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The Little Dances: Championship Week Day 13 Peview

The NCAA Tournament doesn’t get going until March 19, but for the real college hoops fans, the days leading up to Selection Sunday is when the madness really begins. Over the next two weeks teams will fight for the postseason lives. Bubbles will burst and tickets will be punched, and Cinderellas will be born. This is the real March Madness.

Today is the day we bid farewell to the past and welcome in the madness. It’s Selection Sunday, the most joyous and painful day of the season. But before the brackets are released, the final four automatic bids need to be distributed.

(CLICK HERE to browse through all of our conference tournament previews)

Here’s what to watch for on Sunday.

Game of the Day: Wisconsin vs. Ohio State
The final game in what has been arguably the greatest Big Ten season of the past decade will be decided by two finalists that not many expected to make it to Chicago. But both teams are deserving of playing for the opportunity to cut down the nets. This will be a low-scoring, beat ‘em up, drag ‘em out slugfest. But Aaron Craft, Deshaun Thomas, Jared Berggren and Mike Bruesewitz are all big-game players. After this game finishes, Selection Sunday ceremonies commence.

- Watch this too: North Carolina vs. Miami
A win over the Tar Heels today would be the third of the season for Miami and would give them their first ACC tournament championship in school history. North Carolina enters the contest having won eight of their last nine games. A win would be vindicating for the Tar Heels, who were written off half way through the season for not having the chemistry or personnel to compete at a high level.

Player to Watch: Marshall Henderson, Ole Miss
College basketball’s resident bad boy has the Rebels one win away from a NCAA tournament appearance. Ole Miss desperately needs this win, as they still sit firmly on the tournament bubble. Henderson has scored 50 points through the first two SEC tournament games, and is averaging 24 ppg over the past four games. If Henderson can lead the Rebels to a SEC tournament championship, his perceived status as being a loose cannon will largely be forgotten and he will etch his name into college basketball lore.

He’s good too: Dwayne Evans, Saint Louis
The junior forward has scored 49 points in the Billikens first two Atlantic 10 tournament games and will be called on to handle a brunt of VCU’s havoc defense on the interior. But Evans does more than just score. He’s a defensive stalwart and a unusual match-up assignment for defenses. Saint Louis is playing their best basketball of the season, and its due largely to the play of Dwayne Evans.

Sunday’s Schedule:

Atlantic Coast Conference Semifinals
1 p.m. - North Carolina (3) vs. Miami (1)

Atlantic 10 Conference Semifinals
1 p.m. - VCU (2) vs. Saint Louis (1)

Big Ten Conference Semifinals
3:30 p.m. - Wisconsin (4) vs. Ohio State (2)

Southeastern Conference Semifinals
1 p.m. - Ole Miss (3) vs. Florida (1)

You can find Troy Machir on Twitter at @TroyMachir