Conference tourney pickems - the 31 Automatic Qualifiers

[nwhoopfan]

But Montana St. just got a buzzer beater put back to win it looks like. Hats off to Montana for going toe to toe for all 40 minutes. Couldn't have asked for a better championship game.

edit--Montana had a hit a 3 to go up by 1 with about 7 seconds left.

 

[azfan]

A TRILLER in Boise!!!!!!! The Cats escape with a last half second shot and dance

 

[azfan]

I hate to say I told you so...wait, no, I love saying it!

Conference tourneys are crazy! Regular season just doesn't mean anything when you get in these situations. Countless times the team that was clearly the best in their conference for 2 or 3 months doesn't end up getting the auto bid.

Montana was 0-2 against Idaho, NAU and Montana State . They beat the first two earlier in the tourney and came sooooooo close to a win today

And you SHOULD love to say ..I told you so

 

[BullDawg]

USF defeats Rice 69-62 to win AAC.

 

[BRS24]

GM fans - here are the semi and final games for today:

Semi picks:
Patriot - Lehigh (15), Army (1)
Northeast - FD (16), Stonehill (1)

Final picks:
Southland - SE Louisiana (14), SFA (2)

Standings of the 16 pick-ems as of this morning:

11 - @triaddukefan
10 - @Topsail, @Jbs600, @Bigboote, @Jonathan14
9 - BRS24, None, @Phil, @mrmojack, @RoadMaster, @Stagnant
8 - @RSHERMVIKES, @Zarathustra, @maple, @bballnut90
7 - @Shocker47
3 - @kat0189

 

[BRS24]

3 Stephen F. Austin beats 1 SE Louisiana, 65-57. Another bubble burster.

Congrats to @Zarathustra and @kat0189 for guessing SFA.

 

[BRS24]

Here are the semi and final games for Friday. A few upset seeds marked in blue.

Finals picks:
U Albany (12), Vermont (5)

Semi picks:
MAC - Ball St (13), Buffalo (4)
SWAC - Southern (12), TX Southern (1)
MEAC - Norfolk St (14), Howard (3)
MAAC - Fairfield (16), Quinnipiac (1)
WAC - Grand Canyon (16), Tarelton St 91)
Big West - Hawai'i (13), UC Irvine (3), UC Davis (1)
Ivy - Princeton (3), Columbia (3), Harvard (1)
CUSA - Middle Tennessee (11), Liberty (6)

 

[maple]

FDU and Stonehill play on Sunday for the NEC final, but seeing as how Stonehill is ineligible for the NCAA tourney anyway, FDU gets the AQ.

Fairleigh Dickinson women are heading to March Madness with NEC title game opponent ineligible

 

[nwhoopfan]

Grand Canyon is thumping Utah Valley and about to roll into the WAC championship game. This will improve their record to 31-2.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Here's a motivational little "never give up" moment. UC San Diego jumped all over Hawaii, it was 30-9 at one point. Now tied at 49 with just a few seconds left in regulation. Hawaii D clamped down in 2nd half, gave up 6 points in Q3 and only 2 so far in Q4!

 

[nwhoopfan]

Uh...never mind, my career as a motivational speaker ended before it even started. UCSD got a layup w/ .2 left to win. So apparently you can score 10 points total in a 2nd half and still win a game. Weird.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Back and forth game but Drake goes on a late run to beat Illinois St. in a Missouri Valley quarterfinal.

Dinnebier had kind of a rough game, but Anna Miller stepped up w/ all 21 of her points in the 2nd half including 4 from behind the arc, and she is not known as a 3 point shooter.

Great game from Illinois St. soph Shannon Dowell w/ 30.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Vermont has to play a true road game and takes out #1 seed Albany to win the America East tourney.

edit--only home loss for Albany all season

 

[nwhoopfan]

Missouri St. was up 18 at the half against UIC. Flames got it within 3 in the waning moments, MSU holds on to win 77-70. I'm sure the Bears are breathing a big sigh of relief.

One more quarterfinal to go in the Missouri Valley. 1, 4 and 2 seed have advanced so far.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Harmoni Turner w/ a school record 42 points (broke her own record) for Harvard, in a battle going down to the wire w/ Princeton in an Ivy quarterfinal. Columbia awaits the winner.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Harvard edges Princeton 70-67. Turner finished w/ 44.

 

[BRS24]

GM gang - here are the games today, quite a busy day for hoop fans! Finals marked in green, upset seeds red.

Final picks:
MAC - Ball State (13)
MAAC - Fairfield (16), Quinnipiac (1)
ASUN - FGCU (17)
WAC - Grand Canyon (16)
MEAC - Norfolk St (14), Howard (3)
SWAC - Southern (12)
Ivy - Columbia (3), Harvard (1)
CUSA - Middle TN (11), Liberty (6)

Semi picks:
CAA - Charleston (5)
MVC - Missouri St (11), Murray St (3), Drake (2), Belmont (1)

 

[BRS24]

Pick-em Standings as of this morning:
12 - @triaddukefan
11 - @Bigboote, @Jonathan14
10 - BRS24, @Topsail, @Jbs600
9 - None, @Phil, @mrmojack, @Zarathustra, @RoadMaster, @Stagnant
8 - @RSHERMVIKES, , @maple, @bballnut90
7 - @Shocker47
5 - @kat0189

13 bids still remaining. All 17 participants have between 9-11 possible wins for today and tomorrow.

 

[BRS24]

1 Ball State wins the MAC, 1 Fairfield wins the MAAC.

And holy schnikees, 9 William & Mary beats 4 Drexel, 76-54 in the CAA semis.

 

[nwhoopfan]

9 William & Mary

I have a pet peeve about teams with sub .500 records getting into the NCAA Tourney. William & Mary needs to lose.

 

[nwhoopfan]

1 Ball State wins the MAC, 1 Fairfield wins the MAAC.

Also 1 Florida Gulf Coast wins the ASUN.

 

[BRS24]

I have a pet peeve about teams with sub .500 records getting into the NCAA Tourney. William & Mary needs to lose.

Without derailing my own thread, lol, I agree, and also would like to see teams that are at least .500 in conference and overall to play in the big dance, but the conferences want the $$$ from their tourneys.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Murray St. was really putting it on Drake, were up as much as 21 in Q3. But the Bulldogs with a spirited come back to make a game of it, will come up short though. Dinnebier w/ a career high 45, 3rd 40 point game this season.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Koi Love is with UT Arlington? 4th team in 5 years. I can't believe she's still playing, seems like she's been in college forever. Not a fan of unlimited transfers.

 

[nwhoopfan]

UT Arlington seemed to have Grand Canyon on the ropes, but the Lopes turned it around, have the lead coming down the stretch.


I hadn't really looked at their roster very closely. Almost entirely seniors and grad students. This might be a really good time for Molly Miller to take another job, because next year is a complete rebuilding job.

How did I not know about the Erikstrup twins? I was aware of Sydney when she was at Arizona St., but didn't know about Laura at San Diego. Reunited at GCU. From Portland, OR.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Pretty weird sequence at the end. GCU up 1, worked the shot clock all the way down but got a terrible shot, defensive rebound fro UTA...then GCU just snatched it right away. UTA had to foul, now GCU up 3 w/ 2.2 sec left. No timeout so UTA can't advance the ball.


Wow, halfcourt shot grazed the front rim, that was close!

I think this is a first ever Tourney appearance for GCU. They had a handful in D2 before they moved up to D1.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Missouri Valley championship game is gonna look more like an Ohio Valley game. Belmont vs. Murray St., #1 vs. #3 seed.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Harvard-Columbia going down to the wire.

I can't believe how often a team with a lead late in a game fouls a shooter, when it's the LAST THING in the world you should be doing. Especially on a 3. Seems like it's usually on a late close out, where you aren't going to effect the shot anyway. Must take years off the life of their coaches when they have brain cramps like this.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Southern thumped Alcorn St. in the SWAC championship, keeping a sub .500 team out of the Tourney. Good job Southern.

 

[nwhoopfan]

These smart kids make some bad decisions. Harvard up 3 w/ 8 seconds left, the lane was completely open so a Harvard player drove to the rim for the clinching layup...and missed it. Should've played keep away and ran out the clock. Now Columbia w/ a chance to tie w/ 5 seconds left.