5 BOROUGH SPORTS

In today’s action the most important bubble games took place in the Big 12.

Nebraska started off the day but losing to Oklahoma State and ending their hopes of an atlarge bid. Nebraska is headed to the NIT, while Oklahoma State will look to run the table and win the Big 12 Tournament.

In the second game Colorado came back and snuck by Iowa State to stay alive. The Buffs didn’t impress anyone with their escape and will move to on to face Kansas State. Is it a must win for their tournament chances, I don’t think entirely. If they lose to K State then Colorado still has a shot, but not a great one. If they lose I’d put their chances below 50 percent. They will then have to patiently wait to see what other bubble teams do. Good news for them is they have eliminated fellow Big 12 competition Nebraska and Baylor from the equation already. If they beat K State, then they are almost definitely in.

The third game was Baylor and Oklahoma, a must win for the Bears, and it didn’t go as planned. The Bears got smacked around and they are now headed to the NIT as a result.

In the final Big 12 game Missouri took care of Texas Tech and moved on to the quarters.

In the Big East UConn started the day by taking care of Georgetown. This should help the Huskies seeding and bump down the Hoyas, who’ve struggled down the stretch.

Next was the St. John’s-Rutgers fiasco. Horrible officiating in this one led to a disastrous ending to the game where the refs simply neglected the final 1.7 seconds of the game. It’s a perfect example of what is wrong with officiating, and we are lucky that it happen in this game and under these circumstances. Luckily this game wasn’t deciding the fate of either team (no Rutgers wasn’t winning the Big East), and even with the correct ruling its is highly likely that Rutgers would have missed a last second shot. In the end we need to learn from this case and try to improve poor officiating, which is widespread throughout College Basketball and Football. We need to be tougher on refs who screw up like this and make sure they come prepared and we get the best refs out officiating in the biggest games.

 

   Cincinnati whipped South Florida and advanced before Marquette crawled back to beat West Virginia. If there was any doubt amongst bracketologists, its not now official Marquette is a lock and so is 11 Big East teams. Complain, cry or whatever about it, but its deserved and its going to happen.

In other action ECU upset UCF to end their run. Quite the fall for the Knights after the great start to the year. Marshall also advanced on, and the Thundering Hurd are a team that no one has mentioned this year, but is actually very good. They aren’t getting an atlarge bid, but deserve a shout out. Hopefully the selection committee will give them their due and send them to the NIT. Also Southern Miss advanced and kept their season alive. They are also a decent club that has gotten a little more buzz on the bubble, but I don’t think they have a chance to grab an atlarge still.

Long Island secured a bid in a thrilling overtime victory over Robert Morris. Long Island is an interesting team that with the right matchup could be a bit scary with their fast style of play.

Northern Colorado also punched their bid over Montana and will head to their first NCAA Tournament likely as a 15 or 16 seed.

Overall that was all for the day. Keep in mind Nebraska and Baylor are off the bubble now, shrinking it for those still alive. Tomorrow is a big day as the ACC, Big Ten, and SEC tournaments start and more bubble games to come in the Pac Ten, CUSA, Big East and MWC.

Tomorrow’s games to watch:

Oklahoma State vs Kansas

UConn vs Pittsburgh

Cincinnati vs Notre Dame

St John’s vs Syracuse

Colorado vs Kansas State

ECU vs UAB

Auburn vs Georgia

Wake Forest vs Boston College

Southern Miss vs Memphis

Cal vs USC

Iowa vs Michigan State

New Mexico vs Colorado State

Marshall vs UTEP

Tennessee vs Arkansas

Indiana vs Penn State

Georgia Tech vs Virginia Tech

Washington vs Washington State

Locks in my opinion:

Big East (11):

Pittsburgh, Louisville, Notre Dame, UConn, St. John’s, West Virginia, Marquette, Cincinnati, Syracuse, Villanova, Georgetown

ACC (3):

UNC, Duke, Florida State

Big Ten (4):

Wisconsin, Ohio State, Illinois, Purdue

Big 12 (5):

Missouri, Kansas, Kansas State, Texas, Texas A&M

Pac Ten (3):

Washington, UCLA, Arizona

Mountain West (3):

UNLV, BYU, San Diego State

SEC (4):

Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Florida, Tennessee

Colonial (2):

George Mason, Old Dominion

A10 (2):

Xavier, Temple

All other conference are locked it with atleast one team: 22 Conferences and Bids (including five with multi-bid opportunities)

Locked Bids: 59

Bubble spots available: 9

Teams Alive, 17 – 2 automatic bids=15): Georgia, Clemson, Boston College, Michigan, Michigan State,  Colorado, Washington State, USC, Colorado State, Richmond, Alabama, Memphis, (UAB), UTEP,  (Utah State),  St. Mary’s, VCU

(***)=projected conference champ receiving auto bid

TAKE A LOOK AT THE ACTUAL BRACKET IN THIS LINK BELOW!!!

 

Bracket March 10 2011

1 Seeds-

Ohio State

Kansas

Pittsburgh

Notre Dame

2 Seeds-

Duke

BYU

San Diego State

North Carolina

3 Seeds-

Texas

Purdue

Syracuse

Wisconsin

4 Seeds-

Louisville

Florida

UConn

St. John’s

5 Seeds-

Arizona

Georgetown

Kentucky

Vanderbilt

6 Seeds-

West Virginia

Cincinnati

Xavier

 Kansas State

7 Seeds-

Temple

Texas A&M

Missouri

UNLV

8 Seeds-

George Mason

UCLA

Old Dominion

Villanova

9 Seeds-

Utah State

Illinois

Florida State

Marquette

10 Seeds-

Washington

Tennessee

Boston College

Richmond

11 Seeds-

Gonzaga

Georgia

Michigan

Clemson

12 Seeds-

Butler

Michigan State

UAB

Virginia Tech

Colorado

St. Mary’s

13 Seeds-

Belmont

Harvard

Oakland

Indiana State

14 Seeds-

Bucknell

Long Island

Wofford

Long Beach State

15 Seeds-

St. Peter’s

Kent State

Morehead State

Northern Colorado

16 Seeds-

Boston University

UNC Asheville

Arkansas Little Rock

Texas Southern

McNeese State

Bethune Cookman

Last Four In-

Michigan State

Virginia Tech

St. Mary’s

Colorado

First Four Out-

Alabama

Memphis

USC

Washington State

Next Three Out-

UTEP

VCU

Colorado State

Also Considered:

NONE!

Bids by Conference:

Big East-11

ACC-6

Big 12-6

Big Ten-6

SEC-5

Pac Ten-3

A10-3

MWC-3

Colonial-2

WCC-2

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