carry its regular season success over into March, their region is the one people are going to get the most creative with when it comes to picking a champion. I think this is finally the year that happens. The Cavaliers have a fairly friendly draw, and the ghosts of madness past seem to be the only things that could keep them from playing their way into at least the second weekend.

Everyone seems to like Oregon over Wisconsin, which means the Badgers are going to get the job done and stop the red hot Ducks in round one. The upset that does happen is right below them, where UC Irvine — which rolled through the Big West tournament — takes care of a Kansas State that will likely be playing without star Dean Wade (or at least without a 100% Dean Wade).

Chalk reigns supreme in the bottom half of the bracket until Villanova’s pedigree kicks in and the Wildcats pull off a second round upset of third-seeded Purdue. Jay Wright and company pull an even bigger upset two days later against second-seeded Tennessee.

It only feels right that Virginia’s “getting over the hump” moment comes against the program that was previously the most synonymous with “not being able to win the big one.” The Cavaliers take care of Villanova in the Elite Eight, and Tony Bennett and Wright share an extended handshake where both look equally handsome.

Midwest Region

Here’s another region where everyone loves the 12/5 upset, but not enough people are paying attention to the 13/4. While the 12-seeds get the most love for their Cinderella efforts, at least one 13 seed has won a game in the tournament in eight of the last 11 years. It happened twice last year, and it’s happening twice again this year. Northeastern, a team that dealt with injuries for much of the season but is healthy now and perfectly fits the profile of a March Cinderella, takes care of Kansas and puts an end to the bizarre season of the preseason No. 1.

After hanging triple digits on Iona in round one (book it), North Carolina gets a tougher than expected test from Utah State in the second round. The Heels make the plays necessary to avoid a massive upset there, and then run away from SEC champion Auburn in the Sweet 16.

Kentucky gets a similar scare from Fletcher Magee and Wofford in the second round, but ultimately advances to the Sweet 16 for the sixth time in seven seasons. There they hammer Iowa State, a bipolar team with loads of talent that seemed to find its footing last week in Kansas City. The Cyclones upset Houston — which deserved a friendlier draw — in round two before running into the Wildcat buzz-saw.

The rematch that everyone wants to see in the regional final happens, as Kentucky beats UNC for the second time this season in dramatic fashion. The roles from 2017 are reversed as Keldon Johnson splashes a jumper in Luke Maye’s face just before the final horn.

Final Four

Buffalo keeps things interesting against Duke for approximately five minutes before reality sets in. Virginia frustrates Kentucky all night long with its Pack Line defense and wins a brutally uneventful game that America hates.

Round three between Duke and Virginia goes the same way the first two rounds went, as the Blue Devils are in control of a competitive enough game from start to finish, and wind up winning by a comfortable margin. Zion Williamson and company cement their legacy as one of the most memorable teams in recent college basketball history.

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junker-town · 8 years ago

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March Madness bracket 2017: Predictions for Sweet 16 and Elite Eight

My original bracket predictions were terrible. Let’s try to do better this time (no promises).

My bracket predictions haven’t always been trash, I swear. As a high school junior, back in March of 2004, I nailed the entire Final Four to win the school pool. I will honor Ben Gordon’s baggy undershirt forever and will ride for Luke Schenscher to this day because of it.

In 2014, I was was in my first year on the college basketball beat here. I got everything right on the opening Thursday and kept the streak running into the late afternoon on Friday. This included calling Mercer’s upset of Duke, and it prompted perhaps the only nice Internet comment I’ve ever received.

I am stating this up front because if you saw my predictions for this year, you know they were straight garbage. I like to pick upsets in the early rounds and there were very few of them this year. I’m blaming all those late nights watching Cam Oliver dunk on folks for my Nevada Sweet 16 call. In the end, I have no one to blame but myself.

With the first weekend officially in the books, the tournament resets. That means our predictions do, too. After thoroughly humiliating myself at the start of this thing, I will try to do better. No promises, though.

East

Everyone in the world had either Villanova or Duke in the Final Four. Instead, we’re left with Wisconsin, Florida, South Carolina and Baylor. This is the region of mayhem and every team left appears to be on somewhat equal footing.

Florida is the favorite here according to KenPom. The Gators rank No. 3 overall and just embarrassed Virginia in the second round, but they have a tough matchup against Wisconsin. Bronson Koenig is playing great, Nigel Hayes is locked in and Ethan Happ continues to be one of America’s best centers.

We’re rolling with the Badgers here.

The next game, South Carolina vs. Baylor, can also go either way. It’s hard to expect the Gamecocks to continue the hot shooting they had in the second half against Duke so let’s go with Baylor.

Wisconsin over Baylor to put the Badgers back in the Final Four.

West

This region always appeared to be set for an Arizona vs. Gonzaga collision course, and we’re still on track for that. I said Arizona over Gonzaga in my original bracket, so there’s no reason to change it now.

It pains me to pick against my man Przemek Karnowski. I published feature on his return from a career-threatening injury on Thursday. Everything about him is delightful and I hope he prospers for eternity.

Midwest

Kansas was my original title pick, and I will stick with the Jayhawks. But I have to say: I’m scared. KU’s weakness all season has been in the middle and Purdue happens to have the best big man in the country.

Caleb Swanigan is a monster and he will likely have his way with Kansas. I’m just hoping the Jayhawks can hit more threes and continue their trend of winning close games.

We’ll pick Michigan over Oregon in the other game, because I’m never picking against Michigan again. Unless they’re playing Frank Mason and Josh Jackson. Jayhawks to the Final Four.

South

The South was always going to be the most entertaining region. It’s lived up the hype so far and it’s only going to get better.

UCLA vs. Kentucky was one of the best games of the regular season and the rematch should be every bit as good. I had Wichita State over Kentucky in my bracket, but alas, the world isn’t fair and the Shockers lost another close one. Still, the Bruins were my Final Four pick and I will stick with them.

UNC over Butler, obviously. UCLA vs. North Carolina could be another classic, but I’ll roll with Lonzo Ball.

So: three of my Final Four teams are still alive even within my trash bracket. I’ll stick with Kansas winning it all and we’ll put Arizona — playing in front of their home crowd — in the title game to replace the departed Villanova Wildcats.

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junker-town · 8 years ago

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NCAA tournament 2017: The best and worst of everything from day 1

If you missed anything from the opening Thursday of the NCAA tournament, we've got you covered.

It wasn’t the chalkiest opening Thursday in the history of the NCAA tournament, but it was close. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t fun.

While a handful of games that came down to the final minute and two double digit seeds punching their ticket to Saturday might not have been enough to satiate the hunger of the guy at work who kept saying “I thought this was supposed to be March Madness,” it was still better than just about every other day of the year on the sports calendar.

For 12 straight hours we got to watch 32 of the best college basketball teams in America go at it in the most ruthless, unforgiving and exciting postseason this country has to offer. That formula is never going to result in a bad day.

Here’s the best and the worst of everything that went down.

5 BEST GAMES

1. (8) Northwestern 68, (9) Vanderbilt 66 (West)

After waiting thee billion years or whatever to play their first NCAA tournament game, it’s only fitting that Northwestern’s first foray into the big dance was a highly competitive contest with a remarkably bizarre finish.

We don’t have the space here to rehash the entire thing, so let’s fast forward to the final 96 seconds, because that’s where things got really fun.

After trailing by 15 points with 13:24 to play, Vanderbilt staged a furious rally that allowed it to claim a 63-62 advantage with just 1:36 to go. The Commodores had not held the lead since the score was 5-4.

Between that point and the 18 second mark, the lead would change hands four times between the two teams. Included in that sequence were made free-throws by Northwestern big man Derek Pardon, who gave the Wildcats a 65-64 advantage with 26 seconds to play. A 52.0 percent free-throw shooter on the season heading into the game, Pardon would hit all six of his attempts in the game’s final four minutes.

Following Pardon’s free-throws, Vanderbilt’s Riley LaChance responded with a nice driving lay-up to swing the lead back in the Commodores’ favor with just 18 seconds to go. Then, inexplicable disaster.

Not realizing what the score was and being confused when coach Bryce Drew pointed at Northwestern’s Bryant McIntosh, Vanderbilt junior guard Matthew Fisher-Davis shocked everyone by intentionally fouling McIntosh, who shoots 86.1 percent from the stripe. McIntosh made both, and LaChance misfired on a deep three-pointer in the final seconds to seal the deal.

Obviously, all the talk in the immediate aftermath was surrounding the foul. Fisher-Davis admitted that he didn’t know the score of the game, and referred to his foul as some variation of a “dumb mistake” to at least three different reporters.

Fisher-Davis in Vandy locker room didn't offer a great explanation other than: "I made a dumb-ass foul."

— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) March 16, 2017

The bizarre finish did not, however, completely distract fans from the fact that Northwestern is still undefeated all-time in the NCAA tournament. It’s a mark that’s destined to stand for at least another 24 hours before the Wildcats take on top-seeded Gonzaga.

2. (5) Notre Dame 60, (12) Princeton 58 (West)

College basketball fans have lucked out in recent years when it comes to the quality of the first game to tip on opening Thursday. This year was no exception, as Notre Dame and Princeton played the sort of clean, efficient and competitive game that you would expect to see from two programs that have built their reputation on those characteristics.

The Fighting Irish, the only team in the tournament that has been to a regional final in each of the last two years, led for almost the entire game, but made things very interesting at the end. Clinging to a narrow lead in the game’s final minute, Notre Dame point guard Matt Farrell uncharacteristically missed both a short jumper and a free-throw to give the Tigers the ball down one with a chance to win.

Instead of going with a back cut like the one they used to beat UCLA in 1996, the Tigers settled for an outside jumper like the one the was blocked by Alonzo Mourning of top-seeded Georgetown in 1989. The result was closer to the latter one.

Notre Dame holds on! #MarchMadness http://pic.twitter.com/dSXHx58M4p

— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) March 16, 2017

After the game, Cannady said he thought for a moment that he was about to become a March Madness legend.

"I looked at the rim and when it went out of my hand, I thought it was good," said Cannady. "But it didn't go in. It happens when you take those kinds of shots."

Cannady finished the game just 2-of-10 from beyond the arc for Princeton, which finished its season with a 23-7 record. Notre Dame will face fourth-seeded West Virginia in what should be a terrific clash of styles in the early game on Saturday.

3. (5) Virginia 76, (12) UNC-Wilmington 71 (East)

With Isaiah Wilkins sidelined because of an illness and UNC-Wilmington making everything it was throwing up from the outside, it appeared for a moment in the first half that Virginia was destined to become the latest in the long line of 12/5 upset victims. Instead, London Perrantes stepped up like senior leaders are supposed to in March, and Marial Shayok came off the bench and played the game of his life.

Trailing 28-14 with just a little over six minutes to play, Perrantes and Shayok went to work. They fueled a vicious 16-1 rally that allowed the Cavaliers to carry a 30-29 advantage into the locker room, and stun a UNCW team that looked like it never fully recovered from the rally. Virginia led for the vast majority of the second half, although the Seahawks were always within striking distance.

Perrantes scored 19 of his game-high 24 points in the second. Shayok, meanwhile, poured in a career-high 23. His biggest basket came on a beautiful bank shot with just 26 seconds to play that allowed Virginia to stretch a two point lead to four. UNCW would throw the ball away moments later, all but sealing their fate.

The biggest question for Wilmington now becomes the future of head coach Kevin Keatts, who has surfaced as a potential candidate for virtually every coaching vacancy in college basketball right now. If those was Keatts’ final game with the Seahawks, he will have left the program in a much better place than he found it. UNCW hadn’t won a conference title in a decade before Keatts arrived, and had produced just one winning season over that same time span. In three years under his guidance, the program produced three regular season conference championships, and made back-to-back trips to the NCAA tournament, losing close games to a pair of ACC powers (Duke in 2016 and Virginia in 2017).

4. (8) Wisconsin 84, (9) Virginia Tech 74 (East)

Don’t let the final score fool you. Before Virginia Tech went ice gold in the game’s final minute and continued to foul unnecessarily, this was a contest where the two teams were rarely separated by more than four points.

Wisconsin was able to win it thanks in large part to the play of perennial March superhero Bronson Koenig. The senior guard who beat Xavier at the buzzer in the second round of last season’s tournament hit a school-record eight 3-pointers and scored 28 points. Fellow veteran Nigel Hayes chipped in 16.

Wisconsin’s 12 wins in the NCAA tournament over the last four years are more than anybody else in the country, They get reigning national champion and the tournament’s overall No. 1 seed, Villanova, on Saturday.

And yes, Buzz Williams sweat a lot and lost his jacket before the 10 minute mark of the first half. Congratulations if you had the under. Always take the under.

5. (3) Florida State 86, (14) Florida Gulf Coast 80 (West)

Florida State controlled this one for most of the second half, but it’s still getting the nod over West Virginia-Bucknell because of how enjoyable the style of play was. Both teams had athletes and scorers all over the court, and all those athletes and scorers had ample opportunities to showcase all that they’re capable of.

You might translate that last sentence as “both teams were playing lackluster defense,” but whatever. It was enjoyable, and I appreciated it even more since the game was being played during the final session of a long day.

The only thing that would have made the experience more aesthetically pleasing would have been if FGCU’s high-flying -- and weird free-throw shooting — Demetris Morant hadn’t gone down with an injury during the second half. With Morant out, the Eagles seemed out of sorts on both ends of the court, but leading scorer Brandon Goodwin did enough to keep them from falling too far behind the much larger Seminoles.

Goodwin scored a game-high 28 points for FGCU, but he also took 27 shots and turned the ball over five times. The best player on the court was Florida State’s Dwayne Bacon, who turned in 29 points on 11 of 17 shooting and nine rebounds as well. Bacon’s play, as well as FSU’s superior size, proved to be an insurmountable combination for Dunk City. Florida State out-rebounded FGCU 37-19, and also blocked nine shots to the Eagles’ one.

3 TEAMS THAT WON IT THE BEST

1. Middle Tennessee

If we’re talking in literal terms based on the work of the Selection Committee, 12th-seeded Middle Tennessee defeating fifth-seeded Minnesota was the first upset of the 2017 NCAA tournament. But can we really call it an “upset” when the Blue Raiders were favored to win in Las Vegas, and when seemingly everyone had them advancing in their brackets?

None of that changes the fact that Kermit Davis’ team lived up to the hype and then some on Thursday. Four different MT players scored in double figures, and from the opening tip on, the double-digit seed out of Conference USA looked like the power conference squad with a single number next to their name. The Blue Raiders dominated the game from start to finish, and they did so without getting a particularly solid effort from C-USA Player of the Year JaCorey Williams.

This isn’t the Middle Tennessee team that stunned Michigan State a year ago. This squad is much, much better. It’s insane to think that they were likely one conference tournament loss a week ago away from not even being invited to participate in this event.

2. Florida

We love to praise the underdog, but too often we don’t throw enough time and energy in the direction of the teams who fend their “us against the world” opponents off.

Playing without the services of big man John Egbunu and going up against an ETSU team with a number of veteran athletes, Florida was a trendy upset pick during the first half of this week. While they received an ample scaring in the first half, the Gators ultimately composed themselves at the break and pulled away from the Buccaneers in the second half like a top four seed is supposed to.

Florida won the game by 15 points despite a horrendous 1 for 11 shooting effort from star guard KeVaughn Allen. That can’t happen again if the Gators want to keep playing for at least another week.

3. Iowa State

Saint Mary’s could have easily landed in this spot as well, but we’re going with Iowa State because the Cyclones held onto more of their sizable halftime advantage than the Gaels did.

Monte Morris has had a remarkable college career, and he clearly doesn’t want it to end this week. The one true point god scored 19 points, dished out eight assists, and also snagged eight rebounds to lead the Cyclones to an 84-73 win over another dangerous 12 seed in Nevada.

Love this stat: Monte Morris could record 59 straight turnovers w/out an assist and still set NCAA career assist-to-turnover ratio record.

— CJ Moore (@CJMooreBR) March 14, 2017

As a team, Iowa State shot 55.6 percent from the field and assisted on 17 of its 30 made baskets. They also connected on 8 of their 19 attempts from beyond the arc.

If they look as good against Purdue as they did Thursday night, then Iowa State over Kansas (assuming the Jayhawks win their first two games) figures to become something of a trendy Sweet 16 upset pick. Since they already beat the Jayhawks in Lawrence this year, it stands to reason that the Cyclones wouldn’t be overwhelmed by the prospects of facing KU in Kansas City.

3 BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENTS

1. The No. 1 seeds

Both Villanova and Gonzaga allowed their 16 seeds to race out to early leads, and both held very slim advantages at halftime — ‘Nova by 1 and the Zags by 4. They both won by 20, but anyone who watched a chunk of either of their games knows the truth.

It’s disappointing to see that type of opening round effort from both teams, but for different reasons.

For Villanova, they know that they didn’t win a national title last season because they were the most talented team in the field. They know they won it because they worked as hard as any team they played, they were a team where everyone understood their roles, and they had multiple players get hot at the perfect time. If they want to repeat, they have to know that meeting the initial part of that formula is step one.

For Gonzaga, it’s a little simpler. You know that every other person watching this tournament thinks you’re a fraud. You know that the last time you were a No. 1 seed you struggled in your first game and got beat in your second. With that being the case, how can you not come out wanting to set the world on fire? And maybe that was the issue; maybe this team was pressing because they were so desperate to prove their worth under the brightest of lights.

Ultimately, both teams won by about the average margin that a No. 1 seed wins its first game by. And ultimately, both teams will likely be fine and move on to the tournament’s second weekend. That doesn’t mean they weren’t disappointing on Thursday though.

2. Winthrop

It feels wrong to classify a 13 seed who lost to a No. 4 seed by 12 as “disappointing,” but I really thought Winthrop would beat, or at least hang with Butler right until the end. Instead, the Bulldogs seemed to have the game well in hand from the game’s opening minutes on, and cruised to a 76-64 win.

I’ll miss you the most, Keon Johnson.

3. Maryland

This also feels wrong, but only because I didn’t expect enough from Maryland for them to be overly disappointing. They’re here because they were a No. 6 seed that lost by 11 to Xavier, another team that I didn’t expect very much from heading into this tournament.

Purdue and Wisconsin saved “The Big Ten” from occupying this space by itself. So, you know, maybe send them a quick note when you have a few spare minutes. Let ‘em know their work didn’t go unappreciated.

ALL-DAY 1 TEAM

Devin Robinson, Florida

The junior forward matched a career-high by scoring 24 points in Florida’s 80-65 win over Winthrop. He also grabbed seven rebounds and blocked a pair of shots. His effort was even more vital with leading scorers KeVaughn Allen and Canyon Barry both having off games.

Bryant McIntosh, Northwestern

In addition to hitting the game-winning free-throws, McIntosh scored a game-high 25 points to go with four rebounds and three assists. He was 10 of 16 from the field and knocked down 3 of 5 from beyond the arc.

Caleb Swanigan, Purdue

The numbers were relatively pedestrian for him: 16 points, 14 rebounds and four assists in Purdue’s 80-70 win over Vermont. But Biggie gets the nod here because his 27th double-double of the year set a new single season Big Ten record.

Bronson Koenig, Wisconin

Tied a school record by drilling eight 3-pointers and scored a game-high 28 points to lead the Badgers past Virginia Tech.

Marial Shayok, Virginia

If Shayok doesn’t score 23 points and play the best overall game of his college career to date, then Virginia’s season is more than likely finished right now.

5 DAY ONE JEERS

1. Missed dunks

If you’re gonna miss, miss cool. Don’t do what these three guys did.

Minnesota’s Amir Coffey:

Florida Gulf Coast’s Brandon Goodwin:

So close. #MarchMadness http://pic.twitter.com/UCSA7Xrj4K

— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) March 17, 2017

Villanova’s Donte DiVincenzo (twice!):

Lotta people watchin’ these games, guys. Layups are safe.

2. Turnovers

One of the prevailing themes of day one of the dance was turnovers. You expected a team like Bucknell to throw the ball away (at least) 15 times against West Virginia’s trademark pressure. What you didn’t expect were things like Villanova’s mostly unforced 13 giveaways against Mount St. Mary’s or the 32 combined turnovers between Florida and East Tennessee State.

Let’s tighten it up, gents.

3. Demetris Morant’s free-throw style

The kid’s a tremendous player and I hate that he got injured Thursday night, but man, what is this?

If this were working for him then it would be a cool little idiosyncrasy like Canyon Barry’s underhanded style. But Morant shoots just 63.5 percent from the line, which means it’s just bad.

4. The lack of upsets

Sure, this is most basic complaint possible, but that doesn’t mean it’s not valid. Thursday gave just just two higher-seeded teams advancing, a number which matches the record low for a first round day over the tournament’s last decade.

Also, zero teams won that were underdogs in their respective game by more than two points. That hadn’t occurred on an opening Thursday or Friday of the tournament since all the way back in 2000.

So that just means we’re geared up for complete madness on Friday, right? Right?

Don’t make it weird. Just give us the upsets.

5. Players being hit in the face with balls

First, there was West Virginia’s Elijah Macon, who appears to have had the unfortunate foresight to be able to see what fate had in store for him moments before his moneymaker got rocked.

Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004) http://pic.twitter.com/FDucH6e9k1

— SB Nation (@SBNation) March 16, 2017

Then there was this sequence in FGCU-Florida State, in which the Eagles went from potentially making it a one possession game to giving up ac crucial, momentum-shifting dunk ... all thanks to an inadvertent face pass.

Missing dunks and/or shooting awkward free-throws might actually be the better route.

BONUS JEER:

Whichever reporter led off Villanova’s postgame press conference with this line of questioning.

“Don’t think of me as like a lame, old reporter. I’m like a cool reporter. I was drunk the whole time I was in college. Hey is Crazy Larry still workin’ the door over at McFinnigan’s? Never heard of McFinnigan’s? Ahhh, you gotta get out more, bro. Catcha at the open p on Fri.”

5 DAY ONE CHEERS

1. Everything about Northwestern’s victory celebration

From Julia Louis-Dreyfus to Doug Collins to Chris Collins getting showered with water to Pat Fitzgerald somehow being more excited than anybody, the whole thing was great to follow.

The best part of the celebration though? Probably the official NU account ethering Skip Bayless.

Breathe it in.

2. The state of Indiana

While the Hoosiers were busy getting rid of Creepy McLosestoomuch, their in-state brethren were bagging bodies in the NCAA tournament.

Notre Dame bested Princeton, Purdue won its first tournament game since 2012 by taking down Vermont, and Butler rolled over Winthrop. This could all make the idle conversation between the four programs a little awkward at next year’s Crossroads Classic.

3. Sensual dancing VCU band man

I long to be, is it wrong to be ...

People have tried to tell me that’s a mellophone, but honestly that sounds made up. All I know is I like the dancing. It’s also all I care about. The dancing.

4. Mike White’s secret love of Migos

Florida players came onto the court before their game against East Tennessee State in an obvious uproar over something that they had found hilarious. The reporters picked up on this, and during the postgame press conference they asked Devin Robinson and Kevarrius Hayes what the deal was.

They didn’t know how to respond at first.

morgantmoriarty: Mike White/Migos Tru TV Inside March Madness https://t.co/h1WTOwD6z1 http://pic.twitter.com/8ahBDqEQOh

— FanSportsClips (@FanSportsClips) March 17, 2017

The best part is the “you guys can throw me under the bus.”

Keep pipin’ it up, coach.

5. The FSU cameraman

If you’re going to get absolutely trucked by a major college athlete, you had better get a decent shot out of the experience. This guy did, and he was very proud of it.

BONUS CHEER:

Jay Wright spending some time in the Bucknell locker room after their loss to West Virginia.

Coach Jay Wright '83 addresses the team in the locker room after the game. Great to have his support! http://pic.twitter.com/SJqQGiDgj1

— Bucknell Athletics (@Bucknell_Bison) March 16, 2017

The Bucknell grad reportedly wanted to share with the team how proud he was watching their effort against West Virginia.

DOUBLE BONUS CHEER:

Vincent Edwards breaking ankles.

If you’re going to shed the label of tournament underachiever, you may as well do it in style.

3 BEST DAY ONE DUNKS

1. Calvin Hermanson, Saint Mary’s

Saint Mary's trying to run away with this one! #MarchMadness http://pic.twitter.com/2Ro2FJWrIl

— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) March 17, 2017

VCU just got dunked on by a dude named Calvin. Saint Mary's def. VCU via KO. http://pic.twitter.com/b8gJE8soc7

— Troy Machir (@TroyMachir) March 17, 2017

2. Dwayne Bacon, Florida State

3. Zach LeDay, Virginia Tech

Zach LeDay. Anotha one. http://pic.twitter.com/rb1TSa2lRk

— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 17, 2017

5 BEST DAY ONE IMAGES

1. The agony and the ecstasy.

http://pic.twitter.com/Dv7au8hfJ4

— Hector Diaz (@iamHectorDiaz) March 16, 2017

2. Nervous sports dad always know not to celebrate until that clock hits zero.

3. Rick Pitino guarding the in-bounder this time.

Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

4. The North Dakota Fighting Hawks showing appreciation for their fans after their first NCAA tournament game.

Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

5. So much reaching, no connecting.

Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

5 NOTABLE QUOTES FROM DAY ONE:

1. "I didn't know the score, to be honest. I Saw Coach Drew point at my man, he was just telling me my matchup, and I got it confused with the foul. That was it." —Vanderbilt’s Matthew Fisher-Davis

2. "That 1-16 game, someone else can have that from here on out. I've served my time in it. I'll go ahead and land somewhere else." —Gonzaga head coach Mark Few

3. ��Well, we weren’t very good today.” —West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins

4. "We think we belong on a national stage. I knew we'd play well and we did so today." —Middle Tennessee coach Kermit Davis

5. "We gave everybody a show, right? We escaped. We've been in a lot of games like that where game situations need a big defensive stop. We've been there. I'm proud we're still alive." —Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey

FULL FRIDAY SCHEDULE

I found all of this extremely enjoyable, and my vote is that we do it again.

Michigan vs. Oklahoma State: 12:15, CBS (Indianapolis)

Baylor vs. New Mexico State: 12:40 p.m., TruTV (Tulsa)

Arkansas vs. Seton Hall: 1:30 p.m., TNT (Greenville)

Oregon vs. Iona: 2 p.m., TBS (Sacramento)

Louisville vs. Jacksonville State: approx. 2:45 p.m., CBS (Indianapolis)

SMU vs. Providence/USC: approx. 3:10 p.m., TruTV (Tulsa)

UNC vs. Texas Southern: approx. 4 p.m., TNT (Greenville)

Creighton vs. Rhode Island: approx. 4:30 p.m., TBS (Sacramento)

Kansas vs. NC Central/UC Davis: 6:50 p.m., TNT (Tulsa)

Dayton vs. Wichita State: 7:10 p.m., CBS (Indianapolis)

Duke vs. Troy: 7:20 p.m., TBS (Greenville)

Cincinnati vs. Kansas State/Wake Forest: 7:27 p.m., TruTV (Sacramento)

Miami vs. Michigan State: approx. 9:20 p.m., TNT (Tulsa)

Kentucky vs. Northern Kentucky: approx. 9:40 p.m., CBS (Indianapolis)

South Carolina vs. Marquette: approx. 9:50 p.m., TBS (Greenville)

UCLA vs. Kent State: approx. 9:57 p.m., TruTV (Sacramento)

0 notes

buddyrabrahams · 8 years ago

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5 potential upsets in the NCAA Tournament first round

One of the best parts about March Madness is being able to call a big March Madness upset. There are few things more fun about March Madness than riding a little-known school to the Sweet Sixteen or beyond and bragging about it to your friends and coworkers who’ve never heard of them. Of course, they’re upsets for a reason, and notoriously hard to predict.

Teams who have waited all season to face big-time opposition get just 40 minutes to test their mettle, and all it takes is one bad game from one of their key players — or one great game from an opponent — to turn those dreams into dust.

Still, it’s a matter of where there will be upsets, not if.

Here are five first-round games that could see an 11-seed or lower topple a 6-seed or higher if certain things work out the right way. These teams are also good candidates to latch onto as your Cinderella story for 2017.

5. 13 Vermont over 4 Purdue

Vermont comes in as one of the hottest teams in college basketball, having gone 19-0 in America East play (including their three wins in the conference tournament). Purdue has Caleb Swanigan, and the Catamounts are a smaller team that will have to come up with a way to slow him down, but if they can, this game will be there for the taking.

The Catamounts boast a very balanced attack, slow and efficient, with five players averaging at least eight points per game, but no player averaging more than 12.6. They’re tough and will be very confident, having not lost a game since Dec. 21.

There’s precedent for an early Purdue exit, too; the Boilermakers were shocked in their first game last year by Arkansas-Little Rock. If Swanigan’s shots aren’t falling, Vermont could win this.

4. 13 East Tennessee State over 4 Florida

East Tennessee State hasn’t been to the tournament since 2010, but don’t let that fool you.

If you like underdogs with one star player who can seize control of a game and help pull the upset, look no further than T.J. Cromer, who scored 41 points with nine three-pointers made in his team’s SoCon semifinal win over Samford. The senior guard is averaging 19.1 points per game and shoots over 40 percent from beyond the arc. If he gets hot, he could absolutely shoot the Buccaneers to a surprise victory or two.

East Tennessee State will be pitted against a Florida team that enters the tournament having lost three of their last four, including two to Vanderbilt. If they can’t shake off that funk, East Tennessee State could absolutely victimize them.

3. 12 Middle Tennessee State over 5 Minnesota

Middle Tennessee’s exploits are well-known. Last year, they ruined many a bracket by stunning Michigan State as a 15 seed. They’re even better this year, returning most of their core and actually making an appearance in the top 25.

Some people thought this team would merit at-large consideration had they lost their conference tournament, so this is not your ordinary mid-major school.

This isn’t a bad Minnesota team, and coach Richard Pitino was rightly named Big Ten Coach of the Year. MTSU actually has more tournament experience, though, and players like Giddy Potts can play with the big boys. They’ve proven it last year, and while they haven’t played a lot of tournament opposition this season, they did wipe out Vanderbilt by 23 back in December.

Everyone knows about MTSU, so expect them to be a popular upset pick — for good reason.

2. 11 Rhode Island over 6 Creighton

Creighton is a good team, but Rhode Island is coming in scorching hot. They’ve won eight in a row, including two wins over the Atlantic 10’s regular season champion VCU. They beat Cincinnati in November and stuck within ten of Duke a day later.

This was a team that entered the season with high expectations, and while it’s taken them a while, they’re healthy and peaking at the right time. They’re very strong defensively and forward Hassan Martin has developed into an excellent two-way player.

Creighton, on the other hand, look ripe for an upset. They’re 7-8 in their last 15 games, which coincides with point guard Maurice Watson’s season-ending ACL injury.

This is a shorthanded Creighton team that has not been playing well facing a streaking Rhode Island team getting hot and healthy at the right time.

1. 12 UNC Wilmington over 5 Virginia

This will be a very, very popular pick, and not just because it’s a traditional 12 over 5.

It’ll be a fascinating matchup between Virginia’s slow, suffocating style and UNC Wilmington’s more up-tempo attack. This is a Wilmington team that pushed Duke to the limit in the second round of last year’s tournament, and they return three starters from that group.

Virginia is a known commodity and UNCW probably hasn’t seen anything like their suffocating defense, but they won’t be intimidated. Virginia has fallen into traps in past tournaments where they simply aren’t able to score enough to overcome lower-seeded teams. Think back to their loss to 10-seed Syracuse in 2016’s Elite Eight — and this Virginia team doesn’t have Malcolm Brogdon, either.

UNCW has three strong guards in C.J. Bryce, Chris Flemmings, and Denzel Ingram, plus a legitimate post presence in Devontae Cacok. They’ll give Virginia all they can handle — maybe even too much.

from Larry Brown Sports http://ift.tt/2mY1Gh9

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junker-town · 8 years ago

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Selection Sunday 2017 bracketology: One final look at the bubble

Rhode Island’s Atlantic 10 Tournament win knocked them off this list.

With the Rhode Island Rams’ 70-63 victory over the Virginia Commonwealth Rams in the Atlantic 10 Tournament final, Dan Hurley’s team took advantage of the opportunity it was afforded. They can now plan to play on Thursday or Friday, not Tuesday or Wednesday.

As for the four teams likely to play in Dayton, there are eight candidates, one of whom seems to be a lock. Of the remaining seven, all have deeply flawed profiles, and the top five squads are more likely to be selected than the bottom two. Still, it wouldn’t surprise me to see any of these teams picked or left out. The Selection Committee could probably draw names from a hat and be fine. The arguments are all going to be the same afterward anyway.

On to the capsules, starting with a team that only fell down here after Rhode Island’s win and ending with two longshots that honestly deserve a long look.

Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) and Strength of Schedule (SOS) information is courtesy WarrenNolan.com and reflects only games against Division I opponents through Sunday, March 12th.

Last Four In

Vanderbilt Commodores

18-15; 10-8 SEC; RPI: 38; SOS: 1; non-conf. SOS: 1

Saturday’s loss to Arkansas in the SEC Tournament semifinals means the Commodores are likely to be the NCAA Tournament’s first-ever 15-loss at-large entrant. Rhode Island’s win in this afternoon’s Atlantic 10 final means Vanderbilt might be headed to Dayton for the second consecutive March.

Even though the loss total isn’t ideal, a 6-8 Top 50 record and 11-14 Top 100 record resulting from what’s now the nation’s best schedule (even with a mediocre SEC weighing down what was already the top non-conference slate) should be enough to make basketball history.

Providence Friars

20-12; 10-8 Big East; RPI: 56; SOS: 179; non-conf. SOS: 179

A strong finishing kick, one that featured victories over postseason-contending Butler, Seton Hall, Creighton and Marquette, elevated the Friars from an afterthought to bubble possibility. Early season victories over the America East champion Vermont and Rhode Island further boost Providence’s case, but losses to St. John’s Red Storm and DePaul in conference and Boston College out of it might give the Committee second thoughts. Or those three defeats might just mean Ed Cooley’s squad is destined for Dayton.

Honestly, the Friars should have sent their mascot to scare the Committee straight.

Syracuse Orange

18-14; 10-8 ACC; RPI: 84; SOS: 58; non-conf. SOS: 195

The Orange are in a similar position to the one they found themselves exactly one year ago, but there are some crucial differences between this team’s profile and the 2016 version. Once again, Syracuse is basing its case on an enviable collection of Top 50 wins, six in 14 tries. While three of those victories came against Top 20 ACC opponents, all of them occurred at the Carrier Dome. Syracuse’s road/neutral record stands at a woeful 2-11 after Thursday’s ACC Tournament loss to Miami.

Just like last season, Syracuse struggled through December, falling to Boston College, Connecticut, Georgetown and St. John’s. Unlike 2016, however, Jim Boeheim wasn’t suspended during the swoon. That factor and the Orange’s lack of a non-conference win over a team likely in the field dampen Syracuse’s hopes. Remember that last season’s squad defeated both UConn and Texas A&M to win the Battle 4 Atlantis. This season’s best non-conference win came over Monmouth, a team likely headed to the NIT.

While an RPI of 84th would make Syracuse the lowest-ranked team in that metric ever selected as an at-large (destroying its own record of 70th from last season), the Orange will be in if quality wins matter as much the Committee seems to have indicated in February’s selection preview.

USC Trojans

24-9; 10-8 Pac-12; RPI: 41; SOS: 73; non-conf. SOS: 139

Back on February 9th, the Trojans were 21-4 and looking like a solid at-large pick. Since then, they’ve gone 3-4 and could get snubbed, particularly since the victories came against the Pac-12’s 10th and 11th-best teams, Washington State and Washington. While USC defeated UCLA and American Athletic champion SMU Mustangs at home, their next best win came against 66th-ranked BYU at the Staples Center. Still, the Trojans performed creditably away from the Galen Center, going 10-6 in road and neutral games. A non-conference schedule rated 139th isn’t great, but it’s better than what Kansas State has to offer.

First Four Out

Kansas State Wildcats

20-13; 8-10 Big 12; RPI: 57; SOS: 39; non-conf. SOS: 230

Had the Wildcats defeated West Virginia in Friday’s Big 12 Tournament semifinals, they probably wouldn’t be on this list. As it stands now they are, and their dreadful non-conference schedule might not give them much hope in the Committee room. The Wildcats’ best non-Big 12 performance came in a loss to Maryland in Brooklyn, while their best actual win, over Colorado State in Denver, pales in comparison. January’s SEC/Big 12 Challenge didn’t even help matters — K-State lost its game at Tennessee by 12.

Three Top 25 wins, with two over Baylor coming away from Manhattan, might be enough. But K-State’s inability to schedule decent games in November and December look likely to be its undoing.

Illinois State Redbirds

26-6; 15-1 MVC; RPI: 33; SOS: 125; non-conf. SOS: 150

The Redbirds failure to defeat Wichita State in the Arch Madness final likely cost them a place, particularly since the game was the Shockers’ second consecutive blowout win in the series. Illinois State’s home win over Wichita State is their lone triumph over a Top 50 foe in three tries. The Redbirds’ 2-4 record against the Top 100 won’t help either not when quality wins seem to be the Selection Committee’s most important criteria. If Dan Muller’s team sneaks in it will be due it a 12-6 record away from Normal.

Monmouth Hawks

27-6; 18-2 MAAC; RPI:48; SOS: 181; Non-conf. SOS: 131

Last season, the Hawks defeated UCLA and Georgetown on the road and Notre Dame and USC on a neutral floor in Orlando, and still got left out after falling to Iona in the Metro Atlantic final. This time around, Monmouth’s best non-conference wins came over Memphis (on the road) and Princeton (at home), and they lost to Siena in the MAAC semifinals. While King Rice’s team will get a look, thanks to its RPI, the results probably aren’t there to avoid a second consecutive snub and NIT trip. If only they could swap their last two sets of non-conference results.

UT Arlington Mavericks

23-8; 14-4 Sun Belt; RPI: 45; SOS: 134; Non-conf. SOS: 36

The Mavericks, whose promising 2015-16 fell apart after forward Kevin Hervey tore his ACL, scheduled like a team with at-large aims. But the recovering Hervey was limited in UTA’s November games at Minnesota and Arkansas, and the Mavericks lost both after leading at halftime. Otherwise, Scott Cross’s squad demolished Saint Mary’s in Moraga and won at Texas in a season when that result would ultimately mean nothing. Had UTA managed to reach today’s Sun Belt Tournament final, they could have snuck in with a loss. But Saturday’s 21-point hammering by Texas State, the Mavericks’ second loss of the year to the Bobcats, means they’ll have to settle for an NIT place.

That’s how I see the bubble picture at the end of the season. I’m working on the final bracket now and I’ll post it here before the Selection Show starts at 5:30 p.m. ET.

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junker-town · 8 years ago

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America East basketball tournament 2017: Bracket, schedule, and scores

Vermont is the favorite to claim the league’s NCAA auto-bid.

Vermont is the top seed in this year’s America East men’s basketball tournament, which takes place between March 1 and 11. The winner claims an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament later in March and will be the only AE team to make the field.

The Catamounts are a dangerous team, but they don’t have any big stars. Their strength is in their depth, with three leading scorers averaging between 11 and 12 points. They’re a good shooting team, particularly inside the arc. By efficiency, they have both the best offense and defense in the conference. They should be considered a strong favorite to move through the field and win the league.

Stony Brook set itself apart as the league’s clear No. 2, limiting turnovers and playing decent defense. It’s hard to imagine anyone other than the Seawolves being a threat to Vermont, but the thing about March Madness is that it tends to surprise us.

The format

Eight of the nine America East teams qualify for the conference tournament (UMass Lowell finished as a qualifier but is ineligible for the postseason during a Division I transition period). The tournament structure is simple: single-elimination until one team is left standing, starting with a quarterfinal round on Wednesday. The tournament takes place at campus sites, with the higher seed hosting each game. That means the road to the Big Dance for America East teams runs through Burlington.

The teams

1. Vermont 2. Stony Brook 3. Albany 4. New Hampshire 5. UMBC 6. Hartford 7. Binghamton 8. Maine

Bracket

You can see the whole bracket here.

Schedule and Results (all times Eastern)

Wednesday, March 1 (quarterfinals)

Game 1: No. 1 Vermont 86, No. 8 Maine 41 Game 2: No. 2 Stony Brook 70, No. 7 Binghamton 60 Game 3: No. 3 Albany 100, No. 6 Hartford 71 Game 4: No. 4 New Hampshire 74, No. 5 UMBC 65

Monday, March 6 (semifinals)

Game 5: No. 1 Vermont 74, No. 4 New Hampshire 41 Game 6: No. 3 Albany 63, No. 2 Stony Brook 56

Saturday, March 11 (championship)

Game 7: No. 1 Vermont 56, No. 3 Albany 53

0 notes

junker-town · 8 years ago

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America East basketball tournament 2017: Bracket, schedule, and scores

Vermont is the favorite to claim the league’s NCAA auto-bid.

The format

The teams

1. Vermont 2. Stony Brook 3. Albany 4. New Hampshire 5. UMBC 6. Hartford 7. Binghamton 8. Maine

Bracket

You can see the whole bracket here.

Schedule and Results (all times Eastern)

Wednesday, March 1 (quarterfinals)

Game 1: No. 1 Vermont 86, No. 8 Maine 41 Game 2: No. 2 Stony Brook 70, No. 7 Binghamton 60 Game 3: No. 3 Albany 100, No. 6 Hartford 71 Game 4: No. 4 New Hampshire 74, No. 5 UMBC 65

Monday, March 6 (semifinals)

Game 5: No. 1 Vermont 74, No. 4 New Hampshire 41 Game 6: No. 2 Stony Brook vs. No. 3 Albany, 7:30 p.m., WatchESPN

Saturday, March 11 (championship)

Game 7: No. 1 Vermont vs. Game 6 winner, 11 a.m., ESPN2

0 notes

junker-town · 8 years ago

Text

America East basketball tournament 2017: Bracket, schedule, and scores

Vermont is the favorite to claim the league’s NCAA auto-bid.

The format

The teams

1. Vermont 2. Stony Brook 3. Albany 4. New Hampshire 5. UMBC 6. Hartford 7. Binghamton 8. Maine

Bracket

You can see the whole bracket here.

Schedule and Results (all times Eastern)

Wednesday, March 1 (quarterfinals)

Game 1: No. 1 Vermont 86, No. 8 Maine 41 Game 2: No. 2 Stony Brook 70, No. 7 Binghamton 60 Game 3: No. 6 Hartford at No. 3 Albany, 7:30 p.m., WatchESPN Game 4: No. 5 UMBC at No. 4 New Hampshire, 7:30 p.m., WatchESPN

Monday, March 6 (semifinals)

Game 5: No. 1 Vermont vs. Game 4 winner, time TBD, WatchESPN Game 6: No. 2 Stony Brook vs. Game 3 winner, time TBD, WatchESPN

Saturday, March 11 (championship)

Game 7: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner, 11 a.m., ESPN2

0 notes

junker-town · 8 years ago

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Championship Week 2017: College basketball tournament schedule, rooting guide, and more

The greatest postseason in American sports has arrived. Now it’s time to get educated before you dive headfirst into the madness.

The most exhilarating, cruel, rewarding, and democratic postseason in all of American sports kicked off Monday night with quarterfinal action in the Atlantic Sun Tournament. It continued on Tuesday when the Patriot League and Big South joined the fray, and will roll on until a one final team standing cuts down the nets inside University of Phoenix Stadium on April 3.

All but one of America’s 50 states will feature teams that will take part in March Madness. They may not make it to the NCAA tournament, or they may lose in their first game once they arrive there, but at least they have the opportunity to end their season by playing until they lose. Some teams have obvious advantages, some teams have obvious disadvantages, but everyone gets a chance to show who they are and what they’re about. It’s very much the original idea of America taken and thrown into gymnasiums across the country for five consecutive weeks.

The NCAA tournament gobbles up all the headlines, but the next week and a half is loaded with all the same elements that make us all gravitate towards the Big Dance year after year. From now until Selection Sunday we get flooded with constant dream-fulfilling, career-ending, win or it’s time to hand in your jersey competition. It's a type of drama that you can’t find anywhere else in American sports.

Mid- and low-major college basketball isn’t for everyone. If your only interest lies with the teams that have a “real” shot to win a national title, then our time together is coming.

For the rest of you, it's time for a thorough education on Championship Week. This is a time primarily for the leagues who don't get the national spotlight, so focus in this primer is going to exclude the nine "major" (the "Power 5" leagues plus the AAC, A-10, Big East, and Mountain West) conferences.

COMPLETE CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT DATES AND LOCATIONS

It's the most logical, if not exciting, jumping off point. We’ll go ahead and include all conferences here because we make our own rules in March.

INELIGIBLE TEAMS

Seven Division I teams are ineligible to participate in the NCAA tournament this season, a number that’s cut in half from last season’s list of 14. Just two teams are banned from the postseason because of subpar APR scores, the lowest total since the advent of the APR system. Four more programs are ineligible for postseason play as they continue to make the transition to Division I.

This number could grow by one as the Big West’s Hawaii is still waiting on official word from the NCAA on its appeal to a ban that was originally supposed to be in effect for this season. If the response doesn’t come before the start of the tournament, Hawaii will be forced into a position where it will have to either self-impose a postseason banned, or risk being banned from the 2018 postseason if the NCAA upholds its original decision.

Here's the full list of teams that cannot dance:

Abilene Christian - Southland (Transitioning to Division-I)

Alcorn State - SWAC (APR penalties)

Grand Canyon - WAC (Transitioning to Division-I)

Incarnate Word - Southland (Transitioning to Division-I)

Northern Colorado - Big Sky (Self-imposed postseason ban)

UMass Lowell - America East (Transitioning to Division-I)

Savannah State - MEAC (APR penalties)

EIGHT SQUADS FOR THE BUBBLE TEAMS TO PULL FOR

Per usual, there will be a number of tournaments this postseason where a heavy favorite goes down and a team no one expected to crash the Big Dance does so via an automatic bid. In a few of these cases, the favorite could be in such a strong position that it still makes it into the NCAA tournament, and the Cinderella conference tournament champion winds up “stealing” a bid from a non-automatic qualifier that would have been in the field otherwise.

To sum up: if you’re a fan of Syracuse, USC, Providence, or any other team that might be sweating it out on Selection Sunday, here are the teams you need to be rooting hard for over the next 12 days.

1. Gonzaga (West Coast)

The Meryl Streep of this group because they're here every damn year. The only question about the Zags’ NCAA tournament status this year is whether they’re going to be a No. 1 or 2 seed.

2. Saint Mary's (West Coast)

The Gaels’ record is just one game better than it was at this time a year ago, but their overall resume is much, much stronger. Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga are both stone-cold locks to make the NCAA tournament field regardless of what they do at the WCC tourney. If some other team hoists the trophy in Vegas, though, then someone’s bubble will have just burst.

3. Wichita State (Missouri Valley)

An upset loss in the Missouri Valley tournament left the Shockers as one of the most hotly debated at-large teams in the days leading up to the 2016 installment of Selection Sunday. Despite losing the vaunted backcourt duo of Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet to graduation, Wichita State is actually in a better place this year. Even though their RPI (40) isn’t nearly as high as their Ken Pomeroy ranking (10), Gregg Marshall’s team still appears to have done enough work already to be safely in the field.

4. Illinois State (Missouri Valley)

Despite Wichita State’s sparkling record of 27-4 overall and 17-1 in the Missouri Valley, the Shockers weren’t stellar enough to win an outright league title or even be the No. 1 seed at Arch Madness this week. That distinction belongs to Illinois State, which also was beaten just once in the Valley, and split its season series with Wichita. The Redbirds also have a better RPI (33) than the Shockers, and would seem to be a strong candidate for an at-large bid if they aren’t able to claim the MVC’s automatic ticket.

5. Middle Tennessee State (Conference USA)

A year ago, the Blue Raiders pulled off arguably the biggest upset in NCAA tournament history. Such a feat is impossible a year later, because MTSU winning at least a game in the Big Dance wouldn’t shock anybody who’s been paying attention. They own a 25-4 overall record, a 15-1 league mark, a 15-point win at Ole Miss, and a 23-point stomping of bubble team Vanderbilt. Chris Dobbertean’s latest bracket has Middle Tennessee fairly comfortably in the field as an 11-seed.

6. UT Arlington (Sun Belt)

The Mavericks have two conference losses and still have two league games left to play on the road, but they also have a significant non-conference road win over Saint Mary’s (by 14) and another nice win over Texas on the road. The RPI also currently holds them in higher regard than perceived at-large locks like Miami and Iowa State.

7. Monmouth (MAAC)

Monmouth doesn’t appear to be as much of an at-large threat as they were a year ago, when a lot of people pegged them as the biggest snub of Selection Sunday. Still, the Hawks are 26-5, they have nice wins over Memphis and Princeton, and they have a solid RPI of 42. Maybe they lose in the MAAC title game and somebody on the committee starts to feel bad about what happened last year. Who knows? You can never be too safe when you’re on the bubble.

8. UNC-Wilmington (Colonial Athletic Association)

Kevin Keatts has a fantastic team loaded with terrific stories. The Seahawks pushed Duke to the brink in Round 1 a year ago, and would appear to be even better positioned to spring an upset this year. There are a couple of OK non-conference wins on UNCW’s resume, but nothing that the Committee could point to as definitive evidence that the Hawks absolutely belong in the field. Still, better safe than sorry.

FIVE OTHER HEAVY FAVORITES

These guys aren't going anywhere but the NIT if they get upset in their conference tournament. Still, they’ve established themselves as the top dog in their respective league and are on track to scare the hell out of a single-digit seed on the tournament’s opening weekend.

1. Vermont (America East)

Death, taxes, and the Catamounts being at or near the top of the America East standings as the calendar flips to March. Vermont has already set a program record for wins in a single season with 26 (eat it, Taylor Coppenrath) and owns the nation’s longest winning streak at 18 games. John Becker’s team ran the table in the AE’s regular season, and hasn’t been beaten since a Dec. 21 loss at Butler.

2. Belmont (Ohio Valley)

Another perennial Championship Week figure, Belmont rolls into the OVC tourney with a 15-1 league mark and just one loss since Dec. 14. This is one of the few programs at the low/mid-major level that seems to expect to win in March. There is no team the Bruins will face from this point on that will make them balk.

3. Princeton (Ivy League)

Mitch Henderson probably isn’t thrilled that this is the season the Ivy League finally chose to implement a postseason tournament. The Tigers are a perfect 12-0 in conference play, and in any previous year, they’d be one victory away from punching their ticket to the NCAA tournament. Instead, there will be two additional games to win before Princeton can really celebrate.

4. Bucknell (Patriot League)

The Bison (23-8, 15-3) matched Boston University’s 2013-14 squad as the only Patriot League teams to win 15 league games in a season. They also became just the third team, and the first since ‘06, to win the conference’s regular season title by at least three games. Bucknell won NCAA tournament games in back-to-back years in 2005 and 2006, but have been back to the Big Dance just twice since, and were one and done on both occasions.

5. Akron (Mid-American)

The MAC is an absolute mess. The biggest reason for that is that the team which is a full three games ahead of the rest of the conference has inexplicably dropped three of its last four games. Akron saw its 30-game home winning streak snapped by Kent State two weeks ago, and then took an even more difficult to explain home defeat at the hands of lowly Miami on Tuesday. The Zips are still 13-4 while no other team in the league is better than 10-7, but they aren’t exactly riding momentum into the postseason.

10 SQUADS THAT COULD DANCE FOR THE FIRST TIME

One of the best parts of every March is seeing coaches, players, and programs that have never heard their name called on Selection Sunday celebrate the moment that all changes. Here are 10 members of the "never been dancing" club with a real shot at changing that status this month (Northwestern’s not included, but all these guys really want the Wildcats to get it together and make this happen).

1. Lipscomb/Kennesaw State (Atlantic Sun)

We’re cheating a little bit here because both these teams have already advanced to the A-Sun semifinals. The Owls (that’s Kennsaw) did so with an 80-78 road upset of South Carolina Upstate, another team that has never been to the tournament. The second-seeded Bisons hammered NJIT by 31 and have won nine of their last 10 games.

Next up for Kennesaw State is a date with top-seeded Florida Gulf Coast (Dunk City!), while Lipscomb takes on North Florida in a 2/3 matchup.

2. William & Mary (Colonial Athletic Association)

One of five original D-I programs that have never made the NCAA tournament — Northwestern, Army, The Citadel, and St. Francis Brooklyn are the others — William & Mary has come tantalizingly close to removing themselves from that group in recent years.

The Tribe made it to the 2014 CAA title game and led by six with 1:20 to go before collapsing and allowing Delaware to score the game's final seven points. They made it back to the title game in 2015 as a heavily favored No. 1 seed, but laid an egg in a 72-61 loss to Northeastern. Last season, Bill and Mary saw its fate sealed for another year with a 70-67 semifinal loss to Hofstra.

William & Mary has underachieved a bit this season, and after finishing league play with a 10-8 mark, will head into the conference tournament as the No. 4 seed. Still, the Tribe has as much offensive firepower as any of the 10 teams in the field, and could easily pull off three wins in three days. They’ll open up play against the only other team in the conference that has never made the Field of 68, Elon.

3. New Hampshire (America East)

It might seem like everyone’s playing for second in the America East after Vermont rolled to a 16-0 regular season title, but fourth-seeded New Hampshire has won five straight and could give the Catamounts their toughest test if the two square off in the semifinals.

4. North Dakota (Big Sky)

With one week of play left in the Big Sky’s regular season, the Fighting Hawks currently sit alone in first place with a one-game lead over Eastern Washington. After making a name for themselves as the fourth-winningest program in the history of Division II, North Dakota made the jump to Division I in 2008 and joined the Big Sky when they became eligible for postseason play in 2012-13. After this season, North Dakota will be moving on to the Summit League.

5. Gardner-Webb (Big South)

Four teams in the Big South have never heard their names called on Selection Sunday. The one with the best chance to change that this year is Gardner-Webb, a program still best-known for stunning Kentucky and helping to raise the first red flag that indicated Billy Gillispie might not be long for Lexington. The Bulldogs went 11-7 in league play and will enter the conference tournament as the No. 4 seed.

6. UC Davis (Big West)

Best-known (by me) as the location for the early 2000s MTV reality series “Sorority Life,” UC Davis has not only never made the NCAA tournament, they’ve never made it to the championship game of the Big West tournament. Both of those facts could be altered soon, as the Aggies head into the final week of regular season play in a first-place tie with UC Irvine. There could also be another competitor eliminated from their path, as defending champion Hawaii might remove itself (or be removed by the NCAA) from postseason play at some point this week.

7. Northern Kentucky (Horizon League)

This is the first year that the Norse have been eligible to compete in postseason play since making the transition to Division I, and they have a decent chance to set their NCAA tournament appearance rate at 100 percent. NKU ended the regular season by impressively beating Valpo and keeping the Crusaders from claiming an outright Horizon League title. They’ll begin their first conference tournament run in the quarterfinals as the No. 4 seed.

8. Tennessee-Martin (Ohio Valley)

The Skyhawks have been competitive in the OVC for years, but still haven’t managed to get over the hump and into the big show. Their closest call came a year ago when they advanced to the tournament title game, but were the final victim of Austin Peay’s miracle run. The Governors had snuck into the postseason as the No. 8 seed in the eight-team tournament, and pulled off upsets on four consecutive days, the last of which being an 83-73 triumph over UT-Martin. The Skyhawks enter this year in the same situation as the West Division champions and the overall No. 2 seed.

Fourth-seeded Jacksonville State is another member of the “never danced” club. That’s another sneaky bonus team for this section.

9. South Dakota (Summit League)

Five of the nine teams in the Summit League have never played in the NCAA tournament, and a few of them besides South Dakota — namely Fort Wayne, Denver, and Omaha — have realistic shots at crashing for the first time. Still, it’s the Coyotes who stand out here. They ended the regular season with six straight wins to claim the Summit’s outright regular season title and top seed for its postseason tournament.

10. Every WAC team besides New Mexico State, CSU Bakersfield, and Seattle

Unfortunately, the only team in the WAC that appears capable of competing with New Mexico State and defending champ Bakersfield is 10-3 Grand Canyon, which isn’t eligible for postseason play until next season.

15 PLAYERS WHO WILL BE HEARD FROM

1. Marcus Keene (Central Michigan/Mid-American)

The nation’s leading scorer at 29.4 ppg, Keene appears to be on the verge of coming up painfully short of being the first Division I player in two decades to average 30 or more points for an entire season. Perhaps more troublesome is the fact that his once-promising Chippewas team has suddenly lost six straight games.

Still, Keene alone will be worth finding a stream of the early MAC tourney games. You wouldn’t want to miss something like this.

Marcus Keene from Central Michigan http://pic.twitter.com/Jq81IXsUsB

— StreetHistory (@streethistory) December 7, 2016

2. Kevin Hervey (UT Arlington/Sun Belt)

You don’t often find NBA talent in the Sun Belt, but that’s precisely what UT Arlington has in 6’9 forward Kevin Hervey. The junior has a fantastic inside-outside game, and heads into the postseason on an absolute tear. He hasn’t scored fewer than 13 points in a game since Dec. 5 (he scored 12), and shot better than 60 percent from the field in the month of February. He’s posted double-doubles in six of the Mavericks last nine games.

3. Evan Bradds (Belmont/Ohio Valley)

Bradds became the 14th player to repeat as OVC Player of the Year, and the first from Belmont to do so, when he earned the distinction earlier this week. Bradds enters the OVC tournament as the league’s second-leading scorer at 20.8 points per game. He also ranks second in the conference in field-goal percentage (64.1) and fourth in rebounding (8.6 rebounds per game). His 67.4 percent career field-goal percentage currently ranks as the best in the history of the Ohio Valley, and third-best in the history of Division I.

4. JaCorey Williams (Middle Tennessee/Conference USA)

It’s been a redemption season for Williams, a once highly touted recruit who underachieved for three seasons at Arkansas before being kicked off the team following an arrest on forgery charges in 2015. After sitting out the 2015-16 season, he finds himself averaging 17.4 points and 7.5 rebounds per game on an MTSU squad that appears much stronger than the one which stunned Michigan State in the first round a year ago.

A Birmingham native who was repeatedly heckled by the home crowd at UAB when he was in street clothes a year ago, Williams got the ultimate revenge last weekend. His shot at the buzzer dealt the Blazers a 66-64 defeat and clinched an outright C-USA championship for Middle Tennessee.

5. Dallas Moore (North Florida/Atlantic Sun)

Moore began his senior season already owning the title of North Florida’s all-time leading scorer. He has added to the size of his throne in 2016-17 by averaging 24.2 points per game, good for third-best in the country.

After picking up his second straight Atlantic Sun Player of the Year award over the weekend, Moore showed in North Florida’s league tournament opener that he wasn’t ready for his college career to end just yet. He hit 14 of 23 shots and scored a game-high 37 points to lead the Ospreys to a hard-fought 77-74 win over Jacksonville. He’ll look to extend his college career — which already includes one NCAA tournament appearance — on Thursday when North Florida battles Lipscomb in the A-Sun semis.

6. Devontae Cacok (UNC-Wilmington/Colonial Athletic Association)

Cacok may be just the third-leading scorer on UNCW’s roster, but he may be the biggest reason the Seahawks have a strong chance to win at least one game in the big dance in a couple weeks. He was an out-of-shape freshman playing fewer than 10 minutes per game last season, before head coach Kevin Keatts let him know that the look wasn’t going to fly as a sophomore. Keatts implored the 6’7 forward to get himself in shape, and promised that if he did, he would have the potential to be great.

“Great” is an apt description of Cacok’s play in 2016-17 to date. He’s nearly averaging a double-double at 12.2 points and 9.8 rebounds per game, and he leads the nation in field-goal percentage at an amazing 78.7 percent. That puts him easily in front of Florida Gulf Coast’s Demetris Morant, who has connected on 74.5 percent of his shots this year (and attempted 15 fewer field goals).

7. Nigel Williams-Goss (Gonzaga/West Coast)

You already know how good the All-American candidate is (or at least you should), so here’s a highlight video from his career-high 36-point performance against San Francisco.

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8. Justin Robinson (Monmouth/MAAC)

The bench stuff was cute and all last year, but that no longer being a sideshow has allowed basketball fans to form a greater appreciation of Robinson, who will likely win his second straight MAAC Player of the Year award later this week. The 5’8 senior heads into the postseason averaging career-bests in scoring (19.7 ppg), assists (4.8 apg), and three-point percentage (40.2 percent). The only thing for him left to do is make his NCAA tournament debut.

9. Mike Daum (South Dakota State/Summit League)

South Dakota State’s up-tempo style has produced some extremely high-volume scorers in recent years. The next in line to wear that crown appears to be Daum, who doesn’t exactly fit the mold of what you expect to see from a Summit League star.

A 6’9 outside assasin who the SDSU secretly staff thought might not be good enough to play at the D-I level when they saw him in practice during his redshirt season of 2014-15, Daum now ranks second in the nation in scoring (24.9 ppg) as a sophomore. He’s scored 30 or more points six times since the beginning of January. That includes a 51-point effort on Feb. 18 against Fort Wayne, the highest single-game effort from any player in Division I this season.

10. Alec Peters (Valparaiso/Horizon League)

When Bryce Drew bolted for Vanderbilt, the common thought was that Peters would either enter the NBA draft or become the most highly sought-after graduate transfer on the market. Instead, Peters chose to came back for one more season with the Crusaders for the simple reason that he loves his teammates and he loves the program.

As he heads into his final postseason, Peters is averaging career-bests in both points (23.0 ppg) and rebounds (10.1 rpg). Next up is a chance to exorcise the Horizon League tournament demons from a year ago and try to lead the Crusaders to their first NCAA tournament win since their memorable Sweet 16 run in 1998. To make that happen, he’ll need to be fully recovered from the stress reaction in his leg that forced him to sit out the final two games of the regular season.

11. Keon Johnson (Winthrop/Big South)

Both the preseason and postseason Player of the Year in the Big South, Johnson is the biggest reason why Winthrop appears to be on the verge of getting back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2010. The 5’7 senior guard is averaging 21.8 points per game and shooting 39.4 percent from beyond the arc.

Johnson became Winthrop’s all-time leading scorer on Feb. 8 when he passed Charlie Brunson’s 1,850 point total. If Johnson scores at least 29 points before his final collegiate season ends, he’ll become just the 10th player in Big South history to breach the 2,000-point mark for his career.

12. Demontrae Jefferson (Texas Southern/SWAC)

This is a personal addition, because I am completely fascinated with the Trae Jefferson story. Let’s break it down.

In 2013 and 2014, the diminutive Jefferson (he’s listed at 5’7, but you realize that’s generous when you see him in person) began popping up all over the internet for his ridiculously savage highlight videos.

There’s talk that Jefferson had been having trouble making the grades necessary to play for the Division I schools recruiting him, but in July of 2015, he commits to Texas Southern.

The 2015-16 season goes down. Trae Jefferson does not play for Texas Southern.

The first eight games of the 2016-17 season go down. Trae Jefferson does not play for Texas Southern.

Jefferson shows up on Dec. 10 and plays for Texas Southern in their game at Louisville. In his first college game, Jefferson TAKES 30 DAMN SHOTS and TURNS THE BALL OVER 11 DAMN TIMES. In his next game he tones it down just a bit, going 4-of-20 from the field in a loss to Cincinnati.

Jefferson has since transitioned into more of a traditional point guard role for the Tigers. He’s the team’s second-leading scorer at 14.0 ppg, but he’s taken single-digit shots in each of his team’s last six games.

He’s still oozing with swag.

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Who knows what the hell Jefferson is going to do in March, but it’ll be worth following.

13. Tyler Hall (Montana State/Big Sky)

A 19-year-old sophomore who put up some gaudy numbers a year ago for the Bobcats, Tyler Hall currently ranks fourth in the country in scoring (23.3 ppg) and third in made three-pointers. Hall has knocked down 107 triples this season, which is just three fewer than UT Rio Grande Valley’s Antonio Green, and four fewer than Central Michigan’s Marcus Keene. Green has taken 35 more threes this season than Hall has, and Keene has attempted 52 more.

14. Paris Lee (Illinois State/Missouri Valley)

Lee is the biggest reason why the Redbirds were able to go from a modest 18-14 (12-6) campaign a year ago to the 25-5 (17-1) dream season they’re enjoying now. He ranks second on the team in scoring at 13.0 ppg, but led the Valley in assists (5.1 apg), steals (2.0 spg), and three-pointers made (2.3). He was named both the Missouri Valley’s Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year earlier this week.

15. Rashawn Thomas (Texas A&M Corpus Christi/Southland)

The 6’8 senior forward has been a double-figure scorer in all four of his seasons with the Islanders, but he’s taken things to a different level in 2016-17. Thomas is averaging 21.3 ppg to go along with 8.8 rebounds per game, 2.5 assists per game, and 2.0 blocks per game. He’s failed to hit double figures just once this season, and has scored 19 points or more in 10 consecutive games.

15 MORE TO WATCH

Jock Landale (Saint Mary’s/West Coast) Devin Cannady (Princeton/Ivy League) Jeremy Senglin (Weber State/Big Sky) Brandon Goodwin (Florida Gulf Coast/Atlantic Sun) Ehab Amin (Texas A&M Corpus Christi/Southland) Eric Mika (BYU/West Coast) Isaiah Johnson (Akron/Mid-American) Ian Baker (New Mexico State/WAC) Lucas Woodhouse (Stony Brook/America East) Chima Moneke (UC Davis/Big West) Jalen Hayes (Oakland/Horizon League) Erik McCree (Louisiana Tech/Conference USA) Kendrick Ray (Kennesaw State/Atlantic Sun) Patrick Cole (North Carolina Central/MEAC) Markis McDuffie (Wichita State/Missouri Valley)

FIVE TITLE GAMES YOU ABSOLUTELY WANT TO HAPPEN

1. Gonzaga vs. Saint Mary’s (West Coast)

It wasn’t quite the nation’s most compelling conference rivalry like some predicted before the start of the season, but we’re still talking one of the best teams in the country playing for a potential No. 1 seed in the Big Dance against an archrival who’s ranked in the top 20. That’s good stuff.

You’ve already ruined one cool March storyline, BYU, let’s not make it two.

2. Winthrop vs. UNC Asheville (Big South)

The two teams tied for the regular season conference championship and split pair of classic head-to-head matchups on the way there. Winthrop toppled UNCA 76-73 at home on Jan. 19, and the Bulldogs returned the favor in Asheville on Feb. 9 with a thrilling 104-101 double overtime triumph. Game 3 would be an excellent March dessert.

3. CSU Bakersfield vs. New Mexico State (WAC)

As mentioned previously, Grand Canyon appears to be the only other team in the WAC on the same level as these guys, and the Lopes aren’t eligible for postseason play until next year. Plus, Bakersfield and NMSU gave us this when they played for the title 12 months ago:

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4. Wichita State vs. Illinois State (Missouri Valley)

The Rose Bowl is “The Grandaddy of Them All,” but Arch Madness is “The Grandaddy of the First Week of College Basketball’s Postseason.” It’s wordier, but just as cool. Plus, the game’s on CBS and you get that first taste of the tournament jingle. It’s great.

Year after year, the Valley title game seems to deliver. Having the two teams that finished the regular season at 17-1 battling it out for the league’s auto-bid would be a surefire way for that trend to continue.

5. Oakland vs. Valparaiso (Horizon League)

We were robbed of this showdown a year ago when both teams were upset in the semifinals in fairly stunning fashion. Worse still, those losses meant that neither highly entertaining team got to showcase its stuff in the NCAA tournament. After splitting the Horizon’s regular season title with matching 14-4 records, both teams are looking to rectify their immediate pasts with a tournament trip in 2017.

Kay Felder never got to dance, and that will forever exist as a crime against basketball, but at least we can still get the Grizzlies/Crusaders clash that we felt like we were owed a year ago.

FIVE CRAZY COMPETITIVE CONFERENCE TOURNAMENTS

Heavy favorites are the norm more often than not during Championship Week, but these five tournaments look like they could be won by any number of teams.

1. Southern

We begin in the SoCon, a league that seems destined to produce a champion that will terrify the fan base of a power conference team here in a few weeks. It’s also a league that finished its regular season with a three-way tie at the top. East Tennessee State, UNC Greensboro, and Furman all won more than 20 games and finished 14-4 in league play. All would represent the conference well in the NCAA tournament, but only one will make that happen.

2. Mid-American

Anyone who tells you they have any idea what’s going to happen in Cleveland when these teams get together is lying. Or they’re dumb. Or they’re mean. Or they’re some hybrid of all three.

Five of the MAC’s 12 teams are currently 10-7, and nine of the league’s 12 teams have between seven and 10 wins. The apparent frontrunner, 13-4 Akron, has suddenly dropped three of its last four games, including a home loss to the clear-cut worst team in the conference, Miami (11-19, 4-13), Tuesday night.

Six MAC teams played at home Tuesday night and four of them were favored to win. All six home teams lost.

No one has any idea what’s going to happen when these teams get together in Cleveland.

3. Big West

The Big West is always good for crazy competitive games and not being able to have any idea which team is the No. 1 seed. Expect that trend to continue, even if Hawaii winds up having to spend the tournament on the sidelines. With a week left to go in the regular season, six of the league’s nine teams have conference records of .500 or better. UC Davis and UC Irvine are currently leading the pack with matching 10-4 marks.

4. Big Sky

Five of the league’s 11 teams already have double-digit conference wins with two games left to go, and seven of the teams are .500 or better. The opening round might be a bit tough to stomach, but the quarters through the championship game ought to be extremely competitive.

The most interesting storyline here is that relative newcomer North Dakota has a very good chance at being the No. 1 seed for the tournament, but the program has already announced that its moving its basketball teams to the Summit League beginning next season. If a few calls go against the Fighting Hawks, my guess is that there will be some conspiracy theories flying around the Reno Events Center.

5. Colonial Athletic Association

UNC-Wilmigton won the regular season title outright and is the clear favorite heading into the tournament to defend its title. Even with that being the case, the top five teams in the league all finished with double-digit conference wins and overall records above .500. UNCW also wasn’t exactly dominant down the stretch, winning each of its last four games by single digits after suffering a road loss to Elon on Feb. 11.

THREE LESS-EXCITING CONFERENCE TOURNAMENTS

1. Ivy League

Look, I’ve been ragging you in this spot for years because you didn’t even have a tournament, but maybe this wasn’t the year to take a stand. Especially when you’re going with the sort of strange four-team look. If you’re gonna do it, do it. You don’t get to claim that you “tried alligator” if you just ate the fried part on the outside.

Princeton is 12-0 and clearly the class of the conference. Harvard is 10-2 and a solid team as well, and a rubber match between the two could be nice if the Crimson are able to pull an upset of their rivals in the last week of the regular season.

Outside of that, though? There’s nothing here that warrants three additional games. Yale is the only other team in the league that’s above water at 7-5, and the fourth tournament spot is going to go to either 5-7 Penn or 5-7 Columbia.

There will be years where the conference is super-competitive and this thing works really well. This is not going to be one of them.

2. WAC

Look, I know we just hyped up the potential title game rematch a while back, but that’s really all there is here. Only seven teams are participating in the tournament, and only one besides CSU Bakersfield and New Mexico State has a winning record in league play ... and it’s 7-6 UMKC.

The top three teams in the conference — a group which includes postseason ineligible Grand Canyon -- all have 20 or more wins. No other team in the league is currently above .500.

This will more than likely be a bad tournament until the very end.

3. Southland/Ohio Valley

Everybody’s coming around on the whole “starting your top two teams in the semifinals is lame” train besides you guys. The WCC, which has every reason in the world to try and protect Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s, bailed on it. The Horizon did, too, after it noticed that its best teams kept getting picked off by teams that had a won a game or two and had a little bit of momentum coming into the semis.

Did you like seeing Austin Peay win four games in four days as the No. 8 seed, Ohio Valley? Did you think that was cool? And at least invite all your teams. You guys are both big enough to have divisions (OVC, you DO have divisions!) and you’re only sending eight teams to the postseason?

You’re both responsible for turning the youth of America from dreamers to cynics before they hit junior high.

10 DANGEROUS NON-TOP SEEDS THAT COULD STEAL A BID

1. New Hampshire (America East)

Shooting for their first trip to the NCAA tournament, the Wildcats enter the postseason winners of five straight. They also ended the regular season with a 94-90 win over the same UMBC team that they’ll face in their first game of the America East tournament.

2. Lipscomb (Atlantic Sun)

Another team looking to claim an auto-bid for the first time, Lipscomb has won nine of its last 10, including a 65-60 road triumph over regular season champion Florida Gulf Coast. Their only loss over that span was an 11-point home defeat at the hands of the same North Florida team they’ll be facing in the A-Sun semifinals on Thursday.

3. Saint Peter’s (MAAC)

The Peacocks finished four games clear back of MAAC regular season champ Monmouth, but there’s still reason for them to feel good about their chances as they head to Albany. For starters, they’ve won six straight, including back-to-back games on the road to close the regular season. Also, five of Saint Peter’s six conference losses came by three points or fewer. The only defeat they suffered in league play that wasn’t a one possession game was their conference opener against Iona all the way back on Dec. 2.

4. Northern Kentucky (Horizon League)

Yet another team looking to get hot at the right time and make its NCAA tournament debut, the Norse have seven of their last eight. Included in that run is a regular season-closing win over league co-champ Valparaiso, but the caveat must be added that Crusaders star Alec Peters did not play in that game. Still, NKU is a dangerous four-seed heading into its first Horizon League tournament.

5. Western Michigan (Mid-American)

While the rest of the MAC seems incapable of deciding how good or bad they are, Western Michigan is hanging out with a seven-game winning streak and hoping nobody notices. The run has allowed them to go from a 3-7 cellar dweller to a team that’s currently tied with Ball State atop the West Division standings.

6. Lehigh (Patriot League)

Bucknell won the league by a full three games with a 15-3 mark, but two of those three losses came at the hands of Lehigh. The Mountain Hawks have won six of seven, and they’ll open postseason play up against another team they swept the regular season series from, Colgate. Adonal Foyle will be watching.

7. BYU (West Coast)

They beat the No. 1 team in the country who was 29-0, and they beat them on their home court, on senior night, and in their last regular season game. I feel like that at least warrants a mention in this section.

8. Houston Baptist (Southland)

The Huskies were banned from postseason play two years ago because of poor APR scored, but they appear hellbent on making up for lost time in 2017. The high-scoring squad has won seven straight with two conference games still left to play.

9. LIU Brooklyn (Northeast)

The Blackbirds responded to a three-game losing streak in the middle of conference play by winning their final six games of the regular season. Included in that streak was a 62-58 road win over NEC regular season champ Mount St. Mary’s.

10. UTEP (Conference USA)

It has been quite the in-season turnaround for Tim Floyd’s team, which at one point was 2-13 overall and riding a 12-game losing streak. Now the Miners have won 11 of their last 13 and are miraculously sitting at 11-5 and tied for third in the C-USA standings. They also own the distinction of being the only team in the conference to topple Middle Tennessee State, a feat they accomplished with a 57-54 upset on Feb. 4.

And that’s it.

If you didn’t read every word and simply scrolled down to this point to see how we wrapped this thing up, well now you don’t get to fill out a bracket this year. That’s the deal. I told you Championship Week comes hand-in-hand with high stakes.

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