1. The Gators’ Achilles’ heel all season has been defense, and now it is that side of the ball that has Florida advancing deeper into the tournament. “A lot of people think we aren’t as good of a defensive team that we’re more of an offensive team that’s predicated on the 3-point shot,” center Patric Young said. “But we proved that the last two games against Virginia and tonight that we can play really great defense.” Perhaps with Florida, the issue on defense is more about effort and desire then skill or ability.
2. Florida has battled illness and injuries all season, so why would March be any different? Forward Casey Prather battled the flu against Norfolk State on Sunday, just two days after a career game against Virginia. “It’s crazy,” Prather said. “I just wanted to provide energy for the team.” With a 101-degree fever, all Prather was able to muster was two points, one rebound, two blocks, and one assist. Luckily for the Gators, Billy Donovan’s club really didn’t need Prather in the 84-50 blowout. Now the question is can Florida finally get 100 percent healthy for this weekend?
3. Kentucky was always the favorite to win the  NCAA Tournament, but with injuries limiting Syracuse and North Carolina, the Wildcats now must win the title to squelch the critics, according to ESPN’s Myron Medcalf. Many have argued that a team with a core of freshmen players will never win a title, but with the aforementioned powerhouses on the ropes which team can keep the Cats from cutting down the nets? The path to the championship has opened up for Kentucky to win its first title under John Calipari, and if Calipari and his young Cats can’t win the big one this year, then maybe the critics are right.
4. Dick Vitale thinks Baylor could be a major issue for Kentucky in a potential Elite Eight matchup. “They’re better than Baylor,” Vitale said of the Cats. “I think they’ll beat Baylor. But Baylor has the athletes to match them athletically.” But what about Indiana, a team that already beat the Cats in December? “On a neutral floor in Round II, with a chip on (UK’s) shoulder and payback, Kentucky wins and advances,” Vitale said. One has to assume that Kentucky fans will do everything they can to aid in that process since the Cats struggled in the hostile environment in Bloomington. It should be a great atmosphere in Catlanta this weekend.
5. Tennessee fell short in the NIT against Middle Tennessee State, leaving only Florida and Kentucky alive to represent the conference. The Vols struggled to explain what went wrong against the Blue Raiders. “I wish I knew,” point guard Trae Golden said. “We didn’t capitalize from the free-throw line, we didn’t defend well down the stretch; there’s a lot of things we could have done better.” There is a renewed sense of excitement around this program after the job done by first year coach Cuonzo Martin this season. After a season full of exceeding expectations, it is fun to think about what the Vols can do next season with Martin’s system and philosophy fully in place.

1. Alabama’s first round opponent will feature a clash in style from the Crimson Tide’s defensive philosophy. Creighton, the #9 seed matched up with Alabama in the round of 64, features a fast-paced offense ranked fifth in adjusted offensive efficiency and the third highest scorer in the nation in Doug McDermott. “Their defensive numbers are very impressive, holding teams to under 30 percent from the 3-point line and under 40 percent shooting for the year,” said Creighton coach Greg McDermott. “They are obviously are going to provide some difficulties for us as we try to get into our offense and try to score at the rim. Anthony Grant has done a great job wherever he’s been and, obviously, what he’s done with the Alabama program in a short period of time is no exception.” Alabama may be a well oiled machine on defense, but its offensive numbers are the largest concern. The Tide are shooting 45.2 percent from the field and an alarming 28.5 percent from beyond the arc. Alabama’s defense has to be good to overcome those abysmal statistics.
2. After 14 seasons with the Bulldogs, Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury may be on the hot seat for his team’s performance over the last two years. After an infamous fight amongst teammates in the Diamondhead Classic last year in Hawaii, the conflict didn’t improve much this year for the disappointing Bulldogs. After starting out at 19-5 and climbing as high as #15 in the AP poll, Mississippi State imploded on its way to losing seven of its last nine games. In response to being on the hot seat, Stansbury said, “You know, I haven’t given it any thought and I think you know this: what we’ve done through 14 years speaks for itself. That’s all I can say about it.” Too often, unrealistic expectations fail to take into account a successful history and reputation. It is a shame to see long term success at one school go out the window in a ‘what have you done for me lately’ society that focuses on the immediate past.
3. Vanderbilt enjoyed unprecedented success with its second SEC Tournament championship ever. After hitting an emotional high on Sunday with their win over the Kentucky Wildcats, many wonder if the Commodores will be able to regain their composure and focus for the NCAA Tournament. Kevin Stallings is feeling good with where his team is at mentally. “We had a long talk about the need to do just that, the need to refocus our energy and refocus our minds,” Stallings said. “We were off (Monday), so we just got finished practicing (Tuesday morning). They’ve had a good focus about them. They weren’t hung over from Sunday, I don’t think.” Vanderbilt opens tournament play with #12 seed Harvard. Harvard is a good defensive team, holding opponents to a 40.6 percent field goal percentage on the year, but the Commodores’ porous defense of year’s past is much improved as they held Kentucky to just 35.9 percent shooting from the field during Sunday’s victory.
4. One doesn’t need to be a basketball expert to decipher that Kentucky freshman Anthony Davis is good at basketball, but analyst Jay Bilas saw Davis’ potential at a Nike skills camp and came away most impressed with his hands. Davis attributes his time playing as a guard before hitting a growth spurt as the key to his soft touch.  “When you’re a guard, you’re going to have great hands,” Davis said. “Most ‘bigs’ will not have great hands. That’s a great attribute I have. It really helps, especially when they throw lobs or quick passes. To be able to catch it and finish around the rim.” While Bilas is impressed with Davis’ hands, I am impressed with the development of his offensive game throughout the course of the season, in some part due to his soft touch around the rim. The freshman center went from scoring almost exclusively on lobs and offensive rebounds to where he establishes himself on the low block with a variety of post moves. Davis has scored in double digits in 12 of his past 13 games and 21 of the past 23, including a double double in six of the last seven games.
5. Tennessee won its first NIT game against Savannah State even with forward Jeronne Maymon not playing. “You’re talking about an all-league player, a guy who rebounds, a guy who posts really strong, a guy who helps facilitate the offense,” Vols coach Cuonzo Martinsaid. “You’re talking about your team leader.” Maymon averages 12.6 points and 8.1 rebounds per game and is currently being evaluated on a day-to-day basis. The Vols face a tough Middle Tennessee State team in the next round in Knoxville, and will need Maymon’s rebounding ability after he grabbed 10 offensive rebounds in his last game against Ole Miss. Tennessee finished on Tuesday with an offensive rebounding percentage of 22.9 percent, which was its third lowest output on the season.

1. Mississippi State is disappointed with being on the outside of the bubble, but it must find the will to play against Massachusetts in the NIT Tournament on Tuesday. “It’ll be a huge challenge for us, as you well know, but there is no one to blame but us,” Rick Stansbury said. “We had our opportunities. Most of the time this time of the year you’re trying to play your way in and we basically played our way out. We had a bad two-and-a-half week stretch and lose five in a row, and, again, had plenty of opportunities in all those games to close it out. And then we don’t close it out against Georgia down there.” The Bulldogs have lost six of their last eight, obviously heading in the opposite direction from the team that cracked the top 25 and looked as though they would be a tough out in March.
2. Vanderbilt was able to secure its second conference tournament title through defense and hot shooting, but its coach attributes a lot of their success to caring about each other. “When you invest a lot, you care a lot,” Kevin Stallings said. “What I’m most proud of is the investment that’s occurred by this group of young men in our program. To see those guys get to experience what they experienced, that was a great feeling for me.” While this sounds more like a Dove for Men commercial, the Commodores have had the same core together for three to four years and it’s starting to pay dividends after several disappointing years.
3. Tennessee is excited to continue playing even if it fell short of the ultimate goal of making the NCAA Tournament. “As a coach, I can’t be upset because of the progress we made,” Vols coach Cuonzo Martin said. “Our goal is to make the NCAA tournament every year, and barring injuries, we have the talent to do that every year. But this isn’t disappointing this season considering where we started from.” Former Tennessee coach and current NIT Selection Committee member Don Devoe believes that the NIT is a building block for next season. “I know a lot of people are disappointed they lost to Ole Miss, but this can be a really special thing for the team and a springboard into the future.” The Volunteers will bring their pesky defense to a first round matchup with Savannah State in the NIT on Tuesday night in Thompson Boling Arena.
4. Kentucky coach John Calipari has faith in Tennessee’s success in the NIT — if it puts its mind to it. “I would suggest they will have a good run in the NIT — if they choose that,’’ Calipari said. “A lot of teams go in there and they’re mad about having to play in the NIT. I’ve had teams (at Memphis) that loved it, because of where we were at that time.” Was this a classic Calipari dig at an old rival or genuine belief in a team that gave Cal’s Wildcats a true test on the road? The Vols certainly have something to prove and will compete for much more than NIT titles once Martin replenishes the talent in Knoxville.
5. Speaking of Kentucky’s outspoken coach, Calipari wasn’t exactly thrilled with his team’s draw in the South region. “The only thing I was happy about is I heard (the committee) was trying to get an exemption for the (Miami) Heat to be the second seed in our bracket, and they weren’t allowed to get that, so they couldn’t put them in there, too,” Calipari said. It certainly seems that for the #1 overall seed, the Wildcats drew an awfully tough bracket. However, there is not one team in Kentucky’s region that seems to be a true roadblock to UK’s fifteenth Final Four appearance.

Zach Hayes is RTC’s official bracketologist.

Last Update: Friday, March 9, 11:59 PM ET.

Changes:

• Kentucky clinches the #1 overall seed following Syracuse’s loss to Cincinnati. The Orange only drop one spot to #2 overall on the S-Curve and will still be headed to the Boston region. Kansas drops behind North Carolina on the S-Curve following their loss to Baylor and could drop behind Duke or Michigan State depending on the results of their respective conference tournaments.
• Baylor had one glaring void on their resume: the lack of an RPI top-25 win. That’s no longer the case following their breakthrough win on Friday over Kansas. The Bears still may have trouble jumping up to a #2 seed even if they emerge victorious in the Big 12 Tournament championship because of two previous losses to Missouri and Ohio State’s run in the Big Ten Tournament.
• Cincinnati jumps to a #6 seed following their win over Syracuse. The Bearcats have a host of quality wins: Syracuse, Marquette, at Georgetown, Louisville, at Connecticut, Notre Dame. They’re also anchored by a horrid RPI/SOS and non-conference SOS. Where they’ll be seeding is really difficult to pin down.
• Xavier remains in the field after edging Dayton in the A-10 Tournament. That result also eliminates the Flyers from at-large consideration.
• Marshall jumps into First Four Out territory but tomorrow is still a win-and-in, lose-and-out scenario.
• Miami barely stays in the field despite their loss to Florida State and only three top-100 wins. The Canes are carried by their huge victory at Duke and a home triumph over FSU. Their RPI/SOS is also superior to Seton Hall, whose best wins all came at home against Georgetown, Connecticut and West Virginia, plus a neutral win over VCU. Also a determining factor: the Pirates lost to Villanova, Rutgers (home) and at DePaul in blowout fashion in Big East play. This could change if Durand Scott’s availability is still up in the air into Selection Sunday.

• Last Four In: Miami (FL), Drexel, NC State, Mississippi State.
  
• First Four Out: Seton Hall, Washington, Marshall, Northwestern.
  

3/9 S-Curve

1 Seeds: Kentucky, Syracuse, North Carolina, Kansas

2 Seeds: Duke, Michigan State, Missouri, Ohio State

3 Seeds: Baylor, Marquette, Michigan, Wisconsin

4 Seeds: Georgetown, Indiana, Florida State, Louisville

5 Seeds: Wichita State, Murray State, UNLV, Temple

6 Seeds: Vanderbilt, Cincinnati, Florida, Notre Dame

7 Seeds: Creighton, Saint Mary’s, San Diego State, Gonzaga

8 Seeds: Memphis,  New Mexico, Iowa State, Kansas State

9 Seeds: Purdue, Saint Louis, Connecticut, Alabama

10 Seeds: Harvard, West Virginia, Southern Miss, California

11 Seeds: Colorado State, Virginia, BYU, VCU

12 Seeds: Texas, Long Beach State, South Florida, Xavier, Mississippi State

13 Seeds: NC State, Drexel, Miami (FL), Nevada, Akron

14 Seeds: Davidson, South Dakota State, Belmont, Montana

15 Seeds: Loyola (MD), Detroit, Lehigh, LIU-Brooklyn

16 Seeds: UNC-Asheville, Norfolk State, Lamar, Stony Brook, Mississippi Valley State, Western Kentucky

Automatic bids: Stony Brook, Saint Louis, North Carolina, Belmont, Missouri, Cincinnati, Montana, UNC-Asheville, Michigan State, Long Beach State, VCU, Memphis, Detroit, Harvard, Loyola (MD), Akron, Norfolk State, Creighton, San Diego State, LIU Brooklyn, Murray State, California, Lehigh, Kentucky, Davidson, Lamar, Mississippi Valley State, Western Kentucky, South Dakota State, Saint Mary’s, Nevada.

Bids per conference: Big East (9), Big 12 (6), ACC (6), Big Ten (6), SEC (5), Mountain West (4), Atlantic 10 (3), West Coast (3), Conference USA (2), Missouri Valley (2), Colonial (2).

The first two games of the Pac-12 reminded us of why we love this time of year. Four extremely talented teams were playing their hearts out for different things. Washington needed to avoid a bad loss to clinch an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament; Oregon State needed a win to get onto the NIT bubble; Arizona needed a win to keep alive its NCAA Tournament hopes; and UCLA needed a win to stay in the NIT field. Here are four things that stood out in the first two quarterfinal games.

March Madness in full swing as (from left to right) Challe Barton, Rhys Murphy, Kevin McShane, and Angus Brandt celebrate Oregon State's 86-84 win over Washington. (credit: Jae Hong)

1. Oregon State’s resiliency (part two) — We mentioned yesterday how resilient Oregon State was when it could have just rolled over after giving up a 16-point lead against Washington State. Today was almost an exact replica of yesterday’s game (except played better). Oregon State led by as many as 15 before Washington went on a 33-10 run to lead 66-58 with 8:50 remaining. The Huskies were hitting everything they threw up, Oregon State was turning the ball over, and the pro-Washington crowd was on their feet. Once again, it looked as if the Beavers were ready to call it a season. Instead, Oregon State was able to force some turnovers and began knocking down their shots. Before you knew it, Jared Cunningham put home a layup to put the Beavers ahead 84-83 with 30 seconds to play. Over the next half-minute, both teams would miss a combined 10 free throws. But when it was all said and done, it was Oregon State dancing off the court with an 86-84 victory. Read the rest of this entry »

1. Auburn has not made many basketball headlines recently until now. Suspended guard Varez Ward is under investigation in a point shaving scandal, according to this report from Yahoo! Sports. The FBI is investigating two games in particular —  a 68-50 loss to Alabama on February 7 and a 56-53 loss to Arkansas on January 25. Ward and guard Chris Denson, who has been later cleared of any wrong-doing, were suspended by Tigers coach Tony Barbee prior to a February 25 game when it appears that Barbee was made aware of the allegations.
2. There were no surprises as Kentucky was named the favorite this weekend, but SEC coaches seem ready to hand over the SEC Tournament crown to the dominant Wildcats. “Everybody’s playing for second place,” said Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury. South Carolina coach Darrin Horn agrees, labeling UK freshman Anthony Davis as the difference maker in New Orleans. “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a kid impact games the way he does,” Horn said. “He’s just a unique, unique talent.” The Wildcats have won two SEC Tournament championships in a row, since the arrival of coach John Calipari, and seek their third in a row this weekend. With several top tier SEC teams struggling, it is difficult to imagine any challengers removing the Wildcats from the top of the perch.
3. While most focused on what’s been happening in Lexington, some coaches took the time to speak about the amazing story of Tennessee freshman Jarnell Stokes. “He was in high school, practices about a week, lines up against Kentucky and makes his first four shots, gets a double-double against UConn about a week later, and think about what he has done for the team,” Mississippi coach Andy Kennedy said. “Think about what he would be if he was with them all year.” Stokes’ quick transition displays how talented he is, but also displays the remarkable coaching job done by first year coach Cuonzo Martin. Martin helped develop Stokes as well as find ways to get the freshman some playing time without impacting the established team chemistry amongst the Volunteers team. It will be interesting to monitor Stokes and Tennessee’s success this postseason.
4. Florida freshman Bradley Beal returned to practice for the Gators after being sidelined from an ankle injury sustained in last weekend’s Kentucky game. Beal was not able to practice Monday or Tuesday of this week, but plans to play in the Gators’ opening game on Friday. Florida has dealt with a rash of injuries this year as Will Yeguete, Mike Rosario, and Erik Murphy among others have been out at some point this year. The Gators have lost three games in a row and five of their last eight so remaining healthy is a huge concern going into the tournament.
5. Vanderbilt remains confident going into the postseason despite the fact that the Commodores haven’t been very successful in March over the last couple of years. Senior forward Jeffery Taylor refused to acknowledge that the ‘Dores or head coach Kevin Stallingswere feeling any of the pressure to succeed this year given the talent and experience Vanderbilt has. “I think all of us are in a place where we have our backs against the wall, especially us seniors,” Taylor said. “But as far as Coach feeling any pressure, I don’t think so. He shouldn’t feel any pressure. “The two teams we lost to (Murray State in 2010, Richmond in 2011) were two really good teams and both of them went down to the wire. And it just happened that the other team made a couple of more plays than we did. But I don’t think that falls on the coach. I think that falls on the players.” Vanderbilt certainly has the talent to do well this postseason, but have been too inconsistent in its play for anyone to be overly-confident.

Zach Hayes is RTC’s official bracketologist.

Last Update: Wednesday, March 7, 5:49 PM ET.

Changes:

• Connecticut jumps to the #9 seed line following their Big East Tournament win over West Virginia. The Huskies boast six RPI top-50 wins including a sweep of the Mountaineers, a true road win at Notre Dame and a neutral court victory over Harvard. UConn is safely in the field and they face Syracuse on Thursday in a game where they have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
• West Virginia is now a horribly mediocre 19-14 overall and 9-10 in Big East play. During most other seasons that would punch their ticket to the NIT, but due to the soft bubble, Pac-12 struggles and lack of bid stealers thus far, Bob Huggins’ team is still projected to make the tournament by a decent margin. At the moment they sit as the final #10 seed on the S-Curve but will likely drop as teams below them have opportunities to gather quality wins during the week. Despite the shoddy record, WVU does boast a #45 RPI, #16 SOS and has beaten projected NCAA teams Georgetown, Kansas State, Miami, Cincinnati, USF and Akron, while UConn isn’t considered a “bad” loss.

• Last Four In: Northwestern, Xavier, Texas, South Florida.
  
• First Four Out: Seton Hall, Drexel, Tennessee, Oregon.
  
• Next Four Out: Dayton, NC State, Oral Roberts, St. Joseph’s.            

3/7 S-Curve

1 Seeds: Kentucky, Syracuse, Kansas, North Carolina

2 Seeds: Duke, Michigan State, Missouri, Ohio State

3 Seeds: Marquette, Michigan, Baylor, Georgetown

4 Seeds: Indiana, Wisconsin, Florida State, Temple

5 Seeds: Wichita State, Murray State, UNLV, Louisville

6 Seeds: Vanderbilt, Florida, Notre Dame, Creighton

7 Seeds: Saint Mary’s, Iowa State, San Diego State, Gonzaga

8 Seeds: New Mexico, Kansas State, Purdue, Memphis

9 Seeds: Cincinnati, Saint Louis, Alabama, Connecticut

10 Seeds: Southern Miss, Virginia, Harvard, West Virginia

11 Seeds: Colorado State, Mississippi State, California, BYU

12 Seeds: VCU, Miami, Washington, South Florida, Long Beach State

13 Seeds: Texas, Xavier, Northwestern, Nevada, Davidson

14 Seeds: South Dakota State, Akron, Belmont, Montana

15 Seeds: Loyola (MD), Bucknell, Detroit, UT-Arlington

16 Seeds: UNC-Asheville, LIU-Brooklyn, Stony Brook, Mississippi Valley State, Savannah State, Western Kentucky

Automatic bids: Stony Brook, Temple, North Carolina, Belmont, Kansas, Syracuse, Montana, UNC-Asheville, Michigan State, Long Beach State, VCU, Memphis, Detroit, Harvard, Loyola (MD), Akron, Savannah State, Creighton, San Diego State, LIU Brooklyn, Murray State, Washington, Bucknell, Kentucky, Davidson, UT-Arlington, Mississippi Valley State, Western Kentucky, South Dakota State, Saint Mary’s, Nevada.

Bids per conference: Big East (9), Big Ten (7), Big 12 (6), SEC (5), ACC (5), Mountain West (4), Atlantic 10 (3), WCC (3), Conference USA (2), Missouri Valley (2), Pac-12 (2).

Read the rest of this entry »

This Weekend’s Lede – What makes the official start of March Madness? Saturday, March 3, which included 105 total games, three conference tournament championships, and 15 ranked teams playing their regular season finales definitely felt like the appropriate start date. Sunday saw eight more ranked teams play and one more conference tournament decided. It was a wonderful start to Championship Week that included both the usual (Murray State won the OVC) and the unexpected (Wichita State, Iona, and Middle Tennessee all lost before the title game) that makes our sport so much fun to watch. All regular season games but one Ivy contest are now completed, so the power leagues start up their own conference tournaments in the next couple of days. Over the course of the next week we will find out 27 more automatic bid winners and the 37 at-large teams to fill out the NCAA Tournament bracket. Let’s start by rehashing what took place over the weekend, and who looks good to go dancing. We start in the Big Ten…

Your Watercooler Moment. Buckeyes Victory Means a Three-Way Tie for Big Ten Supremacy 

Who said that Ohio State blew its chance at a Big Ten title last week with its loss to Wisconsin? Well, we were actually guilty of thinking the same, as Michigan State had built a two-game lead with two games to play in the conference season. But after losing at Indiana, the Spartans needed to defend their home court and defeat Ohio State in Sunday’s regular season finale if they wanted the outright Big Ten championship. The Buckeyes had other ideas, as they came back from down double-digits in the second half to eventually win on a game-winner with one second remaining. William Buford’s jumper not only evened Ohio State with Michigan State at 13-5 in the conference, but it also means that Michigan’s 13-5 record holds up as a third team atop the Big Ten. These three teams all slipped up at home late in the season, but none was more costly than this Michigan State loss with the outright title and a likely NCAA Tournament #1 seed on the line. The Big Ten Tournament will be as great to watch as ever before, with so many teams jockeying for postseason inclusion or seeding position, and three teams all as co-favorites. In the tiebreaker scenarios, Michigan State comes out victorious as the regular-season champion and #1 seed, but all three split their season series and can stake a legitimate claim as league champ.

Top Storyline – North Carolina Exacts Revenge on Duke. If it weren’t for Austin Rivers’ buzzer-beating three on February 8, then North Carolina would currently be on a 13-game winning streak in ACC play with a +13.6 average scoring margin in those games. The Tar Heels got revenge on Duke for that shot and made sure everyone remembers how great this team is as UNC throttled Duke from the outset of Saturday night’s regular season finale. The Tar Heels jumped out to an 18-5 lead in under four minutes, wound it all the way up to a 24-point advantage at halftime, and finished it off with an 88-70 blowout victory going away. Duke has struggled in Cameron Indoor Stadium this season, but nothing like this, in which the road team was superior in every facet of the game. The Tar Heels’ entire starting lineup finished with at least 12 points, Kendall Marshall dished out his usual 10 assists, and John Henson and Tyler Zeller each had 10 rebounds. Carolina is the ACC champion and peaking at the right time of year.

Read the rest of this entry »

Zach Hayes is RTC’s official bracketologist.

• Last Four In: Northwestern, Xavier, Texas, South Florida.
  
• First Four Out: Seton Hall, VCU, Tennessee, Oregon.
  
• Next Four Out: Dayton, NC State, Arizona, St. Joseph’s.              

click on bracket to enlarge

S-Curve

• 1 Seeds: Kentucky, Syracuse, Kansas, North Carolina
• 2 Seeds: Duke, Michigan State, Missouri, Ohio State
• 3 Seeds: Marquette, Michigan, Baylor, Georgetown
• 4 Seeds: Indiana, Wisconsin, Florida State, Temple
• 5 Seeds: Wichita State, Murray State, UNLV, Louisville
• 6 Seeds: Vanderbilt, Florida, Notre Dame, Creighton
• 7 Seeds: Iowa State, Gonzaga, San Diego State, New Mexico
• 8 Seeds: Kansas State, Purdue, Memphis, Saint Mary’s
• 9 Seeds: Cincinnati, Saint Louis, Alabama, Southern Miss
• 10 Seeds: Virginia, Harvard, Connecticut, West Virginia
• 11 Seeds: Colorado State, Mississippi State, California, BYU
• 12 Seeds: Miami, Washington, South Florida, Texas, Long Beach State
• 13 Seeds: Xavier, Northwestern, Drexel, Nevada, Oral Roberts
• 14 Seeds: Davidson, Belmont, Akron, Montana
• 15 Seeds: Denver, Valparaiso, Loyola (MD), Bucknell
  
• 16 Seeds: UT-Arlington, UNC-Asheville, LIU-Brooklyn, Stony Brook, Mississippi Valley, Savannah State

Read the rest of this entry »

1. Florida has lost three games in a row, but that doesn’t mean the Gators are lacking in confidence. “I don’t think our confidence is ever going to be a problem,” said Florida junior Erik Murphy, who added 14 points and tied a season high with eight rebounds. “We’ve got a bunch of confident guys on this team. We haven’t been playing too great and hopefully we can start putting it together.” The Gators are playing with effort, despite the results. “Whether you play hard or not, you’ve got to come out with the win,” Florida senior point guard Erving Walker said. “We’re in a one-and-done situation now, so we gotta figure this out.” Florida will have a bye into the second round of the SEC Tournament for the extra benefit of added practice time.
2. The Florida players may not have come through against Kentucky, but the Gators’ fans came ready. Florida fans distributed this chant guide to organize the crowd’s heckling efforts against Kentucky players during Sunday’s game. But do Florida fans really need a guide to remember how to cheer? While it was a was a nice effort, Gator fans were really digging deep on this one. Needles? Wait, Anthony Davis has a unibrow? The heckling fell about as flat as the Gators defense on this Sunday afternoon.
3. Tennessee is officially on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament, but the Vols know they just need to focus on winning. “Whatever the numbers are, there’s nothing we can do but play games and win games,” UT coach Cuonzo Martin said on Sunday. “We control our own situation. Whoever we play against, all we can do is everything in our power to win that game.” Just how many games do the Vols need to win? “A win at the SEC tourney makes NCAA possible,” ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi said, “two wins makes it probable.” Tennessee gets the winner of Ole Miss and Auburn on Friday. The Vols have an RPI of 76 currently, and obviously have work to do in order to feel safe on selection Sunday.
4. Some might argue that the Vols already have the look and feel of an NCAA Tournament team. The progress the Vols have made under Martin was obvious when Tennessee kept fighting on Saturday even when Vanderbilt cut the Vols’ second half lead to just two points.  “That’s our growth as a team,” Tennessee point guard Trae Golden said. “Back in the day, at the beginning of the season, we probably would’ve lost the lead and lost the game.” Pundits can compare numbers like the RPI all day long, but sometimes a team has to pass the eye test. And Martin knows he has an NCAA team on his hands. “We’re changing the culture and defining what we expect,” he said.
5. Ole Miss is also in the hunt for an NCAA berth with a solid showing in the SEC Tournament, but the Rebels will need Jelan Kendrick to make an impact. Kendrick didn’t play in the Rebels’ win on Saturday because of a coach’s decision. Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy said he would “revisit” the situation before determining whether the troubled freshman will play in the SEC Tournament on Thursday. Saturday marked the third time that Kennedy chose not to play Kendrick even though he was eligible to play.