Tourneys bring college hoops good times

Finally, it's the month we've all been waiting for. In huge arenas, cramped gymnasiums and everything in between, the battle to make the field of 68 rages all week for those coveted tickets to the dance. At the end, on Selection Sunday, teams with big dreams will gather in front of their TVs to see where they are headed for the NCAA tournament.

As we enter Championship Week, we know there are teams (Mississippi State, Connecticut and Texas, to name a few) nervously watching to see if upsets in mid-major conference tournaments will result in more bids going to the non-BCS teams.

If Drexel and Virginia Commonwealth make it to the final of the CAA tournament, that league appears assured of getting both in. If Murray State (Ohio Valley) or Long Beach State (Big West) stumble in early rounds, each is likely to get an at-large berth.

And watch out for the Missouri Valley, where teams such as Drake and Northern Iowa are on the heels of near-lock NCAA participants Wichita State and Creighton.

The Big East has a number of scenarios to figure out which teams will get a two-round bye - a ticket directly into the quarterfinals - or a first-round bye. The Atlantic Ten sent out a four-page advisory this week listing all the tiebreaking possibilities, including the news that St. Joseph's and La Salle are still alive for a first-round bye if they win and about 50 other things happen. More likely, the Hawks and Explorers will open the tournament Tuesday with first-round games at home.

So are you able to figure out how many NCAA bids will go to the Big East?

Joe Lunardi, the ESPN bracketologist, said this week the conference could wind up with as many as 10 teams in the field. However, Connecticut and West Virginia are falling fast, and South Florida and Cincinnati have to keep winning in the Big East tournament. South Florida is 12-5 in the league - but only its last two wins, over Cincinnati and Louisville, came against teams that currently have a winning Big East record. The Bearcats, who visit Villanova on Saturday, boast six top-50 wins but have a loss to Presbyterian soiling their resumé.

Kentucky is a buzzer-beating three-pointer (by Indiana) away from being undefeated with one regular-season game to go and the consensus choice to win it all next month in New Orleans.  After taking the Wildcats (the third different team he has gotten there) to the Final Four last year, coach John Calipari is looking two big wins.

Can any Southeastern Conference team other than Kentucky make a serious run in the postseason? Florida, tied for second with Vanderbilt at 10-5, is only 8-7 away from home and must play without 6-foot-7 forward Will Yeguete, who has a broken left foot. As with the Gators, the Commodores and Alabama appear to have NCAA bids locked up, but Mississippi State needs to keep winning to hold on to hope.

The storied program at UCLA has been rocked by a report in Sports Illustrated detailing behavior that included fighting between teammates and the use of alcohol and drugs. The story quoted former players as saying head coach Ben Howland had virtually no relationship with team members outside of practices and games.

"I'm responsible for this program and everything that happens in it," said Howland, whose team has posted a 17-13 record in this, his ninth year with the Bruins.

Delvon Roe played for Michigan State until a degenerative knee condition forced him to give up basketball two months before the start of this season. With senior day coming Sunday, the thought was that Roe could suit up and play a few minutes as a way to honor him.

But the NCAA nixed the idea, saying that Roe's budding acting career meant he was no longer eligible under the association's amateurism rules (yes, really). However, coach Tom Izzo and the school's athletic administration decided Roe could be honored on the court and sit on the bench for the game against Ohio State.

The Wall Street Journal this week described the Big Ten is a league of "bumping, bashing, leisurely dribbling, outright stalling and, very possibly, an extreme economy of actual shooting." The paper cited kenpom.com, a statistical website, that listed the Big Ten as No. 1 or 2 in terms of slowest pace in conference games in seven of the last eight years.

Of course, the Big Ten figures to send a minimum of seven teams to the NCAA tourney including Wisconsin, which thrives on its slow-paced game.

St. Peter's has struggled with a young roster this season, but freshman Lamin Fulton (Neumann Goretti) has played well. The 5-9 guard ranks third on the team in scoring (8.8 points per game), second in steals (34), second in three-pointers made (57) and first in minutes (29.2). Fulton played in all 30 games with 23 starts heading into the Peacocks' game Friday night against Marist in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament.

1. Kentucky 29-1

2. Syracuse 29-1

3. Duke 26-4

4. Kansas 25-5

5. North Carolina 26-4

6. Missouri 26-4

7. Michigan State 24-6

8. Baylor 25-5

9. Ohio State 24-6

10. Georgetown 22-6

         - Joe Juliano

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