Our evening BGTD for today is brief because our earlier session covered a majority of the day’s news.
- Big 12 Bubble. Shortly after Colorado‘s win over Kansas State–its 3rd in 3 games against the Wildcats–Missouri lost to Texas A&M. Even though Missouri has long been considered a lock and Colorado has been on the bubble for the past month it is worth noting that the Buffaloes have a surprisingly comparable resume. We aren’t saying that the Buffaloes deserve consideration for a 6 or 7 seed as their few horrible losses essentially knock them out of contention for such an honor, but they do have a good enough resume, particularly after knocking off Kansas State for a third time in three tries, to merit a spot safely in the field of 68.
- Tennessee begins to make its case. This season there have been few teams as confusing as the Volunteers. From their resounding win at Pittsburgh to their numerous perplexing losses they always find a way to keep us on our toes. At the start of tournament play the Vols would appear to be safely in the NCAA Tournament, but they must be keeping the Selection Committee up late at night trying to figure out how to seed them. A run deep in the SEC Tournament would go a long way toward getting them a higher seed, but even if they get stuck around the 8/9 line we can’t imagine many teams in that area that would be more formidable (at least on paper) than the Volunteers.
- Singler Steps Up. No, not that one. While Duke and the rest of the country wait for his brother Kyle to return to form it was E.J. Singler who was the star in the family tonight putting up 24 points and 7 rebounds in Oregon‘s surprising win over UCLA. Singler’s career high was enough to lead the 7th-seeded Ducks past the 2nd-seeded Bruins who will probably slip a line or two as a result of their early exit from the Pac-10 Tournament. UCLA’s early exit also opens up the door for Arizona to claim the postseason conference crown as well and make a strong case for a 4-seed or better when Selection Sunday rolls around.