ESPN Men's Basketball

1. Texas coach Rick Barnes and NC State coach Mark Gottfried confirmed Jimmy V Classic matchups for Tuesday, Dec. 4 at Madison Square Garden. Texas will play Georgetown and NC State will play Connecticut. Texas has a terrific schedule again with an appearance in the Maui Invitational, hosting North Carolina (meaning the Tar Heels and Longhorns will be in opposite brackets in Maui), play UCLA in Houston and traveling to Michigan State. NC State is the headline team in Puerto Rico in November, hosts Stanford and possibly will get Michigan in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge on the road. The ACC is going to 18-league games next season, too, which improves the Wolfpack schedule with two games against Duke and Florida State as well as North Carolina.

2. Kansas coach Bill Self said the Jayhawks are desperate for a quality home-and-home series, starting in Lawrence next season. KU originally talked to Indiana but that deal fell through. The Jayhawks are in the CBE Classic with Saint Louis as the other high-profile team. The Jayhawks also have the Champions Classic game against Michigan State in Atlanta, return a game at Ohio State and get Temple at home. That’s still a very strong slate. But Self said the Jayhawks are looking for a new series at home and are struggling to find one.

3. Bruce Weber said when he took the Kansas State job he had to finish the schedule. The Wildcats already had a return game against Florida in Kansas City and are in the NIT Season Tip-Off as one of the four hosts (Pitt, Virginia and Michigan are the other three). Weber finished the marquee portion of the schedule by signing up to play in the Battle of Seattle against Gonzaga. Weber had enjoyed his series with the Zags at Illinois and wanted to continue to challenge the Wildcats. “It’s a fine line,’’ Weber said. “You want to win games early but with a good team you want to make sure you challenge yourself.’’

Here's a snapshot look at the early-afternoon games as eight more teams look to advance to the Sweet 16 on Sunday.

(11) North Carolina State 66, (3) Georgetown 63
The North Carolina State Wolfpack were the 68th team to hear its name called on Selection Sunday. One week later, they are among the 16 teams to survive the first weekend of play, advancing to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2005.

NC State erased an early 10-point deficit with a 30-9 run over 11 minutes spanning the first and second half, and held off a late rally by the Georgetown Hoyas for the 3-point victory.

The Wolfpack used a strong inside game to dominate the Hoyas on the boards. NC State grabbed more than twice as many offensive rebounds as Georgetown and nearly doubled up the Hoyas in second-chance points.

C.J. Leslie had seven second-chance points, nearly as many as the entire Georgetown team, and 10 of the Wolfpack’s 20 points in the paint.

NC State’s efficiency on the perimeter also proved to be a key weapon in the upset win. The Wolfpack made 7-of-15 shots (47 percent) from beyond the arc against a Georgetown team that entered the game holding opponents to a Division I-best 28 percent shooting on 3-point attempts this season.

The early-round upset loss for Georgetown was hardly a surprise. This is the third straight year the Hoyas have been eliminated by a team seeded at least five spots lower. They are the third team with such a streak, joining DePaul (1980-82) and Florida (2002-04).

(1) Michigan State 65, (9) Saint Louis 61
The Spartans advance to the Sweet 16 for the fourth time in the last five seasons thanks to another big game from senior Draymond Green.

Green stuffed the stat sheet with 16 points, 13 rebounds and six assists. It’s his eighth game this season with at least 15 points, 10 rebounds and five assists – no other player in Division I has more than three such games.

Michigan State sealed the win with a much-improved half-court offense after halftime.

The Spartans shot over 60 percent in the half-court and turned the ball over just twice in the final 20 minutes, after coughing it up eight times on 29 half-court possessions in the first half.

The Saint Louis Billikens were looking for their first Sweet 16 appearance, but once again Rick Majerus failed to reach the second weekend with an underdog.

Majerus is now 0-5 all-time in the Round of 32 as a lower seed, including a loss to the Spartans in 2000 when they won the national championship.

Slowly but surely -- OK, quickly and furiously -- we've arrived at the final day of the first weekend of the greatest sports competition in the world. (I used to be somewhat sheepish writing that, what with the World Cup and the Olympics and so on, but after this weekend? After two wins for two No. 15 seeds in three hours? I don't feel so sheepish now.)

After an occasionally ugly but universally hard-fought (and almost always exciting) Saturday, we have but eight spots for advancement available for the remaining 16 teams in the tournament.

The math is cruel. Someone has to go home. Let's take a look how that process may unfold:

Midwest Region

No. 3 Georgetown vs. No. 11 NC State, 12:15 p.m. ET, CBS: The Hoyas were a relatively popular upset-pick victim in brackets, but they snuffed out any such notion against the plucky, this-could-be-their-year Belmont Bruins with ease Friday afternoon. How? Defense first. The Hoyas employ a downright stifling zone defense, one that allows the lowest opponent 3-point field goal percentage in the nation.

The Hoyas aren't quite so dominant on offense, but they are effective. Center Henry Sims has developed into a go-to post scorer whose best feature, believe it or not, is his passing, and the Hoyas have mastered John Thompson III's open-air Princeton system. Few teams that play this deliberately slow -- the Hoyas average 63 possessions per game -- are this much fun to watch. (The backcuts, the screens, the pivots, Sims' passing ... it can be downright beautiful.)

The Wolfpack happen to be playing their best basketball of the season -- they scored 1.17 points per trip against No. 6 San Diego State on Friday -- and their size and athleticism, especially that of emerging sophomore forward C.J. Leslie, gives them a chance to hang around by creating second chances on the offensive glass. Georgetown should win this game, sure, but this isn't the same NC State team we saw in the regular season, even down the stretch.

No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 8 Creighton, 5:15 p.m. ET, CBS: You know the deal: Highly touted UNC star Harrison Barnes and long-ignored Creighton forward Doug McDermott both hail from Ames, Iowa, where they starred on the same state-title-winning high school hoops team, before Barnes made the Skype call heard 'round the college hoops world. Since then, McDermott -- who was passed over even by his own father, Greg McDermott, before the coach decided to leave Iowa State and take the vacant gig at Creighton -- has since morphed into a national player of the year candidate while Barnes, still a top NBA lottery prospect, has had two very good but-not-quite-great seasons for the ballyhooed Tar Heels. That matchup is the stuff of storyline legend -- my home state is certainly excited about it -- and it should be a lot of fun.

But there are other concerns here, too. Will Creighton choose to run with the fast-breaking Tar Heels, or try to hash things out in the half court? Can UNC guard Kendall Marshall provide the point of defensive attack required to stop a Bluejays team that enters the game ranked No. 1 in the nation in effective field goal percentage? Will Carolina forward John Henson play? And even if he doesn't, can Creighton -- a very good offensive team plagued by mediocre defense -- survive the Tar Heels onslaught? Signs point to no, but it will be fun to watch McDermott and Co. give it their best shot.

No. 12 South Florida vs. No. 13 Ohio, 7:10 p.m. ET, TBS: You may have picked South Florida to topple Temple. You might have imagined an Ohio upset of Michigan. The odds you picked both are slim. But these teams -- two Friday upset winners lost amidst the mania that rightfully surrounded Norfolk State's and Lehigh's legendary victories -- will hardly mind. USF continues to play its rather ugly brand of basketball, but that slow, defensive style works. It got the Bulls into the tournament, and with Anthony Collins and Augustus Gilchrist leading the way, it remained successful Friday.

Ohio, meanwhile, held a very good Michigan offense in check while scoring 1.14 points per trip in its own right. Last time the Bobcats were here, they upset Georgetown before falling in the second round. This is just South Florida's third appearance in tournament history; Friday was their program's first win. Needless to say, both programs would like to stick around for just a little bit longer.

No. 2 Kansas vs. No. 10 Purdue, 8:40 p.m. ET, TNT: Purdue was excellent down the stretch in Friday's first-round win over Saint Mary's, and Matt Painter has gotten more out of this team -- whose only real "star," Robbie Hummel, made a redemptive return from two straight ACL surgeries this season -- than anyone might have reasonably expected coming into the year. This just in: Painter can really coach.

But, for the record, Bill Self can, too, and his team has a major advantage over the Boilermakers for one obvious and simple reason: The Jayhawks have really, really good big guys. Purdue does not. How do the Boilers, who started essentially a five-guard lineup Friday (with Hummel and D.J. Byrd serving as stretch forwards) stop Thomas Robinson? How does an overmatched big man corps of Sandi Marcius and Travis Carroll give Purdue anything inside with block machine Jeff Withey patrolling the paint? The answer: I don't know. I'd wager a guess Painter doesn't, either.

West Region

No. 1 Michigan State vs. No. 9 Saint Louis, 2:45 p.m. ET, CBS: Admit it, the moment you saw Memphis' name pop up next to No. 1 seed Michigan State in the West Region on Sunday's selection show, you thought, "Wow, that's a brutal No. 8 seed for the Spartans." And it was. But as Saint Louis proved, that No. 9 seed was no slouch, either. Rick Majerus' team boasts one of the 10 best defenses in the country, one that held a previously scorching (and immensely talented) Tigers team to just 0.86 points per trip Friday afternoon. For the Spartans to avoid the same fate, they will have to limit turnovers and prove equally stout on their own defensive end (the latter of which just so happens to be a specialty). "Majerus in the tournament" is scary enough, but nothing will come easy against these Billikens.

No. 7 Florida vs. No. 15 Norfolk State, 6:10 p.m. ET, TNT: Can the magic continue? Can tiny Norfolk State take down another high-major heavy? Can forward Kyle O'Quinn -- who, after Friday's shocking upset of No. 2-seeded Missouri, gave one of the greatest on-air postgame interviews in college hoops history and later told reporters "We busted my bracket, too!" -- go to work on the Gators the way he went to work on the Tigers?

The Cinderella optimist would say that Norfolk matches up just as well with Florida as it did with Missouri; the Gators are another guard-oriented, 3-point reliant squad with just one true big man (Patric Young) left to rebound and patrol the paint. The pessimist would say Young is much more of a defensive force than Missouri's Ricardo Ratliffe, and more than athletic enough to contain O'Quinn while the Gators' sharpshooting guards (Kenny Boynton and Bradley Beal, chiefly) go to work on the offensive end.

Still, you have to like Norfolk State's chances. There's something special going on in the Spartans' first NCAA tournament appearance. Could more history -- the first No. 15-seeded insurgent in the Sweet 16 -- be on the horizon?

South Region

No. 10 Xavier vs. No. 15 Lehigh, 7:45 p.m. ET, TruTV: Xavier has made a habit of attending Sweet 16s in recent years -- before last season, the Musketeers had played into the second weekend in three straight seasons -- and thanks to the miracle that was C.J. McCollum's 30-point performance in an upset over Duke, their chances are suddenly looking downright likely. But to make that happen, they'll have to get great perimeter defense from Tu Holloway and Mark Lyons. If McCollum is slicing and dicing the Musketeers like he sliced and diced the Blue Devils, Chris Mack's team may yet be one more victim on McCollum's ride to NCAA tournament immortality. But if he isn't? Xavier might just get into the Sweet 16 again. Given the depths this team experienced this season, the way the Dec. 10 brawl with Cincinnati derailed a once-promising year, that would be an upset in and of itself.

No. 3 Florida State vs. No. 6 Cincinnati, 9:40 p.m. ET: Speaking of Cincinnati, the Bearcats are still here, too, and they've played the best basketball of their season at the best moments. They overcame a weak RPI to seal a tournament bid, then toppled Syracuse in last week's Big East tournament, then handled, in impressively clutch fashion, a better-than-its-seed Texas team that stormed back from a deep deficit in Friday's win. But do they have enough to get past Florida State?

The Seminoles are the Seminoles: They still play one of the toughest, most physical brands of straight-up man-to-man defense in the country. They still occasionally struggle on the offensive end. But FSU's improvement from beyond the arc led to its ACC conference tournament title and, in general, the most successful season of Leonard Hamilton's slow-burn tenure. If FSU is merely good on the offensive end, and its usual self on defense, the Noles should get through to the Sweet 16. But Cincinnati will be the toughest -- with all due respect to Murray State -- sixth-seeded out in the tournament field.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Taking a look at Sunday's games in Columbus.

No. 11 NC State (23-12) vs. No. 3 Georgetown (24-8), 12:15 p.m. ET

NC State is an 11-seed and Georgetown is a 3-seed. But Sunday’s matchup at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, doesn’t feel like a 3/11 game.

The Wolfpack have the length and athleticism to challenge a Georgetown team that enjoys the same tools and uses them to its advantage, too.

C.J. Leslie and Richard Howell just attacked and attacked against undersized San Diego State as NC State scored the “upset” against the Aztecs on Friday. Lorenzo Brown shot well from outside with SDSU’s bigs trying to close up the lane.

The Wolfpack were dominant. But they also had a clear size advantage in that matchup.

That won’t be the case against Georgetown, a team that utilizes 6-foot-10 Henry Sims and 6-8 Otto Porter in the frontcourt. The Hoyas have the top 3-point defense in America. Jason Clark is a versatile guard who carved up Belmont.

Georgetown showcased its versatility in its win over Belmont. The Hoyas went to a zone that frustrated one of the top 3-point shooting teams in America.

They can throw multiple defensive looks at the Wolfpack. They can go man-to-man because they have the size, or they can revert to that tough zone.

Georgetown beat NC State 82-67 last season, when the Hoyas separated from a young Wolfpack team with a 15-0 run in the second half. The Wolfpack made just 23.5 percent of their 3-point attempts in that game.

This season, the Wolfpack are ranked 82^nd in Ken Pomeroy’s adjusted tempo ratings. Georgetown is 299^th. NC State’s players said Georgetown’s ability to control the speed of the game affected the outcome last year.

“I know the one thing I can remember, it was very frustrating playing them, because they’re the type of team who doesn’t want to score 80 or 90 points,” Howell said. “They don’t want to get up and down the floor. They just want to play a very slow, a very slow-paced game. That’s something we don’t want to do. We want to get up and down.”

The Hoyas resent the notion that they can’t run, but they also recognize the role that tempo could play in Sunday’s game.

“They have pretty much the same players on the team. They’re a very athletic team,” Clark said. “They like to get out and score in transition. They’re a very good team.”

No. 9 Saint Louis (26-7) vs. No. 1 Michigan State (28-7), 30 minutes after Game 1

You don’t need the actual scouting reports to know Saint Louis’ game plan against Michigan State. The Billikens, ranked 304^th in Pomeroy’s tempo ratings, want to make the Spartans play slower than their norm.

But it’s more complicated than that, which is why the matchup between the two guys on the sidelines takes precedence.

This is Saint Louis vs. Michigan State, but it’s also Rick Majerus vs. Tom Izzo.

Majerus has amassed a 517-215 record and made 12 NCAA tourney appearances. He led Utah to the NCAA title game in 1998, the highlight of a head-coaching career that started at Marquette during the 1983-84 season.

Izzo was a longtime assistant under Jud Heathcote before taking over the program during the 1995-96 campaign. He has a 384-161 record. He won the national title in 2000 and he’s reached the Final Four six times.

This is a matchup of two of the top coaches in the game. Both Izzo and Majerus showcased their acumen during round of 64 victories in Columbus.

The Spartans didn’t impose their will in the first half against LIU-Brooklyn the way they could have and led by just five points at the break.

Izzo said he was disappointed the Spartans didn’t take great shots early in that game. He scolded his squad for not sticking to the game plan and attacking inside. The Spartans responded with an impressive effort after halftime.

Izzo has molded this program into one of the most focused and connected teams in the country, one that’s capable of reaching New Orleans.

But Majerus is a master game-planner, too.

By Saturday afternoon, less than 24 hours after his team’s win over Memphis in the second round, Majerus seemed capable of writing a thesis about Green and his teammates.

“I can beat Rick. I can get him up and down the court for sure,” Izzo joked. “The job he does with his team, his teams are always tough, well-disciplined. They don’t make a lot of mistakes. They don’t beat themselves. They’re very solid and fundamental. And the post players are as fundamental as anybody in the country.”

Memphis, the Billikens' first-round opponent on Friday, was supposed to have the same advantages in size and athleticism that Michigan State appears to have entering Sunday’s game. That didn’t matter when Saint Louis and Memphis took the floor, though. Saint Louis slowed the game down and didn’t panic when the Tigers took an eight-point lead midway through the second half.

Kwamain Mitchell hit big shots. Brian Conklin proved that a 6-6, 235-pound forward can hold his own in the paint against a more athletic, longer opponent.

But Michigan State has beef in the post that Memphis lacked. Derrick Nix and Adreian Payne have stepped up in the postseason.

Majerus, however, faced similar circumstances Friday and came out on top.

The former Utah coach’s experience will play a role in Sunday’s matchup. He’s one of the best in the business at breaking down opponents and finding their weaknesses.

He’ll try to do it again against a coach that he respects.

“I respect Izzo because he’s a self-made coach. He was with Heathcote all those years. He’s demanding. He’s fair,” Majerus said. “His players really like him. And he loves the game. He’s a guy that you could get together with and talk ball.”

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- With Georgetown enjoying a comfortable lead late against Belmont, one Bruins fan still believed the Hoyas would stumble the way they had the last two years against lower seeds.

“You got a lot of choke in you, Georgetown,” he screamed toward the end of Georgetown’s 74-59 victory over Belmont in the second round of the NCAA tournament at Nationwide Arena.

In 2010 and 2011, the fan would have been right. But he was wrong Friday.

The Hoyas avoided a third consecutive postseason loss to a lower seed with an easy win over the Bruins.

The 3-14 matchup quickly became a trendy upset pick on Selection Sunday based on Belmont’s 3-point shooting (8.8 per game, 10th in the nation entering Friday’s game) and Georgetown’s premature dismissals the previous two seasons.

In the 2010, the Hoyas fell against Ohio. In 2011, they lost to VCU in the second round.

They were determined, however, to avoid another one in Columbus. And their fast start proved it. With 8:55 to play in the first half, they had an 11-point lead.

“I think it was definitely a sense of urgency, not just for me, but for the whole team,” said guard Jason Clark, who scored 10 of his team’s first 14 points. “We’ve known what we’ve done in the past. So it was a big thing for us to get this win today.”

That boisterous Belmont fan summed up the perception that made the Bruins a popular upset pick in office pools around the country.

Center Henry Sims said he couldn’t escape the “Belmont over Georgetown” chatter entering the matchup.

“I can’t even tell you how many times I looked on Twitter and saw ‘I’m calling this upset, this 3-14 upset.’ I just wanted to prove people wrong,” he said.

Now, the Hoyas can look forward to a Sunday matchup against NC State, which beat San Diego State in the first game of the afternoon. The Wolfpack possess athleticism and length that Belmont clearly lacked.

The Bruins were down 36-27 at halftime after shooting 6-for-15 from the 3-point-line. The Hoyas, the best 3-point defenders in the nation, made every shot a tough shot for the Bruins.

And on offense, they just pounded the ball inside and exploited Belmont’s limited size.

Sims scored 15 points. Otto Porter finished with 16 points and eight rebounds. The Hoyas had a 44-20 scoring advantage in the paint by the end of the game.

And the Atlantic Sun champs didn’t have a defender that could stick with Clark, who recorded a game-high 21 points (9-for-12 from the field). Georgetown shot 61.2 percent overall.

After the Hoyas led 40-27 early in the second half, Belmont used a 9-2 run to cut Georgetown’s lead to six with 14:52 to play. But a Belmont goaltending call and turnover on its next possession helped the Hoyas regain a double-digit lead.

The 3-ball that had been so crucial throughout the season for Belmont was not as effective against the lengthy Hoyas. The Bruins were 4-for-12 from beyond the arc in the second half. Georgetown’s zone was effective throughout the matchup.

“It’s hard to shoot a 3 when it’s contested,” Sims said.

And now, the Hoyas feel like they can finally move forward.

“There’s no doubt, and I will be misleading if I were to say it was not a relief,” said coach John Thompson III.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Instant analysis from Georgetown's 74-59 win over Belmont.

Overview: Georgetown, a 3-seed, avoided a third consecutive opening-round loss to a lower seed with a win over Belmont, a 14-seed. How did the Hoyas do it?

They used their length to stifle a Belmont team that loves 3-pointers and they parlayed that size advantage into easy buckets on the other end of the floor.

By the end of the first half, Georgetown had a 36-27 lead. They’d outscored the Bruins 16-6 in the paint. Belmont still managed a 6-for-15 (40 percent) clip from the 3-point line, but every shot was a difficult one. Many were off-balance. The Hoyas just didn’t let the Bruins, a team that’s in the top 10 in 3-pointers made per game, get comfortable.

They were even tougher in the second half. Belmont missed five of its first six 3-pointers after the break. Behind a 61 percent shooting clip, the Hoyas led 40-27, 48-36 and 55-40 at different times in the second half.

Turning point: It was a six-point game after a 9-2 Belmont rally that concluded with a Blake Jenkins tip-in with 14:46 to play. Uh oh, right? Wrong. Georgetown opened the game back up via a Belmont goaltending call, a Bruins turnover on their next possession, a Henry Sims turnaround hook and a Greg Whittington dunk. And just like that the Hoyas had a double-digit lead again.

Key player: Jason Clark could not be stopped. He scored 21 points and went 9-for-12 from the field.

Key stat: Belmont, one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the country this season, recorded a 4-for-12 mark from the 3-point line in the second half.

Miscellaneous: Belmont had the right idea. The Bruins mixed things up in the first half and tried to find their shooters. But Georgetown was simply too long and athletic. … Was that really a goaltending call in the second half? From here, it looked questionable. … This was a trendy upset pick not because of the matchup but because of Georgetown’s early exits in recent years. On paper, however, it was a horrible matchup. Belmont needs 3s. Georgetown uses its length to protect the arc better than any team in America. Game. Set. Match.

What’s next: Now, it’s Georgetown versus North Carolina State on Sunday. The Wolfpack have a 4-2 record overall against the Hoyas.

After a relatively mild third day of NCAA tournament action Thursday, does Friday promise more excitement? Close games? A buzzer-beater? Something?

Beggars can't be choosers, but we can be hopers. As we pray to the basketball gods for all the tournament has to offer, here's what you should keep an eye on as Friday unfolds.

Five best games:

No. 8 Creighton vs. No. 9 Alabama: Arguably the most intriguing stylistic clash in the entire round of 64, this one puts Creighton's all-offense attack up against one of the nation's most athletic and physical defensive teams. The Bluejays' offense and the Tide's defense both rank among the nation's 10 best per-possession in their respective categories, but the inverse is also true: Creighton's defense (ranked No. 180 in kenpom) and Alabama's offense (ranked No. 112) serve as each team's obvious weakness. It's unstoppable force/immovable object stuff, and it should be fascinating to watch.

No. 8 Memphis vs. No. 9 Saint Louis: It's not uncommon to see a team that looks considerably better than its NCAA tournament seed. It is uncommon to see two in the same second-round game, but that will be the case when the streaking Tigers and the defensively stalwart Billikens match up Friday. Both teams are ranked among kenpom.com's top 15 in overall adjusted efficiency. Memphis boasts a hyper-talented lineup led by forward Will Barton; Saint Louis has the benefit of Rick Majerus' tried-and-true defensive style and his strategic tournament superiority. If Saint Louis can keep Barton in check, and find a way to keep forward Tarik Black off the offensive glass (no easy feat, that), it may be able to hold off a Memphis team capable of a very deep run in this field.

No. 6 Cincinnati vs. No. 11 Texas: The Longhorns limped into the tournament, but as a team with talented guards -- like leading scorer J'Covan Brown and steady freshman Myck Kabongo -- and one that challenged the top teams in the Big 12 throughout the season (usually coming up just short), they represent a fantastic value as a No. 11 seed. Cincinnati forward Yancy Gates will have to take advantage of a favorable matchup with Clint Chapman in the post. If he doesn't, Texas has the chops to hang around in this game for 40 minutes -- and maybe even finish with a win.

No. 7 Florida vs. No. 10 Virginia: Before we crown Creighton-Alabama with the "most stylistically fascinating" superlative, let's reserve some consideration for Florida-Virginia. The Cavaliers play a drastically slow, packed-in defensive style. The Gators play a spread-out offense that relies primarily on 3-point shooting. Fortunately, they have the players for it, including guard Kenny Boynton, who has put together a quietly remarkable season launching the basketball from range. But Florida's lack of defense leaves it vulnerable if the shooters go cold, and UVa will look to take advantage on the other end.

No. 7 Saint Mary's vs. No. 10 Purdue: Though the Boilermakers would never admit it, they may have breathed a sigh of relief when they saw their second-round tournament matchup. Don't get me wrong: Saint Mary's is for real, an excellent offensive team led by the peerless point guard play of veteran Matthew Dellavedova. But the Gaels don't have much of an interior presence, which is the one personnel area in which the Boilermakers -- who rely on the guard play of Lewis Jackson, Ryne Smith and outside-in forward Robbie Hummel -- are legitimately vulnerable. Expect a lot of fluid motion offense, a lot of outside shots and a close, hard-fought game in Omaha.

No. 5 Temple vs. No. 12 South Florida: More stylistic clash potential! Take three! The Owls -- for years a grind-it-out defensive team under coach Fran Dunphy -- have flipped the script in 2012, morphing into a high-flying offensive juggernaut led by guards Ramone Moore and Khalif Wyatt. South Florida, on the other hand, looks a bit like Temple used to ... but even uglier and slower and practically impossible to score against.

Upset alert:

No. 1 Michigan State vs. No. 16 LIU Brooklyn: Just kidding! All due respect to the Blackbirds, it ain't happening. (Just had to make sure you will still paying attention is all.)

No. 3 Georgetown vs. No. 14 Belmont: If America has a favorite sleeper candidate this season -- other than VCU and the now-lamented Long Beach State 49ers -- it is Rick Byrd's Belmont team. The Bruins were a sleeper favorite last season, too, but they caught a bad matchup in the second round in Wisconsin. They're back with much the same team this season, and laptops love them; Belmont ranks No. 9 in LRMC, No. 23 overall in the kenpom.com rankings and No. 35 overall in the BPI. But they've got another tough matchup in Georgetown, which plays a stifling, lanky zone defense that makes everything difficult for its opponents. But if Scott Saunders and Mick Hedgepeth can handle Georgetown center Henry Sims, the Bruins are more than capable of knocking off the Hoyas -- and sticking around for a while, too.

No. 2 Duke vs. No. 15 Lehigh: Do I think this will happen? No. Duke has too much on the perimeter to be shut down by this Lehigh bunch. But could it? Sure. The Blue Devils beat a lot of good teams this season, which helped them to a No. 2 seed, but by per-possession efficiency standards Duke is easily the weakest of the No. 2 seeds. Lehigh, on the other hand, is not your typical No. 15 seed, and it has a secret weapon -- guard C.J. McCollum, one of the nation's most underrated scorers, who at the very least will give Duke's occasionally suspect guard defenders something to think about for all 40 minutes.

No. 2 Kansas vs. No. 15 Detroit: Speaking of deceptive 15-seeds, Detroit might be the most talented 15-seed in the history of the tournament. That's because guard Ray McCallum Jr. -- son of coach Ray McCallum Sr. -- turned down a host of elite programs to play for his dad two years ago, while transfer forward Eli Holman, a former Indiana prospect, patrols the middle with more athleticism than you usually see from Horizon League forwards. Kansas should win this game but the Titans have talent and they'll definitely give it a go.

No. 11 NC State vs. No. 6 San Diego State: San Diego State has achieved in remarkable fashion this season, relative to its talent, but will the run come to an end Friday? There's reason to think so: NC State enters the tournament playing the best basketball of its season (it dispatched Virginia and nearly took down UNC in the ACC tournament last weekend), and the young Wolfpack will be eager to prove they are already ready for the bright lights.

Players to watch:

Doug McDermott, Creighton: You know the deal by now: McDermott is at once one of the nation's most productive and most efficient scorers, and his twin abilities to turn on both shoulders in the post or step outside and knock down the 3 makes him a lethal offensive option. But he'll have to be extra-good Friday, as Alabama's JaMychal Green is one of the few defenders in the country able to guard McDermott both inside and out.

Tu Holloway, Xavier: It wasn't pretty, but Xavier made it to the tournament. Now what? This team is still talented, particularly on the perimeter, and if Holloway and running mate Mark Lyons can summon some of what led them to clutch comeback wins over Vanderbilt and Purdue before their brawl with Cincinnati, they could be an interesting out in the West region.

J'Covan Brown, Texas: Brown is always scoring. The question is whether he's getting his points efficiently, and whether the Longhorns' offense is conducive to scores in the flow of the offense. If they are, they can hang with Cincinnati.

Andrew Nicholson, St. Bonaventure: In the Bonnies' A-10 title win over Xavier, Nicholson dropped 26 points, 14 rebounds and 8 -- yes, eight -- blocks. He's an NBA talent with the body to match. But will Nicholson be able to dominate the Seminoles' physical frontcourt? With Bernard James lined up across from him, this will the most difficult matchup Nicholson has seen all season.

Mike Scott, Virginia: If the Cavaliers are going to drop No. 7-seeded Florida in the second round Friday, they're going to have to get a massive effort from Scott, the dominant focal point of their slow, cautious offense. Scott has been hyper-efficient on the offensive end all season, but he could struggle against Florida forward Patric Young, one of the few big men in the nation with the athleticism and height to check Scott effectively. And if Scott doesn't score, UVa's chances are probably slim.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The afternoon slate of NCAA tournament games at Nationwide Arena on Friday will feature a pair of intriguing matchups. San Diego State will try to stop NC State from running away with the upset -- literally. And Belmont versus Georgetown pits one of the nation’s top 3-point shooting teams against the squad that’s most equipped to defend it.

No. 11 NC State (22-12) vs. No. 6 San Diego State (26-7), 12:40 p.m. ET

Last year, San Diego State charmed the country with its surge to the Sweet 16 as former Aztecs star Kawhi Leonard led the way. But Steve Fisher lost four starters from that team. Preseason projections suggested that the Aztecs would not come close to duplicating last season’s achievements.

But this program has proved its doubters wrong this year.

The Aztecs shared the Mountain West crown with New Mexico during the regular season. They’re undersized and they’re not very deep, but they’ve held their opponents to a 40 percent shooting clip, second in the conference.

Jamaal Franklin (17.2 points per game) and Chase Tapley (15.7 ppg) are a potent duo for a program that’s overcome adversity in close games. They’re 4-0 in overtime this season.

“It helped a lot. The NCAA tournament, you get those kind of games like every night, close barn-burning games, and those games at the beginning of the year, early in the year, like UC Santa Barbara, the Creighton game, games like that really prepared us for this moment we have right now,” Tapley said.

The Aztecs have been here before. The bright lights of March are not new for the program.

When Mark Gottfried took the Wolfpack job last summer, however, he understood that he’d have to rebuild a winning tradition at NC State.

Leading the Wolfpack to its first NCAA tournament bid since 2006 is a start.

“Our banners, national championship banners are hanging in our gym,” he said. “Our guys see them every day. And they understand the tradition and the history of NC State. Been in three Final Fours, won two national championships. So our players are very well aware of that.”

There were a multitude of reasons to doubt both teams’ chances of reaching March Madness.

To stay here, however, San Diego State will have to overcome its size disadvantage and try to control the tempo against a NC State team that likes to run. The Wolfpack will have to take advantage of their athleticism and transition offense to beat the Aztecs.

NC State’s scoring offense (73.6 ppg and 81^st in Ken Pomeroy’s tempo ratings) was third behind North Carolina’s and Duke’s in the ACC. C.J. Leslie (14.6 ppg) leads five Wolfpack players in double figures.

San Diego State hopes to limit NC State’s ability to fully utilize its talent by slowing the game down in a matchup against a squad that’s shooting 46.3 percent from the field.

But the Aztecs said they feel comfortable picking up the pace, too.

“[We’re] not going to get in a transition game, really pick our spots here and there and run,” SDSU’s Xavier Thames said. “And whatever they want to play, we can play. We could play a slow-down game, we could play a transition game.”

NC State has to worry about matching up with an Aztecs team that employs a four-guard set.

“I feel that we have four guys on the perimeter, including C.J. Leslie, that can guard any position, 1 through 4,” C.J. Williams said.

No. 14 Belmont (27-7) vs. No. 3 Georgetown (23-8), 3:10 p.m. ET

It seems simple.

Belmont loves the 3-ball (8.8 per game, 10^th in the nation). Georgetown plays the best perimeter defense in America (27 percent 3-point field goal percentage allowed).

Something has to give when the Bruins face the Hoyas in this second-round matchup in the NCAA tournament, right?

“We gotta penetrate when we can and be strong when we penetrate and find shooters on the perimeter and hopefully get inside the defense,” Belmont’s Kerron Johnson said.

Jason Clark said Georgetown’s preparations have focused on neutralizing Belmont’s 3-point barrages.

“That’s one thing Coach [John Thompson III] has been stressing all this week at practice is defending the 3-point line, not letting them get 3-point shots,” he said.

Thompson, however, says it’s not that simple.

The Bruins like to run (13^th in Ken Pomeroy’s adjusted offensive efficiency ratings) and they’re a great passing team (17.4 assists per game, fifth in the nation). Belmont’s 81.5 ppg makes the Bruins the fourth best scoring offense in America.

All-Atlantic Sun guards Ian Clark, the conference’s defensive player of the year, Drew Hanlen and Johnson anchor Belmont. But Mick Hedgepeth (double-double in conference tourney title game) and Scott Saunders (10.2 ppg, 5.0 rebounds per game) can hurt opponents inside.

“Obviously, they have a terrific shooting team, but at the same time, if you get spaced out, if you start just chasing those shooters, their post players are very good and they’re … a very good passing team," Thompson said. "… Protecting the 3-point line and stopping shooters is important, but they’re much more complex than that.”

But Belmont will need one of its best efforts of the year to upset the Hoyas. The Bruins lost to Duke by a point in their season opener. So they won’t be intimidated.

The Hoyas have shot 46.3 percent from the field, the No. 2 mark in the Big East. Otto Porter and Henry Sims could bully the Bruins inside. Hollis Thompson is dangerous from outside (44.4 percent from beyond the arc) and Jason Clark (13.9 ppg) is a gamer.

This has been a trendy upset pick since the matchup was announced on Selection Sunday. But Georgetown is a team that’s built to control the Bruins.

But the two teams expect a battle.

Both know March Madness heartbreak.

Wisconsin sent Belmont -- a team looking for its first NCAA tournament victory in its fifth appearance -- home early last year.

Georgetown has lost back-to-back opening-round games to lower seeds. The early losses damaged the Hoyas’ postseason reputation and fueled some of this season’s upset predictions.

Sims, however, said the only way to change that is to advance.

“It’s hard for people to forget what happened until you make something different happen,” he said.

The past two years, we've grown accustomed to fawning over at least one adorable bulldog mascot in the NCAA tournament. That bulldog mascot has often been Butler Blue II, who reveled in non-stop attention as his favorite team made unlikely runs to the pinnacle of the sport in 2010 and 2011. (Important note: Butler Blue III is now in the building, and, like all bulldog puppies, is almost jaw-droppingly cute.)

Butler's struggles this season have prevented them from returning to the NCAA tournament, so neither Blue II nor Blue III get to make another appearance. Which means we'll have to look elsewhere for a cute tournament bulldog mascot, and hey, what about Georgetown? They're bulldogs. They have a mascot. Let's all take sideline photos of him!

Bad news, everyone: Jack, the Georgetown bulldog, is out for the tournament with a torn ACL. From the DC Sports Bog:

Yup, the keeper of the mascot, Father Christopher Steck, sent out a series of Tweets on Monday about Jack’s status.

“Dang... Jack has torn his dog ‘ACL’!” he wrote. “Surgery probably; 2 mo. recovery. Happened Sunday; likely from jumping on couch. He’s limping badly.”

The old couch jump. It'll get you every time.

Jack is waiting to see if he'll need surgery, but in the meantime, he wasn't likely to travel with the Hoyas to their first-round game in Columbus as it's too far away from D.C. He'll have to watch the festivities from the couch. Or, actually, the floor. That couch has done enough damage already.

Whether this is a bad omen for Georgetown remains to be seen. The good news for Hoyas fans? At least it's only the mascot -- as opposed to, say, the team's starting center. There are worse fates on the eve of the tournament, that's for sure.

Well, it’s early, but that doesn’t mean we have to wait to make predictions. And in my opinion, you don’t waiver. You make statements and projections and you stand by them, regardless of what happens in the coming weeks. Hold me to the following bold predictions about the NCAA tournament:

1. No Big East team will reach the Final Four: Another big haul for the Big East. Nine of its teams will participate in this season’s edition of the NCAA tournament. But I don’t think the conference will send any teams to New Orleans. I think Syracuse, a team that’s vulnerable due to its challenges on the glass, has a tough path in the East with Ohio State and a pair of hot squads (Florida State and Vandy) standing in its way. Georgetown, Cincy and UConn could lose in the first round. Marquette has to get through Missouri. I just don’t see it. No Big East in the Big Easy.
2. [+] Enlarge
   Peter G. Aiken/US PresswireKim English and the Tigers could be one of two teams representing the Big 12 in New Orleans.
   The Big 12 will send two squads to New Orleans: Among the 2-seeds, Missouri has the easiest path to New Orleans. The Tigers’ speed and perimeter versatility will pose matchup problems for every team in the West Region, including No. 1 seed Michigan State. Kansas losing in the first round to Detroit? Nah. The Jayhawks will beat every team in the Midwest, including the Tar Heels if they face them in the Elite Eight.
3. Vanderbilt will reach the Final Four: I know it’s the sexy pick following its win over Kentucky in the SEC tournament title game. But the Commodores shouldn’t be judged by that victory. And they shouldn’t be dismissed because of premature exits in past years. They have veterans. And they’ve built momentum down the stretch, a la Connecticut a year ago. They’ve hit nearly 40 percent of their 3s this season. The East Region is stronger than it looks with teams such as Syracuse, Ohio State, Florida State and Wisconsin in the mix. But the Commodores can emerge with their senior leadership and shooting. Plus, they have the confidence that comes from beating Kentucky, a team that they challenged in two previous meetings, too.
4. Iona will win two games: I don’t agree with the Gaels’ inclusion. Washington and Drexel had stronger arguments. But just because many don’t believe they belong doesn’t mean that they won’t prove critics wrong. I think the Gaels, who own the No. 1 scoring offense in the country (83.3 ppg), are dangerous. To reach the third round in the West Region, the Gaels will have to get through BYU in Dayton and Marquette in Louisville. Mark it down. The Gaels are playing a pair of shaky defensive teams. They have three NBA-level talents in Scott Machado, Michael Glover and Lamont “Momo” Jones. As much I thought Iona didn’t have a case for a slot in the field of 68, I think the Gaels can show doubters that they’re worthy.
5. The Badgers will go home early: I’m picking Montana over Wisconsin in the 13/4 matchup in the East Region. Wisconsin’s offense has stalled multiple times in recent weeks. Even though the Badgers are capable of neutralizing any offense, they’ve had problems capitalizing due to their own inconsistent offense. Montana will be ready. The Grizzlies beat their Big Sky rivals Weber state by 19 points in the conference’s tournament title game, their 14^th consecutive victory. Plus, Will Cherry (16.0 ppg) can match Jordan Taylor. Grizzlies will advance.
6. Long Beach State is a Sweet 16 team: Numerous NCAA tournament teams have hungry veterans. But few upperclassmen have gone through the things that T.J. Robinson, Larry Anderson and Casper Ware have throughout their careers. The seniors missed the past two NCAA tournaments after losing in the conference tournament title game to UC Santa Barbara twice. But this season they earned the Big West’s automatic bid. If Anderson’s not ready (knee injury), then that will change Long Beach State’s March Madness potential. But even without Anderson, the league’s defensive player of the year, this is a talented team that’s played the top nonconference schedule in the country. The 49ers will not be intimidated. They’ll beat New Mexico and Louisville on their way to the Sweet 16.
7. [+] Enlarge
   AP Photo/Lenny IgnelziCreighton's Doug McDermott may meet up with former high school teammate Harrison Barnes of North Carolina.
   Michigan State will be the first No. 1 seed to fall: Call me crazy. But I think Memphis’ athleticism will create problems for the Spartans in the third round. I understand the “How will the Tigers guard Draymond Green?” question. But what about Will Barton and Joe Jackson? In the Big Ten, the Spartans didn’t play teams that possessed the raw athleticism that’s anchored Memphis’ roster. The Spartans will be tougher than the Tigers in this East Region matchup, but the latter has an element that Michigan State hasn’t faced since its season-opening to loss to North Carolina.
8. Doug McDermott will outplay Harrison Barnes on Sunday: I expect North Carolina and Creighton to advance and set up a Sunday matchup in the Midwest Region between former high school teammates Doug McDermott and Harrison Barnes, who earned two state titles together at Ames High School in Ames, Iowa. The Tar Heels will win the game, but McDermott will be the star. Both guys have talked about this potential matchup in the past. The McDermott vs. Barnes buildup will be immense. But McDermott will outperform his prep teammate in their first collegiate meeting, albeit in a loss.
9. The VCU/Wichita State winner is headed to the Sweet 16: It’s unfortunate that this game will eliminate a potent mid-major. Wichita State and VCU, a Final Four team last year, are two of the best in the country. I predict that the winner of this game will end up facing Kentucky in the Sweet 16. They’re both tough, physical defensive teams that will pressure Indiana in the round of 32. The Hoosiers have struggled outside of Bloomington. And whether they face the Shockers or the Rams, they’ll be in for a battle, one that I expect them to lose.
10. The West Coast Conference won’t win one game: BYU will lose to Iona. Saint Mary’s will go down against Purdue. West Virginia will beat Gonzaga. I thought the WCC would turn the corner this year with the way BYU, Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga fought for the WCC title. But all three have looked vulnerable in recent weeks. I just don’t think they’re going to advance. Plus, tough matchups for all three teams in their first games. Iona is very talented. The Boilermakers are tough, too. Kevin Jones will lead the Mountaineers to a win over the Bulldogs.

Overview: Our first game of the day, between Syracuse and UConn, was going to be tough to beat

But this one did it.

Cincinnati, the No. 4 seed, ousted No. 5 seed Georgetown 72-70 in double overtime -- a game that was ugly for most of regulation, but then thrilling in the final minutes and the extra periods.

The Bearcats (23-9) advance to the Big East semifinals, while the Hoyas (24-7) go home with just one win in this tournament. Both teams' spots in the NCAA tournament are already secure.

Turning points: Too many to count. Georgetown led 30-24 at the half, and the second half went back and forth. Georgetown increased its lead to nine, 36-27; Cincinnati closed to 36-35. Georgetown went up 49-38; Cincinnati cut it to 52-51, and then went ahead 53-52 on a Yancy Gates tip-in with 37 seconds left. But with the score 54-52, Georgetown freshman Otto Porter connected on a short jumper with 3.6 seconds left to tie the game, and we ended up in overtime.

In the first overtime, Georgetown had the ball trailing 64-62 with 12.9 seconds left coming out of a timeout, but was struggling to find a good look. With the clock winding down, center Henry Sims drove down the lane from the top of the key and laid it in at the buzzer -- a beautiful move, especially for a big man -- to tie the score at 64.

In the second overtime, with the score knotted at 70, Cincinnati's Cashmere Wright drove the lane and banked it in to make it 72-70 with 7.6 seconds left. After a timeout, Georgetown went the length of the floor and tried to make magic one more time -- but Sims' jumper from the top of the key was off the mark.

Key player: Gates came alive for the Bearcats in the second half and the two overtimes, finishing with 23 points and eight rebounds. He scored 10 of Cincinnati's final 11 points in regulation.

For Georgetown, Sims has nothing to hang his head about. The senior, who had 20 points and 13 rebounds against Pittsburgh on Wednesday, followed up that performance with 22 points and 15 rebounds on Thursday.

Key stat: Georgetown shot just 8-for-15 from the foul line -- a couple more made free throws could have made all the difference.

Amazingly, Cincinnati shot just 2-for-21 from 3-point range, yet pulled out a victory.

What's next: Syracuse and Cincinnati will tangle at 7 p.m. ET Friday. The teams played once during the regular season -- a 60-53 Syracuse win in Cincinnati. The Orange were without starting center Fab Melo.

Georgetown returns home and gets ready for Selection Sunday.

After Georgetown's 64-52 victory over Pittsburgh at the Big East tournament, Dana O'Neil caught up with Hoyas center Henry Sims, who had 20 points and 13 rebounds against the Panthers.

Overview: It's official -- Pittsburgh will miss the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2001.

Pitt's nightmarish 2011-12 season is finally over, after the No. 13-seeded Panthers lost to No. 5 seed Georgetown in the second round of the Big East tournament Wednesday afternoon. A season which began with promise -- Pitt was picked to finish fourth in the conference -- went off the rails with a nonconference loss to Wagner on Dec. 23, followed by seven straight losses to begin Big East play.

Georgetown went in the opposite direction. Picked to finish 10th, the Hoyas instead finished tied for fourth, and continue to look like a team capable of going deep in this tournament, and the Big Dance as well.

Turning point: Pittsburgh actually led this game for most of the first half, but a 12-0 run by Georgetown over the final 4:07 gave the Hoyas a 31-23 lead at intermission. After a quick 6-0 flurry by the Panthers to start the second half, the Hoyas reasserted control, for good. Back-to-back treys by Greg Whittington and Otto Porter turned a 31-29 game into a 37-29 game, gave the Hoyas some breathing room, and they poured it on from there.

Key player: Porter, who did not make the All-Big East Rookie Team despite averaging 9.0 points and a team-high 6.8 rebounds for Georgetown, was excellent -- particularly in the second half. Porter finished with 20 points and six rebounds, with 14 of his points coming after intermission. Center Henry Sims was outstanding as well, with 20 points, 13 rebounds and five assists.

Also, kudos to Ashton Gibbs, who scored 14 points in his final game at Pittsburgh. Gibbs' senior year certainly didn't go the way he envisioned, but the Scotch Plains, N.J., native had an excellent collegiate career.

Miscellaneous: Georgetown trotted out a starting lineup of players 6-foot-10, 6-8, 6-8, 6-8 and 6-2, with Porter joining the starting lineup -- that's some serious size. ... The Hoyas outscored the Panthers 22 to 11 at the foul line, which obviously made a big difference.

What's next: Georgetown will face No. 4 seed Cincinnati in the Big East quarterfinals, Thursday at approximately 2:30 p.m.

Pittsburgh heads home with a final record of 17-16, 5-13 in the Big East.

1. Atlantic 10 commissioner Bernadette McGlade said Temple needs to honor its one-year exit agreement with the league, just like the Big East has demanded its teams must stay to fulfill their commitments (although the conference a $20 million buyout from West Virginia). McGlade said Temple would owe one million dollars for leaving with a year's notice, and two million if departing before two. Of course, Temple could pulls its football program out of the MAC and keep basketball and others out of the A-10 for a year. The Big East is more desperate for a football team for the fall of 2012 than it is for hoops.

2. This is West Virginia's final Big East tournament. Syracuse and Pitt are probably playing in one more in 2013. Memphis, UCF, Houston, SMU and who knows, maybe Temple, will be in the Big East tournament in 2014. “It sickens me to be quite honest," said Hall of Fame coach and former Georgetown coach John Thompson Jr. “It’s not healthy to lose the rivalries. It’s not what the philosophy of this league was formed.’’

3. Marquette associate coach Tony Benford will be in play for the Southern Illinois coaching job and could also be at SMU if that job opens. Kentucky assistant Orlando Antigua will likely be on the list at Rhode Island. Late Monday, the game saw one of the classiest coaches retire when Charlie Coles decided to step down from Miami of Ohio.

Believe it or not, a certain massive matchup in Durham, N.C., isn't the only college hoops game on the schedule today. Hard to believe, I know, but it's true.

Here's a look at much of the action -- bubble and otherwise -- that served as the appetizer to tonight's main course. Be sure to check back later this evening for our writers' reactions and analysis from across the country.

No. 7 Marquette 83, No. 12 Georgetown 69: When March calms down, and the offseason finishes out its usual assortment of draft decisions, coaching intrigue and off-campus arrests (and everything else), I'm going to sit down one week and calculate college hoops winning percentages on senior night. With the exception of Northwestern (which lost in heartbreaking fashion Wednesday), it felt like nearly every team in the country won its final home game of the season this week. A lot of that is just good, old-fashioned home-court advantage, and some of it is skill and so forth, but when you strip all that away, I'm still going to guess pretty much every college hoops team in the country sees a massive bounce in its winning in the final home game of the season. Quantifying emotion is never easy. This feels like a chance.

In any case, Marquette followed this (presumably real, potentially imagined) trend Saturday, easily handling a Georgetown team that was itself coming off a dominant performance in its final home game of the season, a 59-41 victory over Notre Dame. In doing so, the Golden Eagles extended their Big East record to 14-4 and ensured the No. 2 seed in the Big East tournament next week. Meanwhile, Jae Crowder made one last-ditch pitch for Big East player of the year: He scored 26 points and grabbed 14 rebounds on 8-of-15 from the field and 10-of-12 from the free throw line. (Crowder missed all five 3-point attempts, a portion of his game that he's really improved this season. When your center can shoot 37 percent from 3-point range, you've got a very difficult team to guard.)

Can Crowder win the award? Because he should. With all due respect to Darius Johnson-Odom and like four or five different Syracuse players, Crowder's mix of offensive efficiency (offensive rating: 122.9; including 61 percent from inside the arc, a low turnover rate, and the aforementioned perimeter solidity), rebounding and defense (he's averaging 2.3 steals and 1.0 blocks per game) make him, to me, the most complete, most important player in the conference.

No. 9 Murray State 54, Tennessee State 52 (Ohio Valley Championship): With six minutes left in the OVC title game, bubble teams across the country were no doubt finding it difficult to establish regulated breathing patterns. Tennessee State was up 48-43, the Racers were struggling to find stops against the dish-and-kick action of the Tigers' 1-4 low sets, and even worse, Isaiah Canaan, Murray State's do-it-all star, was battling through an off night. A two-bid OVC -- and a suddenly shrunken bubble -- were very real possibilities.

But Murray State locked in on defense, stacking great possession after great possession, cutting the Tigers off and preventing easy shots in the paint, and eventually came back to seal the win. The final go-ahead basket was a matter of immediate controversy at the broadcast table; our own Fran Fraschilla was convinced Murray State guard Jewuan Long charged on his game-winning basket. The call was close, no question. But all due respect to Fran, who is way better than this than I am, I disagree that it should have been a charge. A few things here. Long shot the ball before contact was initiated; the defender was still slightly sliding under the move, rather than entirely in front of it; and, most importantly, it was the penultimate play of a one-possession game with the NCAA tournament on the line. The ref needs to swallow his whistle there. And, in general, college coaches and players -- frankly, this applies to the NBA, too -- need to stop coaching defense like this! It's bad for the sport. There are plenty of ways to defend a driving player without fouling or attempt to draw a foul. Choose one. Don't run to a spot and hope the ref gives you the benefit of a 50-50 call, especially when your season is on the line. In short: Play defense.

Maybe that's the pickup player in me coming out; I would have little sympathy even if Long committed a blatant charge. But it wasn't. The no-call couldn't have been more appropriate. And every bubble team in the country can breathe just a little bit easier as a result.

Illinois State 65, No. 14 Wichita State 64: On second thought, bubble teams, you can go back to freaking out now. Why? Because Arch Madness has yielded its first truly mad result of the tournament. Wichita State is the Missouri Valley's best team and No. 1 overall seed, not to mention everyone's pick to be this year's mid-major tournament darling. But that didn't stop the Redbirds -- thanks to Tyler Brown's two clutch free throws and two misses in the last six seconds from WSU's Toure' Murry and Garrett Stutz -- from shocking the Shockers all the same. (Sorry. Couldn't resist.)

Wichita State doesn't have much to worry about in the way of its NCAA tournament seed, of course. But every team along the bubble line, including many of those mentioned below, should be terrified. If Creighton suffers the same fate at any point this weekend, the Missouri Valley will send three teams to the NCAA tournament and steal one bid from a bubble that is destined to shrink even further down the stretch.

Could that third team be Illinois State? Why not? When you beat Wichita State on a neutral court, you deserve the benefit of the doubt.

No. 2 Syracuse 58, No. 18 Louisville 49: This was always an uphill battle for Louisville for one obvious reason: The Cardinals can't score. Louisville can defend. It can rebound. It can get stops when it needs them. But when you have the Big East's 11th-best offense on a per-possession basis, when your effective field-goal percentage ranks outside the nation's top 200 teams, when you turn the ball over on 21.8 percent of your possessions (national rank: No. 241) and your task is to break down Syracuse's smothering 2-3 defense in the Carrier Dome, well, good luck. Syracuse played its typically potent brand of extended defense, forcing Louisville a downright awful 2-of-23 mark from beyond the arc, and that's pretty much your game right there.

It's going to be interesting to see how Rick Pitino tries to adjust this team as he heads toward the NCAA tournament. A few weeks ago, Pitino told ESPN Radio's Scott Van Pelt that he liked to speed the game up and take more risks in the tournament; in his experience, too many coaches slow down in the tournament, fearing disorganization and disarray. This might be his only course of action in March. The Cardinals can't find any offense, but they can press and trap and slap and claw and hope to get easy buckets from turnovers and bad shots in transition. At this point, with this anemic, predictable offense (prediction: Peyton Siva won't see a defense guard him over the top on another ball screen all season), does Pitino have any other choice?

Variously Questionable Bubble Losses

West Virginia 50, South Florida 44: The Mountaineers desperately needed this win. Before this week's victory over DePaul, WVU had lost seven of its previous nine games and seen its once-certain at-large tournament bid -- WVU was once a No. 5 seed in Joe Lunardi's bracket; now it's a No. 12 -- become an entirely precarious matter. This win obviously helps, and not just because it was a win: It also put a ding on one of WVU's potential bubble rivals, South Florida, which has surged into the bubble conversation in recent weeks thanks to a gaudy Big East record and consecutive victories over Cincinnati and Louisville. A win Saturday might have put the Bulls on the right side of the bubble in official fashion. As it is, their profile still looks much better than it used to, but with a 5-10 road record and a 2-8 mark against the RPI top 50, some positive results in the Big East tournament may well be necessary.

UCLA 75, Washington 69: First things first: This was a really nice win for UCLA. It hasn't been the easiest week for the Bruins (that's a candidate for understatement of the year), but with back-to-back good wins (a blowout of Washington State and this plucky victory over the league's standings leader) at least they finished on a positive note. As for Washington, the loss might well have cost the Huskies the outright Pac-12 title. Cal still needs to win get a likely but hardly guaranteed win at Stanford, but either way, the Huskies' argument -- that an outright regular-season conference title in a high-major, albeit really bad, conference should guarantee a spot in the NCAA tournament -- looks even more specious now. Washington, like the rest of this league, has nothing in the way of nonconference results to point to as proof that it is considerably better than the RPI's impression of the Pac-12 as the 10th-best league in the country. It will be fascinating to see how the committee treats UW, and the Pac-12 as a whole, but if I'm the Huskies I'm planning on making a very deep run through the Pac-12 tournament, just to be safe.

Marshall 79, Southern Miss 75: Will a loss at Marshall damage Southern Miss's bubble chances? Doubtful. Marshall is a quality team -- a deep fringe bubble candidate in its own right -- and a four-point loss in the Herd's building isn't, or shouldn't, be the kind of thing that damages a team's bubble chances. What's more, the Golden Eagles still own an RPI within the top 20. In the past 16 years, no team with an RPI of 20 higher has ever missed the tournament. (The closest was 2005-06 Missouri State, which didn't have nearly as strong a profile as this team.) They should be fine.

Maintenance-Minded Bubble Wins

Xavier 72, Charlotte 63: Xavier's final home win of the season wasn't what the Musketeers would have planned heading into the season. To wit, from the AP: "It was a bittersweet day for Xavier, which had grown accustomed to ending its final home game with a spray of confetti and a few celebratory snips of the net. The Musketeers' streak of five straight A-10 regular-season titles was snapped this season." That dream was over weeks ago. Xavier has bigger fish to slice now. The Musketeers are as close to the bubble as you can be (Lunardi's most recent bracket has them as the first team outside the field). A win won't necessarily change that, but a loss would have been disastrous, and Xavier is now in at least slightly better position as it heads into A-10 postseason play.

Northwestern 70, Iowa 66: It was very easy to imagine Northwestern -- which missed marquee wins (Michigan, Ohio State) in soul-crushing fashion twice in the past two weeks -- losing at Iowa. The Hawkeyes beat Wisconsin and Indiana at home in recent weeks, Northwestern would no doubt be feeling the historic tournament pressure, and so on. But this was an impressive victory, or at least as impressive as a victory over Iowa can ever be. This is a little like Xavier's win: It doesn't provide a bubble bump, but it does prevent a potentially disastrous move in the wrong direction at the worst possible time of the season. Is Northwestern in right now? I'd guess yes. But it's hardly a done deal. Like nearly everyone else on the bubble, the only way for Bill Carmody's team to enter Selection Sunday with any measure of confidence is to play well in next week's conference tournament. That much is clear.

Miami 77, Boston College 56: Same situation here: A loss would have been a dream-killer. A win doesn't move the needle. Miami basically has two tourney-worthy qualities on its profile: A win at Duke (huge) and a home win over Florida State (slightly less huge, but still important). But other than that, there's not much there. Can the Hurricanes knock off one of this league's top four teams -- especially Duke or UNC -- on a neutral floor next week? That might be the baseline requirement going forward.

Connecticut 74, Pittsburgh 65: The Huskies have spent much of the past three weeks looking downright determined to overcome their computer numbers (a top-five overall strength of schedule and a top-20 nonconference figure) and somehow, some way, miss the tournament. This week's loss to Providence was an apparent punctuation mark on a pretty much horrible Big East season, or at least horrible relative to this team's elite talent. After this win, though, it looks like UConn will -- just barely -- hold on to a spot above the bubble fray.