My God, now that was an absolutely madness-filled Championship Saturday, wasn't it? We're hours removed from the last game of the night, and I gotta be honest, I'm still reeling. Bid thieves had their day, and teams on the bubble paid for it. One #1 seed, the defending National Champions, clearly stands above the rest, but everywhere else, I don't know what the hell to expect. Let's first dive into the Bracket, the Breakdown, the Bubble Watch, and then bids yet to be determined, and then I'll try to make sense of everything that happened in the 24 hours leading up to Selection Sunday.
Bracketology Bracket
Bracketology Breakdown
Top Seeds: Connecticut Huskies (East Region), Purdue Boilermakers (Midwest Region), Houston Cougars (South Region), North Carolina Tar Heels (West Region)
Multi-Bid Leagues: AAC (2), ACC (4), Atlantic 10 (2), Big 12 (8), Big East (4), Big Ten (6), Mountain West (6), Pac-12 (4), SEC (8), WCC (2)
Bracketology Bubble Watch
Last Four Byes: Mississippi State, Florida Atlantic, Michigan State, Texas A&M
Last Four In: TCU, Colorado State, St. John's, Colorado
First Four Out: Virginia, Seton Hall, Oklahoma, Indiana State
Next Four Out: Providence, Pittsburgh, South Florida, Villanova
Bids To Be Determined
Ivy League Tournament: Brown vs. Yale — 12:00 PM EST, ESPN2
SEC Tournament: Florida vs. Auburn — 1:00 PM EST, ESPN
Atlantic 10 Tournament: Duquesne vs. VCU — 1:00 PM EST, CBS
AAC Tournament: Temple vs. UAB — 3:15 PM EST, ESPN
Big Ten Tournament: Wisconsin vs. Illinois — 3:30 PM EST, CBS
Selection Saturday Rundown
So, where do I even begin…
-After a sluggish first 30 minutes versus a short-handed Marquette squad, Connecticut woke up from their prolonged slumber and ended up winning the Big East Tournament by the final score of 73-57. We've been in this position before, where one team feels like it's levitating above the rest of the field heading into the tournament, and by no means does it always shake out that way. But there's no way around it: the Connecticut Huskies enter March Madness as the considerable favorites to cut down the nets for the second straight season.
-Of course, going into Saturday, we didn't necessarily know this would be our reality on Sunday morning. Houston and North Carolina had opportunities to win their respective conference tournaments, and Purdue had the opportunity to advance to the Big Ten final. All three teams went down. Houston got absolutely walloped by Iowa State, and the game wasn't even played in Ames. North Carolina was upset by in-state rival (and bid thief) NC State, who won five games in five days to earn an automatic bid. Do I feel like a fool for proclaiming NC State a sleeper to win the ACC earlier in the year, only to have them losing to Syracuse in the ACC Tournament? Of course I do! And hey, meanwhile in the Big Ten, Purdue was edged out by a Wisconsin team that I went into the week eager to bet against in the 1st round of the NCAA Tournament, only now the Badgers are in the Big Ten final and I have no idea what to think.
-Hey, speaking of bid thieves, Oregon upset Colorado in the Pac-12 Championship Game, likely — but not definitely — making the Pac-12 a four-bid league.
-The AAC Tournament final was supposed to be a matchup of schools from the Sunshine State, South Florida and Florida Atlantic. But 5th-seed UAB and 11th-seed Temple had other plans. Now, today's AAC Tournament final is one of the most unexpected matchups I can remember in a Conference Tournament final.
-Elsewhere in the mid-majors, Ivy League favorite Princeton got beat (at home) by a Brown squad that had a losing record in conference play. Akron and Kent State played a doozy in the MAC championship. Vermont three-peated as America East Conference champions. New Mexico secured a bid in the field with a win over San Diego State in the Mountain West Tournament final. Long Beach State completed an improbable run to the Big West Title, with head coach Dan Monson leading the Beach to the championship despite the fact he was fired five days ago. Yes, you read that correctly.
Say it with me, friends.
It's March Madness.