Still Alive on 3/15

Alright, just five games remaining in the regular season before the brackets are revealed.  Below are the 77 teams that still have a shot at this moment.  Some of these ZOMBIE teams are probably in for sure, but there is at least one category that should make them at least a tick worried come 6PM.  There are still five Championship Games today.  The Big Ten, SEC, and Atlantic 10 will have both teams in for sure.  The Sun Belt will have one eliminated and the American could lose one if UCONN goes down.  So we will be at 76 or 75 after the games.  Here are the survivors, so far...

AUTO and LOCK
AMERICA EAST - Albany
AMERICAN - Cincinnati, SMU
ATLANTIC 10 - Dayton, VCU
ACC - Notre Dame, North Carolina State, Virginia, Duke, Louisville, North Carolina
ATLANTIC SUN - North Florida
BIG 12 - West Virginia, Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, Oklahoma
BIG EAST - Villanova, St. John's, Butler, Providence, Xavier, Georgetown
BIG SKY - Eastern Washington
BIG SOUTH - Coastal Carolina
BIG TEN - Maryland, Iowa, Michigan State, Wisconsin
BIG WEST - UC Irvine
COLONIAL - Northeastern
CONFERENCE USA - UAB
HORIZON - Valparaiso
IVY - Harvard
MAAC - Manhattan
MAC - Buffalo
MEAC - Hampton
MISSOURI VALLEY - Northern Iowa, Wichita State
MOUNTAIN WEST - Wyoming, San Diego State
NORTHEAST - Robert Morris
OHIO VALLEY - Belmont
PAC 12 - Arizona, Utah, Oregon
PATRIOT - Lafayette
SEC - Kentucky, Arkansas
SOUTHERN - Wofford
SOUTHLAND - Stephen F Austin
SWAC - Texas Southern
SUMMIT - North Dakota State
WEST COAST - Gonzaga
WAC - New Mexico State

ZOMBIES
AMERICAN - Temple, Tulsa
ATLANTIC 10 - Davidson, Richmond
ACC - Miami (FL)
BIG 12 - Texas, Oklahoma State
BIG TEN - Ohio State, Indiana, Purdue
CONFERENCE USA - Old Dominion
MOUNTAIN WEST - Colorado State, Boise State
PAC 12 - Stanford, UCLA
SEC - LSU, Mississippi, Georgia
WEST COAST - BYU

PENDING TODAY'S RESULTS
AMERICAN - UCONN
SUN BELT - Georgia Southern, Georgia State

I hope to send out an updated blog right before six on who I think will make it.

Curt

Dead or Alive 3/12

And the new record has been set, 47 teams had their dreams destroyed on Thursday.  We also added 6 LOCK's and 7 ZOMBIE's.  Here are the 47 teams that lost it all on Thursday...

ACC - Florida State
BIG EAST - Marquette, Creighton
ATLANTIC 10 - UMASS, Fordham, St. Joseph's, Duquesne
BIG TEN - Illinois, Northwestern, Minnesota
SEC - Alabama, Vanderbilt
BIG SKY - Idaho, Portland State, Northern Colorado, Weber State
CONFERENCE USA - Florida International, Western Kentucky, Rice
PAC 12 - California, USC, Colorado
MOUNTAIN WEST - Air Force, Utah State, UNLV, Fresno State
BIG WEST - Cal State Northridge, Long Beach State, UC Riverside, Cal Poly
SWAC - Alabama A&M, Jackson State
BIG 12 - TCU
AMERICAN - Central Florida, Tulane, South Florida
WAC - Utah Valley, UT Pan American, Chicago State
SOUTHLAND - McNeese State, New Orleans
SUN BELT - Texas Arlington, Arkansas Little Rock
MEAC - Maryland Eastern Shore, Howard
MAC - Eastern Michigan, Kent State

Here are the 6 teams that are out of their tourneys but are still LOCK's for the Big Dance...

BIG 12 - West Virginia
BIG TEN - Iowa
BIG EAST - St. John's, Butler
ACC - Louisville, North Carolina State

And here are the teams that are in no man's land.  Not sure if they are dead or alive, need to wait and see what happens with the other games the rest of the way...

CONFERENCE USA - Old Dominion
SEC - Texas A&M, Mississippi
BIG 12 - Texas, Oklahoma State
ACC - Miami
PAC 12 - Stanford

STANDINGS
ALIVE         120
DEAD          231
AUTO           12
LOCK            7
ZOMBIE        8

All tournaments have started, and no conference championship games on Friday.  Only three days of hoops left before we get our brackets.  Enjoy.

Curt

Dead or Alive 3/11

Biggest casualty number of the year occurred on Wednesday.  Lost a total of 33 teams and gained out AUTO bid.  Still only BYU as the one ZOMBIE.  Now 184 dead and only 167 alive.  Here is who left us on Wednesday...

ACC - Clemson, Boston College, Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech
CONFERENCE USA - UT San Antonio, Charlotte, Marshall, North Texas
PAC 12 -  Washington State, Arizona State, Oregon State, Washington
MOUNTAIN WEST - New Mexico, Nevada
SWAC - Mississippi Valley State, Alcorn State
BIG TEN - Nebraska, Rutgers
MEAC - Coppin State, South Carolina State
SOUTHLAND - Southeast Louisiana, Nicholls State
MAC - Bowling Green, Western Michigan
ATLANTIC 10 - George Mason, St. Louis
BIG EAST  - Seton Hall, DePaul
BIG 12 - Kansas State, Texas Tech
SEC - Mississippi State, Missouri
PATRIOT - American




Only one AUTO bid handed out on Wednesday.  Lafayette gets it done in the Patriot over American.  They look like an easy out in the tourney next week.

PATRIOT - Lafayette




STANDINGS
ALIVE         167
DEAD          184
AUTO           12
LOCK            1
ZOMBIE       1

No Championship games on Thursday.

The final four conferences tip off on Thursday.  In the American I like the Owls of Temple.  Do I really think they'll win?  No, but I'm rooting for them.  Big Sky is another wide open tourney, I'll take the Grizz of Montana.  The Big West has a few favorites, but I'm going with the Rainbow Warriors of Hawaii.  They look good this year.  I hope UL Lafayette wins the Sun Belt so everyone can be confused on their brackets.

Now only four days of basketball left before the brackets are revealed.  Almost there.  Enjoy.

Curt

Dead or Alive 3/10

Whew, thank God Monday and Tuesday are over, let's get on to Wednesday and get the big tourneys started.  We lost another eight teams on Tuesday and even picked up our first ZOMBIE.  Also, four more AUTO bids were handed out.  Here is who died on Tuesday...

ACC - Georgia Tech, Wake Forest
MEAC - Bethune Cookman, North Carolina A&T
NORTHEAST - St. Francis (NY)
HORIZON - Green Bay
SUMMIT - South Dakota State
SWAC - Grambling State



Here is who scanned their tickets on Tuesday by winning their conference tourneys...

NORTHEAST - Robert Morris (Won at St. Francis, who was going for their first dance ever.)
HORIZON - Valparaiso (Won a terrible game against Green Bay.  Crusaders won't win a game in the tourney.)
SUMMIT - North Dakota State (Another team that could knock someone off in the tourney.)
WEST COAST - Gonzaga (Look out, this may be the year they do something.  Scorers, bigs, defense, they finally have it all.)



And we have our first ZOMBIE team of the year.  This team is not dead, but are they really alive?  We don't know. 

WEST COAST - Brigham Young (RPI of 37 puts them up there, but only 1 Top 50 win and 3 losses against teams outside of the Top 100.  Those aren't killers, but it definitely keeps them from being a lock.  Not sure if they'll get in or not, kind of depends what the other bubble teams do.)


STANDINGS
ALIVE         200
DEAD          151
AUTO           11
LOCK            1
ZOMBIE       1

Just one Championship game on Wednesday.  The Patriot League has two teams facing off with neither team having an above .500 conference record.  I'm thinking American takes it home.

A whopping ten conferences tip off on Wednesday.  Here are my picks...

ATLANTIC 10 - Dayton (VCU, Rhode Island, Richmond all overrated.  So it's Dayton or Davidson.)
BIG 12 - Baylor (To me, this is the best conference top to bottom, but no one is great.)
BIG EAST - Villanova (They are scorching hot right now, no one is knocking them off.)
BIG TEN - Wisconsin (This conference is super weak after the Badgers.)
CONFERENCE USA - Louisiana Tech (Wide open, should be a fun one.)
MOUNTAIN WEST - San Diego State (Starting to get hot at the right time, have the scorers.)
PAC 12 - Arizona (One of the best three teams in the nation.)
SEC - Kentucky (Hope not though.)
SOUTHLAND - Stephen F Austin (Should be a cakewalk.)
WAC - New Mexico State (You see the other teams in this conference? WOW!)

Five more days of basketball until the Selection.  Pumped.  Enjoy.

Curt

Dead or Alive 3/9

Thirteen more teams were eliminated on Monday.  Now 143 total are dead and 208 are still alive.  Still no ZOMBIE teams and only one LOCK.  That will end starting Tuesday.  Here are the teams that passed away on Monday...

MEAC - Savannah State, Morgan State
MAC - Northern Illinois, Miami (OH), Ohio, Ball State
COLONIAL - William & Mary
SOUTHERN - Furman
SUMMIT - South Dakota, Oral Roberts
WEST COAST - Pepperdine, Portland
MAAC - Iona



As mentioned earlier, three more AUTO bids were handed out on Monday.  Northeastern ended William & Mary's bid for their first dance ever.  Wofford is good, they might be able to win a game in the tourney.  And Manhattan pulled off a pretty big upset over Iona.  Choke job by the Gaels.

AUTO
COLONIAL - Northeastern
SOUTHERN - Wofford
MAAC - Manhattan




STANDINGS
ALIVE         208
DEAD          143
AUTO            7
LOCK            1
ZOMBIE        0

Two more conferences start their tourneys on Tuesday.  I'll take North Carolina in the ACC.  I just think they are right there.  They are getting better and they can score.  If they get hot, watch out.  The SWAC should be a Texas Southern walkthrough.  They won at Michigan State and at Kansas State this year, they can play well in big games.

Four more teams will earn their way into the dance on Tuesday.  The Horizon has a matchup of two very underwhelming teams.  I think Green Bay is worse than Valpo, so I'll take Valpo.  St. Francis, NY is looking for their first tourney ever, hopefully they win.  The Summit will be won by a state school from Dakota, obviously.  And Gonzaga will dominate again and cement their two seed.

Now only 6 more days of hoops before the brackets are revealed.  Enjoy.

Curt

Dead or Alive 3/8

Things are starting to get interesting now, every game is big for the teams that are playing, and even for the teams that aren't playing.  We had another 15 teams go down on Sunday.  Now a total of 129 dead and 222 still alive.  Here is who went down on Sunday...

BIG SOUTH - Winthrop
AMERICA EAST - Vermont, New Hampshire
PATRIOT - Bucknell, Colgate
MISSOURI VALLEY - Illinois State
ATLANTIC SUN - USC Upstate
COLONIAL - Hofstra, UNC Wilmington
MAAC - Monmouth
SOUTHERN - Western Carolina, Mercer
SUMMIT - IPFW, IUPUI
MAAC - St. Peter's



Three more AUTO bids were handed out on Sunday.  It brings us to a total of four.  North Florida will be making their first trip ever to the dance.  Here is who scanned their ticket on Sunday...

BIG SOUTH - Coastal Carolina
MISSOURI VALLEY - Northern Iowa
ATLANTIC SUN - North Florida



STANDINGS
ALIVE         222
DEAD         129
AUTO            4
LOCK            1
ZOMBIE       0

Two more tournaments tip off on Monday.  The MAC is about as wide open as any conference this year.  I dislike just about every team except my Bobcats.  I'll go with Buffalo since I hate them the least.  The MEAC should be a UNC Central runaway.

Three more finals on Monday.  Three more tickets will be scanned.  In the Colonial, William & Mary will go for their first trip to the dance ever.  I hope Iona wins the MAAC, they are good and they're 8th in the nation in scoring.  Wofford is the class of the Southern, they should be able to beat Furman, who is now 11-21, say what??.

Only seven days of hoops left before the brackets are announced.  Enjoy.

Curt

Dead or Alive 3/7

The new record was set on Saturday for casualties.  A whopping 27 teams lost their chance at the title.  We are getting closer and closer to the end.  Now a total of 114 teams are dead and 237 still alive.  Here are the teams that bit the dust on Saturday...

NORTHEAST - Bryant University, St. Francis (PA)
COLONIAL - Elon, James Madison, College of Charleston, Delaware
BIG SOUTH - Longwood, Gardner Webb
MAAC - Siena, Canisius, Rider, Marist
SOUTHERN - UNC Greensboro, East Tennessee State, Chattanooga, VMI
WEST COAST - St. Mary's, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Clara
MISSOURI VALLEY - Loyola (IL)
OHIO VALLEY - Murray State
HORIZON - Illinois Chicago, Cleveland State
SUN BELT - Arkansas State
BIG SKY - Southern Utah
SUMMIT - Denver



We also got out first LOCK of the tourney when Wichita State was upset in the Missouri Valley semi's.  Nothing wrong with being a LOCK, but I think the Shockers would rather have been an AUTO qualifier.  Oh well, either way we'll be seeing them in the bracket.

LOCK
MISSOURI VALLEY - Wichita State



The first AUTO bid was handed out on Saturday.  The Belmont Bruins beat the Racers of Murray State in an instant classic.  They'll be a tough out in the tourney, I wouldn't want to play them.

AUTO
OHIO VALLEY - Belmont




STANDINGS
ALIVE      237
DEAD       114
AUTO         1
LOCK         1
ZOMBIE     0

Three more bids to be handed out on Sunday.  The Atlantic Sun has USC Upstate against North Florida.  Upstate knocked off FGCU, I'll take them in this one.  A good one in he Big South as well, Winthrop should take the title.  The Missouri Valley will be very interesting for bubble teams, they don't want to see Illinois State take this game.  I'm rooting for the Panthers of Northern Iowa for sure.

Only eight more days of basketball until we have a bracket.  Things really ramp up in a few days.  Here we go.

Curt

Dead or Alive 3/6

Friday gave us the biggest body count of the week so far.  Another 18 teams were eliminated, giving us a total of 87 dead and 264 still live.  Here are the schools that had their seasons end on Friday...

BIG SOUTH - Charleston Southern, High Point, Radford, UNC Asheville
MISSOURI VALLEY- Southern Illinois, Evansville, Bradley, Indiana State
SOUTHERN - Samford, The Citadel
COLONIAL - Towson, Drexel
HORIZON - Oakland, Detroit
OHIO VALLEY - Morehead State, Eastern Kentucky
WEST COAST - Pacific, Loyola Marymount



Saturday will bring us our first AUTO bid of the year.  The Ohio Valley Conference has their title game with Murray State facing  .  Murray State is undefeated in the conference this year and has Cameron Payne, POY.  This dude is the real deal, the Racers should take this one.  We may have another AUTO bid in the IVY as well.  Yale has a one game lead on Harvard, but if Yale loses and Harvard wins on Saturday, there will be a tie and a tiebreaker game will need to be played.  If Yale wins or Harvard loses, Yale will be in the big dance.

Only the Summit League starts their tourney on Saturday.  The winner will be a state school from one of the Dakota's, mark it down.

Only 9 more days of basketball before Selection Sunday.  Enjoy.

Curt

Dead or Alive 3/5

Another 13 teams went down for good on Thursday.  Now a total of 69 teams are dead and 282 are still alive.  No Zombies, Locks, or Autos as of yet.  Here are the teams that don't need to look at their schedule the rest of the year after their losses on Thursday...

MAAC - Niagara, Fairfield, Quinnipiac
PATRIOT - Boston University, Lehigh, Navy, Holy Cross
MISSOURI VALLEY - Missouri State, Drake
ATLANTIC SUN - Lipscomb, Florida Gulf Coast
OHIO VALLEY - Tennessee Martin, Eastern Illinois




Three more conferences get their tourneys started on Friday.  They are the Southern, Colonial, and West Coast.  Wofford is the top dog in the Southern.  They are another candidate to upset someone in the Big Dance, if they make it.  The Colonial has a four way tie at the top.  James Madison is the hottest team at the moment, I'll take them.  I'm a Gonzaga fan this year, they are very, very talented.  I don't think BYU can beat them again and St. Mary's is weak.

Now only 10 days of basketball before the brackets are revealed.  We'll know soon enough.  Enjoy.

Curt

Dead or Alive 3/4

Tuesday gave us the biggest number of casualties in a day this year.  A total of 13 teams were eliminated from the title chase.  There are now 56 teams dead and 295 alive.  Here are the schools that lost their chances on Tuesday...

BIG SOUTH - Campbell, Presbyterian, Liberty
AMERICA EAST - UMBC, Hartford, Maine, Binghamton
NORTHEAST - Wagner, Mount St. Mary's, LIU Brooklyn, Sacred Heart
OHIO VALLY - SE Missouri State, SIU Edwardsville



Two more conferences start their tourneys on Thursday.  In the MAAC, Iona is the favorite.  And if and when the Gaels do win, I think they upset someone in the Big Dance.  The Missouri Valley is going to be a good one.  Northern Iowa is really good, but if you just watch the games, it's obvious that the Shockers have more firepower, I'll take them.

Only 11 more days of basketball until the brackets are revealed.  Enjoy.

Curt

Dead or Alive 3/3

Another seven casualties on Tuesday night brings us to a total of 43 in the graveyard.  A total of 308 teams still have a shot at the title.  Here are the teams that can go ahead and look forward to next year after falling on Tuesday...

ATLANTIC SUN - Kennesaw State, Jacksonville, Stetson
PATRIOT - Loyola (MD), Army
HORIZON - Youngstown State, Wright State




Four more tournaments get going on Wednesday.  We actually have some day games, which are awesome.  The four tourneys that tip off are: Big South, America East, Northeast, and Ohio Valley.  The Big South is about as wide open as any conference, there are five teams within one game at the top.  So I'm thinking 8-23 Liberty is going to take it.  The Great Danes of Albany are the class of the America East.  If anyone else wins this tourney, it's a major upset.  The Northeast Conference will be pretty wide open as well, but St. Francis is the top seed and gets home court if they get to the final, I'll go with them. No one will win the Ohio Valley except for Murray State, take that to the bank.

At least 13 more teams will be eliminated on Wednesday.  The train is starting to pick up some steam.  Enjoy the games.

Curt

Dead or Alive 3/2

Here we go again, it's time for another edition of Dead or Alive.  Monday is the last day with no casualties until the brackets are revealed on March 15th.  There are a whopping 351 teams in Division I this year, so there will be a lot of teams dropping off in a hurry these next two weeks.  At this very moment we still have 315 teams still with the shot at winning the title and being immortalized.  So, simple subtraction says that we have already lost 36 schools that can no longer dream of hoisting the trophy.  Here are the schools that are dead and will not be coming back alive...

WAC - Grand Canyon
SUN BELT - Appalachian State
SOUTHLAND - Lamar, Houston Baptist, Central Arkansas, Incarnate Word, Abilene Christian
MOUNTAIN WEST - San Jose State
INDEPENDENT - NJIT
ATLANIC SUN - Northern Kentucky
AMERICA EAST - UMASS Lowell
SWAC - Alabama State, Southern
MEAC - Florida A&M
HORIZON - Milwaukee
ACC - Syracuse
NORTHEAST - Central Connecticut State, Fairleigh Dickinson
IVY - Dartmouth, Brown, Pennsylvania, Cornell, Columbia, Princeton
OHIO VALLEY - Austin Peay, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech, Jacksonville State
CONFERENCE USA - Florida Atlantic, Southern Mississippi
SUMMIT - Western Illinois, Troy
BIG SKY - North Dakota, Montana State, Idaho State
BIG WEST - Cal State Fullerton



We have three Conference Tourney's kicking off on Tuesday, the Patriot League, Atlantic Sun, and Horizon.  In the Patriot it looks like Bucknell is the team to beat since they are the top seed and get to play at home.  The story line in the Atlantic Sun will be whether or not Florida Gulf Coast and Dunk City can get in and make another run.  The Horizon is a toss up, Green Bay, Valparaiso, Cleveland State and Oakland are all evenly matched. 

Check back Tuesday night to see who else bit the big one and joined the rest in the graveyard.  Enjoy the games.

Curt