(This update was written before Siena won their tourney game tonight, you can take them off the bubble, but the arguement remains the same).

I think Davidson and Siena should be in the tournament and here is my explanation why I think they both not only should be in, but WILL get in.

For starters, I know it isn't supposed too, but I think the fact Davidson was in the Elite 8 last year (even though this years team isn't NEARLY as good as last year's) and the fact that they still have Superstar Stephen Curry puts them MUCH closer to the bubble line than most think.

A few bad losses by BCS teams in the FIRST ROUND of their conference tourneys could put Davidson back in the discussion and into the tourney.

It's a shame that people are going to write them off because of their loss to Charleston, because Charleston is a DAMN good team this year. Charleston beat South Carolina, they beat TCU and they only had two OOC losses, to the UNC Tarheels and to Temple by 5. They beat Davidson twice and were 26-7. They could end up foiling Davidson’s at-large chances because they beat them twice this year, but what BCS team would be punished for 2 losses by 2 and 7 points, to a 26 win team? The answer is not one.

Davidson doesn’t have a single bad loss this year. Not one. The losses on their record are at Oklahoma by 4, at Duke, at Purdue, Charleston twice by 2 and 7 points and then the 2 losses while Curry was hurt for 1 (at Citadel) and was nowhere near 100% for the other, against Butler at home.

So 4 of their 7 losses are against top 25 teams, 3 of which were on the road. No ranked BCS teams wanted any part of Davidson at Belk Arena. Two more of their losses are to a 26 win, in-conference, rival team. Finally, there is the 1 fluke loss to the Citadel when Curry was hurt (btw, the Citadel is also a 20 win team).

They don't have one BAD loss on their entire resume. I’ll repeat it again, 7 losses, 4 of them against top 20 teams, 3 of those on the road, 2 losses to a 26 win team that is a conference rival and a fluke loss with their best player hurt to a 20 win team.

On the other hand, Davidson has wins over West Virginia (who will make the dance) and another BCS team, NC State. The key to Davidson not getting in will most likely not be the losses they have this year, it more than likely will be the lack of quality wins. They had their chances sure, but they got a bad breaking playing Butler with Curry nowhere near 100%. I’d love to see that game played again with him at full strength. And let’s be honest, it isn’t like Oklahoma or Duke was going to come play Davidson at the Belk Arena. So how can you blame them for road losses against top 10 teams? How can you use the “they didn’t beat them, so they shouldn’t get in argument?


What really ticks me off is people are starting to put a team like Auburn on the bubble. Auburn is 21-10, 10-6 in the SEC, all that sounds good right? Well look at their OOC schedule. Losses to Xavier, Northern Iowa and Dayton (none of those teams is as good as any of the 4 Davidson played too and lost OOC). They also lost to MERCER out of freaking conference. 17-15 in the A-Sun MERCER!

Auburn’s two best OOC wins? UVA and Tulane!!! What a freaking joke. Give me WVU and NC State over both of those teams any day of the week.

So it basically comes down to conference. Is going 10-6 in a very weak SEC with some decent wins against LSU and Tennessee more impressive than 16-2 in the So-Con? Yeah, those wins are good, but they also got a lot more SHOTS at pulling those wins off. I honestly believe, in my heart of hearts, Davidson could most definitely have gone 10-6 in the SEC playing the schedule that Auburn did. That’s where the rub lies. Yes, the SoCon isn’t nearly as good as the SEC, but should going 10-6 be rewarded over 16-2 in a decent conference? Should 2 good in conference wins be rewarded when they had 6 or 8 chances to pull out those 2 wins?

There are a few other factors to add into this discussion. Auburn lost to South Carolina by double digits; the same South Carolina team that Charleston upset on the road. Auburn also lost to Kentucky and Ole Miss, neither very good teams, but apparently those loses don't affect them because they are SEC losses against decent teams.

But Davidson's losses to Citadel and Charleston are enough to keep them out? I don't get it. There are going to be WAYYYYY too many mediocre BCS teams with .500 records or worse in the Big Dance at the expense of teams like Davidson, who dominated their conference regular season or teams like Niagara and Siena, one of whom has to lose tonight in the conference Finals but who should BOTH be in the tourney.

Siena is in a similar boat as Davidson. Last night, their star player Kenny Hasbrouck got hurt, making him a question mark for tonight's Championship game. If he is unable to play, I am fairly sure Siena will lose, leaving them on the outside looking in even though they DOMINATED their conference regular season going 16-2 and are 25-7 overall.

Much like Davidson, their only losses are to fairly good teams OOC. They lost 3 of their 7 games before December, to Wichita State by 2, Tennessee by 14 and Oklahoma State by 9, all away from home. Their other 2 OOC losses are at Kansas and at Pitt, Top 10 teams. They have lost 2 games since January 6 and that 7 point loss on the road to Kansas.

One loss was to another 24+ win team in Niagara on the road (much like Charleston for Davidson) and against Rider on the road by 2 points, another very good team in the MAAC (much like Citadel in the Southern Conference).

That's it, 2 games, in conference, since February. They also beat the same Northern Iowa team that beat Auburn OOC.

Siena also has some VERY good OOC wins as well, better than Davidson's most likely. They beat a solid Boise St. team that is in third in the WAC by 30 points. They beat 3 teams that are likely going to the NCAA tourney in Cornell (Ivy Champ), Buffalo (MAC Champ) and Holy Cross (Patriot Champ) and a pretty decent St. Joe's team on the road. They played the number 3 toughest OOC schedule in the country!

They are 25-7 and deserve a chance to play in the NCAA tourney, but if they lose tonight, they might end up getting screwed for what? Maryland? Georgetown? Michigan? Auburn? There is a MASSIVE list of overrated, crappy, BCS bubble teams that have proven over and over again that, much like Davidson and Siena, they can lose to Top 10 teams as well. The only difference is, In-conference, they got to play those Top 10 teams AT HOME, an opportunity schools like Davidson and Siena will more than likely never get. How much should we make of the wins vs. the losses against good teams when BCS schools consistently get 3 or 4 chances a year against Top 10 and definitely top 25 teams at home when Davidson and Siena will get none? So Maryland beat UNC and Michigan State, they also got blown out by Georgetown (22 points), Gonzaga (27), Duke (41), Clemson (29) and lost to UVA and Morgan State!!! Quite frankly, the losses to Morgan State and UVA are worse than any losses Siena or Davidson had all year long.

Same goes for Georgetown. Sure, they beat UConn, Memphis, Villanova and Syracuse. They also got blown out by Tennessee (22), Pitt (16), the same WVU team that Davidson beat (17), and Louisville (18). Georgetown also has losses to St. John’s and Seton Hall, again, both teams that are probably as bad as anyone Davidson or Siena lost against. They went 7-11 in their conference. I don’t care how tough your schedule is, if you can’t even get within 2 games of .500 in your own conference, you don’t deserve to take the spot of someone who went 16-2 in theirs, no matter how weak you might think the conference is. If Georgetown can lose to St. John’s and Seton Hall, then they could also to Rider, Niagara, Charleston or Citadel.

Finally, if either Davidson or Siena get left out in favor of one of those teams or another middle of the pack BCS team that has lost 8 or 9 games in conference it will be an absolute shame and proof that they need to adopt the system I have been asking for.

Play-in games for the last 10 at large spots. 20 teams, 10 games, must include upper tier mid-major teams that won their conference regular season but lost in their conference tourneys, but only if they aren't already assured of getting in (for instance, Butler and Gonzaga, if they were to lose, wouldn't need to play so they would be exempt because they will be in no matter what). So for instance, if VCU lost to GMU tonight, VCU would get an invite to a play-in game. VCU’s resume is debatable, but they would deserve a chance to play for an at-large bid against a mediocre BCS teams since they dominated their conference regular season. Davidson and whoever loses the MAAC Championship, Siena or Niagara, would also get invites to the play-in games. They key to the invites is that the teams have to have legit, worthy resumes and have proved that they could dominate their conference and win OOC. So in other words, if Buffalo loses the MAC tourney, they wouldn't get invited because they don't have the resume. But if Utah State loses the WAC tourney, they would get to play in the play-in game.

So that would be 4 or 5 spots at the most going to mid-majors, the other 15 to middle of the pack BCS teams and you let them play their way into the tourney. That would be a much fairer system than the current on in place, picking and choosing which teams you want to get in through a “selection committee” that has no strict criteria or guidelines for how to pick who should be in. Not to mention the fact that A. it would include more teams in the tourney and B. it would be a blast for fans everywhere to see these teams scrap and claw for those final bids. Who wouldn’t want to watch Siena, Davidson or Niagara play Maryland, Georgetown or Michigan for one of the final at-large spots?

But then again, that would make way too much sense for the NCAA, so we should just stick with the system that continually rewards mediocrity in the BCS leagues.

A few random thoughts before I get to the rest of the Bracketbuster matchups.

 Are there two more annoying coaches in the entire country than Jamie Dixon and Jim Calhoun? I watched the Pitt-UCONN game the other night and nearly had to turn it off because watching Dixon and Calhoun yell at the refs after EVERY SINGLE POSSESSION almost became too much for me to handle. Jamie Dixon is the worst though. If there is any coach in American who has ZERO right to b*tch about officiating, it is Dixon. His guys get away with murder, they are the most physical, roughest, toughest team in the country and he is over there whining like his team is getting hosed. It's really quite incredible.

 As a CAA fan, I have been following Andy Katz's blatant bandwagoning for the Northeastern team that was at one time, first place in the CAA. In a span from Jan 23-Jan 31, Katz wrote about Northeastern 4 times in his ESPN column. Not coincidentally, that is exactly when Northeastern was in first place. Since Jan 31, they have lost 4 of their last 5 and he hasn't written a single sentence about them since. Thanks for confirming what we already know Katz, that ESPN, and nearly everyone who works for them, are nothing but a bunch of bandwagon frontrunners who slurp whoever is hot at the time until they are not, and then they are nowhere to be found.

 I think Butler is hitting the wall. Heyward and some of their other young freshman are playing in a physical Horizon league and taking punishment night in and night out and it really seems to be wearing on them. Their last couple losses were very winnable games, but they didn't look fresh at all and made alot of mistakes typical of a worn down basketball team. It will be interesting to see how they come out and play against a older, more experienced Davidson team. It will tell us alot about where Butler is right now in terms of a national stage and how well they can do in the tourney. However, if Curry doesn't play, all bets are off. Without him, they are a below average Big South team.

St. Mary's should not be punished for missing Patty Mills. They had only lost 1 game without him all season. They have some very solid OOC wins and will get another big matchup against Utah State on Saturday. More than likely, Utah State wins this one, but if St. Mary's shows they can stay close, even without Patty Mills, I think they should be in consideration for an at-large. If Mills makes it back at the start of the tourney and they win all the way to the final and lose to Gonzaga, I think they should get an at-large this year. Who else really deserves one? Arizona? Providence? Michigan? Penn St? Give me a healthy St. Mary's WITH Patty Mills over any of those teams in the tourney.

Bracketbusters Preview Cont'd.

VCU-Nevada

 Call me crazy, but I like VCU on the road. VCU is a very tough team to beat in BIG games. Eric Maynor always shows up and will get his points, regardless of who he is playing. I have only watched Nevada play a few games this season, but from what I have watched, consider me unimpressed. Larry Sanders is an ACC-caliber big man for a sophmore. He held his own against Blake Griffin and I look for him to play really strong against Babbitt from Nevada. Bradford Burgess has also really come into his own as of late and I could see him having a big-time game against the Wolfpack. Give me VCU to win this one on the road.

Niagara-Illinois State

 Wow. Now this is a heck of a college basketball matchup. Two teams, both very, very good and with little to no shot of an at-large despite the fact that either team could possibly pull off a win in the NCAA tourney. Niagara is a VERY solid basketball team that pressures the ball well, is one of the Top 3 teams in the country in steals and forces teams to play their brand of basketball. This matchup will be an interesting view of how good the MAAC is as compared to the MVC, the other matchup being UNI and Siena. This is the one I want to see though, as I think Niagara might be the team that represents the MAAC in the tourney (by winning the conference tourney) and I think Illinois State is the second best team in the MVC (Creighton being the best). Osirus Eldridge is going to be on a big stage and going against a solid defense, it will be interesting to see how or if he gets his points. Edgemonye is going to get his points in the middle for the Purple Eagles, so this game is pretty much going to come down to who plays better perimeter defense and who hits more 3 pointers. Should be a very solid mid-major game and I will take the Purple Eagles to win at home.

 ODU-LU

I've written about this game previously, but just another few tidbits. ODU has an enormous size advantage and is playing some fantastic basketball right now. Winners of 5 of their last 6, ODU has been playing great since they decided to utilize 6-10" Gerald Lee in a different way. By moving him out of the post, utilizing his athleticism and quickness for a big man, they have been able to create the matchups they want in the paint and Lee responded with 6 consecutive games of 18 points or more, averaging around 21 over that span. Considering Liberty has a severe lack of height and size, I look for ODU to dominate in the paint and win this one at home.

 Northeastern-Wright State

Northeastern, which was playing some of the best basketball in the CAA a few weeks ago, has really been in a tailspin. During one stretch, they had won 9 of 10 in the CAA including wins over Hofstra, GMU at VCU and at ODU. Since then they have dropped games to William and Mary, Drexel, GMU and Ga State at home. Yikes. They are still a very good, very dangerous team, but they are also offensively challenged at times and it has really cost them quite a few times this season.

On the other hand, Wright State lost their first 6 games of the season and 7 of their first 9. Since then, they have gone 16-4, losing twice to Butler and 2 road games to UIC and Clev State. They've only lost 3 games at home all season, 2 of those in the first 3 games of the season and the other a few weeks ago to Butler. They will have a very good home court advantage for this game and Brad Brownell is familiar with the CAA, although not familiar with Northeastern who only joined the CAA after he left UNCW. Wright State only gives up 56 points a game, which could be very bad news for a Northeastern team that struggles to score at times. On the other hand, Matt Janning will remind Brownell alot of a former player of his, John Goldsberry, a streak shooter who can absolutely light it up if he gets on a hot streak. Wright State is a very deep team and will probably use a variety of players to cover him and try and wear him down. Vaughan Duggans will get his for Wright State in this game, but for the casual fan, this game could be very ugly to watch. I look for both teams to stay in the 40's and Northeastern to pull this out on the road. I only give them the slight advantage because Janning will be the best player on the court and in a low scoring game, that could make the difference.

Buffalo at Vermont

This could be a very interesting game of two teams not alot of people know about, but who are playing pretty darn good basketball right now. Vermont isn't nearly as good as they were when they had Taylor Coppenwrath, but they are still a tough, physical team playing in the AE that could be capable of making some noise in a first round game this year. I don't think they are good enough to win as a 15 or 14 seed, but they could give someone a good run for their money. Vermont has won 12 of their last 13 games and is really hot, allbeit against a fairly weak America East conference.

Buffalo, on the other hand, has lost 2 in a row after winning 9 straight games in the MAC. They played Siena and Niagara tough earlier this eason and somehow managed to stay within 4 of UCONN. Based on the conference strength, you would pick Buffalo to win this game, but I think at home, in a Bracketbuster matchup, Vermont pulls out the win at home.

Butler-Davidson

I've already discussed this game, so I will make it simple. If Curry plays and is 100% healthy, Davidson wins. If he isn't 100% or doesn't play at all, Butler pulls out the road victory. Yes, I know, thats a really weak answer, but it is fact, without Curry, Davidson is a very mediocre team. They would stand little to no chance of beating Butler without him.

Northern Iowa at Siena

I like Siena. I have liked them all season long. The MAAC is a very tough conference this year and both Niagara and Siena are capable of doing damage in the tourney. Over the last 18 games, Siena has gone 16-2. The losses? A 2 point loss at Rider and a 7 point loss at Kansas. That's it. During that stretch, they beat St. Joe's on the road, Buffalo, the Rider squad they lost too and they blew out Niagara. They are a VERY impressive basketball team and capable of winning again in the Big Dance, much like last year. I can't even imagine how good this team would be if they still had Miami transfer Jack McClinton back. Kenny Hasbrouck is one of the best players in the country that no one has heard of and it really is a shame. He is a do-it-all guard who can really fill up a stat sheet. I can't emphasize enough how dangerous this team could be in March as a 12 or 13 seed.

Northern Iowa was playing some great basketball in the MVC until recently, as they had an 11 game winning streak snapped by Creighton a little over 2 weeks ago. Since then, they've also lost to Wichita State and been blown out by a mediocre Drake squad. Not good. They aren't a bubble team and winning this game will mean very little to their overall season picture, as they will have to win the MVC tourney to get in regardless. This game is however, very important to two teams The first is Siena, who can help their at-large potential big time with a win over an MVC powerhouse. The second is Creighton, the first place team in the MVC and the only team with a legit shot to get an at-large bid from the MVC. If Northern Iowa wins this game on the road, it makes a big statement about where the MVC is this year. If, however, they get rolled at Siena, it could severly damage Creighton's at-large chances regardless of what they do against GMU. My prediction for this game is Siena to roll at home by double digits.

GMU-Creighton

 Already wrote about this game as well, so I will just make my pick, Creighton to win comfortable at home in the Qwest Center.

Wisconsin Green Bay- Long Beach State

Umm, call me a East Coast bias kind of guy, because I have no clue about LBS. Give me WGB because the Horizon is a very solid league this year.

Boise St - Portland State -

 Another matchup I don't know much about, but I know for a fact that the WAC is better than the Big Sky, so give me Boise St. on the road. Sometimes, it is just that simple.

Miami -OH-Evansville -

The Purple Aces should be tough to beat at home. I am not a huge fan of the MAC this year, but I think this game will be a tough one and probably even a competitive one, a good example of what the Bracketbusters are all about. Neither of these teams has any chance to make the NCAA tourney outside of winning their league tourneys, but at the same time, pride will be on the line and both teams have good mid-major players who will put on a show. Will it be an attractive game? No probably not to the average fan, but if you love mid-major basketball and love seeing guys put it all on the line, this will be a perfect example of what the Bracketbusters are all about. No kids with NBA deals waiting, no one worried about how this game will affect their draft status, just good, hard-nosed basketball between two teams who will get no postseason glory, but now have a chance to show their teams toughness and attitude on national television. Give me the Purple Aces to win at home in a solid basketball game showcasing two also-rans in historically great mid-major leagues, the MVC and the MAC.

I love the Bracketbusters and cannot wait for the games to get started tonight! VCU and Nevada and Siena-Northern Iowa should both be GREAT games and really show the country what mid-major basketball is all about!

In case you haven't figured it out by now, I am a huge BCS homer. I've made the case, right or wrong, that for years, the "mid-majors" have been getting screwed by the NCAA tourney system. I honestly believe, if you were to start a tournament and let in nine teams from the CAA and 1 team from the Big East or ACC or any other BCS conference, no matter what team it was, we would have a CAA Champion a vast majority of the times the tourney is played.

 The BCS homers like Packer and Phelps will point to the fact that mid-majors don't win championships and the pedigree teams do, which is why they deserve more bids. Flawed logic at best, but you would expect no less from them. It's simply a numbers game. They let in 10-15 VERY low majors who have very little chance of ever winning a game (Hampton is the only one that comes to mind right now), then they let in 5-10 very good "mid-major" teams that are capable of pulling an upset or two. You usually get at least a couple every year, despite the fact that they are always high seeds and have to play the best teams right away.

 Meanwhile, some of the high majors pretty much get byes into the round of 32. Then if a 1 or a 2 gets upset by a 7-10, its not considered THAT bad, even though its the first real team that 1 or 2 has actually played.

The overall point I am trying to make here is that the playing field is nowhere near level right now. Some of the BCS teams that are considered "bubble teams" right now aren't any better than teams like VCU, Siena, Creighton, BYU, UNLV, and perhaps even teams like George Mason, Northeastern, Northern Iowa, Ark. Little-Rock, etc. You give me a tourney with those teams and teams like Arizona, Kansas St., Cincy, Georgetown, Oklahoma St., Providence, Penn St. and Baylor and I am not only picking a mid-major team to win it, I'd pick 75% of the mid-major teams to win the first round games against the big boys.

 You can say I'm crazy or claim I am a mid-major homer, but the fact is, it isn't any crazier than giving 85-90% of the at-larges to BCS teams and then claiming that they are "better" because they advance more teams to the sweet 16 and on into the Final games. Like I said, switch the tables and see what happens. There is a reason that BCS teams don't go on the road early in the season to mid-major gyms, they are scared and aren't confident of victory. The reason it doesn't "help them" is because d-bags like Packer and Phelps wouldn't acknowledge wins at VCU or at Siena as good wins, even though it is very tough to win in either of those gyms.

 I'm sure I am rambling a bit, but this is something I feel very strongly about. Gonzaga can compete with anyone, Butler can compete with anyone, Davidson showed what they could do, VCU showed what they could do, GMU showed what they were capable of, I could go on and on. The point is, they need to realize that mid-major bubble teams deserve just as much right to be there as BCS bubble teams do.

 I think the solution is simple. Move the tourney back a week or two weeks from the end of the conference tourneys. Probably two weeks works best. Then, have the "bubble teams", mid-majors and BCS teams alike, play for the last 10 at-large spots into the tourney. Let VCU play Baylor for that last at-large spot. Let Creighton and Cincy go at it. It would be like a second tourney INSIDE the NCAA tourney. Who wouldn't watch this? And by delaying the tourney an extra week or two, the teams will be able to rest and the game won't fatigue the winning team for the rest of the tourney. They already have a play-in game for the 16 seed, why not have play-in games for the 10-12 seeds? 24 teams, 12 spots, 1 game and you are in.

 Nah, that makes way too much sense. Let's just move on. Here are the non-BCS teams I believe should be in the tourney and who are capable of doing some damage:

 UAB - 16-8. Yes, I know what you are thinking. 16-8 in CUSA? You must be kidding. I'm not. I've watched them play. They are a VERY good team. Vaden is one of the best players in college basketball and most people have never heard of him. Look at their losses: Oklahoma, Boston College, at Cincy, At Louisville, at Butler, at Houston, at Memphis, and at Tulsa. Tulsa is 17-8, Houston is 15-7. Not a bad team on that list. They haven't lost at home all year. They probably won't even make the tourney, but they would be a dangerous team if they did. They are a 4 point road loss to Butler and a 1 point road loss to Tulsa from being 18-6.  They would definetly be one of the teams I would invite to the 24 team "play-in" tourney.

Dayton - 22-3. This is a heck of a basketball team. I've been on Dayton from the getgo. They have been one of my favorite teams all season because they play basketball the right way. They've pulled off some great wins against George Mason, Marquette, Xavier, at Duquesne, St. Joe's among others. They definetly have a sweet 16 look to them. I wouldn't even put them in the 24 team tourney, they are surely in right now.

 Xavier 20-4. They are well in. One of the best non-BCS teams in the country. But since everyone already knows about them, I won't waste the time talking about them. Could easily make the sweet 16 this year.

Buffalo 16-5. Buffalo! Shocking I know, but this team could be very dangerous if they were to get into the tourney. As the auto-qualified from the MAC, they could do some damage as a 12 or 13. Look at their losses: UConn (by 4 points!), Niagara by 4, at Siena, at Evansville, at Bowling Green by 4. They played some very good teams and were in it in every game. Staying within 4 of UConn is VERY impressive. Niagra and Siena are both very good teams that could win in March and we will discuss later in this post.

18-7 Northern Iowa, 20-6 Creighton. Lumping them together. Alot depends on how they perform in the Bracketbusters. If they both win and get some other MVC results to go their way, it could be a 2 bid league. If they lose, who knows. Both teams are very dangerous and the MVC is never fun to play in the first round of the tourney for BCS teams.

Will finish part two tomorrow, including looks at some MWC teams, some WAC teams and yes, even some CAA teams.

After watching this weekends action, I am further convinced of what I already know. Northeastern got hosed and GMU only got into the BB's because of name recognition. ESPN is who we thought they were, a shill or BCS teams. That's why their "expert panel" when the tournament comes around usually consists of Digger Phelps, Jay Bilas and some other BCS homer to tell us why mid-majors suck and BCS teams are much better.

 I can still hear Digger bashing George Mason being allowed into the tournament on an at-large a few years ago. How did that turn out schmuck?

 Anywho, a few more random thoughts from this weekends games before we get into the rest of the bracketbuster matchups:

The ACC is the best conference in America. Hands down. If I was a betting man, I'd take the NCAA Champ to come out of the ACC and I wouldn't look back. Duke, UNC, Wake, and laugh if you want, Clemson, all have legit shots to win the Title. Clemson can beat ANYONE if they are on. Will they be on in the tourney? Doubtful, at least not for 6 straight games. But you never know, if they find that extra gear that they have, they could surprise alot of people.

 The Big East is starting to look a little overrated. Marquette got dropped by an awful USF team, Georgetown isn't even a tourney team this year, Louisville is way too schizo to be taken seriously, Nova has a fatal flaw (no size), Syracuse is overrated and Notre Dame is a joke. The only two teams I take seriously out of this conference are UCONN and Pitt and only because they have the size and experience to win in the tourney. Tell me if your life depended on it, would you take Syracuse, Villanova or Louisville to make it to the Sweet 16? Hell no. I'd probably even take WVU to make it further than any of those teams. The Big East is going to need alot more observation from tourneybubble, because right now, I'm not really feeling this conference.

 The Mountain West and the A-10 will both have at least 1 team in the Sweet 16 this year. My guess? Not who you think. Utah from the MWC and Dayton from the A-10 (bet you thought I was going to pick Xavier). But these are the two most underrated conferences in College Basketball this year, hands down. When you consider that Wyoming is in 7th place and they beat Northern Iowa (the number 1 team in the MVC this year) and nearly beat Utah State at Utah State, I'd say you have a solid conference.

The A-10, likewise, has very good depth from top to bottom. UNC-Charlotte is in 12th place in the Atlantic 10 (go figure, I know) and yet, they almost pulled out big wins against Clemson (lost by 1), Providence (lost by 5) and Maryland. They beat Miss St. and Southern Illinois, and just upset Dayton. That is a tough league. Duquesne, Xavier, Temple, St. Joe's and Dayton are all VERY tough places to win at and any BCS team would struggle to get a win in those gyms (just ask Tennessee, Va Tech, Memphis, Missouri, Marquette, Penn St. etc.) 

 Word to the wise, Wed. night, Xavier at Dayton is a MUST WATCH. This is the game of the year in the A-10. If you like college basketball, you MUST watch this game from start to finish.

 I watched New Mexico St. - Nevada on tv this weekend and came away thoroughly unimpressed. Their "white-out" game at home was a complete joke, the atmosphere was dead and they played VERY poor defense. No wonder the WAC seemingly gets rolled in the NCAA tourney every year. I may have to rethink my blind support of Utah State. Yeah, 23-1 is great but man, if they are playing teams like that all the time, I can't say I am all that impresed.

 Look for VCU to go out to Nevada and hand them their asses. I'm not sure anyone in the CAA is better equipped to go on the road and handle the national spotlight better than Maynor and VCU in this game. Maynor shines when then lights are on and this will be no exception. If you were a betting man, you might want to bet the wagon on VCU, hell, its can't be any less safe than investing in stocks right now.

 It's a damn shame Utah State is getting such a gimee in St. Mary's in the bracketbusters. St. Mary's without Patty Mills might as well be Pepperdine. Yeah, they have Omar Samhan and Diamon Simpson, but look at whats happened to them without Mills in the lineup. They were 18-1 when he went out injured and they've proceeded to lost 3 of their last 4 (yes, the Gonzaga game was the one he was injured in, but they still lost it without him finishing the game). They better get him back for the WCC tourney or at least when a couple coming down the stretch, because if they continue to lose games like the 18 point beatdown to Santa Clara, an at-large bid might go bye bye and they will need to win the tourney auto-bid.

 I am qualifying now that I am a biased homer before going any further with this prediction. With that said, the ODU-Liberty bracketbuster should be a GREAT game. On one hand, you have the highest scoring freshman in the country, the younger brother of Stephen Curry and a very solid 17-8 Liberty squad which has beaten George Mason, UVA and came within 5 of Clemson. They run a 5 guard lineup and should make for a VERY interesting matchup to watch.

On the other hand, you have the red-hot 15-8 ODU Monarchs, winners of 5 of their last 6 and on a tear ever since 6-10 Center Gerald Lee has developed an attitude and decided to go on a rampage in the CAA. He went from a 3 game stretch of 21 total points to a stretch of 88 points over his last 4 games. He is beginning to realize his potential and that he has the ability to dominate in the CAA. Add in the fact that this game will be in front of a nearly if not completely sold out Constant Center (a fortress for the Monarchs) and an extremely hostile crowd, and you have the makings of a FANTASTIC mid-major game on national television.

Casual fans should assuredly tune into this game to see that yes, mid-majors, even the ones who aren't in first place in their leagues, can still play some great basketball and deserve the recognition of the likes of ESPN, even if it is for only 1 day a year (shaking my head). A 5 guard lineup with Seth Curry and company against a massive team that goes 6"10, 6"8, 6"5, 6"3, 6"1 and can even go bigger at times. Should make for a GREAT matchup, stylistically speaking, to see what both coaches come up with in such a matchup.

 Finally, I want to talk about a game that will probably be overlooked by most of the sports viewing public but that basketball diehards like myself cannot wait to see. I am talking about Siena-Northern Iowa. While neither is a "glamour team" and neither will get votes in the AP top 25, Siena is a heck of a basketball team and could easily pull off another upset in the tourney this year much like they did last year, crushing Vandy and nearly knocking off Villanova. They lost some tough early games (Pitt, Kansas, Wichita State, Tenn.) and were in all those games pretty much until the end. Kenny Hasbrouck and Edwin Ubiles are a fantastic 1-2 combo and Hasbrouck can really fill up the stat sheet when he is on. Siena is a very long team that will create defensive havock for Northern Iowa and make it hell for them for 40 minutes.

On the other side of the coin, Northern Iowa is playing GREAT basketball right now. Winners of 11 of their last 12 (tough to do in the MVC), they have been dominating in the paint with their size and strength. Their 7-1 center Jordan Eglseder is a beast in the paint and on the boards, and Adam Koch is a tough guard for anyone. However, Siena does have the wing players that can harrass Koch and force turnovers from a slower, bigger team like Northern Iowa.

Neither team has much of a chance at getting an at-large, Siena has an outside chance if they win this game and win out to their conference finals, but both teams will want this game badly. The MAAC has long been an overlooked league, but Siena and Niagra are both very solid teams and either would be a danger in the NCAA tourney. Niagara also will play a good MVC team in Illinois State, and were both teams to come away with victories and win out to their conference championship game, we might see 2 MAAC teams into the tourney for the first time in quite a while. Both would be very dangerous as 11 or 12 seeds.

 Bracketbusters weekend is definetly one of the best weekends of the year that isn't in March, as bragging rights, school and conference pride are all put on the line in a competition of David's vs. David's. Some of the games end up being epic (Drexel-Creighton, GMU-Wichita State, Butler-Drake, Butler-Southern Illinois etc. I have no doubt Butler-Davidson and Northern Iowa-Siena, among others, will probably end up in that same category this year.

Most of all, Bracketbusters is a time when finally, the BCS teams take a back seat and basketball, being played the right way, is celebrated on a national stage. Sure, they may be made for tv matchups and sure, the ratings might not be spectacular, but for real basketball fans and fans of the game being played the right way, Bracketbusters is a mini-NCAA tourney, and fans of leagues like the CAA, Horizon, MVC and others can band together and say "look, we can play high-level basketball too." Just because those leagues aren't on ESPN every night doesn't mean they aren't playing fantastic basketball that the average basketball fan cannot enjoy.

 Bring on the Bracketbusters!

It's been a while. Things have been hectic here in tourneybubble land. But never fear, I have returned to give you my opinion on a wide variety of topics, you can all rest easy now knowing that I am back and better than ever. With that said, let's dive right in, shall we?

 First and foremost, lets look at the top bracketbuster matchups and how we here at tourneybubble see them playing out.

 The big matchups of the weekend are Butler-Davidson, Utah State-St. Mary's, VCU-Nevada, Northern Iowa-Siena and for the heck of it, I am including GMU-Creighton because I want to add more on this game later.

 The marquee matchup is of course Butler-Davidson. Davidson has Steph Curry, Butler has the best mid-major TEAM in the country. I like this matchup for several reasons. First, it will be a great style matchup. A tough, defensive minded, completely balanced TEAM against a percieved one-man gang in Curry. It's the classic battle of a team vs. a Superstar, which is more important.

It also pits two great coaches in Brad Stevens and Bob McKillop against one another in what should be a very well coached game. It will come down to who better executes on their possessions late in the game, which coach runs the better plays for their shooters (Curry or Heyward) and whether or not Butler can shut down Curry when it counts, at the end of the game. 

 Alot of different story lines in this game and definetly a preview of how both these teams will play in the tourney against top competition. This game will be better than any game you see in the SEC or PAC-10 all year long.

The next game I want to talk about is Utah State and St. Mary's. I haven't seen much of either of these teams this year, but from everything I have heard and read, Utah is the real deal this year. 21-1? That is incredible no matter what conference it is in, and the WAC, while not great, isn't a bad conference either. The only down side to their record is that they have yet to play any really good to great teams. The only really good team they have played is BYU and, well, that was their one loss.

It is a complete shame that this game will a terrible TV game because of Patty Mills injury. St. Mary's isn't even close to being the same team they were before we got injured, getting blown out by Portland in their last game. It's a shame too, because these are probably 2 of the best teams on the West Coast, in any league, before that injury.

The final game I want to talk about before this section of the update is over (part two will be updated tomorrow) is the GMU-Creighton game. This is certainly a made for tv event, as GMU is being rewarded with a marquee game on national TV against Creighton basically because of their previous bracketbuster performances and because of their Final 4 run.

 If their was any sense of competition and fairness in the selection of these games, then Northeastern, who has a 2 game lead on GMU in the standings and just beat them head to head, would have been given the marquee CAA matchup over VCU (who they also just beat) and GMU. Instead, Northeastern gets stuck against a good Wright State team, but gets screwed out of a marquee matchup.

It's clear that ESPN simply wants to put names against names, which is why Northeastern got the shaft, VCU and GMU got marquee games and ODU also gets to be on tv against Liberty because of, you guessed it, Seth Curry. If a Curry brother isn't playing for Liberty, no way two 180+ RPI teams get on tv. Instead, there is a very good chance it could be on ESPNU or even ESPN2 if they decide to market the Curry brothers back to back.

I am an extremely biased ODU fan who is being gifted a home game on national tv, and even I can see that ESPN doesn't care about the best matchups and promoting mid-major basketball, they only care about how many casual viewers they can draw to their channels.

 With that said, GMU-Creighton should be a hell of a game. GMU is physical, tough inside and has several players capable of hitting clutch shots (Dre Smith, John Vaughan). Creighton will be very tough at home, and will remember their last bracketbuster against a CAA team, when Drexel came into their arena and beat them on national television (they year Drexel was screwed out of an at-large bid). GMU is going to have to dust off some Final 4 level magic to win this one on the road, because Creighton is no joke this year. They have a big size advantage inside, they have an incredible home court advantage and they have the motivation to not get beat by a CAA team in the bracketbusters again.

 I look for Creighton to handle GMU at home by around 10 or so, but I think we should all be upset that Northeastern isn't getting to play this game. More to come tomorrow.

The college basketball landscape of 08-09 is quite an interesting place. The usual suspects are at the top and outside of Davidson, I don't see too many mid-majors poised for a big run. Gonzaga is really really good, but they aren't a mid-major anymore. So who does that leave us to look at for this year's Cinderella? Here is a closer look at some of the better teams of the mid-major world, teams I think could win a game in the tourney. Further down is a preview of the big games this weekend, which in my opinion, should be the best weekend of games all year long.

St. Mary's looks to be a very good team. Pat Mills and Omar Samham are looking to be a solid combination. They will give Gonzaga a run for their money in the West Coast Conference, but Gonzaga is too deep and too talented for them to overcome. I think St. Mary's, based on their 7-1 start, is at-large worthy right now. Winning at Oregon and knocking off Gonzaga at least once would help assure them of this.

Dayton is also a team that deserves bubble watch status. The A-10 is one of the best leagues in college basketball this year and Dayton is one of the best teams. Everyone will expect Xavier to win the A-10, but watch out for Dayton as a darkhorse to win the league. They have a very balanced lineup that has quite a few guys who can lead them in scoring. When you can bring guys off the bench and have them drop 20+ on teams like Marquette, you can hang with pretty much anyone. Chris Wright is a player and although he is still only a sophmore, he can be the leader this team needs in the rugged A-10.

Butler is solid yet again this year and heading back to the NCAA tourney should be a given for this team. They lost alot with Graves and Green finally leaving school, but they still have a vert solid team, filled with shooters like Gordon Hayword, Shelvin Mack and Zach Hahn. Add in the toughness of Matt Howard, the coaching of Brad Stevens, and the homecourt advantage of Hinkle Fieldhouse and you are looking at a very tough Butler team which should make its return to the NCAA tourney again this year, whether it wins its league or not. The Horizon is no push-over this year, as Cleveland State, Wisconsin-Green Bay and Illinois-Chicago are all very good teams that could win a game in the NCAA tourney were they to get in. So far those 3 teams have combined to beat Northern Iowa, Vandy by 19 on the road, Georgia Tech on the road, UMASS by 17 and at Syracuse. All very impressive wins. The Horizon could definetly be a multi-bid conference this year.

Finally, I just wanted to mention BYU. They might not be a mid-major, but they are also not a BCS team which means its ok to root for them, at least in my book. Brigham Young is kicking ass and taking names this year. They are 10-0 and absolutely destroying teams. They haven't lost at home in 47 games and I am not sure they will lose at home again this year. Only one team has come within double digits this year, when an otherwise undefeated Utah State team managed to stay within 5 of them on a neutral court. Granted, they haven't played the best competition, but they are winning games by 30 and 40 points. We will see if they are a legit Sweet 16, Elite 8 calibur team when they play at Arizona State on Dec. 20. That game should be an absolute war. Lee Cummard and Jonathan Tavernari are big time players and have the swagger and confidence to play with anyone in college basketball. Tavernari is a 6-6 do it all guard/forward who shoots well, passes well and rebounds really well for a wing. Cummard is also a fantastic 6-7 guard who can attack the basket and score in bunches. He's shooting 48% from the 3 point line and has already scored more than 30 twice this season. Not alot of teams have tall, athletic scoring guards like Tavernari and Cummard, they are tough matchups for just about anyone in college b-ball. BYU is one of the most impressive teams I've watched so far in this, albeit early, college basketball season. 

Key Games on the Week:

Wed. December 17 -

Akron at VCU - VCU needs to win this game bad, if they lose at home, their big weekend showdown against Oklahoma won't mean much.

St. Mary's at Oregon - big chance for St. Mary's to score a road upset against a solid Oregon team. They need this win against a BCS team.

East Carolina at NC State - East Carolina has been impressive in the early season. They are 8-1 and have beaten a very solid VCU team. They have a chance to prove they are legit by winning on the road at NC State.

 Jacksonville St. at UAB - How about the Gamecocks!! A 6-1 start is very impressive and their only loss was at Southern Cal, but now things get real. UAB HAS to win this game at home to stay in the at-large picture. Should be a very good game.

Thurs, Dec. 18 -

Evansville at UNC - Evansville is a very good basketball team. They are 7-1, the only loss at Butler and just blew out Western Kentucky by 32. They could score some serious points for themselves and the MVC were they to pull off this upset on national tv, however, don't count on it. Still will be a good game to watch.

Friday, Dec. 19 -

Wake Forest at Richmond - Wake Forest is very good, they are undefeated and rolling right now. However, Richmond is a solid A-10 team and could give the Deacons some trouble at home. This is a game to keep an eye on and a chance for a good mid-major upset. Kudos to Wake for playing them on the road.

Sat. Dec. 20  -

 UConn vs. Gonzaga - What an absolute war this will be. This will be the best weekend of college basketball so far this year, maybe the best all year long and this is the marquee game. Cannot wait for this one, what a battle this will be!

VCU at Oklahoma - Another great contest. Oklahoma should dominate on paper, but ex-VCU coach Jeff Capel recruited most of VCU's upperclass and you know Eric Maynor has been looking forward to this game all year. Should be a great game to watch.

Michigan State at Texas - Look for Texas to blowout Mich St, they just aren't that good and Texas is the real deal. Texas by 15 to 20.

Xaiver at Duke - Another battle on paper, but I still am not an Xaiver believer. I look for Duke to end up winning this one by double digits, lets say 12 or so.

Louisville at Minnesota - Another chance for Tubby to prove his team is for real. This would convince the skeptics.

Syracuse at Memphis - Should be a very solid game of two very overrated teams. #11 and #21 my sweet arse.

BYU at Arizona State - While Gonzaga against UConn is the marquee matchup of the day, this might end up being the best game of the day. Look for this game to come down to the last posession. I like BYU's chances on the road.

Davidson at Purdue - Wow, the great games just keep on coming. This should be no exception. It will take a hell of an effort for Davidson to win in Indiana, but never doubt Steph Curry.

Northwestern at Stanford - A good early season contest between two teams no one expected much from this year but who are 7-1 and 5-0 respectively. Expect a good game.

Temple at Kansas - Temple needs to build on its blowout upset of Tenn. Beating Kansas is going to be very tough to do, but it is Christmas time, so expect a miracle.

Iowa at Drake- Again, kudos to Iowa for playing a mid-major on the road. A couple solid, scrappy teams going at it and it should be a great battle.

 St. Mary's at Southern Illinois - Southern Illinois is down this year, but they will be playing at home and their toughness and tenacity could be enough for them to pull the upset over a St. Mary's team that will be desperate for a solid road win against an MVC team.

Illinois Chicago at Illinois State - The Flames and the Redbirds should be in an absolute war. Osirus Eldridge should lead him team to victory at home, but Illinois-Chicago could announce their presence to the Horizon and the rest of the country by beating Ill. St. on the road. Should be a great mid-major game.

 What an absolutely fantastic slate of games. College basketball fan heaven. Out of all those games, if I could only choose 3 to watch, I would watch Gonzaga-UConn, Davidson-Purdue and BYU-Az. State. Feel free to comment on which games you would choose and why.

Sun, Dec. 21

Pittsburgh at Florida State - Another solid game. Florida State will be tough at home and Pitt is a little overrated. Look for FSU to pull the upset at home.

Clemson at Miami - Clemson could use the road win, but Miami needs the home win more. Should be another great game, the first of many in the ACC this year.

Tyler has pretty much covered the ACC-Big 10 "Challenge", so I figured I'd give a quick mid-major, low high-major update.

 So far, we have very few "standout" mid-major teams. Gonzaga and Davidson are of course virtual shoe-ins. Xavier is more of a low major than a mid major, but they are also very impressive.

This is a list of teams who have impressed me so far and deserve bubble consideration from their solid early season performance.

Butler Bulldogs:    It's still early, but they have played some decent competition and gotten some solid early season wins. Beating Drake on the road, Northwestern and Evansville all appear to be solid wins. The Horizon league is much improved this year, as Cleveland State, Illinois-Chicago and Wisconsin-Green Bay all have solid teams this year. Butler will not go undefeated in the Horizon and winning the league tourney will also be tough, so Butler needs to continue to win bigg OOC games. They have quite a few opportunities coming up, with games against Bradley, Ohio State, UAB and Xavier coming up. 2-2 would be very good and 3-1 could help secure them a bubble spot provided they continue to dominate in Horizon League play.

Dayton Flyers:    7-0 start, a top 25 win and a BCS win on a neutral court, what more can you ask? Beating Auburn and Marquette are very solid wins, but beating Akron and Creighton in their next two games would be HUGE OOC wins for them and could secure them a bubble spot provided they don't crash and burn in the very rugged A-10.  Dayton also has a chance to pick up some much needed RPI points with an OOC game at home against George Mason. 2-1 in those 3 games would be a huge boost to Dayton's tourney resume. Chris Wright is a very good player and should help lead Dayton in the tough A-10.

Rhode Island:      How about that Jimmy Baron? Can that kid shoot or what? While they really needed one of those wins against Duke or Villanova, they did get a very good win over VCU and a surprising Penn St. team. Northeastern could also be a solid win by the end of the season. They will have a chance to pick off some more teams in conference play, but two must win games for them are Oklahoma St. and at Providence. Those two solid BCS wins and a good A-10 record could get them in the discussion. Right now though, they are on the outside looking in.

Illinois State:    Hard to tell about the Redbirds right now. They haven't played many good teams, but they are 7-0 and should be 11-0 starting MVC play. They won't have any marquee OOC wins which will hurt them, but provided they can win some big MVC games, they could garner some attention for a bubble spot as well. Osirus Eldridge is a hell of a basketball player, he could be one of the best players in the country that BCS cronies have never heard of. Overall though, the lack of a good OOC win will probably keep Illinois State on the wrong side of the bubble, but if they can rack up alot of good in conference wins, they could be dancing.

Almost the entire Mountain West: Wow. Talk about a loaded low-major. Every team in the Mountain West with the exception of Colorado State (3-4) and New Mexico (3-4) has a winning record. UNLV is 6-2, Wyoming is a 1 point loss to Boise St. from being 6-0 and both will get the MWC big RPI points. San Diego St. is also 6-1 and with its only loss being by 7 points to Arizona State, SDSU is in the discussion. They need to pull off wins at Arizona and against St. Mary's to get some marquee OOC wins to stay in the discussion.

Utah is very much in the bubble convo at 5-1 with their only loss being a 1 point loss at home to Southwestern Baptist (how did that happen?) and with very good early season wins against Ole Miss, Oregon, Wisconsin GB and at Missouri St. They have several more opportunites to get marquee wins with games against Cal, Oklahoma, Utah State, Gonzaga and LSU on the horizon. A couple wins there and a good regular season in the MWC should have these guys dancing.

 BYU is again, a very solid team. They don't have any big time OOC Wins yet, but they are 7-0 and cruising right along. As a matter of fact, no one has been within double digits of them this year. They have won their first 7 games by a combined margin of 155 points. Yikes.  That's an average margin of over 22 points a game. Granted, they haven't played the best competition, but that is getting it done. They will have a chance to get marquee wins coming soon enough though, with games against Arizona State and Wake Forest. They are definetly in the tourney right now and a win against either team would help secure them a spot.

Western Kentucky:    The Hilltoppers are a tough team to figure out this year. They have very quality players, and when they are on, they are very tough to beat. Just ask Southern Illinois, Louisville and Georgia. But at the same time, a loss to Houston and a 28 point blowout loss to Murray State are very troubling. Since they are very early season losses and they have won their last 3 against VERY good competition, WKU is going to get the benefit of the doubt from me and I am going to say they are in right now. They can help themselves quite a bit though by getting a road wins at Tulane and Evansville and pulling off one more marquee win at Miss St. If they can do that, they should be in. However, the Sun Belt is a VERY frisky league this year and they are going to need to stay focused all the way through. A couple slip ups to lesser teams in the Sun Belt and losses in tough games against the likes of Arkansas St., North Texas and South Alabama could spell the end for WKU. My gut feeling is they will be ok though, but they should be an interesting team to watch throughout the year.

St. Mary's:    tHe Gaels were very dissapointing in the tourney last year, but they are a year older and a year better now and are playing some quality basketball. A early season slip-up to UTEP was offset by a good win on a neutral court against Providence. They have a couple chances for solid wins coming up against Kent St., San Diego St, Oregon and Southern Illinois. They would also do themselves a huge favor by picking off Gonzaga in one of their two and possibly 3 opportunities this year. They need some things to fall right for them to get into the tourney this year, but they can help themselves tremendously by picking off Gonzaga at least once. They are a bubble team who needs to win some big games.

Utah State:    Another undefeated team who has yet to play anyone. That will change very soon, however, as their next game is home against BYU. Two undefeated teams playing at home in what should be an absolute war. Only one team has stayed within double digits of Utah State as well this year. Beating BYU would be huge for them as would picking off Utah. The Wac is always tough, so those key OOC games are huge because they aren't going to run the table in the WAC. They are an interesting case so far with an undefeated record but zero quality wins. They are a wait and see bubble team.

I expect nothing less than a good old fashioned ACC beatdown, just like the past several years. The ACC is loaded and the A-10 doesn't impress me at all. Purdue is the only team that truly impresses me in the Big 10 and they will get a huge test tonight in Duke.

I expect Duke to win, but I also expect a hell of a ball game. Duke's discipline on defense and defending Purdue's great cuts and screens will be key in this game. Neither of these teams are on the bubble, but they should both put on a hell of a basketball clinic that all true college basketball fans can enjoy.

With that said, some Bubble teams have potential to make some noise tonight. Miami should be in, but beating Ohio State will be big for them. Ohio State can also put themselves in the discussion with a solid win against a Top 25 team early in the season.

Iowa at BC should be an intriguing match between teams who are hoping to get into the bubble convo with so many mid major teams being down this year.

Seton Hall and St. Joe's could use solid wins tonight over decent opposition. Clemson is a definite bubble team and a win at Illinois would be a great early season win for them. Minnesota likewise could use a home win over UVA for some solid RPI points. My gut feeling is that Minnesota is a tourney team this year, this is a big game for them, a loss hurts more than a win helps.

The Dayton Flyers have put themselves squarely on the Bubble with wins over Auburn and Marquette and need to keep it up tonight with a home win against Troy.

My game of the night though should be an absolute slugfest. Georgia at Western Kentucky. Both teams are very solid, have alot of talent and could both be sitting squarely on the bubble at the end of the season. WKU needs this win over a solid SEC team and Georgia could definetly use a road win against a good mid-major squad. Western Kentucky has beaten Southern Illinois and Louisville in back to back games, another big win against a BCS team would be a huge boost to their at-large chances. If there is any way you can watch this game at 9 p.m. tonight on ESPNU, do it, it should be a great one to watch.

What a great day. Thanksgiving, college basketball tournaments and great early season bubble games. I will post recaps of all the games I've watched today later, but a quick preview of todays games and which games could possibly impact the bubble:

 Maryland vs. Michigan State - Maryland, while not my favorite team, can do themselves a big favor by pulling off this upset and putting their name in the ring.

Siena vs. Tenn. - Siena can add their name to the discussion if they could upset Tenn.

Arizona State vs. Charlotte - Charlotte isn't really a bubble team and ASU is pretty safely in, but it should still be a great game to watch anyways.

Georgetown vs. Wichita State - WSU is down from a few years ago, but they have the style to give Gtown a run for their money.

Ok State vs.  Gonzaga -  Another solid matchup, we will see how Gonzaga does in this game, I am interested to see if they can handle Ok. St. or if they struggle.

UTEP vs. St. Mary's - St. Mary's needs this one, again, not alot of bubble implication, St. Mary's is a borderline tourney team, but should be a good game to watch.

Providence  vs. Baylor - This should be the game of the day. Baylor is a solid team and is very solidly on the Bubble. Providence is also a borderline bubble team that could use a win over a big 12 team. Should be a great game.

Happy thanksgiving!

I figured I'd give a quick, early season list of teams I think have a shot to go deep into the NCAA tourney and teams who would probably get bounced in the first round. There are some obvious ones and some not so obvious ones. Here we go:

Big Time teams who really impress me: Purdue, Tenn, Marquette

Under the radar lesser known teams (at least NCAAB-wise) who also really impress me: UAB, Rhode Island, Baylor

 Mid-major teams to keep an eye on early: VCU, Creighton, Siena, Southern Illinois, Western Kentucky

 BCS teams who aren't very good at all despite what ESPN might say: Kentucky, Arizona, Syracuse, Maryland

 Overrated mid-majors this year who aren't quite as good as people think they are: Davidson, Gonzaga, St. Mary's