NCAA basketball 2011, a What If Sports Replay

[collegesportsfanms]

Realizing I have a lot of projects going on already, and also realizing that I have a lot of down time at work usually, I have decided to take the suggestion that I gave to stlee and do a 2011 ncaa basketball replay using what-if sports.

I have chosen 128 teams. Basically how I'm setting this up is I'm using the top 8 conferences based on conference RPI at the end of the 2011-2012 season. Each conference will have 16 teams, split into 2 divisions of 8. The 8 conferences that will be used are: Big Ten, Big East, Big Twelve, SEC, Mountain West, ACC, Atlantic Ten, and Pac Twelve. To start I figured out how many teams combined were in those 8 conferences last year, and found there were 96 teams. That means I needed 32 more teams. For the most part, I took the top 32 teams based on the final RPI of the 2011-2012 seasons that weren't in any of those 8 conferences. However, there was such a strong presence on the east coast that I was short of west coast and mountain west teams. So I made some changes. Some deserving teams got left out, and I placed some teams in that wouldn't have been in otherwise. I aligned the conferences the best I could with what I had to work with. I am now splitting the conferences into divisions, which I will be doing totally random with a dice roller, and I will announce those tomorrow.

I have also set up how I am going to play out this season. I am treating it as a full regular season, split into several parts.

1. Each team will play 7 non-conference games, 1 game each against a team from another conference This will also be done totally random with a dice roller.

2. Each team will play 7 games, one each against conference opponents in the other division.

3. Each team will play a home and home series against the other 7 teams in their division.

Now by my count, this will give every team 28 games overall, and 21 conference games.

Then we will get into postseason, which I will cover as we get later into the regular season. We will have conference tournaments, a 64 team NCAA tournament, and a 32 team NIT tournament. This means 32 teams will not see postseason action.

Any questions, comments, or concerns, feel free to comment.

For those that are worried about the interactive dynasty.. that is something I do at home, so doing this ncaa replay will NOT affect the progres of the interactive dynasty.

I will have more info tomorrow, hope you all enjoy.

[britrock88]

For 2), wouldn't you want 8 games against teams in the other conference of the same division?

[StLee]

Cool! I'll look forward to seeing how your season replay shakes out!

[Marmel]

Sounds pretty cool. Looking forward to seeing the results.

[collegesportsfanms]

britrock, you are correct. There should be 8 conference games against the other division, bringing the total to 22 conference games and 29 games overall.

For the non-conference, I am turning them all into series.. ACC/Big East and so on. The first 7 weeks of the season will see 4 non-conference series each week, which will be hosted at neutral sites. I don't have my paperwork in front of me, but each conference will have a chance to host 3 or 4 of these series. All of these games will be played at neutral sites. Sounds confusing, and I will be able to explain it better when I get things set up.

What I am looking for are suggestions of locations for each conference host. For example, when the ACC hosts a non-conference series against the Big East, where could we hold the series? I am taking suggestions, because figuring out locations isn't my strong point.

[britrock88]

ACC/Big East in... Washington? Charlotte?

What are the other series combos?

[Marmel]

Big East/ACC in DC.
Pac12/Big 10 in South Dakota or Montana
SEC/Big 12 in St. Louis

[collegesportsfanms]

Here are the conferences and divisions with teams. Now granted, this isn't going to be as fancy as stlees football dynasty. In fact its going to be pretty simplified.

Big Ten

Division 1- Michigan St., Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, Nebraska, Penn St., Butler
Division 2- Ohio St., Purdue, Northwestern, Iowa, Minnesota, Northern Iowa, Murray St., Illinois St.

Big East

Division 1- Marquette, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Cincinnati, UConn, Rutgers, St. Johns, Providence
Division 2- Syracuse, South Florida, Louisville, West Virginia, Seton Hall, Pittsburgh, Villanova, DePaul

Big 12

Division 1- Missouri, Baylor, Iowa St., Kansas St., Texas Tech, Wichita St., Creighton, Ohio
Division 2- Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma St., Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Oral Roberts, Marshall, Akron

SEC

Division 1- Florida, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, South Carolina, Southern Miss
Division 2- Kentucky, Mississippi St., Ole Miss, LSU, Arkansas, Memphis, Middle Tennessee St., Central Florida

Mountain West

Division 1- San Diego St., UNLV, Colorado St., TCU, BYU, Denver, Weber St., New Mexico St.
Division 2- New Mexico, Wyoming, Boise St., Air Force, Nevada, Montana, South Dakota St., Lamar

ACC

Division 1- Duke, Florida St., Virginia, N.C. State, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, Boston College, Belmont
Division 2- North Carolina, Miami, Clemson, Maryland, Virginia Tech, Loyola-Maryland, Drexel, Harvard

Atlantic Ten

Division 1- St. Louis, Xavier, St. Bonaventure, UMass, Duquesne, Charlotte, George Washington, George Mason
Division 2- Temple, Lasalle, Dayton, St. Joes, Richmond, Rhode Island, Fordham, VCU

Pac 12

Division 1- California, Oregon, Arizona, Colorado, Arizona St., Utah, USC, Long Beach St.
Division 2- Washington, UCLA, Stanford, Oregon St., Washington St., Gonzaga, St. Marys, Loyola Marymount

As for the confrence matchups, every conference will play ever other conference once through the first 7 weeks. I won't go over all the matchups now, but the week 1 matchups will be as follows:

Big East vs. Big Ten
Big 12 vs. Pac 12
SEC vs. A-Ten
MWC vs. ACC

[britrock88]

BE/Big Ten - Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia
XII/PAC - Phoenix, Denver, Las Vegas
SEC/A10 - Cincinnati, Richmond, Charlotte, Nashville
MWC/ACC - St. Louis, Kansas City, Oklahoma City, Memphis

[collegesportsfanms]

A couple more notes as I get ready to jump into this thing..

First, I will be using some of the same ideas that stlee used for his college football scenario. I will be previewing the best games of the week, and will be giving a top 25 poll for every week that I will decide myself. I won't have any awards or players of the week, since whatifsports doesn't seem to keep the sim box scores for very long. I also won't have the graphics that stlee uses, simply because I don't have the time or the knowledge of how to do stuff like that. Pretty much what you'll get out of me is a lot of text. Boring I know, but hopefully I can spice it up enough to attract some followers.

With that being said, lets get to the preseason top 25 poll for the 2011-2012 season. This is taken from the actual preseason top 25 AP poll for the 2011-2012 season.

#1- North Carolina
#2- Kentucky
#3- Ohio St.
#4- UConn
#5- Syracuse
#6- Duke
#7- Vanderbilt
#8- Florida
#9- Louisville
#10- Pittsburgh
#11- Memphis
#12- Baylor
#13- Kansas
#14- Xavier
#15- Wisconsin
#16- Arizona
#17- UCLA
#18- Michigan
#19- Alabama
#20- Texas A&M
#21- Cincinnati
#22- Marquette
#23- Gonzaga
#24- California
#25- Missouri

Also, to decide the matchups for all the conference vs. conference matchups, I did it the old fashioned way, I simply got 8 sacks (1 for each conference), and drew names out of the sack. There are some interesting matchups for week 1 that we will preview.

[collegesportsfanms]

Week 1 Preview

The conference vs. conference matchups are as follows:

Big East vs. Big Ten, Big 12 vs. Pac 12, SEC vs. Atlantic Ten, MWC vs. ACC. For each, there should be some exciting matchups, and lets take a look at some now.

Big East vs. Big Ten Series

Feature Game: #5 Syracuse vs. #15 Wisconsin - Any time you have 2 top 15programs facing each other, you have to consider it a key matchup.

West Virginia vs. Butler - This would be a key matchup even if Butler wasn't now in the Big Ten. With a couple final four runs recently, and West Virginia always a threat, look for this one to be good.

Georgetown vs. Michigan St. - 2 programs with a heap of tradition face off. Neither team is ranked, but don't be surprised if we see both teams in the top 25 somewhere throughout the season.

Big 12 vs. Pac 12 Series

Feature Game: #20 Texas A&M vs. Washington - There were no matchups between ranked teams in this conference series, but Washington received quite a few votes in the actual preseason poll, and it looks to be by far the best matchup in this series.

Creighton vs. #17 UCLA - Never count out Creighton, who has a history of knocking off ranked teams. Creighton is a team that is usually ranked themselves.

SEC vs. A-Ten Series

Feature Game: #2 Kentucky vs. #14 Xavier - Xavier is the only A-Ten team that is ranked, and well, we all know what Kentucky can do.

#19 Alabama vs. George Mason - George Mason has final four experience, and Alabama is coming off an NIT runner-up performance.

MWC vs. ACC Series

Feature Game: San Diego St. vs. #6 Duke - This is by far the weakest conference vs. conference series in the first week, as there could be a lot of mismatches. However, San Diego St. is coached by a legend in Steve Fisher, and well, for Duke, Coach K is one of the best in the game. If nothing else, this is a great coaching matchup.

UNLV vs. Florida St. - This should be the second best game in this conference series. We all know about UNLV's tradition, and Florida St. was just a few votes away from being in the top 25.

Alright guys, thats it for tonight. While I'm in a down period at work tomorrow, I will start simming these series.. hopefully will have week 1 all simmed and posted by the end of the weekend.

If anybody has any suggestions, please let me know. Or if there is something somebody wants to see. Like stlee, I won't be surprised if I change up the format on this before I'm done.

[StLee]

Thanks for the compliment on my graphics, but I'm going simple.

Mostly I'm just using Excel and posting a screen shot, if you're talking about the weekly standings. I quit using this site's attachment feature because pics won't show up for me unless I'm signed in. So I started uploading pics to photobucket and then linking the pictures here.

[collegesportsfanms]

So I've quickly figured out that I can't wait to post until after I've simmed all the games on whatifsports. Best I can figure is whatifsports only holds your previous 3 sims... so this will not be the best write-up, as I won't be able to tell you much about the games. I will do better in the future.

The Big East/Big Ten Challenge took place at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. Let's run through some scores, with the winning team of each game in bold.

Providence- 81 vs. Iowa- 77

Seton Hall- 62 vs. Penn St.- 66

#9 Louisville- 83 vs. Northern Iowa- 81 (OT)

Notre Dame- 74 vs. Indiana- 69

South Florida- 41 vs. Minnesota- 70

#21 Cincinnati- 67 vs. Illinois- 45

St. Johns- 45 vs. Nebraska- 61

West Virginia- 88 vs. Butler- 85 (OT)

Rutgers- 62 vs. #3 Ohio St.- 92

#10 Pitt- 56 vs. Northwestern- 66

Villanova- 57 vs. Illinois St.- 64

DePaul- 74 vs. #18 Michigan- 80

#4 UConn- 57 vs. Murray St.- 60 -- Big upset here

#22 Marquette- 75 vs. Purdue- 79 (OT)

Georgetown- 67 vs. Michigan St.- 74

Feature Game

#5 Syracuse- 51 vs. #15 Wisconsin- 66 -- Fab Melo was held to just points for Syracuse and Jordan Taylor led all scorers with 18 for Wisconsin, as the Badgers rolled in this one.

Big East/Big Ten Wrap-Up

I expected this to be the most exciting conference series of the first week, and it was. 3 OT games, 8 games decided by less than 10 points, and 2 key upsets that are sure to shuffle the rankings next week. Murray St. pulled the upset of the series, and Northern Iowa darn near had one as well. We can only hope that the rest of the week is just as exciting.

Final tally: Big Ten won 11 games, Big East won 5

[collegesportsfanms]

For week 1 only, I am just going to post the scores and a recap of the feature game for the other 3 conference series. Starting in week 2 I will start to change it up a bit. I am still dabbling with the idea of having awards, but I have a feeling my brain is going to be taxed enough deciding on a top 25 after every week. Lots of ideas running through my head on how to make this better, but none of them will probably be implemented as I'm a simple kind of guy.

I am still taking any suggestions or comments

[collegesportsfanms]

The Big 12/Pac 12 Challenge will be hosted at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA. Let's get to the scores..

Wichita St.- 69 vs. Arizona St. - 57

Ohio- 79 vs. #24 California- 75 (OT)

Kansas St.- 73 vs. Loyola Marymount- 82

Iowa St.- 89 vs. St. Marys- 90

Akron- 77 vs. Oregon St.- 73

#13 Kansas- 61 vs. USC- 48

Oral Roberts- 72 vs. Colorado- 83

Texas- 73 vs. Long Beach St.- 64

#12 Baylor- 60 vs. Washington St.- 44

Creighton- 84 vs. #17 UCLA- 75

Oklahoma St.- 61 vs. #16 Arizona- 62

Texas Tech- 64 vs. Stanford- 62

#25 Missouri- 68 vs. Oregon- 60

Marshall- 50 vs. #23 Gonzaga- 73

Oklahoma- 62 vs. Utah- 55

Feature Game

#20 Texas A&M- 65 vs. Washington- 77 - Aziz N'Diaye had 12 points and 14 rebounds for Washington in the win.

Big 12/Pac 12 Wrap-Up

This conference series turned out to be a pretty good one as well, with 2 OT games and a lot of close games. A couple upsets. Gonzaga dominated their game. Bit of a shock to see Kansas St. lose to Loyola Marymount. Overall a pretty good series, with Wichita St. and Creighton both proving they can handle being in the Big 12.

Final Tally: Big 12 won the series 10 to 6

[collegesportsfanms]

Honestly guys, with a lack of time to truly work on this (except for the couple hours of down time I have at work every so often), and so many weeks to get through, I am strongly considering having my week 1 format be my format for the whole replay. I realize there isn't a lot of statistical information or game recaps going on, and I may attempt this again, but I feel that short and sweet works better for me at this point. I will still preview the weeks biggest games and have a small recap on them, but other than that, I probably won't have a lot of recapping going on.

I will, however, have game recaps when we get to the postseason (once I figure out what I'm going to do about that). I do hope you all are enjoying.

[collegesportsfanms]

I have made a couple changes and realignments to the conference. First off, I simply can't find Central Florida in the whatifsports sim dynasty, so they are out. Taking their place is Davidson. Davidson joins the ACC, and Belmont moves from the ACC to the SEC.

[collegesportsfanms]

The SEC/A-Ten Challenge took place in the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ.

LSU- 69 vs. Charlotte- 59

#8 Florida- 73 vs. Fordham- 46

Auburn- 65 vs. Rhode Island- 64

Georgia- 62 vs. Lasalle- 51

Belmont- 89 vs. St. Bonaventure- 65

#19 Alabama- 62 vs. George Mason- 70

Tennessee- 62 vs. St. Josephs- 71

Southern Miss- 67 vs. UMass- 57

Arkansas- 75 vs. Duquesne- 60

South Carolina- 61 vs. George Washington- 42

#11 Memphis- 65 vs. Richmond- 66

#7 Vanderbilt- 58 vs. Dayton- 67

Middle Tennessee St.- 72 vs. VCU- 71

Ole Miss- 59 vs. Temple- 64

Mississippi St.- 67 vs. St. Louis- 64

Feature Game

#2 Kentucky- 70 vs. #14 Xavier- 68 -- Kentucky relied on 6 players for most of the game, and Terrence Jones led the way with 20 points. Tu Holloway missed a buzzer beat for Xavier that would have sent the game into OT.

SEC/A-Ten Wrap-Up

For the most part, the SEC dominated this series. The A-Tens only ranked team lost, albeit against a team that should be competing for a national championship. Of the 5 ranked SEC teams, 3 of them lost, continuing a disturbing trend for ranked teams in this weeks action. Not a surprise that George Mason beat Alabama, but I am surprised that Vanderbilt and Memphis were upset.

Final Tally: SEC wins 11 to 5

[collegesportsfanms]

The MWC/ACC Challenge took place in Greensboro, NC at the Greensboro Coliseum.

TCU- 68 vs. Miami- 77

UNLV- 68 vs. Florida St.- 60

Nevada- 68 vs. #1 North Carolina- 78

South Dakota St.- 67 vs. Loyola-Maryland- 68

BYU- 70 vs. Drexel- 60

Denver- 73 vs. Davidson- 82

Lamar- 69 vs. Virginia- 46

New Mexico- 68 vs. Harvard- 57

Wyoming- 68 vs. Maryland- 51

Boise St.- 41 vs. Georgia Tech- 59

Colorado St.- 71 vs. Clemson- 62

Air Force- 75 vs. N.C. State- 66

New Mexico St.- 64 vs. Wake Forest- 55

Weber St.- 99 vs. Virginia Tech- 97 (2 OT)

Montana- 65 vs. Boston College- 59

Feature Game

San Diego St.- 83 vs. #6 Duke- 87 (OT) -- Unfortunately I forgot to sim this game last, so I don't have any key stats or anything for it, but I can tell you it was a great game.

MWC/ACC Wrap-Up

Gotta tell you, I'm shocked by this one. Obviously the MWC is a stronger conference overall than the ACC. Granted, had the matchups been different, it might have been a different story, but I certainly didn't see Lamar beating Virginia by 23 points, nor did I see Weber St. beating VA Tech. The only team in the MWC that really looked overmatched was Boise St. Look out for the MWC, this may be the surprise conference.

Final Tally: MWC wins 10 to 6

[collegesportsfanms]

If anybody has any questions or comments, I'd love to hear them. I will be starting on week 2 today, trying to rush through it and get it done by the weekend. I will have top 25 and week 2 preview later. After week 2, I will figure out how to get a screenshot for my top 25 rankings and the overall conference standings.

Still hope you all are enjoying, as I'm having a blast with it so far.

[collegesportsfanms]

Here is the top 25 as we begin week 2 of this long season:

#1- North Carolina
#2- Kentucky
#3- Ohio St.
#4- Duke
#5- Florida
#6- Louisville
#7- UConn
#8- Syracuse
#9- Baylor
#10- Kansas
#11- Wisconsin
#12- Vanderbilt
#13- Memphis
#14- Pittsburgh
#15- Arizona
#16- Xavier
#17- Michigan
#18- Cincinnati
#19- Gonzaga
#20- UCLA
#21- Missouri
#22- Alabama
#23- Texas A&M
#24- Michigan St.
#25- Washington

Others Receiving Votes:

Temple
Creighton
Texas
Purdue
Belmont
UNLV
George Mason
West Virginia
St. Marys
New Mexico

Starting with week 3 I am going to figure out how to post screenshots of the top 25, so at the very least it will look a little neater. I will do the same thing with the standings. Maybe stlee can walk me through how he does it from Microsoft Excel?

[collegesportsfanms]

Week 2 Preview

Big 12/SEC Challenge

There are 4 top 25 games in this challenge:

#23 Texas A&M vs. #13 Memphis -- Both teams are coming off a loss, and if A&M loses this game, they can say bye bye to the top 25.

#21 Missouri vs. #12 Vanderbilt -- Missouri is coming off a win, Vandy a loss.

#9 Baylor vs. #22 Alabama -- Alabama would love to get past their loss to George Mason, winning this game would be a huge step.

#10 Kansas vs. #5 Florida -- A top 10 matchup that both teams want. Both teams had easy games in week 1.

Big Ten/A-Ten Challenge

#24 Michigan St. vs. Temple -- Michigan St. broke into the top 25 this week, while Temple narrowly missed it. The roles could be reversed if Temple wins this game.

Murray St. vs. Richmond -- Both teams pulled upsets in week 1, with Murray beating UConn and Richmond beating Memphis. This is a good draw for both teams.

Pac 12/ACC Challenge

Stanford vs. Harvard -- OK so basketball wise, this may not be a great matchup. Harvard is improving and Stanford isn't what they once were, so it could be a more even matchup. Academically, Stanford has always been called the "Harvard of the West", so this matchup is intriguing for that alone.

Loyola Marymount vs. Davidson -- I threw this matchup in there because as far as I can tell, its the only matchup between 1-0 teams.

The matchups for the Big East/MWC challenge have not been drawn yet, so I will have a separate preview for that later.

[collegesportsfanms]

This challenge is taking place from the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, GA:

#23 Texas A&M- 58 vs. #13 Memphis- 78 -- Will Barton scored 23 points and Memphis led by as many as 27 in a game that wasn't even close.

Oral Roberts- 73 vs. Auburn- 64

Marshall- 67 vs. Georgia- 53

Akron- 77 vs. South Carolina- 59

Texas Tech- 62 vs. Mississippi St.- 72

Iowa St.- 71 vs. Arkansas- 62

Ohio- 55 vs. LSU- 66

Creighton- 73 vs. Southern Miss- 81 -- Doug McDermott's 24 points for Creighton weren't enough, as they really were dominated this game.

Wichita St.- 54 vs. Ole Miss- 60

Texas- 71 vs. Tennessee- 63

#21 Missouri- 67 vs. #12 Vanderbilt- 74 -- 3 players had double doubles in this game: For Missouri, Ricardo Ratliffe had 14 points, 15 boards. For Vandy, Jeffrey Taylor had 20 points, 10 boards, and Lance Goulbourne had 10 points, 10 boards.

#9 Baylor- 57 vs. #22 Alabama- 65 -- JaMychal Green led Alabama to the victory with 21 points and 12 boards.

Oklahoma St.- 50 vs. #2 Kentucky- 67

#10 Kansas- 64 vs. #5 Florida- 63 -- Bradley Beal missed a jumper from the right wing at the buzzer that would have won the game for the Gators.

Kansas St.- 79 vs. Middle Tennessee St.- 70

Oklahoma- 71 vs. Belmont- 83

Big 12/SEC Wrap-Up

This has been by far the closest series so far. No major surprises as far as I'm concerned. All the top 25 games could have went either way, but I'm not too surprised to see Texas A&M get blown out. They are struggling. Always sad to see my Wichita St. Shockers lose, but good to see Kansas St. win. Definitely Kansas/Florida was the game of the challenge. Kentucky was dominate, as expected.

Final Tally: SEC wins, barely. 9 to 7

[StLee]

My boys are 2-0! Woot woot!

[collegesportsfanms]

The Big Ten/A-Ten Challenge will be hosted by Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY.

Minnesota- 75 vs. St. Josephs- 67

Penn St.- 54 vs. UMass- 68

Purdue- 59 vs. VCU- 65

Murray St.- 67 vs. Richmond- 62 -- Isaiah Canaan led all scorers with 21 in this one.

Butler- 54 vs. Duquesne- 71

Iowa- 71 vs. St. Bonaventure- 62

Illinois- 57 vs. George Washington- 69

Indiana- 69 vs. #16 Xavier- 64

#3 Ohio St.- 76 vs. St. Louis- 66

Illinois St.- 54 vs. George Mason- 46

#17 Michigan- 64 vs. Charlotte- 66 -- DeMario Mayfield hits a jumper at the buzzer to pull the upset for Charlotte.

Northern Iowa- 72 vs. LaSalle- 60

Northwestern- 76 vs. Rhode Island- 67 -- John Shurna had 25 on 10 of 16 shooting for Northwestern.

#24 Michigan St.- 62 vs. Temple- 68 -- The Owls finished the game on a 9-3 run and were led by a double double from Micheal Eric: 11 points, 13 boards.

Nebraska- 51 vs. Dayton- 66

#11 Wisconsin- 59 vs. Fordham- 45

Big Ten/A-Ten Wrap-Up

Didn't expect Butler to lose by 17 to Duquesne, and didn't expect Michigan to lose either. Poor Xavier loses another heartbreaker, and might be the best 0-2 team in the country. On the other hand, Murray St. might be the most underrated 2-0 team in the country.

Final Tally: Big Ten wins, 9 to 7

[collegesportsfanms]

This Pac 12/ACC Challenge will be held at the Charlotte Bobcats Arena in Charlotte, NC.

Oregon- 66 vs. Clemson- 61

#20 UCLA- 79 vs. Florida St.- 68

Colorado- 77 vs. Wake Forest- 74 (OT) -- Wake had a chance to win in regulation but Daniel Green had a jumper from the elbow blocked.

California- 67 vs. #4 Duke- 75

St. Marys- 71 vs. Maryland- 52

Long Beach St.- 75 vs. Miami- 66 -- Casper Ware had 24 points and was 6 of 9 from three point land.

#25 Washington- 58 vs. Loyola-Maryland- 54 -- Washington came back from a 13 point halftime deficit.

#15 Arizona- 73 vs. Drexel- 69

Stanford- 64 vs. Harvard- 70 -- I guess Harvard is still top dog, apparently not just for academics.

Utah- 53 vs. N.C. State- 76

Arizona St.- 53 vs. #1 North Carolina- 68

Washington St.- 58 vs. Virginia- 77

#19 Gonzaga- 76 vs. Boston College- 49

USC- 44 vs. Virginia Tech- 66

Loyola Marymount- 73 vs. Davidson- 76 -- A fantastic game, as Davidson made a couple big free throws late to seal the victory.

Oregon St.- 90 vs. Georgia Tech- 81 (OT) -- Jason Morris hit a three pointer at the buzzer to extend the game for Georgia Tech, but Oregon St. dominated the OT.

Pac 12/ACC Wrap-Up

The Pac 12 dominated the first few games of this series, as all the ranked teams took care of business on both sides. 2 OT games made for an exciting series. How about Virginia, who overcame that smashing against Lamar to do the same to a pretty darn good Washington St. team. Unbelievable, but that's why you play the game.

Final Tally: Another 9 to 7 finish, as the Pac 12 holds on

[collegesportsfanms]

The only key game in my opinion is #7 UConn vs. San Diego St. The Aztecs are expected to make a deep run in the postseason, but lost to Duke in week 1. They have the talent to beat UConn though.

The Big East/MWC Challenge takes place at the Pepsi Center in Denver, CO. Here are the results:

#7 UConn- 73 vs. San Diego St.- 49 -- Ouch! So much for the idea of an Aztec upset. UConn used balanced scoring to win this one, as 5 players had 8 or more points, and 3 were in double figures.

DePaul- 57 vs. Weber St.- 63

Notre Dame- 72 vs. New Mexico St.- 69

#18 Cincinnati- 51 vs. Lamar- 64 -- Big upset here as Lamar outscored the Bearcats 36-16 in the second half. Mike James led Lamar with 21 points.

Georgetown- 75 vs. Montana- 66

St. Johns- 48 vs. BYU- 67

Rutgers- 70 vs. Wyoming- 56

West Virginia- 65 vs. Air Force- 72

South Florida- 51 vs.Colorado St.- 63

#6 Louisville- 70 vs. Boise St.- 74 -- Another big upset as Boise St. ended the game on an 11-3 run.

Providence- 67 vs. New Mexico- 71

Marquette- 70 vs. TCU- 55

Seton Hall- 58 vs. UNLV- 70

#14 Pittsburgh- 69 vs. Denver- 77 -- The upsets keep on coming. Denver shot a whopping 58.3% from the field! Hard to beat teams that shoot like that.

Villanova- 67 vs. Nevada- 65

#8 Syracuse- 72 vs. South Dakota St.- 68

Big East/MWC Wrap-Up

Raise your hand if you predicted Denver to beat Pitt, Lamar to beat Cincinnati, and Boise St. to beat Louisville. If you have your hand raised then you are either a fibber, or have a crystal ball handy. But thats not even the most shocking thing to me. The team that I expected to pull an upset, San Diego St., lost by 24! The beauty of whatifsports, you never know whats gonna happen. I think stlee can agree with me there. Truth be told, theres a reason the Mountain West Conference, as a whole, is in this project. They were one of the top 8 conferences in the 2011-2012 season, and they are proving it.

Final Tally: MWC wins again, this time 9 to 7. All 4 conference challenges ended up 9 to 7 this week. Impressive.

[collegesportsfanms]

Well I won't be able to post screenshots of the top 25 until this weekend, so I am going to go ahead and do the week 3 top 25 by just typing it again. So here is the top 25 for the beginning of week 3.

#1- N. Carolina
#2- Kentucky
#3- Ohio St.
#4- Duke
#5- UConn
#6- Kansas
#7- Florida
#8- Syracuse
#9- Wisconsin
#10- Louisville
#11- Vanderbilt
#12- Memphis
#13- Arizona
#14- Baylor
#15- Gonzaga
#16- UCLA
#17- Alabama
#18- Michigan
#19- Washington
#20- Temple
#21- Texas
#22- Missouri
#23- Cincinnati
#24- UNLV
#25- New Mexico

Others Receiving Votes:

Belmont
St. Marys
Minnesota
Murray St.
Southern Miss
Air Force
Notre Dame
Lamar
Dayton
Colorado

[collegesportsfanms]

ACC/Big East Challenge

Davidson vs. #5 UConn- The Huskies dismantled what was expected to be a solid San Diego St. team last week. This week they get a Davidson team that, while still undefeated, hasn't played a top opponent in their 2 games. It'll be interesting to see how they do against a top 5 team.

#4 Duke vs. Pitt- Pitt was ranked in the top 10 to start the season, but 2 losses have them out of the polls now. A win here against Duke would be a great way to get back on track.

A-Ten/Pac 12 Challenge

#20 Temple vs. California- Temple enters the rankings this week, and has a chance to prove themselves against a team that fell out of the top 25 last week.

Dayton vs. #15 Gonzaga- A great mid-major game if I've ever seen one, even if Gonzaga is in the Pac 12 for this replay. Dayton has been impressive in their 2 games so far, and Gonzaga is always tough.

SEC/Big Ten Challenge

Belmont vs. #3 Ohio St.- The Buckeyes have been very impressive so far, but Belmont is right on the cusp of being ranked. A win here will no doubt have them ranked.

MWC/Big 12 Challenge

#25 New Mexico vs. #22 Missouri- A chance for New Mexico to prove they are a top 25 team, they will be facing a Missouri team that lost to Vandy last week. This is the only game between top 25 teams this week.

[collegesportsfanms]

The site for this challenge will be none other than Madison Square Garden in New York, also the site of the Big East Conference Tournament.

Loyola-Maryland - 71 vs.DePaul- 73 (OT)

#1 North Carolina- 71 vs. Marquette- 64 -- The Tarheels trailed by 14at halftime and outscored Marquette 41-20 in the second half.

Boston College- 54 vs. #23 Cincinnati- 68

Florida St.- 77 vs. West Virginia- 65

Clemson-57 vs. Rutgers- 63

Harvard- 73 vs. Georgetown- 51

Georgia Tech- 50 vs. Notre Dame- 72

Miami- 48 vs. #10 Louisville- 65

#4 Duke- 91 vs. Pittsburgh- 86 -- Pitt proved to be a tough opponent but Seth Curry helped Duke to the win with 19 points.

Virginia Tech- 54 vs.South Florida- 59

Davidson- 64 vs. #5 UConn- 58 -- We have our first upset of the week, and not really a surprising one in my opinion. Davidson held UConn to just 36.7% shooting.

N.C. State- 64 vs. St. Johns- 67

Maryland- 75 vs. Villanova- 81

Wake Forest- 58 vs.Seton Hall- 69

Drexel- 77 vs. Providence- 64

Virginia- 61 vs. #8 Syracuse- 71

ACC/Big East Wrap-Up

No real surprises in this challenge, I figured Davidson would have a good chance to beat UConn and they did. North Carolina was tested, which I also expected. Davidson surely will be getting votes now.

Final Tally: Big East 10 to 6

[collegesportsfanms]

This challenge will again be hosted at the Staples Center in Los Angeles (for the sole reason that I am having a hard time coming up with another location to use right now.) Here are the results:

Fordham- 54 vs. Loyola Marymount- 67

George Mason- 45 vs. Colorado- 67

UMass- 76 vs. Arizona St.- 71 (OT) -- The Sun Devils managed just 2 points in overtime.

Dayton- 71 vs. #15 Gonzaga- 69 -- A classic game as Matt Kavanaugh hit a jumper at the buzzer to give Dayton the upset victory.

Rhode Island- 60 vs. Long Beach St.- 83

#20 Temple- 73 vs. California- 67 -- The Golden Bears continue to slide as Khalif Wyatt led Temple with 17 points tonight.

Xavier- 50 vs. Oregon- 78

St. Louis- 81 vs. #16 UCLA- 72 -- Brian Conklin scored 25 points as St. Louis upset the Bruins.

St. Bonaventure- 71 vs. Utah- 57

Charlotte- 78 vs. USC- 55

Duquesne- 84 vs. #13 Arizona- 87 (OT) -- Jesse Perry had 29 points and 10 boards for Arizona, who survived a furious rally from Duquesne to send the game to OT.

VCU- 61 vs. #19 Washington- 82 -- Tony Wroten had a game for Washington: 11 of 13 from the field, 1-1 from behind the arc, but just 3-8 from the line, finishing with 26 points.

St. Josephs- 67 vs. Washington St.- 63

George Washington- 64 vs. Stanford- 45

Richmond- 73 vs. St. Marys- 64

LaSalle- 54 vs. Oregon St.- 67

A-Ten/Pac 12 Wrap-Up

Definitely some surprises tonight, as the A-Ten proved they are a force to be reckoned with. Sure didn't see GW beating a good Stanford team by 19, nor did I expect Charlotte to beat USC by 23. Nor did I see Oregon beating Xavier by 28. Lot of surprises in this challenge.

Final Tally: A-Ten wins 9 to 7

[collegesportsfanms]

The SEC/Big Ten Challenge took place in The Palace of Auburn Hills from Detroit, MI. Here are the results:

LSU- 64 vs. Butler- 62

#2 Kentucky- 60 vs. Illinois- 62 -- Huge upset let by Brandon Paul who had 13 points and 8 assists for the Illini.

Tennessee- 69 vs. Illinois St.- 49

#12 Memphis- 63 vs. Michigan St.- 73 -- Draymond Green had 22 points as the Spartans get a big win.

South Carolina- 58 vs. #18 Michigan- 62

Georgia- 56 vs. #9 Wisconsin- 61

Ole Miss- 60 vs. Murray St.- 72

Mid. Tenn. St.- 70 vs. Nebraska- 56

Southern Miss- 69 vs. Northern Iowa- 75

Mississippi St.- 60 vs. Northwestern- 69

Arkansas- 68 vs. Minnesota- 63

Auburn- 24 vs. Indiana- 70 -- Yes you read that score right. Auburn could only manage 12 points in each half and shot 20.4% for the game in a dismal performance.

Belmont- 85 vs. #3 Ohio St.- 76 -- Belmont led 45-22 at halftime and Ohio St. just couldn't recover.

#17 Alabama- 58 vs. Iowa- 68

#11 Vanderbilt- 55 vs. Penn St.- 50

#7 Florida- 78 vs. Purdue- 73

SEC/Big Ten Wrap-Up

2 of the top 3 teams in the nation lose in this challenge. I'm not real surprised Belmont knocked off Ohio St., but I didn't see Kentucky losing as they were stacked last season. Give credit where credit is due though, Illinois did what they had to do. Other than that, no major upsets. Iowa beating Alabama is a bit of a surprise but not unexpected.

Final Tally: Big Ten wins 9 to 7

[collegesportsfanms]

The location for the MWC/Big 12 Challenge is one that I have personally picked myself. Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, KS will host this challenge (being from Wichita I had to get this arena in at least once.) Here are the results.

Air Force- 69 vs. Texas A&M- 55

Boise St.- 47 vs. Ohio- 54

Weber St.- 93 vs. Oklahoma- 68 -- Weber St. led 55-30 at halftime. Damian Lillard had 26 points and Scott Bamforth had 22 to lead Weber.

#25 New Mexico- 62 vs. #22 Missouri- 74 -- Phil Pressey led the Tigers with 15 points and 5 assists.

BYU- 83 vs. #6 Kansas- 92 (OT) -- Kansas outscored BYU 19-10 in a high scoring 5 extra minutes.

Colorado St.- 48 vs. #14 Baylor- 61

Denver- 69 vs. Texas Tech- 72

San Diego St.- 61 vs. Oklahoma St.- 65

Montana- 58 vs. Creighton- 75

New Mexico St.- 74 vs. Wichita St.- 72 -- Darn it, my Shockers lost again.

#24 UNLV- 77 vs. Iowa St.- 67

TCU- 78 vs. Oral Roberts- 69

Wyoming- 64 vs. Kansas St.- 71

Nevada- 67 vs. Marshall- 64

Lamar- 65 vs. Akron- 81

South Dakota St.- 71 vs. #21 Texas- 72

MWC/Big 12 Wrap-Up

Not a lot to talk about in this one, no major upsets or anything, a lot of close games. New Mexicos loss will surely see them out of the polls. That Kansas-BYU game was pretty impressive. A 19-10 overtime period. Talk about putting it into 5th gear.

Final Tally: Big 12 wins 10 to 6

[collegesportsfanms]

Thanks to stlee, I think I finally figured out how to at least get my top 25 into a screenshot to post on here. In the future, I will be adding more stuff to the top 25 screenshot, this is pretty basic. Mainly I kept it simple as a test to see if it worked. So without further adieu, here is the top 25 as we begin week 4 (I hope):



I'll be darned, it worked! Thanks very much to stlee for getting me the info i needed. Now I will begin to work on week 4. As for the standings, I will probably wait until after non-conference play to post the first set of standings.

[collegesportsfanms]

There are a few games involving top 25 teams that we will be keeping an eye on this week. Here are all the key matchups for Week 4.

A-Ten/MWC Challenge

Dayton vs. Air Force -- Both these teams are receiving votes in the polls, and the winner has a good chance to be in the top 25 next week.

Pac 12/SEC Challenge

#14 Washington vs. #5 Kentucky -- Washington is undefeated on the young season, while Kentucky is coming off a loss to Illinois. Gotta figure Kentucky is gonna be looking to bounce back in a big way.

#11 Arizona vs. #23 Belmont -- Belmont is a surprise team right now, coming off a huge win against Ohio St. Beating Arizona would be just as huge.

Big East vs. Big 12

#21 Cincinnati vs. #12 Baylor -- Both teams need this game equally. Whoever loses could find themselves out of the top 25.

#9 Louisville vs. #19 Missouri -- Same thing applies for this game, as the loser will be 2-2 and could be out of the top 25.

ACC vs. Big Ten

#1 North Carolina vs. #7 Ohio St. -- This is a bounce back game for the Buckeyes who were pretty much hammered by Belmont last week. It's not gonna be easy though, as the Heels are playing great basketball.

[collegesportsfanms]

Once again, this challenge is taking place at the Pepsi Center in Denver, CO. (I'm horrible at thinking of different sites for these challenges.)

Richmond- 64 vs. TCU- 62 -- Cedrick Lindsay hit one at the buzzer to give Richmond the win.

George Mason- 68 vs. San Diego St.- 67 -- Andre Cornelius gives the A-Ten their second straight buzzer beater victory in this challenge.

#16 Temple- 83 vs. New Mexico St.- 71

UMass- 77 vs. BYU- 68

Charlotte- 65 vs. Nevada- 56

Xavier- 79 vs. Boise St.- 72

St. Louis- 73 vs. Wyoming- 76

Rhode Island- 75 vs. Colorado St.- 77 (OT)

Fordham- 64 vs. Denver- 66 -- (OT) -- Denver trailed by 15 at the 13 minute mark of the second half, great comeback.

St. Bonaventure- 57 vs. Weber St.- 69

St. Joes- 77 vs. Lamar- 65

George Washington- 64 vs. Montana- 75

Dayton- 73 vs. Air Force- 63 -- Luke Fabrizius led the way in this battle of the unbeatens, he had 17 points in 15 minutes.

VCU- 49 vs. New Mexico- 59

Duquesne- 98 vs. #22 UNLV- 90 (OT) -- B.J. Monteiro scored 25 and Eric Evans scored 23 to lead Duquesne to the upset victory.

Lasalle- 63 vs. South Dakota St.- 79

A-Ten/MWC Wrap-Up

So after playing Arizona to OT last week, this week Duquesne gets the upset. Other than that, not much to say. Gotta think these are the 2 weakest conferences, with just 2 ranked teams between them.. well after the UNLV loss, there will be 1 ranked team between these 2 conferences next week.

Final Tally: A-Ten wins 9 to 7

[collegesportsfanms]

This challenge takes place in the Mercedes Benz Superdome (formerly Louisiana Superdome) in New Orleans, LA. Here are the results:

Washington St.- 50 vs. Ole Miss- 68

Loyola Marymount- 75 vs. Tennessee- 72

Utah- 59 vs. South Carolina- 65

UCLA- 58 vs. #10 Vanderbilt- 59 -- John Jenkins led Vandy with 21 points.

#14 Washington- 67 vs. #5 Kentucky- 73 -- Kentucky wins a hard fought battle. Anthony Davis pulled down 16 boards to lead the Wildcats.

Oregon St.- 75 vs. Auburn- 65

Oregon- 72 vs. LSU- 71

USC- 37 vs. #20 Memphis- 64

St. Marys- 70 vs. #6 Florida- 79

Colorado- 53 vs. Middle Tennessee St.- 64

California- 65 vs. Arkansas- 63 -- Robert Thurman scored just 2 points for Arkansas, but those 2 points came on a buzzer beater to win the game.

Stanford- 68 vs. Mississippi St.- 73

#11 Arizona- 72 vs. #23 Belmont- 78 -- Belmont continues to impress, this time taking down undefeated Arizona. Ian Clark led the way with 19 points.

Long Beach St.- 60 vs. #25 Alabama- 58 -- James Ennis banked in the winning shot with 1 second left.

#17 Gonzaga- 71 vs. Southern Miss- 75 -- Yet another ranked team falls.

Arizona St.- 61 vs. Georgia- 64

Pac 12/SEC Wrap-Up

A few surprises in this challenge, the big one being Belmont beating Arizona. I knew they were good, but apparently they are really good on the whatifsports sim. Nice bounce back game for Kentucky, and we can safely say Alabama will no longer be ranked after their loss.

Final Tally: SEC dominates 11 to 5

[collegesportsfanms]

To all the readers out there, I am now looking for suggestions. Although it is a ways away (probably a good 2 months down the road, maybe longer), I'm already thinking about how to set up the postseason. There are 128 teams in my sim, and all teams will get a chance to participate in conference tournaments. After that I'm dwelling on things. Do I want 128 teams to participate in tournaments? There are 4 mens basketball postseason tournaments. I could have 64 for the NCAA, 32 for the NIT, and 16 each for the CBI and CIT. Or I could scrap the CBI and CIT. Or maybe just do the 64team NCAA. Maybe a 32 team NCAA and 16 team NIT?

What do you think guys? Open to suggestions. Should I give all the teams a chance at postseason, or limit it?

[britrock88]

64/32/16/16 sounds fine by me.

[Izulde]

One possibility if you could pull it off: 64/32/16/16 and then have another mini-Final Four: NCAA Champ vs. CIT champ, NIT champ vs. CBI champ with the winners advancing to a title game that would crown the Champion of Champions.

[collegesportsfanms]

Thanks for your input Izlude, I actually like that suggestion. Of course I will continue to take ideas, as it will be a while before I get to that point. I am fully expecting this to drag out through basketball season and possibly afterwards. We are on week 4 of the regular season and there are 29 weeks scheduled, then conference tournaments. But I definitely like that idea Izlude. Keep them coming!

[collegesportsfanms]

This challenge will be held at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, MO. Here are the results:

Marquette- 74 vs. Wichita St.- 74 (OT)

Villanova- 65 vs. Oklahoma- 66

Georgetown- 76 vs. Texas Tech- 54

#21 Cincinnati- 51 vs. #12 Baylor- 58 -- Perry Jones III led the way with 17 points.

#9 Louisville- 61 vs. #19 Missouri- 79 -- The Cardinals layed an egg tonight, as 4 players scored in double figures for Mizzou, led by Michael Dixon with 18.

Rutgers- 64 vs. #18 Texas- 73

Notre Dame- 63 vs. Akron- 60

Providence- 62 vs. Ohio- 70

Pitt- 72 vs. Iowa St.- 63

West Virginia- 69 vs. Oklahoma St.- 53

St. Johns- 57 vs. Texas A&M- 67

#13 UConn- 68 vs. Kansas St.- 58

South Florida- 59 vs. Oral Roberts- 71

#8 Syracuse- 77 vs. Creighton- 85 -- Doug McDermott and Greg Echenique each had 19 points to spark the upset.

Seton Hall- 62 vs. Marshall- 72

DePaul- 64 vs. #3 Kansas- 77

Big East/Big 12 Wrap-Up

The biggest surprise is seeing Creighton pretty much handle Syracuse. Once again my Shockers lost, I'm beginning to wonder if the whatifsports sim really likes them or not.

Final Tally: Big 12 wins 10 to 6

[collegesportsfanms]

This challenge is taking place at the United Center in Chicago, IL. Here are the results.

Virginia Tech- 66 vs. Illinois St.- 56

Drexel- 61 vs. Nebraska- 62

Loyola-Maryland- 58 vs. Iowa- 81

Georgia Tech- 47 vs. #4 Wisconsin- 52

Harvard- 77 vs. Northern Iowa- 68

Maryland- 69 vs. #15 Michigan- 78 -- 30 points from Marylands Terrell Stoglin weren't enough to pull the upset for the Terps. Trey Burke had 20 to lead Michigan.

Virginia- 48 vs. Indiana- 74

Florida St.- 79 vs. Butler- 63

Boston College- 57 vs. Northwestern- 75

#1 North Carolina- 88 vs. #7 Ohio St.- 76 -- The Tarheels shot 57.4%from the floor, and Reggie Bullock led the way with 21 points.

Clemson- 71 vs. #24 Murray St.- 68

Wake Forest- 76 vs. Purdue- 67

N.C. State- 71 vs. Illinois- 68

Davidson- 71 vs. Minnesota- 58

Miami- 58 vs. Michigan St.- 67

#2 Duke- 82 vs. Penn St.- 59

ACC/Big Ten Wrap-Up

So the #1 and #2 teams in the country looked sharp, real sharp. No real panic for Murray St. losing, as Clemson is a fairly strong team. A little surprised that Florida St. handled Butler as easily as they did. Overall some good matchups in this challenge.

Final Tally: ACC wins 9 to 7

[StLee]

Originally Posted by collegesportsfanms

To all the readers out there, I am now looking for suggestions. Although it is a ways away (probably a good 2 months down the road, maybe longer), I'm already thinking about how to set up the postseason. There are 128 teams in my sim, and all teams will get a chance to participate in conference tournaments. After that I'm dwelling on things. Do I want 128 teams to participate in tournaments? There are 4 mens basketball postseason tournaments. I could have 64 for the NCAA, 32 for the NIT, and 16 each for the CBI and CIT. Or I could scrap the CBI and CIT. Or maybe just do the 64team NCAA. Maybe a 32 team NCAA and 16 team NIT?

What do you think guys? Open to suggestions. Should I give all the teams a chance at postseason, or limit it?

I like all teams making the postseason, and the 64/32/16/16 split seems like a good idea. However, the champions of each tournament should not meet because I would presume the NCAA Tournament's 64 are the best 64 teams, so the championship game is between (ideally) the two best teams.

[collegesportsfanms]

Here is the top 25 as we begin week 5:

[collegesportsfanms]

I am skipping the week 5 preview, only because I am in a rush to get week 5going as I have been back and forth out of town all week. So here we go with the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge, which will take place at the Alamodome in San Antonio, TX.

#25 Murray St.- 71 vs. Texas Tech- 50

#24 Northwestern- 62 vs. #8 Baylor- 75 -- Perry Jones III scored 21 points and had 11 boards to help Baylor to the victory.

Penn St.- 70 vs. #3 Kansas- 74

#9 Michigan- 62 vs. Creighton- 73 -- Doug McDermott had 19 to lead Creighton to a big win.

Butler- 60 vs. Wichita St.- 72

#15 Ohio St.- 69 vs. Oklahoma- 68

Michigan St.- 77 vs. #12 Missouri- 64

Northern Iowa- 55 vs. Texas A&M- 64

Illinois- 59 vs. Iowa St.- 80

Minnesota- 53 vs. Oral Roberts- 62

#4 Wisconsin- 74 vs. #11 Texas- 72 -- A great game as Jordan Taylor scored 19 for the Badgers, and Wisconsin survived a battle of the unbeatens.

Iowa- 73 vs. Kansas St.- 82

Indiana- 81 vs. Akron- 64

Purdue- 68 vs. Ohio- 55

Illinois St.- 62 vs. Oklahoma St.- 68

Nebraska- 61 vs. Marshall- 63

Big Ten/Big 12 Wrap-Up

When I was deciding the others receiving votes, I put Akron in over Indiana. Funny how they met in this challenge, and Indiana pretty much dominated. Mistake on my part. Michigan St. continues with their inconsistency, and Creighton continues to win big games. All 3 Kansas teams won this week, woo-hoo!

Final Tally: Big 12 wins 10 to 6

[collegesportsfanms]

The SEC/Big East challenge is taking place at the XL Center in Hartford, CT.
Here are the results:

#7 Vanderbilt- 61 vs. #18 Louisville- 49 -- 4 players scored in double figures for Vandy and the Louisville Cardinals now have a losing record.

Alabama- 57 vs. #13 UConn- 71

#6 Florida- 67 vs. #22 Notre Dame- 76 -- Jerian Grant led ND with 18 as they get a big top 25 win and Florida drops to 3-2.

#5 Kentucky- 59 vs. St. Johns- 68 -- In what might be the stunner of the year so far, St. Johns beats nationally powered Kentucky, and they do it by using just 6 players! D'Angelo Harrison put in 25 for St. Johns.

South Carolina- 53 vs. Cincinnati- 56

#17 Belmont- 85 vs. Providence- 88 -- The upsets keep happening. A big letdown for Belmont after a nice win against Arizona.

#19 Memphis- 69 vs. Villanova- 60

Tennessee- 66 vs. Pittsburgh- 75

Georgia- 67 vs. DePaul- 57

Mid. Tenn. St.- 60 vs. Georgetown- 55

Ole Miss- 81 vs. West Virginia- 67

Southern Miss- 63 vs. Seton Hall- 74 (OT)

Arkansas- 41 vs. #16 Syracuse- 67

LSU- 79 vs. Rutgers- 81 (OT)

Auburn- 66 vs. South Florida- 71 (OT)

Mississippi St.- 68 vs. Marquette- 69

SEC/Big East Wrap-Up

3 overtime games in 1 challenge proves that the brown paper bags pulled out some even match-ups. Still stunned that Kentucky lost to St. Johns and Belmont lost to Providence. Just proves that anything is possible in the world of whatifsports.

Final Tally:

Big East dominates this challenge, 11 to 5.

[collegesportsfanms]

The MWC/Pac 12 Challenge will be held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV. Here are the results.

UNLV- 64 vs. Arizona St.- 65

Colorado St.- 75 vs. #20 Washington- 72

South Dakota St.- 69 vs. St. Marys- 58 -- Nate Wolters put in 27 to help South Dakota State to the win.

Denver- 71 vs. Oregon- 67 (OT)

New Mexico- 51 vs. UCLA- 62

Nevada- 77 vs. California- 55

TCU- 92 vs. Stanford- 59 -- TCU cleared the bench in this one as all 12 players played.

Air Force- 58 vs. Colorado- 71

Weber St.- 68 vs. #14 Arizona- 55 -- What a win for Weber who outscored Zona 45-28 in the second half to prove they are for real.

Lamar- 76 vs. #21 Gonzaga- 87

San Diego St.- 73 vs. Oregon St.- 84

Wyoming- 37 vs. Loyola Marymount- 57

New Mexico St.- 74 vs. Utah- 48

Montana- 61 vs. USC- 56 (OT)

Boise St.- 63 vs. Long Beach St.- 72

BYU- 66 vs. Washington St.- 55

MWC/Pac 12 Wrap-Up

Only 1 of the 3 ranked Pac 12 teams won today, and I can guarantee the MWC will be back in the top 25 next week. Huge game for Weber St. as Arizona is hitting a bit of a slide right now. Poor Utah seems to be as terrible in this whatifsports sim than they were in real life in the 2011-2012 season.

Final Tally: The MWC wins a close one, 9 to 7

[collegesportsfanms]

The ACC/A-Ten Challenge is taking place at the Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, MD. Here are the results:

Harvard- 62 vs. Richmond- 53

Virginia Tech- 85 vs. UMass- 74

Virginia- 62 vs. Fordham- 54

Georgia Tech- 54 vs. Xavier- 46

Loyola-Maryland- 78 vs. St. Louis- 79 -- Brian Conklin finished with 20, including the game winning buzzer beater for the Billikens.

Florida St.- 64 vs. LaSalle- 71

Miami- 71 vs. George Mason- 61 -- Jim Larranaga's new school beats his former school in a dream matchup for Mr. Larranaga. Who can forget their magical final four run a few years ago.

Drexel- 57 vs. Duquesne- 59

Wake Forest- 65 vs. Rhode Island- 72 (OT)

Davidson- 62 vs. #23 Dayton- 52

#2 Duke- 70 vs. VCU- 73 (OT) -- A Mason Plumlee buzzer beater sent the game into OT, but VCU controlled the extra 5 minutes. A late trey by Austin River made the score seem closer than it really was, as VCU knocks Duke from the ranks of the undefeated.

N.C. State- 71 vs. Charlotte- 62

Boston College- 65 vs. George Washington- 71

Maryland- 54 vs. St. Bonaventure- 72

#1 North Carolina- 81 vs. #10 Temple- 67 -- Tyler Zeller made sure there would not be an upset in this game, as he scored 19 points and had 5 boards and 4 blocks.

Clemson- 72 vs. St. Joes- 57

ACC/A-Ten Challenge

Another very close challenge, with the big news being the 2nd ranked team in the nation losing their first game of the season, in OT. That is sure to shake up the rankings a little bit. The number of undefeated teams are dwindling. 2 of them are in the ACC: North Carolina and Davidson.

Final Tally: ACC wins 9 to 7

[StLee]

My boys are not very good, but they're coming close to taking games.

I'm looking forward to the standings being posted and seeing where teams stand for their postseason shots.

Did you make a final decision on what your postseason will look like?