Tuesday February 14th:

Seton Hall vs. St. John’s (7PM SNY/ESPN3.com) – The Pirates look to keep their NCAA hopes afloat.

#12 Florida @ Alabama (7PM ESPN/ESPN3.com) – A chance for the Tide to tack a big time SEC win on their resume.

Texas @ Oklahoma (8PM ESPN3.com) – Texas is trying to stay in the bubble picture. Must win.

Minnesota vs. #6 Ohio State (9PM ESPN/ESPN3.com) – A huge chance for Minnesota.

————————————————————

Wednesday February 15th:

Northwestern @ #20 Indiana (630PM BTN) – Northwestern is lacking a marquee road win (@Illinois is solid).

#7 North Carolina @ Miami (FL) (8PM ESPN/ESPN3.com) – For a team squarely on the bubble, this would be huge for the Canes.

Richmond @ St. Louis (8PM)

Purdue @ Illinois (830 BTN) – Both teams are around 9 seeds right now. Loser will have to sweat it out a bit more than the winner.

Providence @ Cincinnati (9PM ESPNU) – Must win for the Bearcats if they have dreams of Dancing.

Colorado State @ Boise State (10PM MTN) – Colorado State can’t afford a ‘bad loss.’

New Mexico @ #15 San Diego State (10:15 PM ) – A road win against the Aztecs would really help New Mexico’s resume.

——————————————————————–

Thursday February 16th:

North Carolina State @ #4 Duke (9PM ESPN3.com) – NC State is right on the bubble. They wouldn’t be with a win at Cameron Indoor.

West Virginia @ Pittsburgh (9PM ESPN/ESPN3.com) – After Pittsburgh’s loss to Seton Hall over the weekend, they look to be done. West Virginia isn’t but need this win.

Oregon @ California (10:30PM) – A Cal loss would make the Pac-12 being a 1-bid league that much more likely.

Seton Hall notes: Northwestern at Indiana on Wednesday is a double edged sword since the Pirates want their loss against Northwestern at the Charleston Classic to look as good as possible.

Hartford (Sat. 11/12)

Radford (Mon. 11/14) – Round 1 of Hall of Fame Tip-Off Campus Round

Long Island (Wed. 11/16) – Round 2 of Hall of Fame Tip-Off Campus Round

Kentucky (Sat., 11/19)  - Hall of Fame Tip Off Game 1, Mohegan Sun Arena (CT)

South Florida/Old Dominion (Sun., 11/20) – Hall of Game Tip Off Game 2, Mohegan Sun Arena (CT)

Youngstown State (Wed. 11/23)

@St. Joeseph’s (Sat. 11/26)

@Boston College (Wed. 11/30) – Big Ten/ACC Challenge

Mississippi (Sun. 12/4)

Lafayette (Wed. 12/7)

@Duquesne (Sat., 12/10) @ Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh

Mount St. Mary’s, (Sun. 12/18)

Cornell (Wed., 12/21)

Without any unnecessary filler, I’ll dive straight into the nitty gritty after the jump…

Hartford Hawks – 11-20 (7-9), RPI: 277, SOS: 248, KenPom: 298
Hartford produced a disappointing season last winter and it doesn’t look like they will improve this time around. The Hawks lose their top three scorers in Joe Zeglinski (14.2PPG), Morgan Sabia (12.6PPG), and Milton Burton (10.9PPG). Wing Anthony Minor also graduated and took his 6.7PPG with him, good enough for 5th on the team in scoring. Hartford has a six man recruiting class coming in from all over the country (Washington, Texas, Wisconsin) and even overseas (Australia). The newcomers will need to cover some serious ground if the Hawks want to improve upon their 11 win total from last season.

Verdict: Hartford will be equally as inexperienced as Penn State but will lack the BCS talent that the Nits will have on the court. Easy first win of Chambers’ stay in State College.

Stock: Falling.

Radford Highlanders – 5-24 (2-16), RPI: 333, SOS: 214, KenPom: 331
The Highlanders are coming off what can only be described as an abysmal season during the 2010-11 campaign. They defeated only 2 D-1 schools (High Point & Winthrop) by a combined 6 points and they lost every single game they played away from home. Following the disaster of a season, head coach Brad Greenberg resigned and was replaced by VCU assistant Mike Jones. On the positive side of things, Radford loses only one player to graduation in guard Jeremy Robinson, who averaged 5PPG last season in 20MPG.

Verdict: Its safe to say that Radford is the ultimate warm-up game for the Nits for the 2011 Hall of Fame Tip-Off. Radford should not come close to beating a BCS team – no matter how young their opponent is. This duel is part of the ‘Campus Round’ for the Hall of Fame Tip-Off.

Stock: Falling.

Long Island Blackbirds – 27-6 (16-2), NEC Champions, RPI: 75, SOS: 257, KenPom: 118
Despite falling to North Carolina in the ‘second’ round of the 2010-11 NCAA Tournament, the Blackbirds impressed. Point guard Jason Brickman averaged 6.2PPG & 5.5 APG as a freshman. While it was in the NEC, that is impressive for a freshman, no matter where you play. Long Island lose just over 21PPG in Kyle Johnson and David Hicks but return the rest of their roster, including leading scorer Julian Boyd (13PPG & 8.9RPG). Long Island should be the overwhelming favorite to snag the NEC auto-bid next spring.

Verdict: Long Island was dangerous last season and should be even better this year. A young Penn State team with just two games under their belt should be on upset alert during the second game of the ‘Campus Round’ for the Hall of Fame Tip-Off.

Stock: Rising.

Kentucky – 29-9 (10-6), RPI: 7, SOS: 8, KenPom: 6
Cal’s Cats lost four players to the 2011 NBA Draft, one of which didn’t suit up last season (Enes Kanter). Kentucky regulars Doron Lamb, Terrence Jones and Darius Miller will join forces with four Class of 2011 recruits who will replace the four NBA Draftees. Incoming freshmen phenoms Marquis Teague, Michael Gilchrist, Anthony Davis and Kyle Wiltjer might just be the next one-and-dones to play at Kentucky.

Verdict: The Final Four participants should be well oiled with McDonalds (All-American) grease by time they face Penn State in the first round of the Hall Of Fame Tip-Off in Connecticut. Kentucky should win this game easily – simply too much talent.

Stock: Rising.

Game 2 of Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic (South Florida – 10-23 (3-15), RPI: 155, SOS: 17, KenPom: 127 / Old Dominion – 27-7 (14-4), RPI: 20, SOS: 64, KenPom: 48)

Outside of center Jarrid Famous, South Florida loses no one of significance. Mike Burwell and Shedrick Haynes transfered out, but they only averaged 2.8PPG combined. Stan Heath is bringing in two JUCOs and two modestly rated freshmen. I would expect a slightly better South Florida team next season – but not the type that upsets Villanova regularly.

Old Dominion loses a whole lot from a team that was a buzzer beating tip-in away from taking national runner-up Butler to overtime. The Monarchs’ only losses last season were to Georgetown, Missouri, VCU, Butler, George Mason, Drexel (Top 100 KenPom) and Delaware (only bad loss – was away). Blaine Taylor will need to replace a boatload of veterans (Frank Hassell – 15.1PPG, Ben Finney – 9.2PPG, Darius James – 7PPG, Keyon Carter – 7.3PPG) if Old Dominion is going to be Dancing again. Taylor took the first step towards this lofty goal by shaving his 30+ year old mustache.

Verdict: Surprisingly, I think South Florida might be the tougher team next season. They lose only one important player and have a season of Big East play under their belt. Not to mention, the addition of two JUCOs adds experience and immediate talent. Old Dominion loses a whole lot but its a big tougher to read the mid-majors. Never count Blaine Taylor out. Either opponent will be tough.

Stocks -
South Florida: Rising.
Old Dominion: Falling.

Youngstown State – 9-21 (2-16), RPI: 295, SOS: 148, KenPom: 247
The Penguins are a familiar foe on the gridiron for Penn State fans but not-so-much on the hardwood. Youngstown is coming off a disappointing season (I’m sure I’ll say that phrase a few more times in this piece) in 2010-11. They are probably remembered for their 62-60 upset of Butler on February 2nd and not much else. YSU returns nearly their entire roster aside from their Lithutian leading scorer Vytas Sulski (13.1PPG) and sparsely used Dan Boudler (1.7PPG).

Verdict: If the Penguins can replace Sulski they should improve upon their 9 win total. However, Penn State should be kicking it into high gear by late November and should win.

Stock: Steady, potential to decline.

Saint Joseph’s – 11-22 (4-12), RPI: 164, SOS: 65, KenPom: 183
Phil Martelli is returning a young and improving team that loses only Idris Hilliard (8.5PPG) and Justin Crosgile (4.8 PPG) – the latter  is a transfer. Double digit scorers Carl Jones and Langston Galloway are only a junior and a sophomore, respectively, but will carry most of the load for the Hawks this season. Martelli will also add incoming freshman point guard Chris Wilson to his arsenal of young players.

Verdict: St. Joes is still a young team but is rapidly improving. Martelli also needs to have a successful season as his job security is really starting to wear thin. The Hawks played Penn State relatively tight last season in Happy Valley but now get the luxury of playing Penn State at home. This should be an even match in hostile territory. I wouldn’t be surprised if Martelli & Sons pull off the upset.

Stock: Rising.

Boston College – 21-13 (9-7), RPI: 58, SOS: 38, KenPom: 68
The Eagles posted a 20+ win season in Steve Donahue’s first season at the helm and nearly made the NCAA Tournament. Boston College will look to improve upon that win total on the wings of a 9-man freshman class spearheaded by forward Ryan Anderson. Much like Penn State, Boston College is looking at a ‘rebuilding year’ in 2011-12. Here is a short preview I wrote for Victory Bell Rings when the Big Ten/ACC Challenge match ups were announced.

Verdict: Hung jury. At this point, this game is a total toss-up. I could count the amount of returning starters from both teams combined on my left thumb (1, Tim Frazier). It will be up to which coach develops his players more efficiently over the first few weeks of the season.

Stock: Falling.

Mississippi, 20-14 (7-9), RPI: 83, SOS: 75, KenPom: 70
The Rebels took it to Penn State on their home turf last season while we all followed on Yahoo! Box scores. This season, Ole Miss will return the H/H with a trip to Happy Valley. Ole Miss loses over 56% of their scoring from last season in graduates Chris Warren & Zach Graham and transfers Trevor Gaskins & Donald Williams. Much like Penn State and Boston College, the Rebels will be a young team in a rebuilding stage this winter. Head coach Andy Kennedy is bringing in a six man recruiting class that will need to pick up the slack for departed veterans. Freshmen shooting guards Ladarius White and Maurice Aniefiok fit this description.

Verdict: Another toss up that might be handed to the home team, Penn State.

Stock: Falling.

Lafayette, 13-19 (6-8), RPI: 220, SOS: 187, KenPom: 233
Outside of leading scorer Jared Mintz (15.8PPG), the Leopards lose next to nothing. While that is a positive, Lafayette’s best win came against a 187th ranked American team in the Patriot League Tournament last season – not so impressive. With the type of Patriot League talent that the Leopards are bringing in with the 2011 Class, a hasty turnaround shouldn’t be expected. However, there is plenty of room to improve since only one player is lost from last season.

Verdict: Layfayette will be improved but should pose no threat to Penn State, who handled middle of the road Lehigh last season.

Stock: Rising.

Duquesne, 19-13 (10-6), RPI: 108, SOS: 125, KenPom: 61
Penn State head coaching candidate Ron Everhart landed Duquesne in the second round of the CBI last season and nearly landed himself the Penn State job during the off-season. Everhart had his team on the cusp of making the NCAA Tournament before a late season collapse (2-7) that garnered the CBI invite. The Dukes lose their top two scorers in Bill Clark and Damian Saunders (28.9 PPG) but return everyone else.

Verdict: The Dukes played Penn State close at the Bryce Jordan Center last season. Although they lose some significant pieces, I would expect them to post a similar record this season if they play more consistently. Penn State should win on a semi-away court.

Stock: Hovering.

Mount St. Mary’s, 11-21 (9-9), RPI: 230, SOS: 160, KenPom: 267:

In one of the uglier games of last season (outside of the Maine loss and Wisconsin win in the Big Ten Tournament), Penn State needed a Talor Battle go-ahead trey with 1.3 seconds remaining in the game to record a ‘W’ – Battle added yet another clutch game winning/tying shot to his resume. A shot that was not glamorous, but necessary.

Mount St. Mary's was just another feather in Talor Battle's Clutch Cap. (Kelsey Morris/Collegian)

The Mount loses only one of their Top 6 scorers (No. 2, Shawn Atupem, 10.8 PPG) from a team that won just 11 games, 9 of them in the lowly Northeast Conference. That being said, a near identical Mountaineer squad was a cajones-filled-Battle-special from an upset of a much more talented Penn State team.

Verdict: Penn State will either coast to victory or opposing head coach Robert Burke will draw up another gameplan to make Penn State play down to their opponent’s level.

Stock: Rising.

Cornell, 10-18 (6-8), RPI: 210, SOS: 136, KenPom: 191

One year removed from their impressive Sweet 16 run produced a disappointing 10 win season for the depleted Cornell Big Red. Replacing four starters and seven seniors is never easy for any program, let alone a scholarshipless Ivy League school. Not to mention, head coach Steve Donahue was plucked by Boston College after the 2010 tournament run.

Cornell graduates five seniors from last season’s team, although none were in the Top 3 of the Big Red’s scorers. The seniors accounted for 32% of the Big Red’s scoring last season. Most importantly, senior sharpshooter Chris “Robo” Wroblewski (14.2PPG, 43% from 3PT) is back for his final season — Wroblewski went for 20+ points four times last season and drilled 52 3PTers. He also averaged 5.7APG.

Verdict: Cornell will certainly be stronger next season but it probably won’t be enough to give Penn State a scare.

Stock: Rising.

To visualize how the entire schedule shapes up, here is how I would place the opponents into tiers:

Tier 1 (Great schedule, Top 50): Kentucky

Tier 2 (Good schedule, RPI 50-100): Boston College, St. Joe’s, Ole Miss, Long Island, Old Dominion*

Tier 3 (Neutral schedule – RPI 101-200): Duquesne, Lafayette, Mount St. Mary’s, Cornell, South Florida*

Tier 4 (Bad schedule – AVOID, RPI of 200+): Radford, Hartford, Youngstown State

*Potential opponents

It seems fitting to lead crow eating off with the biggest of all the crows: Kemba Walker and Connecticut. Who would have thought that the Huskies, who had to replace Gavin Edwards, Stanley Robinson and Jerome Dyson (42PPG~) would have won the Big East Tournament and make the Final 4? I didn’t, the AP/USA poll didn’t and even the coaches who had to face Connecticut this season didn’t think they’d be this good. Kemba Walker and a handful of unproven freshmen put Husky Nation on their back, all the way to the Final 4. Kemba Walker upped his PPG average by nearly 10 points and Jeremy Lamb has spearheaded the impressive freshman class with 11PPG.

The best news? Connecticut’s run isn’t even over.

Next up, the Michigan Wolverines. Michigan only garnered an eight seed and exited in the second round, but that doesn’t tell the whole story.

Coming off a sub .500 season while losing your two leading scorers (Manny Harris 18PPG, DeShawn Sims 16PPG) isn’t a recipe for a success anywhere but Ann Arbor. The Wolverines were picked to finish in the bottom third of the Big Ten by just about everyone. After stumbling out to a 1-6 start to Big Ten play (11-9 overall), these predictions looked spot on. However, a 9-4 finish, including wins over Michigan State (x2), Penn State and Illinois produced a 180 in Michigan’s season that would leave “experts” scratching their heads. The Wolverines capped off an impressive season by going down in honorable fashion in the NCAA tournament. They thrashed Tennessee in the first round and nearly knocked off #1 seeded Duke in the second round.

Michigan graduates no one and several of their contributors were just freshmen, including the impressive Tim Hardaway Jr. Its safe to say Michigan won’t be overlooked when next season’s batch of pre-season predictions are released.

The last plate of crow I will be eating has been shipped from South Bend. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish exceeded my expectations and then some. Once again, the Big East coaches also slipped up. Bubble team? More like a 2 seed.

I had some confidence in Mike Brey’s ability to replace Luke Harangody since Notre Dame played so well without him at the conclusion of last season. Did I think the team would get much better without him? Not a chance. But thats what they did. Throw out their early exit of the NCAA tournament against a Florida State team that was a huge matchup problem and the Fighting Irish surely exceeded expectations. Heck, I think any Irish fan would have taken a second round exit in the NCAA tournament in a heartbeat last September.

Will Mike Brey be able to conjure another miracle next season? The Irish lose four seniors that played major minutes (Hansbrough, Abromaitis, Scott, Nash).

Honorable mentions:

Penn State - After winning just 11 games last season, the Nittany Lions made the Big Ten Championship game for the first time in their history and reached the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2001. Penn State seemed out of sorts after losing to Maine at home in December, but rebounded nicely by finishing 9-9 in the Big Ten and punched their ticket by winning three games in Indianapolis.

Arizona – In Sean Miller’s first season, the Wildcats missed the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1984. How did they respond? By losing the Pac-10 tournament in OT on this shot and losing to Connecticut by 2 in the Elite 8. Not bad.

Murray will finish up the spring semester at La Salle and if he decides to enroll at another school instead of playing professional ball, he will have to sit out the entire 2011-12 season.

If Murray can prove that he will be an asset to any team, he should have no trouble finding a new home. The big man was a ESPN Top 100 recruit out of high school and averaged 15PPG & 7RPG this season for La Salle. Per a source, Murray listed Florida, Rutgers, West Virginia and Kentucky as potential suitors. He added that he would go to Kentucky if they offered him. West Virginia was on Murray’s list of potential schools coming out of high school.

I will be updating Murray’s transfer process if more information arises.

I have major issues with Clemson and UAB being selected over Colorado. I can understand why Virginia Tech wasn’t selected, but Colorado HAS to be in over at least one of these teams. Colorado has 6 Top 50 wins whereas Clemson and UAB only have 1, COMBINED. That one win is over VCU (49), at home. Clemson went 9-7 in a mediocre ACC and has zero Top 50 wins. Committee, you done screwed up.

I have been a major defender of VCU, and I’ll continue it here. vs UCLA, at ODU, vs George Mason, at Wichita State. All very impressive wins away from home. Sure they have three bad losses and a bunch of losses, but which bubble team doesn’t? I can see arguments for VCU being out, but there is definitely a strong argument for them to be in. If someone says otherwise, they are dead wrong.

Dick Vitale needs to shut up. Your passion and ranting has nothing to do how much a team should deserve a bid. Virginia Tech beat your Dukies, BIG WHOOP. They did little outside of that, including a very mediocre OOC and a 2-6 record against the Top 50. The argument for them to be OUT is definitely there. He must feel a little dumb after claiming Virginia Tech had locked up a bid after beating Duke a few weeks ago. So biased.

On the flipside, major props to Doug Gottlieb for ripping UAB and Clemson to shreds. Not just because he agrees with me and because he is one my favorite college basketball analysists, but because he doesn’t use the phrase “eye test”. Okay, maybe because he agrees with me.

Joe Lunardi fails again. Lunardi got 65/68 teams correct and royally screwed up with Saint Mary’s. He had the Gaels 9 spots ahead of of VCU. The guy who gets the most plugs tanks again on Selection Sunday. Good job ESPN!

I find it a bit odd that no one is really arguing against USC, everyone is picking on VCU instead. You can guess which team is from a BCS conference and which is a mid-major. USC can be argued either way, they are deserving of a bid, but have also slipped up in a ton of games.

In conclusion, I think there is an argument for Colorado to be left out, but their ability to beat top teams when compared to Clemson and UAB is their ticket IN. As for Virginia Tech, I thought they should be in over UAB/Clemson, but I can definitely understand why they aren’t. Not so much for Colorado.

Additionally, I probably shouldn’t have had Colorado in as a LOCK when I saw that Jerry Palm didn’t even have them in. Never go against Jerry! Also pretty surprised that Georgia is such a high seed, I had them as my last team in.

Hopefully that rant wasn’t too all over the place. This has surely been a wild Championship Week followed by a wild Selection Sunday. Good luck to all of you in your brackets. March Madness is upon us.

At-large locks (32-61):
ACC: UNC
Atlantic 10: Temple, Xavier
Big 12: Texas, Texas A/M, Kansas State, Missouri, Colorado
Big Ten: Purdue, Wisconsin, Penn State, Michigan
Big East: Villanova, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Louisville, St. John’s, Syracuse, WVU, Cincinnati, Marquette
CAA: George Mason
Moutain West: BYU, UNLV
Pac-10: UCLA, Arizona, Florida
SEC: Vanderbilt, Tennessee

Bubble teams:
62. Michigan St. (18-14 (11-10) RPI: 47 SOS: 10 vsTop50: 5-13 vsTop100: 10-13 GW: Wisky, Wash, Illinois, Purdue BL: Iowa)
63. Illinois (19-13 (9-10) RPI: 46 SOS: 18 vsTop50: 5-10 vsTop100: 11-11 GW: UNC, Zaga, Wisky, MSU BL: UIC, Indiana )
****
64. Florida St. (21-10 (11-6) RPI: 54 SOS: 81 vsTop50: 1-5 vsTop100: 6-9 GW: Duke BL: Auburn)
65. VCU (23-11 (14-7) RPI: 50 SOS: 87 vsTop50: 3-5 vsTop100: 8-8 GW: UCLA, ODU, GMason BL: Georgia St, USF, NEastern)
66. Virginia Tech (21-11 (11-8) RPI: 60 SOS: 75 vsTop50: 2-6 vsTop100: 7-8 GW: PSU, Duke FSUx2 BL: Virginiax2, GT)
67. USC (19-14 (11-9) RPI: 67 SOS: 39 vsTop50: 5-5 vsTop100: 8-8 GW: Texas, Tenn, UCLA, Arizona, Wash BL: Rider, TCU, Bradley, Oregon St, Oregon )
68. Georgia (21-11 (10-8) RPI: 48 SOS: 40 vsTop50: 3-9 vsTop100: 5-11 GW: UK, Tenn, UAB, CU BL: None)
—Bubble Bursts Here—
Clemson (21-11 (10-8) RPI: 56 SOS: 59 vsTop50: 0-6 vsTop100: 9-8 GW:BC x2, VT BL: Virginia, NCSt, S. Carolina)
Alabama (21-11 (13-5) RPI:82 SOS: 115 vsTop50:4-4 vsTop100:5-7 GW: UK, Georgia x2, Tenn BL: SHU, Iowa, Prov, Arkansas)
Saint Mary’s (23-8 (12-4) RPI: 45 SOS: 100 vsTop50: 1-4 vsTop100: 3-6 GW: SJU, Zaga BL: Portland, San Diego)
UAB (22-8 (12-5) RPI: 31 SOS: 79 vsTop50: 0-4 vsTop100: 10-7 GW: VCU BL: Arizona State)
***
Boston College (20-12 (10-8) RPI: 58 SOS: 38 vsTop50: 1-6 vsTop100: 7-9 GW: A&M, VT x2 BL: Yale, Rhodie)
Harvard (21-6 (12-3) RPI: 35 SOS: 141 vsTop50: 1-5 vsTop100: 3-5 GW: BC, CU, Princeton BL: Yale)
Missouri St. (25-8 (17-4) RPI: 42 SOS: 126 vsTop50: 0-1 vsTop100: 3-6 GW: WSU x2 BL:Northern Iowa, Evansville)

Teams on the outside of the asterisks are teams that I would be surprised if they were left out, or included in the field – respectively. Ex: If Boston College makes the field, I will be surprised. Teams that are on the insides of the asterisks are all teams that I can see go either way.

There are dozens of arguments for the teams within the asterisks to go either way – I’ve heard just about all of them. It will really be up to the committee to see how they handle resumes like Virginia Tech’s, Alabama’s, USC’s, Clemson’s and Saint Mary’s. Each team has their faults, its all about how the committee weighs the pros and cons of each resume.

The team that I’ve been high on for the past few days is Virginia Commonwealth. I am really impressed with their high Top 100 win total for a mid-major as well as their Top 50 wins which are all away from home.

A team that I am specifically not impressed with is Saint Mary’s. 2-6 against the Top 75 is not getting it done for me. They have a “cleaner” looking resume than USC and Alabama, but I’m just not buying it.

Overall, I think it is ultimately down to Georgia, USC, Alabama, Clemson and Saint Mary’s for the last two bids. I took Georgia and USC, but I can really any of those teams making the field of 68.

We’ll check back after the Selection Show to see how I did, hopefully better than last year (64/65)!

Times are local

First Round:
Stanford vs Oregon State – 3/9 6:10PM – FSN
Oregon vs Arizona State – 3/9 8:40PM – FSN

Second Round:
USC vs California – 3/10 12:10PM – FSN
Arizona vs Stanford – 3/10 2:40PM – FSN
UCLA vs Oregon – 3/10 6:10PM – FSN
Washington vs Washington State – 3/10 8:40PM – FSN

Semi-Finals:
USC vs Arizona – 3/11 6:10PM – FSN
UCLA vs Washington State – 3/11 8:40PM – FSN

Finals:
Arizona vs UCLA – 3/12 3:15PM – CBS

Went a little outside the box with these predictions. Washington won’t have Venoy Overton for their game against Washington State, while Klay Thompson will be in uniform for the Cougars.

Dark horse: USC

Times are local

First Round:
Nebraska vs Oklahoma State – 3/9 11:30AM – Big 12 Network
Colorado vs Iowa State – 3/9 2PM – Big 12 Network
Baylor vs Oklahoma – 3/9 6PM – Big 12 Network
Missouri vs Texas Tech – 3/9 8:30PM – Big 12 Network

Second Round:
Kansas vs Nebraska – 3/10 11:30AM – Big 12 Network
Kansas State vs Colorado – 3/10 2PM – Big 12 Network
Texas vs Baylor – 3/10 6PM – Big 12 Network
Texas A/M vs Missouri – 3/10 8:30PM – ESPN2

Semi-Finals:
Kansas vs Kansas State – 3/11 6PM – Big 12 Network
Texas vs Missouri – 3/11 8:30PM – Big 12 Network

Finals:
Kansas vs Texas – 3/12 5PM – ESPN

Call me boring but no real surprises here besides Missouri over the Aggies in the second round. Expect a Kansas – Texas championship game.

Darkhorse: Kansas State

First Round:
Northwestern vs Minnesota – 3/10 2:30PM – ESPN2
Michigan State vs Iowa – 3/10, 25 minutes after NW/Minny – ESPN2
Penn State vs Indiana – 3/10 7:30PM – Big Ten Network

Second Round:
Ohio State vs Northwestern – 3/11 Noon – ESPN
Michigan vs Illinois – 3/11, 25 after OSU/NW – ESPN
Purdue vs Michigan State – 3/11 630PM – Big Ten Network
Penn State vs Wisconsin – 3/11, 25 minutes after Purdue/MSU – Big Ten Nework

Semi-Finals:
Ohio State vs Michigan – 3/12 1:40PM – CBS
Purdue vs Penn State – 3/12, 25 minutes after OSU/UM – CBS

Finals:
Ohio State vs Purdue – 3/13 3:30PM – CBS

Not many surprises here. Penn State can make a run to the semi-finals since Wisconsin isn’t the same team away from home. Don’t think they will, but I took them to spice up the predictions a little bit.

First Round:
UConn vs Depaul – Noon ESPN2
Seton Hall vs Rutgers – 2PM ESPN2
Villanova vs South Florida – 7PM ESPNU
Marquette vs Providence – 9PM ESPNU

Second Round:
UConn vs Georgetown – Noon ESPN
St. John’s vs Seton Hall – 2:30PM ESPN
Cincinnati vs Villanova -7PM ESPN
West Virginia vs Marquette – 930PM ESPN

Third Round:
Pittsburgh vs UConn – Noon ESPN
Syracuse vs St. John’s – 230PM ESPN
Notre Dame vs Cincinnati – 7PM ESPN
Louisville vs West Virginia – 930PM ESPN

Semi-Finals:
Pittsburgh vs Syracuse – 7PM ESPN
Cincinnati vs Louisville – 930PM ESPN

Finals:
Syracuse vs Louisville – 915PM ESPN

Darkhorse(s): Cincinnati & UConn