Dead or Alive 3/8

The last Sunday before Selection Sunday has arrived and the casualties are rapidly mounting.  A total of 35 teams were decapitated on Saturday bringing us to a total of 116 in the cemetery.  Here are the schools that lost their chance of holding the trophy on Saturday...

AMERICA EAST - New Hampshire, UMBC, Maine, Binghamton
NORTHEAST - Wagner, St. Francis (PA)
MAAC - Rider, Siena, St. Peter's, Niagara
SOUTHERN - Samford, Elon, Chattanooga, The Citadel
BIG SOUTH - UNC Asheville, Virginia Military Institute
COLONIAL - Hofstra, Drexel, James Madison, Charleston
MISSOURI VALLEY - Missouri State, Southern Illinois
WEST COAST - San Diego, Loyola Marymount, Santa Clara, Pepperdine
PATRIOT - Army, Holy Cross
SUMMIT - IUPUI
HORIZON - Cleveland State, Green Bay
OHIO VALLEY - Belmont
SOUTHLAND - Central Arkansas
BIG SKY - Montana State, Eastern Washington



We did get our second AUTO bid of the tourney on Saturday, Eastern Kentucky won the Ohio Valley Conference Championship over Belmont.

OHIO VALLEY - Eastern Kentucky



I thought we had our first ZOMBIE team on Saturday but I have changed my mind, Green Bay is officially dead.  With an RPI of 60 and only 21 Division 1 wins, I just can't see it happening.  So here is where we stand...

TOTAL    351
DEAD      116
ALIVE     235
ZOMBIE     0
AUTO         2
LOCK         0

There will be three Championship games on Sunday which will bring us up to five AUTO bids by the end of the day.  In the Big South Championship we have Winthrop vs. Coastal Carolina.  Winthrop has won both matchups this year between the two teams.  In the Atlantic Sun matchup we have Mercer vs. Florida Gulf Coast.  Can FGCU make the tourney and make a run like last year?  They split between Mercer earlier this year.  Will Indiana State give Wichita State a game?  I'm thinking they will, this will be a good one in the Missouri Valley.

No conferences start their tourneys on Sunday, but we have some major conferences finishing up their regular season, so plenty of action to watch.  Any thoughts on Green Bay or anything else we've seen this week?  Thanks for reading.

Curt

Dead or Alive 3/7

Friday gave us a first, we got our first ticket punched to the dance.  The Harvard Crimson clinched the Ivy League.  Only 67 spots left to fill in the next nine days. On the other side we lost 17 more teams on Friday. The total deceased is now at 81 with only 270 remaining in the hunt.  Here are the teams that lost it last night...

MISSOURI VALLEY - Illinois State, Loyola (IL), Northern Iowa, Evansville
SOUTHERN - UNC Greensboro, Appalachian State, Furman
BIG SOUTH - Charleston Southern, Gardner Webb, High Point, Radford
HORIZON - Oakland, Valparaiso
COLONIAL - UNC Wilmington
IVY - Yale
OHIO VALLEY - Morehead State, Murray State

And to make it official, here are the teams that received an auto bid...

IVY - Harvard

STANDINGS
Schools.      351
Dead.            81
Alive.          270
Auto.              1
Lock.              0
Zombie.          0

Two more conferences get started on Saturday, we got the Summit League and the America East. North Dakota State and Vermont are the favorites in those conferences. We also have our first conference final on Saturday. The Ohio Valley Conference will have Eastern Kentucky vs. Belmont, both teams looked really good last night. Both teams can score it up, should be a really good game. Let's not forget about the non tourney games going on Saturday, some really good ones to watch, should be a fun day.  Thanks for reading.

Curt

Dead or Alive 3/6

Another 13 teams went down on Thursday.  The total of deceased is now at 64.  287 teams still have a shot at the title.  Here are the teams that lost their shot on Thursday night...

MAAC - Monmouth, Fairfield, Marist
ATLANTIC SUN - East Tennessee State, USC Upstate
OHIO VALLEY - Tennessee Tech, SE Missouri State
MISSOURI VALLEY - Drake, Bradley
WEST COAST - Portland, Pacific
BIG SKY - Idaho State
BIG WEST - UC Davis

Two more conferences start their tourneys on Friday.  The Southern Conference is being run by Davidson again this year.  They are on a serious roll the last six years.  The Colonial tournament should be a good one.  Towson has had a good season and the Blue Hens of Delaware have been tough all season as well.  We could get our first AUTO Bid on Friday.  With a win over Yale, Harvard will clinch the IVY and punch their ticket to the big dance.  Some early afternoon games on Friday, makes the day go faster, works for me.  Thanks for reading.

Curt

Dead or Alive 3/5

Biggest massacre of the season occurred on Wednesday.  14 more teams kicked the bucket.  We now have exactly 300 teams left in the chase for the title.  Here is who lost their chance today...

BIG SOUTH - Presbyterian, Liberty, Campbell, Longwood
NORTHEAST - Bryant, Central Connecticut State, Fairleigh Dickinson, St. Francis (NY)
PATRIOT - Lafayette, Lehigh, Bucknell, Colgate
OHIO VALLEY - SIU Edwardsville, Eastern Illinois

Three more conferences start their tourneys on Thursday.  The MAAC is Iona's tourney to lose, will they get it done?  Can Wichita State win the MVC and close out an undefeated season?  Will Gonzaga win the WCC and get the auto bid, or will they have to wait for Selection Sunday to hear their name?  11 more days of basketball until the bracket is revealed.  A lot of basketball left until then.  Thanks for reading.

Curt

Dead or Alive 3/4

Seven more teams were added to the "looking forward to next year" list.  The scoreboard says there are a total of 37 down and 314 left in the race for the title.  Here is the list...

AMERICA EAST - Massachusetts Lowell
ATLANTIC SUN - Northern Kentucky, Kennesaw State, Stetson, Jacksonville, North Florida, Lipscomb
INDEPENDENT - NJIT
CONFERENCE USA - Florida International
WAC - Grand Canyon
SOUTHLAND - Incarnate Word, Abilene Christian, New Orleans, Houston Baptist, Lamar
SUMMIT - Nebraska-Omaha
SWAC - Mississippi Valley State, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Grambling State
IVY - Cornell, Dartmouth, Princeton, Pennsylvania, Brown, Columbia
BIG SKY - Southern Utah
OHIO VALLEY - Tennessee State, Tennessee-Martin, Jacksonville State, Austin Peay
NORTHEAST - Sacred Heart, LIU Brooklyn
PATRIOT - Navy, Loyola (MD)
HORIZON - Detroit, Youngstown State, Illinois-Chicago

Wednesday is our first day with conference tourney games starting at noon, how exciting, ha.  The Big South, Northeast, and Ohio Valley Conferences get started on Wednesday.  After two days of conference tourney games there is a lot to be desired.  Not one significant upset to write home about.  Hopefully Wednesday chances the mood.  12 days until Selection Sunday.  Thanks for reading.

Curt

Dead or Alive 3/3

Only lost two more teams on Monday.  That will be the lowest total until Selection Sunday, that's for sure.  The teams that bit the dust on Monday were Navy and Loyola, MD of the Patriot League.  That gives us 30 dead teams and 321 still alive.  Here again is your list...

AMERICA EAST - Massachusetts Lowell
ATLANTIC SUN - Northern Kentucky, Kennesaw State
INDEPENDENT - NJIT
CONFERENCE USA - Florida International
WAC - Grand Canyon
SOUTHLAND - Incarnate Word, Abilene Christian, New Orleans, Houston Baptist, Lamar
SUMMIT - Nebraska-Omaha
SWAC - Mississippi Valley State, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Grambling State
IVY - Cornell, Dartmouth, Princeton, Pennsylvania, Brown, Columbia
BIG SKY - Southern Utah
OHIO VALLEY - Tennessee State, Tennessee-Martin, Jacksonville State, Austin Peay
NORTHEAST - Sacred Heart, LIU Brooklyn
PATRIOT - Navy, Loyola (MD)

Two more conferences will get started on Tuesday.  The Atlantic Sun Conference will be a dog fight with Mercer and Florida Gulf Coast dominating the league all year.  Can FGCU get back to the dance to make another run?  In the Midwest the Horizon League will get going.  Green Bay has been the top team all year and they actually have an outside shot of getting an at large bid if they were to lose in the final.  The chances of them getting that bid is very small so they better take care of business in the tourney.  Only 13 days until Selection Sunday, getting closer.  I just purchased my tickets to the Opening Round games on Tuesday, should be a good time.  Anyone else going?  Thanks for reading.

Curt

Dead or Alive March 3/2

We are now down to 323 as another three schools were eliminated this weekend.  Those eliminated were Brown, Columbia, and Austin Peay.  Here again is your list...

AMERICA EAST - Massachusetts Lowell
ATLANTIC SUN - Northern Kentucky, Kennesaw State
INDEPENDENT - NJIT
CONFERENCE USA - Florida International
WAC - Grand Canyon
SOUTHLAND - Incarnate Word, Abilene Christian, New Orleans, Houston Baptist, Lamar
SUMMIT - Nebraska-Omaha
SWAC - Mississippi Valley State, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Grambling State
IVY - Cornell, Dartmouth, Princeton, Pennsylvania, Brown, Columbia
BIG SKY - Southern Utah
OHIO VALLEY - Tennessee State, Tennessee-Martin, Jacksonville State, Austin Peay
NORTHEAST - Sacred Heart, LIU Brooklyn

This coming week is the kickoff for March Madness.  Multiple conferences start their tournaments and the others complete their conference slates and fight for tourney position.  Starting their tourney Monday is the Patriot League with Boston being the top seed.  This list will be updated nightly going forward as the casualties will multiply rapidly.  Thanks for reading.

Curt

Goodbye February, Hello March!

Time to roll into March and get this thing down to 68.  We have 25 teams that are officially out of the title picture.  An enormous amount of schools still have a shot with 16 days until Selection Sunday, 326 to be exact.  Basic math tells me that we'll need to average 16 casualties per day to get down to 68, so buckle up, the deaths are going to come fast and furious.  Here are the teams that have been eliminated....

AMERICA EAST - Massachusetts Lowell
ATLANTIC SUN - Northern Kentucky, Kennesaw State
INDEPENDENT - NJIT
CONFERENCE USA - Florida International
WAC - Grand Canyon
SOUTHLAND - Incarnate Word, Abilene Christian, New Orleans, Houston Baptist, Lamar
SUMMIT - Nebraska-Omaha
SWAC - Mississippi Valley State, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Grambling State
IVY - Cornell, Dartmouth, Princeton, Pennsylvania
BIG SKY - Southern Utah
OHIO VALLEY - Tennessee State, Tennessee-Martin, Jacksonville State
NORTHEAST - Sacred Heart, LIU Brooklyn





For the heck of it, I'm calling my shot for the Final Four.  I like Arizona, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Florida.  Doesn't look like that much of a longshot anymore, but I liked those teams since the beginning of the year.  Watch, they'll be 1, 2, 3, and 4 seeds in the same bracket and my dreams will be dashed, oh well.  Who do you see in the Final Four?  Enjoy the weekend, some good games on the slate.  Thanks for reading.

Curt

Dead or Alive 2/16/14

It's only the 16th of February but we are starting to lose some teams from the title picture.  Two teams were eliminated on Saturday.  That gives us a total of 14 dead and 337 still alive.  Here are the dead schools as of today...

SCHOOL                         CONFERENCE       
Massachusetts-Lowell       America East            
Northern Kentucky            Atlantic Sun            
NJIT                                   Independent             
Florida International          Conference USA   
Grand Canyon                    WAC                      
Incarnate Word                   Southland              
Abilene Christian               Southland               
New Orleans                       Southland           
Nebraska-Omaha                Summit                 
Mississippi Valley State     SWAC               
Arkansas-Pine Bluff           SWAC               
Grambling State                 SWAC                  
Southern Utah                     Big Sky
Cornell                                Ivy


Selection Sunday is exactly four weeks from today.  That's 28 days to eliminate another 269 teams so get ready because the deaths are going to start coming fast and furious.  Stay tuned to the blog to see who needs to have obituaries written for the 2014 season.  Thanks for reading.

Curt

NCAA Non Dancers (First Edition)

It's mid-December and we are over a full month into the college basketball season.  You know what that means, it's time to start knocking off some teams from the NCAA College Basketball Title Chase.  There are a whopping 351 Division I teams this year.  I have 12 that are officially eliminated from the hunt.  Here they are, and the reason why they can't dream of hoisting the trophy...

SCHOOL                         CONFERENCE       REASON
Massachusetts-Lowell       America East             First year Division I
Northern Kentucky            Atlantic Sun              Second year Division I
NJIT                                   Independent              6 losses, won't receive At-Large Bid
Florida International          Conference USA       NCAA Sanctions
Grand Canyon                    WAC                         First year Division I
Incarnate Word                   Southland                  First year Division I
Abilene Christian               Southland                  First year Division I
New Orleans                       Southland                  NCAA Sanctions
Nebraska-Omaha                Summit                     Second year Division I
Mississippi Valley State     SWAC                      NCAA Sanctions
Arkansas-Pine Bluff           SWAC                      NCAA Sanctions
Grambling State                 SWAC                      NCAA Sanctions

I know what you are thinking because I was thinking the same thing, who in the hell are Incarnate Word and Grand Canyon?  I have no idea, but they are now Division I Schools.  Big game tonight for Incarnate Word, they host Open Bible.  Seriously, that is a matchup tonight.  Is that a rivalry game?  If not, it should be.  We'll get more into this when the year turns to 2014, but for now we have 239 teams with a shot at the title.  For the record, I have Arizona winning it all, everyone else is playing for second.  Who is your pick to win it all?  Any predictions for the season?  This should be a good year for college basketball, but hey, aren't they all?  Thanks for reading.

Curt