NC State

ACC - Quarterfinals
#1 North Carolina vs. #8 Maryland, Noon (ESPN2/ACC Network)
#4 Virginia vs. #5 NC State, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN2/ACC Network)
#2 Duke vs. #10 Virginia Tech, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN2/ACC Network)
#3 Florida State vs. #6 Miami, 9:00 p.m. (ESPN2/ACC Network)

It was a tough day for bubble teams in the Pac-12 as both Washington and Oregon fell in the quarterfinals.

In the recap of Tuesday's big game, Pierce Hornung led Colorado State to a key win over New Mexico. The rest of Tuesday's key happenings include:

NO. 7 NORTH CAROLINA (23-4, 10-2 ACC) AT NORTH CAROLINA STATE (18-9, 7-5 ACC)

 

Time: 8 p.m.

We're going with a different setup for daily recaps in hopes of making the reading easier. One piece will focus on the game of the night (or day) and the top individual performances, and the other will touch on other key happenings and some quick hitters on other games.

While Mississippi State's (19-8, 6-6) NCAA tournament prospects won't boil down to just one game there's no mistaking the importance of their game against #1 Kentucky (26-1, 12-0) in light of their three-game losing streak. It's one thing to drop three straight games at this point in the season and another to have those defeats come against Georgia, LSU and Auburn. That's not going to get it done for Rick Stansbury's squad, and their inability to take care of the basketball in recent games has been a big reason why.

Six of last week's CollegeHoops.net Top 50 teams lost twice since last Sunday: UNLV, San Diego St, Saint Mary's, Mississippi St, NC State, and Illinois. In last Tuesday's Bracketology Projection, those team's were seeded as follows:

 

With games at #13 San Diego State and against #11 UNLV this week, Steve Alford's New Mexico Lobos had a great opportunity to not only take control of the Mountain West but also make a statement nationally. 

Mission accomplished.