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Road To Selection Sunday: UK/Georgia, Michigan/Northwestern & West Va/KU Precursors
Road To Selection Sunday: UK/Georgia, Michigan/Northwestern & West Va/KU Precursors To The Madness
By Selection Sunday
MADNESS, MINN. -- OK, it's time. You know how I can tell what time of year it is? It's that time on the calendar when I wake up earlier and earlier each morning -- no matter how little sleep the previous night -- ready to attack each day. Some might call it insomnia, but I don't think that's it. I have a name name for it. I call it "madness", complete and unabashed college basketball madness.
The most difficult grind of the college hoops season (middle two weeks of February) is now in our review mirror. That could not have been more apparent than two wonderful nights ago when it was college basketball Nirvana for anyone with a remote control in their hand. How else do you explain that while Georgia and former Tubby Smith Gopher recruit Nemanja Djurisic was giving undefeated and chasing-history #1 Kentucky all it could handle and then some , I was mostly glued to Michigan-Northwestern (so sue me, I'm a Big Ten guy)?
I could not stop watching UM-NU despite their pedestrian records because this was not a pedestrian game. I was fascinated by the all-out competitiveness of two teams whose seasons are essentially going nowhere, still competing their rear ends off like they were playing for the Big Ten championship. Graham Couch from the Lansing State Journal summed it up perfectly in a tweet: "Northwestern & Michigan both teams that could've given up on this season, but haven't. Lots of hard-luck teams fade. Strong character."
Meanwhile, with remote still in hand, there was a third game I hadn't given much attention to, West Virginia @ Kansas, for good reason, one my fiance was fidgeting and squirming her way through as we talked on the phone. Her beloved Jayhawks were getting their tails kicked at halftime, in The Phog, no less. But then came KU's predictable push in the second half, and all he*l was breaking loose in Lawrence and on my remote control.
That's when it hit me. That's when I knew it was time, folks, right then, when I knew the madness was upon us. Tuesday night was the perfect precursor to what lies ahead the next four weeks. Three wonderful games, all with so very different story lines.
David (Georgia) vs. Goliath (Kentucky) going down to the wire, though this time Goliath struck the final blow. Then there was the proud champion (Kansas), clinching an outright Big XII championship (it's 11th straight outright/shared title) with an improbable comeback from 18 points down, a sprint to the finish so fierce my fiance could not believe it wasn't the primary focus of my remote's attention. But when I told her Northwestern's Tre Demps was going "all MJ" on the Wolverines to force the game into overtime, and then did it again to force a second overtime, she understood. She knows and accepts she's getting a Big Ten guy, and that's one of the many reasons she's a keeper, every bit the keeper March Madness is!
Tuesday was my official tone-setter for the Madness, so now's a good time to see where we're at with the Field of 68, just 11 days from its unveiling. Who's done their work, and who still has work to do as we work our way toward Selection Sunday?
Tournament locks are defined as teams who can lose all their remaining games (including conference tournament) and still make the Field of 68. Obviously, some of the locks will become automatic qualifiers (there are 32) by earning their conference's automatic bid, while the others will be first in line for the 36 at-large selections.
The Gophers are on the very fringe (wrong end) of the bubble discussion and are one of a handful of bubble teams that will get the boot with any regular-season loss. Defending champion Connecticut falls in that camp, as well.
Other teams reside on the more desirable side of the bubble, for example the likes of VCU, Georgia, and Cincinnati. Those teams are likely virtual locks for the tournament, but in the interest of wanting to be stingy with my "locks" instead of lenient I'll make them win another game to earn their "lock" status. We'll do a lot of this stuff leading up to Selection Sunday, when I'll post my final "Field of 68" projection in the wee hours of the morning March 15.
Beat Wisconsin.
30 TOURNAMENT LOCKS (through March 4) -- # is team RPI
#1 Kentucky
#2 Kansas
#3 Virginia
#4 Villanova
#5 Duke
#6 Wisconsin
#7 Arizona
#8 Gonzaga
#9 Baylor
#10 Maryland
#11 Wichita State
#12 Utah
#13 North Carolina
#14 Iowa State
#15 Northern Iowa
#16 Oklahoma
#18 Arkansas
#19 SMU
#20 Providence
#21 Georgetown
#22 Louisville
#23 West Virginia
#24 San Diego State
#25 Notre Dame
#26 Butler
#28 Dayton
#29 Oregon
#30 Michigan State
#34 Saint John’s
#37 Iowa
ON THE BUBBLE -- 29 teams (excludes conference leaders/highest remaining tournament seeds)
#17 VCU
March 5: @ Davidson
March 7: GEORGE MASON
#27 Colorado State
March 7: @ Utah State
#31 Ohio State
March 8: WISCONSIN
#32 Buffalo
March 6: BOWLING GREEN
#33 Cincinnati
March 8: @ Memphis
#36 Georgia
March 7: @ Auburn
#38 Texas
March 7: KANSAS STATE
#39 Oklahoma State
March 7: @ West Virginia
#40 BYU
March 7: vs. Santa Clara/LMU
#41 Old Dominion
March 5: MARSHALL
March 7: WESTERN KENTUCKY
#42 Temple
March 5: @ East Carolina
March 7: CONNECTICUT
#43 Xavier
March 7: @ Creighton
#44 Davidson
March 5: VCU
March 7: @ Duquesne
#45 Ole Miss
March 7: VANDERBILT
#46 Tulsa
March 8: @ SMU
#47 Texas A&M
March 7: ALABAMA
#48 NC State
March 7: SYRACUSE
#50 UCLA
Regular Season Complete
#53 Indiana
March 7: MICHIGAN STATE
#54 Richmond
March 7: SAINT LOUIS
#55 LSU
March 7: @ Arkansas
#56 Stanford
March 5: @ Arizona State
March 7: @ Arizona
#59 Illinois
March 7: @ Purdue
#60 Pitt
March 7: @ Florida State
#63 Purdue
March 7: ILLINOIS
#65 Miami-Florida
March 7: @ Virginia Tech
#68 Rhode Island
March 7: SAINT JOSEPH’S
#70 Connecticut
March 5: MEMPHIS
March 7: @ Temple
#78 GOPHERS
March 5: WISCONSIN
March 8: PENN STATE
Road To Selection Sunday: UK/Georgia, Michigan/Northwestern & West Va/KU Precursors To The Madness
By Selection Sunday
MADNESS, MINN. -- OK, it's time. You know how I can tell what time of year it is? It's that time on the calendar when I wake up earlier and earlier each morning -- no matter how little sleep the previous night -- ready to attack each day. Some might call it insomnia, but I don't think that's it. I have a name name for it. I call it "madness", complete and unabashed college basketball madness.
The most difficult grind of the college hoops season (middle two weeks of February) is now in our review mirror. That could not have been more apparent than two wonderful nights ago when it was college basketball Nirvana for anyone with a remote control in their hand. How else do you explain that while Georgia and former Tubby Smith Gopher recruit Nemanja Djurisic was giving undefeated and chasing-history #1 Kentucky all it could handle and then some , I was mostly glued to Michigan-Northwestern (so sue me, I'm a Big Ten guy)?
I could not stop watching UM-NU despite their pedestrian records because this was not a pedestrian game. I was fascinated by the all-out competitiveness of two teams whose seasons are essentially going nowhere, still competing their rear ends off like they were playing for the Big Ten championship. Graham Couch from the Lansing State Journal summed it up perfectly in a tweet: "Northwestern & Michigan both teams that could've given up on this season, but haven't. Lots of hard-luck teams fade. Strong character."
Meanwhile, with remote still in hand, there was a third game I hadn't given much attention to, West Virginia @ Kansas, for good reason, one my fiance was fidgeting and squirming her way through as we talked on the phone. Her beloved Jayhawks were getting their tails kicked at halftime, in The Phog, no less. But then came KU's predictable push in the second half, and all he*l was breaking loose in Lawrence and on my remote control.
That's when it hit me. That's when I knew it was time, folks, right then, when I knew the madness was upon us. Tuesday night was the perfect precursor to what lies ahead the next four weeks. Three wonderful games, all with so very different story lines.
David (Georgia) vs. Goliath (Kentucky) going down to the wire, though this time Goliath struck the final blow. Then there was the proud champion (Kansas), clinching an outright Big XII championship (it's 11th straight outright/shared title) with an improbable comeback from 18 points down, a sprint to the finish so fierce my fiance could not believe it wasn't the primary focus of my remote's attention. But when I told her Northwestern's Tre Demps was going "all MJ" on the Wolverines to force the game into overtime, and then did it again to force a second overtime, she understood. She knows and accepts she's getting a Big Ten guy, and that's one of the many reasons she's a keeper, every bit the keeper March Madness is!
Tuesday was my official tone-setter for the Madness, so now's a good time to see where we're at with the Field of 68, just 11 days from its unveiling. Who's done their work, and who still has work to do as we work our way toward Selection Sunday?
Tournament locks are defined as teams who can lose all their remaining games (including conference tournament) and still make the Field of 68. Obviously, some of the locks will become automatic qualifiers (there are 32) by earning their conference's automatic bid, while the others will be first in line for the 36 at-large selections.
The Gophers are on the very fringe (wrong end) of the bubble discussion and are one of a handful of bubble teams that will get the boot with any regular-season loss. Defending champion Connecticut falls in that camp, as well.
Other teams reside on the more desirable side of the bubble, for example the likes of VCU, Georgia, and Cincinnati. Those teams are likely virtual locks for the tournament, but in the interest of wanting to be stingy with my "locks" instead of lenient I'll make them win another game to earn their "lock" status. We'll do a lot of this stuff leading up to Selection Sunday, when I'll post my final "Field of 68" projection in the wee hours of the morning March 15.
Beat Wisconsin.
30 TOURNAMENT LOCKS (through March 4) -- # is team RPI
#1 Kentucky
#2 Kansas
#3 Virginia
#4 Villanova
#5 Duke
#6 Wisconsin
#7 Arizona
#8 Gonzaga
#9 Baylor
#10 Maryland
#11 Wichita State
#12 Utah
#13 North Carolina
#14 Iowa State
#15 Northern Iowa
#16 Oklahoma
#18 Arkansas
#19 SMU
#20 Providence
#21 Georgetown
#22 Louisville
#23 West Virginia
#24 San Diego State
#25 Notre Dame
#26 Butler
#28 Dayton
#29 Oregon
#30 Michigan State
#34 Saint John’s
#37 Iowa
ON THE BUBBLE -- 29 teams (excludes conference leaders/highest remaining tournament seeds)
#17 VCU
March 5: @ Davidson
March 7: GEORGE MASON
#27 Colorado State
March 7: @ Utah State
#31 Ohio State
March 8: WISCONSIN
#32 Buffalo
March 6: BOWLING GREEN
#33 Cincinnati
March 8: @ Memphis
#36 Georgia
March 7: @ Auburn
#38 Texas
March 7: KANSAS STATE
#39 Oklahoma State
March 7: @ West Virginia
#40 BYU
March 7: vs. Santa Clara/LMU
#41 Old Dominion
March 5: MARSHALL
March 7: WESTERN KENTUCKY
#42 Temple
March 5: @ East Carolina
March 7: CONNECTICUT
#43 Xavier
March 7: @ Creighton
#44 Davidson
March 5: VCU
March 7: @ Duquesne
#45 Ole Miss
March 7: VANDERBILT
#46 Tulsa
March 8: @ SMU
#47 Texas A&M
March 7: ALABAMA
#48 NC State
March 7: SYRACUSE
#50 UCLA
Regular Season Complete
#53 Indiana
March 7: MICHIGAN STATE
#54 Richmond
March 7: SAINT LOUIS
#55 LSU
March 7: @ Arkansas
#56 Stanford
March 5: @ Arizona State
March 7: @ Arizona
#59 Illinois
March 7: @ Purdue
#60 Pitt
March 7: @ Florida State
#63 Purdue
March 7: ILLINOIS
#65 Miami-Florida
March 7: @ Virginia Tech
#68 Rhode Island
March 7: SAINT JOSEPH’S
#70 Connecticut
March 5: MEMPHIS
March 7: @ Temple
#78 GOPHERS
March 5: WISCONSIN
March 8: PENN STATE