With the flurry of activity as conference tournaments wind down, it’s sometimes easy to forget that with so many teams in action in tournament play, the fact is that just about everybody is going to lose this week.
Still, in these final days before Selection Sunday, the watch is on for teams that can win and win some more and that just might move from the proverbial bubble into a more favorable situation. Yet, Thursday brought little clarity, for most teams winning were probably already in the field, while the major question marks will remain that into Sunday night.
The SEC was where a couple teams helped themselves. Florida pulled away from Arkansas in the second half for a 66-50 win to get to 18-14 overall. The Gators’ profile is still weak, but wins are wins, especially this time of year. Also getting to that exact same record was Alabama, which topped Mississippi 62-57 and now may well have a better resume than Florida.
Perhaps Arizona State is a bubble team, though with the many horribly mediocre teams around the Sun Devils, they’re probably in regardless of their Pac-12 tourney performance. Nevertheless, second-seeded ASU did handle UCLA 83-72 in the Pac-12 quarterfinals. A team Arizona State defeated early this season is Utah State, which is also perhaps a bubble team, but most likely safe for the NCAAs. The Aggies outlasted New Mexico 91-83 in Mountain West quarterfinals, doing so despite committing a whopping 24 turnovers.
There was a winner in the Big Ten, as well as a loser. Ohio State topped Indiana 79-75 as the return of Kaleb Wesson (17 points, 13 rebounds) from suspension paid off, and the Buckeyes are probably safe for the NCAAs. The Hoosiers, meanwhile, are going to be a much-discussed team the next few days, though this should be a very simple discussion. Set aside the six Quadrant 1 wins: IU is 8-15 against the top two quadrants. That simply doesn’t cut it, and there really shouldn’t even be much debate.
Beyond that, though, there were mostly just losers. Baylor might be on the fence after an 83-66 loss to Iowa State in the Big 12 quarterfinals. The Bears likely have just enough to get in, but won’t have a lot of sympathy if they don’t. TCU certainly is after squandering an early lead and falling 70-61 to Kansas State. At the very least, the Horned Frogs should be in line behind Lipscomb, considering the Bisons won at TCU. Texas should be done after a 65-57 loss to Kansas; the Longhorns are now 16-16 overall, and though they played a tough schedule, the overall record is not NCAA Tournament worthy.
Creighton also should be in major trouble after a tough 63-61 loss in the Big East quarterfinals. The Bluejays are 17-14 against Division I teams, and that’s just not good enough. Neither is an Indiana-like 9-14 mark against the top two quadrants. St. John’s probably will get into the NCAA tourney, but the Johnnies have done little of late to look like they deserve it, including an ugly 86-55 loss to Marquette Thursday night.
Seton Hall should’ve about locked up a spot when it routed Georgetown 73-57, building a 25-point halftime lead as Myles Powell scored 29 points in the first 20 minutes. (He finished with 31). The Hoyas, meanwhile, looked barely like the NIT team most expect them to be, even with a resume that is probably better than most think.
North Carolina State had a shot at a major league win over Virginia in the ACC quarterfinals, and the Wolfpack led by two at halftime. Then the Cavaliers stormed back, and the final of 76-56 was not becoming of a State team that, as has been noted many times now, played the very worst non-conference schedule in the country. It already should be established that the NCAA’s new NET tool is vastly overrated scoring margin and giving the Wolfpack too much credit for blowing out bad teams out of conference. Add in the lack of quality wins and the overall poor schedule rank, and it would set an awful precedent if N.C. State is in the tourney.
And then there was Toledo. The Rockets almost certainly weren’t going to get an at-large bid, but a few might’ve tried to cheer their candidacy with a run to the Mid-American Conference final. That won’t be happening after an 80-73 loss to seventh-seeded Northern Illinois in the MAC quarterfinals.
Side Dishes:
- The ACC had plenty of heavy hitter names in its quarterfinals, with the best game coming between former Metro Conference mates Florida State and Virginia Tech. The Seminoles edged out a 65-63 overtime win as Terance Mann hit the clincher. Also, you may have heard on ESPN-Duke with Zion Williamson returning to play and making all 13 of his field goals in the Blue Devils’ 84-72 win over Syracuse.
- The Big Ten always seems to have oddball results in its early rounds. Sure enough, there was 13 seed Nebraska in charge virtually the whole way in a 69-61 win over No. 5 Maryland. Also, Minnesota held off Penn State 77-72 in overtime, a win that somehow gets the Golden Gophers a Quadrant 1 win over a 14-18 team. Perhaps the Gophers were somewhere near the bubble coming into play in Chicago, though not likely.
- Buffalo dominated Akron to the tune of an 82-46 blowout in the MAC quarterfinals, but this was a tourney marked otherwise by surprises. Besides Northern Illinois dumping Toledo, Central Michigan also topped trendy pick Kent State 89-81 in the 4-vs.-5 game.
- The Pac-12 saw Washington tested by USC before prevailing 78-75. Also, there were a pair of barely upsets, even as lower seeds won: Fifth-seeded Colorado blitzed Oregon State 73-58, and No. 6 Oregon topped Utah 66-54.
- Conference USA very nearly started its quarterfinals with a stunner. Top seed Old Dominion played from behind against Louisiana Tech almost the whole way, but somehow rallied in the final minute and got a go-ahead three-pointer by Ahmad Caver with 3.3 seconds left for a 57-56 win. Alabama-Birmingham also advanced with an 85-76 win over Texas-San Antonio, the Blazers winning despite 35 points from UTSA’s Jhivvan Jackson. Also, defending tourney champion Marshall was eliminated by Southern Mississippi 82-73.
- Higher seeds all advanced in the Mountain West, though not without some drama. Top seed Nevada got a battle from Boise State before holding on 77-69, while San Diego State outlasted host school UNLV 63-55.
- UC Irvine is the prohibitive favorite in the Big West, and the Anteaters did nothing to diminish that with a 63-44 win over UC Riverside. The other three games were very close, including a 75-71 overtime win by defending tournament champion Cal State Fullerton over UC Davis, plus Long Beach State came back to top Hawaii 68-66 when Jordan Roberts hit a short jumper with half a second left.
- The Big Sky saw three of the top four seeds move on, including No. 1 Montana edging very stubborn Sacramento State 79-73. One of the biggest upsets in the day happened in Boise, though, as seventh-seeded Southern Utah routed 2 seed Northern Colorado 83-64 by shooting 52.7%.
- New Mexico State dominated Chicago State as expected in the WAC, to the tune of an 86-49 win. Texas-Rio Grande Valley also broke through for its first WAC tourney win, an 85-70 victory over Cal State Bakersfield, plus Utah Valley held off Missouri-Kansas City 71-64. Reports after the game were that UMKC coach Kareem Richardson would be fired soon.
- The firings continue in this sport where supposedly coaching changes always come from coaches moving up to better jobs. Washington State let go Ernie Kent on Thursday, little surprise after he posted a 59-100 record in five years there. We’re still completely flummoxed how William & Mary would let go Tony Shaver, a near-icon at that school and one who was in line to return all five starters next year with an expected run at the CAA title. Former Tribe player Chris Stratton shared Thursday what Shaver meant to him as a former player, and it’s hard to imagine a more tone deaf firing than this one.
Today’s Menu:
- It’s Semifinal Friday in a number of leagues, quarterfinals in the rest. Just three days remain in the regular season.
- Start the day with quarterfinals in the American Athletic Conference and Atlantic 10. Top seed Houston takes on Connecticut (Noon Eastern, ESPN2) while its Rams vs. Rams in the A-10 with No. 1 seed VCU against Rhode Island (Noon, NBCSN). Among the other good ones in these leagues, in the AAC Central Florida is the 4 seed and goes into a bees’ nest at No. 5 Memphis (2:30 p.m., ESPN2) while 3 seed Temple has Wichita State (9:30 p.m., ESPNU). Also in the A-10, the 4/5 game is St. Bonaventure against George Mason (2:30 p.m., NBCSN).
- The Big Ten quarterfinals begin with Ohio State against top seed Michigan State (12:30 p.m., Big Ten Network). Among the others, a good one is Minnesota against Purdue (7 p.m., Big Ten Network) and Iowa faces Michigan (9:30 p.m., Big Ten Network).
- The SEC quarters begin with depleted 1 seed LSU against Florida, which couldn’t have a more golden opportunity to make its NCAA tourney case with an 18-14 record coming into it (1 p.m., ESPN). Among the others, Kentucky faces Alabama (7 p.m., SEC Network) and 3 seed Tennessee will meet Mississippi State (9:30 p.m., SEC Network).
- Conference USA’s semifinals come early in the day, and after all four teams played in the evening just last night. Old former Sun Belt rivals UAB and Old Dominion square off in the first semi (1:30 p.m., CBSSN) with Western Kentucky and Southern Mississippi in the second (4 p.m., CBSSN).
- The SWAC semifinals have three of the top four seeds with one surprise. No. 1 Prairie View A&M dominated the league in the regular season and will take on 4 seed Grambling State, while the second semi has 2 seed Texas Southern meeting upstart No. 6 Alabama State.
- The Sun Belt moves to the quarterfinals in its stepladder format. Fourth-seeded Texas State meets South Alabama first, and 3 seed Georgia Southern will follow against Louisiana-Monroe.
- The Southland semifinals feature the top four seeds, including No. 1 Sam Houston State against New Orleans and second-seeded Abilene Christian meeting SE Louisiana. It’s incredible that Stephen F. Austin didn’t even qualify for the eight-team tourney.
- The MEAC semis also have the top four left, with 1 seed Norfolk State matched against Howard and a good 2-vs.-3 game with rivals North Carolina A&T and North Carolina Central.
- Working into the evening, the MAC semifinals are always worthy viewing. Top seed and heavy favorite Buffalo takes on a tricky Central Michigan team that has quietly won 23 games (6:30 p.m., CBSSN). The second game has 3 seed Bowling Green against surprising 7 seed Northern Illinois.
- The Big East semifinals has a pair of 1 seeds from the NCAAs a year ago meeting first. Xavier has been hot of late and now gets a shot at top seed Villanova (6:30 p.m., FS1). That’s followed by Marquette against Seton Hall (9 p.m., FS1).
- The top four are standing for two massive ACC semifinals. First up is Virginia against Florida State (7 p.m., ESPN), then watch ESPN hyperventilate with another Duke/North Carolina matchup (9:30 p.m.).
- The Big 12 semifinals include an old ag school (nothing wrong with that) showdown with Iowa State against Kansas State (7 p.m., ESPN2). The second has West Virginia taking on Kansas (9:30 p.m., ESPN2). Perhaps the Jayhawks will still get a Big 12 championship this year after all…
- The top four survived in the Mountain West, too. Nevada gets San Diego State in an excellent matchup (9 p.m., CBSSN). The other semi has Utah State against Fresno State (11:30 p.m., CBSSN).
- The Big Sky semis include a dandy with the leagues two perennial powers facing off with top seed Montana against Weber State (7:30 p.m., Eleven Sports). The second features No. 3 Eastern Washington against 7 seed Southern Utah (10 p.m., Eleven Sports).
- The Pac-12 semifinals include Washington against Colorado and Arizona State facing Oregon (11:30 p.m., ESPN).
- The WAC semis include No. 1 New Mexico State against Texas-Rio Grande Valley. Second-seeded Utah Valley also faces Grand Canyon.
- The Big West is led by top seed UC Irvine facing rival Long Beach State, the lone team to beat the Anteaters in league play this season. The other semi has UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Fullerton (Midnight, ESPNU).
Have an outstanding Friday.
Twitter: @HoopvilleAdam
