Getting off the 8/9 line

[SmellyCat]

I think most of us would prefer a 7/10 game than an 8/9 game, but it looks like 8/9 is most likely as of now. Though some prognosticators (like Palm) already have NU at a 10, I doubt they fall there even with a loss on Friday. So our better bet is to move up to a 7. Won't be easy. I thought we could use a thread to determine rooting interests.

In the Bracket Matrix (which, to be sure, is a combination of ALL of the predictions and may not accurately place NU in the same place the committee does), here are 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 as of this morning, along with the next time they play:

Wisconsin​	19-12​	Big 10​	6b​	Thursday Rutgers/Maryland​
Washington St.​	23-8​	Pac-12​	6c​	Thursday California/Stanford​
Texas Tech​	22-9​	Big 12​	6d​	Thursday BYU/UCF/Oklahoma St.​
Dayton​	24-6​	A-10​	7a​	Thursday Duquesne/Rhode Island/St. Louis​
Nevada​	26-6​	MWC​	7b​	Thursday Colorado State/San Jose St.​
Gonzaga​	25-6​	WCC​	7c​	Tuesday St. Mary’s​
Florida​	21-10​	SEC​	7d​	Thursday Missouri./Georgia​
St. Mary's​	25-7​	WCC​	8a​	Tuesday Gonzaga​
Boise St.​	21-10​	MWC​	8b​	Thursday New Mexico/Air Force​
Texas​	20-11​	Big 12​	8c​	Wednesday Kansas St.​
Northwestern​	21-10​	Big 10​	8d​	Friday Rutgers/Maryland/Wisconsin​
Colorado St.​	22-9​	MWC​	9a​	Wednesday San Jose St.​
Nebraska​	22-9​	Big 10​	9b​	Friday Indiana/Michigan/Penn St.​
Oklahoma​	20-11​	Big 12​	9c​	Wednesday TCU​
Florida Atlantic​	24-7​	AAC​	9d​	Friday Tulane/North Texas​
TCU​	20-11​	Big 12​	10a​	Wednesday Oklahoma​
Michigan St.​	18-13​	Big 10​	10b​	Thursday Minnesota​
Mississippi St.​	19-12​	SEC​	10c​	Thursday Louisiana St.​
Seton Hall​	20-11​	Big East​	10d​	Thursday St. John’s​

The Gonzaga/St. Mary's WCC championship is tonight. Given how hot Gonzaga has been and how close NU is to St. Mary's, I think we root for Gonzaga there. Everything else starts tomorrow at the earliest. I'll try to keep this up to date.

 

[AdamOnFirst]

I really can’t imagine this being at all exciting or relevant unless we get AT LEAST to the championship game. Best hope is that the committee views NU a little differently than the prognosticators and grants a 7.

 

[SmellyCat]

You're probably right, and the assumption is that to move up to a 7, NU has to win some games. I could see them passing Wisconsin (either by Wisconsin losing to NU or a day earlier), but there isn't a lot of time to move up or down at this point. That said, if NU *is* in the running for a 7 according to the committee, it wouldn't hurt for teams like Florida and Dayton and others to lose in their first game of their tourneys.

 

[AdamOnFirst]

You're probably right, and the assumption is that to move up to a 7, NU has to win some games. I could see them passing Wisconsin (either by Wisconsin losing to NU or a day earlier), but there isn't a lot of time to move up or down at this point. That said, if NU *is* in the running for a 7 according to the committee, it wouldn't hurt for teams like Florida and Dayton and others to lose in their first game of their tourneys.

That is a good point.

 

[UpsetAlert]

I think most of us would prefer a 7/10 game than an 8/9 game, but it looks like 8/9 is most likely as of now. Though some prognosticators (like Palm) already have NU at a 10, I doubt they fall there even with a loss on Friday. So our better bet is to move up to a 7. Won't be easy. I thought we could use a thread to determine rooting interests.

In the Bracket Matrix (which, to be sure, is a combination of ALL of the predictions and may not accurately place NU in the same place the committee does), here are 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 as of this morning, along with the next time they play:

Wisconsin​	19-12​	Big 10​	6b​	Thursday Rutgers/Maryland​
Washington St.​	23-8​	Pac-12​	6c​	Thursday California/Stanford​
Texas Tech​	22-9​	Big 12​	6d​	Thursday BYU/UCF/Oklahoma St.​
Dayton​	24-6​	A-10​	7a​	Thursday Duquesne/Rhode Island/St. Louis​
Nevada​	26-6​	MWC​	7b​	Thursday Colorado State/San Jose St.​
Gonzaga​	25-6​	WCC​	7c​	Tuesday St. Mary’s​
Florida​	21-10​	SEC​	7d​	Thursday Missouri./Georgia​
St. Mary's​	25-7​	WCC​	8a​	Tuesday Gonzaga​
Boise St.​	21-10​	MWC​	8b​	Thursday New Mexico/Air Force​
Texas​	20-11​	Big 12​	8c​	Wednesday Kansas St.​
Northwestern​	21-10​	Big 10​	8d​	Friday Rutgers/Maryland/Wisconsin​
Colorado St.​	22-9​	MWC​	9a​	Wednesday San Jose St.​
Nebraska​	22-9​	Big 10​	9b​	Friday Indiana/Michigan/Penn St.​
Oklahoma​	20-11​	Big 12​	9c​	Wednesday TCU​
Florida Atlantic​	24-7​	AAC​	9d​	Friday Tulane/North Texas​
TCU​	20-11​	Big 12​	10a​	Wednesday Oklahoma​
Michigan St.​	18-13​	Big 10​	10b​	Thursday Minnesota​
Mississippi St.​	19-12​	SEC​	10c​	Thursday Louisiana St.​
Seton Hall​	20-11​	Big East​	10d​	Thursday St. John’s​

The Gonzaga/St. Mary's WCC championship is tonight. Given how hot Gonzaga has been and how close NU is to St. Mary's, I think we root for Gonzaga there. Everything else starts tomorrow at the earliest. I'll try to keep this up to date.

How is Wisconsin a 6??

 

[SmellyCat]

I know, right? Wisconsin is still a lock, but they really don't deserve to be so high, yet most prognosticators are probably taking into account how high they think the committee thinks they are. They were a top 16 team in the first thing the committee shared with the world last month, and this is probably a hangover from that.

 

[NUCat320]

Just being a doofus here, but any chance a Dayton loss drops that win to Quad 2?

 

[PURPLECAT88]

Just being a doofus here, but any chance a Dayton loss drops that win to Quad 2?

It depends if they have that MSU teflon where losses only move you higher in the NET.

 

[Max_Power]

While its hard to differentiate between how NU and UNL finished the season - UNL was also 6-3 in their last nine with losses at Illinois, at NU and at OSU while NU was 6-3 losing at Rutgers (boo), at MSU (BOOOOOO) and to Iowa (ugh), Wisconsin finishing 3-8 in their last 11 stands out. At the same time, finishing 5th in the Big gets them in.

MSU does not belong in the tourney unless they win two games at the BigTen. If they lose the 8/9 game I can't see any justification based on good loses to put a 10-11 team in conference in the NCAA. I ultimately think the NCAA will take two of Iowa, MSU and Indiana but who those two are will be determined in the Big10 tourney.

Before the NET, one pretty solid requirement was that you had to finish at least .500 in your conference to qualify for the NCAA. There are a few Big XII teams challenging that - we see you Oklahoma. I am not a fan of the NET because does not require teams to win. This is why I think some teams may be surprised on selection Sunday because while they have a good NET, they have not been winning.

I don't think either MSU or Oklahoma belongs in anything beyond the play in game but we will see what happens and its kills me that MSU could have been eliminated if NU had just been able to find those free throws in East Lansing.

As for NU, I was firmly in the camp (with the players fwiw) that they had to beat Minnesota or they could have been on the outside looking in. I could see the committee moving both NU and UNL to the 7 line.

I do hope that the NET is adjusted so winning is more of a factor than it currently is.

 

[SmellyCat]

Could be everybody overrates the NET but the committee means it when they say they don't use it to rank teams. Maybe we'll all be surprised on Selection Sunday if that turns out to be true.

 

[AdamOnFirst]

While its hard to differentiate between how NU and UNL finished the season - UNL was also 6-3 in their last nine with losses at Illinois, at NU and at OSU while NU was 6-3 losing at Rutgers (boo), at MSU (BOOOOOO) and to Iowa (ugh), Wisconsin finishing 3-8 in their last 11 stands out. At the same time, finishing 5th in the Big gets them in.

MSU does not belong in the tourney unless they win two games at the BigTen. If they lose the 8/9 game I can't see any justification based on good loses to put a 10-11 team in conference in the NCAA. I ultimately think the NCAA will take two of Iowa, MSU and Indiana but who those two are will be determined in the Big10 tourney.

Before the NET, one pretty solid requirement was that you had to finish at least .500 in your conference to qualify for the NCAA. There are a few Big XII teams challenging that - we see you Oklahoma. I am not a fan of the NET because does not require teams to win. This is why I think some teams may be surprised on selection Sunday because while they have a good NET, they have not been winning.

I don't think either MSU or Oklahoma belongs in anything beyond the play in game but we will see what happens and its kills me that MSU could have been eliminated if NU had just been able to find those free throws in East Lansing.

As for NU, I was firmly in the camp (with the players fwiw) that they had to beat Minnesota or they could have been on the outside looking in. I could see the committee moving both NU and UNL to the 7 line.

I do hope that the NET is adjusted so winning is more of a factor than it currently is.

Any analysis that focuses on conference schedule or conference ranking in an era of unbalanced schedules is basically useless. It's simply not what the committee is largely looking at.

Don't disagree that MSU should be shakier than they are on resume. Argument about the predictive analytics aside, at some point you have to have the goods on paper.

Course, not to many teams have a few of the great wins they do, the bubble is some serious softness.

 

[NUCat320]

Well geez I’ve now had St Mary’s on for two straight nights because of this post, and for nothing.

Go Cats Go Cats Go

 

[CatManTrue]

I think most of us would prefer a 7/10 game than an 8/9 game, but it looks like 8/9 is most likely as of now. Though some prognosticators (like Palm) already have NU at a 10, I doubt they fall there even with a loss on Friday. So our better bet is to move up to a 7. Won't be easy. I thought we could use a thread to determine rooting interests.

In the Bracket Matrix (which, to be sure, is a combination of ALL of the predictions and may not accurately place NU in the same place the committee does), here are 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 as of this morning, along with the next time they play:

Wisconsin​	19-12​	Big 10​	6b​	Thursday Rutgers/Maryland​
Washington St.​	23-8​	Pac-12​	6c​	Thursday California/Stanford​
Texas Tech​	22-9​	Big 12​	6d​	Thursday BYU/UCF/Oklahoma St.​
Dayton​	24-6​	A-10​	7a​	Thursday Duquesne/Rhode Island/St. Louis​
Nevada​	26-6​	MWC​	7b​	Thursday Colorado State/San Jose St.​
Gonzaga​	25-6​	WCC​	7c​	Tuesday St. Mary’s​
Florida​	21-10​	SEC​	7d​	Thursday Missouri./Georgia​
St. Mary's​	25-7​	WCC​	8a​	Tuesday Gonzaga​
Boise St.​	21-10​	MWC​	8b​	Thursday New Mexico/Air Force​
Texas​	20-11​	Big 12​	8c​	Wednesday Kansas St.​
Northwestern​	21-10​	Big 10​	8d​	Friday Rutgers/Maryland/Wisconsin​
Colorado St.​	22-9​	MWC​	9a​	Wednesday San Jose St.​
Nebraska​	22-9​	Big 10​	9b​	Friday Indiana/Michigan/Penn St.​
Oklahoma​	20-11​	Big 12​	9c​	Wednesday TCU​
Florida Atlantic​	24-7​	AAC​	9d​	Friday Tulane/North Texas​
TCU​	20-11​	Big 12​	10a​	Wednesday Oklahoma​
Michigan St.​	18-13​	Big 10​	10b​	Thursday Minnesota​
Mississippi St.​	19-12​	SEC​	10c​	Thursday Louisiana St.​
Seton Hall​	20-11​	Big East​	10d​	Thursday St. John’s​

The Gonzaga/St. Mary's WCC championship is tonight. Given how hot Gonzaga has been and how close NU is to St. Mary's, I think we root for Gonzaga there. Everything else starts tomorrow at the earliest. I'll try to keep this up to date.

If we somehow lose big on Friday, then would we drop to a 10 per Palm’s prediction?

Facing Marquette in the second round would be quite intriguing. There’s also not much difference in playing a 7 vs an 8/9 in the first round statistically.

 

[SmellyCat]

If we somehow lose big on Friday, then would we drop to a 10 per Palm’s prediction?

Facing Marquette in the second round would be quite intriguing. There’s also not much difference in playing a 7 vs an 8/9 in the first round statistically.

7 through 10 are probably all about the same, but given how strong Houston and UConn are, it would be nice to play a 2 in the second round.

I like the scenarios where NU is in 7/10 team in Indianapolis with a potential Marquette second-round game. Marquette has earned a 2 seed, but they aren't a 2 team anymore without Kolek, so they are ripe for the upset. Why not NU?

 

[SmellyCat]

Update:

Utah St.​	26-5​	MWC​	6a​	Thursday​
Wisconsin​	19-12​	Big 10​	6b​	Thursday​
Texas Tech​	22-9​	Big 12​	6c​	Thursday​
Nevada​	26-6​	MWC​	6d​	Thursday​
Dayton​	24-6​	A-10​	7a​	Thursday​
Washington St.​	23-8​	Pac-12​	7b​	Thursday​
Gonzaga​	25-7​	WCC​	7c​	N/A​
Florida​	21-10​	SEC​	7d​	Thursday​
St. Mary's​	26-7​	WCC​	8a​	N/A​
Boise St.​	21-10​	MWC​	8b​	Thursday​
Texas​	20-11​	Big 12​	8c​	Kansas St.​
Northwestern​	21-10​	Big 10​	8d​	Friday​
Colorado St.​	22-9​	MWC​	9a​	San Jose St.​
Nebraska​	22-9​	Big 10​	9b​	Friday​
Oklahoma​	20-11​	Big 12​	9c​	TCU​
Florida Atlantic​	24-7​	AAC​	9d​	Friday​
TCU​	20-11​	Big 12​	10a​	Oklahoma​
Michigan St.​	18-13​	Big 10​	10b​	Thursday Minnesota​
Seton Hall​	20-11​	Big East​	10c​	Thursday St. John’s​
Mississippi St.​	19-12​	SEC​	10d​	Thursday LSU​

Also: though it's not above, root big for Maryland over Rutgers. I noticed most of the teams that won yesterday moved up a few spots in the NET. Maryland is at 77, and moving up to 75 will help NU's resume, especially if the Terps also beat Wisconsin tomorrow.

 

[GatoLouco]

I confess I am not paying much attention to the bubble. We are in, we'll land where we'll land. But I love to follow potential bid stealing.

So far it's Indiana State only I think. And that's not guaranteed.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

7 through 10 are probably all about the same, but given how strong Houston and UConn are, it would be nice to play a 2 in the second round.

I like the scenarios where NU is in 7/10 team in Indianapolis with a potential Marquette second-round game. Marquette has earned a 2 seed, but they aren't a 2 team anymore without Kolek, so they are ripe for the upset. Why not NU?

I don’t see NU beating Marquette, but what do I know.

 

[SmellyCat]

I don’t see NU beating Marquette, but what do I know.

Well, it’ll be tough to be sure. They are great, but all the two seeds will be. I’m only saying that as far as second-round matchups go, Marquette (w/o Kolek) in Indy is about as good as we can hope for.

 

[GatoLouco]

Well, it’ll be tough to be sure. They are great, but all the two seeds will be. I’m only saying that as far as second-round matchups go, Marquette (w/o Kolek) in Indy is about as good as we can hope for.

I'd love the matchup, in my backyard, against my wife's alma mater.

I don't think we match well with them, they are the athletic, no clear big type of team. But we probably don't match better against the alternatives anyway.

 

[mickbula]

I don’t see NU beating Marquette, but what do I know.

I disagree! Did you see wis beat them earlier in the season? They are definitely beatable and I think we match up well with them even with berry and mn out. If we can somehow pull out a win in 1st round, marquett and iowa state are DEFINITELY beatable! More so than ucla and gonzaga in past 2 tourney matchups. Didn't we scrimmage isu b4 season secretly and match up well vs them too?? Just not sure if we can beat oklahoma in first round as some prognosticate that we might play in brooklyn. Moser is tough to beat in tourney- now he's got legit really good roster and won't be the big underdog

 

[AdamOnFirst]

I'd love the matchup, in my backyard, against my wife's alma mater.

I don't think we match well with them, they are the athletic, no clear big type of team. But we probably don't match better against the alternatives anyway.

Any team without a clear big guy is a team we want to deal with without big Matt, especially without their star

 

[curdog]

I don’t see NU beating Marquette, but what do I know.

If you don’t see NU beating Marquette, then you really don’t see them beating Houston. UH is the one team I really really don’t want to see cats matched up against. Way too many athletes.

 

[GatoLouco]

Any team without a clear big guy is a team we want to deal with without big Matt, especially without their star

That sounds good on paper.

But Marquette poses a lot of the same problems we have against IL. We are physically overmatched at every position, even if we are not shorter. Athletic, fast players. Even Ighodaro, their big, is a bit like Coleman Hawkins. But better.

I have not seen more than a few minutes here and there of Houston. But my perception is they are along the same lines. But on steroids.

 

[AdamOnFirst]

That sounds good on paper.

But Marquette poses a lot of the same problems we have against IL. We are physically overmatched at every position, even if we are not shorter. Athletic, fast players. Even Ighodaro, their big, is a bit like Coleman Hawkins. But better.

I have not seen more than a few minutes here and there of Houston. But my perception is they are along the same lines. But on steroids.

Yes, thank you, NU will be an underdog in any second round match they play by virtue of being a 7-10 seed, astute insight, thank you

 

[ThatkidfromHolland]

Any team without a clear big guy is a team we want to deal with without big Matt, especially without their star

Sounds good on paper until you realize how poor our help D is without big Matt opening things for slashing guards. Slashing guards really open things up for the whole offense look at Buie for an example. I’d almost rather just have a big guy eat and slow him down with post doubles and force some turnovers. Then follow it up with flat out scoring more with our 3 point shooting.

 

[NUCat320]

Any team without a clear big guy is a team we want to deal with without big Matt, especially without their star

There’s a guy on the Internet that says Matt is playing next week.

 

[NUCat320]

Sounds good on paper until you realize how poor our help D is without big Matt opening things for slashing guards. Slashing guards really open things up for the whole offense look at Buie for an example. I’d almost rather just have a big guy eat and slow him down with post doubles and force some turnovers. Then follow it up with flat out scoring more with our 3 point shooting.

This is correct. We’ve got bodies that can double and trap a big dude. The MSU game was lost due to the early second half stretch when their guards were focused on driving to the bucket.

Geez I’m excited to see the bracket. Two wins this time!

 

[GatoLouco]

Yes, thank you, NU will be an underdog in any second round match they play by virtue of being a 7-10 seed, astute insight, thank you

So salty

 

[CatManTrue]

There’s a guy on the Internet that says Matt is playing next week.

And why shouldn’t we believe said guy on the internet?

 

[Secho99]

MSU does not belong in the tourney unless they win two games at the BigTen. If they lose the 8/9 game I can't see any justification based on good loses to put a 10-11 team in conference in the NCAA. I ultimately think the NCAA will take two of Iowa, MSU and Indiana but who those two are will be determined in the Big10 tourney.

Before the NET, one pretty solid requirement was that you had to finish at least .500 in your conference to qualify for the NCAA. There are a few Big XII teams challenging that - we see you Oklahoma. I am not a fan of the NET because does not require teams to win. This is why I think some teams may be surprised on selection Sunday because while they have a good NET, they have not been winning.

This isn't quite right, it wasn't a requirement prior to NET to be .500 in conference to make the tournament, even though most teams were. Also, the committee has said in the past that NET isn't designed to be a primary tool for selecting or seeding teams, it's a tool for sorting teams into the quads that are always talked about. I think people get too caught up in what specific spot teams are in the NET when it doesn't matter that much.

I've read that today is the first committee vote. Each committee member will vote for up to 24 teams today that they believe to be locks. All teams that get a vote from at least 9 of 12 members are put in the tournament immediately and there's no further discussion of those teams (some members can't vote for or discuss a team because of school/conference affiliation, so in those cases a team is in if they get "all but 3" of the eligible votes).

Each member will also vote for teams beyond their 24 locks that they think should be "under consideration." They can vote for as many teams as they want in this column. Any teams that get at least four votes will officially be put under consideration and then the committee essentially debates the merits of these teams. They can nominate new teams for consideration or call for a vote to remove a team from consideration before Sunday.

Paring the consideration list down involves a fairly complex series of votes, all of which are secret (all the voting is secret actually), based on how many teams are still on the consideration list. Once a team meets the threshold of getting all but 3 eligible votes, it's moved into the field. If you read the whole protocol, it's really not conducive to the "X number of teams from X conference should get in" line of thinking that people think is somehow part of the process.

 

[macarthur31]

This isn't quite right, it wasn't a requirement prior to NET to be .500 in conference to make the tournament, even though most teams were. Also, the committee has said in the past that NET isn't designed to be a primary tool for selecting or seeding teams, it's a tool for sorting teams into the quads that are always talked about. I think people get too caught up in what specific spot teams are in the NET when it doesn't matter that much.

I've read that today is the first committee vote. Each committee member will vote for up to 24 teams today that they believe to be locks. All teams that get a vote from at least 9 of 12 members are put in the tournament immediately and there's no further discussion of those teams (some members can't vote for or discuss a team because of school/conference affiliation, so in those cases a team is in if they get "all but 3" of the eligible votes).

Each member will also vote for teams beyond their 24 locks that they think should be "under consideration." They can vote for as many teams as they want in this column. Any teams that get at least four votes will officially be put under consideration and then the committee essentially debates the merits of these teams. They can nominate new teams for consideration or call for a vote to remove a team from consideration before Sunday.

Paring the consideration list down involves a fairly complex series of votes, all of which are secret (all the voting is secret actually), based on how many teams are still on the consideration list. Once a team meets the threshold of getting all but 3 eligible votes, it's moved into the field. If you read the whole protocol, it's really not conducive to the "X number of teams from X conference should get in" line of thinking that people think is somehow part of the process.

This is a great reminder that the At-Large selections are conducted by vote, and there will be a block of teams that will make it on the "first ballot." (I anticipate Northwestern to be among them.)

However, there will be a series of secret votes and discussions, and then further secret votes and discussions until all 36 at-large teams are selected.

Among the resources available to the committee are an extensive season-long evaluation of teams through watching games, conference monitoring calls and NABC regional advisory rankings; complete box scores and results, head-to-head results, results versus common opponents, imbalanced conference schedules and results, overall and non-conference strength of schedule, the quality of wins and losses, road record, player and coach availability and various computer metrics.
https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketbal...i-mens-teams-picked-march-madness-each-season
Each of the 12 committee members uses these various resources to form their own opinions, resulting in the committee’s consensus position on teams’ selection and seeding.

The five metrics utilized include NET, as well as KPI, Strength of Record, Basketball Power Index (ESPN) and KenPom (Sagarin is no longer used as of this year). So, ultimately, this is a field that is selected after a deliberative process. However, since content is king, and there is a voracious appetite for it - hence the over-focus on "NET" in the days leading up to this Sunday.

 

[PurpWildCatNation]

There’s a guy on the Internet that says Matt is playing next week.

It was me.

 

[AdamOnFirst]

Aaaaand turns out Kolek is coming back, so so much for the soft Marquette idea.

 

[SmellyCat]

With Dayton losing tonight (and to NU four months ago), I have to think NU has passed at least them. Win tomorrow and the 7 is within reach!

 

[SmellyCat]

Here's an update as of 10:40 EDT Thursday night:

Clemson​	21-11​	ACC​	6a​	Lost to Boston College​
Wisconsin​	20-12​	Big 10​	6b​	Friday Northwestern​
Texas Tech​	23-9​	Big 12​	6c​	Friday Houston​
Nevada​	26-6​	MWC​	6d​	Thursday Colorado St.​
St. Mary's​	26-7​	WCC​	7b​	Won WCC over Gonzaga​
Dayton​	24-7​	A-10​	7b​	Lost to Duquesne​
Washington St.​	23-8​	Pac-12​	7c​	Thursday Stanford​
Gonzaga​	25-7​	WCC​	7d​	Lost to St. Mary’s​
Florida​	21-10​	SEC​	8a​	Thursday Georgia​
Boise St.​	21-10​	MWC​	8b​	Thursday New Mexico​
Texas​	20-12​	Big 12​	8c​	Lost to Kansas St.​
Northwestern​	21-10​	Big 10​	8d​	Friday Wisconsin​
Nebraska​	22-9​	Big 10​	9a​	Friday Indiana/Penn St.​
Colorado St.​	23-9​	MWC​	9b​	Thursday Nevada​
Texas Christian​	21-12​	Big 12​	9d​	Lost to Houston​
Florida Atlantic​	24-7​	AAC​	9c​	Friday North Texas​
Oklahoma​	20-12​	Big 12​	10a​	Lost to Texas Christian​
Michigan St.​	19-13​	Big 10​	10b​	Friday Purdue​
Seton Hall​	20-12​	Big East​	10c​	Lost to St. John’s​
Mississippi St.​	20-12​	SEC​	10d​	Friday Tennessee​

 

[NUCat320]

Here's an update as of 10:40 EDT Thursday night:

Clemson​	21-11​	ACC​	6a​	Lost to Boston College​
Wisconsin​	20-12​	Big 10​	6b​	Friday Northwestern​
Texas Tech​	23-9​	Big 12​	6c​	Friday Houston​
Nevada​	26-6​	MWC​	6d​	Thursday Colorado St.​
St. Mary's​	26-7​	WCC​	7b​	Won WCC over Gonzaga​
Dayton​	24-7​	A-10​	7b​	Lost to Duquesne​
Washington St.​	23-8​	Pac-12​	7c​	Thursday Stanford​
Gonzaga​	25-7​	WCC​	7d​	Lost to St. Mary’s​
Florida​	21-10​	SEC​	8a​	Thursday Georgia​
Boise St.​	21-10​	MWC​	8b​	Thursday New Mexico​
Texas​	20-12​	Big 12​	8c​	Lost to Kansas St.​
Northwestern​	21-10​	Big 10​	8d​	Friday Wisconsin​
Nebraska​	22-9​	Big 10​	9a​	Friday Indiana/Penn St.​
Colorado St.​	23-9​	MWC​	9b​	Thursday Nevada​
Texas Christian​	21-12​	Big 12​	9d​	Lost to Houston​
Florida Atlantic​	24-7​	AAC​	9c​	Friday North Texas​
Oklahoma​	20-12​	Big 12​	10a​	Lost to Texas Christian​
Michigan St.​	19-13​	Big 10​	10b​	Friday Purdue​
Seton Hall​	20-12​	Big East​	10c​	Lost to St. John’s​
Mississippi St.​	20-12​	SEC​	10d​	Friday Tennessee​

Looks like Colorado State is headed to a good win over Nevada. Probably a good idea to stay up and see what happens in Boise-New Mexico.

 

[CatManTrue]

With Dayton losing tonight (and to NU four months ago), I have to think NU has passed at least them. Win tomorrow and the 7 is within reach!

Someone also is going to “steal” their conference’s automatic bid now.

Who will get bumped from the bubble? MSU or Seton Hall?

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

If you don’t see NU beating Marquette, then you really don’t see them beating Houston. UH is the one team I really really don’t want to see cats matched up against. Way too many athletes.

Correct, other than UConn, UH is a nightmare matchup.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

I disagree! Did you see wis beat them earlier in the season? They are definitely beatable and I think we match up well with them even with berry and mn out. If we can somehow pull out a win in 1st round, marquett and iowa state are DEFINITELY beatable! More so than ucla and gonzaga in past 2 tourney matchups. Didn't we scrimmage isu b4 season secretly and match up well vs them too?? Just not sure if we can beat oklahoma in first round as some prognosticate that we might play in brooklyn. Moser is tough to beat in tourney- now he's got legit really good roster and won't be the big underdog

Oklahoma is not that good.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Looks like Colorado State is headed to a good win over Nevada. Probably a good idea to stay up and see what happens in Boise-New Mexico.

New Mexico it is. Mountain West is good this year. Going to be some tough choices.