Twelve teams punched tickets on Selection Eve, while four more will do the same right before the bracket is finally revealed at 6 p.m. ET.

America East: Vermont defeated Boston University in Burlington, 83-70 (recap), to book their fourth NCAA appearance. It's the first crown under Mike Lonergan. It was a bittersweet moment for Catamounts' Evan Fjeld, who lost his mother to cancer just days ago.

Big East: West Virginia won a 60-58 thriller over Georgetown (recap) to wrap up an exciting five days in New York. The Mountaineers may just steal the last spot on the top line. Check out SB Nation's storystream. 

Big 12: Kansas defeated Kansas State for the third time this season, 79-72 (recap), to claim the conference regular season and tournament titles. Check out the SB Nation storystream. 

Big West: UC Santa Barbara, the top seed in a crazy conference, defeated Long Beach State, 69-64 (recap), to make their first NCAA since 2002.

Conference USA: Houston came back to stun regular season champion UTEP, 81-73 (recap), to likely make C-USA a two-bid league.

Great West: South Dakota held off Houston Baptist, 91-86, to claim the inaugural conference title and CIT berth.

Mid-American: Ninth-seeded Ohio claimed the crown with a thrilling 81-75 overtime win over third-seeded Akron (recap).

Mid-Eastern: Top seed Morgan State is headed to the Tournament for the second straight season, as they avenged their only conference loss of the season, topping South Carolina State, 68-61 (recap), in Winston Salem.

Mountain West: San Diego State knocked off UNLV on their home court, 55-45 (recap), to claim the conference's auto bid, and ensure for MWC teams are in the field. Head over to SB Nation to check out the tournament storystream. 

Pac-10: Washington is off the bubble, thanks to their 79-75 win (recap) over California in Los Angeles. Visit the SB Nation Pac-10 storystream for more. 

Southland: Sam Houston State Stephen F. Austin, 64-48 (recap), to return to the tournament for the first time since 2003 and second time ever. 

Southwestern: Arkansas-Pine Bluff defeated Texas Southern in Shreveport, 50-38 (recap), to clinch their first-ever NCAA berth.

WAC: New Mexico State beat top seed Utah State, 69-63 (recap), meaning the conference may get two bids this season. Read more at our WAC storystream. 

After the jump, I'll take a look at the four tournaments that conclude Sunday.

Continue reading this post »

One bid was handed out on Friday, as Lehigh defeated archrivals Lafayette, 74-59 (recap), to book their place in the field of 65. 

Twelve teams will join the Mountain Hawks, and the 14 others who own automatic bids, Saturday. I'll run through all of Friday's conference tournament action after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

Friday will see one automatic bid handed out, as the Patriot League champion will be determined early in the evening in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

All of the remaining guaranteed spots will be determined over the weekend, that means there's a full slate of games on tap for Friday. I'll talk about them after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

Two NCAA bids were handed out on Wednesday, and since two regular season conference champions lost on their home floors, the NIT gained two automatic bids as well.

Northeast: Robert Morris became the first team to beat Quinnipiac on their home court this year, and advanced to their second straight NCAA Tournament with a 52-50 win (recap).

Big Sky: Fourth-seeded Montana stunned Weber State on their home floor to win 66-65. Anthony Johnson had 42 of the Grizzlies 66 points. (recap)

No bids will be handed out on Thursday, but there will be a loaded schedule of games, as almost all of the major conferences' postseason events will be underway. I'll run through all of the action after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

Tuesday night saw three bids handed out. The Sun Belt final turned out to be the championship game of the night, as the Horizon and Summit finals resulted in comfortable wins for the top seeds.

Sun Belt: Second seed North Texas claimed its third-ever NCAA bid with a thrilling 66-63 win over top-seeded Troy. (recap)

Horizon: Butler pounded Wright State, 70-45, to ensure one bid from the Horizon. (recap)

Summit: Top-seeded Oakland had a relatively easy time with two seed IUPUI, winning 76-64 to advance to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2005. It's the Golden Grizzlies' second trip ever. (recap)

After the jump, I'll look ahead to Wednesday's busy slate of action.

Continue reading this post »

I had to drive back from Richmond after the Colonial final Monday night, so this post will be really quick.

Four teams clinched NCAA bids on Monday night, with three teams getting themselves off the bubble in the process.

Colonial: Old Dominion held off William & Mary, 60-53. Read my recap over at SB Nation.

Metro Atlantic: For the third game in a row, Siena had to come back. They defeated Fairfield in overtime to claim the MAAC crown. (recap)

Southern: Wofford claimed the Southern Conference crown for the first time, thanks to a 56-51 win over Appalachian State. (recap)

West Coast: St. Mary's booked their place by pounding Gonzaga in the championship game in Las Vegas. (recap) The loss means the Bulldogs are likely to be shipped away from Spokane for the first weekend of the Tournament.

After the jump, I'll take a look at today's action, which features three championship games and the start of the Big East Tournament.

Continue reading this post »

There was only one automatic bid up for grabs on Sunday, and Northern Iowa practically ensured that the Missouri Valley will be a one-bid league, as they defeated Wichita State in the championship game in St. Louis by a 67-52 score.

Monday will see four tickets punched. All game times are p.m. Eastern.

Colonial

Both semifinal games on Sunday were thrillers with Old Dominion dispatching VCU in overtime and Northeastern missing seven game-tying or winning attempts at the end against William & Mary.

(1) Old Dominion 73, (5) VCU 69 (OT)
(3) William & Mary 47, (2) Northeastern 45

Monday's Final
(1) Old Dominion vs. (3) William & Mary, 7 (ESPN)

Metro Atlantic

The top two seeds advanced to Monday's final on Siena's homecourt. Can the Saints get in even if they lose to Fairfield? Doubtful, but with this bubble anything is possible.

(1) Siena 72, (5) Rider 62 
(2) Fairfield 69, (6) Niagara 63

Monday's Final
(1) Siena vs. (2) Fairfield, 7 (ESPN2)

Southern

The top seeds from each division won their semifinals easily and will meet for the championship Monday night.

(S1) Wofford 77, (N2) Western Carolina 58
(N1) Appalachian State 77, (S2) College of Charleston 54

Monday's Final
(S1) Wofford vs. (N1) Appalachian State, 9 (ESPN2)

West Coast

Gonzaga and St. Mary's will meet for the third time this season, with the Gaels looking for their first win at the most crucial time.

(1) Gonzaga 77, (5) Loyola Marymount 62 
(2) St. Mary's 69, (3) Portland 55

Monday's Final
(1) Gonzaga vs. (2) St. Mary's, 9 (ESPN)

After the jump, I'll take a look at Sunday's other tournament action.

Continue reading this post »

Three teams punched their Tournament tickets on Saturday, as Championship Week is well and truly underway.

Big South

Coastal Carolina, the regular season champion, fell at home to Winthrop, 64-53. That's the ninth NCAA Tournament appearance for the Eagles. 

Atlantic Sun

Sixth-seeded Mercer, also playing at home, fell to fifth-seeded East Tennessee State, who's dancing for the second season in a row, by a 72-66 score. 

Ohio Valley

Murray State avenged their only conference loss of the season by beating Morehead State, 61-52, in Nashville.

After the jump, I'll take a look at Saturday's non-championship Championship Week action.

Continue reading this post »