Saturday was a big day as conference tournaments get ready to take over. Many have already started, and a few championship games are ahead on Sunday. Noteworthy among the regular season games were a few teams not finishing well down the stretch, which might make their NCAA Tournament candidacy a little more interesting than it should be.
With that in mind, here are some thoughts coming out of Saturday’s games.
- If you thought a Gonzaga-Saint Mary’s final in the West Coast Conference Tournament was inevitable, you’re surely not alone. Saint Mary’s is now in a better position for the NCAA Tournament, but a win on Monday night is still the best thing they could do.
- Purdue got another win over a likely NCAA Tournament team by beating Minnesota by 16. With that, the Golden Gophers finish up Big Ten play with an 8-10 mark. Their overall computer numbers are good and they have the wins, but they might not get a very good seed, especially if they are one-and-done in Chicago next week.
- Syracuse didn’t finish up well at all. Losing at Georgetown would be one thing, but getting drubbed 61-39 after they had not been playing well coming into the game is not a good way to head into their final Big East Tournament.
- Marquette held off St. John’s in overtime 69-67 and Louisville handled Notre Dame 73-57 to join Georgetown atop the Big East. Georgetown gets the top seed via the tiebreakers.
- Providence lost in overtime at Connecticut, much like they did in their meeting in Providence at the end of January. A win would have put the Friars at 10-8 in Big East play and made them an intriguing possibility for the NCAA Tournament should they have some success in New York next week.
- Baylor finally broke through against a top Big 12 team in a game they had to have, manhandling Kansas 81-58. Is it enough? The Bears may still have some work to do in the conference tournament.
- Oklahoma State not only strengthened their NCAA Tournament resume by beating Kansas State, but they also spoiled the Wildcats’ chances at an outright Big 12 title.
- Duke made headlines with a convincing 69-53 win at North Carolina, who had won six straight games, but Miami won its first outright ACC title by beating Clemson 62-49. The Hurricanes have looked more beatable in the last couple of weeks, but Jim Larranaga has done a terrific job coaching this team to the top spot. Meanwhile, Duke hasn’t lost when Ryan Kelly is in the lineup.
- NC State finished an underachieving regular season at 11-7 in ACC play after losing at Florida State 71-67.
- Boston College beat Georgia Tech to finish 7-11 in ACC play, a nice jump from last season. They will enter the ACC Tournament with a three-game winning streak and as the No. 8 seed after being the No. 12 seed last season.
- Saint Louis thumped La Salle 78-54 for an impressive finish to conference play. Jim Crews further made his case for national Coach of the Year as they finish 13-3 in Atlantic 10 play.
- Butler beat Xavier 67-62 to gain a split with the Musketeers on the season and finish with an 11-5 mark in Atlantic 10 play.
- George Washington edged out Dayton 81-80 in overtime, and that along with other results created a logjam for the final conference tournament spots. Three teams were tied at 7-9 for the final two spots, and the odd team out is St. Bonaventure while the Colonials and Flyers are in.
- With their 52-40 win over Saint Joseph’s, Charlotte finished with the same record in Atlantic 10 play (8-8) as the Hawks. There probably weren’t many people who figured that would happen before the season.
- Oregon is another team who didn’t end the regular season well at all, getting thumped at Colorado on Thursday before losing at Utah by ten on Saturday. The Ducks go from having a shot at a regular season Pac-12 title to finishing third.
- Kentucky got a much-needed win over Florida to boost their NCAA Tournament resume. The Wildcats may have been in trouble, but they may be in now as long as they aren’t one-and-done in the SEC Tournament.
- Tennessee not only beat Missouri 64-62, but the Volunteers also finish with the same SEC record as the Tigers at 11-7. They could make things interesting with a run in Nashville.
- Alabama finished 12-6 in the SEC after beating Georgia on a buzzer-beater. The Crimson Tide are in the same boat as Tennessee, although they may have a little better profile at this point.
- Rick Ray had quite a rebuilding job when he took the Mississippi State job, and it only got more challenging once the games began. But after beating Auburn on Saturday, the Bulldogs avoided the cellar in the SEC.
- In what was a crazy day in the Mountain West, Boise State may be on its way to the NCAA Tournament after a 69-65 win over San Diego State. The Broncos might seal up a big by avoiding a bad loss in the Mountain West Tournament next week.
- Creighton hammered Indiana State 64-43 to reach the Missouri Valley championship game on Sunday. The Bluejays will take on Wichita State in a rematch of the regular season finale after the Shockers beat Illinois State 66-51.
- Memphis finished undefeated in Conference USA after beating UAB 86-71.
- Denver blew out Louisiana Tech to tie the Bulldogs atop the WAC at 16-2.
- Belmont picked up the program’s 1,000th win in style as they won the Ohio Valley in their first year in an overtime thriller. This team is experienced, well-tested and should be dangerous in the NCAA Tournament. This should also be a nice rivalry in the OVC, assuming both schools stay long-term.
- Florida Gulf Coast joined Belmont in the conference champions circle by knocking off Mercer for the Atlantic Sun title.
- The Horizon League title game will have Valparaiso taking on Wright State after the Crusaders beat Green Bay 70-69 on a buzzer-beater and Wright State eked out a 56-54 win over Detroit. Bryce Drew’s reaction as it went in was priceless.
- With Lafayette beating Lehigh in the Patriot League semifinals, it’s easy to play the “what if” game regarding C.J. McCollum. Instead, let’s give credit to Lehigh for contending without him and showing they had a good team besides McCollum, and Lafayette as probably the hottest team in the league and Tony Johnson the hottest player. The Leopards will play at Bucknell, 78-70 winners over Army.
- Drexel was picked to win the CAA this season, but was eliminated in the quarterfinals on Saturday. The Dragons are just the latest example of a team that returned most of who they had a year earlier not being better. While they might have missed Samme Givens more than many thought they would, each season is different. For a team like Drexel, injuries can come into play, other teams are different and will play them differently this time around, and all of it changes the equation.
- It wouldn’t have surprised many a couple of weeks ago if Harvard ended up winning the Ivy League. But surely no one expected the twists and turns of the past two weekends that led to it. First, the Crimson got swept last weekend to fall a game back of Princeton, who swept their games including a win over the Crimson. Now this weekend, Harvard swept and Princeton got swept at Yale and Brown, the latter of whom finished at 7-7 in league play in Mike Martin’s first season at the helm.
- Road teams won both Northeast Conference semifinals, which means Mount St. Mary’s will take a nine-game winning streak to LIU-Brooklyn on Tuesday night. Jamion Christian is on the verge of a major turnaround in a season that has been full of them in college basketball.
- Pacific blew out Long Beach State 71-51 in Bob Thomason’s last game on campus. That put the Tigers just a game back of the 49ers in the final Big West standings.
