WOOOO.
Can you believe it’s only the Friday of conference tournament week? Basketball is great. There were like a billion games on yesterday, and pretty much anything not involving the SEC was worth watching. The SEC doesn’t watch the SEC at this point.
Mountain West
Recap
Only 9 teams got the invite to the Mountain West Tournament (are there more than 9 teams in the league?) so this conference had the luxury of taking the day off yesterday. Probably for the best. People are still dumb and don’t watch yet, so why waste a good Thursday in Vegas playing basketball when you can go to the Bada-Bing club in some guy named Guido’s limo? That’s an actual story.
Game(s) of the Day
San Diego State vs. #15 New Mexico, 9pm
UNLV vs. Colorado State, 11:30pm
There were no real surprises in the quarterfinals so we have matchups of San Diego State-New Mexico and Colorado State-UNLV. Come on, just give these teams a try, will you please?
Bubble Update
Air Force couldn’t hang with UNLV Wednesday, so they’re done. San Diego State eliminated all doubt by defeating Boise State, leaving just the Broncos of Boise to ponder whether they’ll get to dance or not for a long couple of days. Smart money says they should be in, but who the hell knows?
A-10
Recap
Well this Tournament was just the saddest thing ever yesterday. First, Richmond led Charlotte by 3 points with 5 seconds left and then Mark Richt lost control of the officials and they let Charlotte just shoot free throws all the live long day until the 49ers had built a 5 point lead. In the span of 1 second game time, Richmond got outscored by 8. Only in Brooklyn.
And then there was this little tragedy…
With Xavier hoping to keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive and down by 1 with 1.4 seconds left, they needed to draw up the perfect play to give themselves a shot attempt to win the game. They did. But forward Isaiah Philmore has no idea how seconds, or clocks, or the concept of time in general works and flipped up his layup too fast off the back of the rim. Heartbreak City. Welcome to March.
Bubblers:
Xavier is surely out now. That just leaves and La Salle and–to a lesser extent–Temple, who both seem to be in for now barring any crazy runs from Cinderella in other conference tournaments to steal bids. Which has totally happened before.
Games to Watch:
Butler vs. La Salle, 2:30pm
UMass vs. Temple, 9pm
La Salle would like a win vs Butler at 2:30 today to cement their Tournament status. At 9pm, Temple and Khalif Wyatt face off with UMass, as the Owls attempt to go for their 6th straight NCAA Tournament.
Big 12
Recap
Iowa State moved passed Oklahoma to set up a rematch with Kansas, and Baylor couldn’t complete an improbable comeback vs Oklahoma State. Spend your time elsewhere.
Bubblers
Oklahoma’s not doing themselves any favors by losing to TCU and Iowa State in their final two games. I’d make a joke about them but that’d be giving them more attention than they deserve. Baylor had a good look at the buzzer to put themselves on the bubble but it clanged off the rim. A fitting end for them.
Games to Watch
Nope.
If you’re going to watch Kansas-Iowa State or Oklahoma State-Kansas State over the Big East semifinals you are not the type of audience we are looking for here.
SEC
Recap
LSU, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, and Missouri all moved on to the quarterfinals. That’s all you really need to know. This conference is a waste of everyone’s time where is Johnny Football?
Bubblers/Games to Watch
Tennessee vs. Alabama, 3pm
Vanderbilt vs. Kentucky, 7:30pm
Missouri vs. Ole Miss, 10pm
Some people consider Tennessee to be in, some people don’t. Most just don’t care. The winner of the matchup between the Volunteers and Alabama today will certainly help themselves. At 7:30, Kentucky needs to beat Vanderbilt and at 10, Ole Miss and Missouri duke it out in another bubble matchup. Goodness, is everyone on the bubble here? You guys should just consider this week your Big Dance.
ACC
Recap
Georgia Tech had a two touchdown lead on Boston College before the Eagles even had a single point, and BC still won this game by 20. Freshman Olivier Hanlan set an ACC Tournament record with 41 points, which is worth celebrating because he beat former Tarheels Tyler Hansbrough and Harrison Barnes. Maryland kept themselves alive with a win over Wake Forest, and no one cares who won the Florida State-Clemson game (it was Florida State).
Bubblers/Games to Watch
N.C. State vs. Virginia, 2pm
Maryland vs. #2 Duke, 7pm
Maryland has a lot of work left, but hey, they’re still alive and have an opportunity to make moves vs Duke. Virginia is in much better shape, and could possibly punch their ticket today against N.C. State. Problem is, Virginia stinks. #stink
Pac 12
Recap
The Pac 12 is a carnival. This conference is filled with teams that are exactly the same, making for close games every single night. Remember the Yoshi Valley track on Mario Kart 64? Where the course was so bonkers that the game couldn’t even keep track of who was winning? That’s the Pac-12. You don’t know anything til it’s over.
Bubblers/Games to Watch
#18 Arizona vs. #21 UCLA, 9pm
Oregon should be safe, especially with a winnable game in the semis against below .500 Utah. Arizona-UCLA isn’t a bubble game, but it should be one of the best games of the day. Too bad it’s on at 9pm and not 11:30.
Big East
Recap
Not a very crazy day in Big East land. Georgetown did their Georgetown thing and sledgehammered Cincinnati. Syracuse tried to kill us again, blowing a 13 point halftime lead before hanging on by the length of Brandon Triche’s beard. Louisville beat up a mediocre Villanova team, and Notre Dame scored the only upset of the day, beating Marquette 73-65 behind Pat Connaughton’s 3 point barrage.
Games to Watch
#19 Syracuse vs. #5 Georgetown, 7pm
#24 Notre Dame vs. #4 Louisville, 9:30pm
The Big East is about as stable as you can be with bubble teams by now. Now it’s time to just play the games. Syracuse and Georgetown play their last game ever for the fourth time now, and the Orange are going to have to figure out a way to score against that Georgetown defense. Louisville-Notre Dame also gives us a nice rematch of the best regular season game of the season, a 5 OT classic in South Bend which Notre Dame took by a score of 104-101.
B1G Ten
You’re the best, Big Ten. Though it was a pretty blah day for the most part (Michigan over Penn State, Nebraska over Purdue, Iowa over Northwestern), Illinois-Minnesota was a treat and we finally got a Gus classic after he had left CBS.
“PUUUUUUUURREEEE”. Miss you, Gus.
Bubblers/Games to Watch
Illinois vs. Indiana, 12pm
#6 Michigan vs. #22 Wisconsin, 2pm
Iowa vs. Michigan State, 9pm
Illinois is in now, but the last time they played Indiana it ended in HOLY SMOKES fashion, so that should be fun to watch. Michigan and Wisconsin will probably just play each other from 3 point line to 3 point line, with each team hitting 20 3s a piece. At 9pm, Iowa could get themselves in a nice position if they can score a win over Michigan State.
That’s all for today, enjoy the games.
Aggro Swag 
Love this time of year…and it’s so much better when Gus Johnson is calling buzzer-beaters.