Saturday, March 11, 2006

Bubble Wrap 3/11/06

There are eleven automatic bids and a few last bubble spots still up for grabs today. Every bubble team will be intently watching the results from Reno (WAC Championship), Nashville (SEC semifinals), Denver (MWC Championship) and Dallas (Big 12 semifinals). If any of the cinderella teams (Utah State, South Carolina, Wyoming, and Nebraska) should win, there would be a ripple effect on every bubble team with hopes of getting in to the bracket.

Memphis: The Tigers complete their domination of Conference USA with a resounding win in the championship game against 2 seed UAB. Memphis won 16 of 17 games they played this season against Conference USA competition.

Albany: The Great Danes win the America East Conference Tournament and advance to their first NCAA Tournament.

Nebraska and Wake Forest: The Huskers and Deacons both lose giving bubble teams a collective chance to catch their breath. However, trouble does await in........

South Carolina: The Gamecocks continue their improbable run to a SEC Tournament title and a possible spot in the NCAA Tournament. If the Cocks should win just one more game against Florida (a team they defeated twice during the regular season), they would "steal" a bid from a team whose name is already on the board and considered "in" by the NCAA Selection Committee.

UCLA: The Bruins follow up their regular season Pac Ten title with the Pac Ten Tournament title. UCLA is now in line for a top seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Xavier: The Musketeers become the lowest seed to win the Atlantic Ten Tournament on two free throws by Justin Doellman with 5 seconds remaining in the game.

Kent State: The Golden Flashes win their 25th game and advance to their first NCAA Tournament since 2002 with a narrow victory against Toledo in the MAC championship.

Hampton: The Pirates win four games in four days to capture the MEAC Championship. With the win, Hampton avenges a two-point loss in last year's title game to Delaware State.

Southern: The Jaguars win the SWAC Tournament and advance to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1993 when they upset 4 seed Georgia Tech in the first round.

Syracuse: The Orange complete an improbable run and become the first team to win the Big East Tournament after playing four consecutive days. Syracuse defended their Big East Tournament title from 2005 and in the process became the lowest seeded team to win the Big East Tournament.

Nevada: Every bubble team breathes a HUGE sigh of relief as Nevada holds off Utah State to win the WAC Tournament in overtime. Utah State missed two shots at the end of regulation to send the game into overtime. In overtime, Marcellus Kemp hit a HUGE 3 with just under a minute remaining to stretch the lead to four and the Aggies never got closer than 3 points from there.

San Diego State: The Aztecs are yet another tournament champion that save the list of bubble teams from additional worry on Selection Sunday. It was doubtful that San Diego State would have received an at-large bid, but the Aztecs made that a moot point with an exciting overtime win against upset-minded Wyoming.

Pacific: The Tigers withstand an early second half rally from Long Beach State to win their second Big West Tournament in the past three years.

Conference Tournament Updates 3/10/06

Eleven automatic bids are up for grabs today.

We will continue to offer real-time updates and tournament results. This is the one and ONLY site that updates tournament brackets with scores and results as they happen.

America East:

Albany dominates Vermont to win the America East Conference and advance to their first NCAA Tournament.

FIRST ROUND

At Events Center
Vestal, N.Y.

Friday, March 3
Game 1: No. 8 Maryland-Baltimore County 88, No. 9 Stony Brook 70

QUARTERFINALS

Saturday, March 4
Game 2: No. 2 Binghamton 71, No. 7 Maine 62
Game 3: No. 6 Vermont 64, No. 3 Boston University 61
Game 4: No. 1 Albany 79, No. 8 Maryland-Baltimore County 65
Game 5: No. 5 New Hampshire 66, No. 4 Hartford 62

SEMIFINALS

Sunday, March 5
Game 6: No. 6 Vermont 66, No. 2 Binghamton 59
Game 7: No. 1 Albany 67, No. 5 New Hampshire 54

CHAMPIONSHIP

At higher seed

Saturday, March 11
Game 8: No. 1 Albany 80, No. 6 Vermont 67

ACC:

Boston College stays off a late comeback from North Carolina to advance to the ACC Championship against top seed Duke.

At Greensboro Coliseum
Greensboro, N.C.

FIRST ROUND

Thursday, March 9
Game 1: No. 8 Miami 66, No. 9 Clemson 63
Game 2: No. 12 Wake Forest 78, No. 5 Florida State 66
Game 3: No. 7 Virginia 60, No. 10 Virginia Tech 56
Game 4: No. 6 Maryland 82, No. 11 Georgia Tech 64

QUARTERFINALS

Friday, March 10
Game 5: No. 1 Duke 80, No. 8 Miami 76
Game 6: No. 12 Wake Forest 82, No. 4 N.C. State 71
Game 7: No. 2 North Carolina 79, No. 7 Virginia 67
Game 8: No. 3 Boston College 80, No. 6 Maryland 66

SEMIFINALS

Saturday, March 11
Game 9: No. 1 Duke 78, No. 12 Wake Forest 66
Game 10: No. 3 Boston College 85, No. 2 North Carolina 82

CHAMPIONSHIP

Sunday, March 12
Game 11: No. 1 Duke vs. No. 3 Boston College, 1 p.m. (ESPN)

Atlantic Ten:

Justin Doellman sinks two free throws with 5 seconds left to win the Atlantic Ten Championship for Xavier.

At U.S. Bank Arena
Cincinnati

FIRST ROUND

Wednesday, March 8
Game 1: No. 9 Temple 74, No. 8 Rhode Island 45
Game 2: No. 5 Saint Joseph's 67, No. 12 Dayton 55
Game 3: No. 10 Xavier 75, No. 7 Massachusetts 66
Game 4: No. 6 Fordham 45, No. 11 Richmond 37

QUARTERFINALS

Thursday, March 9
Game 5: No. 9 Temple 68, No. 1 George Washington 53
Game 6: No. 5 Saint Joseph's 56, No. 4 Saint Louis 37
Game 7: No. 10 Xavier 59, No. 2 Charlotte 55
Game 8: No. 6 Fordham 64, No. 3 La Salle 62

SEMIFINALS

Friday, March 10
Game 9: No. 5 Saint Joseph's 73, No. 9 Temple 59
Game 10: No. 10 Xavier 70, No. 6 Fordham 59

CHAMPIONSHIP

Saturday, March 11
Game 11: No. 10 Xavier 62, No. 5 Saint Joseph's 61

Big East:

Syracuse wins the Big East Tournament title and in the process becomes the lowest seeded team (and the first to play four days) to win the tournament.

At Madison Square Garden
New York City

FIRST ROUND

Wednesday, March 8
Game 1: No. 9 Syracuse 74, No. 8 Cincinnati 73
Game 2: No. 5 Georgetown 67, No. 12 Notre Dame 63
Game 3: No. 10 Rutgers 61, No. 7 Seton Hall 48
Game 4: No. 6 Pittsburgh 61, No. 11 Louisville 56

QUARTERFINALS

Thursday, March 9
Game 5: No. 9 Syracuse 86, No. 1 Connecticut 84, OT
Game 6: No. 5 Georgetown 62, No. 4 Marquette 59
Game 7: No. 2 Villanova 87, No. 10 Rutgers 55
Game 8: No. 6 Pittsburgh 68, No. 3 West Virginia 57

SEMIFINALS

Friday, March 10
Game 9: No. 9 Syracuse 58, No. 5 Georgetown 57
Game 10: No. 6 Pittsburgh 68, No. 2 Villanova 54

CHAMPIONSHIP

Saturday, March 11
Game 11: No. 9 Syracuse 65, No. 6 Pittsburgh 61

Big Ten:

Ohio State narrowly wins against Indiana and advances to face Iowa.

At Conseco Fieldhouse
Indianapolis

FIRST ROUND

Thursday, March 9
Game 1: No. 8 Penn State 60, No. 9 Northwestern 42
Game 2: No. 10 Minnesota 59, No. 7 Michigan 55
Game 3: No. 6 Michigan State 70, No. 11 Purdue 58

QUARTERFINALS

Friday, March 10
Game 4: No. 1 Ohio State 63, No. 8 Penn State 56
Game 5: No. 5 Indiana 61, No. 4 Wisconsin 56
Game 6: No. 2 Iowa 67, No. 10 Minnesota 57
Game 7: No. 6 Michigan State 61, No. 3 Illinois 56

SEMIFINALS

Saturday, March 11
Game 8: No. 2 Iowa 53, No. 6 Michigan State 48
Game 9: No. 1 Ohio State 52, No. 5 Indiana 51

CHAMPIONSHIP

Sunday, March 12
Game 10: No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 2 Iowa , 3:30 p.m.

Big 12:

Top seed Texas narrowly avoids the upset bid from Texas A&M to advance to the Big 12 Championship game to face Kansas.

At American Airlines Center
Dallas

FIRST ROUND

Thursday, March 9
Game 1: No. 8 Texas Tech 73, No. 9 Kansas State, 65
Game 2: No. 5 Colorado 65, No. 12 Baylor 61
Game 3: No. 7 Oklahoma State 79, No. 10 Iowa State 70
Game 4: No. 6 Nebraska 71, No. 11 Missouri 64

QUARTERFINALS

Friday, March 10
Game 5: No. 1 Texas 77, No. 8 Texas Tech 70
Game 6: No. 4 Texas A&M 86, No. 5 Colorado 53
Game 7: No. 2 Kansas 63, No. 7 Oklahoma State 62
Game 8: No. 6 Nebraska 69, No. 3 Oklahoma 61

SEMIFINALS

Saturday, March 11
Game 9: No. 1 Texas 74, No. 4 Texas A&M 70
Game 10: No. 2 Kansas 79, No. 6 Nebraska 65

CHAMPIONSHIP

Sunday, March 12
Game 11: No. 1 Texas vs. No. 2 Kansas, 3 p.m. (ESPN)

Big West:

Pacific withstands a second half Long Beach State rally to win their second Big West Tournament in three years.

At Anaheim Convention Center Arena
Anaheim, Calif.

FIRST ROUND

Wednesday, March 8
Game 1: No. 5 UC Santa Barbara 76, No. 8 UC Riverside 44
Game 2: No. 6 Cal State Fullerton 73, No. 7 Cal State Northridge 63

SECOND ROUND

Thursday, March 9
Game 3: No. 3 Long Beach State 94, No. 6 Cal State Fullerton 91
Game 4: No. 4 Cal Poly 57, No. 5 UC Santa Barbara 50

SEMIFINALS

Friday, March 10
Game 5: No. 1 Pacific 68, No. 4 Cal Poly 57
Game 6: No. 3 Long Beach State 75, No. 2 UC Irvine 73

CHAMPIONSHIP

Saturday, March 11
Game 7: No. 1 Pacific 78, No. 3 Long Beach State 70

Conference USA:

Memphis wins the Conference USA Tournament and earns the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

At the FedExForum
Memphis, Tenn.

FIRST ROUND

Wednesday, March 8
Game 1: No. 10 SMU 61, No. 7 Rice 59
Game 2: No. 11 Southern Miss 66, vs. No. 6 Tulsa 61
Game 3: No. 8 Tulane 64, No. 9 Marshall 58
Game 4: No. 5 Central Florida 65, No. 12 East Carolina 52

QUARTERFINALS

Thursday, March 9
Game 5: No. 2 UAB 69, No. 10 SMU 55
Game 6: No. 3 UTEP 66, No. 11 Southern Miss 47
Game 7: No. 1 Memphis 75, Tulane 56
Game 8: No. 4 Houston 71, No. 5 Central Florida 52

SEMIFINALS

Friday, March 10
Game 9: No. 1 Memphis 68, No. 4 Houston 54
Game 10: No. 2 UAB 63, No. 3 UTEP 60

CHAMPIONSHIP

Saturday, March 11
Game 11: No. 1 Memphis 57, No. 2 UAB 46

Mid-American:

Kent State survives a late rally from Toledo to claim the MAC Championship.

FIRST ROUND

At higher seeds

Monday, March 6
Game 1: No. 7 Toledo 77, No. 10 Bowling Green 52
Game 2: No. 6 Western Michigan 60, No. 11 Eastern Michigan 55
Game 3: No. 8 Buffalo 80, No. 9 Ball State 72
Game 4: No. 5 Ohio 82, No. 12 Central Michigan 53

QUARTERFINALS

At Quicken Loans Arena
Cleveland

Thursday, March 9
Game 5: No. 7 Toledo 78, No. 2 Northern Illinois 77
Game 6: No. 3 Akron 72, No. 6 Western Michigan 57
Game 7: No. 1 Kent State 76, No. 8 Buffalo 67
Game 8: No. 5 Ohio 73, No. 4 Miami 58

SEMIFINALS

Friday, March 10
Game 9: No. 1 Kent State 72, No. 5 Ohio 59
Game 10: No. 7 Toledo 77, No. 3 Akron 69

CHAMPIONSHIP

Saturday, March 11
Game 11: No. 1 Kent State 71, No. 7 Toledo 66

MEAC:

Hampton wins their fourth game in four days to capture the MEAC Tournament Championship.

At the RBC Center
Raleigh, N.C.

FIRST ROUND

Tuesday, March 7
Game 1: No. 7 Norfolk State 73, No. 10 Maryland-Eastern Shore 71
Game 2: No. 9 Howard 62, No. 8 North Carolina A&T 52

Wednesday, March 8
Game 3: No. 6 Hampton 63, No. 11 Morgan State 51

QUARTERFINALS

Wednesday, March 8
Game 4: No. 1 Delaware State 59, No. 9 Howard 47
Game 5: No. 7 Norfolk State 79, No. 2 Coppin State 67

Thursday, March 9
Game 6: No. 6 Hampton 57, No. 3 Bethune-Cookman 55
Game 7: No. 4 South Carolina State 60, No. 5 Florida A&M 52

SEMIFINALS

Friday, March 10
Game 8: No. 1 Delaware State 63, No. 4 South Carolina State 51
Game 9: No. 6 Hampton 73, No. 7 Norfolk State 56

CHAMPIONSHIP

Saturday, March 11
Game 10: No. 6 Hampton 60, No. 1 Delaware State 56

Mountain West:

San Diego State survives an upset bid from Wyoming and capturse the Mountain West Tournament with an overtime win.

At The Pepsi Center
Denver

FIRST ROUND

Tuesday, March 7
Game 1: No. 8 Colorado State 64, No. 9 TCU 60

QUARTERFINALS

Thursday, March 9
Game 2: No. 1 San Diego State 64, No. 8 Colorado State 52
Game 3: No. 4 UNLV 65, No. 5 New Mexico 64
Game 4: No. 7 Wyoming 57, No. 2 Air Force 55
Game 5: No. 6 Utah 74, No. 3 BYU 70

SEMIFINALS

Friday, March 10
Game 6: No. 1 San Diego State 63, No. 4 UNLV 60
Game 7: No. 7 Wyoming 60, No. 6 Utah 47

CHAMPIONSHIP

Saturday, March 11
Game 8: No. 1 San Diego State 69, No. 7 Wyoming 64, OT

Pac Ten:

UCLA runs the table to take the Pac Ten Championship.

At Staples Center
Los Angeles

FIRST ROUND

Wednesday, March 8
Game 1: No. 9 Oregon State 71, No. 8 Arizona State 68
Game 2: No. 7 Oregon 66, No. 10 Washington State 55

QUARTERFINALS

Thursday, March 9
Game 3: No. 4 Arizona 73, No. 5 Stanford 68
Game 4: No. 1 UCLA 79, No. 9 Oregon State 47
Game 5: No. 3 California 82, No. 6 USC 67
Game 6: No. 7 Oregon 84, No. 2 Washington 73

SEMIFINALS

Friday, March 10
Game 7: No. 1 UCLA 71, No. 4 Arizona 59
Game 8: No. 3 California 91, No. 7 Oregon 87, 2OT

CHAMPIONSHIP

Saturday, March 11
Game 9: No. 1 UCLA 71, No. 3 California 52

SEC:

Florida pulls away from LSU to earn a spot in the SEC Championship game against upstart South Carolina.

At The Gaylord Entertainment Center
Nashville, Tenn.

FIRST ROUND

Thursday, March 9
Game 1: E5 South Carolina 59 W4 Mississippi State 44
Game 2: E3 Kentucky 71, W6 Ole Miss 57
Game 3: E4 Vanderbilt 76, W5 Auburn 71
Game 4: W3 Arkansas 80, E6 Georgia 67

QUARTERFINALS

Friday, March 10
Game 5: E5 South Carolina 79, E1 Tennessee 71
Game 6: E3 Kentucky 68, W2 Alabama 61
Game 7: W1 LSU 92, E4 Vanderbilt 73
Game 8: E2 Florida 74, W3 Arkansas 71

SEMIFINALS

Saturday, March 11
Game 9: E5 South Carolina 65, E3 Kentucky 61
Game 10: E2 Florida 81, W1 LSU 65

CHAMPIONSHIP

Sunday, March 12
Game 11: E2 Florida vs. E5 South Carolina, 1 p.m.

SWAC:

Southern follows up their regular season championship with a tournament title and their first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 1993.

At Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Center Arena
Birmingham, Ala.

FIRST ROUND

Thursday, March 9
Game 1: No. 5 Jackson State 83, No. 4 Alabama State 65
Game 2: No. 3 Grambling 50, No. 6 Mississippi Valley State 49
Game 3: No. 7 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 64, No. 2 Alabama A&M 54
Game 4: No. 1 Southern 73 No. 8 Alcorn State 52

SEMIFINALS

Friday, March 10
Game 5: No. 7 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 61, No. 3 Grambling 49
Game 6: No. 1 Southern 66, No. 5 Jackson State 59

CHAMPIONSHIP

Saturday, March 11
Game 7: No. 1 Southern 57, No. 7 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 44

WAC:

Nevada wins their second WAC Tournament in three years with an overtime defeat of Utah State.

At Lawlor Events Center
Reno, Nev.

QUARTERFINALS

Thursday, March 9
Game 1: No. 3 Louisiana Tech 75 No. 6 Boise State 64
Game 2: No. 2 Utah State 76, No. 7 San Jose State 67
Game 3: No. 1 Nevada 68, No. 8 Idaho 55
Game 4: No. 5 New Mexico State 58, No. 4 Hawaii 57

SEMIFINALS

Friday, March 10
Game 5: No. 2 Utah State 68, No. 3 Louisiana Tech 64
Game 6: No. 1 Nevada 70, No. 5 New Mexico St. 59

CHAMPIONSHIP

Saturday, March 12
Game 7: No. 1 Nevada 70, No. 2 Utah State 63, OT

NCAA Tournament Bracket Update 3/11/06

Here is our latest bracket update. We will post an update tonight/tomorrow morning and then one final bracket just before the NCAA Selection show.

Teams in BOLD italics have qualified as an automatic bid.

Atlanta Region

Greensboro

1-Duke
16-Southern

8-Arkansas
9-Wichita State

Salt Lake City

5-WVU
12-Wisconsin-Milwaukee

4-Iowa
13-Kent State

Salt Lake City

6-Oklahoma
11-UNC Wilmington

3-Gonzaga
14-Pacific

Jacksonville

7-Indiana
10-Cincinnati

2-LSU
15-Northwestern State

Washington Region

Philadelphia

1-Connecticut
16-Delaware State

8-Wisconsin
9-California

San Diego

5-Florida
12-Hofstra

4-Boston College
13-Xavier

Auburn Hills

6-Marquette
11-Missouri State

3-Illinois
14-South Alabama

Dallas

7-Kentucky
10-Arizona

2-Texas
15-Montana

Minneapolis Region

Philadelphia

1-Villanova
16-Monmouth

8-Texas A&M
9-UAB

Jacksonville

5-George Washington
12-San Diego State

4-Tennessee
13-Iona

San Diego

6-Michigan State
11-George Mason

3-UCLA
14-Murray State

Greensboro

7-Syracuse
10-Southern Illinois

2-North Carolina
15-Davidson

Oakland Region

Dallas

1-Memphis
16-Albany

8-Nevada
9-Alabama

Auburn Hills

5-Georgetown
12-Bradley

4-Kansas
13-Penn

Dayton

6-Washington
11-Bucknell

3-Pitt
14-Winthrop

Dayton

7-North Carolina State
10-Northern Iowa

2-Ohio State
15-Oral Roberts