circle of march – Rush The Court

Circle of March: Connecticut Edition (Animated)

rtmsf — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 17:01:06 +0000

From 340 teams down to a solitary C, and it turns out that the blue glow behind Connecticut‘s logo held some sort of supernatural meaning after all. And with that, the 2014 Circle of March has completed. We started on this journey some five weeks ago yesterday, and once again the beauty was in the process. Click the image to see the entire procession all the way down to one team standing. See ya next year.

Teams Eliminated From National Title Contention (04.07.14)

Kentucky

Circle of March: Championship Monday Edition

rtmsf — Mon, 07 Apr 2014 14:01:59 +0000

From 340 teams a month ago to just two remaining. Kentucky and Connecticut will tip it off tonight in the unlikeliest of championship games, but the beauty of March Madness is that the unpredictable is often the only predictable thing. It’s been five weeks since we debuted this year’s Circle of March, and 338 teams have dropped off in the interim. There’s definitely some magic surrounding this year’s NCAA Tourney, and we’re really starting to wonder if the position of the “C” somewhat randomly in the eye of the Circle has some supernatural meaning. We’ll find out soon; the rest [...]

Circle of March: Final Four Edition

rtmsf — Tue, 01 Apr 2014 14:01:06 +0000

Over the weekend four more teams were eliminated as we’ve steadily traveled down the month-long path from 340 eligible Division I teams to just a final, fantastic foursome. With Florida, Wisconsin, Connecticut and Kentucky advancing to North Texas on Saturday, the Circle of March looks barren other than that remaining quartet of logos. It’s pure coincidence that the Huskies’ “C” ended up on the glowing part of the watermarked NCAA Final Four logo, but maybe it’s some kind of omen from the ghost of Kemba Walker? We’ll find out soon enough. Enjoy prepping throughout the week.

Teams Eliminated From National Title [...]

Circle of March: Sweet Sixteen Edition

rtmsf — Mon, 24 Mar 2014 19:41:11 +0000

From 340 eligible D-I teams to the wide swaths of empty space we now have on the Circle of March, 16 hopefuls remain standing. And this group might be more notable for the teams that are already gone than those remaining — Duke, North Carolina, Syracuse, Villanova, Kansas, Ohio State — all looking ahead to next year. Of the 16 teams remaining, 14 are from basketball power conferences, while two — San Diego State and Dayton — come from the high-mid hoops leagues, the Mountain West and Atlantic 10, respectively. There are three double-digit seeds remaining — Stanford, Dayton and [...]

Circle of March: Vol. XX

rtmsf — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 13:01:19 +0000

Three days of the NCAA Tournament are in the books and we’re already down to 24 teams remaining with eight more coming off the Circle of March today. Let’s get to it…

Teams Eliminated From National Title Contention (03.22.14)

Pittsburgh Saint Louis Texas North Dakota State Syracuse Villanova Oregon Harvard

Circle of March: Vol. XIX

rtmsf — Sat, 22 Mar 2014 16:14:29 +0000

Down to 32, let’s keep it rolling.

Teams Eliminated From National Title Contention (03.21.14)

Duke Nebraska New Mexico Weber State Louisiana-Lafayette Massachusetts Eastern Kentucky Cal Poly Oklahoma State George Washington Providence VCU Coastal Carolina North Carolina Central Tulsa Kansas State

Circle of March: Vol. XVIII

rtmsf — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 15:01:26 +0000

It was one of the most insane Thursdays of the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament that we can remember, with four of yesterday’s 16 games ultimately going to overtime to decide which teams would survive and advance. The whirlwind continues in earnest today, but for now, we say goodbye to those teams and wish them well in preparing for next season. The Circle of March is now down to 48 teams alive for the 2014 National Championship.

Teams Eliminated From National Title Contention (03.20.14)

Ohio State American Colorado Cincinnati Western Michigan BYU Albany Delaware St. Joseph’s Wofford NC State Oklahoma Arizona State Milwaukee Manhattan New Mexico State

Circle of March: Vol. XVII

rtmsf — Thu, 20 Mar 2014 15:01:35 +0000

It’s time to get down to business. Sixty-four teams, headed to 48 by the end of today’s action. Thirty-two, 24, then 16 by Sunday night. Two more schools fell off today’s Circle of March after losses in the First Four last night — we congratulate and thank #16 Texas Southern and #11 Iowa for their participation this year. But enough about that, let’s knock another 16 off the CoM. Happy holidays, everyone!

Teams Eliminated From National Title Contention (03.19.14)

Texas Southern Iowa

Circle of March: Vol. XVI

rtmsf — Wed, 19 Mar 2014 18:01:13 +0000

The NCAA Tournament has officially started, believe it or not, and that means that two schools fell off the Circle of March last night. With defeats to #16 Albany and #12 NC State, respectively, #16 Mount St. Mary’s and #12 Xavier have now joined the 274 other poor souls that are no longer in contention for the National Championship. A couple more will drop off tonight — among Tennessee, Iowa, Cal Poly, or Texas Southern — before the bloodbath starts all over again Thursday afternoon.

Teams Eliminated From National Title Contention (03.18.14)

Mount St. Mary’s Xavier

Circle of March: Field of 68 Edition

rtmsf — Mon, 17 Mar 2014 16:01:40 +0000

And just like that, it’s settled. Other than Louisiana-Lafayette‘s thrilling overtime victory over Georgia State in the Sun Belt championship game Sunday afternoon, the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee made its executive decision on the 36 at-large teams that will remain on this year’s Circle of March. Just two short weeks ago, we started with 340 eligible teams; now, we’re down to a mere 68, and it will be among that group from which we’ll crown this season’s national champion in a mere 21 more days. Can we get to Thursday afternoon already?

Teams Eliminated From National Title Contention (03.16.14)

Arkansas California Clemson Florida State Georgia State Green [...]

Circle of March: Selection Sunday Edition

rtmsf — Sun, 16 Mar 2014 15:01:58 +0000

What a fantastic Saturday of college basketball. So much fun. As we head into the final few games before the NCAA Tournament bracket comes out this evening, we’re left with a total of 80 teams still alive for this year’s national championship. Only one of those will fall off today as a result of a game — the loser of the Sun Belt Championship game between Georgia State and Louisiana-Lafayette. That will leave the Selection Committee with the dirty work of winnowing out the other 11 teams, none of which will find themselves standing in the field of 68 heading [...]

Circle of March, Vol. XIII

rtmsf — Sat, 15 Mar 2014 15:01:38 +0000

Well, we’re about down to it at this point. By this time on Sunday, we’ll probably be in the range of about 80 teams still “alive” for the national title as we await the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee to show us the product of all its work. For the time being, Friday’s wall-to-wall action gave us 27 more eliminations from the Circle of March, leaving us with 93 teams holding out hope as we head into Championship Saturday. That’s right, no fewer than 14 conference championships will come down today, from leagues as divergent as the WAC and MEAC to [...]

Circle of March: Vol. XII

rtmsf — Fri, 14 Mar 2014 15:20:15 +0000

What a day. We knew it was coming, but sitting through the Championship Fortnight Thursday bloodbath is always a bit more difficult that it first seems. Keeping track of some 60 elimination games scattered throughout 19 different tournament sites is quite the challenge, but one that ultimately proves rewarding with all the great match-ups that were produced for today. As it turned out, there were no championships yesterday, but a total of 48 teams were eliminated from the Circle of March on Thursday. Note that bubble teams won’t drop off until they’re officially eliminated by the Selection Committee on Sunday [...]

Circle of March: Vol. XI

rtmsf — Thu, 13 Mar 2014 15:31:28 +0000

With many of the power conference league tournaments starting yesterday, the Circle of March took a 30-team hit over the last 24 hours. Every team that lost on Wednesday was clinging to the unlikely notion of making a run to a conference title for entry into the NCAA Tournament, but it wasn’t to be. There was, however, one team that won its automatic bid — American University, from the Patriot League. Heading into what will be a ginormous Thursday of action, there are now 168 teams remaining, which means a couple of things. First, we’ve blown through the 50 percent [...]

Circle of March: Vol. X

rtmsf — Wed, 12 Mar 2014 17:01:34 +0000

The calm before the storm. With last night’s results, which included championship games from the Horizon, NEC, Summit and WCC Tournaments, we’re now down to a grand total of 199 eligible teams for the 2014 NCAA Championship. Oh, and hey, Mount St. Mary’s, Milwaukee, North Dakota State and Gonzaga. Nice to see you all dancing. As for today’s games, a boatload of leagues get under way as we push hard over the next five days to get this thing to 68. We’re not going to list them all here, but five power conferences and the A-10 and Mountain West all [...]