Last Night's Rooting Guide lives here for your review. Cue up the appropriate music...
Ask for an upset and ye shall receive. Wednesday night's college hoops action was surprisingly beneficial for Michigan, certainly strengthening the chances of a tournament invite (provided the Wolverines win on Saturday). Maryland's loss killed their NCAA chances. Memphis dropped a game they had to have, so I think they're on life support at best. Marquette got beat on their home court by Cinci, effectively putting them in the NIT. And then Colorado screwed the pooch in fantasitc fashion, losing to Iowa State with their tournament hopes on the line. We'll give you who to root for a little later today. Here's what went down (Rooting Guide Instructions in BOLD):
Iowa 66 @ Michigan St. 85 - Michigan needed this one. Had the Spartans dropped their senior night home court finale, it would've killed the Spartans' RPI and damaged Michigan's tournament hopes irrespecitve of the outcome Saturday. The result is that Michigan St. comes in as a top 50 RPI team and creates, basically, a playoff for a guaranteed spot in the tournament. Tom Izzo added a little fuel to the fire.
Tom Izzo addresses the crowd after MSU Senior Night victory courtesy isportsweb.
Cincinnati 67 @ Marquette 60 - Die Marquette bubble hopes! Die Die Die! This one should help to squelch the media's call for 11 Big East teams in the Tournament. It definitely guarantees 10 though.
Utah Utes 65 @ Colorado State Rams 78 - Damn. We could've used Utah bumping off CSU. Oh well. You're still instructed to root against CSU with all your heart and soul. Michigan could've used this one.
North Carolina 72 @ Florida State 70 - The win was good on paper for Michigan, but in the eyes of the selection committee I'm betting FSU basically came out as a push after this one. The Tarheels barely escaped, needing a last second three to win, indicating that FSU can play with and possibly beat an elite team if things go their way. This one was the equivalent of Michigan's loss to Wisconsin. The Seminoles dropped the game, but I don't think a last second loss to UNC is going to hurt them too much.
Clemson Tigers 59 @ Duke Blue Devils 70 - Part one of our diabolical plan has come to fruition. Clemson loses to Duke. Now they must whip Virginia Tech to crush their tournament dreams.
Maryland 66 @ Miami 66 - RIP Maryland's tournament hopes. One less ACC team to worry about.
more after the jump....
Colorado 90 @ Iowa St. 95 - HAHAHAHAHAHA! I can't believe this one. Colorado played itself into consideration by beating Texas and immediately plays itself out of consideration by losing to Iowa St. You've gotta be kidding me. The biggest aspect of this upset is that it doesn't just dent the Buffaloes' touranment hopes, it wrecks them. That was just ISU's 3rd win on the conference season.
Marshall Thundering Herd 74 @ UTEP Miners 82 - This one turned out right. UTEP is going to make the tournament anyway (and they're a past Michigan opponent) so their bumping off Marshall not only kills a potential at large bid rival but boosts Michigan's strength of schedule.
Richmond 69 v. St. Joe's 54 - Dammit. Sadly, it looks like Richmond will make the tournament. I thought it was a long shot for them to lose to St. Joe's on the road, but they blew them off the court. Keep rooting for a total collapse, but I don't see it happening.
Bonus Game
Memphis 57 @ East Carolina 68 - I didn't include this yesterday in the bubble watch, but Memphis losing to ECU was a nice addition to out bubble rubbish bin. Crappy SOS and RPI should doom the Tigers' at large hopes.