There’s no Missouri or Texas A&M this year, but the RTC Podcast guys persevered regardless and invited Big 12 microsite writer Danny Spewak (@dspewak) along for the discussion. In this Big 12 Tournament podblast, the trio questions whether Kansas is destined for another championship or if some other team is poised to establish their postseason chops. Feel free to hop around to your areas of concern using the handy outline below, and make sure to check back frequently this week as we’ll be rolling out a new podblast for each of the six major conference tourneys.

• 0:00-2:56 – Kansas Continues Their Big 12 Dominance
• 2:56-5:38 – Big 12 1st Team and Award Talk
• 5:38-8:43 – Can Kansas Carry Their Regular Season Crown Over to the Tournament?
• 8:43-14:05 Baylor, Iowa State and Oklahoma Try to Win Their Way Off the Bubble
• 14:05-16:30 – Which Team Actually Wins the Big 12 Tournament?
• 16:30-19:06 – Bottom Four Seed With Potential For a Run?
• 19:06-21:10 – Big 12 Tournament Breakout star
• 21:10-22:50 – Players Waving Goodbye to the Big 12
• 22:50-24:57 – Match-up We Want To See Again in KC
• 24:57-28:00 Big 12 NCAA Tournament Predictions/Wrap

With the start of the Pac-12 Tournament just hours away in Las Vegas, the RTC Podcast guys invited Pac-12 microsite writer Andrew Murawa (@amurawa) along for the discussion. In a rapid-fire half-hour podblast, the trio breaks down what we see as the key storylines and possible outcomes from an event as wide open as any power conference tournament in the country. Feel free to hop around to your areas of concern using the handy outline below, and make sure to check back frequently this week as we’ll be rolling out a new podblast for each of the six major conference tourneys.

• 0:00-3:10 – UCLA’s Long Winding Road to the #1 Seed
• 3:10-5:37 – Arizona’s Equally Up and Down Year
• 5:37-9:35- Pac-12 Award Discussion
• 9:35-12:14 The New and Improved Pac-12
• 12:14-15:21 – Big Story Lines and Pac-12 Dark Horses
• 15:21-20:12 Who is the Actual Favorite?
• 20:12-21:05 – Not Much of a Bubble in the Pac-12
• 21:05-22:19 – Team Capable of Screwing Up the Selection Committee
• 22:19-23:57 – Pac-12 Tournament’s Breakout Star
• 23:57-25:13 – Player You Don’t Want to Say Goodbye to
• 25:13-26:16 – Game We Want to See
• 26:16-29:32 Pac-12 Team Poised For a Deep Run in the Big Dance/Wrap

With the start of the final Big East Tournament as we know it on Tuesday night, the RTC Podcast guys invited Big East microsite writer Mike Lemaire (@rtcbigeast) along for the discussion. In a rapid-fire half-hour podblast, the trio breaks down what we see as the key storylines and possible outcomes from an event fraught with interesting possibilities. Feel free to hop around to your areas of concern using the handy outline below, and make sure to check back frequently this week as we’ll be rolling out a new podblast for each of the six major conference tourneys.

• 0:00-5:00 – Georgetown Wraps Up The Regular Season Title in Emphatic Style Over Syracuse
• 5:00-7:58 – First Team All-Big East Discussion
• 7:58-13:07 – Future of the League(s) and End of an Era
• 13:07-16:06 – Things to Watch In the Opening Rounds
• 16:06-18:10 – Georgetown’s the #1 Seed, But Not the Favorite
• 18:10-22:03 – Can Syracuse Turn Around The Season?
• 22:03-24:45 – Bubble Teams Looking to Lock Up Bids
• 24:45-25:45 – Dark Horse Team
• 25:45-26:56 – Tournament’s Breakout Star
• 26:56-28:38 – Player You Don’t Want to Say Goodbye To
• 28:38-29:38 – Dream Match-Up
• 29:38-31:48 – Big East Team Poised for the Best NCAA Tournament Run/Wrap

Monday wasn’t huge on eliminations from the Circle of March, but another 11 teams fell off after losing last night. Five other teams secured automatic bids, making a total of 10 teams (haloed) now safe for about another week. Through the last seven days of action, 150 teams have fallen out of contention for the national title — meaning that 197 are still alive. Three more league title games get under way tonight, with the Horizon League, Summit League and Northeast Conference all crowning their champions.

Teams Eliminated From National Title Contention (03.11.13)

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The six power conferences along with the elite mids begin their league tournaments this week, with the Big East and Mountain West tipping off tonight. On Wednesday, the Big 12, Pac-12 and the SEC will get under way, while Thursday will bring us the Atlantic 10, the ACC and the Big Ten. All of us have our own opinions about the favorites to win each conference tournament, but Las Vegas makes its business out of it. Today, we’ll examine the current odds for the leagues that begin Tuesday and Wednesday (excluding the SEC) — tomorrow, we’ll look at the remainder. There are some interesting disparities between general perception and the odds, and we’ll make note of those below (all odds reported from 5dimes.com on Monday night).

The Big East Tournament is especially interesting in how it views top-seeded Georgetown. Not only does it give #2 seed Louisville nearly a three times greater chance of winning this tournament, but #4 seed Pittsburgh and #5 seed Syracuse are both considered better choices. Marquette, the #3 seed that tied for first place at 14-4 with the Hoyas and Cardinals, is not considered a significant threat to win this tournament with a less than 10 percent chance.

Home court advantage dominates here, as #3 seed UNLV is far and away the favorite to win the Mountain West championship this week. The rest of the odds pretty much fall in line with the seeds, as New Mexico, Colorado State, San Diego State and Boise State have a progressively worse chance to win this competitive league before the drop-off hits at #6 seed Air Force.

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What a weekend, filled with buzzer-beaters, five NCAA Tournament bids, and a bunch more eliminations — 20, to be exact. Heading into the second week of Championship Fortnight, we now have a grand total of 208 teams still alive for this year’s national championship. Five automatic bids are on the line this evening, with the CAA, MAAC, SoCon, Sun Belt and WCC all staging their championship games tonight. Here’s the current Circle of March:

Teams Eliminated From National Title Contention (03.10.13)

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Seven days left of Championship Fortnight, and we’ve already eliminated more than 80 teams. There are still 228 teams alive in the Circle of March, but with three league champions decided Saturday (note the halos for Florida Gulf Coast, Harvard and Belmont below) and a couple more today, we’re slowly but surely whittling our way down to the final 68. Yesterday’s list of eliminated teams follows the CoM.

Teams Eliminated From National Title Contention (03.08.13)

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Friday was a really active day on the Circle, as 19 more teams bid adieu to the 2012-13 season. We’re now down to 259 teams still alive for the 2013 national championship. And guess what — on Saturday we’ll crown our first automatic bid winner, out of the OVC. The Madness is here…

Teams Eliminated From National Title Contention (03.07.13)

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Another day, another round of eliminations. With Thursday’s conference tournament action in the books, another 12 teams came off the Circle, leaving a total of 278 teams heading into weekend action. Four more tourneys get under way on Friday — the America East, the MAAC, the SoCon, and the Sun Belt — to join the others that have already begun. It’s going to be a wild weekend, but the CoM will manage to keep up.

Teams Eliminated From National Title Contention (03.07.13)

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After two days of conference tournament action, we have now hit the under-300 mark. With 13 official eliminations on Wednesday, the CoM now sits at a robust 290 teams still alive for the 2013 national championship. The list of teams gone from yesterday is after the jump, but things will really start heating up through this weekend. The Valley gets under way tonight, followed by a ridiculous amount of mid-major action Friday and Saturday (including the OVC championship game).

Teams Eliminated From National Title Contention (03.06.13)

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