Game #171. Another team will punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament tonight as the MAAC Championship will be decided between the talented Iona Gaels and upstart St. Peter’s Peacocks.

Many expected Iona to advance to championship game on Monday evening, but their road to the NCAA Tournament figured to run through a different team. The Gaels boast two of the better players in the MAAC this year with Scott Machado running the point and junior college transfer Michael Glover throwing bodies around in the paint. As for their opposition in tonight’s game, it is not the Fairfield Stags nor is it the Rider Broncs. Believe it or not, the Peacocks from St. Peter’s have gotten hot at just the right time and have put themselves in a position to go dancing for the first time since 1995. St. Peter’s shocked Fairfield in the semifinals as they got out to a 40-15 halftime advantage and, while the Stags would make a great run in the second half, St. Peter’s used a tough zone defense to stymie the run. While Iona will unquestionably be the favorite in tonight’s game, head coach Jeff Dune has St. Peter’s believing they can win the MAAC title. Belief, more than anything in March, is what makes a team so dangerous. Join RTC Live this evening from Bridgeport, CT, as St. Peter’s looks to upset Iona for the right to represent the MAAC in the NCAA Tournament.

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Game #170.  Let’s hand out a bid, shall we?  It should be a mammoth battle tonight in the CAA, as two very good teams square off in Richmond.

Most everyone expected George Mason, the Colonial Athletic Association’s regular season champ, to be playing for a spot in the NCAA field when the league’s postseason tournament began. But that’s why they play the games. With a home advantage at the Richmond Coliseum, Virginia Commonwealth stole GMU’s thunder behind a hail of three-point buckets and a shifting defense the Patriots just couldn’t solve.  The No. 2 seed in the tourney, Old Dominion, showed why it went 14-4 in the conference by punishing Hofstra in the other semifinal behind 21 points from center Frank Hassell.  Now the upstarts and the last heavyweight left will battle for the CAA’s automatic berth in the Field of 68 on Monday night in the CAA Championship. The two split in the regular season, with each winning on the road. That bodes well for Old Dominion. But don’t look past the suddenly confident VCU Rams, who enjoy a raucous home-court advantage and All-Conference talent to boot.  Join us tonight, live, from Richmond Coliseum at 7 p.m. ET.

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Games #168 & 169.  It’s West Coast Conference basketball from the Orleana Arena as four teams have designs on playing Monday night.

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Game #167.  Another NCAA bid will be handed out in St. Louis this afternoon as the MVC Finals tip off.

Three of the four games in the quarterfinal round of Arch Madness went down to the buzzer, but there were no real upsets — the only lower seed to win was Creighton in the 4/5 game, but they beat a team they had tied with for fourth place in Northern Iowa. Saturday, that changed when Indiana State, who finished in third place but had been picked sixth or seventh by many preseason prognosticators, pulled off a stunning upset of Wichita State. The Sycamores now find themselves one win away from an NCAA Tournament berth. Standing between them and the fulfillment of that dream is regular season champ Missouri State and MVC Player of the Year Kyle Weems. It should be an exciting Arch Madness Championship; join RTC for a live blog from press row starting at 12:45 Central.

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Games #165 & 166.  There’s a lot on the line in Richmond today as the CAA semifinals tip off.

The top four seeds are still standing as Sunday’s semifinal round of the Colonial Athletic Association postseason tournament gets under way. Thanks for joining us. This has been arguably the nation’s best non-BCS conferences all season long, and the postseason tourney hasn’t disappointed. George Mason showed the dominance it displayed all season long on its way to a 16-2 conference mark in routing Georgia State in the second half of their quarterfinal matchup, while Virginia Commonwealth needed a last second layup from senior forward Jamie Skeen to edge Drexel and move on to meet the Patriots in the semis. Meanwhile, Old Dominion rode Frank Hassell’s 24 points and a big run in the second frame past Delaware and will face league Player of the Year Charles Jenkins and the Hofstra Pride, who crushed would-be upstarts William & Mary in Saturday’s nightcap, in the day’s lastgame. While George Mason and Old Dominion still harbor NCAA at-large dreams, for VCU and Hofstra, it’s likely win to get in. Expect no let up, as each team tries to secure a chance to play for the league’s automatic bid. Four teams that all have designs on not just playing in the NCAA tournament, but being a legitimate threat to reach the second weekend. Four teams that pushed to the top of the conference standings all season long. Four teams with talent, experience, coaching and tremendous heart. Welcome to one of America’s hidden gems: the Colonial Athletic Association.

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Game #163.  RTC Live loves the little guys too.  An Ivy League title is on the line in Cambridge tonight.

This one’s for all the Tostitos.  It’s a nascent Ancient Eight rivalry in its second year.  Harvard has tons of talent but lacks experience (no seniors).  Princeton relies on two seniors and two juniors to anchor a deliberate but efficient offense.  Harvard has never won an Ivy League title; Princeton has won the title 28 times.  The Ivy League regular season title carries significant weight, as the winner gets the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.  Harvard hasn’t danced since 1946.  Needless to say, Harvard’s campus is buzzing with basketball relevance.  A loss last weekend at bitter rival Yale will keep the Crimson from winning the title outright, but a win here guarantees at least one more game.  The Ivy League tiebreaker is a one game “playoff” on a neutral site.  Princeton does play one more game at Penn, which only matters if Harvard wins because it would clinch the title.  Princeton is led by senior Dan Mavraides and its solid frontline of Kareem Maddox (senior), Patrick Saunders (junior) and Ian Hummer.  Harvard is led by junior co-captains Oliver McNally and Keith Wright.  McNally is one of the most efficient players in the country (averaging the gold standard 50% from two, 40% from three and 90% from the free throw line).  Wright might be the best big in the Ivy League, averaging over 15 points and almost nine boards a game.  Brandyn Curry runs Harvard’s offense, flanked by sharpshooters Christian Webster and Laurent Rivard (the frontrunner for Ivy Rookie of the Year).  First and foremost the Crimson have to limit Hummer and Maddox, who combined for 31 points in the first meeting at Princeton.  Princeton won that game because Harvard couldn’t take care of the ball and let the Tiger frontline score too efficiently.  Princeton needs to keep Harvard’s shooters from getting anything resembling an open shot.  If this turns into a shootout, it favors the Crimson.  Both of these teams are coming off of dominant performances Friday night, Princeton over Dartmouth and Harvard over Penn.

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Game #164.  Marquette is seeking to get wins any way it can to leave nothing to chance; Seton Hall is coming off a great win earlier this week.

Marquette brings almost as many questions as answers tonight when they visit Seton Hall tonight. The Golden Eagles, projected to finish 9^th in the preseason coach’s poll, sit in a three-way tie for 9^th with Connecticut and Villanova, two teams projected to do better this season. Should Marquette win and all other scenarios fall in place, the Golden Eagles would dodge the Tuesday round in Madison Square Garden next week with an 8^th place finish. In any case, Coach Buzz Williams would prefer to draw DePaul (whom they beat by 30 in January) in their first round game, rather than Providence (whom they beat by 20 last week) or South Florida (they escaped with a one point win on February 9). Marquette utilizes a guard-oriented drive to the basket offense, combined with a series of man and zone defenses to keep their opponent off balance. Marquette’s back court combines a pair of veterans, Darius Odom-Johnson and Dwight Buycks with a trio of freshmen, Vander Blue, Davante Gardner and red shirt Junior Cadougan. The trio could use more game time to prepare for the Big East Tournament and the post season beyond. Though a shorter, quicker squad, the Golden Eagles will slash and drive to earn their points, rather than pass around the perimeter and look for a catch-and-shoot play from the three point line. Seton Hall has secured the #12 seed in the Big East Tournament, but the Pirates have more than a few questions still to answer in this, their last regular season game at home. Coach Kevin Willard would like to see the Hall win their second consecutive Big East Conference game, a feat they have only accomplished once this season, and build some confidence as they prepare to face in state rival Rutgers, seeded #12, in their first round game on Tuesday.

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Game #162.  The Keystone State rivalry takes on additional meaning this Saturday with Pitt defending its home court for a Big East title.

Welcome to a rainy Saturday in Pittsburgh at the Petersen Events Center for a Big East match up between Pittsburgh and Villanova. Join us for a game that will determine all of the regular season marbles in the Big East. Pittsburgh has met preseason expectations, whereas Villanova has fallen short. These two teams want to win, but for different reasons. Pittsburgh wants to close out the regular season on top and win the title outright. Villanova wants redemption and a chance to salvage a disappointing season. In their last game, Pittsburgh won by three, but unfortunately for Villanova, it didn’t include the service of Pittsburgh’s leading scorer, Ashton Gibbs. This is really anyone’s ball game though. The edge should go to Pittsburgh, especially at home, but I don’t want to discount how much this victory means to Villanova prior to the postseason and NCAA Tournament.

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Game #161.  Notre Dame has its eyes on a Big East title as the Irish travel east to face UConn and Kemba Walker.

UConn’s play over the past ten games has been consistent with how the coaches presumed the Huskies would perform in the Big East—Jim Calhoun’s squad was picked to finish 10^th in the 16 team conference. For much of the season, UConn’s youth were playing well beyond their years as they sprinted out to a 17-2 record and appeared to be a legitimate contender for the Big East title. Losing six of their last ten games, however, has brought UConn back down to earth. Kemba Walker has received little help as of late—something that he consistently received earlier in the season—and it has shown in UConn’s results and play. With Notre Dame—arguably the best team in the Big East with such potent shooting from beyond the arc—invading Gampel Pavilion, UConn has a great opportunity to earn a signature win before the Big East tournament begins. More importantly, the Huskies will undoubtedly gain a renewed sense of confidence heading into the postseason if they can knock off the Irish. It won’t be easy for UConn as Notre Dame is playing some of the best basketball around having won 10 of 11 games with Ben Hansbrough and Tim Abromaitis raining threes from all over the court, but the Huskies are playing within the friendly confines of Gampel Pavilion where they are almost unbeatable compiling a 27-2 record on their on-campus arena dating back to the 2007-08 season. Notre Dame has already locked up a top four seed in the upcoming conference tournament which gives them a double-bye into the quarterfinals. One may assume that ND does not have as much to play for as UConn, who is on the brink of having to play in the first round of the tournament, but they have a shot at earning a favorable seed in the NCAA Tournament—maybe even a #1 seed if they went onto win the Big East Tournament. With Notre Dame looking to obtain a top seed in the Dance and UConn jockeying for position in the Big East tournament, Saturday’s matinée affair in Hartford, CT will certainly be a great one.

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Game #160.  RTC Live is back at the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament with the best game of the day on paper.

Friday’s quarterfinal matchup between Creighton and Northern Iowa features two of the MVC’s heavyweights: the teams have combined to win nine of the previous 12 MVC Tournament titles. Its also a matchup of teams who played just six days ago in the regular season finale, a game Creighton won 63-55. That’s a relatively rare occurrance, though its happened six times to Creighton over the past 12 years. Conventional wisdom might hold that the team winning the first game would struggle in the rematch, but in four of the last five times it’s happened, the team who won the regular season finale also won the MVC Quarterfinal game.  Northern Iowa comes into the game having lost six of seven without their senior leader, Lucas O’Rear, who fractured his ankle in early February, and have been outrebounded in four of their last five games — not surprising, considering O’Rear was their leading rebounder. The Panthers had been averaging ten more three-point attempts a game since losing O’Rear, but in the game with Creighton last week, they proceeded to shoot just 12 of them, the fewest attempts of any game all season. Their game plan was to drive it inside and get to the line, which worked: they got Creighton’s second-team All-MVC point guard Antoine Young in foul trouble early, and without him, the Bluejays struggled offensively. They scored just eight points in the final twelve minutes of the first half with him on the bench; when he returned in the second half, they opened up an 11-0 run to take a lead they didn’t give up.

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