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Championship Fortnight Viewing Guide: Selection Sunday, March 13, 2022

Five games. Five bids. Final moments of bubble worry.

NCAA Basketball: SEC Conference Tournament-Arkansas vs Texas A&M
Texas A&M has flown through the SEC quarterfinal and semifinal rounds. Can the Aggies win one more game to seal an NCAA bid?
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Visit Conference Tournament Central and the 2022 Conference Tournaments Hub for full Championship Fortnight coverage.

Daily Chronological Schedule

Sunday, March 13, 2022

Tip Time (ET) Conference Matchup Outlet Season Series
Tip Time (ET) Conference Matchup Outlet Season Series
12 p.m. Ivy (2) Yale vs. (1) Princeton ESPN2 1-1 road split
1 p.m. Atlantic 10 (6) Richmond vs. (1) Davidson CBS DC 1-0 (A)
1 p.m. SEC (8) Texas A&M vs. (2) Tennessee ESPN UT 1-0 (H)
3:15 p.m. American (3) Memphis vs. (1) Houston ESPN UM 2-0
3:30 p.m. Big Ten (5) Iowa vs. (3) Purdue CBS PU 2-0
6 p.m. The Selection Show CBS

College Basketball Coast to Coast

Check out T.J. Rives and Tyler Jones as they recap Saturday and look ahead to Sunday’s matchups. I’ll be back for Selection Sunday night reaction show!

Winning Time!

Ivy League Championship

Game 3: (2) Yale (18-11, 11-3) vs. (1) Princeton (23-5, 12-2), 12 p.m. (ESPN2)
The season series was a 1-1 road split: Yale 80-74 (Jan. 29) and Princeton 81-75 (Feb. 19).

In Saturday’s semifinals, Princeton edged Cornell, 77-73, while Yale held off Penn, 67-61, in Cambridge, Mass. The Bulldogs were the last Ivy League team to participate in the NCAAs, dropping a 79-74 decision to LSU in 2019’s First Round in Jacksonville. As for the Tigers, they were a 12 seed in 2017, falling 60-58 to Notre Dame in Buffalo.

Today’s winner is probably going to be a 14 seed, as Yale was in its 2019 appearance.

Atlantic 10 Championship

Game 13: (6) Richmond (22-12, 10-8) vs. (1) Davidson (27-5, 15-3), 1 p.m. (CBS)
The Wildcats won the pair’s lone meeting on the road, 87-84 (Jan. 14).

Saturday wasn’t a great day for the bubble in Washington, D.C., as the Atlantic 10’s two remaining bubble teams, Saint Louis and Dayton, both dropped their semifinals. Davidson handled the Billikens, 84-69 to avoid any late bubble drama, while Richmond eliminated the Flyers, 68-64. However, the Spiders’ win leaves them as a potential bid thief. If Chris Mooney’s club wins the auto bid, they will reach the field for the first time since consecutive trips in 2010 and 2011, the second of which ended in the Sweet 16. (Richmond probably would have been selected for the canceled 2020 tournament.) Davidson, meanwhile, last reached the field in 2018, as a 12 seed. Those respective 2011 and 2018 wins were each team’s last Atlantic 10 Tournament titles.

The Wildcats are likely to be in the 8 to 10 range, higher with a win, while the Spiders would be an 11 or 12 should they claim the auto bid.

SEC Championship

Game 13: (8) Texas A&M (23-11, 9-9) vs. (2) Tennessee (25-7, 14-4), 1 p.m. (ESPN)
The Volunteers won the pair’s lone meeting at home, 90-80 (Feb. 1).

After edging Florida after overtime, the Aggies have rolled through their next two SEC Tournament games to reach the final. Since A&M is right around the cut line, you can bet Buzz Williams’ squad will do its best to take their NCAA hopes out of the Committee’s hands. But a game against Tennessee, who knocked Kentucky out of the race for a No. 1 seed with Saturday’s 69-62 semifinal win, will be a different story. In the Aggies’ eight game losing streak that helped put them in such a precarious position, the Vols were responsible for loss number five.

Tennessee has a shot at a 2 seed with a win, depending on what happens in the Big Ten championship game.

Neither team has won a conference tournament title in a long time. Tennessee won the 1979 SEC Tournament, while an eighth-seeded Texas A&M team claimed the 1987 SWC Tournament crown.

American Athletic Championship

Game 10: (3) Memphis (21-9, 13-5) vs. (1) Houston (28-5, 15-3), 3:15 p.m. (ESPN)
The Tigers won the season series 2-0: 69-59 (away, Feb. 9) and 75-61 (home, March 6).

Fans of bubble teams who were cursing the Atlantic 10’s second semifinal were cheering at the end of the American’s second, as Memphis defeated SMU for the first time in three attempts, 70-63. That might have been a fatal loss for the Mustangs’ hopes. Today’s two participants are locks at this point, so seeding will be at stake, though I wouldn’t expect the teams to move too much considering the late timing of this contest.

Houston is going for a repeat title, while Memphis last won a conference tournament championship in C-USA in 2013.

Big Ten Championship

Game 13: (5) Iowa (25-9, 12-8) vs. (3) Purdue (27-6, 14-6), 3:30 p.m. (CBS)
The Boilermakers won the season series 2-0: 77-70 (home, Dec.3) and 83-73 (away, Jan. 27).

The Boilermakers are Tennessee’s main competition for the final No. 2 seed, though, again, given the late start in Indianapolis, you might see the Vols and Purdue paired up in the bottom half of one region. Yesterday, Iowa took down Indiana, 80-77, to keep the Hoosiers on the bubble, though they should be okay in the end. As for the Boilers, they took down Michigan State, 75-70.

Iowa last won the Big Ten Tournament in 2006; Purdue three years later.

The Selection Show (6 p.m., CBS)

The road to New Orleans is mapped out and all of the bubble mystery ends.