Scotty don't

Song stuck in my head: "Fallin", Alicia Keys. I keep seeing the Oprah/Halle Berry TV movie commercials in which the song is playing in the background. I don't mind at all because it reminds me how great of a song it is.

Opening thoughts: So both classes ended up getting cancelled today, but I still had to get some work done in the morning and some studying for micro tonight. Grocery shopping and laundry were taken care of also, along with a workout and a nap. I got a lot done today. Spring break is 1 week away, but I'm very excited that Championship Week is upon us, which starts a 2 week run of wall to wall basketball.

We actually have games to talk about instead of just previews, including a couple of upsets:

• America East Tournament. UMBC and Stony Brook advanced to the quarterfinals with wins. Vermont is the top seed here and they must win the conference tourney to get a bid. Their at-large profile isn't good enough.
• Atlantic Sun Tournament. Gardner-Webb for the second straight day survived the upset, winning by 1 over Jacksonville to make it to the finals where they will play defending champion Central Florida, the 2 seed.
• Colonial Tournament. William & Mary and Delaware advanced to the quarterfinals with wins. Old Dominion is the top seed. They must win the conference tourney also to get a bid because their at-large profile isn't good enough.
• Horizon League. Detroit and Loyola(IL) advanced to the semifinals where they will play UW-Green Bay, and UW-Milwaukee respectively. The tournament is on UW-Milwaukee's home floor.
• Metro Atlantic. Iona, Canisius, and Manhattan advanced to the 2nd round. Niagara is the top seed, who doesn't have to play until the semifinals, a big advantage for them.
• Missouri Valley. Drake and Indiana St. advanced to the quarterfinals. This conference tournament is wide open, even though Southern Illinois won the regular season title. Any one of 6 teams could win.
• Ohio Valley. 5 seed Austin Peay upset top seed Tennessee Tech to earn a spot in the championship against 2 seed Eastern Kentucky. Tech lost 67-61 as they committed 16 turnovers and only shot 39% from the floor.
• Patriot League. The top 4 seeds all advanced to the semifinals, which will be played on Sunday. Holy Cross and Bucknell are the top 2 teams in the conference. If they make it to the finals, this will be one of the better conference championship games.
• Southern Conference. The upset of the night took place here as Davidson lost their first conference game of the year, 73-68 to UNC Greensboro. Davidson lives and dies by the 3, and tonight they died, going 8/27 from 3, shooting just 36% from the field. They are headed to the NIT. UNC Greensboro will play UT-Chattanooga in the championship tomorrow night.
• Sun Belt. No real upsets in the opening round of play. This tournament is also wide-open, where any one of the top 4 teams can win.
• West Coast. Pepperdine won their opening round game to advance to the 2nd round. The top 2 teams, Gonzaga and St. Mary's don't have to play until the semifinals.

Now, let's take a look at the top games tomorrow (excluding conference tournaments)

• Louisville at DePaul. Louisville has already clinched the CUSA championship, while DePaul could use a win to help finalize their NCAA status. DePaul will have more to play for, so look for them to get the win, especially with an 11am local start.
• West Virginia at Seton Hall. A Mountaineer win puts them at 9-7 heading into the Big East tourney and on track to make the NCAAs. A loss would be devastating to their NCAA hopes.
• Dayton at Xavier. This game has A-10 tournament implications. Both teams can still win the A-10 West and/or get a first round bye in the conference tournament.
• Clemson at Georgia Tech. Must win for the Jackets for the NCAA tournament.
• Texas A&M at Baylor. Must win for the Aggies for the same reason.
• Pittsburgh at Notre Dame. The winner gets the last first-round bye in the Big East tourney. Notre Dame isn't quite in the NCAAs 100%, a win takes care of that.
• Miami at Marshall. A Redhawk win clinches the MAC East and overall MAC title outright, along with keeping their at-large hopes alive. A loss puts the MAC up for grabs heading into the conference tourney.
• Akron at Buffalo. The loser definitely is off the bubble; the winner stays on the bubble, and in Akron's case, has a chance at the MAC title.
• Washington at Stanford. A Cardinal win puts them in, regardless of what happens in the PAC 10 tourney. A loss puts them back squarely on the bubble. If the Huskies can win out, they will get at least a 2 seed for the tourney.
• Syracuse at UConn. The Orange need to show they can beat a quality opponent away from the Carrier Dome. It would be a big statement if they can knock off the Huskies in Hartford, who are one of the hottest teams in the country right now.
• Maryland at Virginia Tech. Whoever loses must do some serious damage in the ACC tourney to warrant a bid, more so for the Hokies. If Maryland loses, they will be the team, I guarantee you, the selection committee takes the longest look at.
• Northwestern at Indiana. A slip up by the Hoosiers ends any at-large talk.
• Providence at Georgetown. A must win for the Hoyas.
• Oregon at UCLA. Same is true for the Bruins.
• Texas at Oklahoma St. Texas is firmly in if they can pull off the road upset, which is a lot to ask on Senior Night in Stillwater.

In other news, Phil Mickelson leads Doral after 2 rounds, Tiger and Vijay are 5 back. The US and Croatia are tied 1-1 in their 1st round Davis Cup match after Andy Roddick won and Andre Agassi lost.

Well, it's past midnight here on the East Coast, which means CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK HAS OFFICIALLY STARTED!!!!