Gettin' In: Southern Cal plays role of bubble buster

NEW YORK -- Southern California just busted somebody's bubble.

DeMar DeRozan just busted everybody's mock drafts.

(Better get him back in the lottery, guys.)

Let's do Saturday night's/Sunday morning's Gettin' In.

DeMar DeRozan (25 points) enjoys the spoils of war following the Trojans' win. (Getty Images)

Best game: Down 15 at the half, Southern California appeared on its way to the NIT, the Trojans' performance no more inspiring than the one the schools' football team provided at Oregon State last season. But then DeMar DeRozan got going, as did Dwight Lewis, Taj Gibson and Daniel Hackett. And before Arizona State knew what was happening, it was down two points and in need of heroics by James Harden, who missed a 3-pointer in the final seconds that allowed USC to escape with a 66-63 win that gave the Trojans, not even on the bubble last week, the Pac-10 tournament title and an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. As for DeRozan, he got 25 in the title game, averaged 21 in the tournament and is now looking like the prospect I always thought he'd be.

Team whose dream remained alive: The Mississippi State Bulldogs lost to San Diego (RPI 194), Charlotte (RPI 209) and 10 other schools during the regular season while beating exactly one top 50 team (Sun Belt champion Western Kentucky). And yet here they are, just one win away from an automatic bid after a 67-57 victory over LSU in the SEC tournament semifinals that gave the event another interesting storyline comparable to the one featuring Georgia last year. Also, it's further proof that the SEC stinks. Should be a two-bid league unless MSU beats Tennessee in the title game.

Team whose dream was crushed: Auburn was impressive throughout the last month, winning eight of nine to close the regular season before edging Florida in the SEC tournament quarterfinals. But a 94-85 loss to Tennessee in the semifinals leaves the Tigers with a 64 RPI, a 2-4 record against the top 50, a 6-10 record against the top 100, and that's just not going to be enough considering only 14 of their 22 wins are against top 200 opponents. Again, the SEC should be a two-bid league unless Mississippi State beats Tennessee.

Performance I hope you witnessed: I love that the family of Toney Douglas stands in the front row and holds signs that read "Toney Douglas Time." Nothing better than that, particularly when Toney Douglas is having a great time, slashing through the lane, dominating and leading Florida State to a huge victory like he did against North Carolina in the ACC tournament semifinals. Douglas got 27 points and four assists, which was good enough to edge the Ty Lawson-less Tar Heels, who should still be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament despite this 73-70 loss.

Performance I hope you missed: Tulsa's Jerome Jordan is a serious NBA prospect, according to NBA scouts. But I'm not sure he belongs in that league until he learns to play against Memphis, at least. The 7-foot center finished with four points and seven rebounds in Tulsa's 64-39 loss to the Tigers in the Conference USA tournament title game, this after getting eight points and three rebounds in a loss to the Tigers last month. That's not good, obviously. But some NBA team will be ready to draft Jordan if he makes himself available, just you watch, and all I ask is that they don't come whining to me when Jordan looks more like Patrick O'Bryant than Brook Lopez, because I tried to warn them.

Three random notes

1. Ohio State's 82-70 win over Michigan State in the Big Ten tournament semifinals almost certainly eliminated the Spartans from No. 1 seed consideration. Consequently, Memphis and Connecticut fans are now Buckeye fans, too, and OSU will meet Purdue in the Big Ten tournament title game.

2. Temple helped the selection committee avoid a potential tough decision by beating Duquesne 69-64 in the Atlantic 10 tournament title game. Had Temple lost, Duquesne would've received the league's automatic bid, and the committee would've needed to take four A-10 schools (Xavier, Dayton, Temple and Duquesne) or omit a Temple team with an RPI in the mid-30s. But none of that matters anymore. Temple won. So the A-10 should be a three-bid league.

3. San Diego State's 52-50 loss to Utah in the Mountain West tournament title game has the Aztecs right on the bubble. The good? SDSU has a 35 RPI and no losses outside the top 100. The bad? SDSU has a 7-9 record against the top 100, and that USC win didn't do anything to help the situation.

Final thought: Duke's 67-61 win over Maryland in the ACC tournament semifinals was the Blue Devils' third against the Terrapins, their 10th against a team included in Jerry Palm's Saturday morning bracket projections. To put this in perspective, consider that possible No. 1 seed Pittsburgh has eight such wins, Connecticut has eight, Louisville has seven, North Carolina has six, and Memphis has two.

So I ask: If the Blue Devils (No. 2 in the RPI) win the ACC tournament, should they get a No. 1 seed?

There would certainly be a case to be made.

And I think I could make it well.