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1. The Colonial Athletic Association will meet June 1-2 in Hilton Head, S.C., and the site of the 2013 tournament is expected to be a hot topic. Drexel coach Bruiser Flint said he could see the tournament moving to Baltimore, out of Virginia Commonwealth's home base in Richmond. The problem is that a school like Towson would have to support the event. The CAA is going to have an odd year in 2013 now that VCU is gone to the Atlantic 10, Georgia State is ineligible to play in the tourney since it’s leaving for the Sun Belt and Towson and UNC-Wilmington aren’t eligible due to poor APR scores. That leaves eight schools available for the tourney. The elite of Drexel, Old Dominion and George Mason (as well as possibly Northeastern) should all be near the top of the league.

2. The A-10 will find out that a school like VCU has the size and strength to bump the league up a perceived level immediately. The Rams will be an instant competitor for the A-10 title in year one. Don’t be surprised to see VCU and Butler in the thick of the race for the championship in 2014, too. One of the big winners is the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The A-10 made the prudent move to Brooklyn instead of Atlantic City. Having a tournament with Xavier, VCU and Butler as the headline teams will be a draw. If Saint Joseph’s, UMass, Dayton and others in the area can be factors, the buzz for the event will only increase.

3. Murray State coach Steve Prohm is deciding about which tournament the coveted Racers will play in next season. He’s going back and forth on whether to be in the NIT Season Tip-Off pod at Kansas State (the other three hosts are Virginia, Pitt and Michigan) or become the eighth team at the Charleston (S.C.) Classic. The seven teams signed up for the Nov. 15-18 event are: Baylor, Boston College, Charleston, Colorado, Dayton, St. John’s and Southern Illinois. It’s a tough call for Prohm. He could gamble and go to Manhattan, Kan., to try to get to New York or go to Charleston, where he’s likely to get at least two games against possible NCAA teams.

Doug Gottlieb goes conference by conference to examine what each bubble team needs to do this week to feel at least somewhat safe. To read Eamonn Brennan's updated Bubble Watch, click here.

The Morning After is our semi-daily recap of last night's best basketball action. Yesterday, my editor worked 18 hours. When he arrived at the office, it was February. When he left, it was March. Sweet, glorious March. Which is a little like my arrival and departure from Welsh-Ryan Arena last night.

Point is? March is here. Thirty days of unbridled glory. Let's make every day count, you guys.

There were 58 games to track last night, and many of them held bubble implications. According to Section 10, Rule 2b, Subsection 3-48(d)(a) of the College Basketball Internet Writer's Manual, this means I am required to make a list of these teams and discuss what each result meant for their respective bubble statuses (statusii?). I don't make the rules, people.

Anyway, let's get to it, because Dana and I have to tape a podcast in, like ... oh, shoot, I really have to get going:

Cincinnati Bearcats (beat No. 7 Marquette 72-61): It is growing increasingly difficult to see just how the committee would justify keeping the Cincinnati Bearcats out of the NCAA tournament. Before last night, the only plausible reason for doing so was nonconference performance: A No. 320-ish-ranked nonconference strength of schedule, a loss to Presbyterian, too many cupcake wins, not enough done in the Big East to compensate. That last part of the argument would have been shaky, but it really is now: Cincinnati has now picked off Marquette, Georgetown (at Georgetown), Louisville and Notre Dame. The first two are top-10 bubble teams. The latter two are safely in the tournament field. I know the committee is all about nonconference SOS these days -- win or lose, they want to see you go out and play somebody, to make November and December interesting -- and Cincinnati didn't do that. But everything they've done since screams: tournament team. (And now that their RPI is creeping upward inside the 70 threshold, it's getting a little bit easier to swallow). Hard to say Mick Cronin's team doesn't belong.

Northwestern Wildcats (lost to No. 11 Ohio State, 75-73, in immensely heartbreaking fashion): Northwestern is not a team that could be criticized for failing to take on top teams. Its league, the Big Ten, is chock full of them. Which is partially the problem: After last night's devastating loss -- if NU wins we're probably not having this discussion -- the Wildcats are 7-10 in the Big Ten, with eight of their 12 losses coming to conference foes ranked higher than 50 in the RPI. In fact, Northwestern is just 1-8 against the RPI top 25. The fact that they've played eight games against the RPI top 25 is, in and of itself, a nice addition to the resume. The fact that Northwestern has managed just one win in that bunch (Michigan State at home) doesn't speak volumes.

But here's the good news: Northwestern doesn't have any bad losses. The worst is probably a one-point home loss to Illinois on Jan. 4, long before Illinois had spiraled into oblivion. A loss at Iowa on Saturday wouldn't be a bad loss in reality, but it would be the sub-100 RPI loss. It's hard to know how the committee will judge this profile. The bottom line: As a disappointed but upbeat John Shurna told ESPN.com Wednesday, the Wildcats just "got to win." A loss, and this conversation might be, unfortunately, over.

Colorado State (toppled No. 17 UNLV, 66-59): Colorado State's chief concern in the past three weeks has been the addition of big wins. The Rams have long had some of the better (and more inflated) RPI numbers in the country, but they lacked few results to which Colorado State could point and say, "See? It's not just that the RPI makes no sense! We're pretty good, too!" They got another one here Wednesday night. In eight days, the Rams have toppled UNLV and New Mexico, part of their unbeaten home record in Mountain West play. A 3-5 record against the RPI top 50 is nothing to scoff at; neither are wins against all three guaranteed tourney locks from your own league. The only problem is CSU hasn't traveled at all well: They're 4-9 away from Ft. Collins this season, including losses at Boise State, Stanford, Wyoming, Northern Iowa, and TCU. Now, many of those losses are understandable. TCU, Wyoming, and UNI are all great at home, and most seasons, it's hard to fault a quasi-mid-major like CSU for losing at Stanford. But the Rams are still just 8-8 vs. the RPI top 100. Not great, not bad. Will the top-20 RPI and top-five SOS push them over the edge?

South Florida (won at No. 18 Louisville, 58-51): Say what you will about the South Florida Bulls. You can't fault them for effort. Or, for that matter, timing. USF's win at Louisville last night was huge: It gave South Florida its best Big East win against a team not named Seton Hall or Cincinnati (not to mention a game that wasn't a one-point win at home) helping to bump this once-questionable RPI up into the top-35 range. USF's schedule ranks No. 19; its nonconference schedule strength is No. 54. The committee says it doesn't look at conference record closely, and in this instance, that makes sense: 12-5 in the Big East looks gaudy, until you dig in and see how imbalanced South Florida's schedule was, and which teams it actually beat. Still, though, you can't fault Stan Heath's team Wednesday night. They needed a huge win at Louisville, and they got it. But with a 5-10 road record and other bubble teams (like Northwestern, for example) with just-as-good-wins and fewer bad losses (USF lost to Old Dominion, Auburn and Penn State in the nonconference), USF's big Wednesday night hardly guarantees them a spot in the field. It puts them in contention, but a home win against West Virginia on Saturday (and a decent showing in the Big East tournament) is still the recommended course of action.

Saint Joseph's (lost at St. Bonaventure, 98-93, in double OT): Brutal loss for the Hawks. Phil Martelli's team has kept creeping into the fringes of the bubble picture before, only to lose a game and fall off again, but after Saturday's 10-point win against Temple, Saint Joe's put itself very much back in the conversation. They're still there, but only barely. Home losses to Richmond and Charlotte are knocks against this team, as is a road loss at American. A 6-9 record against the RPI top 100 reveals a team that has stockpiled 13 of its wins below the top 100 line. Probably a long shot now, but the A-10 tournament could help it get in position.

Dayton (lost at Richmond, 82-71): Richmond is not a horrible team by any means, and it can't be much fun to play on the Spiders' home turf, but even so, this was a rough loss for the Flyers -- who, like Saint Joseph's began the week as a fringe bubble team and look likely to end it there now as well. Archie Miller's team has racked up its fair share of quality wins, but also has a bunch of not-so-quality losses. When your RPI is No. 71 and you're 8-7 in the A-10 -- a good league, to be sure, but still -- you're going to have trouble getting a solid look on Selection Sunday. Much more work to do.

Miami (lost at NC State, 77-73): When you're a bubble team playing another bubble team, particularly one like the Wolfpack, which damaged itself with three straight missed chances (at Duke, vs. Florida State and UNC) and a subsequent overtime loss at Clemson, your best bet is to just go out and win. Miami didn't do that Wednesday night, instead falling to fellow putative bubble team NC State in Raleigh. Bad news for the Hurricanes. Worse news: Even Reggie Johnson's return from an eligibility scare didn't help. The Hurricanes are still in the hunt, but with only Boston College left on the schedule, can a win at Duke and a home win against Florida State really be enough?

Southern Miss (beat Southern Methodist at home, 67-60): This one was all about the avoidance of a bad loss, and USM got the job done. With an 11-4 record in CUSA, a 9-6 record at home, a 3-2 record against the RPI top 50 and very good (probably too good) RPI and SOS numbers, even a loss at Marshall on Saturday probably wouldn't do much to knock Larry Eustachy's team out of the field.

Texas (beat Oklahoma at home, 72-64): A home loss to Oklahoma might not be a home loss to Texas Tech, but it would have been ugly either way. Why? Because Texas's regular-season finale just so happens to come at Kansas on Saturday, where the Jayhawks pretty much never lose, and it's almost impossible to imagine (short of a legendary J'Covan Brown explosion) the young Longhorns leaving Lawrence with a signature win. A win would be great, obviously, but if (when) it doesn't happen, Texas will find itself right in the thick of the bubble chase heading into the Big 12 tournament, where upset opportunities abound. For now, they've stayed very much in the chase.

After several crucial bubble games Wednesday night, here's Joe Lunardi's brief update to Bracketology:

NOTABLE
-- Mississippi State, South Florida and Texas stay in field with wins
-- Northwestern remains “last team in” despite loss
-- Colorado State (in) and Miami (out) trade places on bubble
-- Temple clinches A-10 regular-season title

LAST FOUR IN
South Florida
Texas
Colorado State
Northwestern

FIRST FOUR OUT
Xavier
VCU
NC State
Miami

NEXT FOUR OUT
Oregon
Colorado
Saint Joseph's
Dayton

Also considered: Illinois, New Mexico State, UCF

CONFERENCE BREAKDOWN
Big East (10)
Big Ten (7)
Big 12 (6)
SEC (5)
ACC (4)
Mountain West (4)
Pac-12 (3)
West Coast (3)
Atlantic 10 (2)
Conference USA (2)
Missouri Valley (2)

Click here to read our afternoon recap. Now back to the lecture at hand, which comes in three parts:

The Rivalry

No. 2 Syracuse 71, Connecticut 69: One of the many things to love about this Syracuse team -- besides its great zone defense and incredible depth and talent and length and pretty much everything besides defensive rebounding -- is how well it handles close games. Since the Jan. 21 loss at Notre Dame, Syracuse has taken respective best shots from Cincinnati, West Virginia, Georgetown, Louisville, South Florida and now at UConn, and each time the Orange have either pulled away late or made the key stop down the stretch to preserve the narrow win. It's a real skill, and it isn't entirely intangible; when you have a defense this good, you tend to get a lot of stops, and there's no reason why that wouldn't be true in the final minutes of any given game, too. But however you quantify it, the Orange win close games. Such traits tend to come in handy in March.

As for Connecticut? While the Huskies didn't get the win, they appear to be rounding into form, or at least starting to figure a few things out. UConn had its fair share of issues with Syracuse's zone, and there were plenty of bad shots to be had, but the Huskies were much more balanced (four players finished in double figures, while Ryan Boatright and Shabazz Napier combined for 13 assists) and competent on both ends of the floor in the second half. Unless it suddenly begins shooting the ball from outside at a much higher clip, this team probably has a ceiling. But there are plenty of realistic improvements to be made. Even better, many of them appear to be in progress. Let's not bury this team just yet.

The Upsets

Purdue 75, No. 13 Michigan 61: When Purdue guard Ryne Smith was asked what he thought about guard Kelsey Barlow's dismissal from the team last week, he was direct, even curt: "Addition by subtraction," Smith said. Apparently he was right. Whatever the reason, Purdue played its best game of the season Saturday at the most important time, containing Michigan's outside shooters and slowly stretching a second-half lead thanks to the heady play of point guard Lewis Jackson, forward Robbie Hummel and, most importantly, guard Terone Johnson, who scored a career-high 22 points and made a handful of key plays down the stretch, including two big and-1 finishes around the rim. Purdue is an unconventional team with no true post presence; the Boilermakers rely on Hummel's outside-in versatility and an extended, guard-oriented style. This makes them a great matchup for Michigan, and, in their own way, a dangerous team.

In any case, Purdue can now feel entirely safe about its at-large NCAA tournament chances. Beating Michigan at home -- the Wolverines' first home loss of the season -- is most definitely a signature victory. And it couldn't have come at a better time.

TCU 83, No. 21 New Mexico 64: Let's hear it for TCU! A round of applause is most definitely in order. At this time in 2011, the Horned Frogs were in the midst of a season-ending 13-game losing streak, en route to an 11-22 finish. This season is an entirely different story: TCU is playing its best basketball down the stretch, having won four of its past five (and eight in a row at home) and toppling ranked UNLV and New Mexico and a good Colorado State squad in the process. The key: great 3-point shooting. The Horned Frogs lead the league in long-range makes in conference play, and they're undefeated at home as a result. What a difference a year makes.

In the meantime ... um, what happened to New Mexico? Last Saturday, we watched in near-awe as the Lobos thoroughly dominated UNLV, which came just a few days after a 10-point win at San Diego State. Steve Alford's team, once a relatively unheralded efficiency darling with few good wins to show for it, looked set to run away with the Mountain West and make a deep run into March. Since then, the Lobos are 0-2 and are now in a three-way tie. A loss at Colorado State makes some sense; we know the Rams are tough, particularly at home. And this is not to take away from TCU, which (as you just read above) is giving everyone more than they bargained for in February, particularly in their own building. But a 19-point blowout loss? Isn't this the team that just rolled UNLV in the Pit and moved to 8-2 in the league? It's kind of weird, right?

Georgia 76, No. 11 Florida 62: This is an upset, of course, but I'm not sure we should be all that surprised. Frankly, I'm not sure if a Florida loss should ever truly catch us off guard. Don't get me wrong: The Gators are good. But they're a specific kind of good. When their steady diet of 3s are falling, they can shoot opponents off the floor before said opponents even have a chance to catch their breath. But if the shots aren't going down, Florida has no Plan B. Patric Young is the only true post presence, and his offensive game is still a work in progress (and he's still underutilized as a scoring threat to boot). The Gators' defense -- which ranks fifth in opponents' points per possession in SEC play, No. 10 in opponents' 3-point field goal percentage and No. 10 in block rate -- still isn't good enough to hold opponents in check when the shots clanging off the iron and the opponents start turning long rebounds into secondary breaks and easy buckets. Florida might yet get there on the defensive end, but it isn't yet. If this UF team has a lower ceiling than it should, well, that's why.

The Bubble Specials

Alabama 67, Mississippi State 50: It was instinctively easy to write off the Crimson Tide when coach Anthony Grant suspended Tony Mitchell and JaMychal Green; it was easy to predict a late collapse, even a fall off the bubble, for a team whose two leading scorers would be missing such important games down the stretch. Instead, the Crimson Tide keep, well, rolling. They've now won three in a row and prevented any hint of a collapse. Mississippi State, on the other hand, appears to be doing exactly that: The Bulldogs are collapsing. This is the Bulldogs' fifth consecutive defeat, a stretch that has included some good basketball (in the near-miss vs. Kentucky this week) but also some baffling losses (the loss at Auburn especially). It's no stretch to say Mississippi State -- which for much of the season looked like a tourney near-lock -- could wind up missing the tournament after all. The Bulldogs are, after all, 6-8 and tied with rival Ole Miss in the SEC standings. Ouch.

Northwestern 67, Penn State 66: Breathe a big ol' sigh of relief, Northwestern fans: In the chase for their first NCAA tournament appearance in school history, the Wildcats remain very much alive. Senior forward John Shurna made the game-winning free throws with just 2.6 seconds remaining, giving Bill Carmody his first win in State College since 2002. Big challenges still lie ahead: Ohio State comes to town on Wednesday, followed by next weekend's season-ender at Iowa, a team that just knocked off Indiana and Wisconsin in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. But for now, some minor rejoicing is in order. Northwestern's tourney hopes are still very real.

Rutgers 77, Seton Hall 72 (OT): Let's not take Seton Hall off the bubble just yet, eh? The Pirates got a great win over Georgetown this week, one that could have firmed up a previously shaky at-large profile. All Seton Hall needed to do the rest of the way was avoid bad losses. Well, losing to a young, 13-16 Rutgers team at home is just that. Next weekend, the Hall travels to DePaul. If the Pirates lose there, all the good vibes from the emphatic Georgetown victory will have almost entirely faded from the picture.

VCU 89, George Mason 77: First things first: Thanks to Drexel's one-point win at Old Dominion on Saturday afternoon, VCU's win over George Mason won't give them a share of the CAA title this season. Bummer, sure, but the Rams would surely settle for a spot in the NCAA tournament, something to which they're at least a little closer after this victory today. As a league, the Colonial's top teams (Drexel, VCU and GMU) didn't get quality nonconference wins (VCU's best came against South Florida, for example), so any at-large consideration will have to come from separation at the top and perhaps a pair of deep runs for both Drexel and VCU in the CAA tournament. A win here was a must, and Shaka Smart's team got it, behind Bradford Burgess' career-high 31 points.

Dayton 76, UMass 43: A home loss to UMass can't be called "bad," but for a team like Dayton -- which is desperately scrapping for a spot in the NCAA tournament -- it could have been disastrous. Instead, the opposite happened: UD won, and won big, looking very much like one of the A-10's best teams and a squad worthy of a tourney bid in the process. We'll see how the Flyers finish up, but if they're one of the last four in, they might just be one of the play-in game candidates, which are held in -- you guessed it -- Dayton!

Saint Joseph's 82, No. 22 Temple 72: Speaking of somewhat fringe Atlantic 10 tournament hopefuls, the A-10 can't offer a bubble team a better shot at a marquee win than Temple on its own floor late in the season, but the Hawks still had to overcome Fran Dunphy's typically peerless bunch, which had won its previous 11 games and 13 in the 15-game stretch beginning with its Jan. 4 victory over Duke. Phil Martelli's team is now 9-6 in the league and 19-11 overall, and it added the one thing it desperately needed to its profile: A legitimate top-25 RPI win. Temple is most definitely that.

Penn 55, Harvard 54: Just when you think it's time to plan a long-awaited Harvard hoops coronation, Penn's Zack Rosen comes along, scores 20 points, makes a huge jumper down the stretch and ices two game-winning free throws in the final 30 seconds. And all of a sudden the Ivy League race is legitimately up for grabs with both of these teams having two losses. (Another one-game playoff for the Crimson? Oh boy.) As an at-large entity, Harvard is still in decent shape, but its profile isn't so strong that it can afford to lose at either Columbia or Cornell in its final two games, lose out on the Ivy auto-bid, and still feel safe about being picked to join the group of 37 at-large teams. Big days ahead for Tommy Amaker's team.

Washington 59, Washington State 55: For the first 10 or so minutes of the first half, it looked like Wazzu was going to hand its in-state opponent the type of loss that would severely damage Washington's at-large chances. But the Huskies fought back and, as the AP report notes, won the game's most important battle -- at the charity stripe: "Ultimately, the game came down to free throws. WSU (14-14, 6-10) went 11 of 12 to keep the game tied at 28-all despite shooting 27 percent in the first half. In the second half, the Cougars shot 6 of 20 from the free throw line, while the Huskies, who only went 2 of 5 in the first half, finished 17 of 24." The win keeps Washington on the right side of the bubble for now, but UW's marginal profile might not be able to survive a loss at either USC or UCLA going away.

Xavier 65, Richmond 57: Kenny Frease's season highs in both points (19) and rebounds (14) helped carry Xavier to an ugly but ultimately victorious Saturday. A loss here would have kicked Xavier off the bubble for good and almost certainly, barring an upset in the A-10 tournament, ended Chris Mack's 100 percent NCAA tournament hit rate in his XU tenure. Instead, the Musketeers live to fight another day.

No. 21 San Diego State 74, Colorado State 66: The Rams pass at least two NCAA tournament bubble tests: The RPI/SOS numbers are great, and they sure do look like a tournament team. But will that be enough? A win in Viejas Arena would have provided a tidy bookend to this week's huge victory over New Mexico, but the loss isn't a huge deal. Colorado State, which is undefeated at home in Mountain West play, hosts UNLV in Fort Collins in just three days' time. Win that one and the Rams are probably set.

This Saturday was always going to be a bit more underwhelming than recent weeks, but boy, did it end well. Once it ended, that is. Creighton students rushed the court before the game was officially over. Their reverse storm, in which they calmly walked off the court, was one of the most surprisingly orderly things I've ever seen. Bravo, Bluejays fans. Bravo.

Read up on Long Beach State-Creighton, Michigan-Ohio State and the rest of Saturday night's action here. If you missed our afternoon recap, catch up now.

No. 19 Michigan 56, No. 6 Ohio State 51: Here's something I learned Saturday -- Michigan hasn't won a Big Ten title since 1986. As Dan Shulman said on the broadcast, that's kind of hard to believe. Here's something else we learned Saturday: The Wolverines have a legitimate chance to break that streak this season.

The race for the Big Ten title is officially a three-way affair. How did Michigan get there? By taking care of business at home. Saturday's win was the Wolverines' 16th consecutive victory in Ann Arbor. For much of the past 10 years, under Tommy Amaker and then John Beilein, Crisler was usually a cold, detached, almost lifeless place. On Saturday, it was rocking in Minute 1 and Minute 40 and constantly in between.

Of course, a home atmosphere is nice, but it doesn't mean much if your team can't play. And Michigan most certainly can play. Point guard Trey Burke continued his impressive freshman campaign against the Buckeyes, scoring 17 points -- including a flurry of much-needed late buckets, one of which he took straight at former grade-school teammate Jared Sullinger -- and dishing five dimes against the best perimeter defender in the country, Ohio State guard Aaron Craft. Tim Hardaway Jr. added efficient perimeter scoring, while forward Jordan Morgan scored 11 points and 11 rebounds against Sullinger. Those matchups -- point guard and forward -- should be Michigan's weaknesses, particularly against OSU. In this one, Burke and Morgan turned them into strengths.

That said, Michigan won the game on the defensive end, where it held the Buckeyes to .91 points per trip, and in some part it has the Buckeyes to thank. Shooting guard William Buford struggled yet again, going 3-of-12 and continuing his senior slump. Credit the Wolverines for forcing the Bucks into perimeter jump shots, but also blame Ohio State, which often settled for those jumpers without first attempting to get Sully into an iso situation on the low block. When Sullinger did touch the ball, the Buckeyes usually got a score. They figured this out eventually, which is what got them back into the game in the second half. But it was too little, too late. You wouldn't think you'd need to "figure out" that you should probably give the ball to Sullinger because, you know, he's really good.

Look, Ohio State remains a very good defensive team. After all, holding Michigan to 56 points on its own floor is no easy task. But the Buckeyes' offense, particularly its perimeter shooting (or lack thereof), looks like a serious liability. It lurched helplessly against Michigan State's defense last Saturday, and it played right into Michigan's hands tonight. As a result, OSU allowed its sworn rival to tie it in the league standings, a game behind MSU in the loss column. If the Buckeyes can't fix these problems, their March ceiling -- once as limitless as any team's in the country -- will suffer accordingly.

No. 14 Murray State 65, No. 16 Saint Mary's 51: How much fun is Murray, Ky., having right now? With a rare national audience and Dickie V in the house, the Racers played as well as they have all season, as their fans -- an intense, buoyant bunch -- gleefully soaked it all in. Judging by Vitale's rave reviews of the small burgh, I'd say Murray might be one of the best places in the country to spend this exact Saturday night. I kind of wish I was there. (My colleague Jason King is and had this to say about the game.)

In any case, the nation got a chance to see what this Murray State team was all about, and the timing couldn't have been better. After its loss to Tennessee State two weeks ago, the tone of the discussion around the Racers changed from "Whoa, this team could go undefeated!" to "Well, that was fun, but check out that at-large profile -- Murray State could miss the tournament!" I think we can put that debate to rest. The Racers might not be a national title contender, but with Isaiah Canaan leading the way (he had 23 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, a 5-for-8 mark beyond the arc and at least two or three downright crossovers that made this viewer yelp in enjoyment), they are certainly one of the better mid-major teams in the country and one that can give plenty of outfits issues in the NCAA tournament. Sure, some of the wins were shaky, and sure, the Ohio Valley Conference is bad, but when you win your first 23 games, guess what? You're pretty good.

Saint Mary's was far less convincing. The Gaels' offense was hobbled by Matthew Dellavedova's rolled ankle and Rob Jones' early foul trouble, but those weren't the primary causes -- and the road atmosphere and tough Murray defense don't explain it all, either. In reality, the Gaels, who have lost three of their past four (all by double digits), are just flat-out struggling. Over the course of the WCC season, the Gaels have posted about 1.17 points per possession (adjusted), best in the league. In their three recent losses, Dellavedova & Co. have failed to exceed a point per trip. Much like Creighton, this team's defense isn't nearly good enough to get the job done when the offense struggles. Much like Creighton, if the Gaels don't throw points in at something near their usual rate, they're going to lose. It's really just that simple.

Creighton 81, Long Beach State 79: Speaking of fun, how much fun was this? The finish -- Antoine Young's brilliant left-handed, last-second game winner -- was merely the icing on the cake. The 40 minutes that preceded that shot were chock full of high-octane mid-major awesomeness. LBSU's Casper Ware, T.J. Robinson and Larry Anderson trading deep 3s and inside moves with Young and Doug McDermott? Yes, please.

We couldn't have predicted the ending, but we should have seen the entertainment value coming. These teams both excel most at one thing: scoring the basketball. That's what Creighton does. When the Bluejays don't put the ball in at a high rate, they lose, as they did in their recent three-game losing streak, culminating with a home blowout at the hands of Wichita State last weekend. The defense simply isn't good enough to save Creighton from an off night.

Fortunately, Creighton has Doug McDermott. McDermott has been great all season, though he's struggled of late, and it's no coincidence his team had lost three of its past four in that span. But on Saturday night, he was amazing. Not "amazing" in a "wow, this sesame chicken is amazing" sort of way; McDermott was actually, literally amazing. He scored 36 points on 14-of-20 shooting and added 11 rebounds, six of which on the offensive end. The most impressive came late in the second half, when McDermott flew to the hoop and somehow tipped in a wayward shot arcing halfway over his head. Once it was clear McDermott was on, LBSU coach Dan Monson ordered his charges to begin aggressively double-teaming the opposing coach's son. But McDermott's eager passing and ability to make plays without the ball in his hands -- see the aforementioned tip-in -- neutralized that strategy. He was just so good. And at the perfect time, too.

As entertaining as this game was, as memorably as McDermott performed, the good news for Long Beach is that a loss at Creighton hardly hurts its at-large profile. Chances are, this team will continue its blistering Big West pace and get to the NCAA tournament in academic, auto-bid fashion. But if something goes awry in the conference tournament, LBSU's crazy nonconference schedule -- the toughest in the country by, like, a lot -- should be more than worthy of the committee's respect. Whatever happens, we'll always have Saturday night in Omaha. What a game, man. What a game.

Other observations from the night that was:

• All season, Arkansas has been bad on the road (where it is still winless) but great in its own building (where it was undefeated). That trend ended emphatically against the Gators. Florida hung a 98-68 offensive blitz on the young, up-tempo Razorbacks, led by Erving Walker's career-high 31 points on 9-of-11 from the field, 5-of-6 from 3, and 8-of-8 from the free throw line. Walker has been criticized this season, and rightfully so; his insistence on forcing bad shots in bad situations (at Kentucky, for example) is maddening. But you can't really play much better than he did Saturday night. Insane line.
• Harvard's vaunted defense handled rival Yale with relative ease, which immediately brings to mind images of old men in smoking jackets, teasing each other over cigars and snifters of cognac. (This is how I see Harvard-Yale. I know it's silly, but I can't help it.) This creates a rather compelling finish to the conference season: Harvard, the long-dormant program with sudden title expectations, will face traditional league powers Penn and Princeton at home this week. If the Crimson win, they'll sew up at least a share of the Ivy title, maybe more. There's something slightly poetic about that.
• Huge win for Xavier, which held on to its slim margin in the final seconds of overtime to beat Dayton, 86-83. The Musketeers have been flagging badly along the bubble cut line lately and they desperately needed a home win tonight to stay viable. Oh, and here's a fun fact (unless you're a Dayton fan): This loss made it 27 straight for the Flyers at rival Xavier. Dayton hasn't won there since -- get this -- 1981. Yikes.
• Speaking of fun facts, after an 18-point effort in a 64-53 win over Minnesota, Northwestern forward John Shurna became the Wildcats' all-time leading scorer, toppling Billy McKinney's 35-year hold on the honor. That's all well and good, but Shurna is no doubt more focused on the here and now, where the Wildcats couldn't afford to drop this game and still hope to land an at-large NCAA tournament bid, at least if the bracket was selected tomorrow. The victory keeps Northwestern very much alive. Minnesota's chances, unfortunately, will suffer in proportion.
• When it rains, it -- well, you know. The cliche certainly applies to Villanova, which is struggling through an uncharacteristically bad season but had, even without Maalik Wayns (knee) and James Bell (ankle), a 20-point lead in this game. Notre Dame came back and won in overtime and, well, yeah: That's a tough way to lose. Villanova could surely have used some brief flash of sunlight in an otherwise dark year. It was so, so close Saturday. And then it wasn't. Brutal. Notre Dame, meanwhile, won its eighth game in a row. The Irish don't always look pretty, but they get the job done.
• Southern Miss lost at Houston. Yep. That happened. It's bad news for Larry Eustachy's team, of course -- it puts a definite dent into the Golden Eagles' otherwise stellar tourney résumé, which features gaudy RPI and SOS numbers -- but also bad news for Conference USA, which would no doubt prefer to be a multi-bid league this season. Speaking of which, Memphis took its own awful loss today, too, 60-58 at home to UTEP. Yes, Memphis lost to UTEP at home. The Tigers had been quietly working their way through C-USA play with relative ease, but the offensive inconsistency that plagued them in their nonconference slate crept back in against the Miners, and that doesn't bode well for the coming tournament. Mild C-USA intrigue abounds!
• Speaking of bad losses by Mississippi teams, what is going on at Mississippi State? The Bulldogs were listless at Auburn -- Auburn! -- in a 65-55 loss, MSU's third in a row in a season that is stunningly spiraling in the direction of the bubble. The Bulldogs are just 6-6 in the SEC and have games against Kentucky and at Alabama this week. Uh-oh.
• And speaking of uh-oh and three-game losing streaks, Gonzaga lost in the closing seconds at San Francisco -- the third consecutive year it's lost to the Dons on the road. The Zags shot 51 percent and yet still lost, falling into a tie with BYU for second in the WCC, one game behind 12-2 Saint Mary's.
• Colorado State held on for a rather ugly win over Wyoming. This was a definite bubble elimination game, one Wyoming couldn't afford to drop if it wanted to preserve any chance of at-large consideration. The victory won't put CSU in the field by any means, but it keeps the Rams alive, if only barely.
• Watching Georgetown, it's hard not to be impressed with the Hoyas' pinpoint Princeton offense. But this team's real strength is its defense. We saw that again Saturday, as Georgetown held Providence to 25 percent shooting at the Dunk, a win that pushed Georgetown to 10-4 in the Big East and should quell any lingering concerns its fans may have had about another late-season collapse. That's not happening.

Andy Katz and Doug Gottlieb break down all of Saturday's action. Included in the conversation: What happens now with Kansas and Iowa State, controversial finishes in Syracuse and Minneapolis, impressive wins by the SEC elite, disappointing performances from Kansas State and Dayton and another victory by the best of the West, Saint Mary's.

Editor's Note: For Myron's recap of Saturday's afternoon action, click here.

More Saturday games. More drama. A weekend slate that wasn’t supposed to offer much ultimately produced an impressive collection of games. Saturday night only added to the excitement.

Washington 69, Arizona 67

This game might have been a preview of the vibe we’ll see in the Pac-12 tournament. Not one team in this league can feel secure about its NCAA tournament hopes, but the conference's collective downfall does make for plenty of must-win drama.

Consider this: Between the 14:16 and 2:28 marks of the second half, Arizona recorded exactly one field goal. And yet, with two minutes to play, this was just a six-point game. Solomon Hill’s 3-pointer with 9 seconds to play tied the game at 67. He was awesome, scoring 28 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. But while he made nine of his 10 shots, the rest of team went 12-of-40 (30 percent) from the field.

And after Hill's big bucket, Josiah Turner committed a huge foul on C.J. Wilcox, who hit a pair of free throws before freshman Tony Wroten blocked Turner’s layup at the buzzer. The Pac-12 is certainly down. But it’s also a very scrappy league right now because of the uncertainty. Arizona was bad for a chunk of this game, but the Wildcats kept coming -- because, well, it's UA-UW and these matchups are always dramatic.

The Huskies, who lead the Pac-12 at 7-2, scored a crucial road win, while Zona’s at-large hopes took another major blow with its third home loss of the season. Fun game.

No. 21 Virginia 61, North Carolina State 60

The Cavaliers led 55-45 with 6:37 on the clock, but barely held on here. The Wolfpack was sloppy for the bulk of this game and finished just 2-of-15 from beyond the arc. Near the five-minute mark, Alex Johnson missed three shots on one possession. He botched a layup on a fast break, then missed a contested follow-up and a 3-pointer. It was that kind of evening for the Pack.

But they bounced back and chipped away at Virginia’s lead. They outscored UVa 15-5 in the final six minutes of the game and Scott Wood hit a late 3 to close the gap to 1. The Cavs missed a jumper in the final seconds so NC State had a chance to tie on the last possession, but Virginia’s defense clamped down on Lorenzo Brown, whose 3-point attempt at the buzzer was way off.

The Cavs continue to find ways to win and force teams to play their grind-it-out style of basketball. Mike Scott (18 points) certainly helped, but Virginia was outrebounded 42-25 -- it gave up more offensive boards (18) than it had defensive boards (17)! -- and still pulled out the win. The Cavaliers' 17th victory gives them one more than all of last season.

That’s certainly something to be proud of, but I’m not sold on the Cavs as a team that will do damage in the NCAA tournament. Not with struggles against Towson, a bad home loss against Virginia Tech and other so-so efforts this season. Their finish against NC State on Saturday showcased some of this team’s flaws.

No. 20 Saint Mary’s 80, BYU 66

Wait, wasn't this supposed to be the weekend that the Gaels fell in West Coast Conference play? As impressive as SMC's 8-0 start in the WCC was, there was a palpable buzz that suggested the Gaels' success was directly linked to the fact that they played five of their first eight conference games at home, including routs of BYU and Gonzaga.

A rematch with Brigham Young on the road -- the Marriott Center is one of the most challenging venues in the country -- spelled doom. Right? But Saint Mary’s truly separated itself from the rest of the league with a 14-point victory that really wasn't even that close, despite SMC's heavy turnover total (24). It was a scrappy game both on the floor and off it -- fans threw things onto the court at one point as the Cougars lost back-to-back home games for the first time ever under Dave Rose. Four Gaels recorded double-figure point totals, led by Brad Waldow (19 points, 8 rebounds). I already can't wait for that Saint Mary's-Gonzaga game in Spokane.

Some more observations from Saturday night ...

• Oh Dayton, you confusing Atlantic 10 contender (pretender?). From Dec. 7 through Jan. 7, the Flyers won seven of eight games, including victories over Alabama, Ole Miss, Saint Louis and Temple. They’ve now lost three of five after Saturday’s 86-81 home loss to … wait for it … Rhode Island (4-18, 1-6 Atlantic 10). That’s not OK. What a wacky league. Xavier, Saint Louis and Dayton, three teams expected to emerge from the crowd, all have three conference losses as La Salle, St. Bonaventure and UMass (a very impressive winner over the Billikens on Saturday) share the conference lead. The A-10 seems as wide open and as unpredictable as any league in the country. Who can call it right now? Not me.
• The last time Minnesota and Illinois faced off, the Gophers lost to the Illini in double overtime in Champaign. On Saturday, Minnesota got its revenge with a 77-72 OT win at the Barn. After losing their first four conference games, the Gophers have won four of their past five. They’re a young team with limited depth, but Tubby Smith has coached this team extremely well in this five-game stretch.
• It was a huge night in Conference USA as the league's top four teams squared off. What we learned is that Memphis and Southern Miss, which play each other Wednesday in Hattiesburg, are the conference's co-favorites. Behind a career-high 29 from Will Barton, the Tigers rallied in the second half for a hard-fought home win against Marshall. The Golden Eagles also had a huge second half to win in Orlando, where UCF had won 16 straight (including a recent victory over Memphis). Neil Watson and Kentucky transfer Darnell Dodson combined for 45 points as Larry Eustachy's underrated squad improved to 19-3. Yes, 19-3.
• Think the Mountain West is a pushover? No. 15 UNLV needed overtime to dismiss Boise State on the road and the Rebels needed an extra period again Saturday, when they beat Air Force 65-63. AFA is ranked 156th in Ken Pomeroy’s adjusted tempo ratings and Vegas is 17th, but these two squads were even on the scoreboard until the closing seconds. But the Falcons committed two turnovers in the last 15 seconds of the contest and squandered their chances to win this one late. Still, it was more evidence that the Mountain West is deeper than it appears to be on the surface. Mike Moser continued his destructive streak with 27 points and 12 rebounds.
• Oklahoma scored a key road when it beat No. 24 Kansas State 63-60. The Sooners pressured the Wildcats, who committed 20 turnovers. Frank Martin has been preaching defense, but K-State didn’t have much against Steven Pledger, who scored 30 points. The Wildcats have lost three of their past six. Meanwhile, this had to be a satisfying win for Lon Kruger, who used to play and coach in Manhattan. What a great job he's done in his first year in Norman.
• Seton Hall looked like an NCAA tournament team after it followed a blowout road loss at Syracuse with a four-game winning streak. But the Pirates have lost their past four and looked lackluster in a 60-51 home defeat to Louisville. Boy, that surprising season turned sour really quick, didn't it?
• Speaking of New Jersey, how strange is this Rutgers season? After Saturday's victory over Cincinnati, the young Scarlet Knights now have wins over Florida, Connecticut and the Bearcats ... and losses to DePaul, Illinois State, Princeton and a down Richmond team.
• Wichita State and Drake took a combined 149 shots in their triple-overtime thriller Saturday night. The Bulldogs outplayed the Shockers and deserved their 93-86 victory. Kraidon Woods’ layup for Drake sent the game into the first extra period and Rayvonte Rice hit a pair of late free throws to take the game into a second overtime. Drake’s Kurt Alexander and Wichita State’s Ben Smith traded late 3s in the second extra period to send the game into a third OT. In that third overtime, Drake scored the first five points and WSU couldn’t close the gap. The Shockers suffered their first loss since New Year’s Eve, but this is still a quality team. Wichita State is now one game behind Creighton in the MVC. Let's all count down to that Feb. 11 rematch in Omaha.

1. Maryland coach Mark Turgeon said Tuesday that coming to Maryland was the best decision of his life. He said his family absolutely loves living in the D.C. area. He also is confident that he can get the Terps turned around. So, too, is Gary Williams. Williams had nothing but praise for Turgeon. Meanwhile, assistant coach Dalonte Hill will come off his two-game DUI suspension for the Terps' game against Virginia Tech on Saturday. Additional in-house penalties were assessed against Hill.

2. Watching Boise State-UNLV on Wednesday night reminded me of what the Broncos will be missing by leaving the Mountain West after just two seasons. It was a football decision to go to the Big East and send the other sports back to the WAC in 2013, but Boise will lose some of the atmosphere it is starting to get in hoops. Playing ranked conference foes such as the Runnin' Rebels will most likely not happen all that much anymore. Boise State has a strong, passionate fan base but it won’t be fully tapped without the occasional ranked team coming to Boise.

3. Check out the A-10 standings Thursday morning and try to figure out who is going to the tournament. There is a five-team tie for first and Temple and Xavier aren’t among the five. Saint Louis, UMass, La Salle, Dayton and St. Bonaventure are all at 4-2 in the conference. Temple is 3-2 and Xavier 4-3. The league is as competitively balanced as it’s been, but will that translate into multiple bids — as in three or four? Tough call if the teams continue to knock each other out.

This Saturday promised one of the best wall-to-wall slates of college hoops fixtures thus far this season, and the afternoon action didn't disappoint. In fact, it just about blew my mind. Let's take a comprehensive look at what we learned from said afternoon action, shall we? (Check back late tonight for a recap of the evening action.)

Florida State 76, No. 4 Duke 73
What we learned: How cool is Leonard Hamilton? Bad charge call? He just smiles. Another bad, potentially crucial, game-deciding charge call? A smile and a wink. A buzzer-beating 3 to upset No. 4 Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium -- the same 3 that sent FSU's bench into a joyous on-court scrum? A quick nod. A walk to midcourt. A handshake. No big deal, right?

Hamilton isn't the celebratory type; he's as steady a presence as there is in college hoops. But what his team did Saturday -- just a week after it blew the doors off against North Carolina at home -- was worth much more than the cucumber-cool reaction Hamilton offered. This was a massive, season-changing win for the Florida State Seminoles.

There were plenty of opportunities to fade away. Midway through the second half, Ryan Kelly hit two 3s and a fast-break dunk to extend Duke's lead to 58-50, its widest margin of the afternoon. The crowd was rocking. FSU's shots weren't falling. It appeared Duke would do what Duke does: Gather itself, extend a lead, and ride out another ho-hum ACC home victory. Instead, the Seminoles kept battling. Within a minute, they had closed the eight-point lead to just five, and by the time the game reached its crucial moments -- the final minute -- FSU pulled just ahead at 71-70.

Things stayed tight all the way through. Kelly received the benefit of the doubt on a pretty clear charge with 20 seconds left and Duke guard Austin Rivers made a great move to the rim to tie the game at 73 with just 6 seconds remaining. But FSU guard Luke Loucks, calm as his head coach, advanced the ball to guard Michael Snaer in time for Snaer's buzzer-beating, game-winning 3 just a few feet in front of the visitors bench. That's when the ecstasy, apparently shared by all but Hamilton, commenced.

So what did we learn? We learned that the Noles are indeed very real. Are they as good as their 33-point blowout over UNC? Of course not. But they're good enough -- strong enough, defensive enough, big enough, tough enough -- to present matchup problems for some of the best teams in the country, even on those teams' home floors. Before the season, we thought Florida State was the third-best team in the ACC. After losses to Harvard and Princeton and a wipeout at Clemson, that projection looked wildly optimistic. Now, it almost feels cautious. If the Seminoles play like this the rest of the way, they're definitely better than that.

No. 5 Missouri 89, No. 3 Baylor 88
What we learned: This one-point deficit was reached thanks to a meaningless last-second 3 from Baylor's Brady Heslip, and so the score line belies the real takeaway from this Tigers road win: Missouri is no illusion. No. This team is just flat good.

Can any other conclusion be reached? Consider the accomplishment here: The Tigers went on the road against the No. 3 team in the country, one with as much size and athletic interior talent as any of the nation's contenders -- a quality supposedly anathema to Mizzou's very essence -- and scored 1.24 points per possession in a win that required a first-half battle, a second-half push and a late survival of an inevitable Baylor run. The Tigers are simply relentless on the offensive end, attacking the tiniest of defensive gaps with more speed than any other backcourt in the country.

If you were wondering why Missouri forward Ricardo Ratliffe is so handily dominating competition this season -- leading the nation in field goal percentage and effective field goal percentage by a huge margin to date -- you received your answer today. Ratliffe cuts and spaces in the middle of the paint as well as any forward in the country. He's a tireless, opportunistic offensive rebounder with great hands and lightning-quick feet. And more often than not, Missouri's guards -- particularly Phil Pressey, who was brilliant in Waco -- break down the defense, ruin its rotation and find Ratliffe for easy finishes around the rim. His line Saturday, against all that long, NBA-worthy Baylor talent: 27 points on 11-of-14 from the field (see?), 8 rebounds (6 offensive) and 2 blocks. He was, per the usual, brilliant. Meanwhile, Pressey finished with 18 points and 7 assists, 6 steals and 5 rebounds. Can't understate his total impact on the game.

There are concerns for Baylor going forward. Perry Jones III continues to live up to the occasionally unfair "soft" label; when you're a 6-foot-11 lottery pick, and the opposing team had only two contributors bigger than 6-6, 8 points and 4 rebounds just doesn't cut it. The Bears, despite their clear size advantage, allowed the Tigers to rebound 48.3 percent of their misses on the offensive end; per Ken Pomeroy's rankings, Baylor is the 220th-best team in the nation on its defensive glass. When you can run a front line of Jones, Quincy Acy and Quincy Miller (who turned in a stellar scoring performance today, it should be noted), why are you getting so consistently and comprehensively outworked on the boards?

Still, let's give the Tigers a huge amount of credit. When Missouri were blown out at Kansas State, the concerns about this team's size were seemingly validated. Sure, Mizzou played well in the nonconference. Sure, the shots were falling. Sure, Ratliffe was on a tear. But could Frank Haith's team really keep it up in conference play? Weren't the Tigers, among any team with an undefeated nonconference record, the most likely to fade into Big 12 mediocrity? The answer, as we now know, is a resounding no. Small? Sure. Guard-oriented? You bet. This team is what it is. What you see is what you get. And what you get is one of the best offensive -- check, that, one of the best, period -- teams in the nation, bar none. Great win.

West Virginia 77, Cincinnati 74 (OT)
What we learned: If you haven't seen Kevin Jones play lately, you're missing the Big East Player of the Year to date -- and a legitimate national POY contender, too. Frankly, you might not recognize him. Jones, who struggled to adapt to a star role last season, has emerged as all that and more in 2011-12. This form was again on display today, especially late in regulation, when Jones hit a massive go-ahead 3 to help WVU push Cincinnati to overtime, where the Mountaineers outlasted the Bearcats for a massive home win. Jones finished with 26 points on 11-of-15 from the field, hitting both of his 3-point attempts and grabbing 13 rebounds in the process. Like I said: If that's not the Big East Player of the Year thus far, I don't know who is.

In the meantime, despite the loss -- and a truly questionable layup attempt by Dion Dixon, when the Bearcats needed a 3 to tie -- Cincinnati can come away from this game looking pretty good. Just a few days after beating UConn on the road, it faced down a star-led squad on its brutal home court and very nearly, but for a few late errors and big plays by West Virginia, came away with a win. If you thought Cincinnati was the second-best team in the league after the win over the Huskies, you might still feel that way now.

Tennessee 60, No. 11 Connecticut 57
What we learned: The Huskies can't stop the slide. Saturday's loss at Tennessee marks UConn's fourth loss in its past six games, and was again emblematic of the woes facing this team: disjointed offense, a willingness to take bad shots, lack of leadership in tough situations, interior play far below the sum of its insanely talented parts. We knew Cuonzo Martin's Tennessee squad would come out and play hard in Knoxville. Even when the Volunteers have been bad this season (which has been often: This win moves them to a mere 9-10 overall), they've played with a blue-collar, let's-work-hard spirit preached constantly by their first-year head coach. Today it paid off.

But Connecticut deserves much of the blame here, too. Andre Drummond and Alex Oriakhi should be dominating undermanned frontcourts like UT's. Instead, they combined for 11 points and were obviously outplayed by freshman Jarnell Stokes, who posted a double-double in his third career game. The same Stokes who was a 17-year-old kid in high school last month. Great win for the Vols, of course, but the postgame questions will be all about UConn. As of Jan. 21, this team -- so talented, so promising, so mystifyingly mediocre -- still has miles to go before it can be considered a Big East contender, let alone one with national title aspirations.

No. 2 Kentucky 77, Alabama 71
What we learned: There are no moral victories in college hoops. Alabama coach Anthony Grant will be eager to share that rather cliché bit of information with his team following Saturday's loss at Kentucky. And it's true -- a win is a win, a loss is a loss, and minimal nuance is allowed to color those stark W's and L's at the end of the season. Still, in the final moments of Bama's impressive Saturday road stand, against the No. 2 team in the country and a program that has won its past 47 road games, the longest active streak in Division I, the only thought that occurred to this viewer was: "Well, no matter whether they win or lose, this was a great game for Alabama."

It was. The Crimson Tide are in the midst of a three-games-in-eight-days scheduling bump, one that put them on the road at Mississippi State (loss), at home against Vanderbilt (loss, and an ugly one at that) and then, mercilessly, on the road at Kentucky. Yet Alabama never quit coming at the typically impressive Wildcats. Even when struggling forward Tony Mitchell fouled out with five minutes remaining, the Tide kept getting scores and free throws and good looks, pushing the game and preventing UK from ever finishing in comfort.

In the end, Anthony Davis' freakish interior defense saved Kentucky's day; the last of his four blocks came with 7 seconds left to preserve a four-point lead, and thus the expected result was achieved. But give Alabama credit: That was a gutsy, tough road performance. This team seemed easy to write off over much of the past two months, but if Saturday's performance was any indication, it will be a worthy competitor in the coming SEC stretch run.

Dayton 87, Xavier 72
What we learned: The Flyers have come a long way since Nov. 30. That's when this team lost 84-55 to Buffalo at home, three days after winning the Old Spice Classic title game over Minnesota. Four days later, Dayton was blown out at Murray State. At that point, first-year coach Archie Miller appeared to have a sincere rebuilding project on his hands. Nearly two months later, the Flyers are, well, flying. This 15-point home win over putative Atlantic 10 favorite Xavier puts them at 4-1 in A-10 play, another excellent addition to a résumé that includes victories over Alabama, Saint Louis and, most recently, a strong 10-point win at Temple. By now, Dayton isn't a rebuild. It isn't a neat little story. It's a legitimate A-10 contender with an easy case to make for an at-large spot in the NCAA tournament. Who saw that one coming?

In the meantime, Xavier's off-and-on struggles -- which appeared to abate with a four-game winning streak in A-10 play -- reared their ugly head again. The Musketeers were mediocre on offense and downright bad on defense, allowing 87 points in 65 possessions, or 1.33 points per trip. Sometimes it's ugly offense, sometimes it's lenient defense, but in either case, it's clear Chris Mack's team hasn't put its midseason slide entirely in the rearview.

Some other observations from Saturday afternoon's selections:

• I didn't get to see all of Kansas' tough 69-66 road win at Texas, but the portions I did see lent some solid eyeball observations to my current theory on Texas: The Longhorns have plenty of holes, particularly in their frontcourt, but they're much better than most people seem to think. To wit, the Longhorns entered Saturday ranked No. 24 in Ken Pomeroy's adjusted efficiency rankings. They're solid on the offensive glass, good at getting to the free throw line, and while they don't play vintage Rick Barnes defense, they keep games close enough to give lights-out scorer J'Covan Brown chances to go win the game late. He had one such chance Saturday, and it missed, but the lesson was well-taken: Texas will give superior teams fits from here on out. Don't say you weren't warned. (And how 'bout Tyshawn Taylor's continued torrid pace with 22 points and ZERO turnovers? What a three-game stretch.)
• Playing Kentucky's brutal Davis-led defense must have a way of making other defenses feel wide open. That appeared to be the case in Fayetteville today, where the Arkansas Razorbacks -- fresh off a loss to the Wildcats this week -- made their first 11 shots and went 80 percent from the field in the first half against Michigan. Early in the second half, the score was 49-33 Arkansas, and a blowout appeared to be in the works. But the shooting slowed down, Michigan made its comeback, and the Razorbacks narrowly avoided a late loss when Wolverines guard Trey Burke's last-second 3 missed. Bad second half, but a nonetheless solid win for freshman B.J. Young and the rest of Mike Anderson's young team. And what a day for the SEC, eh?
• Purdue had the toughest task of any team in the country Saturday afternoon: The Boilermakers had to fight a Midwestern snowstorm that trapped them on their airport tarmac and prevented them from getting more than a few hours of sleep before the 12 p.m. ET tip. Predictably, Michigan State rolled. Purdue has serious issues on both ends of the floor, particularly with an offense that offers little but a barrage of outside shots. But it's hard to blame the Boilermakers too much for the lopsided 83-58 result.
• Yes, it's hard to win on the road. Yes, it's hard to win on the road in the Big East with a team comprised almost entirely of freshmen. But it's even harder to lose when your opponent shoots 3-of-24 in the first half, 12-of-41 for the game -- which ties Harvard for the season record for fewest field goals in a win -- and makes just three of its 14 3-point field goal attempts on the afternoon. And yet, that's exactly what Rutgers did Saturday, as Georgetown overcame a legendarily poor shooting performance (effective field goal percentage: 33.8) to rally for a late win. Hoyas freshman Otto Porter continued his stellar freshman campaign, scoring Georgetown's final six points and nailing the winning free throws with just 8 seconds remaining. Georgetown fans won't necessarily be pleased with this one, but when you shoot this poorly and still get a win, and thanks to a steady freshman to boot, there's encouraging stuff in there somewhere.
• Maryland will eagerly await to hear the status of freshman center Alex Len, who left the Terps' 73-60 loss to Temple at the Palestra with an ankle injury. Len has helped lead a quiet stretch of solid play from the Terps. With him, this team can compete in the ACC. Without him, well, it's not looking good.
• Poor Boston College. The Eagles showed signs of improvement in two early ACC wins over Clemson and Virginia Tech, but Steve Donahue's team returned to early-season form Saturday, which is a way of saying it got beat soundly at home by another very marginal team -- in this case, a 71-56 home loss to Wake Forest. Yeesh.
• What happened to Belmont? Everyone's favorite mid-major darling -- which returned the lion's share of personnel from last season's 30-5 campaign -- fell 79-78 at USC Upstate on Saturday, dropping to 13-7 overall and 6-2 in the Atlantic Sun to date. The other loss came at home to Lipscomb earlier this month, and all of a sudden the Bruins' expected A-Sun dominance looks entirely vulnerable. Strange times in the Volunteer State.

Led by 20 points from Matt Kavanaugh, Dayton walloped Xavier 87-72 to take the lead in the Atlantic 10.

Myron Medcalf previews the field at the Old Spice Classic, which begins Thanksgiving afternoon in Orlando. To read Medcalf's written preview of the event, click here.

Here are five things I can't wait to see in the Atlantic 10 this season.

1. The year of Tu Holloway

Xavier is a big-time program and expectations are always high. But the 2011-12 Musketeers have a buzz around them like few teams in the program's history. There is talk of a deep NCAA tournament run, one that could end with a Final Four appearance. In other words, the stakes are high. And that's mostly thanks to Tu Holloway.

Holloway is one of the best and most versatile scorers in the country, an incisive penetrator and consistent shooter whose early years as a true point guard left him with an ability to create plays nearly as well as he finishes them. He's a bonafide national player of the year candidate even in what should be one of the most talent-rich college hoops seasons in the last decade.

The only question is whether Holloway can actually be better as a senior. If he is, he could lead X to the justification of all those buzzy expectations -- and then some.

2. How much time will Kenny Frease miss?

On Friday, Xavier announced that senior center Kenny Frease had been suspended indefinitely by coach Chris Mack for failing to "fulfill all the responsibilities of a Xavier basketball player." The questions are legion: What did Frease do? How much time will he miss? And what does that do to the team's chances? Frease was the Musketeers' third-leading scorer (11.7 ppg) and second-leading rebounder (7.1 rpg) last season, and if his absence is extended for more than a few games, it could be a serious setback for an otherwise balanced, experienced, and talented Musketeers team.

3. Temple tries to take the next step

For all the talk of Xavier's consistency -- well-deserved though it may be -- it's easy to forget that Temple coach Fran Dunphy has turned the Owls into a year-in-year-out force in the Atlantic 10, too. TU got off the tournament schneid with its win over Penn State last season; the next step is a deep run into March.

Can it happen in 2011-12? There is good reason to be bullish, particularly because Dunphy returns basically every player of note in his backcourt, including Scootie Randall, Ramone Moore and Juan Fernandez. The only significant loss is forward Lavoy Allen, an athletic lockdown defender and rebounder who also contributed on the offensive end. If the Owls can weather that loss and keep things rolling, they have the opportunity to best last season's tournament appearance.

4. Can Saint Louis return to relevance?

SLU has never been mistaken for a basketball powerhouse, but there was a time when the Billikens did have a certain niche in the college basketball world. That hasn't been the case for years, but there is reason to believe Rick Majerus' program is on the rise.

Saint Louis has a deep team full of returning players, but one return -- that of junior guard Kwamain Mitchell -- is the most noteworthy. Mitchell was suspended for the 2010-11 season thanks to off-court issues that cost him and teammate Willie Reed their entire season. Mitchell was readmitted by the school last season and is eligible to participate again this fall. With Mitchell back and the rest of the Billikens in the fold, SLU could flirt with conference title contention and a spot in the NCAA tournament.

5. Archie Miller gets going at Dayton

Dayton fans are excited about new coach Archie Miller, who replaced now-Georgia Tech coach Brian Gregory at the school this spring. It's no mystery: Miller has already landed two talented recruits in the class of 2012, and if Miller is half as successful as quickly as his brother has been at Arizona, the Flyers will be competing for A-10 titles soon enough. The near term is a slightly less optimistic, if only because the roster turnover -- especially the transfer of touted recruit Juwan Staten, whose freshman season flashed tons of promise -- may be tough to overcome so soon. But if Dayton is vastly improved in just a few years' time, don't be surprised. It would appear those Millers can coach.

For the rest of the week, ESPN.com will be breaking down the nonconference schedules of each and every team in a dozen different leagues. Tuesday, we began with the ACC, SEC and C-USA. Wednesday, we continued with the Big East and now it's time to move on to the Atlantic 10 ...

CHARLOTTE

Toughest: Miami (Dec. 22), at Arkansas (Dec. 28), at Memphis (Dec. 31)
Next-toughest: at Lamar (Nov. 19), at Wright State (Nov. 26), Davidson (Dec. 10)
The rest: North Carolina Central (Nov. 11), at Central Michigan (Nov. 15), East Tennessee State (Nov. 22), at East Carolina (Dec. 3), at Radford (Dec. 6), Coppin State (Dec. 19), Kennesaw State (Jan. 18)
Toughness scale (1-10): 7 -- For a team that won just 10 games last season, this is a pretty hefty slate. Second-year coach Alan Major does have four returning starters, so if they can weather this schedule and use it to prepare for the conference season, the 49ers could be the better for the early tough run.

DAYTON

Toughest: Old Spice Classic (Nov. 24-27), Alabama (Dec. 7)
Next-toughest: at Murray State (Dec. 4), Seton Hall (Dec. 21), Ole Miss (Dec. 30)
The rest: Western Illinois (Nov. 12), at Miami-Ohio (Nov. 15), UNC Wilmington (Nov. 19), Buffalo (Nov. 30), Alabama State (Dec. 7), South Carolina Upstate (Dec. 11), Florida International (Dec. 17), Illinois-Chicago (Dec. 23)
Toughness scale (1-10): 5 -- The Flyers did little to help their NCAA cause last year with a so-so schedule, and this one follows suit. It's not a bad schedule, but it doesn't help that the Old Spice field is fairly weak, with an opener against rebuilding Wake Forest and a second-round game against either Arizona State or Fairfield. There is a new coach in place and certainly holes to fill with the loss of Chris Wright, but for a team with the rep that Dayton has, this slate should have a little more meat. Almost makes you feel like Bama is a must-win if UD is to be in the bubble discussion.

DUQUESNE

Toughest: at Arizona (Nov. 9), vs. Pittsburgh in CONSOL Energy Center (Nov. 30)
Next-toughest: vs. Akron in Valparaiso, Ind. (Nov. 19), at Valparaiso (Nov. 20), at Western Michigan (Dec. 17), at George Mason (Dec. 21)
The rest: Green Bay (Nov. 13), District of Columbia in Valparaiso, Ind. (Nov 18), Louisiana-Lafayette (Nov. 26), Tennessee Tech (Dec. 3), Robert Morris (Dec. 6), Penn State (Dec. 10), Bowling Green (Dec. 28), Houston Baptist (Dec. 31)
Toughness scale (1-10): 7 -- Ron Everhart has put together a nice challenge for a team that will be without its best player this season. The Dukes open at Arizona, plus face city rival Pitt in the Penguins’ downtown arena. What really adds teeth to this schedule are the mid-majors Duquesne has added -- Western Michigan will be on most sleeper lists this season, fellow MAC squad Akron will challenge for another NCAA bid and George Mason is George Mason.

FORDHAM

Toughest: at Syracuse (Nov. 12), at St. John’s (Dec. 17), Harvard (Jan. 3)
Next-toughest: Lehigh (Dec. 1), Georgia Tech (Dec. 29)
The rest: Binghamton (Nov. 18), Loyola-Chicago (Nov. 26), Colgate (Nov. 29), Hampton (Dec. 5), at Manhattan (Dec. 7), at Monmouth (Dec. 10), at Siena (Dec. 12), Texas State (Dec. 22)
Toughness scale (1-10): 7 -- Give Tom Pecora credit -- he’s not shying away from the task of rebuilding the Rams. This schedule is tough but manageable. Syracuse and St. John’s might be tall orders.Lehigh, Hampton and Harvard are favorites in their respective leagues, but those could be winnable games for a Fordham team that has four starters back and a solid New York-flavored recruiting class.

GEORGE WASHINGTON

Toughest: at Cal (Nov. 13), at Kansas State (Dec. 1), vs. VCU in Washington, D.C.'s Verizon Center (Dec. 4), at Syracuse (Dec. 10)
Next-toughest: vs. Detroit in Bowling Green, Ohio (Nov. 21), vs. Austin Peay in Bowling Green, Ohio (Nov. 22), UAB (Dec. 28)
The rest: at Bowling Green (Nov. 23), Loyola-Md. (Dec. 7), Bradley (Dec. 15), James Madison (Dec. 22), Delaware State (Dec. 31)
Toughness scale (1-10): 8 -- The Colonials have the players to vie for their first NCAA tournament bid since 2007 and smartly put together a schedule that could give them the proper bonus points. New coach Mike Lonergan, with help from leading scorer Tony Taylor, has plenty of big names to gun for, plus some high-level mid-majors that could add to GW's cred, too.

LA SALLE

Toughest: at Villanova (Nov. 15), at Pittsburgh (Nov. 22)
Next-toughest: vs. Rider at the Palestra (Nov. 26), at Central Connecticut State (Dec. 22), Boston U. (Dec. 29)
The rest: Lafayette (Nov. 11), James Madison (Nov. 19), vs. Robert Morris at the Palestra (Nov. 25), Northeastern (Nov. 30), Bucknell (Dec. 3), at Towson (Dec. 7), Army (Dec. 10), at Delaware (Dec. 19), Hartford (Dec. 31), at Penn (Jan. 10)
Toughness scale (1-10): 5 -- If Villanova were more of a surefire top-25 team, this number would be higher. But since the Wildcats are something of a question mark, their Big 5 rival Explorers suffer the consequences. There are some decent mid-majors on the slate -- and playing at Pitt is obviously brutal -- but without Aaric Murray (transferred to West Virginia), John Giannini could be forgiven for not scheduling too boldly.

MASSACHUSETTS

Toughest: Battle 4 Atlantis (Nov. 24-26), at Miami-Fla. (Dec. 3)
Next-toughest: at Boston College (Nov. 21), Davidson (Dec. 22), Central Connecticut State (Dec. 28)
The rest: Elon (Nov. 11), Northeastern (Nov. 14), NJIT (Nov. 17), Towson (Nov. 30), at East Carolina (Dec. 6), vs. Siena in Springfield, Mass. (Dec. 9), Quinnipiac (Dec. 17)
Toughness scale (1-10): 4 -- This isn’t an overly ambitious schedule, but for where Derek Kellogg’s Minutemen are right now, that’s understandable. UMass is getting better but hasn’t yet fully arrived. Certainly this slate could move up the meter if the Minutemen could somehow upset Florida State in the Bahamas and move along in the Battle 4 Atlantis, where they'll face either Harvard or Utah in the second game.

RHODE ISLAND

Toughest: at George Mason (Nov. 11), at Texas (Nov. 15), Virginia Tech (Dec. 7)
Next-toughest: at Nebraska (Nov. 20), Boston U. (Nov. 26), Providence (Dec. 23), UCF Holiday Classic (Dec. 29-30), at Boston College (Jan. 2)
The rest: Hofstra (Nov. 25), Cleveland State (Nov. 27), at Brown (Nov. 30), Maine (Dec. 4), at Georgia State (Dec. 10), Yale (Dec. 18)
Toughness scale: 6 -- This would have been a heckuva schedule a year ago -- back when Texas was prowling in the top 10, Norris Cole was at Cleveland State, Charles Jenkins was at Hofstra and Boston College was surprising folks in the ACC. This season, though, the Rams are the unfortunate recipients of good teams in rebuilding years. This is still an impressive schedule, though. Give Rhody credit for the late addition of George Mason for the opener.

RICHMOND

Toughest: Cancun Challenge (Nov. 22-23), at VCU in Richmond Coliseum (Dec. 10), Iona (Dec. 14), Old Dominion (Dec. 20), at UCLA (Dec. 23)
Next-toughest: at Davidson (Nov. 14), at Wake Forest (Dec. 3)
The rest: American (Nov. 11), Hampton (Nov. 17), Sacred Heart (Nov. 19), at William & Mary (Nov. 30), at Bucknell (Dec. 17), Liberty (Dec. 28), UNC Greensboro (Dec. 30)
Toughness scale (1-10): 7 -- The trip to Cancun brings a game against Illinois and either Rutgers or Illinois State on the second day. Davidson, Iona and ODU have the potential to be the Spiders of this season -- March Madness darlings that stun more than a few people. Big brownie points to Chris Mooney for taking his team across the country for a date with a very good UCLA team. And of course there’s the real highlight -- the intra-city game against VCU, the city of Richmond's other Cinderella story from last season.

SAINT JOSEPH'S

Toughest: Charleston Classic (Nov. 17-20), at Iona (Nov. 23), Creighton (Dec. 10), Villanova (Dec. 17), at Harvard (Dec. 31)
Next-toughest: at Western Kentucky (Nov. 11), Drexel (Nov. 30), Boston U. (Dec. 7)
The rest: Penn State (Nov. 26), at American (Dec. 4), Coppin State (Dec. 21), Morgan State (Dec. 28), at Penn (Jan. 21)
Toughness scale (1-10): 6 -- This is about on par for a St. Joe’s team that is trying to regain its footing after some precipitous freefalling. The Hawks are still young, so a crazy schedule could have ruined their confidence. This is manageable, winnable but also has enough teams with NCAA tournament potential -- Creighton, Villanova, Iona, Drexel, Boston University, Morgan State and Harvard -- to get the proper strength of schedule boost. The Charleston Classic isn't stacked, but the opener against Georgia Tech is a good test and either Seton Hall or VCU will await on the second day.

SAINT LOUIS

Toughest: Washington (Nov. 20), at New Mexico (Dec. 31)
Next-toughest: 76 Classic (Nov. 24-27)
The rest: Tennessee State (Nov. 11), at Southern Illinois (Nov. 15), at Loyola Marymount (Nov. 29), Portland (Dec. 3), Vermont (Dec. 7), Illinois-Springfield (Dec. 10), Alabama State (Dec. 17), Arkansas State (Dec. 22), Texas Southern (Dec. 27)
Toughness scale (1-10): 6 -- Have to give credit to anyone willing to travel across the country for a New Year’s Eve trip. Extra credit when that trip takes you to a serious contender like New Mexico at a very serious place like the Pit. Would be nice if there were a little more of a smattering of good mid-majors to compliment the two heavy hitters, but the 76 Classic offers a decent field that begins with rebuilding BC and likely continues with Villanova on the second day if the Billikens take care of business. Either Oklahoma, Santa Clara, Washington State or New Mexico await on the third day.

ST. BONAVENTURE

Toughest: at Virginia Tech (Nov. 27), at Illinois (Dec. 7), vs. NC State in Rochester, N.Y. (Dec. 20)
Next-toughest: at Cleveland State (Nov. 18)
The rest: Cornell (Nov. 11), at Siena (Nov. 21), Arkansas State (Dec. 1), at Buffalo (Dec. 3), Canisius (Dec. 10), St. Francis-Pa. (Dec. 23), at Niagara (Dec. 30)
Toughness scale (1-10): 7 -- Big things could be coming to Olean, thanks to NBA prospect Andrew Nicholson. Though Virginia Tech and Illinois aren’t tops in their leagues, the fact that the Bonnies are traveling for those games will make all the difference in the world if this team is in the mix down the stretch. Four mid-major road games could also quietly help the power rating.

TEMPLE

Toughest: Puerto Rico Tip-Off (Nov. 17-20), Villanova (Dec. 10), at Texas (Dec. 17), Duke (Jan. 4)
Next-toughest: Maryland (Jan. 21)
The rest: at Penn (Nov. 14), at Bowling Green (Nov. 27), Central Michigan (Dec. 3), at Toledo (Dec. 7), at Rice (Dec. 19), Buffalo (Dec. 28), at Delaware (Dec. 30)
Toughness scale (1-10): 8 -- Fran Dunphy has never been afraid of a tough schedule, and this is another example. Though some of its best games are in Philly, Temple serves itself well by going to Austin for a mid-December game with Texas. This rigorous slate could jump even higher if the Owls move on in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, where TU opens with Western Michigan, faces a tough second game against Purdue or Iona and a third game against probably either Alabama or Wichita State.

XAVIER

Toughest: at Vanderbilt (Nov. 28), Purdue (Dec. 3), at Butler (Dec. 7), Cincinnati (Dec. 10), Gonzaga (Dec. 31), at Memphis (Feb. 4)
Next-toughest: Georgia (Nov. 25), Oral Roberts (Dec. 18), Diamond Head Classic (Dec. 22-25)
The rest: Morgan State (Nov. 11), IPFW (Nov. 15), Miami-Ohio (Nov. 18)
Toughness scale (1-10): 10 -- Chris Mack is either insane or a genius. Come March, we’ll know which one. He has a first-class team with a first-class nonconference schedule. The fact that there are just three games in “the rest” category says it all. After those initial three games, X faces off with five straight NCAA tourney teams from last season (UGA, Vandy, Purdue, Butler and Cincinnati), then gets Summit League favorite ORU, then a trip to Hawaii to face off with Big West favorite Long Beach State and likely Clemson or Kansas State eventually. Oh, and then the Musketeers come back stateside for a New Year's Eve date with Gonzaga. That is some 10-game stretch. Throw in the February trip to Memphis and you have yourself a battle-tested group for March.

Tournament bracket for the Old Spice Classic

When and where: Nov. 24-25, 27 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla.

Initial thoughts: This edition of the Old Spice Classic doesn’t scream great field at first glance, but this is a collection of teams that at least has a chance to produce one or two, possibly three, NCAA tournament teams. These four days in Florida won’t determine anyone’s NCAA fate, but they should go a long way toward giving an indication of where a number of these teams stand. Minnesota is coming off a horrendous Big Ten season, but has two of its anchors returning in Ralph Sampson III and Trevor Mbakwe. Fairfield has a new coach in Sydney Johnson, a stud guard in Derek Needham and a top transfer in Rakim Sanders of Boston College. Indiana State won the Missouri Valley Conference tournament last season under first-year coach Greg Lansing. Texas Tech has shifted away from the Bob/Pat Knight era and gone old school within Texas by hiring Billy Gillispie. Dayton went to a familiar family tree in replacing Brian Gregory with Archie Miller, younger brother of Arizona coach Sean Miller. DePaul, Wake Forest and Arizona State all had miserable seasons a year ago and will surely only get better with another season of experience.

Matchup I can't wait to see: Fairfield-Arizona State. The Stags are a co-favorite in the MAAC with Iona. But if Fairfield is going to be taken seriously on the national stage, it must show well in this event. ASU adds a stud freshman in point guard Jahii Carson and the Sun Devils certainly have enough talent to win this first-round game against a tough mid-major. But Fairfield needs this game more to prove it belongs in the conversation.

Potential matchup I'd like to see: Minnesota-Texas Tech. This semifinal game would pit two former Kentucky coaches in Tubby Smith against Billy Gillispie. Those two coaches love defense, so scoring could be at a premium in a game like this.

Five players to watch

Trevor Mbakwe, Minnesota: Mbakwe could have declared for the NBA draft and been selected based on his high energy, athleticism and overall zeal for rebounding. But he must be more of a complete player -- and now he has to be even more of a leader. This is a huge year for him, and a monster tournament would start him off on the right path.

Jahii Carson, Arizona State: There is a lot of pressure on the freshman point guard to come in and raise the Sun Devils to an upper-division finish in the Pac-12. But learning under Herb Sendek takes time. It would help everyone’s confidence in him if he could get off to a solid start.

Rakim Sanders, Fairfield: Sanders came to Fairfield to play for Ed Cooley, a former Boston College assistant. Cooley left for Providence. Now Sanders will play for Sydney Johnson and even more so for himself to prove that he can be a team player, produce when needed and lead a team to higher level. His last season at BC was a disaster, littered with injuries and erratic play. He can either be a difference-maker or he can disappear within games.

Jake Odum, Indiana State: Lansing raved about Odum’s impact on the Sycamores a year ago. Now as a seasoned sophomore he has a chance to lead this team from the start. Indiana State is no longer a sleeper. And a first-round win over Texas Tech would do wonders for this squad's confidence.

Cleveland Melvin, DePaul: The Blue Demons didn’t win many games last season, but Melvin produced (14.3 ppg). He’s DePaul's best hope early in the season to be a necessary stat hog. The Demons need Melvin to be a star in this field.

Predicted winner: Minnesota -- The Gophers faded big time last season due to injuries and an untimely transfer. But the Minnesota staff is adamant that this team is going to surprise. If it's going to be a good surprise, this team needs to start by bringing home the trophy from Orlando. I'm predicting a Gophers victory over Fairfield in the final.

Who others are picking:

Eamonn Brennan: Minnesota
Diamond Leung: Minnesota
Dana O'Neil: Minnesota