March 12th update

Conference Tournament Recap

The final pieces of the pre-NCAA tournament were put into place as the last four conference tournaments concluded on Sunday.

• Vanderbilt used a late 17-2 run to stun #1 Kentucky, a team that had only lost one game all season long (on a last second buzzer beater, no less)
• Florida State defeated North Carolina the opposite way, jumping out to a big early lead of nearly 20 points and then withstanding a late Tar Heel rally. North Carolina was without the ACC's defensive player of the year John Henson who should be back for the NCAA tournament.
• Michigan State got a huge game out of guard Brandon Wood who scored 21 points to lead the Spartans to a Big Ten championship in a game that was a de facto play-in game for a #1 seed (more on that below).
• St. Bonaventure beat Xavier handily in a shocking result for the only non-power conference game of the day. An interesting side note was that the tournament committee was prepared to vote on the final team to be inlcuded in the field had Xavier won. But since St. Bonaventure won and automatically qualified for the tournament, the vote was cancelled. Xavier made the field anyway, but St. Bonaventure would not have made the field had they lost.

Today's Sportico will preview one half of the NCAA Tournament. Check Wednesday's update for the other two regions.

NCAA Tournament Preview (South Region)

• The home to the #1 overall team, the Kentucky Wildcats, the South region looks to be the Wildcats' for the taking. The Duke Blue Devils, Baylor Bears and Indiana Hoosiers round out the top 4 in the bracket. This region will go through Atlanta.
• The 5-12 game may be the most interesting of all the first round games in the bracket in which the Wichita State Shockers take on the VCU Rams. The Rams, who made the Final Four last year, only made this year’s field after a miraculous run through the CAA tournament, winning their conference’s championship. The Shockers lost two of their first four games, but then went a 25-3 run to end the season. Wichita State was ranked #19 at the end of the season.
• The #9 team in this region is last year’s NCAA champion, the University of Connecticut Huskies. They will face the Iowa State Cyclones in the first round of the tournament.

NCAA Tournament Preview (West Region)

• This region features the 4^th #1 seed in the Michigan State Spartans. They face tough potential challenges from the Missouri Tigers (the #2 seed) and the Marquette Golden Eagles (the #3 seed). This region will go through Phoenix.
• #5 University of New Mexico will face one of the toughest 1^st round challenges of a high ranked team when they take on Long Beach State. The 49ers played an absolutely brutal schedule including wins over #9 Pittsburgh and #15 Xavier. Long Beach State’s tough schedule could give the team the necessary experience to pull an upset.
• #10 UVA made the tournament for only the second time since 2002. The Cavaliers, led by coach Tony Bennett, have made an impressive turnaround from a team that was in the basement of the ACC for quite a few years.