Conference Tournaments

Trailing by just one point (25-24) at the half but mostly stifled offensively (21.2% FG) the Washington Huskies needed someone to step up and change the flow of the game. Isaiah Thomas and Matthew Bryan-Amaning struggled to find clean looks, which is to be expected given how prominently they figure in the Husky attack. Enter freshman CJ Wilcox, overlooked by some who chose to focus on the loss of Terrence Jones and the anticipated impact of Terrence Ross.

There was the question about how BYU would get along without the suspended Brandon Davies, who was their third-leading scorer and leading rebounder before his dismissal. But while the early returns certainly don't look good, keep in mind the fact that New Mexico beat BYU in their first meeting with Davies on the floor. But they weren't beaten on the boards in that contest as they were tonight, as the Lobos out-rebounded BYU 45-29 on their way to an impressive 82-64 win at the Marriott Center.

The college basketball fan's favorite month of the year is finally upon us, as 346 teams are narrowed down to 68 before the process of determining a national champion begins. The first week is primarily a time for leagues that traditionally get just one bid to the NCAA Tournament to sort themselves out, with some of the most indelible images of "Championship Week" coming during this time. Below are the schedules for the tournaments that begin this weekend (the Big Sky still has games to play and the Sun Belt has yet to release their bracket) with some notes and predictions.

hese championship weeks of college basketball teach us yearly that anything is possible, but more than that, they illustrate the fact that those things that do happen can happen fast.  In the five second blur that was OU point guard DJ Cooper racing down the court like Tyus Edney to beat the halftime buzzer, is as quickly as his ninth seeded Bobcat team would go to the locker room leading 36-34.  And as rapidly as it later looked the regulation clock would tick away on Akron’s chances at their second MAC title in as many years, is as fast as big shot maker Steve McNee

It's the worry of nearly every team on the bubble this time of the year: the bid thief. The team that had little or no chance of getting into the NCAA Tournament makes a run in its conference tournament, grabbing the automatic bid and possibly snatching a chair at the table from another team in college basketball's answer to "musical chairs". Houston (Conference USA) and New Mexico State (WAC) were the two teams to do that on Saturday, and the question now is which at-large candidates will be headed to the NIT as a result of these outcomes. 

NEW YORK- Same play. Same person. Same result.

An Akron – Ohio Final…should be a good one

A week ago, any team in the Mid American Conference would have been well within their rights to stroll down the glass slipper aisle at their local Foot Locker just to see if 2010 edition possibly came in their size.  As of tonight though, only two teams find themselves in a position to be fitted.  And while similar in their opportunities to represent their conference in the field of 65, those two teams couldn’t be more different. 

Before getting into Saturday's games, a congratulatory paragraph is in order for Lehigh, who became the most recent automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament with their 74-59 win over Lafayette in the Patriot League final. Zahir Carrington was a man possessed inside for the Mountain Hawks, finishing with 18 points, 10 rebounds and six blocks while Patriot League Rookie of the Year C.J. McCollum led all scorers with 20 points (seven rebounds and three assists as well). Lafayette shot 3-for-23 from behind the arc and due to the presence of Carrington didn't have much hope inside either.

With both games being rematches of regular season meetings that took place way back in early January, it was tough to get a read on how much from those games would be applied to tonight. But one thing most certainly did not carry over from those contests in Georgetown's 80-57 win over Marquette: the Golden Eagles had no answer for Greg Monroe. The sophomore center had his fingerprints all over the first semifinal of the night, finishing with 23 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists.

Brendan Bowers will be in Cleveland all week covering the MAC Tournament for CollegeHoops.net.

Upset of the Day:  Ohio Bobcats beat Kent State 81 – 64