Friday
-Butler won their 18th straight game in as many Horizon League games with a win over Valparaiso and Cornell remains two games up on Harvard in the Ivy League after both teams won. While Siena blew out Rider to move to 16-1 in the MAAC, Fairfield pulled into second place with a win over Fairfield. Weber State continues to have a commanding lead in the Big Sky.
Saturday
-Alpabetically around the country, Rhode Island and Charlotte took crippling A-10 losses to severely damage their at-large hopes as RI fell at St. Bonaventure and Charlotte lost at George Washington. Dayton and Saint Louis took their must-win home games. The ACC saw Maryland’s legend growing bigger as Greivis Vazquez poured in a career high 41 as the Terps won at VaTech 104-100 in double-OT. Back to back losses against BC and Maryland are hurting the Hokies’ at-large hopes tremendously. While Georgia Tech won their must-win home game against BC, Wake Forest took a bad home loss to North Carolina. The Big 12 saw top ranked Kansas falling from grace in Stillwater, losing their first conference game at the hands of the Cowboys 85-77. Kansas State beat Missouri, Texas A&M may have pushed Texas into the bubble (but I doubt it) with a home win and Texas Tech will be going to the NIT after a 2OT loss at Nebraska. Baylor won at Oklahoma to stay hot. Syracuse clinched a share of the Big East regular season title and the top BE Tournament seed with a 95-77 home win over Villanova. South Florida won their must-win game over Providence, and Notre Dame put them right on the edge of an at-large bid after winning at Georgetown without Luke Harangody. In the Big 10, Minnesota got a big win at Illinois to keep their distant at-large hopes alive and put into question Illinois’ at-large chances. Old Dominion’s at-large chances got a nice boost after a home win over VCU. UTEP, UAB, Tulsa, Memphis and Marshall won their must-win contests with the Thundering Herd surviving a 3OT thriller against UCF. Northern Iowa beat Illinois State to keep their at-large hopes alive if they don’t win the Missouri Valley. New Mexico is now 6-0 against ranked teams after winning at BYU and UNLV took their must-win game by 30 at Air Force. California will at least share the Pac 10 title after winning over Arizona State and probably clinched an at-large bid. The Sun Devils still need work. Washington kept their at-large hopes alive by winning at rival Wazzu. In the SEC, number two went down along with Kansas as Kentucky lost at Tennessee 74-65 and the Vols now have wins over the top two teams in the country. Ole Miss and Mississippi State took their must-win games but Florida took a bad loss at Georgia to damage their at-large aspirations.
Sunday
-Purdue is still adjusting to life without Robbie Hummel, and became the third top-3 team to fall in two days with a 53-44 loss to Michigan State. Elsewhere in the Big 10, Northwestern suffered a 19 point loss at Penn State which ends any prayer at an at-large. Xavier and Temple are now tied atop the Atlantic 10 after the Muskateers got a big home win over Richmond in OT and Temple downed LaSalle. In the America East, Vermont drew to within a game of conference leader Stony Brook after the Seawolves fell by 22 at New Hampshire and the Catamounts beat Binghamton. Fairfield, Rider and Iona kept pace with 17-1 Siena in the MAAC. In the Big East, Louisville got a much needed road win over UConn to stay on the bubble’s good side while the Huskies need a few more wins to feel safe. Marquette can be safely called in with another victory after a huge OT win at Seton Hall that ended the Pirates’ at-large hopes at 16-11 (7-9). You can punch Clemson’s ticket to the Big Dance after a road win at Florida State and Duke pounded Virginia.
Monday Preview
-West Virginia and Georgetown are already in the Big Dance but they will fight for Big East Tournament positioning and a possible double bye at ESPN at 7 eastern followed by Texas desperately needing to end their slide at home against middling Oklahoma at 9. A loss would put the Longhorns at a serious disadvantage. Utah State needs to beat Fresno State to keep their at-large hopes alive.