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Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights put college basketball fans on a long, involved roller coaster ride, providing more sharp turns, surprises and spills than should be legally allowed in the middle of the week. The seemingly constant run of upsets, overtimes and buzzer beaters gives us a Friday bracket some major changes at the top when compared to Tuesday's edition. I'll have bit more about those moves after a look at the field and rundown.
| (1) MIDWEST Indianapolis (Fri/Sun) | (2) EAST Washington (Thu/Sat) |
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Auburn Hills (Thu/Sat) | Philadelphia (Fri/Sun) | ||
| 1 | Michigan | 1 | Duke |
| 16 | Bryant or Southern | 16 | Niagara (MAAC) |
| 8 | Mississippi | ↑ 8 | VCU (A-10) |
| 9 | UCLA | 9 | Iowa State |
| San Jose (Thu/Sat) | San Jose (Thu/Sat) | ||
| 5 | Creighton (MVC) | 5 | Minnesota |
| 12 | Middle Tennessee (Sun Belt) | ↓ 12 | Arizona State |
| 4 | Cincinnati | 4 | Marquette |
| 13 | South Dakota State (Summit) | ↑ 13 | Louisiana Tech (WAC) |
| Lexington (Thu/Sat) | Auburn Hills (Thu/Sat) | ||
| 6 | Kansas State | ↑ 6 | San Diego State |
| 11 | St. Mary's or Temple | 11 | Oklahoma |
| 3 | Louisville | 3 | Michigan State |
| 14 | Stephen F. Austin (Southland) | 14 | Long Beach State (Big West) |
| Austin (Fri/Sun) | Salt Lake City (Thu/Sat) | ||
| ↓ 7 | UNLV | 7 | Pittsburgh |
| ↑ 10 | Memphis (C-USA) | 10 | Colorado |
| 2 | Miami (ACC) | 2 | Gonzaga (WCC) |
| 15 | Northeastern (CAA) | 15 | Montana (Big Sky) |
| (4) WEST Los Angeles (Thu/Sat) | (3) SOUTH Arlington (Fri/Sun) |
||
| Salt Lake City (Thu/Sat) | Dayton (Fri/Sun) | ||
| ↑ 1 | Arizona (Pac-12) | 1 | Indiana (Big Ten) |
| 16 | Florida Gulf Coast (A-Sun) | 16 | Norfolk State or UNC Asheville |
| 8 | Colorado State | ↓ 8 | Wichita State |
| ↑ 9 | Kentucky | ↓ 9 | Missouri |
| Dayton (Fri/Sun) | Kansas City (Fri/Sun) | ||
| 5 | Georgetown | 5 | Oregon |
| 12 | Baylor or Indiana State | ↓ 12 | Belmont (OVC) |
| 4 | Ohio State | 4 | Butler |
| 13 | Akron (MAC) | 13 | Lehigh (Patriot) |
| Philadelphia (Fri/Sun) | Austin (Fri/Sun) | ||
| 6 | N.C. State | ↑ 6 | Notre Dame |
| ↑ 11 | Illinois | ↑ 11 | La Salle |
| 3 | Syracuse (Big East) | 3 | New Mexico (MWC) |
| 14 | Valparaiso (Horizon) | 14 | Long Beach State (Big West) |
| Lexington (Thu/Sat) | Kansas City (Fri/Sun) | ||
| ↑ 7 | Oklahoma State | ↓ 7 | Wisconsin |
| 10 | Saint Louis | 10 | North Carolina |
| ↓ 2 | Florida (SEC) | 2 | Kansas (Big 12) |
| 15 | Stony Brook (AmEast) | 15 | Davidson (Southern) |
| FIRST FOUR (Dayton) | |||
| Tuesday: To Auburn Hills |
Tuesday: To Lexington | ||
| 16 | Bryant (NEC) | ↑ 11 | St. Mary's |
| 16 | Southern (SWAC) | 11 | Temple |
| Wednesday: To Dayton | Wednesday: To Dayton |
||
| ↑ 16 | UNC Asheville (Big South) | 12 | Baylor |
| 16 | Norfolk State (MEAC) | ↓ 12 | Indiana State |
| BIDS BY CONFERENCE | LAST FOUR BYES | ARRIVALS | DEPARTURES |
| Big East: 7 | Oklahoma | UNC Asheville | Charleston Southern |
| Big Ten: 7 | La Salle | South Dakota State | North Dakota State |
| Big 12: 6 | Arizona State | ||
| A-10: 5 | Illinois | ||
| Pac-12: 5 |
LAST FOUR IN | ||
| ACC: 4 |
Baylor | ||
| MWC: 4 | Temple | ||
| SEC: 4 | Indiana State | ||
| MVC: 3 | St. Mary's | PROCEDURAL | MOVES |
| WCC: 2 | LAST FOUR OUT | Oklahoma | 10 down to 11 |
| 1-Bid Conferences: 21 | Virginia | Memphis | 11 up to 10 |
| Maryland | Belmont | 11 down to 12 | |
| Boise State | St. Mary's | 12 up to 11 | |
| St. John's | Temple | 12 up to 11 | |
| NEXT FOUR OUT | Arizona State | 11 down to 12 | |
| Villanova | Illinois | 12 up to 11 | |
| Southern Miss. | |||
| UMass | |||
| Wyoming |
Also considered (in order): BYU, Air Force, Charlotte, Alabama, Stanford, Iowa, Arkansas, Xavier, Washington
Three nights of March-level excitement began with Florida and Arkansas participating in "Freaky Tuesday," as the two teams seemingly swapped personalities for the night. Some uncharacteristic lapses on both ends of the court, combined with the Razorbacks' hot start from beyond the three-point arc, doomed the Gators to a defeat that dropped them from not only the No. 1 overall spot but also the top line altogether. Making matters worse, Florida lost its heart and soul player, forward Will Yeguete, for the rest of the regular season to bone chips in his right knee. The Gators will need him back for the SEC and NCAA Tournaments to reach their true potential.
Arizona, a winner over Stanford on Wednesday night, jumps up to the No. 1 line to replace Florida.
Florida's defeat in Fayetteville was not the worst one by a top seed contender this week, as Kansas fell at TCU, the Big 12 newcomer which seemed to be well on its way to an 0-18 conference mark. CBS's Jerry Palm says its the worst loss in terms of RPI difference in the 20 years he's researched the statistic. That defeat, the Jayhawks' second in a row incidentally, might keep costing Kansas as the season rolls on.
While new bracket No. 1 Michigan eventually defeated Ohio State in a thrilling overtime game on Tuesday, the top team in the polls, Indiana, wasn't so lucky. The Hoosiers were stunned by Illinois on a Tyler Griffey buzzer-beater, mere tenths of a second after it appeared Victor Oladipo had blocked the Illini into an extra five minutes of action and possible bracket oblivion. Illinois would have fallen out of this projection completely with a loss. Now they occupy the final spot just above the First Four.
Duke remains on the top line along with Michigan, Indiana and Arizona, though the Blue Devils did their best to give away a huge lead at home against N.C. State on Thursday night.
At the bottom of the at-large pool, Baylor replaces Illinois in the First Four, where the Bears join Indiana State (which blasted Creighton in Terre Haute Wednesday to move to 2-1 against the Missouri Valley's two perceived lead teams), St. Mary's and Temple. Oklahoma State's Markel Brown's overtime winner sent Baylor to its third loss in four games against fellow second/bubble-tier Big 12 teams on Wednesday night in Stillwater.
Have you caught your breath yet? I hope so, since Selection Sunday is still five weeks away. Here's a long list of weekend games that have quite a bit to live up to after the past three evenings.
Saturday
Temple at Dayton, 11 a.m. ET (ESPNU)
Michigan at Wisconsin, 12 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Georgetown at Rutgers, 12 p.m. ET (BIg East Network/ESPN3)
Mississippi at Missouri, 1 p.m. ET (CBS)
Southern Illinois at Indiana State, 1 p.m. ET (WSIU)
Oklahoma State at Texas, 1:30 p.m. ET (Big 12 Network/ESPN3)
Arkansas at Vanderbilt, 1:30 p.m. ET (SEC Network/ESPN3)
North Carolina at Miami, 2 p.m. ET (ESPN)
St. Joseph's at Massachusetts, 2 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
Butler at George Washington, 2 p.m. ET (CSN Mid-Atlantic Plus/CSN Chicago)
USF at Villanova, 3 p.m. ET (ESPNU)
Kansas at Oklahoma, 4 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Memphis at Southern Mississippi, 4 p.m. ET (CBS Sports Network)
Texas Tech at Baylor, 4 p.m. ET (Big 12 Network Regional/ESPN3)
Auburn at Kentucky, 4 p.m. ET (SEC Network/ESPN3)
Mississippi State at Florida, 5 p.m. ET (SEC on FSN/ESPN3)
South Dakota State at Oakland, 5 p.m. ET (FS Detroit/FS North/FCS Atlantic)
Pittsburgh at Cincinnati, 6 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Iowa State at Kansas State, 6 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
Fresno State at San Diego State, 6 p.m. ET (CBS Sports Network)
Saint Louis at Richmond, 6 p.m. ET (WTVR/KPLR)
Stanford at Arizona State, 7 p.m. ET (ESPNU)
Oral Roberts at Stephen F. Austin, 7 p.m. ET (CSN Houston)
Missouri State at Wichita State, 7:30 p.m. ET (FS Midwest/CSN Chicago/FCS Central/ESPN3)
LSU at Alabama, 8 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
Wyoming at Boise State, 8 p.m. ET (no TV)
New Mexico at UNLV, 9 p.m. ET (NBC Sports Network)
Louisville at Notre Dame, 9 p.m. ET (ESPN)
San Francisco at BYU, 9 p.m. ET (BYU TV)
Illinois State at Creighton, 10 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
Washington State at UCLA, 10 p.m. ET (Pac-12 Network)
St. Mary's at San Diego, 11 p.m. ET (ESPNU)
Sunday
Indiana at Ohio State, 1 p.m. ET (CBS)
St. John's at Syracuse, 1 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Virginia at Maryland, 1 p.m. ET (ACC Network Regional/ESPN3)
N.C. State at Clemson, 1 p.m. ET (ACC Network Regional/ESPN3)
Duke at Boston College, 6 p.m. ET (ESPNU)
Illinois at Minnesota, 6 p.m. ET (BTN)
California at Arizona, 7 p.m. ET (Pac-12 Network)
Washington at USC, 10 p.m. ET (FSN)
Colorado at Oregon State, 10 p.m. ET (Pac-12 Network)
Monday
Marquette at Georgetown, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN)
TCU at Oklahoma, 7 p.m. ET (ESPNU)
Kansas State at Kansas, 9 p.m. ET (ESPN)
After the past three nights, who knows what weekend surprises lurk, and what changes are to come for Tuesday's bracket.