Tennessee knocks Ole Miss out of SEC, 76-65. UTEP ends Tulsa's CUSA run, 75-61. Lehigh about 2 minutes from taking Patriot crown from Lafayette, if they don't blow it.
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Lehigh 74 - Lafayette 59 = The Mountain Hawks from Bethlehem take the Patriot. Next comes their pluckin' crucifixion.
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Kansas 79-Texas A&M 66--With a 21-2 run late that broke a tight game wide open. KU struggled most of the game with tons of turnovers...But it is a 40 minute game not 30. Congrats to Coach Self this was the 200th win as coach of the Jayhawks, one game after the storied program recorded all-time win No. 2,000.

Kansas State 82- Baylor 75 setting up a monumental Big 12 title game matchup against rival Kansas.

BIG 12 Basketball ROCKS

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Thanks for the scores, Jeff, and the breakdown of the KU game. I'd agree that the Jayhawks can be a little sloppy at times, but I'd still have to make them slight favorites to take it all this season. They have the best mix of talent, experience, and coaching ability, whereas all the other contenders fall a bit short in at least one of those catagories. And they should have a #1-seed locked up, regardless of the outcome against K-State. However, there does not seem to be one dominant team this year, with perhaps a dozen with a legitimate shot at the crown, so we'll have to see how things go. That's why, I suppose, they play the games.

As for the other action last night, here's the ones that struck me:

N. C. State 58 - Florida State 52 = What? The Wolfpack won again? WTF? Shoot, if they can get past Georgia Tech this afternoon, and Tech's far from unbeatable, they are in the ACC Championship game! That won't get them a bid, but if they can win THAT one too . . . well, I may have to send Jerry back what's left of the cigars he sent me, just on general principles.

Georgia Tech 69 - Maryland 64 = And I suppose Jerry should thank the Jackets for taking out the Terps for him. This will not keep Maryland out of the NCAAs, but it just might have gotten Tech off the bubble for good.

Georgetown 80 - Marquette 64 = Both these were in regardless already, but it is good to see at least one of the Big East top dogs decided to show up at MSG.

West Virginia 53 - Notre Dame 51 = Make that two . . . sort of. It took a late miss by the Irish for WVA to escape the upset, so despite 17 by baby brother Ben Hansbrough they go back to South Bend . . . perhaps for good. Hey, the Committee would have to go 8-deep in the Big Mouth to give the Irish an at-large, and that may depend on factors beyond their control, such as NCSU taking the ACC title.

Minnesota 72 - Michigan State 67 (OT) = The Gophers wanna go for an at-large, and make sure the Committee goes at least 6-deep in the Big Ten. This war likely did just that. As for the Spartans, they were on the dancecard before tip-off, so no foul.

Mississippi State 75 - Florida 69 = And pretty much the same story here, save in the SEC.

San Diego State 72 - New Mexico 69 = Now it's a different matter in the Mountain West. Though the pundits say that group is superior to the Pac-10 this year, which may be true, it does not mean they'll go 4-deep into them. And the Lobos? Well, they probably dropped a line in the seeding, but they did not lose their ticket.

UNLV 70 - BYU 66 = And here's the rest of the Aztecs' competition for those slots. Both of these likely had at-larges sewn up before play, so the only loss is BYU's (overrated??) seeding.

Purdue 69 - Northwestern 61 = The game itself meant little, since the Boilermakers were in regardles, and Northwestern's only shot this late was to take it all. But it is a bit encouraging to their fans that Purdue showed they could score more than 50 points without Hummel on the court.

Vanderbilt 78 - Georgia 66 = Really, when you come down to it, no big deal here. The Comms were already in it, and the Dawgs out. So skip it, and ignore this score.


There are a lot . . . a LOT! . . . of automatic bids up today:

UTEP vs. Houston = Here's the CUSA final, and at the moment the Miners hold a small lead over the unlikely and over-achieving Cougars, midway through the 2nd.

Boston U. vs. Vermont = And here's the American East, with Vermont looking to take a slim lead into the break.

Morgan State vs. South Carolina State = This is also for a one-and-done paycheck, for the Mid-Eastern here.

Sam Houston State vs. Stephen F. Austin = And again, for the Southland.

Arkansas Pine Bluff vs Texas Southern = Ditto, SWAC.

UC Santa Barbara vs. Long Beach State = Are you seeing a trend here? Big West, which is one of those anyway.

Utah State vs. New Mexico State = WAC. Need I repeat myself?

California vs. Washington = And if we are to believe the experts, this is it for the Pac-10 this year. Hell, if it was my call, I'd let both of these in, plus the Sun Devils, and let a few of the above stay home and pack sand . . . but sadly, it don't seem to work that way.

Kansas vs. Kansas State = And here again we have one of those crappy conferences, who shouldn't even get one stinkin' bid, much less the 7 or 11 they want. :-)

San Diego State vs. UNLV = OK, so maybe one of these from the Mountain West could actually win a game next week. I'd not put my money on it, but you are welcome to put yours if you'd like.

West Virginia vs. Georgetown = And this one for the Big East crown is more for bragging rights than anything else, as both were in before the tourney even started, while neither is very likely to improve its seeding enough to actually make a difference.

I'll be back soon. Until then, enjoy.
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Houston is only down 3 with 6 1/2 to play. Vermont comes out of the break with an 11-point bulge over BU to work with.
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It's much too early, but so far Temple kicking Rhode Island butt in the A-10 semis. Kentucky/Tennessee too close and too early to matter.
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With 3+ to play, Houston takes 1-point lead over UTEP. Some of you boys better start praying, if you don't want the Cougars to steal your school's at-large!
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Make that a 3-point lead, with 2 to play. UK only up 2 over Vols midway thru 1st.
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Cougars up 4 with 54 ticks. Oh. my!
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6 with 42!
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5 with 33 ticks. BU's cut Vermont's lead to 3 midway thru 2nd.
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7 with 17. This is big, even if you don't get it . . . yet.
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Final: Houston 81 - UTEP 73 = This is huge. No, I mean it . . . THIS IS HUGE! Before this game started, UTEP was in, regardless. Houston was out, unless they won, for they had no shot at an at-large bid. But now they get the CUSA automatic, which means they just knocked some other at-large team out of the NCAAs. So they just cost some program . . . hey, maybe YOURS! . . . at least a few hundred thousand dollars. AT LEAST! Like I said, this is HUGE! And it might not be the last one either, so stay tuned.
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There must be a cold wind off the Cumberland today, since with less than 4 minutes left in the 1st half, Tennessee's only scored 19 points in Nashville so far. Lucky for them, Kentucky's only scored 25.
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Vermont up 6 with 6+ to play, and so far Miami holding tough with Dook . . . but it's early.
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At the half: Kentucky 32 - Tennessee 19 = OK shooting by 'Cats, horrid by Vols. Also, Temple 34 - Rhode Island 17, so more of the same here.

With 3 left, Vermont up 8. Dook gets up 5 over 'Canes, 7 left in 1st.
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Vermont 83 - Boston U 70 = Welcome to The Dance, American East champs, and enjoy your quick-step.

Tennessee trying to cut into UK's lead, and 'Canes still hanging fairly tough against Blue Devils.
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Come on now ... my boys from UNT have heart. And sometimes, heart gets you pretty far in the Big Dance. :-)
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Halftime Report:

Illinois 37 - Ohio State 31 = If the Buckeyes want a shot at stealing a #1-seed at the last minute, they'd better wake up in the 2nd half.

Miami 35 - Duke 32 = Say what? And if Dook wants to hold onto theirs, they'd likely need to win here and at least make the ACC finals. And can you imagine if they don't, if the bottom-feeding Hurricanes meet, say, State for the ACC? Whoa.
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The only argument I have with that, Prof, is your "sometimes", as I'd say it is more accurate to say "rarely". You can't count Curry's Davidson team, as Stephen was one of those guys who fell between the cracks. Nor can you count George Mason's run, since they were a good team from a decent conference. No, you'd likely have to go back to Bryce Drew and Valpo, and "The Shot" . . . and that was a dozen years ago.

Bottom line, my brother, go to the game if you can, and enjoy it for all it's worth . . . but do not book a second night at the Marriot. :-)
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