Dead or Alive March 13

Well, somehow out of the 27 games on Wednesday's schedule we only received one ZOMBIE, one AUTO bid, and zero LOCK's.  Things will definitely change on Thursday with 53 total games on the slate.  We are down to 151 teams still alive.  With, of course, 68 making the tourney, that means we only have another 83 left to eliminate in the next four days.  We had two big upsets on Wednesday, none from the Power Conferences.  These two upsets came from the MEAC.  Top seed Norfolk State (16-0) and second seeded UNC-Central (15-1) both went down in the Quarters, crazy.  Here is who found themselves in a category from Wednesday night.

DEAD:
Big East - PROVIDENCE, SETON HALL, ST. JOHN'S, RUTGERS
Pac-12 - STANFORD, OREGON STATE, USC
Mountain West - AIR FORCE, FRESNO STATE, WYOMING
Conference USA - SOUTHERN METHODIST, RICE, MARSHALL
Southland - NICHOLLS STATE, CENTRAL ARKANSAS
MEAC - NORFOLK STATE, NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL
MAC - BALL STATE, MIAMI (OH)
Big 12 - WEST VIRGINIA, TEXAS CHRISTIAN
Patriot - LAFAYETTE, WASHINGTON STATE
SEC - SOUTH CAROLINA, AUBURN
SWAC - GRAMBLING STATE


AUTO:
Patriot - BUCKNELL (Beat some good teams this year, barely lost at Mizzou, this team can play.)



ZOMBIE:
BOISE STATE - 44 RPI, 45 Strength of Schedule, 9-8 in conference.  Eight Top 100 RPI wins.  Didn't finish very hot.  Losing record.  I think they have a good enough resume to get in, especially with those 8 Top RPI 100 wins.  But they are far from a LOCK.

STANDINGS:
TEAMS                    347
DEAD                      196                                     
AUTO                        14                                                
LOCK                          1                                
ZOMBIE                     3
ALIVE                     151

NO CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES ON THURSDAY.

The last five tourneys get started on Thursday.  Here they are and my picks...

ACC - Give me Duke on this one.  I don't like Duke but they have the best players and they are rolling right now.  Miami has the athletes to beat them but they just look tired right now.  Funny thing is, no one else in the ACC has a shot if you ask me.

A10 - I'll take the Owls.  Homer pick?  Yep.  But at least I can say they are the hottest team in the conference right now and not be wrong about that.  I think Charlotte, UMASS, Xavier, and Dayton move on to the quarters.  That's right, I'm calling the UD over Butler upset.  Don't make me look bad Flyers.



BIG TEN -  Who the hell knows.  I really dislike the Hoosiers because of Crean, but when I really think about it, I don't hate any players on their team, so that's not fair.  Ohio State is overrated, Michigan State has trouble scoring.  Illinois and Minnesota are frauds.  I'll take Michigan.  I'll say it again, give me guys that can create their own shot and score any day.  They have more of them than anyone else.

BIG SKY - Montana and Weber State are going to fight to the death on this one.  Montana's only loss in conference was at Weber, and they got rolled.  With that being the only timed they played, I'm guessing Montana comes out pissed and looks to get revenge.  I'll take them.

BIG WEST - Let's find an upset here.  I'll take Hawaii.  They finished in the middle of the pack but they beat the two best squads during the season.  Maybe they could win four in a row.  We'll see.

4 days until Selection Sunday. 

Curt