This is CBS SportsLine.com's sixth installment of Build-a-Bracket, which will be posted late each night until the official bracket is revealed Sunday.
The state of Iowa is becoming a major story as Selection Sunday approaches. And it beats the snot out of the state of Maryland.
 | |
|
Adam Haluska and Iowa are stretching to pick up a berth. (AP) |
While Maryland and Georgetown were losing Thursday to slide out of CBS SportsLine.com's mock bracket, Iowa and Iowa State were winning. Iowa isn't in (yet), but Iowa State is solidly in the 65-team NCAA field.
A third team from Iowa, Northern Iowa, was Thursday's unlikeliest winner.
It was eliminated from the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament last week, but Northern Iowa (21-10) is our pick to replace embarrassing Maryland in the NCAA Tournament field.
Maryland (16-12) has two wins against Duke but three losses to Clemson, the latest Thursday in the ACC Tournament. Three losses to Clemson trumps two wins over Duke -- it's a rule. Plus, Maryland went 3-7 in its last 10 games. Toast.
Northern Iowa? The Panthers went 7-3 in their final 10 games, and have beaten NCAA Tournament teams Iowa State and Southern Illinois.
Going up nicely
- Iowa (20-10) is starting to look like Stanford, which has played its way into the NCAA Tournament after losing scoring leader Dan Grunfeld to a knee injury. After beating Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament, the Hawkeyes have won four straight without dismissed scoring leader Pierre Pierce. Other than Ohio State, none of those victories is impressive, but if the Hawkeyes beat Michigan State on Friday, they're the next team into CBS SportsLine.com's mock bracket. Lose, and Iowa's fate will depend on other bubble teams.
- A bubble team entering the Big East Tournament, West Virginia (20-9) played its way in by pummeling Providence on Wednesday and improved its seeding by battering Boston College on Thursday. If the Mountaineers vex Villanova on Friday, they're a six or seven seed.
- After much contemplation, we've got UAB taking DePaul's NCAA spot after the Blazers beat DePaul on Thursday. Their resumes are awfully close, but UAB (20-9, 12-6) has one more C-USA win than DePaul (19-10, 11-7), has been better in the last 10 games (6-4 to DePaul's 5-5), and won two head-to-head meetings. DePaul still could get a bid depending on what happens elsewhere over the next few days, but if it comes down to UAB or DePaul, Build-a-Bracket has spoken.
- Only Miami (Ohio) represents the MAC in our bracket, but Buffalo is close. The Bulls (21-8) beat Toledo to improve to 8-2 over the last 10 games, and if they beat Western Michigan on Friday, they'll be a serious at-large contender.
- Memphis is a legitimate threat to win its way into the NCAA Tournament. After beating Charlotte in a C-USA quarterfinal, the Tigers (18-14) play upstart South Florida (14-15) Friday. If Memphis wins, it'll play the Louisville-UAB winner for the title. The tournament is in Memphis, and Memphis has beaten Louisville this season.
- Several teams strengthened their NCAA position: Saint Joseph's (18-10), which beat Richmond; Iowa State (18-10), which beat Baylor; North Carolina State (18-12), which beat Florida State; UTEP, which beat Hawaii; George Washington (20-7), which beat Fordham; Miami (Ohio) (19-9), which beat Bowling Green; New Mexico (24-6), which beat BYU; and Stanford (18-11), which beat Washington State.
- Huge game Friday for Indiana (15-12), which won't go to the NCAA Tournament if it doesn't beat Minnesota in a Big Ten quarterfinal.
Falling to pieces
- By losing to West Virginia, Boston College (24-4) cost itself a shot at a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament -- and could tumble to a No. 4.
- Bad Pac-10 loss for UCLA, falling to Oregon State. At best the Bruins (18-10) sentenced themselves to a double-digit NCAA seed, and while they remain in CBS SportsLine.com's bracket, UCLA could be in trouble. Forget what the RPI says, and look at the resume. UCLA's only strong win was Washington -- two months ago.
- Bad day for four bubble teams who lost to inferior opponents: South Carolina (15-13) to Ole Miss; Texas A&M (18-9) to Kansas State; Miami (16-12) to Virginia; and Vanderbilt (18-13) to Auburn.
- Five more bubbles popped: TCU (19-13), by Louisville; Akron (19-10), by Western Michigan; Georgetown (17-12), by Connecticut; Kent State (20-12), by Ohio; and Arizona State (18-13), by Washington.
Heroes
Underrated UTEP point guard Filiberto Rivera, beat Hawaii with 19 points, six rebounds and five assists. ... Iowa's Adam Haluska continues to pick up Pierce's slack, totaling 17 points, six rebounds and five assists against Purdue. ... Ilian Evtimov shot N.C. State to a huge first-half lead with five 3-pointers, and the Wolfpack coasted past Florida State. ... Virginia's J.R. Reynolds was a stud against Miami, scoring 32 points. ... Louisville's Ellis Myles produced a 10-10-10 triple double against TCU -- points, rebounds and assists. ... For UAB, Demario Eddins' 3-pointer with 0.8 seconds left beat DePaul.
Goats
Wake Forest should be a No. 1 NCAA seed regardless, but if the Deacons lose Friday to N.C. State to slip to a No. 2 seed, blame Chris Paul. ... Pitt bigs Chevy Troutman and Chris Taft couldn't capitalize on Villanova's small front line, combining for 20 points. ... South Carolina's Josh Gonner capped an inconsistent season with zero points against Ole Miss. ... Maryland guards John Gilchrist and Mike Jones combined for four points on 1-for-13 shooting against Clemson. ... Miami guard Anthony Harris' last-second miss against Virginia was an NCAA crusher for Miami. ... Acie Law went 1-for-13 from the floor in Texas A&M's NIT-clinching loss to Kansas State. ... DePaul's Drake Diener walked with 28.5 seconds left, letting UAB take the last shot.
Seeds on the move
Seeds rising: West Virginia, Villanova.
Seeds falling: Boston College, Cincinnati, Texas, UCLA, Charlotte, Pittsburgh, Nevada.
The 65-team field, by seed
Note: Thursday's three additions to the bracket are denoted by italics. Automatic bids are denoted by an asterisk.
No. 1s: Illinois, UNC, Wake Forest, Arizona
No. 2s:
Kansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma State, Duke
No. 3s: Washington,
UConn, Oklahoma, Gonzaga*
No. 4s: Louisville, Boston College,
Syracuse, Villanova
No. 5s: Michigan State, Florida, Utah, LSU
No. 6s: Alabama, Wisconsin, Southern Illinois, Pacific
No. 7s:
Nevada, Cincinnati, Mississippi State, Texas Tech
No. 8s:
Charlotte, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Iowa State
No. 9s:
Stanford, Texas, UTEP, St. Mary's
No. 10s: Minnesota, UCLA,
Georgia Tech, George Washington
No. 11s: North Carolina State,
Old Dominion*, New Mexico, Miami (Ohio)
No. 12s: Penn*,
Indiana, Creighton*, Saint Joseph's
No. 13s: UAB,
Vermont, Louisiana-Lafayette*, Northern Iowa
No. 14s:
Wisconsin-Milwaukee*, Holy Cross, Winthrop*, Niagara*
No. 15s:
Central Florida*, Eastern Kentucky*, Chattanooga*, Coppin State
No. 16s: Northwestern State, Montana*, Fairleigh
Dickinson*; Alabama State vs. Oakland* in play-in game.
Fell out of the bracket Thursday: Maryland, Lamar, DePaul.
