2014-2015 Ultimate what-if sports NCAA Tournament

[collegesportsfanms]

Group 55

Week 10

LSU- 71, Purdue- 67
Manhattan- 84, SIU Edwardsville- 72
Robert Morris- 71, Bradley- 39

Wow! Robert Morris left no doubt that they wanted to have a chance to advance!

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Final Group 55 Standings

#1- LSU 8-2 (+60)
#2- Purdue 7-3 (+58)
#3- Robert Morris 6-4 (+41)
#4- SIU Edwardsville 4-6 (-6)
#5- Manhattan 4-6 (-23)
#6- Bradley 1-9 (-130)

LSU wins the group, and while the 8-2 record is nice, the point differential is towards the bottom of the 8-2 group winners. They'll be either the 38th or 39th seed (I can really get specific on seedings now with the last group coming up). Purdue finishes 2nd, not a bad point differential for 7-3 group runner-ups, they'll be either the 74th or 7th seed. Robert Morris does exactly what they needed to do. Not only do they give themselves a chance, but they actually knock several teams down in the wildcard chase and clinch a spot in the round of 128. St. Mary's, Air Force, and UNC Asheville all will move down a seed, and Vermont has to survive group 56 to advance now, instead of advancing out of this group. We do say goodbye to Columbia, who survived 4 groups I think? Or maybe only 3. Here's the wildcard standings as we go to the final group:

#4 Wisconsin 7-3 (+71) CLINCHED
E. Tenn. St. 7-3 (+56) CLINCHED
Winthrop 7-3 (+46) CLINCHED
California 7-3 (+45) CLINCHED
N. Florida 7-3 (+30) CLINCHED
UMKC 7-3 (+27) CLINCHED
Incarnate Word 6-4 (+74) CLINCHED
N.C. State 6-4 (+63) CLINCHED
Long Beach St. 6-4 (+53) CLINCHED
High Point 6-4 (+50) CLINCHED
Missouri 6-4 (+50) CLINCHED
Robert Morris 6-4 (+41) CLINCHED
St. Mary's 6-4 (+40) CLINCHED
Air Force 6-4 (+37) CLINCHED
UNC Asheville 6-4 (+32) CLINCHED
Vermont 6-4 (+31)
Columbia 6-4 (+30) ELIMINATED
Toledo 6-4 (+28) ELIMINATED
Santa Clara 6-4 (+28) ELIMINATED
Buffalo 6-4 (+22) ELIMINATED
UCLA 6-4 (+19) ELIMINATED
San Diego 6-4 (+12) ELIMINATED
Belmont 6-4 (+11) ELIMINATED
Stony Brook 6-4 (+8) ELIMINATED
UTEP 6-4 (+7) ELIMINATED
Radford 6-4 (+7) ELIMINATED
Bryant 6-4 (+2) ELIMINATED
UAB 6-4 (-2) ELIMINATED
Colorado St. 6-4 (-3) ELIMINATED
C. Michigan 6-4 (-4) ELIMINATED
Coastal Carolina 6-4 (-5) ELIMINATED
South Florida 6-4 (-16) ELIMINATED
Delaware St. 6-4 (-18) ELIMINATED
Texas Tech 5-5 (+47) ELIMINATED
Longwood 5-5 (+31) ELIMINATED
Duquesne 5-5 (+27) ELIMINATED
Gardner Webb 5-5 (+22) ELIMINATED
Butler 5-5 (+18) ELIMINATED
Albany 5-5 (+10) ELIMINATED
Michigan 5-5 (+9) ELIMINATED
UNLV 5-5 (+7) ELIMINATED
Drake 5-5 (+5) ELIMINATED
E. Illinois 5-5 (+2) ELIMINATED
Rider 5-5 (+1) ELIMINATED
Quinnipiac 5-5 (0) ELIMINATED
Mercer 5-5 (-4) ELIMINATED
Denver 5-5 (-5) ELIMINATED
Auburn 5-5 (-10) ELIMINATED
Mid. Tenn. 5-5 (-24) ELIMINATED
SE MO State 5-5 (-31) ELIMINATED
Jacksonville St. 5-5 (-43) ELIMINATED
Norfolk St. 5-5 (-44) ELIMINATED
Minnesota 4-6 (+6) ELIMINATED
Evansville 4-6 (-42) ELIMINATED
Northridge 4-6 (-45) ELIMINATED

So we go down to the final group. 3 of the 7 teams that are still alive will advance to the round of 128. As for the wildcard, will it be Vermont? Or will it be a team from group 56 that gets the 128th seed? Stay tuned.

[collegesportsfanms]

Group 56

Louisiana Tech (Conference USA, 27-9, 15-3)
Richmond (Atlantic 10, 21-14, 12-6)
St. Francis Brooklyn (Northeast, 23-12, 15-3)
Washington State (Pac 12, 13-18, 7-11)
Tennessee Tech (Ohio Valley, 12-18, 4-12)
Youngstown State (Horizon, 11-21, 2-14)

----------------------------------------------------------------

Week 1

St. Francis Brooklyn- 68, Washington State- 58
Louisiana Tech- 73, Youngstown State- 63
Richmond- 66, Tennessee Tech- 64

Week 2

Washington State- 83, Youngstown State- 69
Richmond- 60, St. Francis Brooklyn- 49
Louisiana Tech- 85, Tennessee Tech- 76

Week 3

Washington State- 83, Louisiana Tech- 80
St. Francis Brooklyn- 79, Tennessee Tech- 69 (OT)
Richmond- 72, Youngstown State- 60

Week 4

Tennessee Tech- 69, Youngstown State- 64
Louisiana Tech- 74, St. Francis Brooklyn- 61
Richmond- 50, Washington State- 45

Week 5

Richmond- 79, Louisiana Tech- 70
Youngstown State- 71, St. Francis Brooklyn- 61
Tennessee Tech- 74, Washington State- 64

-----------------------------------------------------------

Standings after 5 weeks, with point differential in parenthesis:

Richmond 5-0 (+39)
Louisiana Tech 3-2 (+20)
St. Francis Brooklyn 2-3 (-14)
Tennessee Tech 2-3 (-6)
Washington State 2-3 (-8)
Youngstown State 1-4 (-31)

[collegesportsfanms]

Group 56

Week 6

Washington State- 70, St. Francis Brooklyn- 69
Youngstown State- 73, Louisiana Tech- 63
Tennessee Tech- 73, Richmond- 54

A week of upsets here, not a good start to weeks 6-9.

Week 7

Washington State- 73, Youngstown State- 59
St. Francis Brooklyn- 63, Richmond- 61
Tennessee Tech- 70, Louisiana Tech- 60

This group is quickly becoming wide open.

Week 8

Louisiana Tech- 81, Washington State- 62
Tennessee Tech- 66, St. Francis Brooklyn- 65
Youngstown State- 50, Richmond- 39

Richmond has now lost 3 in a row after going undefeated in the 1st half of group play.

Week 9

Tennessee Tech- 68, Youngstown State- 63
St. Francis Brooklyn- 71, Louisiana Tech- 62
Richmond- 67, Washington State- 65

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Standings after 9 weeks, with point differential in parenthesis:

Richmond 6-3 (+9)
Tennessee Tech 6-3 (+29)
Louisiana Tech 4-5 (+10)
St. Francis Brooklyn 4-5 (-5)
Washington State 4-5 (-14)
Youngstown State 3-6 (-29)

Week 10 Schedule

Louisiana Tech @ Richmond
Youngstown State @ St. Francis Brooklyn
Tennessee Tech @ Washington State

This group is a complete mess, as only 2 teams have a chance to advance. Richmond and Tennessee Tech are moving on. If one wins and the other loses, the team that wins will win the group. If they both win or both lose, it'll go to points differential since they split with each other. LA Tech, Brooklyn, Washington St., and Youngstown St. have no chance to advance, which means that Vermont will be the 128th seed in the round of 128!

[collegesportsfanms]

Group 56

Week 10

Richmond- 64, Louisiana Tech- 56
Youngstown State- 81, St. Francis Brooklyn- 67
Tennessee Tech- 73, Washington State- 62

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Final Group 56 Standings

#1- Tennessee Tech 7-3 (+40)
#2- Richmond 7-3 (+17)
#3- Louisiana Tech 4-6 (+2)
#4- Youngstown State 4-6 (-15)
#5- St. Francis Brooklyn 4-6 (-19)
#6- Washington State 4-6 (-25)

What a pitiful group with only 2 teams having a winning record. Tennessee Tech is definitely the surprise team, seeded 5th in their group, but the win the group title thanks to a point differential tiebreaker, and they are thrilled to be hosting a round of 128 game. They'll be the 51st seed. Richmond takes 2nd place and they'll be the 87th seed. I'm not even going to talk about 3rd place because it doesn't matter. None of the other 4 teams had a chance, so as we said earlier, Vermont gets the last wildcard spot and seed #128.

So, group play is now done, and now it's time to set the bracket. I am going to do my best to make sure that teams from the same conference or same group don't play each other in the round of 128, but I will not adjust the seedings unless it is for tiebreaker purposes. If 2 teams from the same group are seeded so that they have to play each other in the round of 128 and there's no tiebreaker involved, then so be it.

Speaking of tiebreakers, there are 8 of them that will need to be solved. Remember, the first step in those 8 tiebreakers, if needed, is to arrange it so that we don't have a same conference/same group round of 128 game. I can do it with the 8 tiebreakers only, but none of the others. Following that, I'll have to go back and look at what I said the tiebreakers were, because I don't remember right off hand.

[collegesportsfanms]

I will be out of town for the next 4-5 days and not have access to a computer. I am going to have my phone with me and I will try my best to get the bracket seeded while I'm gone, which means breaking tiebreakers, and placing teams where they need to be.

I'm also going to try and see how I did on my predictions, and I'm going to see how many teams from each conference made the round of 128. I don't expect to get that all done over the weekend, but if I can at least get the bracket set, that'll be a start.

Next week I plan on getting the round of 128 started.

[collegesportsfanms]

The bracket is set! All 128 teams have been seeded and placed in their spots. There were 8 tiebreakers that I had to sort out. 1 involved Georgetown and Georgia, and it was the easiest to figure out. Georgetown's round of 128 opponent would either have to be E. Tennessee St. or Winthrop. Since Georgetown and Winthrop were in the same group, that meant Georgetown had to face E. Tennessee State.

Of the other 7 tiebreakers, 4 were decided by the 3rd tiebreaker, (2nd if you consider head to head didn't apply for any of them), which was winning % of teams beaten. The other 3 tiebreakers had to be determined by overall points scored in group play. No tiebreaker went to a coin flip, although a mere 17 points was all that separated a few of the teams.

I will announce the round of 128 pairings today, and I will try to get to conference breakdown today, but it may not happen until tomorrow. At the rate I'm going, with getting back in town and getting caught up at work, there's a chance I won't start simming the round of 128 games until next week.

However, stayed tuned for the bracket, as there are some really, really exciting round of 128 match-ups.

[collegesportsfanms]

The way it's looking, I won't be able to release the bracket until tomorrow, as I'm taking care of some stuff at work and I won't have time to do all that and type the bracket out today, so look for it sometime tomorrow. Sorry guys, I'll get er done as soon as I can.

[collegesportsfanms]

2014-2015 What-if Sports NCAA basketball round of 128 match-ups

With this, I am including the conference for each team, plus I will include group record and point differential for each team. Also, the 25 ranked teams coming into this tournament will be bolded. I think there is only 1 that didn't make the round of 128.

#128 Vermont (America East, 6-4, +31) @ #1 Kentucky (SEC, 10-0, +214)
#65 New Mexico State (WAC, 8-2, +43) @ #64 DePaul (Big East, 8-2, +46)
#97 James Madison (Colonial, 6-4, +29) @ #32 UT Martin (Ohio Valley, 8-2, +78)
#96 George Washington (Atlantic 10, 6-4, +34) @ #33 Washington (Pac 12, 8-2, +77)
#113 Wisconsin (Big 10, 7-3, +71) @ #16 Texas (Big 12, 9-1, +120)
#80 Lafayette (Patriot, 7-3, +41) @ #49 Green Bay (Horizon, 7-3, +57)
#112 Boston College (ACC, 5-5, +11) @ #17 Northern Iowa (Missouri Valley, 9-1, +119)
#81 New Hampshire (America East, 7-3, +37) @ #48 Hawaii (Big West, 7-3, +60)
#121 Long Beach State (Big West, 6-4, +53) @ #8 UC Santa Barbara (Big West, 10-0, +94)
#72 Iona (MAAC, 7-3, +63) @ #57 Louisville (ACC, 9-1, +83)
#104 Utah State (Mountain West, 6-4, +11) @ #25 Charlotte (Conference USA, 8-2, +115)
#89 NC Central (MEAC, 7-3, +9) @ #40 Stephen F. Austin (Southland, 8-2, +57)
#120 North Carolina State (ACC, 6-4, +63) @ #9 Iowa (Big 10, 9-1, +181)
#73 Oklahoma State (Big 12, 7-3, +63) @ #56 St. Johns (Big East, 6-4, +37)
#105 UConn (American, 6-4, +8) @ #24 Duke (ACC, 8-2, +123)
#88 Seton Hall (Big East, 7-3, +13) @ #41 San Francisco (WCC, 8-2, +56)
#125 St. Mary's (WCC, 6-4, +40) @ #4 Notre Dame (ACC, 10-0, +173)
#68 UC Irvine (Big West, 7-3, +83) @ #61 Tennessee (SEC, 8-2, +65)
#100 Rice (Conference USA, 6-4, +18) @ #29 Texas A&M (SEC, 8-2, +84)
#93 Illinois (Big 10, 6-4, +51) @ #36 Dayton (Atlantic 10, 8-2, +65)
#116 California (Pac 12, 7-3, +45) @ #13 Kansas (Big 12, 9-1, +130)
#77 Missouri State (Missouri Valley, 7-3, +52) @ #52 Charleston Southern (Big South, 7-3, +39)
#109 Florida State (ACC, 6-4, +1) @ #20 William & Mary (Colonial, 9-1, +88)
#84 Northeastern (Colonial, 7-3, +23) @ #45 Arizona (Pac 12, 7-3, +110)
#124 Robert Morris (Northeast, 6-4, +41) @ #5 Utah (Pac 12, 10-0, +150)
#69 Providence (Big East, 7-3, +78) @ #60 Rhode Island (Atlantic 10, 8-2, +80)
#101 Tulsa (American, 6-4, +13) @ #28 Sacramento State (Big Sky, 8-2, +87)
#92 West Virginia (Big 12, 6-4, +83) @ #37 Colorado (Pac 12, 8-2, +77)
#117 North Florida (Atlantic Sun, 7-3, +30) @ #12 Iowa State (Big 12, 9-1, +131)
#76 Maryland (ACC, 7-3, +54) @ #53 UMass (Atlantic 10, 7-3, +36)
#108 Wyoming (Mountain West, 6-4, +3) @ #21 Xavier (Big East, 9-1, +70)
#85 Boise State (Mountain West, 7-3, +22) @ #44 Detroit (Horizon, 8-2, +29)
#127 UNC Asheville (Big South, 6-4, +32) @ #2 Gonzaga (WCC, 10-0, +203)
#66 VCU (Atlantic 10, 7-3, +97) @ #63 Chattanooga (Southern, 8-2, +50)
#98 Valparaiso (Horizon, 6-4, +26) @ Alabama (SEC, 8-2, +80)
#95 Eastern Kentucky (Ohio Valley, 6-4, +34) @ #34 SMU (American, 8-2, +75)
#114 East Tennessee State (Southern, 7-3, +56) @ #15 Georgetown (Big East, 9-1, +124)
#79 Virginia Tech (ACC, 7-3, +42) @ #50 Cincinnati (American, 7-3, +42)
#111 Vanderbilt (SEC, 5-5, +19) @ #18 Virginia (ACC, 9-1, +109)
#82 Western Kentucky (Conference USA, 7-3, +33) @ #47 Eastern Michigan (MAC, 7-3, +62)
#122 High Point (Big South, 6-4, +50) @ #7 Murray State (Ohio Valley, 10-0, +118)
#71 Marquette (Big East, 7-3, +65) @ #58 TCU (Big 12, 8-2, +99)
#103 Western Carolina (Southern, 6-4, +12) @ #26 Ohio State (Big 10, 8-2, +103)
#90 Portland (WCC, 6-4, +109) @ #39 UC Davis (Big West, 8-2, +57)
#119 Incarnate Word (Southland, 6-4, +74) @ #10 North Carolina (ACC, 9-1, +162)
#74 Purdue (Big 10, 7-3, +58) @ #55 Ole Miss (SEC, 6-4, +46)
#106 Wake Forest (ACC, 6-4, +6) @ #23 Sam Houston (Southland, 8-2, +129)
#87 Richmond (Atlantic 10, 7-3, +17), #42 South Dakota State (Summit, 8-2, +51)
#126 Air Force (Mountain West, 6-4, +37) @ #3 Villanova (Big East, 10-0, +176)
#67 Miami (FL) (ACC, 7-3, +85) @ #62 Florida (SEC, 8-2, +56)
#99 Hofstra (Colonial, 6-4, +26) @ #20 BYU (WCC, 8-2, +83)
#94 George Mason (Atlantic 10, 6-4, +42) @ #35 South Carolina (SEC, 8-2, +74)
#115 Winthrop (Big South, 7-3, +46) @ #14 Georgia (SEC, 9-1, +124)
#78 Eastern Washington (Big Sky, 7-3, +45) @ #51 Tennessee Tech (Ohio Valley, 7-3, +40)
#110 UCF (American, 6-4, -6) @ #19 Davidson (Atlantic 10, 9-1, +96)
#83 Cleveland State (Horizon, 7-3, +24) @ #46 Nebraska (Big 10, 7-3, +73)
#123 Missouri (SEC, 6-4, +50) @ #6 Indiana (Big 10, 10-0, +135)
#70 San Diego State (Mountain West, 7-3, +71) @ 59 Oklahoma (Big 12, 8-2, +80)
#102 Mississippi State (SEC, 6-4, +13) @ #27 Wichita State (Missouri Valley, 8-2, +91)
#91 Michigan State (Big 10, 6-4, +105) @ #38 LSU (SEC, 8-2, +60)
#118 UMKC (WAC, 7-3, +27) @ #11 Morehead State (Ohio Valley, 9-1, +147)
#75 St. Bonaventure (Atlantic 10, 7-3, +55) @ #54 Kent State (MAC, 7-3, +28)
#107 Stanford (Pac 12, 6-4, +4) @ #22 Baylor (Big 12, 8-2, +141)
#86 Old Dominion (Conference USA, 7-3, +18) @ #43 Northwestern State (Southland, 8-2, +47)

[Simbo Klice]

I applaud you seeing this 8-month project all the way up to this point. It's tournament time!

[collegesportsfanms]

Round of 128 Conference Breakdown

ACC- 12
SEC- 12
Atlantic Ten- 9
Big 12- 8
Big East- 8
Big Ten- 8
Pac 12- 6
American- 5
Big West- 5
Mountain West- 5
Ohio Valley- 5
WCC- 5
Big South- 4
Colonial- 4
Conference USA- 4
Horizon- 4
Southland- 4
Missouri Valley- 3
Southern- 3
America East- 2
Big Sky- 2
MAC- 2
WAC- 2
Atlantic Sun- 1
MAAC- 1
MEAC- 1
Northeast- 1
Patriot- 1
Summit- 1

29 conferences represented in the Round of 128. That's amazing! I will do a conference breakdown all the way to the national championship game, and I will also do a conference competition, to see which conference fares best in the bracket part of this tournament. It'll just be a neat little thing for me to do, but it'll take some time, so don't be surprised if the bracket part of this tournament takes at least the next 2-3 months. It'll be slow moving, but it'll get done.

[collegesportsfanms]

It's time to start the round of 128. For this round only, I will be doing individual reports on each game. The reason for this is that since the higher seed hosts, we have 64 different sites in the round of 128. Can't exactly do a pod system that way.

Beginning with the round of 64, games will be neutral site games, and I will go to the pod system, much like I did in the last WIS NCAA Tournament I did, which has been a while. I am going to use the actual NCAA Tournament hosts from the 2015 tournament, and I am not going to change the seedings. I contemplated changing the seedings so that the highest ranked team left in each reason would be the #1 seed, the 2nd highest ranked team #2, and so on, all the way to seed #16. That way the bracket would look like an actual NCAA Tournament bracket. The problem with that is it could completely change the match-ups. On the other hand, it would create a new element of randomness to this dynasty, as it would be something I've never done before. I'd like opinions on this, because I'm strongly considering going that route, to re-seed the teams after the round of 128.

And, if I do re-seed them, should I seed them like the NCAA would, with the smaller conferences getting the lower seeds no matter what? Or should I seed them straight by highest rank is #1, lowest rank is #16, even if it pits 2 power conference schools against each other in a 1/16 match-up. What do you guys think? I'm open to any thoughts, as it will be a long while before the round of 128 is complete. I'll take any and all opinions.

[collegesportsfanms]

#128 Vermont (America East, 6-4, +31) @ #1 Kentucky (SEC, 10-0, +214)

Pre-Game

Kentucky did what Kentucky does in group play, completely dominate the competition. Only 1 of their games was not a double digit win, and that one was a 7 point win over Virginia Tech. Vermont got the final wildcard spot, but could have bettered their seed had they won even 1 game against the top 2 teams in their group. It's definitely going to be an uphill battle for Vermont in this one.

Game

Kentucky- 64, Vermont- 52

This one was closer than most people would have expected, as Kentucky didn't start to pull away until late in the 1st half. They did stretch the lead out to 20 in the second half and cruised from there. Using the platoon system, their scoring was pretty balanced, but they move on.

[collegesportsfanms]

#65 New Mexico State (WAC, 8-2, +43) @ #64 DePaul (Big East, 8-2, +46)

Pre-Game

New Mexico State got a big win against North Carolina in their group, but also had a bad loss to Coastal Carolina. Their second loss was a revenge loss to North Carolina. DePaul's only 2 losses came at the hands of group champion Alabama. 1 was a blowout loss, the other was much closer. A blowout win over Elon helped their point differential considerably, and I expect this game to be quite even and down to the wire.

Game

DePaul- 61, New Mexico State- 59

New Mexico State led by 9 early, but went on a cold streak in which they didn't score for almost 5 minutes. DePaul took control, led by as many as 10 in the second half, and hung on to advance.

[collegesportsfanms]

#97 James Madison (Colonial, 6-4, +29) @ #32 UT Martin (Ohio Valley, 8-2, +78)

Pre-Game

UT Martin lost 2 of their first 3 games, then ran through the rest of group play, getting a couple 20+ point wins and an 18 point win. James Madison had a very tough group, losing to Davidson twice but winning a tiebreaker with UTEP to get 2nd place in the group. A 16 point win over UTEP and 2 big wins over Loyola Marymount and Princeton gave them enough points to get the point differential tiebreaker and be able to host this round of 128 game.

Game

UT Martin- 67, James Madison- 59

UT Martin survived a 62.5% FT shooting game to get a win. Of course James Madison has to be upset because UT Martin made more free throws than JMU attempted. That was the difference in the game, as neither team led by more than 7 the entire way.

[collegesportsfanms]

#96 George Washington (Atlantic 10, 6-4, +34) @ #33 Washington (Pac 12, 8-2, +77)

Pre-Game

Washington really helped themselves in group play by defeating Maryland twice. The Terps were ranked 13th of the top 25 teams coming into group play, and those 2 wins really helped Washington. They also took advantage of having Morgan State in their group, beating them by 30 and 18 in their 2 games. GW won a tiebreaker over Columbia in their group, allowing themselves a chance to host this round of 128 game. Beating Columbia twice sealed the deal there, but they couldn't overcome group winner Xavier, who rattled their cage twice.

Game

Washington- 74, George Washington- 55

This score surprises me a bit, because GW was actually a much better team in the actual 2014-2015 season. Just goes to show how much home court advantage can play sometimes. The Huskies won this game with their shooting, as they were 51.1% from the field, and a whopping 55% from three point land!

[collegesportsfanms]

#113 Wisconsin (Big 10, 7-3, +71) @ #16 Texas (Big 12, 9-1, +120)

Pre-Game

Texas ran through their group with no problem, their only loss coming to Nevada. They had 3 wins by 20 or more points, and only 3 points separated them and a perfect group run. Wisconsin, who in reality lost in the national championship game, was upset twice by Colorado and once by Chattanooga, the 2 other teams advancing out of that group. Still though, this is a really, really tough draw for Texas, and it's a shame it set up this way. Will Wisconsin show their dominance as they did in reality? Or will home court advantage help the Longhorns out. Either way, one of these teams will be eliminated far too early.

Game

Texas- 77, Wisconsin- 62

I would have never expected this score in a million years. Texas stays hot, Wisconsin fades down the stretch. Really, this is what was expected of the Longhorns in reality all season. Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't they a preseason top 10 team? Anyways, they outrebounded the Badgers by an incredible 38-17 margin, and that was more than enough to advance.

[collegesportsfanms]

#80 Lafayette (Patriot, 7-3, +41) @ #49 Green Bay (Horizon, 7-3, +57)

Pre-Game

Green Bay was a surprising group winner, sweeping through New Mexico and Stanford which contributed to 4 very crucial wins. If not for being swept by Northern Arizona, they could have been looking at a top 20 seed. Lafayette beat out Clemson and Missouri to finish 2nd in their group. They won 3 of 4 against those teams, and also pulled another huge upset against Iowa State. All that meant they advanced to the round of 128, where anything can happen.

Game

Green Bay- 75, Lafayette- 67

Taking care of the ball was the difference in this one, as Green Bay committed just 2 first half turnovers in route to a 9 point halftime lead. Even Lafayette did well, as they only had 12 turnovers. However, the big different came in FG%: 47.4% for Green Bay, 37.9% for Lafayette. This does eliminate the Patriot Conference from this tournament, as Lafayette was their only representative in the round of 128.

[collegesportsfanms]

#112 Boston College (ACC, 5-5, +11) @ #17 Northern Iowa (Missouri Valley, 9-1, +119)

Pre-Game

Northern Iowa had no trouble in their group, with their only loss coming to Northwestern. All but 2 of their 9 wins was by double digits. The 2 that were single digits wins? 7 and 9. Boston College is 1 of 2 teams that finished 5-5 in their group but somehow took 2nd place. Then again, they were also in a group where the group winner was only 6-4. They had to survive a 4 team tiebreaker to get 2nd place, a position they shouldn't have even been in since they lost 2 of their last 3 games. That last game win against Wagner is why they are here.

Game

Northern Iowa- 73, Boston College- 53

No real surprise here, as the Eagles were lucky to even be in the round of 128 anyways. The Panthers were just lights out from the field, shooting 59.1% overall, and a crazy 66.6% from behind the arc! With shooting like that, it's going to be hard to beat them.

[collegesportsfanms]

#81 New Hampshire (America East, 7-3, +37) @ #48 Hawaii (Big West, 7-3, +60)

Hawaii won their group thanks to a points differential tiebreaker. They wouldn't have needed that tiebreaker except for the fact that they lost to UNC Greensboro in their final group play game. However, they did beat group favorite N.C. State twice, and beat 2nd place finisher Eastern Washington once. New Hampshire suffered some tough luck, beating group winner Dayton twice, but losing to Wright State in the final group play game to miss out on winning the group and a chance to host a round of 128 game. They actually lost 3 of their last 4 games after starting group play 6-0. Let's see if they can break the slide here.

Game

Hawaii- 74, New Hampshire- 53

Hawaii forced 16 New Hampshire turnovers and rolled to an easy victory, leading by as many as 22 at one point. They doubled up New Hampshire on free throws and three pointers, and that combined with the turnovers spelled doom for New Hampshire. It also spells doom for the America East, who has seen both of their round of 128 representatives lose in the round of 128.

[bbgunn]

Yeah, Rainbow Warriors!!!!

[collegesportsfanms]

Sorry for the delay on this project, I will be getting back to it later this week. We've had an extended shutdown at work and I left my paperwork there, but we are reopening in a couple days, so I'll get some more games in this week.

[collegesportsfanms]

#121 Long Beach State (Big West, 6-4, +53) @ #8 UC Santa Barbara (Big West, 10-0, +94)

Pre-Game

UCSB took advantage of a weak group, blowing through the competition, including Oregon which was deemed to be their toughest opponent in the group. Long Beach State backed into this round of 128 game, finishing 3rd in their group even though they lost their last game of group play by 20 to Duke and 4th place Western Michigan won, Long Beach won the tiebreaker thanks to point differential. This is, I believe, our only round of 128 match-up that involves 2 teams from the same conference.

Game

UC Santa Barbara- 67, Long Beach State- 58

This one was decided in the 1st half, as UCSB raced out to a 14 point lead, thanks to 43.1% shooting from the field, and a perfect 18-18 from the FT line. Alan Williams had 20 points, 14 rebounds for UCSB, while Mike Caffey led all scorers with 21 in a losing effort.

[collegesportsfanms]

#72 Iona (MAAC, 7-3, +63) @ #57 Louisville (ACC, 9-1, +83)

Pre-Game

Louisville's only loss came to group winner William & Mary, but that loss kept them from an undefeated run in group play and a much, much higher seed. Iona swept North Florida to win a tiebreaker for 2nd place in their group, and only a loss to group winner San Francisco along with 2 losses to a very good Yale team kept them from winning their group.

Game

Louisville- 73, Iona- 54

The Cardinals raced to a 27 point halftime lead and never looked back, shooting 46.8% for the game. They had 3 scorers in double figures, led by Montrezl Harrell with 18. Iona was led by Schadrac Casimir (what a name!!) who had 17. Iona was the MAAC's only representative in the round of 128, so the MAAC is gone.

[collegesportsfanms]

#104 Utah State (Mountain West, 6-4, +11) @ #25 Charlotte (Conference USA, 8-2, +115)

Pre-Game

Charlotte won their group, beating group favorite Oklahoma twice with ease. Once by 16 and once by 9. Their only 2 losses were a 2 point loss to Albany and a 5 point loss to Drexel. Utah State finished 2nd place in an otherwise pretty weak group. They actually beat group winner Stephen F. Austin once, and had a nice win over Memphis. Unfortunately, their last game really set them back a few seeds when they lost by 17 to Longwood. Yuck!

Game

Utah State- 67, Charlotte- 64

Utah State becomes the first lower seed to win in the round of 128, and they had to come from behind to do it as they trailed by 8 with 10 minutes to go. A 51.1% shooting percentage got them the win, as they were led by Chris Smith who had 18 points, while Braxton Ogbueze had 18 for Charlotte in the losing effort.

[collegesportsfanms]

#89 NC Central (MEAC, 7-3, +9) @ #40 Stephen F. Austin (Southland, 8-2, +57)

Pre-Game

SFA won the group that Utah State was in. As we already mentioned, they split with Utah St., and their second loss was to MD Eastern Shore by 5 points. Their biggest win was their group opener, a 22 point win over Longwood (by biggest I mean largest margin of victory, not necessarily the most important win). NC Central could not find a way to beat their group winner SMU, losing to them twice by 8 and by 11. They also lost to Air Force by 11. They certainly didn't help their point differential by winning big. Other than an 11 point win and an 8 point win, their other 5 wins were by either 2, 3, or 4 points.

Game

Stephen F. Austin- 61, NC Central- 60

The best game of the tournament so far, as NC Central had 2 chances to win in the last 15 seconds, but missed 2 shots in that timespan. Neither team led by more than 8 the entire game. Jordan Parks led all scorers with 15 in a losing effort, while SFA was led by Thomas Walkup who had 14. With NC Central's loss, the MEAC is now gone from the tournament, as NC Central was their only representative in the round of 128.

[collegesportsfanms]

#120 North Carolina State (ACC, 6-4, +63) @ #9 Iowa (Big 10, 9-1, +181)

Pre-Game

Iowa won their group with ease, 3 games better than the 2nd place team. Only a 3 point loss to Central Michigan in their final game of group play kept them from an undefeated run. They absolutely hammered the majority of their opponents though, with 5 20+ point wins and a 19 point win in group play. N.C. State needed to win their last game in group play to have a chance to make the round of 128, and they did, beating 2nd place finisher Eastern Washington by 14. In fact, they swept Eastern Washington, but lost twice to group winner Hawaii, as well as losing to Loyola (MD) and Mt. St. Mary's.

Game

Iowa- 76, N.C. State- 67

Iowa led by 13 at halftime and actually extended it to 16 early in the 2nd half. N.C. State got it down to within 3 at one point, but the Hawkeyes finished strong thanks to 46.6% field goal shooting. Aaron White had 23 and Jarrod Uthoff had 20 for Iowa, while N.C. State was led by Anthony Barber who had 14.

[collegesportsfanms]

#73 Oklahoma State (Big 12, 7-3, +63) @ #56 St. Johns (Big East, 6-4, +37)

Pre-Game

St. Johns completely backed into winning their group title, as they actually lost to 2nd place Wyoming on the last game of group play, but because they beat Wyoming the first time, still won the group based on point differential. They are only 1 of 2 teams that won their group with a 6-4 record. Oklahoma State had to overcome a 3 way tiebreaker for their group title, in which they finished in 2nd place thanks to losing to Charleston Southern twice and winning a tiebreaker over 3rd place UMKC.

Game

St. John's- 60, Oklahoma State- 41

30.4% shooting doomed the Cowboys, who trailed by as many as 23 in the 2nd half. They were led in scoring by Le'Bryan Nash who had 12, and Rysheed Jordan led St. John's with 17.

[collegesportsfanms]

#105 UConn (American, 6-4, +8) @ #24 Duke (ACC, 8-2, +123)

Pre-Game

These 2 teams have met in the NCAA Title game at least once or twice that I can think of, so they know each other well. Duke lost by 1 to George Mason and by 3 to Western Michigan, their only 2 losses in group play. They had 4 wins by 20+ points or more. UConn finished 2nd in their group, 3 games behind group winner Georgia, and just 1 game ahead of 2 other teams. They lost 2 of their last 3 games in group play, and only a 5 point win in overtime against Dartmouth has them in the round of 128. Going to state the obvious here, but had they lost that game, it would have been 3 losses in a row and a 5-5 finish, so they are happy to still be playing.

Game

Duke- 72, UConn- 60

The Blue Devils traded leads with UConn for about the first 8 minutes of the half, then took over. They outrebounded the Huskies 39-27 and were led in scoring by Justise Winslow, who had 20. Ryan Boatright led UConn with 17.

[collegesportsfanms]

#88 Seton Hall (Big East, 7-3, +13) @ #41 San Francisco (WCC, 8-2, +56)

Pre-Game

San Francisco won 7 games in a row in group play after losing 2 of their last 3. Their only losses were, incidentally, to North Florida and Iona, who both also advanced to the round of 128. Seton Hall had a tough group, falling 3 games behind group winner and undefeated Utah. They lost to the Utes by 10 and 19, and also had a 12 point loss to Santa Clara. They only had 2 wins by double digits.

Game

San Francisco- 78, Seton Hall- 56

Total domination for the Dons, as they made 8 three pointers and forced 14 Seton Hall turnovers, leading by as many as 25 in the game. Tim Derksen led the Dons with 23 points, while Seton Hall was led by Khadeen Carrington who had 12.

[collegesportsfanms]

So that completes the first region of the round of 128. We have our first 16 teams in the round of 64. You may be wondering how I've decided to seed the teams for the round of 64 and on? Well I'll tell you.

The 16 surviving teams in each region of the round of 128 will be seeding based on their RPI ranking as of April 7, 2015 (basically the end of the 2014-2015 season.) The rankings come from teamrankings.com. So our 16 teams surviving from the first region are: Kentucky, DePaul, UT Martin, Washington, Texas, Green Bay, Northern Iowa, Hawaii, UC Santa Barbara, Louisville, Utah State, Stephen F. Austin, Iowa, St. John's, Duke, and San Francisco. This region will be the Midwest Region, as it was the upper left quadrant, and the 2015 NCAA Tournament had the Midwest in the upper left. If anybody cares about that bit of knowledge. lol. So here are the First Round pods and match-ups for the Midwest Region:

Louisville, KY pod

(16) DePaul vs. (1) Duke
(9) Green Bay vs. (8) Texas

Columbus, OH pod

(12) UT Martin vs. (5) Stephen F. Austin
(13) Utah State vs. (4) Louisville

Pittsburgh, PA pod

(11) Washington vs. (6) Iowa
(14) Hawaii vs. (3) Northern Iowa

Omaha, NE pod

(10) UC Santa Barbara vs. (7) St. John's
(15) San Francisco vs. (2) Kentucky

I will start working on the round of 128 games for the West Region (bottom left quadrant) tomorrow

[collegesportsfanms]

I have decided to work on the upper right quadrant of the bracket next, which is the East Region. I'll get 8 of the round of 128 games done in that region today, and the other 8 done tomorrow, to knock that region down to 16 teams. So let's get started.

[collegesportsfanms]

#125 St. Mary's (WCC, 6-4, +40) @ #4 Notre Dame (ACC, 10-0, +173)

Pre-Game

St. Mary's snuck in as a wildcard, finishing 3rd in their group. All 4 of their losses in group play were to the top 2 finishers in the group, so nothing to be ashamed of there, as they took care of business against the 4th, 5th, and 6th place teams. Notre Dame won their group easily, and were one of just 2 teams in the group with a winning record. All of their wins were double digit wins except for one, and that one was a 9 point win over Minnesota.

Game

St. Mary's- 74, Notre Dame- 70

A huge shocker here, as the Fighting Irish trailed by 9 at halftime, and looked out of sync for most of the game. St. Mary's led the entire game, by as many as 14, but Notre Dame did get it down to 2 late. This was really a tough draw for the Irish, as in reality, St. Mary's was a 21 win team in the 2014-2015 season. Nonetheless, for seeding purposes, we have our first major upset. Kerry Carter led St. Mary's with 22, while Pat Connaughton and Steve Vasturia each had 14 for Notre Dame.

[collegesportsfanms]

#68 UC Irvine (Big West, 7-3, +83) @ #61 Tennessee (SEC, 8-2, +65)

Pre-Game

UC Irvine tied for 2nd in their group, but won the tiebreaker over Winthrop by point differential, as the 2 teams split. Irvine also split with group winner Georgetown, with the loss in that series coming by 2 points. Their 3rd loss was to Jackson State, and it was by far the most damaging loss. Tennessee tied Wichita State for their group title, but lost the tiebreaker by point differential as they split their 2 games with the Shockers. Their other loss was to 3rd place finisher UAB.

Game

UC Irvine- 65, Tennessee- 62

This one was close all the way, tied at halftime, and Irvine actually did get the lead to double digits once in the 2nd half, holding on to win. 47.7% shooting helped Irvine in this one, as they were led by Will Davis II who had 17 points. Tennessee was led by Josh Richardson who had 13 points.

[collegesportsfanms]

#100 Rice (Conference USA, 6-4, +18) @ #29 Texas A&M (SEC, 8-2, +84)

Pre-Game

Anybody remember the Southwestern Conference, or the SWC? Well both of these teams were in that conference (I believe), before the conference folded. Rice struggled in group play, finishing 2nd by 3 games to group winner Northern Iowa. The last group play game came down to Rice and Mercer, which Rice won by 7 to get 2nd place. Texas A&M won their group by 2 games, with their 2 losses coming against San Diego and Florida Atlantic, who finished 3rd and 5th in the group, respectively. They did beat 2nd place Tulsa twice, which was a big reason why they won their group.

Game

Rice- 59, Texas A&M- 53

Apparently, this is going to be the group of upsets, as so far we have 3 games, and all 3 lower seeds and road teams have won. Crazy. The big difference in this one was Rice holding Texas A&M to just 35% shooting, and the margin of victory could have been more had Rice not turned it over 17 times. Marcus Jackson led Rice with 18 points, while Texas A&M was led by Jalen Jones who had 13.

[collegesportsfanms]

#93 Illinois (Big 10, 6-4, +51) @ #36 Dayton (Atlantic 10, 8-2, +65)

Pre-Game

Illinois finished 2nd in their group, tying for 2nd with South Florida and splitting their 2 games, but easily won the point differential tiebreaker. They did play group winner Texas tough in both games, losing by 3 each time, with the first one going to overtime. Their other loss was to Oakland, also by 3 points, meaning their 4 losses were by a combined total of 11 points. That shows how close they were to winning 8, 9 games in group play, maybe even going undefeated. Dayton won their group by 1 game over New Hampshire, but the irony in this is that they LOST both of their games to New Hampshire. Fortunately for them, they won the rest of their group play games, while New Hampshire ended up with 3 losses in their other 8 games. This game could be a war.

Game

Dayton- 70, Illinois- 69

The streak is broken, but barely. A Kyle Davis three pointer at the buzzer gives Dayton the 1 point victory and breaks the streak of lower seeds winning. This game was everything I thought it would be, with several lead changes and ties. Dyshawn Pierre led Dayton with 19 points, while Rayvonte Rice led Illinois with 18 points, in an instant classic.

[collegesportsfanms]

#116 California (Pac 12, 7-3, +45) @ #13 Kansas (Big 12, 9-1, +130)

Pre-Game

California took 3rd place in their group, losing out on the point differential to just 7 points to 2nd place finisher Missouri State. The Golden Bears started group play 5-0 then lost 3 of their last 5. Kansas rolled through their group, with their only loss coming at the hands of 2nd place finisher Western Kentucky. Surprisingly, Portland State, who finished last in the group, proved to be KU's toughest opponent, as they only lost to KU by 3 and by 7. They made up for it though by routing pretty much everybody else.

Game

Kansas- 66, California- 57

No upset here, as the Jayhawks used a 40-35 rebounding edge and a late game run to put away Cal. Frank Mason led the Jayhawks with 13, while Tyrone Wallace for Cal led all scorers with 18.

[collegesportsfanms]

#77 Missouri State (Missouri Valley, 7-3, +52) @ #52 Charleston Southern (Big South, 7-3, +39)

Pre-Game

As mentioned before, Missouri State took 2nd in their group, winning the point differential over 3rd place Cal by 7 points. Aside from losing to Cal, they also lost once to group winner Detroit and 5th place finisher Pepperdine. Charleston Southern also had to survive tiebreakers, this one being a 3 way tie for the group title. The tiebreaker went their way though, as they dominated group favorite Oklahoma State twice.

Game

Missouri State- 72, Charleston Southern- 70 (OT)

The Bears led by 9 midway through the 2nd half, but gave the lead up and had to rely on a Marcus Marshall bucket with 13 seconds left just to get to OT. Then they fell behind by 4 points in the extra frame, but scored 10 of the last 14 points to get a nice win. Austin Ruder led the Bears with 18 points, while Arlen Harper led Charleston Southern with 15.

[collegesportsfanms]

#109 Florida State (ACC, 6-4, +1) @ #20 William & Mary (Colonial, 9-1, +88)

Pre-Game

Florida State finished 2nd in their group, 1 game behind group winner Arizona. They beat Arizona by 3 in the first game, but lost by 16 in the second game. Their point differential suffered thanks to a couple blowout losses, and way too many single digit wins. They only had 1 double digit win. William & Mary won their group by winning a points differential tiebreaker over Louisville, as both teams finished 9-1 in group play. In fact, it was Louisville who beat W&M on the final group play game for both teams. W&M took advantage of a light group, as Louisville was really the strongest team going into the group, with everybody else well behind.

Game

William & Mary- 68, Florida State- 53

W&M took care of business in this one, leading by as many as 20 in the second half. They were able to force 16 Seminole turnovers, and were led in scoring by Marcus Thornton, who went off with 27 points. Florida State did manage to get one guy in double figures.... barely, as Phil Cofer finished with 10.

[collegesportsfanms]

#84 Northeastern (Colonial, 7-3, +23) @ #45 Arizona (Pac 12, 7-3, +110)

Pre-Game

Northeastern finished 2nd in their group, losing to group winner Sacramento State twice, as well as Austin Peay by 2 in overtime. Arizona won their group by defeating 2nd place finisher Florida State in each teams last group play game.

Game

Arizona- 69, Northeastern- 49

Arizona used a 39-27 rebounding edge to storm past Northeastern easily. They were led by Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, who had 13 points. Northeastern did not have a double figure scorer, as T.J. Williams and Scott Eatherton had 9 points each.

[collegesportsfanms]

And that's it for today folks. Tune in tomorrow for more exciting action.

[collegesportsfanms]

#124 Robert Morris (Northeast, 6-4, +41) @ #5 Utah (Pac 12, 10-0, +150)


Pre-Game

Robert Morris took 3rd place in their group, as they split with group winner LSU and got swept by 2nd place finisher Purdue. Their other loss was to Manhattan. Utah ran through their group with relative ease, with their closest result being an 8 point win against Santa Clara. 6 of their 10 wins were by double digits, the other 4 were by either 8 or 9 points.

Game

Utah- 60, Robert Morris- 58

The way this East Region has gone so far, it would only make sense that Utah would have their closest game yet. While the Utes only trailed once, that being at 27-26, they never could pull away. They did stretch it out to 13 at one point, but Robert Morris proved to be very scrappy. The Utes were led by Delon Wright who had 15, but leading all scorers was Robert Morris' Rodney Pryor who had 21 in the losing effort.

Unfortunately, we can now say goodbye to the Northeast Conference, as Robert Morris was their lone representative in the round of 128.

[collegesportsfanms]

#69 Providence (Big East, 7-3, +78) @ #60 Rhode Island (Atlantic 10, 8-2, +80)

Pre-Game

Providence actually tied for the group title, but lost the tiebreaker to fall into 2nd place, as group winner Kent St. beat them twice, including the 1 point loss to end group play, which is what lost the tiebreaker for them. Their other loss came against 4th place American. Rhode Island also fell victim to a tiebreaker situation, as they also tied for the group title. In their case, their only 2 losses came to group winner UT Martin, hence the reason they lost the tiebreaker.

Game

Rhode Island- 77, Providence- 72

The Rams win this battle of tiebreaker victims, as they trailed by 4 at halftime but shot over 60% in the second half, and 54.4% for the game. They were led by E.C. Matthews who had 24. He was slightly outdone by LaDontae Henton of Providence, who had 25 in a losing effort.

[collegesportsfanms]

So I just realized that in my copying and pasting, those teams that were in the top 25 to begin this tournament, weren't being bolded during the game recaps. I'm not going to change it, you can go back and look at the complete round of 128 schedule to see which top 25 teams advanced to the round of 128. Sorry about that!

[collegesportsfanms]

#101 Tulsa (American, 6-4, +13) @ #28 Sacramento State (Big Sky, 8-2, +87)

Pre-Game

Tulsa won the tiebreaker for 2nd place, as they split with San Diego, but won the point differential by 1 point. 1 lousy point is the only reason that Tulsa is playing in the round of 128. They were swept by Texas A&M and also lost a game to Florida Atlantic. Sacramento State is a definite surprise team, taking advantage of what I feel was a pretty even group overall. They lost there first game by 2 points to Boston University, and also had a 1 point loss to Austin Peay, so only 3 points separated them from an undefeated group run.

Game

Sacramento State- 59, Tulsa- 56

Another game that was pretty close all the way through. To tell you how even this game was, let me throw some stats at you: Both teams were 12-20 from the FT line. Sacramento State was 20-51 from the field, 7-14 from three point land. Tulsa was 19-50 from the field, 6-14 from three point land. Literally, that extra 3 pointer that Sacramento State made is what won it for them. They were led in scoring by Mikh McKinney, who had 21. James Woodard and Shaq Harrison each had 14 to lead Tulsa.

[collegesportsfanms]

#92 West Virginia (Big 12, 6-4, +83) @ #37 Colorado (Pac 12, 8-2, +77)

Pre-Game

West Virginia came into their group as heavy favorites but struggled mightily and ended up in 2nd place, 3 games behind group winner Morehead State. They lost both games to Morehead, as well as losing a game to North Dakota State and Middle Tennessee. An encouraging thing is that their last 3 wins were all by 20+ points. Colorado tied for their group title, but won the tiebreaker over Chattanooga by virtue of point differential. The Buffaloes lost to Chattanooga once, and also lost to North Texas. They got 2 big wins over group favorite Wisconsin, beating them by 2 in overtime and by 4.

Game

Colorado- 73, West Virginia- 66

A bit of a surprise here. If any road, lower seeded team was going to win in this round of 128 East Region, I would have expected West Virginia to win. Colorado, in reality, only had a 15-17 season. That's why you play the game, or at least sim the game. 18 turnovers and 36.8% shooting from the field did the Mountaineers in. Although it didn't help that they were 3-16 from three point land. They were led in scoring by Juwan Staten who had 14. Askia Booker from Colorado led all scorers with 21.

[collegesportsfanms]

#117 North Florida (Atlantic Sun, 7-3, +30) @ #12 Iowa State (Big 12, 9-1, +131)

Pre-Game

North Florida finished tied for 2nd in their group, but lost the tiebreaker to Iona, as they lost both games. The other loss for North Florida came at the hands of group champion San Francisco, so you can say that none of North Florida's 3 losses were terribly bad. Iowa State won their group by 2 games, only losing to Lafayette in their second to last group play game. What really helped the Cyclones is that 7 of their 9 wins were by double digits, including a 22 point win and a 12 point win over Clemson, who was figured to advance from the group, but did not.

Game

Iowa State- 79, North Florida- 58

The Cyclones broke open a 2 point halftime lead by going on a 19-7 run the last 10 minutes of the game. They outscored North Florida 38-19 in the second half. Good shooting helped, as they shot 51.4% from the field. Dustin Hogue was their leading scorer with 15 points, while Jalen Nesbitt led North Florida with 15.

This does eliminate the Atlantic Sun from the tournament, as North Florida was their only representative in the round of 128.

[collegesportsfanms]

#76 Maryland (ACC, 7-3, +54) @ #53 UMass (Atlantic 10, 7-3, +36)

Pre-Game

Maryland underachieved a little in group play, finishing 2nd in their group behind group winner Washington. The Terps couldn't figure out how to get past the Huskies, as Washington beat them by 9 and by 6. The Terps also lost to 3rd place finisher UNC Asheville, so at least they didn't have any really bad losses. UMass survived a 3 way tie for their group title, going 3-1 against the 2nd and 3rd place finishers in their group. They did end on a bit of a slide though, losing their last 2 games in group play, as East Tennessee State beat them by 9 and old rival Temple beat them by 15. Really, if I were making predictions, which I'm not, I'd bet on Maryland to win this game. But... the WIS sim does some crazy things.

Game

Maryland- 66, UMass- 57

The Terps do get the victory, but it didn't come easily. Both teams traded leads several times in the first half before Maryland stretched it to double digits late in the second half. The Terps were led by Melo Trimble who had 26, while UMass was led by Trey Davis who had 12.

[collegesportsfanms]

#108 Wyoming (Mountain West, 6-4, +3) @ #21 Xavier (Big East, 9-1, +70)

Pre-Game

Wyoming stumbled through their group, which didn't see a team win more than 6 games. They tied for the group title, as they split their games with group winner St. John's, but had a much lower point differential. Xavier won their group easily, by 3 games. Their lone loss came to 4th place finisher UNC Wilmington, and even in that game they went to overtime. Most of their games were fairly close though, as they only had 2 double digit wins.

Game

Xavier- 93, Wyoming- 85 (OT)

Defense wasn't a priority in this game, which saw the Musketeers down by 8 at halftime. They came storming back though, actually leading by as many as 8 late in the game, but a Wyoming three pointer with 3 seconds left forced overtime. Xavier dominated the extra frame though, outscoring the Cowboys 13-5 in the extra 5 minutes. Wyoming's Josh Adams led all scorers with 33 in a losing effort, while Xavier was led by Trevon Bluiett who had 19.

[collegesportsfanms]

#85 Boise State (Mountain West, 7-3, +22) @ #44 Detroit (Horizon, 8-2, +29)

Pre-Game

Boise State fell one game short in their group, taking 2nd place. They split with group winner UC Davis, each winning by 15. They also had a 13 point loss to Radford and a 16 point loss to Lipscomb that really hurt them seeding wise. Detroit was a surprising winner in their group, overtaking group favorite Arkansas, who didn't even make the round of 128. Also getting past Missouri State and Cal, the other 2 teams that did advance out of the group. Their last game of group play left a bitter taste in their mouth though, as they lost to Missouri State by 25.

Game

Boise State- 56, Detroit- 49

Boise State led by as many as 10 in the first half, taking advantage of 13 Detroit turnovers. Neither team put on a shooting display, as Boise shot 36.7% while Detroit shot 35.3%. Derrick Marks of Boise State led all scorers with 19, while Detroit was led by Paris Bass who had 16.

[collegesportsfanms]

To recap, our 16 surviving teams from the East Region are as follows:

St. Marys, UC Irvine, Rice, Dayton, Kansas, Missouri St., William & Mary, Arizona, Utah, Rhode Island, Sacramento State, Colorado, Iowa State, Maryland, Xavier, and Boise State.

Let's go to teamrankings.com and see how the 16 team bracket looks. And the seedings and First Round Pods and Matchups are as follows:

Pittsburgh, PA pod

(16) Rice vs. (1) Arizona
(9) Rhode Island vs. (8) Boise State

Seattle, WA pod

(12) William & Mary vs. (5) Utah
(13) Colorado vs. (4) Iowa State

Columbus, OH pod

(11) UC Irvine vs. (6) Xavier
(14) Sacramento State vs. (3) Maryland

Charlotte, NC pod

(10) St. Mary's vs. (7) Dayton
(15) Missouri State vs. (2) Kansas

Just to let you know how tough this group is and what a grind it's going to be, this region has 5 top 25 RPI teams, 8 top 50 RPI teams, and 12 top 100 RPI teams in it. To say this could be anybody's region is definitely an understatement.

[collegesportsfanms]

I hope everybody has a happy Thanksgiving, I'll be off work the next 2 days, but when I get back on Friday, I will start working on the West Region.

[collegesportsfanms]

Sorry for the long delay, I've been crazy busy at work, so when I've been on the clock, I've actually been working my butt off instead of having time to work on this. But never fear, the Round of 128 games in the West Region begin now!

[collegesportsfanms]

#127 UNC Asheville (Big South, 6-4, +32) @ #2 Gonzaga (WCC, 10-0, +203)

Pre-Game

UNC Asheville just squeezed into the tournament by taking 3rd place in their group. They beat Maryland once, who was the ranked team in the group, and also beat group winner Washington once, so they've proved they can compete with the big boys. Gonzaga rolled through their group with ease. 7 of their 10 wins were by double digits, with the biggest one being a 41 point pounding of Central Connecticut.

Game

Gonzaga- 76, UNC Asheville- 67

This one turned out to be a lot closer than many people thought, as the Zags only led by 3 at halftime. Asheville's Andrew Rowsey led all scores with 25 in a losing effort, while Gonzaga was led by Kyle Wiltjer who had 19.

Just a heads up, my game reports on these next few games may be a tad shorter as I'm trying to get through the round of 128.

[collegesportsfanms]

#66 VCU (Atlantic 10, 7-3, +97) @ #63 Chattanooga (Southern, 8-2, +50)

Pre-Game

VCU finished 2nd in their group, losing to group winner South Dakota St. once, and also losing to Texas A&M-CC who finished last in the group. Chattanooga also finished 2nd in their group, losing a tiebreaker to group winner Colorado on point differential. The 2 losses for them were once to group winner Colorado, and once to group favorite and 3rd place finisher Wisconsin.

Game

Chattanooga- 85, VCU- 75 (OT)

40 minutes wasn't enough to decide this one, as Chattanooga stormed back from a 9 point halftime deficit to force overtime, then completely dominated the extra 5 minutes. Ronrico White led all scorers with 28 for Chattanooga, while VCU's Melvin Johnson had 23 in a losing effort.

[collegesportsfanms]

#98 Valparaiso (Horizon, 6-4, +26) @ #31 Alabama (SEC, 8-2, +80)

Pre-Game

Valparaiso was part of a very ugly group that only saw 2 winning teams: them and group winner Murray State. They lost twice to Murray State, once to Monmouth, and once to Oral Roberts. Only 1 of those losses was a double digit loss. Alabama won their group, winning a tiebreaker over DePaul as they beat DePaul twice. Alabama's 2 losses were 5th place Elon and 3rd place Colorado State.

Game

Alabama- 75, Valparaiso- 65

Alabama rolled to an 18 point halftime lead as both teams shot over 45% from the field. It was really a difference of two halves, as Valpo couldn't hang onto the ball in the 1st half, and in the 2nd half Alabama started turning it over. Valpo was able to get it as close as 6 in the 2nd half, but no closer. They were led in scoring by Alec Peters who had 16. Alabama was led by Shannon Hale with 14, and also had a trio of players who scored 12.

[collegesportsfanms]

#95 Eastern Kentucky (Ohio Valley, 6-4, +34) @ #34 SMU (American, 8-2, +75)

Pre-Game

Eastern Kentucky won a tiebreaker to get 2nd place in their group, as they split with 3rd place finisher Central Michigan. Aside from a loss to Central Michigan, they also lost to group winner Iowa twice, and South Alabama once. 3 of their 4 losses were by double digits. SMU won their group by 1 game, losing to 3rd place Air Force once and 5th place Arizona State once. Those 2 losses were by a combined 9 points.

Game

SMU- 71, Eastern Kentucky- 66

A very tight game throughout, as it was tied at halftime and Eastern Kentucky put SMU on the ropes in the 2nd half, jumping out to a 10 point lead. SMU stormed back though, finishing the game on a 21-10 run. They were led by Nic Moore who had 20 points. Markus Kennedy added a double-double with 12 points, 14 boards. Eastern Kentucky was led by Erik Stutz, who had 16 in the losing effort.

[collegesportsfanms]

#114 East Tennessee State (Southern, 7-3, +56) @ #15 Georgetown (Big East, 9-1, +124)

Pre-Game

East Tennessee State lost a 3 team tiebreaker for the group title, losing out to UMass and Marquette. They lost to each of those schools once, and also account for the only win for UMass Lowell in group play. Georgetown lost their only game by 1 lousy point against UC Irvine.

Game

East Tennessee State- 75, Georgetown- 73 (OT)

A stunner here as Georgetown led by 7 at halftime but needed a late three pointer to force overtime. East Tennessee State got the game winner from Isaac Banks with 2 seconds left in the extra frame. Rashawn Rembert led them with 20, while Georgetown was led by Joshua Smith who had 14.

[collegesportsfanms]

#79 Virginia Tech (ACC, 7-3, +42) @ #50 Cincinnati (American, 7-3, +42)

Pre-Game

Virginia Tech finished 2nd in their group, losing twice to group winner Kentucky and once to Akron. They played Kentucky tough both games though, only losing by 13 and 7. Cincinnati won their group by a game, losing their first 2 games of group play then winning 7 of their last 8, so they are hot coming into this game.

Game

Cincinnati- 59, Virginia Tech- 46

This game was actually much closer than the score indicates, as Cincinnati put it away with a 13-4 run to end the game. They held Virginia Tech to just 36.7% shooting and were led by Gary Clark and Farad Cobb who each had 10. Justin Bibbs of Virginia Tech led all scorers with 14 in a losing effort.

[collegesportsfanms]

#111 Vanderbilt (SEC, 5-5, +19) @ #18 Virginia (ACC, 9-1, +109)

Pre-Game

Vanderbilt finished in a 3 way tie for 2nd place in their group, but got 2nd place due to tiebreakers. They are one of only two teams in the round of 128 that had a 5-5 record. You might as well say they backed their way into this tournament, as they lost their last 2 games but got lucky with the tiebreakers. Virginia saw their chance for an undefeated run in group play end on game 10, as they lost by 5 to Bowling Green. They still won their group with ease, winning all but 2 of their games by double digits.

Game

Virginia- 71, Vanderbilt- 67

Vanderbilt proved to be a very pesky foe in this one, as Virginia could never build more than an 8 point lead. Vandy got it down to 2 with 8 seconds left, but couldn't get the steal they needed and had to foul. Malcolm Brogdon made 2 free throws to seal the deal. Justin Anderson was the leading scorer for Virginia, as he had 18. Vanderbilt was led by Riley LaChance, who led all scorers with 19.

[collegesportsfanms]

#82 Western Kentucky (Conference USA, 7-3, +33) @ #47 Eastern Michigan (MAC, 7-3, +62)

Pre-Game

Western Kentucky finished 2nd in their group, but they did hand group winner Kansas their only loss. However, they lost to Morgan State and Georgia Southern, really damaging any chance they had to win the group. Eastern Michigan won a tiebreaker for their group title as they swept 2nd place team San Diego State. They lost their first game to Cal Poly and also lost to Nicholls State and High Point.

Game

Eastern Michigan- 71, Western Kentucky- 48

Take away the 1st half and this was a good game. Eastern Michigan led by 20 at the half and cruised to victory, forcing 17 Western Kentucky turnovers and holding them to 34.5% shooting. Raven Lee and Mike Talley each had 17 to lead Eastern Michigan, while Western Kentucky was led by George Fant and Chris Harrison-Docks who each had 10.

[collegesportsfanms]

#122 High Point (Big South, 6-4, +50) @ #7 Murray State (Ohio Valley, 10-0, +118)

Pre-Game

High Point got a wildcard spot out of their group, as 3 of their 4 losses came to the top 2 teams in the group, San Diego State and Eastern Michigan. Their other loss came to Nicholls State by 2 points. Murray State completely dominated their group, winning it by 4 games. OK, so dominated may not be the right word since half of their wins were by 9 points or less, but they did finish undefeated, and only 8 teams did that.

Game

Murray State- 75, High Point- 67

This one looked all but over as Murray State raced to a 17 point halftime lead. High Point wouldn't go down easily though, cutting the lead to 5 late in the 2nd half, but Murray State held strong. They were led by Jarvis Williams who had 17, while John Brown led High Point with 15 in a losing effort.

[collegesportsfanms]

#71 Marquette (Big East, 7-3, +65) @ #58 TCU (Big 12, 8-2, +99)

Pre-Game

Marquette finished 2nd in the group, actually losing a 3 way tiebreaker for 1st to group winner UMass, but winning the 2 way tiebreaker for 2nd. They lost both to UMass and 1 to 3rd place team East Tennessee State. 2 of their 3 losses were by double digits. TCU tied for their group title, but lost the tiebreaker to group champ Sam Houston, as they split with them but had a much lower point differential. Their other loss was to 5th place Colgate, in overtime.

Game

Marquette- 79, TCU- 75 (OT)

It looked like Marquette was going to pull away, but a 24-13 run by TCU in the last 8 minutes sent the game to overtime. In fact, if not for a Derrick Wilson bank shot with 10 seconds left and a missed three point attempt by TCU at the buzzer, they would have completed the comeback. Marquette got a couple key steals in overtime to get the win, and were led by Matt Carlino, who tore it up with 28 points. Duane Wilson and Luke Fischer added 16 a piece. TCU was led by Kyan Anderson who was their only double figure scorer with 17.

[collegesportsfanms]

#103 Western Carolina (Southern, 6-4, +12) @ #26 Ohio State (Big 10, 8-2, +103)

Pre-Game

Western Carolina was 1 of only 2 winning teams in their group, finishing 2nd place, 3 games behind group winner Virginia. Ohio State tied with Florida for the group title, winning the tiebreaker by point differential, in a big way. 1 of their 2 losses was to Florida, the other was to Georgia Tech by 2 points.

Game

Ohio State- 64, Western Carolina- 60

This one was much closer than I anticipated. Western Carolina actually led late, but were doomed by 38.2% shooting. D'Angelo Russell led Ohio State with 18 points, while Western Carolina was led by James Sinclair who had 16.

[collegesportsfanms]

I am hoping to jump back into this project very soon, within the next day or two. I've again been hit with a temporary shutdown at the job and haven't had access to the paperwork, but I'm going in tomorrow and if I don't resume it tomorrow, I will at least get the paperwork and work on it a bit over the weekend. My goal is to have the round of 128 done by next Wednesday or Thursday and get a good start on the next round. Be patient, I promise this will get finished!!

[collegesportsfanms]

#90 Portland (WCC, 6-4, +109) @ #39 UC Davis (Big West, 8-2, +57)

Pre-Game

Portland won a tiebreaker for 2nd place in their group, beating 3rd place Bryant twice. They only lost to group winner Cincinnati by a combined 6 points in 2 games. UC Davis won their group, with their only losses coming to 4th place Lipscomb and 2nd place Boise State.

Game

Portland- 81, UC Davis- 77 (OT)

Portland had to come from behind as they trailed by 10 with 7 minutes to go. A three pointer with 13 seconds left got it to OT in which they took care of business. They were led by Kevin Bailey who had 18. Corey Hawkins of UC Davis led all scorers with 29 in a losing effort.

[collegesportsfanms]

#119 Incarnate Word (Southland, 6-4, +74) @ #10 North Carolina (ACC, 9-1, +162)

Pre-Game

Incarnate Word took 3rd place in their group and really had a nice point differential. 3 of their 4 losses were to the top 2 teams in the group, with their 4th loss being to 4th place Wofford. North Carolina won their group, losing just once in group play. That loss was a 12 point loss to 2nd place finisher New Mexico State.

Game

North Carolina- 87, Incarnate Word- 76

This one turned into an old fashioned shootout in the 2nd half as neither team could miss. The Tarheels shot 56.5% from the field, and were led by Marcus Paige who had 20. Kennedy Meeks and J.P. Tokoto each had double-doubles, and Tokoto was 1 assist away from a triple-double. Incarnate Word was led by Denzel Livingston who had 19.

[collegesportsfanms]

#74 Purdue (Big 10, 7-3, +58) @ #55 Ole Miss (SEC, 6-4, +46)

Pre-Game

Purdue lost to group winner LSU by 4 in their last group play game. That game decided the group title and Purdue took 2nd. Ole Miss won their group with a 6-4 record in what was really a pitiful group.

Game

Purdue- 90, Ole Miss- 83 (OT)

Another overtime game and another shootout. The difference in this one was at the FT line. Purdue was 34-41 from the charity stripe while Ole Miss was just 14-16. Holy moly that's a huge disparity! Purdue was led by A.J. Hammons who had 26, while Ole Miss was led by Stefan Moody who had 23.

[collegesportsfanms]

#106 Wake Forest (ACC, 6-4, +6) @ #23 Sam Houston (Southland, 8-2, +129)

Pre-Game

Wake Forest finished 2nd in their group, losing their first 2 games to Indiana State and Michigan before getting it going. Sam Houston won a points differential tiebreaker to win their group, as they split with 2nd place finisher TCU. Their other loss was to 3rd place finisher Butler.

Game

Wake Forest- 64, Sam Houston- 63

This one was close throughout as neither team could get bigger than a 6 point lead. Sam Houston broke a 61-61 tie with a bucket with 2 seconds left, but a half court three pointer from Codi Miller-McIntyre fell through, sending Wake Forest to the round of 64 and stunning Sam Houston. Miller-McIntyre led Wake Forest with 16 points while DeMarcus Gatlin led Sam Houston with 17.

[collegesportsfanms]

#87 Richmond (Atlantic 10, 7-3, +17), #42 South Dakota State (Summit, 8-2, +51)

Pre-Game

Richmond finished 2nd in their group, losing a points differential tiebreaker to group winner Tennessee Tech. Losing 3 of their last 5 after running through the first half of group play certainly didn't help their cause. South Dakota State won their group unexpectedly, winning 7 in a row before losing 2 of their last 3, which means both of these teams faded a bit down the stretch.

Game

Richmond- 66, South Dakota State- 58

Richmond jumped out to a 10 point halftime lead, actually leading by as many as 15 in the half. South Dakota State could never recover, and were led by Deondre Parks with 15 points. Richmond was led by Kendall Anthony who had 18 points.

This does eliminate the Summit Conference from the tournament, as South Dakota State was their only representative.

[collegesportsfanms]

To recap, the 16 surviving teams in the West Region are as follows: Gonzaga, Chattanooga, Alabama, SMU, East Tennessee State, Cincinnati, Virginia, Eastern Michigan, Murray State, Marquete, Ohio State, Portland, North Carolina, Purdue, Wake Forest, and Richmond.

Let's plug them into teamrankings.com and see where they end up.

The seedings and First Round Pods and Matchups are as follows:

Omaha, NE Pod

(16) East Tennessee St. vs. (1) Virginia
(9) Richmond vs. (8) Purdue

Jacksonville, FL Pod

(12) Wake Forest vs. (5) Ohio St.
(13) Marquette vs. (4) SMU
(11) Chattanooga vs. (6) Cincinnati
(14) Eastern Michigan vs. (3) North Carolina

Portland, OR Pod

(10) Alabama vs. (7) Murray State
(15) Portland vs. (2) Gonzaga

The Jacksonville, FL Pod is the only pod to have all of its games in the same region. Every other pod has split regions.

[bbgunn]

Bama!

[collegesportsfanms]

It's time to start the South Region games in the Round of 128, so here we go:

#126 Air Force (Mountain West, 6-4, +37) @ #3 Villanova (Big East, 10-0, +176)

Pre-Game

Air Force took 3rd in their group, losing once to 4 of the other 5 teams in their group. Arizona State was the only team that Air Force swept. Villanova ran through their group easily to finish undefeated, just 11 points away from top overall seed Kentucky. That point differential could have easily been bigger, but 3 of their wins were by single digits, and another was by 10 points.

Game

Villanova- 81, Air Force- 66

This one was much closer than expected, as Nova only led by 1 at halftime. JayVaughn Pinkston led them with 20 points, while Air Force was led by Trevor Lyons who had 15.

[collegesportsfanms]

#67 Miami (FL) (ACC, 7-3, +85) @ #62 Florida (SEC, 8-2, +56)

Pre-Game

A nice in-state rivalry here, as Miami (FL) finished 2nd in their group, losing once to 3rd place UCLA, once to a surprising group winner Northwestern State, and their 3rd loss coming from St. Joseph's. Florida lost the tiebreaker for their group title, coming in 2nd place. They split with group winner Ohio State, but the Buckeyes had a much better point differential. Florida's other loss was to St. Louis in their opening game.

Game

Miami (FL)- 71, Florida- 58

Miami held the Gators to just 22 first half points and were led in scoring by Angel Rodriguez who had 18. Florida had 2 players in double figures: Kasey Hill and Dorian Finney-Smith each had 10 in a losing effort.

[collegesportsfanms]

#99 Hofstra (Colonial, 6-4, +26) @ #30 BYU (WCC, 8-2, +83)

Pre-Game

Hofstra finished 2nd in their group, 4 games behind group winner Indiana. They went into week 10 of group play in a 3 way tie for 2nd with Norfolk State and Harvard. Both those schools lost their games while Hofstra won theirs to get 2nd place outright. BYU won their group fairly easily, only losing to 5th place Fairleigh Dickinson in their opening game, and 2nd place Wake Forest.

Game

Hofstra- 72, BYU- 63

Hofstra stunned BYU with a 15-2 run out of the gates and held strong throughout. They were led in scoring by Ameen Tanksley who had 16. BYU was led by Kyle Collinsworth and Skyler Halford who each had 13. Collinsworth also added 14 rebounds for a double-double in a losing effort.

[collegesportsfanms]

#94 George Mason (Atlantic 10, 6-4, +42) @ #35 South Carolina (SEC, 8-2, +74)

Pre-Game

George Mason won a 3 way tie for 2nd in their group, winning 3 of 4 against 3rd and 4th place finishers Long Beach State and Western Michigan. South Carolina won their group, shocking group favorite Michigan State twice. Their 2 losses were to 4th place Florida Gulf Coast and 5th place Navy.

Game

South Carolina- 63, George Mason- 54

It wasn't easy as the Gamecocks had to rally from an 8 point halftime deficit, but they held George Mason to 37% shooting overall. Carolina was led in scoring by Tyrone Johnson who had 12, while George Mason was led by Jalen Jenkins who also had 12 in a losing effort.

[collegesportsfanms]

Because I wanted to get through the round of 128 and get into the pod play, I've done with the last 12 games of the round of 128 what I should have done all along. I'm just going to report the scores and get set for the next round. So here we go, to complete the round of 128 South Region:

(115) Winthrop- 73, (14) Georgia- 56
(78) Eastern Washington- 70, (51) Tennessee Tech- 62
(110) UCF- 77, (19) Davidson- 73
(83) Cleveland State- 64, (46) Nebraska- 61
(6) Indiana- 73, (123) Missouri- 70
(59) Oklahoma- 64, (70) San Diego State- 56
(27) Wichita State- 56, (102) Mississippi State- 53
(91) Michigan State- 74, (38) LSU- 68
(11) Morehead State- 60, (118) UMKC- 51
(75) St. Bonaventure- 51, (54) Kent State- 42
(22) Baylor- 63, (107) Stanford- 52
(86) Old Dominion- 68, (43) Northwestern State- 64

So that quickly completes the round of 128, I'll have the South Region bracket and Pod Match-ups later, as well as an update on how each conference is doing and how many teams each conference has left.

[collegesportsfanms]

So to recap, these are the teams advancing out of the South Region:

Villanova, Miami (FL), Hofstra, South Carolina, Winthrop, Eastern Washington
UCF, Cleveland State, Indiana, Oklahoma, Wichita State, Michigan State, Morehead State, St. Bonaventure, Baylor, Old Dominion.

The seedings and First Round pods and match-ups are as follows:

Charlotte, NC Pod

(16) UCF vs. (1) Villanova
(9) Eastern Washington vs. (8) Indiana

Portland, OR Pod

(12) Cleveland State vs. (5) Oklahoma
(13) Hofstra vs. (4) Baylor

Louisville, KY Pod

(11) St. Bonaventure vs. (6) Old Dominion
(14) Morehead State vs. (3) Michigan State

Seattle, WA Pod

(10) South Carolina vs. (7) Miami (FL)
(15) Winthrop vs. (2) Wichita State.

[collegesportsfanms]

Round of 64 Conference Breakdown

ACC- 7
Big 12- 5
Big East- 5
Big Ten- 5
Atlantic 10- 4
Pac 12- 4
WCC- 4
American- 3
Big West- 3
Missouri Valley- 3
Ohio Valley- 3
SEC- 3
Big Sky- 2
Colonial- 2
Conference USA- 2
Horizon- 2
Mountain West- 2
Southern- 2
Big South- 1
MAC- 1
Southland- 1

[collegesportsfanms]

Attached is a look at the Conference Challenge Standings through the round of 64. If anybody has a case of why the SEC isn't the most disappointing conference right now, please let me know. Having 12 teams in the Round of 128 but winning only 3 games is just... bad. Kudos to the MVC and Big Sky for keeping all their teams alive. Have a look.

[collegesportsfanms]

Hope everyone is still following along. There are currently 8 pod locations to go through for each of the first 2 rounds, and today I am doing a random drawing of the order in which the pods will be simmed for each round. Keep in mind this means I will not be going down the bracket in straight order. We could have 2 games from the South Region, then 2 from the East, and so on.

I will start simming the pods and reporting on them tomorrow.

[bbgunn]

I'm still here!

[collegesportsfanms]

1st Round Action- Columbus, OH Pod

Not that I'm cheating the way this works, but due to lack of time and wanting to get this finished because I have so much else going on, I'm not going to delegate games of the pod or anything like that, just going to give a short recap of every game. I hope that works for you guys.

Midwest Region

(12) UT Martin- 74, (5) Stephen F. Austin- 70 -- Stephen F. Austin had a 10 point halftime lead but absolutely horrid shooting in the second half, 23.7% to be exact, cost them. Thomas Walkup and Jared Johnson led them with 12, while UT Martin was led by Twymond Howard who had 17. Marshun Newell added 13 points and 10 assists, as this eliminates the Southland Conference from the tournament. SFA was their last representative.

(4) Louisville- 71, (13) Utah State- 67 -- The Cardinals used a 45-27 rebounding advantage to come back in this one as they trailed by double digits in the first half. 2 Louisville players had double doubles, as Montrezl Harrell had 24 points and 10 boards, while Terry Rozier had 13 points, 11 boards. Utah State was led by Darius Perkins who had 15.

So it'll be (12) UT Martin and (4) Louisville for the right to go to the Sweet Sixteen.


East Region

(6) Xavier- 84, (11) UC Irvine- 75 -- The difference in this one was at the line, as Xavier made 21 free throws to just 10 for UC Irvine. Xavier was led by Trevon Bluiett who had 19 points, while UC Irvine was led by Alex Young who had 15 points.

(14) Sacramento State- 65, (3) Maryland- 56 -- A shocker here as Sac State was up by 18 at halftime, taking advantage of the fact that the Terps were just 2-16 from behind the arc! Wow! Maryland tried to creep back in the second half, but every time they went on a run, Sac State would hit a big shot. They were led in scoring by Dylan Garrity and Mikh McKinney who each had 16, and Nick Hornsby put in a double-double with 10 points, 11 boards. Dez Wells led Maryland with 21 points in a shocking loss.

It'll be (14) Sacramento State vs. (6) Xavier for a Sweet Sixteen appearance.

[collegesportsfanms]

First Round Action- Charlotte, NC Pod

East Region

(10) St. Mary's- 70, (7) Dayton- 59 -- St. Mary's had a 37-27 rebounding advantage and hit 8 more free throws than Dayton, otherwise the stats were pretty even. The Gaels were led by Brad Waldow who had 18, while Dyshawn Pierre led Dayton with 17.

(2) Kansas- 55, (15) Missouri State- 45 -- The Jayhawks held Missouri State to just 31.9% shooting while shooting 42.6% themselves in a defense battle. KU was led by Frank Mason and Wayne Selden who had 10 points each, while Missouri State was led by Dorrian Williams who had 12 points.

So it'll be (10) St. Mary's vs. (2) Kansas for a Sweet Sixteen berth.


South Region

(1) Villanova- 66, (16) UCF- 61 -- This one did not come easy for Nova, who trailed 45-44 with 9 and a half minutes to go. Then, they proceeded to score the next 14 points to give themselves a nice cushion, but UCF fought back and cut it back down to 4, but Nova hit all their free throws down the stretch. They were led by JayVaughn Pinkston who had 18. Daniel Ochefu had a double-double with 10 points, 10 boards. UCF had 1 player in double figures, and that was B.J. Taylor who had 18.

(8) Indiana- 77, (9) Eastern Washington- 71 -- The Hoosiers put this one away in the first half, taking a 17 point lead into halftime. Eastern Washington could never recover, although they did get it down to 3 at one point. James Blackmon led Indiana with 22 points, while Eastern Washington was led by Drew Brandon who had 19.

So it'll be (8) Indiana vs. (1) Villanova for a Sweet Sixteen berth.

[collegesportsfanms]

First Round Action- Jacksonville, FL Pod

West Region

(5) Ohio State- 81, (12) Wake Forest- 70 -- All 5 starters scored in double figures for the Buckeyes, who simply attempted and made more shots in this game. D'Angelo Russell led them with 19, while Wake Forest was led by Codi Miller-McIntyre who also had 19.

(13) Marquette- 69, (4) SMU- 53 -- Marquette went on a 14-2 run to start the second half and put the game away. They were led by Duane Wilson who had 16. SMU did not have a double figure scorer, being led by Ben Moore who had 8.

So it's (13) Marquette vs. (5) Ohio State for a Sweet Sixteen berth.

West Region

(6) Cincinnati- 55, (11) Chattanooga- 54 -- This one was a classic, as neither team led by more than 6 the entire game. Tre' McLean hit a three to cut the Cincy lead to 55-54, then missed another one at the buzzer. He finished with 5 points, and Chattanooga was led by Justin Tuoyo who had 17. Cincinnati used very balanced scoring. Nobody in double figures, but they had 3 players with 8 points and 3 players with 7 points.

(14) Eastern Michigan- 66, (3) North Carolina- 56 -- The Tarheels shot just 35.1% overall and 18.2% from the three point line as Eastern Michigan pulls the upset. Mike Talley had 21 to lead Eastern Michigan, while the North Carolina was led by Kennedy Meeks who had 16.

So it'll be (14) Eastern Michigan vs. (6) Cincinnati for a Sweet Sixteen berth.

[collegesportsfanms]

First Round Action- Omaha, NE Pod

Midwest Region

(7) St. John's- 88, (10) UC Santa Barbara- 84 (OT) -- Another classic here, as Rysheed Jordan gave the Red Storm hope by hitting a buzzer beating three, and St. John's made free throws in OT to advance. The Johnnies were led by Jordan who had 27, while UCSB was led by Alan Williams who not only had 22 points, but also had 20 rebounds for an explosive double-double. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough as the first UCSB loss of the entire tournament ends up eliminating them.

(2) Kentucky- 76, (15) San Francisco- 67 -- The Wildcats raced to a 19 point halftime lead and put it on cruise control from there. Karl-Anthony Towns led Kentucky with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while San Francisco's Tim Derksen led all scorers with 18.

So it'll be (7) St. John's vs. (2) Kentucky for a berth in the Sweet Sixteen.

West Region

(1) Virginia- 68, (16) East Tennessee State- 59 -- The only reason this game was close is because East Tennessee State hit 11 three pointers. If not for that, the Cavaliers would have ran away with it. Virginia did their damage at the line, hitting 19 free throws to just 8 for East Tennessee. Malcolm Brogdon led Virginia with 18 points, while East Tennessee State's Jalen Riley led all scorers with 19 in a losing effort. This, unfortunately, does eliminate the Southern Conference from the tournament, as East Tennessee was their last representative.

(8) Purdue- 65, (9) Richmond- 56 -- The Boilermakers overcame a 6 point halftime deficit, holding Richmond to less than 30% shooting in the second half. Rapheal Davis led Purdue with 16 points, while Richmond was led by Shawndre' Jones who had 15.

This sets up a battle between (8) Purdue vs. (1) Virginia for a Sweet Sixteen berth.

[collegesportsfanms]

First Round Action- Pittsburgh, PA Pod

Midwest Region

(6) Iowa- 74, (11) Washington- 60 -- After being tied at halftime, the Hawkeyes went on a 22-8 run midway through the second half to take control. Iowa was led in scoring by Aaron White who had 21, while Washington was led by Nigel Williams-Goss who had 17.

(14) Hawaii- 68, (3) Northern Iowa- 61 -- bbgunn is dancing in the streets with this result, as Hawaii led by as many as 13 in the second half, cruising to a fairly easy victory. Aaron Valdes and Isaac Fleming each had 10 to lead the Warriors, while UNI was led by Nate Buss who had 13.

So it'll be (14) Hawaii vs. (6) Iowa for a Sweet Sixteen berth.

East Region

(1) Arizona- 65, (16) Rice- 56 -- The Wildcats got a major scare in this one, as they were down by 6 at halftime and actually trailed by double digits at one point early in the second half. Then Arizona put the clamps down, forcing 12 second half turnovers to stave off embarrassment. They were led by Kaleb Tarczewski who had a double-double with 18 points, 13 boards. Rice was led by Seth Gearheart who had 14.

(8) Boise State- 51, (9) Rhode Island- 42 -- Boise State held the Rams to just 14 second half points in a dominating defensive performance. Rhode Island shot just 33.3% from the field and was led in scoring by Hassan Martin who had 13. Boise State was led by Derrick Marks who had 16, but James Webb III had a double-double with 10 points and 18 boards.

So it'll be (8) Boise State vs. (1) Arizona for a Sweet Sixteen berth.

[collegesportsfanms]

First Round Action- Louisville, KY Pod

Midwest Region

(1) Duke- 81, (16) DePaul- 56 -- A game that was close at halftime turned ugly in a hurry, as the Blue Devils erupted for 44 points in the second half. Overall they shot 51.9% and were led by Jahlil Okafor who had a double-double with 19 points, 14 rebounds.

(8) Texas- 73, (9) Green Bay- 47 -- This game was never in doubt as the Longhorns led by as many as 21 in the first half and cruised to victory. They were led by Demarcus Holland who had 19, and Cameron Ridley had a double-double with 11 points, 10 boards. Green Bay shot just 28.3% from the field and was led by Keifer Sykes who had 17.

So it'll be a big time matchup as (8) Texas and (1) Duke will square off for a Sweet Sixteen berth.

South Region

(6) Old Dominion- 55, (11) St. Bonaventure- 52 -- The best game of the pod so far, there were 8 ties and 11 lead changes. Old Dominion scored 5 of the last 7 points to get the victory and were led by Trey Freeman with 18. St. Bonaventure was led by Marcus Posley and his 17 points, and also had Youssou Ndoye posting a double-double with 12 points, 12 rebounds. This does eliminate the Atlantic 10 conference, as the Bonnies were their last representative.

(3) Michigan State- 72, (14) Morehead State- 63 -- The Spartans doubled up Morehead State from the free throw line, which proved to be a big difference in this one. Michigan State's Denzel Valentine went off for 26 points and Matt Costello added a 10 point, 11 rebound double-double. Morehead State was led by Karam Mashour who had 13.

It'll be (6) Old Dominion facing (3) Michigan State for a Sweet Sixteen berth.

[bbgunn]

Hawaii's doing well!

[Vince, Pt. II]

First Round Action- Omaha, NE Pod

Midwest Region

(7) St. John's- 88, (10) UC Santa Barbara- 84 (OT) -- Another classic here, as Rysheed Jordan gave the Red Storm hope by hitting a buzzer beating three, and St. John's made free throws in OT to advance. The Johnnies were led by Jordan who had 27, while UCSB was led by Alan Williams who not only had 22 points, but also had 20 rebounds for an explosive double-double. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough as the first UCSB loss of the entire tournament ends up eliminating them.

Boo!

[collegesportsfanms]

Just wanted to give everybody an update on this, as I still have 2 more pods to complete to finish off the round of 64. I have been having major issue with finding free time at work lately, and I am on my way out of town soon, but when I get back on Monday, I am going to work on getting this done, as I want to have it completed in time for March Madness.

The Round of 64 will be completed on Monday, and the Round of 32 will start on Tuesday. Thanks for reading.

[collegesportsfanms]

First Round Action- Seattle, WA Pod

East Region

(5) Utah- 66, (12) William & Mary- 47 -- The Utes blew this game open in the last 10 minutes, finishing on a 23-6 run to put it away. They were led by Brandon Taylor, who had 19 points, while W&M did not have a double digit scorer. They were led by Marcus Thornton who had 9.

(4) Iowa State- 72, (13) Colorado- 68 -- This battle of former Big 12 foes looked like it was going to be a one sided victory for the Buffaloes, who led by 13 at the half. Over the first 8 minutes of the second half, the Cyclones went on a 22-8 run to jump in the lead, and the game went back and forth but Iowa State prevailed! They were led by Monte Morris who had 23 points, while Colorado was led by Askia Booker, who had 16 points in a losing effort.

So this sets up (5) Utah and (4) Iowa State for a Sweet Sixteen berth.

South Region

(10) South Carolina- 67, (7) Miami (FL)- 60 -- Despite being outplayed for most of the game, South Carolina found a way to win by knocking down more free throws than the Hurricanes. That's really what this game came down to as the Gamecocks had more turnovers and were outrebounded. Miami attempted 10 more shots but just couldn't knock them down late. They were led by Angel Rodriguez who had 16 points, while South Carolina was led by Duane Notice who had 17.

(2) Wichita State- 69, (15) Winthrop- 66

A battle between Gregg Marshall's current team and former team, and his former team came very close to pulling the upset. This game feature 6 ties and 11 lead changes, and the Shockers actually stretched it to 10 at one point in the second half. Every time though, Winthrop came back, but turnovers in their last 2 possessions cost them a chance to win, as the current Gregg Marshall coached school survives. This does eliminate the Big South conference from the tournament, as Winthrop was their last representative.

So we'll have a dream match-up (for me anyways), as (10) South Carolina will take on (2) Wichita State for a Sweet Sixteen berth.

Obviously, Wichita State is my favorite team, being a hometown boy, but I had the pleasure of meeting Frank Martin when he was coaching at K-State. A lot of people knock him for his coaching style, but he's nothing but class off the court, and this is a game I'd love to see in real life.

[collegesportsfanms]

First Round Action- Portland, OR Pod

West Region

(7) Murray State- 77, (10) Alabama- 76 -- In what might be the game of the tournament so far, Alabama rallied from a 10 point halftime deficit to take the lead late, but Murray State's Cameron Payne drilled a three pointer to give them the 77-76 lead with 39 seconds left. Alabama had 4 chances to win it but just couldn't get a shot to fall and the Racers survive! Payne led Murray State with 15 points, and Jarvis Williams had a double-double with 14 points, 12 rebounds. Ricky Tarrant led Alabama with 17 points.

(2) Gonzaga- 82, (15) Portland- 59 -- When I was putting the bracket together, I completely missed that these 2 both play in the same conference, but oh well, that's the breaks. This was essentially a home game for Portland, but it didn't make a difference as the Zags took control early and never let up. They outrebounded Portland 40-23 and were led in scoring by Kevin Pangos who had 16. Kevin Bailey led Portland with 13 in a losing effort.

So we have a great non-power conference match-up in the Round of 32, as (7) Murray State and (2) Gonzaga will tangle for a Sweet Sixteen berth.

South Region

(12) Cleveland State- 61, Oklahoma- 51 -- The Sooners could not overcome bad shooting in this one, as they shot just 30.2% from the field and 15.8% from the three point line as Cleveland State pulls the second 12/5 upset of the tournament. They were led by Trey Lewis who had 24. Anton Grady added a double-double with 12 points, 10 boards. Oklahoma was led by Buddy Hield and TaShawn Thomas who each had 13 points, but Thomas added 12 rebounds for a double-double.

(4) Baylor- 74, (13) Hofstra- 60 -- No trouble for the Bears in this one, as they got a double digit lead midway through the first half and never let it slip to single digits again. They were led by Rico Gathers who had 21 points, while Hofstra was led by Juan'ya Green who had 14 points.

So we have (12) Cleveland State and (4) Baylor playing for a Sweet Sixteen berth, and the round of 64 is now complete!

[collegesportsfanms]

1 other major screw-up I had was through group play, I had Maryland correctly playing in the Big Ten, but when I started the round of 128, I somehow moved them to the ACC. They were actually a member of the Big Ten in the 2014-2015 season. This means that some of the charts are wrong, and I will be keeping them the way they are, but for my next conference challenge update and how many teams in each conference are left, I will have Maryland where they should have been. The Big Ten. Sorry about that, and I'm a little bummed that nobody else caught it either. But.. it's an easy fix, so nothing to worry about!

[collegesportsfanms]

Here is a look at how the conference challenge stands for the Round of 64 games only. Congrats to the MAC for keeping their only team alive. The Big Ten and the Big 12 were the big winners, losing only 1 team each, while the ACC came in with 6 and split 3-3. 5 conferences saw all their teams eliminated in the Round of 64, with the Atlantic 10 being the big loser, losing all 4 of their teams.

[collegesportsfanms]

Here is a look at the conference challenge standings including round of 128 and round of 64 games. As you can see, the Big Ten and the Big 12 are really in control of their own destiny, but if they lose a lot of teams in the Round of 32, and the Big Sky's lone representative can keep winning, who knows. Same with the MAC and their lone representative. And the Missouri Valley. Really though, with the Big Ten and Big 12 having the most teams remaining, the ball is in their court so to speak. Here's a look:

[collegesportsfanms]

Round of 32 Conference Breakdown

Big Ten- 5
Big 12- 4
ACC- 3
Big East- 3
American- 2
Ohio Valley- 2
Pac 12- 2
SEC- 2
WCC- 2
Big Sky- 1
Big West- 1
Conference USA- 1
Horizon- 1
MAC- 1
Missouri Valley- 1
Mountain West- 1

I think it's great that we have 16 conferences still represented and we are down to the Round of 32. Obviously the Big Ten and the Big 12 combined are just over 1/4 of the teams, and the SEC has been the most disappointing, but the fact it is still so represented just proves the kind of parity that college basketball has not only in real life but in WIS.

[collegesportsfanms]

With me out of the office the rest of the week and next Monday, the Round of 32 will now start next Tuesday. I want to get some interaction involved, so I am issuing a challenge. I have 3 questions that I am going to ask, and I'd like as many people to answer as possible. The person that gets the most questions right, or comes closest to the right answers, gets to choose what type of project I do next involving What If Sports. It can be NCAA basketball, NCAA football, MLB, NBA, NFL, or NHL. You name the sport and what you would like to see, and I'll make it happen. Now for the questions.

1. How many #1 seeds will advance to the Final Four?

2. Which #1 seed will be the first to lose?

3. Which of the double digits seeds remaining will advance the farthest? The double digit seeds remaining are UT Martin, Hawaii, Eastern Michigan, Sacramento State, Cleveland State, St. Mary's, and South Carolina.

I'll throw 2 bonus questions in there. Predict the following: Final Four, National Title Game, National Champion.

So let's see how many people have the guts to take my challenge. lol

[collegesportsfanms]

Second Round Action- Columbus, OH Pod

Midwest Region

(4) Louisville- 80, (12) UT Martin- 56 -- Louisville left no doubt in this one, shooting a whopping 58% from the field and 50% from the three point line to win this one easily. The Cardinals were led by Montrezl Harrell who had a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds. UT Martin was lead by Deville Smith who had 15 points.

So Louisville advances to the Sweet Sixteen where they will take on the winner between (8) Texas and (1) Duke.

East Region

(6) Xavier- 69, (14) Sacramento State- 53 -- Shooting was the difference in this one as well, as Xavier made 27 shots compared to just 18 for Sac State. Rebounding was a huge difference too as Xavier won that battle 39-24. The Musketeers were led by Matt Stainbrook who had a double-double with 13 points and 12 boards. Cody Demps led Sacramento State with 13 points. They were the Big Sky's last representative, so the Big Sky is gone from the tournament.

Xavier advances to the Sweet Sixteen and will take on the winner of (10) St. Mary's and (2) Kansas.

[collegesportsfanms]

Second Round Action- Charlotte, NC Pod

East Region

(10) St. Mary's- 65, (2) Kansas- 53 -- The Gaels pull the first big Second Round upset, using a 41-31 advantage on the boards and holding Kansas to 34.6% shooting. Brad Waldow led the way for St. Mary's with 23 points, while the Jayhawks were led by Frank Mason III who had 13 points in a losing effort.

St. Mary's advances to the Sweet Sixteen and will take on (6) Xavier.

South Region

(1) Villanova- 86, (8) Indiana- 80 -- This one was tight all the way, with no team holding a double digit lead. Villanova stretched it to 9 once, but that was it. The Wildcats used an 8-0 run late in the game to stretch it to 9 before Indiana tried to come back, but Nova hit their free throws. They were led by Kris Jenkins who had 17 points, while the Hoosiers were led by Yogi Ferrell who had 15 points.

So Villanova advances to the Sweet Sixteen and will take on the winner of (12) Cleveland State and (4) Baylor.

[collegesportsfanms]

Second Round Action- Jacksonville, FL Pod

West Region

(5) Ohio State- 76, (13) Marquette- 60 -- The Buckeyes used a 40-22 rebounding edge and 20 second chance points to win this one pretty easily. They were led by Marc Loving who had 17 points, while Matt Carlino led led Marquette with 22 points.

Ohio State advances to the Sweet Sixteen to take on the winner between (8) Purdue and (1) Virginia.


(14) Eastern Michigan- 48, (6) Cincinnati- 38 -- We have our first Cinderella team in the Sweet Sixteen, as Cincinnati shot just 25.6% from the field and 12.5% from three point land, mustering just 38 points overall. The Bearcats were led by Troy Caupain who had 9, while Eastern Michigan was led by Raven lee who had 13. Unless I've screwed up again, this should eliminate the American Conference from the tournament, as Cincinnait should have been their last representative.

Eastern Michigan advances to the Sweet Sixteen where they will take on the winner of (7) Murray State and (2) Gonzaga.

[collegesportsfanms]

Somehow or another, I have screwed up in my count as to how many teams each conference had left, and I think it's been screwed up since the Round of 64. To my knowledge, going into the Round of 32, the American Conference had 1 team left and the Big East had 4. I'll make sure that I do a more thorough count for the sweet sixteen.

[collegesportsfanms]

Second Round Action- Omaha, NE Pod

Midwest Region

(2) Kentucky- 77, (7) St. John's- 67 -- The difference in this one came from the free throw line as Kentucky made 24 free throws to just 11 for St. John's. Andrew Harrison led the Wildcats in scoring with 14, but Karl-Anthony Towns had a double-double with 11 points, 10 boards. Phil Greene IV led all scorers with 17 for St. John's in a losing effort.

Kentucky advances to the Sweet Sixteen where they will meet the winner of the (14) Iowa/(6) Hawaii match-up.

West Region

(1) Virginia- 66, (8) Purdue- 56 -- The Cavaliers owned a 45-31 rebounding edge and held Purdue to just 34.6% shooting as they advance to the Sweet Sixteen. London Perrantes led Virginia with 18 points, while Purdue was led by A.J. Hammons who had a double-double with 11 points, 10 boards.

Virginia will take on (5) Ohio State in the Sweet Sixteen.

[collegesportsfanms]

Second Round Action- Pittsburgh, PA Pod

Midwest Region

(6) Iowa- 86, (14) Hawaii- 83 -- A gallant effort by the Rainbow Warriors, as they had a chance to send the game to overtime, but a missed three pointer sealed the deal for Iowa. Aaron White led the Hawkeyes with a game high 26 points, while Hawaii was led by Roderick Bobbitt who had 20. Unfortunately, this eliminates the Big West from the tournament, as Hawaii was their last representative.

Iowa advances to the Sweet Sixteen where they will take on (2) Kentucky.

East Region

(1) Arizona- 68, (8) Boise State- 53 -- The Wildcats went on a 13-2 run to start the second half, breaking open what was a 3 point game at halftime. They shot 51.1% from the field and were led by Gabe York, who scored 15 points in 15 minutes of action. Boise State was led by Derrick Marks who had 13. This eliminates the Mountain West from the tournament, as Boise State was their last representative.

Arizona advances to the Sweet Sixteen and they await the winner of (5) Utah/(4) Iowa State.

[collegesportsfanms]

Second Round Action- Louisville, KY Pod

Midwest Region

(1) Duke- 84, (8) Texas- 75 -- A well played game by both teams, but Duke outrebounded the Longhorns 39-34 and made a few more second chance buckets which proved to be the difference. The Blue Devils were led by Jahlil Okafor who had 20 points, while Texas was led by Demarcus Holland who had 16.

Duke advances to the Sweet Sixteen where they will take on (4) Louisville.

South Region

(3) Michigan State- 70, (6) Old Dominion- 61 -- The Spartans shot 47.1% from the three point line, and made 8 of them which proved to be the difference. They were led by Travis Trice who had 19. Denzel Valentine added a double-double with 13 points, 11 boards. Old Dominion was led by Trey Freeman who had 16. This does eliminate Conference USA from the tournament as Old Dominion was their last representative.

Michigan State moves on to the Sweet Sixteen where they await the winner of (7) South Carolina/(2) Wichita State.

[collegesportsfanms]

Second Round Action- Seattle, WA Pod

East Region

(4) Iowa State- 78, (5) Utah- 73 -- Although the Utes shot much better than the Cyclones, Iowa State used a 39-29 rebounding advantage and got to the line much more frequently, making 24-29 free throws compared to just 11-16 for Utah. The Utes were led by Delon Wright who had 19 points, while Iowa State was led by Dustin Hogue who had 17 points.

Iowa State advances to the Sweet Sixteen and will take on (1) Arizona.

South Region

(2) Wichita State- 72, (7) South Carolina- 53 -- The Shockers had no problem in this one, as South Carolina cut it to 5 early in the second half but then Wichita State put it away with solid defense as they forced 14 Gamecock turnovers. Darius Carter led the way for the Shox as he had 15 points, and 3 players led South Carolina with 10 points: Duane Notice, Sindarius Thornwell, and Tyrone Johnson.

Wichita State advances to the Sweet Sixteen and will take on (3) Michigan State.

[collegesportsfanms]

Second Round Action- Portland, OR Pod

West Region

(2) Gonzaga- 78, (7) Murray State- 69 -- Despite being outrebounded by 7, The Zags forced 17 Murray State turnovers and doubled them up at the free throw line, 24-12. Przemek Karnowski led Gonzaga with 18 points, while T.J. Sapp led Murray State with 16 points. This eliminates the Ohio Valley from the tournament, as Murray State was their lone representative.

Gonzaga advances to the Sweet Sixteen to take on (14) Eastern Michigan.

South Region

(4) Baylor- 78, (12) Cleveland State- 75 -- An absolutely phenomenal game as there were several lead changes (I didn't count them but there had to be at least 10 or 15) and neither team led by more than 7 the entire game. Cleveland State shot way better from three point range, Baylor shot way better from the free throw line. In the end, it came down to rebounding, as Baylor won that battle 38-23. The Bears were led by Kenny Chery who had 18 points, but Rico Gathers was really the man of the hour as he posted a double-double with 15 points, 18 rebounds. Trey Lewis did all he could to keep Cleveland State in it as he erupted for a game high 33 points in a losing effort. This eliminates the Horizon from the tournament as Cleveland State was their last remaining representative.

Baylor advances to the Sweet Sixteen and will take on (1) Villanova.

[collegesportsfanms]

Here's a look at the Conference Challenge Standings for just the Round of 32 games. Congrats to the ACC, MAC, Missouri Valley, and WCC for keeping all of their teams alive. 7 conferences lost their remaining representatives this round, with the Ohio Valley being the big loser as they lost 2 teams. The other 6 conferences only had 1 team remaining going into the Round of 32. Have a looksee:

[collegesportsfanms]

And now a look at the complete, overall Conference Challenge Standings as we enter the Sweet Sixteen. Even though they have a lack of teams, the MAC, WCC, and Missouri Valley are in the best position as they are at the top right now. If the teams in those conferences falter in the Sweet Sixteen, then it's up to the Big Ten, Big 12, and ACC to make their move. The ACC is in a tough spot though, as they'll lose 1 team for sure in the Sweet Sixteen as Duke and Louisville play each other. The Big 12 is in a tough spot as well, as both their remaining representatives have to play #1 seeds in the Sweet Sixteen. Can't say much for the Big Ten either, as one of their representatives plays a #1 seed, and the other 2 play #2 seeds that couldn't easily be #1 seeds. So it's going to be a major battle in the Sweet Sixteen for a lot of conferences. Here's a look.

[collegesportsfanms]

Sweet Sixteen Conference Breakdown

ACC- 3
Big Ten- 3
Big 12- 2
Big East- 2
WCC- 2
MAC- 1
Missouri Valley- 1
Pac 12- 1
SEC- 1

Nice to still see 9 conferences represented in the Sweet Sixteen, still goes to show the parity. What's even greater is that the number of non-P5 schools remaining almost matches the number of P5 schools (ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac 12, SEC for those who were wondering). The P5 schools have 10 teams remaining, the non-P5 schools have 6 teams remaining. Not bad. 4 conferences are on the chopping block this round, and still the most disappointing conference has to be the SEC.

[collegesportsfanms]

More fun tidbits as we get ready to start the Sweet Sixteen (which I will start tomorrow):

Here are the teams broken down by seeds left:

#1- 4
#2- 3
#3- 1
#4- 3
#5- 1
#6- 2
#10- 1
#14- 1

7 of the 8 top 8 seeds are still around, and 11 of the top 16 (1-4) seeds are still around. Not bad. 2 Cinderella double digit seeds in the Sweet Sixteen. All 3 of the #3 seeds eliminated were upset by 14 seeds in the first round. 1 of those 14 seeds advanced to the Sweet Sixteen, 2 #6 seeds took advantage of the easier Second Round game. Also, the #5 seed that advanced to the Sweet Sixteen was thanks to having to play the #13 seed in the Second Round. And of course the #10 seed in the Sweet Sixteen knocked off the lone #2 seed that's been eliminated.

Anybody confused yet? I hope not, but it's pretty interesting stuff.

Great to see all the #1 seeds still around, that means so far my seeding of the tournament has been pretty solid. Of the 4 regions, only 1 region will have the traditional 1/4 and 2/3 Sweet Sixteen Match-ups. That is the South Region, where we will have (1) Villanova/(4) Baylor and (3) Michigan State/(2) Wichita State.

The Midwest Region has (1) Duke/(4) Louisville and (6) Iowa/(2) Kentucky.

The West Region has (1) Virginia/(5) Ohio St. and (14) Eastern Michigan/(2) Gonzaga.

And finally, the East Region has (1) Arizona/(4) Iowa State and (6) Xavier/(10) St. Mary's.

Hope everyone is as excited as I am about the Sweet Sixteen. I feel like at least one of the #1 seeds will lose, if not more. They all have very tough match-ups. I also have a bad feeling my beloved Wichita State Shockers will go down to Michigan State. WIS isn't always kind to the Shockers. And as far as Eastern Michigan goes, I don't see a chance in heck of them beating Gonzaga. I do see St. Mary's beating Xavier though.

[collegesportsfanms]

NCAA Midwest Regional Semifinals- Cleveland, OH

(1) Duke- 69, (4) Louisville- 59 -- The Blue Devils took advantage of the free throw line in this one, as the fouls were relatively even but Duke got a lot more shooting fouls. They were 25-30 from the line and Louisville was 7-10. Jahlil Okafor had a game high 20 for Duke, while Montrezl Harrell led Louisville with 14.

(2) Kentucky- 70, (6) Iowa- 58 -- The Hawkeyes kept it close for a while, but eventually Kentucky led by 19 at halftime and put it on cruise control from there. They outrebounded Iowa 41-32 and were led by Karl-Anthony Towns who had a double-double with 20 points, 10 boards. Iowa was led by Jarrod Uthoff who had 15.

So it'll be a classic rivalry, as (2) Kentucky and (1) Duke meet in the Midwest Regional Final.

[collegesportsfanms]

NCAA West Regional Semifinals- Los Angeles, CA

(5) Ohio State- 79, (1) Virginia- 65 -- Our first #1 seed goes down as the Buckeyes went on a 20-8 run to end the first half and break open a close game. They led by 15 at halftime and never looked back, shooting 51.9% from the field. D'Angelo Russell led the way for Ohio State with 26 points, while Justin Anderson led Virginia with 21 points.

(2) Gonzaga- 75, (14) Eastern Michigan- 66 -- The incredible Cinderella run for Eastern Michigan comes to an end, as the Zags used a 38-23 rebounding advantage and shot 51.9% from the field to eliminate them. Karrington Ward led Eastern Michigan with 17 in the losing effort, while the Zags were led by Kyle Wiltjer who had 25.

So it'll be (5) Ohio State and (2) Gonzaga in the West Regional Final.

[collegesportsfanms]

NCAA East Regional Semifinals- Syracuse, NY

(1) Arizona- 82, (4) Iowa State- 64 -- A 42-31 rebounding edge did the Cyclones in, as Arizona got a bunch of second chance points, despite shooting just 2-10 from three point land. It also helped that the Wildcats only turned the ball over 7 times. That's pretty darn good! Jameel McKay led Iowa State with a double-double as he had 16 points and 10 rebounds, and Arizona topped that by having 2 guys post double-doubles. First, Brandon Ashley had 19 points and 11 rebounds, then Stanley Johnson added 13 points and 15 rebounds.

(6) Xavier- 80, (10) St. Mary's- 73 -- It was nip and tuck for a while, but the Musketeers took the lead midway through the first half and never trailed again. They shot 47.1% from the line and made 11 more free throws than St. Mary's, who was led by Brad Waldow who had 24 points. Xavier had 3 players who tied with 14 points: Myles Davis, Remy Abell, and Trevon Bluiett.

So it'll be (6) Xavier vs. (1) Arizona in the East Regional Final.

[collegesportsfanms]

NCAA South Regional Semifinals- Houston, TX

(1) Villanova- 76, (4) Baylor- 71 -- Villanova almost blew a 15 point halftime lead as Baylor got it down to 4 on a couple occasions in the second half. And I'm not kidding you, things were almost exactly even. Both teams made 24 shots, 8 three pointers, and had 34 rebounds. The difference? Villanova made 20 free throws compared to Baylor's 15. That was about the only thing that separate these 2 teams. Kenny Chery led the Bears with 16 points in a losing effort, while Villanova was led by Ryan Arcidiacono who had 15. This eliminates the Big 12 from the tournament, as Baylor was there last remaining representative.

(3) Michigan State- 78, (2) Wichita State- 68 -- As I figured, WIS gave Michigan State the advantage in this one, but I'm ok with that because the Spartans were really good last year. The Shox led by 6 at halftime but Michigan State outscored them 45-29 in the second half. Poor second half shooting had a lot to do with it as the Shox ended up shooting 36.7% for the game and 29.6% from three point land. They were led by Ron Baker who had 14 points, while Michigan State was led by Travis Trice who had 20 points, while Branden Dawson added 11 points and 19 rebounds for a double-double. This eliminates the Missouri Valley as Wichita State was their last remaining representative.

So we'll have (3) Michigan State vs. (1) Villanova in the South Regional Final.

[collegesportsfanms]

Here's a look at the Conference Challenge Standings for just the Sweet Sixteen. The Big East, Pac 12, and SEC were the big winners as they kept all their teams alive, while the Big 12, MAC, and Missouri Valley were all eliminated.

[collegesportsfanms]

Here's a look at the Conference Challenge Standings all the way through the Sweet Sixteen games. The Big East and Big Ten, with 2 teams each in the Elite Eight, control their own destiny. If all 4 of those teams falter in the Elite Eight, then it really opens things up. Also, the WCC, if Gonzaga can keep winning, still has a decent shot. Even the Missouri Valley, surprisingly, if all the conferences ahead of them falter in the Elite Eight, may have a shot. As far as the ACC, Pac 12, and SEC, I'm thinking their representative would have to win out to give their conference a chance. Here's a look so you can judge for yourself:

[collegesportsfanms]

Tomorrow I will give a few tidbits heading into the Elite Eight, and I will sim the Elite Eight. My plan is to get the Elite Eight plus pre and post information wrapped up, so that on Friday I can wrap up the Final Four and the National Championship and get this project completed.

[collegesportsfanms]

Holy cow guys, I completely lost track of this thread! Between work, school, and actual coaching, I've been focusing on the interactive dynasties and this one got forgotten about. I will get this one finished up next week, as I'm sure some of you are in eager anticipation to see how it turns out. Thanks for your patience!