About last night - Tribe withdrawal

OK, let's be honest. Who didn't have William & Mary in their brackets at one point or another? Heh, just as I predicted....everyone has had them. Well no more of that business of the Tribe in the field, or anywhere near it. After Old Dominion gave them the business 61-42, it's time to declare the Tribe's run for an at-large over and done with. Which is just as well as the Colonial is just beating each other up. At the top of the league, there's a three-way between the Monarchs, Northeastern, a Tuesday night winner over Delaware, and George Mason, fresh off a 61-57 loss in Atlanta to Georgia State. The Huskies have the edge having beaten both the Patriots and Monarchs.

South Florida is legit and so is Dominique Jones. Jones, held to 7 points in the first half by Georgetown's defense, proceeded to light up the Hoyas for 22 in the second, leading his Bulls to 72-64 shocker for USF's fourth Big East road win....EVER. Some will dismiss this loss by the Hoyas as a trap, but I won't. The Bulls still have to play at Notre Dame, Marquette and Villanova in the next few weeks, but they'll still be in the discussion for next Monday's bracket.

Kansas almost met the same fate as Kentucky did last week, but it prevailed over Colorado in OT. The Jayhawks' struggles at the line were appaling, but the Buffs let them off the hook by their own poor shooting. Elsewhere in Big 12 territory, Texas A&M had their own poor shooting night against Missouri, but the Aggies still won 77-74, boosting their at-large chances, whilst hurting the Tigers.

It's all over but the shouting in the Valley, the Missouri Valley that is. In a game that no one could get nationally, Northern Iowa defended the McLeod Center floor from Wichita State, 59-56, all but securing at least an at-large bid and going a long way to claiming an outright conference crown.

Mississippi State is reeling, falling to Vanderbilt 75-72 in Nashville. It's difficult to see the Bulldogs in the projections on Monday, barring unforseen results.

Elswhere, Virginia held off NC State, Akron dumped Northern Illinois to keep pace in the Mid-American, Richmond and Charlotte won key A-10 bubble battles, and Memphis crippled UAB in a key Conference USA clash.

About last night - One of these days...

...Villanova will get crushed
But it wasn't to be last night, not after the Wildcats held off a game Seton Hall 81-71. This inspite of an off-night by their leader, Scottie Reynolds(whom, it should be noted, did score his 2,000th point in the service of his team).

...Michigan State will win in the Kohl Center
But it didn't occur last night as Wisconsin blew out the Spartans 67-49. What's worse for Spartisans out there, is that Kalin Lucas will miss several weeks due to an ankle injury suffered with 11 minutes to go in the game. I doubt the Spartans would have won with him, as the Badgers were leading by 11 when the injury occured.

...There will be an uglier spat between John Calipari and John Wall during a game
This situation didn't occur either, as Kentucky defeated a spiraling-out-of-control Mississippi by an 85-75 count. This was mostly due to Demarcus Cousins' performance.

Elsewhere; Northwestern got a key bubble-enhancing win over Michigan, Brigham Young downed Texas Christian, Syracuse blew out Providence in the 2nd half, and Wake Forest held off Miami(FL), all but ending the Hurricanes' hopes of an at-large.

And later tonight
An experimental bracket(not involving an expansion to 96 teams).

About last night - Husky withdrawal

I think the time has come to cut the cord in regards to the Connecticut Huskies. When they play anywhere on someone else's home court this year, they just flat out stink(Even in Connecticut, they've been known to stink the place up, IYKWIM). Last night in Louisville was no exception. With the exception of the first few minutes of the second half, the Huskies were simply outplayed by the Cardinals. The 82-69 result means the Huskies' chances of getting in the field of 65, slim as they were before hand, are thinner than ever.

Elsewhere, Texas rebounded from it's 80-77 loss to Baylor at home to conquer Oklahoma State 72-60 in Stillwater, Morgan State beat North Carolina A&T on the road, Kent State took control of the Mid-American lead by walloping Northern Illinois, and Jackson State edged Arkansas-Pine Bluff in Pine Bluff to maintain the SWAC lead.

Projecting the lesser tournaments-One time only!

This is only time I will project out beyond the NCAA's and into the NIT, CBI and CIT. Enjoy while you can.

National Invitational Tournament:

"Storrs" region
1-Connecticut vs. 8-Northeastern
4-Virginia vs. 5-Memphis
2-Maryland vs. 7-San Diego State
3-Richmond vs. 6-Notre Dame

"Champaign-Urbana" region
1-Illinois vs. 8-Oklahoma
4-Miami(FL) vs. 5-St. John's
2-Tulsa vs. 7-Washington
3-Virginia Tech vs. 6-Alabama

"Chapel Hill" region
1-North Carolina vs. 8-Western Carolina
4-Minnesota vs. 5-Seton Hall
2-Louisville vs. 7- Green Bay
3-Virginia Commonwealth vs. 6-Texas Tech

"Milwaukee" region
1-Marquette vs. 8-Portland
4-Arizona State vs. 5-William & Mary
2-South Carolina vs. 7-South Florida
3-Northwestern vs. 6-Utah State

Collegiate Basketball Invitiational

South region
1-North Carolina State vs. 4-Florida Atlantic
2-Louisiana Tech vs. 3-Southern Mississippi

North region
1-Illinois State vs. 4-Saint Louis
2-Marshall vs. 3-Wofford

East region
1-Harvard vs. 4-Lafayette
2-Fairfield vs. 3-Detroit

West region
1-Washington State vs. 4-San Jose State
2-Colorado State vs. 3-Iowa State

Collegeinsider.com Tournament
Note: I'm not sure if there are seeds in this tournament or not, but these are unofficial.

1-Akron vs. 16-Quinnipiac
8-Wright State vs. 9-IUPUI
4-Morehead State vs. 13-Iona
5-Princeton vs. 12-Maine
2-Middle Tennessee vs. 15-Bethune Cookman
7-Appalachian State vs. 10-Eastern Kentucky
3-Stephen F. Austin vs. 14-South Dakota(Great West)
6-UC Santa Barbara vs. 11-Northern Colorado

Bracket Watch - Feburary 1st

I had an idea on what has happened to three teams whom at the start of the year were supposed to be in good shape for the field 65, but I'll put it in a post of it's own. You'll get the idea of who they are towards the end of the projections, which are done as if the season ended last night.

Final four pairings
Midwest(1) vs. West(4)
East(2) vs. South(3)

Midwest region

@Oklahoma City
1-Kansas(Big 12) vs. 16-Robert Morris(Northeast)
8-Clemson vs. 9-Texas-El Paso(Conference USA)
@Spokane
4-Gonzaga(West Coast) vs. 13-Arizona(Pacific-10)
5-New Mexico vs. 12-Dayton
@Providence
2-Georgetown vs. 15-Morgan State(Mid-Eastern)
7-Charlotte vs. 10-Cornell(Ivy)
@Buffalo
3-Purdue vs. 14-George Mason(Colonial)
6-Wake Forest vs. 11-Florida

West region

@Milwaukee
1-Kentucky(Southeastern) vs. 16-Jacksonville(Atlantic Sun)
8-Florida State vs. 9-St. Mary's
@San Jose
4-Baylor vs. 13-Oakland(Summit)
5-Brigham Young(Mountain West) vs. 12-New Mexico State(Western Athletic)
@Milwaukee
2-Michigan State(Big Ten) vs. 15-Weber State(Big Sky)
7-Xavier(Atlantic 10) vs. 10-Siena(Metro Atlantic)
@Jacksonville
3-West Virginia vs. 14-College of Charleston(Southern)
6-Missouri vs. 11-Wichita State

East Region

@Providence
1-Villanova(Big East) vs. 16-Stony Brook(America East)
8-Mississippi vs. 9-Oklahoma State
@San Jose
4-Ohio State vs. 13-Murray State(Ohio Valley)
5-Georgia Tech vs. 12-Old Dominion
@Oklahoma City
2-Kansas State vs. 15-Coastal Carolina(Big South)
7-Northern Iowa(Missouri Valley) vs. California
@New Orleans
3-Vanderbilt vs. 14-Pacific(Big West)
6-Butler(Horizon) vs. 11-Cincinnati

South region

@Buffalo
1-Syracuse vs. 16-Opening Round winner
Opening Round: Lehigh(Patriot) vs. Jackson State(Southwestern)
8-Texas A&M vs. 9-Nevada-Las Vegas
@Spokane
4-Tennessee vs. 13-Kent State(Mid-American)
5-Temple vs. 12-UAB
@Jacksonville
2-Duke(Atlantic Coast) vs. 15-Sam Houston State(Southland)
7-Pittsburgh vs. 10-Rhode Island
@New Orleans
3-Texas vs. 14-Arkansas State(Sun Belt)
6-Wisconsin vs. 11-Mississippi State

Last four in the field: Cincinnati, Florida, Dayton, Old Dominion
First four left out: Connecticut, North Carolina, Illinois, Marquette
Next four left out: Tulsa, South Carolina, Maryland, Louisville
Also on board: Miami(FL), Virginia, Virginia Tech, Richmond, Notre Dame, St. John's, Seton Hall, South Florida, Minnesota, Northwestern, Texas Tech, Virginia Commonwealth, William & Mary, Memphis, Green Bay, San Diego State, Arizona State, Washington, Alabama, Western Carolina, Utah State

Who's In: Stony Brook, Jacksonville, Dayton, Cincinnati, George Mason, UTEP, Kent State, Wichita State, Robert Morris, Arizona, Sam Houston State, Jackson State, New Mexico State
Who's Out: Maine, Maryland, North Carolina, Campbell, Connecticut, Louisville, Seton Hall, Northeastern, Central Michigan, Quinnipiac, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Louisiana Tech

Note: There will be three polls this week instead of two, the third one asks who will win Super Bowl XLIV. The polls will be up shortly.