B101's Questions For The Weekend

Here's what we're wondering heading into this weekend's games:

Friday's Games
Will Harvard (vs. Penn) or Princeton (at Dartmouth) get caught looking ahead to their Saturday showdown?

Saturday's Games
Can Duke sweep North Carolina and win the ACC regular season title? If the Blue Devils win, is there any way they don't end up on the 1 line?

Will Michigan be the latest bubble team to blow their shot an at-large? Are the Wolverines safe if they beat Michigan State and then win the 4/5 game in the Big Ten tourney?

Would a win for Alabama over Georgia be enough for the Tide to hang on to their spot on the 12 line?

Can BYU overcome its recent distractions and take care of Wyoming at home to secure the 1 seed for the MWC tourney?

Is the Virginia Tech at Clemson match-up the biggest bubble battle of the weekend?

Or is Nebraska at Colorado?

Will Kansas win at Missouri to secure their 1 seed? Will Pitt do the same at home against Villanova?

Can Baylor take down a slumping Texas squad and once again climb back onto the bubble?

Will Notre Dame be able to win at UConn and stay in the mix for a 1 seed? How far would UConn fall with an 0-2 week and a .500 Big East finish?

Will an appearance in the Horizon final be enough to get Butler an at-large?

Is there any chance that Colorado State can pull off a shocker at SDSU?

Would Florida climb into the mix for a 2 seed if they can win at Vandy and finish 13-3 in conference?

Can Cincinnati complete a season sweep of Georgetown and climb above the Hoyas on the S-curve?

How high will West Virginia's seed climb if they complete a 2-0 week with a win over Louisville?

Will a bid-stealer come from the Colonial conference tourney?

Who will win the Ohio Valley, Big South, and Atlantic Sun championship games? Will Belmont or Coastal Carolina see their dream seasons end early?

If Richmond takes down Duquesne, is there any way the Spiders get left out at 13-3 in the A-10?

If Kansas State takes care of Iowa State, will they get this week's biggest seed bump?

Could Missouri State lose in the MVC semis and have any chance for an at-large?

Will a win over UCLA be enough for Washington State to climb back into the bracket?

If Seton Hall upsets Marquette, like they did St. John's already this week, would 11 Big East bids be in jeopardy?

Can Princeton win at Harvard and secure this year's first automatic bid?

Sunday's Games
Would a win over Wisconsin at home lock up the No. 1 overall seed for Ohio State?

Can Tennessee beat Kentucky in Knoxville and move into lock status?

Will Florida State survive a trip to N.C. State? If the 'Noles were to lose their next two games, would they get squeezed out of the field?

BC can't lose at home to Wake Forest...right?

Does it even matter who wins the Penn State-Minnesota game?

B101's Bracket Banter - Thursday

Bracket Banter is our daily open thread to discuss all things bracket. Readers can post comments and questions during the night's games, and we will answer those questions as the night goes on.

Thursday's Games
Over the last 72 hours, the bubble has gone from a fun thing to criticize to a full-blown laughingstock. Virginia Tech, Colorado, Baylor, Alabama, Penn State, Clemson, Minnesota, Maryland, Memphis, and Southern Miss all lost critical bubble battles in the past three days, making the already weak bubble weaker than ever.

Those results have had an interesting impact on the three biggest games on tonight's schedule - Tennessee at South Carolina, UCLA at Washington, and USC at Washington State. Washington's seed slipped all the way to the bottom of the 10 line after a home loss to Wazzu over the weekend, and it appeared that a 2-0 week was going to be necessary to keep the Huskies in the bracket for another week. After all the bubble craziness the past three days, though, that might not be the case. A split, plus one Pac-10 tourney win, is probably all Washington needs to go dancing at this point.

Tennessee entered the week in a similar position. The Vols laid an egg at home against Mississippi State on Saturday, which gave them 12 losses on the year and made it seem like a 2-0 week was going to be necessary to keep them in the field. Now, it looks like a split plus one SEC tournament win will be enough to get Tennessee an at-large, despite the fact that they could finish with 14 losses. That would tie Georgia's record from 2001, when the Bulldogs got an at-large at 16-14. Georgia had the No. 1 SOS in the country and eight Top 50 wins that year; Tennessee has the No. 2 SOS and seven Top 50 wins heading into tonight's game against the Gamecocks.

Finally, USC takes on Washington State in a bubble battle that could only happen in the context of a 68-team field. These two teams have a combined nine losses to teams outside the Top 100 (nine!!), yet the winner will still be very much alive for an at-large berth. The loser of this game will need to win the Pac-10 tournament to get a bid; the winner will need to get to to the final to still be in the mix on Selection Sunday.

Conference Tournaments
The Big South semifinals are tonight, with top-seeded Coastal Carolina taking on VMI and second-seeded UNC-Asheville taking on High Point. Top seed Long Island plays St. Francis (PA) in the Northeast Conference quarterfinals, the Atlantic Sun quarterfinals continue with Jacksonville facing North Florida and Lipscomb facing Mercer, and the Ohio Valley quarters continue with Austin Peay taking on SE Missouri State and Tennessee Tech taking on UT-Martin. First round play in the Missouri Valley and American East also begins tonight. Top seed Missouri State will take on the winner of tonight's Illinois State-Southern Illinois game in the MVC quarters on Friday.

Also keep an eye on: Wisconsin at Indiana, St. John's at Seton Hall, Oregon State at Arizona

B101's Bracket Banter - Wednesday

Bracket Banter is our daily open thread to discuss all things bracket. Readers can post comments and questions during the nights games, and we will answer those questions as the night goes on.

Wednesday's Games
Do you think if we started a rumor that the NCAA decided to go back to a 65-team tourney because of the weak bubble that it would have any legs? After last night's performance by a few bubble teams (we're talking to you Virginia Tech, Baylor, and Alabama) we wish that rumor were true.

The games in Bubbleville tonight are not as significant as last night, but there are still some important must-win games for bubble teams. Michigan State and Colorado State must take care of business at home against teams in the bottom half of their conference standings (Iowa and Utah), while bracket newcomer Colorado has to navigate through a tricky road trip to Iowa State (just ask Nebraska). The games for Michigan State and Colorado State are warm-ups for critical road games this weekend (Michigan and SDSU), while Colorado returns home for a bubble elimination game against the Huskers.

The other focus tonight will be on teams in the Big XII, MWC, Big East, A-10, and C-USA who have the chance to clinch at least a share of the regular season crown. Kansas has Texas A&M visiting, and if the Jayhawks can pick up a win over the Aggies and then at Missouri over the weekend, they are likely a lock for a one seed. BYU will be looking to secure the top seed in the MWC tourney and avenge their only conference loss of the season in their game against New Mexico. The other important storyline to this game is how BYU will play in their first game without Brandon Davies.

Pitt and Xavier can also clinch at least a share of their conference titles with wins over bottom feeders South Florida and Charlotte. In C-USA, UAB plays at Southern Miss in another key bubble battle. If UAB can pick up the road win, they would only need a home win over East Carolina over the weekend to clinch the outright regular season title. That title could lead to an at-large bid if they need it. If Southern Miss completes a season sweep of the Blazers, they will pass them in the bunched-up C-USA pecking order.

Elsewhere in power conference action, Duke and North Carolina will look to avoid stumbles prior to their weekend showdown in Chapel Hill, which will determine the ACC title. Clemson heads to Cameron Indoor looking to pull off the huge upset that would finally catapult them into the bracket, and down in Tallahassee, Florida State looks to lock down their bid by knocking off the Tar Heels. In Big East play, UConn travels to West Virginia and Cincinnati plays at Marquette. These two games will have a major impact on the final Big East pecking order and on which teams earn first round byes in the Big East tourney.

Conference Tournaments
The Atlantic Sun, Ohio Valley, and Patriot League begin conference tourney play tonight. Heavily favored Belmont, out of the A-Sun, will start things off against a Kennesaw State team they just beat by 43 points on the road. In the Patriot, top-seeded Bucknell kicks things off against Army as the Bison look to get back to the tournament for the first time in five years.

Also keep an eye on: Providence at Louisville, LSU at Georgia, Temple at UMass, Utah State at New Mexico State, Minnesota at Northwestern, Memphis at East Carolina, Maryland at Miami

B101's Bracket Banter - Tuesday

Bracket Banter is our daily open thread to discuss all things bracket. Readers can post comments and questions during the night's games, and we will answer those questions as the night goes on.

Tuesday's Games
Debates about 1 seeds are fun and all, but the first week in March is all about the bubble. Tonight, a half dozen bubble teams get to stake their claim to a spot in the bracket.

The biggest and most anticipated game of the night is Ohio State at Penn State. The Nittany Lions have been one of the most talked about teams on this site over the past couple weeks, and much of that discussion has centered around their ability to win this game. If they do win, and follow up that win with a victory at Minnesota this weekend, they'll be dancing. If they lose tonight, they'll need a win over the Gophers and a trip to the Big Ten semis to be in the at-large mix. If they win tonight and then lose at Minnesota, one Big Ten tourney win would probably be enough, and two would almost certainly get them a bid. Got all that?

The other hotly debated bubble team in action tonight is Alabama, which travels to Gainesville to take on Florida. There is probably no better poster child right now for why the 68-team field is a bad idea than the Crimson Tide. Despite an 89 RPI (89!) and a resume that features more bad losses than good wins, the Tide are very much alive for an at-large bid. If they win this game against the Gators, it's hard to see them getting left out. If they lose, the debate continues. Would a win over Georgia this weekend, and a 12-4 finish, be enough? How many SEC tourney wins would they need at that point to be safe? One? Two?

In Big XII bubble action, Baylor plays at Oklahoma State and Nebraska hosts Missouri. The Huskers are barely clinging to a spot on the bubble right now after their brutal loss at Iowa State over the weekend. A win here won't get them back in the bracket, but it will at least keep them relevant heading into the weekend. They'd have to win at Colorado on Saturday and then make a very deep Big XII tourney run to get in. Baylor, meanwhile, enters the final week of the regular season on the right side of the bubble, but not by much. They're probably going to need a sweep of the Cowboys and Longhorns this week to have a chance at an at-large. Two wins would get them to 9-7 in conference, which should make up for their lack of an OOC resume. A 1-1 week would leave them needing two Big XII tourney wins to stay alive.

The final bubble game of night takes place in the ACC, where Boston College plays at Virginia Tech in what is essentially a "play-out" game for the Eagles. If they lose to the Hokies, we can't see any way that BC gets an at-large. If they're able to pull the upset, and then take care of Wake Forest at home on Sunday, they'll probably be in the bracket heading into the ACC tourney. A loss would definitely put a crack in Virginia Tech's resume, but it wouldn't necessarily knock them out next week. They'd have to win at Clemson this weekend and win a game (maybe two) in the ACC tourney to like their chances.

Finally, in non-bubble action, Vanderbilt plays at Kentucky and Illinois plays at Purdue. The Vandy-Kentucky game is important for both in terms of seeding, but it's more important for the Wildcats considering they already lost to the Commodores once and trail them by a game in conference. There aren't many teams in the country playing better than Purdue over the last three weeks, and they take a six-game win streak into their game against the Illini. A 2-0 finish to their regular season would put them in great shape for a 2 seed heading into the Big Ten tournament. Illinois probably just needs to win at home against Indiana this weekend and then win one Big Ten tourney game to lock down a bid.

Conference Tournaments
The Horizon and the Big South both begin conference tournament action tonight. In the first round of the Horizon, Cleveland State plays Illinois-Chicago, Valparaiso plays Youngstown State, Loyola (IL) takes on Detroit, and Green Bay takes on Wright State. Top-seeded Milwaukee and second-seeded Butler have byes to the semifinals. In the Big South, top-seeded Coastal Carolina opens with Gardner-Webb.

Also keep an eye on: San Diego State at Wyoming