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Monday, March 10, 2008

College Hoops Monday

Championship Week really begins in earnest today as the countdown really heats up to Selection Sunday.

Sunday Major Conference Recap
Perry Stevenson had 18 and 10 as Kentucky dealt a huge blow to Florida's at large chances, defeating the Gators 75-70 at Rupp Arena to basically lock up a tourney bid. The Wildcats finished 12-4 in SEC play. Ohio State may have played their way into the field of 65 for now after a huge 63-54 home win over Michigan State. David Butler scored 20 for the Buckeyes. Pitt knocked DePaul out of the Big East tournament, as the Panthers took it by 19 led by 22 and 14 from DeJuan Blair. VaTech needs to now do major ACC damage after a 70-69 loss at Clemson that makes the Tigers a little more comfortable this week. Indiana's seed could hurt a bit after an OT loss at Penn State. Seton Hall now needs a miracle after a home loss to rival Rutgers. Tennessee kept its number one seed hopes intact with a win over South Carolina. Bubble teams relax, Drake got an automatic bid in the MVC. Will VCU go into the tournament as an at large? Right now Joe Lunardi has them as one of the last four out, but you never know as the week progresses. Purdue bested Michigan with a late run to avoid a badly timed loss. Texas captured the top seed in the Big 12 tournament with a win over OK State. UConn finished off a surprisingly successful regular season with a 45 point smothering of Cincinnati. Kent State kept their at large hopes alive with a win at 21 win Akron. Maryland suffered a setback in Charlottesville after a bad 15 point loss at Virginia. Gonzaga fans can rest easy after they survived Santa Clara, but San Diego may be the 3rd team in the WCC after a double OT thriller win over Saint Mary's.

Conference Tournaments Yesterday
From Binghamton, the America East has reached the final. Top seed UMBC beat Vermont and will play 2nd seeded Hartford in the ship, as Hartford bested Boston University. Richmond was upset city in the CAA semifinals. The 5th seed William & Mary shocked VCU 56-54 and will play the 3rd seeded George Mason, the Patriots knocked off 2nd seeded UNC-Wilmington. The top 2 seeds have advanced to the final in Albany for the MAAC title. Top seed Siena were 2 points better than 4th seeded Loyola, and the 2nd seed Rider survived 6th seeded Marist 76-71. In St Louis, top seeded Drake got off to a 40-19 lead and cruised to the MVC crown, 79-49 over 2nd seeded Illinois State. Road teams ruled the day in the NEC semifinals. Mount St Mary's looked impressive in their 83-65 rout of top seed Robert Morris. 2nd seeded Wagner lost to 3rd seed Sacred Heart for the 3/4 final match. Favorites took the games in the Patriot League as top seed American beat 5th seed Army 72-60. 3rd seed Colgate were 14 points better than 7th seeded Bucknell 54-40. In Charleston in the SoConn tournament, top seed Davidson advanced easily by 30 over UNC Greensboro. They'll play 7th seeded Elon who beat the College of Charleston. In Tulsa, 3rd seed Oakland and 5th seeded IPFW advanced to the Summit semis. The top 4 seeds advanced in the Sun Belt quarterfinals from Mobile as South Alabama, Arkansas-Little Rock, Western Kentucky, and Middle Tennessee all advanced. Gonzaga advanced to the WCC final with a hard fought win over Santa Clara, but the 3rd seeded home team San Diego upset 2nd seed St Mary's in 2OT to advance to the final. Will the WCC be a 3 bid league this year?

Conference Tournaments Tonight
The CAA will crown its champion this evening from Richmond as the 3rd seed George Mason faces the 5th seeded William & Mary Tribe. The game will be at 7pm on ESPN. Will VCU get an at large bid after their conference loss? If they don't there's a nice, warm spot in the NIT just for them. At that same time on ESPN2, the MAAC has its title game from Albany as Siena battles Rider in a 1-2 battle for the bid. Right after the MAAC game on ESPN2, top seed Davidson takes on the 7 seed Elon from Charleston in the SoConn title match. A Davidson loss may mean one less spot for the bubble teams. Summit semis go down in Tulsa as top seeded Oral Roberts plays the 5th seed IPFW, and IUPUI battles Oakland in the 2/3 game. Sun Belt semis are also this evening in Mobile as South Alabama takes on Middle Tennessee in the 1/4 matchup, and Arkansas-Little Rock plays Western Kentucky in the 2/3 game. Huge WCC title match from San Diego's Jenny Craig Pavillion (The Slim Gym) after the CAA crowns a champion on ESPN. Top seed Gonzaga will try to take the title, but the hometown San Diego Terreros stand in their path. The bubblers should root for the Zags.

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