2 days until Spring Break

Opening thoughts: The micro test went ok, except for a couple of parts, so we'll see how it goes. It looks like I'm going to have some grading to do over break, yuck! I'm not really thinking about either right now. I'm just glad to have essentially made it to Spring Break with a chance to recharge my batteries for the stretch run. After break, 2 of my classes will end, freeing up time to really kick the exit paper and job search into high gear. Exciting stuff.

As for today's hoops, it looked as if we'd go the whole day without an upset, but a couple of teams prevented that from happening:

• Fairleigh Dickinson 58, Wagner 52. FDU is going dancing after holding off a late Wagner rally to win the Northeast Conference championship. The Knights clinched on their home floor, after they were led by 7-footer Andrea Crosariol, who scored 18. He was the difference in the game as both teams could get nothing going from the perimeter. Wagner slowed the game down to a tempo of their liking, but they had no one who could matchup with Crosariol's height. FDU led by as many as 11 in the 2nd half, but then inexplicably, they stopped feeding the big fella, which allowed Wagner to get back in it. In the end, Mensah Peterson was money at the foul line, and hit the clinching 3 with 23 sec. left. This game was played at a snail's pace. The tortoise moved faster against the hare than these two teams. FDU will be one and done in the NCAA.
• Montana 63, Weber St. 61. Another candidate for the play-in game was denied as the Grizzlies erased a 7 point halftime deficit to win the Big Sky championship. Montana looked to have the game all wrapped up, leading by 10 with 4 minutes to go, but some hot 3 point shooting and a couple of mental errors got Weber St. within 1 with 4 seconds left. But Montana hit enough free throws, and Weber's desperation half-court shot was off target. After doing absolutely nothing on offense in the 1st half, the Griz were much more fluid in the 2nd, getting the shots they wanted, getting everyone involved.
• Atlantic 10. The only upset occurred in the 2nd game, where LaSalle knocked off UMass in overtime, 70-64. The other higher seeds won and moved into tomorrow's quarterfinals.
  
• Big East. 3 bubble teams were on display and 2 took care of business. West Virginia jumped all over Providence, never letting them in the game to move on to a quarterfinal against Boston College. Georgetown's road was tougher, overcoming an 11 point 2nd half deficit to beat Seton Hall. This ended a 5 game losing streak for the Hoyas. Unfortunately, Notre Dame fell victim to the upset bug, getting bit by Rutgers 72-65. The Irish were without Chris Quinn for most of the game after getting knocked woozy in the 1st half. Regardless, the Irish should've been able to handle the last qualifier for the Big East tourney, but Ricky Shields wouldn't let that happen. The Rutgers senior went for 21, leading an outside shooting barrage that shot 46% for the game. Notre Dame has so much talent, but so little basketball savvy. Chris Thomas, despite 17 points, had 5 turnovers, all careless. Jordan Cornette was still chucking 3s, along with Colin Falls, ignoring Torin Francis on the inside. Despite wins over Boston College and UConn, the Irish are probably headed to the NIT after suffering their 3rd straight loss to end the year.
• Big West. UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara advanced to the 2nd round. Pacific is the top seed here.
• C-USA. The 6 seed Houston, where Tom Penders has done a great job turning that club around, were upset by South Florida 69-64, ending their long shot at an NCAA berth. The other seeds won, including tournament host Memphis, who have the potential to create havoc because of their talent, and the tournament is being played on their home floor.
• MEAC. The top 2 seeds, Delaware St. and Hampton advanced to the semifinals. The other 2 quarterfinals will be played tomorrow.

14 teams are now in the tournament. No more automatic bids will be handed out tomorrow, but the remaining conference tournaments that haven't started, get underway tomorrow. I can't believe Notre Dame lost and is most likely out of the NCAAs.