A good bracket day doesn't necessarily mean that it was a good day in terms of what you wanted to have happen.  Just two games today, and this is gonna be a pretty short preview, since I'm super tired right now.  First a little update on the CougCenter bracket challenge.  Here's the top ten after games yesterday, with WSUScottie 2 removed.

The top ten are only separated by 60 points, which is less than one game from now on, meaning there could be some serious rankings jumbling as the tourney goes on.  Craig is the only writer in the top ten, with cougfan, Grady., and Nuss all in 25th.  On to the games today.

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We're nearing the end of the tournament.

via tinypic.com

I should have named this "Preview/My attempt to raise my seed in crimson and gray's CougCenter March Madness.  I don't know about you guys but I needed a couple of days to get all of the basketball out of my system and give my computer a break from checking my bracket on ESPN every five minutes.  Theres a couple big storylines heading into today

1. How many (if any) double digit seeds will make it to the Elite Eight?  Pat Forde wrote a piece for ESPN.com about all of the underdogs to make the Sweet Sixteen.  I've done some looking, but I can't find any stats on most double digit seeds to make the Elite Eight.
2. Will there be anymore bracketbusters?  Northern Iowa proved in the last round that anyone is vulnerable, including #1 seeds.
3. Will Nuss get one step away from a trip to Vegas?
4. Most Importantly: Will Dickie V. be able to pull his bracket out of ESPN's 18th percentile?  He has a whopping 7 Sweet Sixteen teams left.

OK so on to the games.  As usual, after the jump, you'll find the times, locations, and announcers.

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via www.rotorob.com

OK so who expected the Kansas loss last night? (crickets).  Yesterday was full of surprises, with SMC  making the Sweet 16, and Nuss moving one step closer to winning his trip (although this isn't exactly surprising). Well now that everyone's bracket is pretty much shattered, lets look ahead to the big games on Sunday.  But first, let me explain the Dicky V. picture.  I was looking at the featured brackets on ESPN earlier, and I came across his,  I was curious, so I clicked on it, only to find that his bracket was in the 9th percentile.  Yes, you read that right.  Personally, I had 1.5x more points than him.  Anyways on to the games today.  After the jump, you'll find sites, times, announcers, and the almighty KenPom's prediction.  CLICK IT.

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EDIT NUSS: Seriously, I think Grady, Craig and I are wondering if we're ever going to have to write anything again, you guys are doing such a good job. Sheesh. Way to go.

via limeshot.com

Welcome to the second round!  I don't have much to say, other than there will be 8 games on Saturday.  After the jump comes the matchups, sites, times, and to appease cougfan, the announcer pairings.  Also, what games we will see on the west coast.  We all know who Nuss will be watching.  In the CougCenter bracket challenge, BucherBP comes into the day with the outright lead, 10 points ahead of second.

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Apparently I'm on a WSU athletics emailing list because I got this email this morning.

A Special Message from Director of Athletics Jim Sterk

Dear Cougar Athletics Fan,

Over the past three weeks I have been inundated with comments from alumni, donors, members of the Pullman community, and Cougars fans across the country regarding the officials' decision to issue a technical foul on our bench with point-three seconds remaining in the first overtime of the Dec. 31, 2009 men's basketball game vs. the University of Oregon. That came after one of our student-athletes made a basket to give the Cougars a two-point lead in a highly-contested game.

Following the game I asked the Pac-10 for an official review of the game officials interpretation at the end of the first overtime. I received a response from Larry Scott, Commissioner of the Pacific-10 Conference, which stated: "I have now had a chance to review the matter along with our men's basketball officiating coordinator Bill McCabe, and head of men's basketball Dave Hirsch.  We together reviewed the video replays and Bill has had several follow-up discussions with the officials who worked the game. In short, I have concluded that the playing rules were enforced correctly."

The conference stated the playing rules were enforced correctly at the end of the first overtime, determining that it remained a "live ball" situation and therefore we prevented continuous play. I then sent the Pac-10 a copy of the coaches' video from the contest, including views they were not provided from the original game telecast. The conference reviewed the second video and reaffirmed its initial review of the play.

At this point we have no other recourse but to abide by the conference’s interpretation and move forward. We appreciate the support of all Cougar fans and look forward to seeing the Cougar Nation pack Friel Court throughout the season.

All the best,

Jim Sterk