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Read through the rest of the NCAA Tournament Cheat Sheets here. Conference: Big South Coach: Eddie Biedenbach Record: 24-9, 16-2 Big South (1st) Rankings and Ratings: – Kenpom: 123 – RPI: 125 – AP/USA Today: Unranked Seeding?: As an auto-bid from one of the weakest conferences in the country, UNC-Asheville looks like a play-in game…
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West Virginia threw a kink into South Florida’s NCAA tournament plans Saturday by boosting its own hopes for an at-large bid. That’s what happens this time of year. Kevin Jones and Darryl Bryant scored 34 of the Mountaineers’ points in 50-44 victory. It marked the first time Jan. 21 that West Virginia (19-12, 9-9 in…
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St. Louis coach Rick Majerus ‘doing fine’ after hospital trip
Mar 3, 2012, 3:32 PM EDT
St. Louis coach Rick Majerus couldn’t watch his Billikens beat Duquesne Saturday because of a minor medication mixup that required a trip to the hospital. Not to worry. Majerus is “doing fine” according to assistant Chris Harriman. He was with the team beforehand. The trip to the hospital was strictly precautionary. It’s only because Majerus,…
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UConn’s hopes of making the NCAA Tournament live to see another day. With Jim Calhoun back on the bench for the first time in more than a month — eight games, to be exact, in which UConn went 3-5 — the Huskies jumped out to a big first half lead before hanging on down the…
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Back in December, Memphis didn’t look anything like a contender for a bid to the NCAA Tournament, let alone the Conference USA title. After an embarrassing, 70-59 loss at Georgetown in DC on Dec. 22nd, Memphis was sitting at 6-5 in the country and playing such ugly, uninspired basketball that there were people already calling…
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Over the next 13 days, the brackets will start to take shape. Teams with no at-large aspirations will make one final push at the post-season. Teams on the bubble will look to assert themselves as worthy members of “The Big Dance”, and contenders will start priming their engines for a national Championship run. While “March…
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The enormity of what happened on Tuesday night cannot be exaggerated. The Big Sky quickly turned into a two-team race this season. While Weber State got all of the press thanks to their uber-talented point guard Damian Lillard, Montana slowly chugged along, winning game after game. As the wins piled up, it became quite clear…
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I’ve probably said this about five times while putting together these conference previews, but the Summit League might be my favorite league in the country. Because they score. And score and score and score. And if you know me, than you know that I appreciate a hard-fought defense battle as much as anyone. But if…
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Bubble Banter: UConn, Miss. St., Northwestern badly need wins
Mar 3, 2012, 9:25 AM EDT
The NCAA tournament bubble isn’t necessarily any weaker, but it certainly isn’t shrinking. Games this weekend should help clear up a few spots – although it hasn’t happened yet. Right now, there are 25 teams listed as projected locks, with another seven teams in strong position to claim a bid (Should Be In). When you add in the…
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Jim Calhoun attends UConn practice, but may not coach Saturday
Mar 3, 2012, 2:27 AM EDT
UConn coach Jim Calhoun was back at practice Friday, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be coaching the Huskies when they play host to Pitt on Saturday. In fact, Calhoun was mostly there to alleviate some restlessness, not because he feels better after having surgery to alleviate nerve pain in his back. “I feel tired now,”…
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Don’t count Butler out just yet. With their NCAA hopes hanging by the thread of a Horizon League Tournament championship, Brad Stevens has the Bulldogs marching forward. Khyle Marshall and Roosevelt Jones each had 17 points and Butler dominated Milwaukee in the second half to get a 71-49 victory and advance to the semifinals of the…
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Two weeks ago, following a 56-50 road win over Penn, it looked like Harvard was solidly in control of the Ivy League. But then they flattened out. By going 3-2 in their next five while Penn won five straight, the Crimson allowed the Quakers to creep back into the conference title race. Now it comes…
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Basketball’s the same at every D-I school. Rims are 10 feet high, free-throws are from 15 feet away and the court’s 50 feet wide and 94 feet long. Only thing that changes is the ball. NCAA rules mandate a ball that weighs between 20 and 22 ounces, features a circumference between 29½ and 30 inches,…
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Southern Illinois fires Chris Lowery; may go for Bruce Weber
Mar 2, 2012, 5:11 PM EDT
Southern Illinois’ wretched start turned into a dismal season, which spelled the end of Chris Lowery’s tenure. Hard to believe given his start in Carbondale. Lowery was fired Friday, not long after the Salukis completed an 8-23 season, their worst in eight seasons under Lowery. It even included a loss to a D-II school. The…
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The Sun Belt’s regular season was never much of a race. That’s what happens when you have one dominant team rush to a 10-0 start in league play. That’s precisely what Middle Tennessee State did. After putting together an impressive non-conference slate — one that was strong enough to garner them serious consideration for an…
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Terrence Ross living up to declaration of Pac-12′s ‘best player’
Mar 2, 2012, 2:47 PM EDT
If Terrence Ross is the Pac-12 top player, Thursday didn’t hurt his cause. Washington’s sophomore scored 18 points in an 80-58 win Thursday against USC, a victory that clinched the Huskies at least a share of the league crown. If he ensures they win Saturday at UCLA, Ross could just take home the hardware. Ross,…
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Back in October, the MAAC looked like a two-team league. Iona and Fairfield were both stocked with talent, both homegrown and of the transfer variety, and had some pundits speculating that this could feasibly turn into a two-bid — if not three-bid, WCC-in-2008-style — conference by the end of the season. Alas, it didn’t happen.…
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Patsos never has to hear about the ‘Stephen Curry defense’ again
Mar 2, 2012, 1:29 PM EDT
Jimmy Patsos’s good year got even better Thursday when he was named MAAC coach of the year. And to think, it wasn’t that long ago that he was making headlines for some not-so-brilliant defense on Stephen Curry. The Loyola (Md.) coach took his team to a 21-8 season, the first time the Greyhounds have ever…
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The bid thief doesn’t linger very long. It gets in, gets out, and handles it’s business. The bid thief is one of the last things a desperate bubble team wants to see in early March. The longer a bubble team or potential at-large team can stay alive in a conference tournament, the better their chances…
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Over the next 13 days, the brackets will start to take shape. Teams with no at-large aspirations will make one final push at the post-season. Teams on the bubble will look to assert themselves as worthy members of “The Big Dance”, and contenders will start priming their engines for a national Championship run. While “March…
