Welcome back to RTC’s coverage of the first day of the Big East tournament. Tonight, we are bringing you coverage of the 10-15 game between Providence and Seton Hall. Providence is an interesting team. They can score as well as anyone in the conference, but defense is far from their forte. If you do tune in tonight, be sure to keep an eye on Jamine Peterson, a 6’6″ combo forward that is a double double machine. For Seton Hall, there is still a chance at receiving an at-large berth. If Jeremy Hazell and company can win two games, they will more than likely be dancing.

So hit the jump, leave a comment, and join us as we follow the biggest and best conference tournament.

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***** – quit your job and divorce your wife if that’s what it takes to watch this game live
**** – best watched live, but if you must, tivo and watch it tonight as soon as you get home
*** – set your tivo but make sure you watch it later
** – set your tivo but we’ll forgive you if it stays in the queue until 2012
* – don’t waste bandwidth (yours or the tivo’s) of any kind on this game

Sun Belt Championship – North Texas vs. Troy – 7:00 pm on ESPN2 (***)

This neutral site game will feature two of the hottest games in the country, as North Texas has won ten consecutive games, while Troy has won seven in a row.  Given the recent play of both teams, it should come as no surprise that they are the top two teams in the Sun Belt Conference.  The offensive and defensive efficiency statistics are not impressive for either team (#156 and #196 for UNT; #128 and #241 for Troy), but they indicate that these two teams rely more on their offensive weapons.  Both teams have four players averaging in double figures, and Troy shoots nearly 48% from the floor.  What may be Troy’s undoing is their 65% free throw shooting.  Richard Delk, Troy’s second leading scorer at 12.7 points per game, has shot just 10-35 in his last three games, and needs to get back on track if Troy wants to do some damage over the next two weeks.  The biggest difference between the recent play of these teams is that Troy has beaten the third and fourth best teams in the league during their streak, while North Texas has been feeding on the weaker members of the conference, so look for Troy to make their second-ever NCAA tournament appearance with a win tonight.

Horizon League Championship – Wright State @ Butler – 9:00 pm on ESPN (****)

Butler has struggled in recent years with finishing out conference tournaments, despite their high level of success on a national basis.  Given their recent play, that shouldn’t be a problem tonight.  The Bulldogs, who have won 19 games in a row, match up well with Wright State’s guard-heavy lineup.  In their two matchups, Butler had perhaps their best performances of the season.  In their first game, all four offensive weapons for Butler scored in double figures, and they shot 50% from beyond the arc in addition to a nearly perfect 23-24 from the free throw line.  The second game featured an equally impressive showing from the Bulldogs, who shot nearly 80% from two-point range, and made 89% of their free throws.  Not only does Butler have a fundamentally sound offense, they are among Ken Pomeroy’s top 25 defensive teams.  Although Wright State does not rank in the top 65 in either offensive or defensive efficiency, something must be said for their consistency this season.  They have had four different streaks of three wins that were followed by a loss, and have never won more than four games in a row or lost more than two consecutive games.  If the Raiders are to have one last three-game winning streak, they will have to beat Butler and win an NCAA tournament game, something that seems unlikely given Butler’s outstanding play.

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Poll conducted for games through March 7. Analysis after the jump…

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Russell Burnett is the RTC correspondent for the Southland Conference.

FINAL STANDINGS

EAST

1. Stephen F. Austin 21-8, 11-5 (pre-season pick #1) First-round opponent – UT-Arlington
2. SE Louisiana 18-11, 10-6 (pre-season pick #3) First-round opponent – Texas State
3. Nicholls State 11-18, 7-9 (pre-season pick #2) First-round opponent – Sam Houston State
4. Northwestern State 10-9, 5-11 (pre-season pick #4) Did not qualify for tournament
5. McNeese State 10-20, 5-11 (pre-season pick #5) Did not qualify for tournament
6. Central Arkansas 9-21, 3-13 (pre-season pick #6) Did not qualify for tournament

WEST

1. Sam Houston State 22-7, 14-2 (pre-season pick #1) First-round opponent – Nicholls State
2. Texas A&M-CC 15-14, 10-6 (pre-seasoan pick #2) First-round opponent – UTSA
3. UT-San Antonio 19-10, 9-7 (pre-season pick #3) First-round opponent – A&M-CC
4. Texas State 15-15, 9-7 (pre-season pick #6) First-round opponent – SE Louisiana
5. Texas-Arlington 16-13, 8-8 (pre-season pick #4) First-round opponent – SFA
6. Lamar 14-18, 5-11 (pre-season pick #5) Did not qualify for tournament

SEASON IN REVIEW

The prognosticators were nearly right on target with their preseason polls and selections. Texas State threw a curveball into the mix as both the coaches and sports information directors picked the Bobcats to finish last in the SLC West. Not only did the Bobcats finish in fourth place in the tough West Division, but they also earned a No. 5 seed in the Southland Tournament.

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Joe Dzuback of Villanova by the Numbers is the RTC correspondent for the Atlantic 10 Conference.  He will be at the A10 Tournament reporting throughout the weekend. 

Conference Offensive and Defensive Efficiencies – One Last Look

All is right in the numbers world. Almost. Temple, Xavier and Richmond sit at the top of the conference pecking order and their differentials confirm their standing. Dayton, St. Louis and Rhode Island are still tangled a bit, which could develop into an interesting story as the conference tournament plays out later this week. The won-loss records, confirmed by the gap in the efficiency differentials, suggest that the bottom four of Massachusetts, La Salle, Saint Joseph’s and especially Fordham, were simply not competitive with the rest of the conference this season (of course with respect to Massachusetts, Rhode Island disagrees).

Final Conference Standings for 2009-10

1. Temple (14-2, 26-5, #16 AP)
2. Xavier (14-2, 23-7, #25 AP)
3. Richmond (13-3, 22-7)
4. St. Louis (11-5, 20-10)
5. Charlotte (9-7, 19-11)
6. Rhode Island (9-7, 21-8)
7. Dayton (8-8 19-11)
8. St. Bonaventure (7-9, 14-15)
9. Duquesne (7-9, 16-14)
10. George Washington (6-10, 16-13)
11. Massachusetts (5-11, 11-19)
12. Saint Joseph’s (5-11, 11-19)
13. La Salle (4-12, 12-18)
14. Fordham (0-16, 2-26)

Predictable?

Quirky early season schedules allowed George Washington and Massachusetts to sit atop the conference briefly, but as the season wore on, Xavier, Temple, Charlotte and Richmond took turns, either alone or in company of another, as the top ranked team of the conference. Temple and Xavier were supposed to take this season to rebuild. The Owls lost Dionte Christmas and the Musketeers lost their Coach, Sean Miller. Temple landed on the national radar when they beat Big 5 rival (and #3 at the time) Villanova in December. Xavier stumbled in the Old Spice, but recovered to join with Temple to cohabit with or shadow the two other teams that took long turns at the #1 spot through the 8.5 weeks of conference play. Temple’s 77-72 win over Xavier on January 20 settled the pecking order between those two (Temple would rank higher), but it was not clear until February 28 when Xavier defeated Richmond 78-76 in two overtimes, that those two would stand alone at the top at the end.

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The Lansing State Journal is reporting today that Michigan State junior guard Chris Allen has been suspended for the Spartans’ opening game in the Big Ten Tournament on Friday.  This action comes as a result of, according to the cited article, “the cumulative effect of academic problems.”  Head coach Tom Izzo noted that it’s possible Allen could play in the Spartans’ second game if they get by Thursday’s Minnesota/Penn State winner.

Allen will sit for one, then we'll see. (Det. News/DG Young)

This might seem like a minor issue, basketball-wise, but it’s worth noting that Allen is often asked to guard the opposing team’s best player.  Consider also that, of the Spartans who play regularly, Allen is the team’s leading three-point shooter at 40.8%, providing a service at which his team as a whole does not excel.  MSU shoots 33.4%, which is 8th in the Big Ten and 208th in the nation.

Izzo’s MSU teams almost always over-achieve in the post-season, and it sounds like the other Spartans will have to do so without a top defender and outside shooter for at least one game.  We’ll wait and see if this “cumulative” problem is adequately addressed with a single-game benching in Izzo’s eyes.  If Izzo is already mentioning that Allen could play in the second tournament game, though, then he probably will.

(h/t: @dgoneil1)

As part of our ongoing quest to provide you with the best college basketball coverage in the nation, we have enlisted the help of some of the finest team-specific bloggers, campus newspaper scribes, and beat writers on the planet to help us. With the NCAA Selection Show coming up on March 14th there are still several teams on the proverbial “bubble.” We figured it might be interesting to see what kind of nonpartisan arguments these folks could make for their team deserving a spot in the NCAA Tournament. We welcome any discussion of their arguments and praise or criticism of their reasoning in the comment section. If your team is on the bubble and you would like to submit something, please contact us at rushthecourt@gmail.com.

Sage Sammons of the UNLV Rebel Yell now makes the case for the Runnin’ Rebels:

The UNLV Runnin’ Rebels should not be a bubble team.  They have earned an at-large bid with what they’ve accomplished this season.

The only reason they are on they bubble is typically elite teams, such as Arizona and Louisville, have had a down year.  In November, the polls were voting for the Rebels in the rankings for beating the Cardinals and Wildcats, within a week of each other.

Another reason they need to be locked in is the number of wins over top 25 teams, such as New Mexico in Albuquerque and BYU in Las Vegas.  Both of those teams are are locks for the NCAA, and because of the lack of quality at-large teams, they will get good seeds.  Wins over a possible two and four seed, one of those being away from home, should be good enough to guarantee the Rebels a spot.

Do Willis and the Rebels have a handle on a spot this Sunday?

But I do see the flip side.

Two losses to Utah, a team with a RPI of 150, really brings into question the Rebels’ chances as a tournament team.  If you look at the other losses on their resume, all but one team should be a tournament team, and that’s USC, who will miss for their self-regulatory reasons.  Losses to possible #1-seed Kansas State, BYU in Provo and New Mexico in Las Vegas shouldn’t count as blemishes on UNLV’s resume.  A loss to San Diego State in San Diego is questionable, but the Aztecs have been one of the hottest teams at the end of this season, and they deserve a spot as well.  In whole, of the Rebels’ seven losses, four are against tournament teams and three are against what should be top-four-seeded teams.

To get off the bubble, a team just needs to win.  As the season has wound down UNLV have done just that.  It may have been against the weaker end of the Mountain West Conference, but they have won big.  Come MWC tournament time, they just need to do the same thing.  I believe they will, as a three seed, win the MWC tournament and this talk of them being a bubble team will be popped.

Welcome to the first day of RTC’s coverage of the Big East Tournament, live from Madison Square Garden. Today, we will be bringing you a live-blog as UConn starts its foray through the Big East Tournament in an attempt to move themselves back into bubble consideration. The Huskies have been a tough team to peg. They beat then No. 1 Texas without head coach Jim Calhoun only to lose five of their next six, including an ugly loss at home to Cincinnati that seemingly knocked them out of any and all tournament talk. But a fire was lit under this club after the loss to Cincy, and the Huskies went on to win their next three games, which included Ws at Villanova and at home against West Virginia, to put themselves right back into the mix. So how did they follow that up? With losses in three straight to take themselves off what is one of the weakest bubbles in recent memory. What’s worse is that Jim Calhoun benched his three seniors — Gavin Edwards, Jerome Dyson, and Stanley Robinson — at the end of the South Florida game for what seemed like apathy on the part of the Husky “leaders.” Calhoun has not yet announced who will be starting today. St. John’s is not a bad basketball team. They have some athletes, they have some size, and they have one of the most underrated players in the Big East in DJ Kennedy. UConn will have their work cut out for them if they want to climb into the NCAA tournament conversation again.  Join us this afternoon for the action.

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We’ve been anxiously awaiting the next thirty days for the last eleven months.  You have too.  In fact, if this isn’t your favorite time of year by a healthy margin then you should probably click away from this site for a while.   Because we plan on waterboarding you with March Madness coverage.  Seriously, you’re going to feel like Dick Cheney himself is holding a Spalding-logoed towel over your face.  Your intake will be so voluminous that you’ll be drooling Gus Johnson and bracket residue in your sleep.  Or Seth Davis, if that’s more your style.  The point is that we’re all locked in and ready to go.  Are you?  To help us all get into the mood, we like to click around a fancy little website called YouTube for a daily dose of notable events, happenings, finishes, ups and downs relating to the next month.  We’re going to try to make this video compilation a little smarter, a little edgier, a little historical-er.  Or whatever.  Sure, you’ll see some old favorites that never lose their luster, but you’ll also see some that maybe you’ve forgotten or never knew to begin with.  That’s the hope, at least.  We’ll be matching the videos by the appropriate week, so for the next seven days, we’ll be re-visiting some of the timeless moments from Championship Week.  Enjoy.

Championship Week

Dateline: 2008 Sec Tournament – Mississippi State vs. Alabama

Context: It was quarterfinal Friday in Atlanta at the SEC Tournament, and there were severe weather warnings throughout the evening in the area.  With 2:11 left in overtime in a very good game between Mississippi State and Alabama, a category EF2 tornado with winds up to 135 mph ripped through downtown Atlanta coming within mere yards of the Georgia Dome.  On the television broadcast, you can see the eerie reaction of fans familiar with the locomotive rumble of a twister echoing through the building as they ran for cover while steel girders at the top of the dome swayed back and forth.  A large hole was ripped in the north side of the dome’s roof and it was only after it had passed that everyone realized just how close of a call it had been.  The rest of the night’s games were delayed until Saturday, and this was the infamous incident that led to Georgia playing two games on the same day, beating Kentucky and Mississippi State in front of an empty arena at Georgia Tech.  Georgia then went on to win the SEC’s automatic bid by winning more games (four) than they had won in the entire SEC regular season slate that year (three).

1. The rush of conference awards are rolling in…  here are some conference POYs that were announced on Monday: James Anderson, Oklahoma State (Big 12); Jerome Randle, California (Pac-10); Evan Turner, Ohio State (Big 10); Darington Hobson, New Mexico (Mtn West); Kevin Anderson, Richmond (A10).  As for conference COY: Matt Painter, Purdue (Big Ten); Steve Alford, New Mexico (Mtn West); Herb Sendek, Arizona State (Pac-10), Frank Martin, Kansas State (Big 12), Fran Dunphy, Temple (A10).  The ACC, Big East and SEC are expected to announce their choices on Tuesday.
2. At the national level, The Sporting News has selected Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim as its national COY, and has listed their all-americans.  Their first team has five guards on it — John Wall, Kentucky (also FrOY); Greivis Vasquez, Maryland; Evan Turner, Ohio State; Scottie Reynolds, Villanova; James Anderson, Oklahoma State.  Of course, we think that’s cheating, and RTC will have its position-specific AA team later this week.  Watch for it.
3. Next year’s Coaches vs. Cancer Classic will feature Pittsburgh, Maryland, Texas and Illinois as the four regional hosts who are slotted into the semifinals at Madison Square Garden the week before Thanksgiving.  This could be a very interesting and talented field if the majority of underclassmen on these teams decide to stick around, as they should.  Maryland and Texas lose some key pieces in Vasquez, Milbourne, James and Pittman, respectively, but there are a bunch of really good underclassmen on all of these teams.
4. Talk about really early entry.  Seattle University’s Charles Garcia is wasting absolutely no time in declaring his intention to go pro this spring.  Seattle is an Independent, so their season is now over unless the Redhawks are invited to one of the lower postseason tournaments such as the CBI or CIT.  What is most notable about Garcia aside from his 19/8 scoring/rebounding average is his ability to draw fouls from the defense.  Garcia picks up an astonishing 10.6 fouls per game on his defenders, which as you may imagine, puts the 6’9 forward at the line nearly ten times per game.
5. As always, here’s some great analytical work from Vegas Watch, who takes an alternative (and much more defensible) approach to seeding the field of 65.  Keep fighting the good fight, VW, with logic, reason and most importantly, data.