The Night That Was and The Day That Is

The NCAA Tournament is the most action packed, intense championship process of them all. Better than any of the pro sports and far better than the college football bowl system. The only thing that comes close to rivaling the Tourney is the individual conference tournaments. The week before the Big Dance starts is the second most exciting week on the sports calendar.

That being said, it is time to wrap up what went down last night and what you should look forward to today. We will try to keep this going from now through Selection Sunday.

What You Missed:

There were a few auto bids handed out last night and at least one did not go as planned.

Western Kentucky will look to match last year’s impressive tourney run after winning the Sun Belt. This is a team that made a Sweet 16 run last year and they certainly have the talent to get out of the first weekend this year. I’ll take them in a round 1 win before bowing out in round 2.

North Dakota State in there first year of D-1 eligibility will be heading to the field of 65 after beating Oakland in the Summit League finale last night. This game was easily the game of the day. Oakland opened up a sizeable lead early before letting NDSU creep back in. After allowing Oakland to tie it up with 12 seconds left, State took it the distance FTW.

Cleveland State upset Butler in the Horizon title game instantly stealing a bubble spot from some poor fringe team (looking at you Providence and URI). Cleveland State beat the ‘Cuse at the Carrier Dome earlier this year so they can play. If by winning their conference, they only steal a spot from VaTech, Maryland, West Virginia or Boston College, I’m totally ok with it. If they steal it from my Rams, I’m going to be bullshit.

What You Will Not Want To Miss Today:

Two more auto bids at stake today – Big Sky and Northeast. No bubble stealing threats here. Win and you’re in, lose and see you next season. I’m taking Portland State and Bob Morris.

Day Two of the BET will kick off at high noon with Providence and DePaul. Providence should roll easy, but then again, the Bearcats should have too. St John’s/Marquette, Notre Dame/WV and Seton Hall/Syracuse will follow. I like the ND/WV game. ND could win this game easily.

A10 action kicks off with some of the lower seeds matching up. Potential trouble spot for URI if UMass beats Duquesne.

Pac10 starts their action today as well. Only two games and neither should impact the high seeds. Same can be said for the Big 12.

Who’s Punched Their Ticket

Western Kentucky
Cleveland State
North Dakota State
Siena
Gonzaga
Chattanooga
VCU
Northern Iowa
Morehead State
East Tennessee State
Radford
Cornell